What a ex-Mega Church goers have to say...

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I read with interest the comments of 1 ex-mega church goer named Takumi who commented in an online article. This is what Takumi has to says:

"It is not the amount of money collected that should be under scrutiny, rather the way it is collected. Being from an ex mega-church member, I’ve seen firsthand the methods they employed to achieve their aims.

1) Admonish members who do not tithe as lacking faith, often implying that God is watching and displeased. Works wonders with regards to the faithful and devout.

2) Conduct regular campaigns on top of monthly tithing which ‘encourages’ members to donate beyond their means as a ‘test of faith’. The more you donate beyond your means, the ‘greater’ your faith. You get to go up on stage and be praised and congratulated by the senior pastors and the audience. Works wonders for people with low self esteem.

3) Implying (implicitly or otherwise) that God will repay(in monetary riches or equivalent) manifolds your sacrifice. This is essentially lying as nowhere in the bible does it state that God will financially reward those who donate to the church. The verse that has any remote resemblance goes like this: “for those who have, more will be given.” Those who do not know the true meaning of that verse should leave the church immediately. Craving for monetary riches is completely opposite to what the bible teaches. Anyway this works well for members who are there for the ‘prosperity’ aspect.

4)Using appropriate smoothing music (violins and pianos work best), hypnotic chanting and silent introspective prayers (indoctrination in effect) in harmony with the above tactics can create the essential feel good, faithfulness or guilt associated emotions that can make these members emotionally or psychologically vulnerable to persuasion and/or coercion.
Works well with everyone. It has been proven experimentally that , when we are exposed to certain auditory/visual stimuli, our emotions can be manipulated subconsciously. This method has been routinely employed by politicians, salesmen, hypnotists and of course church pastors.

Add in mass indoctrination, force of habit and peer pressure, you can understand why their members willingly hand out their hard earned money to these pastors without bothering about how it will be spent.

It is a pity that none of these tactics has any legal implications simply because their claims (of god and rewards) are not based on evidence and therefore cannot be challenged."

Takumi commented in an article regarding the investment of City Harvest Church which you can read about Here

Fig tree?

We read about the fig tree in the bible....is this the same fig tree?

What does the Bible say about the prosperity gospel?

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Interesting question and a certain "bored" has written an answer as below (quoted from SgForum) :

In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,” the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer. Word Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God's will. The prosperity gospel movement closely resembles some of the destructive greed sects that infiltrated the early church. Paul and the other apostles were not accommodating to or conciliatory with the false teachers who propagated such heresy. They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them.

Paul warned Timothy about “constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.... But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:5, 9-11.)

Paul said covetousness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5) and instructed the Ephesians to avoid anyone who brought a message of immorality or covetousness (Ephesians 5:6-7). Prosperity teaching prohibits God from working on His own, meaning that God is not Lord of all because He cannot work until we release Him to do so. Faith, according to the Word of Faith doctrine, is not submissive trust in God; faith is a formula by which we manipulate the spiritual laws prosperity teachers believe govern the universe. As in the name “Word of Faith” implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more than who we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts.

A favorite term in the Word of Faith movement is “positive confession.” It refers to the teaching that words have creative power. What you say, Word of Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (as though man could require anything of God!). Thus God's ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith. James 4:13-16 clearly contradicts this teaching, “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

Far from stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life, Jesus said “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). The irreconcilable contradiction between prosperity teaching gospel and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve God and riches.”

Professing of Faith….

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I have been told by some that when one professes one’s faith, they are “saved” as in salvation. This is line with the protestant theory that one is saved by faith alone.

However, not all faith will saves as only faith in Christ that leads to fruits of good work will. How would anyone who desire Christ and “saved” by Him not do any good works?

This really makes me wonder…. How can faith saves when it has nothing to show (at the time of professing)? I.E. no fruits yet? It would have made more sense if they are saved when there are fruits to show….when they meet the Lord at the Last Judgement.

Then again, who decide and judge that one is saved when one professes ones faith? Ourselves ? Our pastor / priest? Or is that the right of God? How did one come to claimed that one is “saved”?

Another flaw of claiming being “saved” when professing faith is that some may not really want to follow Christ…..a mere act that is at the spur of the moment……will such people be “saved” when professing their faith and then “unsaved” again later when they bear no fruits?

Being saved when one professes one’s faith seems quite unlikely in my opinion….what about you?

A Deeper Look At New Creation Church Joseph Prince’s Destined to Reign

Book cover via AmazonI come across an interesting review about the book written by Joseph Prince - Destined to Reign.

You can read all about the review at HERE.

Why do I even bother to blog about this?

I am disturbed by that fact that I have come across quite a few people who seems to believe that they can understand the bible by reading them on their own. And from there, they have their own version of the gospel and start to question that other main stream Churches teachings.

Well it is good to question and search for the truth, it is disturbing to see how they have a twisted version simply by reading the books of similiar believers. Thus, a whole new set of wrong beliefs are believed as the "truth" by these people.

Mega church pastors are some of such people in my opinion. I always question where do they receive their training?

Can a self proclaimed vision give one the authority to preach? More importantly, are the preaching defensible by the bible?

I am sure many who have experience and contact with such church goers will know the answer.

Let's pray that these people continue to explore and not be taken in by sugar-coated grace ministry that is leading one away from God.

Anti-Christ is back….....

Image via WikipediaHa, testingblog a.k.a. anti-Christ is back….

As usual, there is nothing true and/or anything of value with his junks comments.

However, he has revealed to us some explanations to his cultist, extremist, terrorist behaviour and completely misguided understanding of the Bible. - THE WESTBORO BAPTISTS.

Readers who do not know them can make a search in Google about them and read about it yourself.

This re-confirmed to us that the church we chose to go and the kind of teachings is extremely important. As Blogpastor said in his recent blog, “religion is indeed a force of social transformation to be reckoned with”.

Religion is certainly a potent force and some evil people are using that to turn some minority into brain-washed, anti-social and even security threat to our society. All "in the name of God".

The sad part is, these minority do not even know or are aware about it. They have simply lost their sense of wisdom to discern between the right and wrong or good and bad.

Let’s pray for these people that they will see the light, the truth and the way for God is Love (Jn 4:16).

"Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love." (1Jn 4:8)

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• God is LOVE!
• Comments from an anti-Christ

Keep an open mind....for God has spoken

Image by JL Outdoor Photography via FlickrI read ST Your Letter of 19.10.08 by Ms Christie Loh "Keep an open mind even if you live by thous-shalt-nots".

I applaud Ms Loh for her diligence in attending New Creation Church service to find our for herself if the negative views are true. This was because of her love for her son who was keen to join as a member.

I agree with Ms Loh that "What mattered to us was which doctrines were being taught and who was glorified".

I do not know any Christian Churches here that do not glorify God - perhaps Ms Loh can point that out. Even cults (that is banned in Singapore) glorify God in their teachings and preaching!

As for doctrines taught by mega churches, these are issues which people are concerned about (and if we can remember letter to ST by Dr Lee Bee Wah about a year ago). It dose not mean that a doctrine is Biblical simply because it was quoted from the Bible - there are many instances of wrong quotations.

I just read recently someone who quoted the story when Jesus asked Simon to cast the net into the water and haul up a rich harvest (LK5:1-8). This was used as "proof" that Jesus do agree with "prosperity gospel" that is being preached. Or what they call grace. What about when Jesus said in LK5:10 "Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will be catching."?

Isn't it clear that Jesus is telling Simon (Peter) that He wants Simon to be His disciple to spread the Gospel and "catching people" instead of fishes (as a fisherman)? And isn't this clear that this miracle was to show Simon that Jesus is "special" (which is why Jesus said "Don't be afraid") since this was the begining of Jesus ministry and nobody knew about Him yet?

Such wrong use of Bible quotations is common (from what I have read as well as interaction with friends who goes to mega churches) which leads to another imporant issue to consider:

Is the pastor properly trained and where? From my queries so far, I found no answer. It was not on NCC website, nobody from any forum or discussion have pick this up and provide any answers.

Even Joseph Prince acknowledged that he is aware of the concerns (about his teachings) but he believed that when one believed right, one will live right. Since there are so many concerns, I believed that clearly something is not very right........

There must be reasons why so many people (both Christians and non-Christians alike) are against their teachings. Is the teachings correct as in accordance with the Bible?

You have done well to start researching by attending the service yourself but it would be even more important to research the doctrines and teachings preached by Joseph Prince. Perhaps, a discussion with your current Church pastor / priest may help.

Ultimately, it is up to each individual to discern what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes, it is easier to hear what we want but it certainly pay to listen to the truth no matter how much harder that may be. The truth is in the Bible that has been preached for over 2000 years! And God's Word is the only truth and will never change.

It is easy to get soaked into the moment in the atmosphere created by mega churches and one has to "fight" and stay alert.

With the current financial crisis, God has spoken again and telling us that all riches here is temporary and not the most important because it can disappear in a flash. Seeking God and the truth is the most important.

Is God going to make me rich?

Image by alimander via FlickrI was reading a impromptu remark that the pope made at the opening session of the world Synod of Bishops on the Bible and I would like to share it with you here:

“He (the pope) said the morning's Scripture readings had brought to mind Christ's parable of the two houses, one built on sand and one built on rock.

"On sand is built only things we can see and touch: success, career, money. Apparently they are real, but one day they pass," he said. He said the banking crisis demonstrated how quickly they can disappear.

"Whoever builds his life on these things -- on material things, on success, on appearances -- is building on sand," he said.

The true realist is someone who builds his life on the things that remain, recognizing God's place in his own life, he said.”

You can read the entire article (if you have interest) at http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0805052.htm.


When we look around, we see that most of the people around us are comparing children’s results, who spend more time at work, who has more business travels, who is buying shares and properties, whose house is bigger and whose car is faster…..

People’s perception of life and living has taken a new twist as compared to people of the early churches.

God’s providence is long forgotten…… when was the last time we feel grateful (to God) that we have a roof over our head, regular meals on the table and a peaceful society to live in?

Now, some dubious preacher is preaching that “I am rich and that’s a shinning testimony that God is with me” and you can be rich too – if you come to me.

So are they teaching us to build our house on sand or on rock?

Jesus chose to be poor and so do all His apostles. I do not think that He wants us to be living like a pauper. Rather, He is teaching us to live a simple life and not be tempted by greed of materials wealth that will not last (Mt 6:19-21. We should seek for the true treasure that is in Heaven. He led by example and live a simple life as St Palu said in Rm2:21 “so then, in teaching others, do you teach yourself as well?“

So, pastors with semi-D, condos and conti cars seems out of place especially when they live on money that comes from goodwill of church goers.

These funds should be channelled into helping the poor and needy of the society. Isn’t this the best way of doing God’s work, evangelizing, spreading God’s love (good news) and to show them that God loves and care for them? Why do you think Jesus chose us to be Christians? And remember that Jesus said He is here to serve and not to be served. Should we as His followers not do the same?

Though the funds could amount to large sums and can be tempting, let us remember that in MT4, Jesus too was tempted by Satan but He never give in so that all He can have “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour”.

Remember, Jesus was very tired and hungry at that time.

So let us look beyond the material riches of this world and start seeking the true meaning of being a Christian and live our life to the fullest – the Christian way. A life that is of faith, hope and love. Not money, money and more money…..

The wedding dinner continues.....

Image via WikipediaThis is a continuation from my previous post. This is my personal reflection of this week's readings.

This week, we learned that God is inviting everyone to his Kingdom and yet many turn him down because of other priorities – in general, too busy. Sounds familiar?

Jesus as we know from the Bible often shocked the self-righteous of his day because "he welcomed sinners and ate with them". Yet, these are the ones who refused the invitations as they do not want to be part of Jesus who welcomed tax collectors and sinners.

They even seized the servants send to invite them, maltreated them and killed them and proved themselves to be unworthy.

So these servants were ordered to go out onto the roads and invite “everyone they could find, bad and good alike and the wedding hall was filled with guests”.

But one guest who was without a wedding garment the King asked him why but he kept silent. The King ordered : "Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."

As Fr Gerard Weerakoon (from The Church Of The Holy Spirit) explained, the wedding garment was the garment of love.

”For many are invited but not all are chosen” (MT22:14) - Are you the chosen one?

I cannot help but think of testingblog (for those who do not know, you can refer to the post about anti-Christ and some comments he made here) and his version of Christianity through his words and actions.

One may become a Christians and yet, if one does not live a Christian life as Jesus taught us (to love God and to love our neighbour), one can still be thrown out of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is good to refer also to MT 25:31-46 about the last judgement where Jesus clearly tell us that love and charity is the key to Heaven.

We become Christians because we have accepted God's invitation and our search for love and happiness is the search for God!

Comments from an anti-Christ

Image via WikipediaThese are some of the things that testingblog is saying (you can read them in the comments of the previous post).

“Well-respected. I fully agree. By the Satanists of this world that is the Atheists, Agnostics, Muslims, and Buddhists.” - such statements can only come from an anti-christ. Since when did Jesus said that?

All things good come from God and most (if not all) main stream religions teaches about love.

Only satan and evil teaches division, hatred and killing like what testingblog is displaying here. One may call oneself a Christian and goes to church etc but has never really understand what it means to be one. As Paul said (rightly pointed out by JC) that it is all about faith, hope and love and nothing is greater than love.

Testingblog, what are the 2 Commandments that Jesus taught you? Are you displaying any? If so, how?

And be reminded that not all who call Jesus “Lord…Lord” will enter into heaven. Are you one of them?

You brought up a good point. Just wondering why everybody else respect Catholics except fellow Christians? Doesn’t it sound like how the Jews is treating Jesus and his disciple compared to the non-Jews during His time? By the way, I have many non-Catholics friends and I know you represent only a minority (like the Jews in Jesus time).

“Look here, if you really think that your church has the true Word of God”

I don’t think so - rather I know it as a fact which is defensible by the Bible. How about yours? Can you defend your actions of cursing, swearing and using vulgar words with the Bible? When did Jesus teaches all the things you said and do?

“come and challenge us. Go to any forums, any blogs and point to us that we are wrong and hold events to counter us.”

Already did just that at the forum you came from (although I never see your name appearing).

The problem I do not want to waste my time there any longer is simply because there are too many people like you. They are there not to discuss and discern but to attack others with whatever hearsay. Truth and facts have no meanings to them.

When they cannot even make sense of their salvation theory, even the better and more respected participant resorted to diverting attention and attacking Catholics with “wrong notion and perceptions” and with issues that has no relationship with the discussions. That’s pathetic and convinced me not to waste my time.

On the same token, why not come and share with us what you think is correct and defend it?

“I read your argument for salvation and I'm turned furious by how YOU twisted our dear Christ's words to your own sick advantage. You have taken James' verses out of context"

How have I twisted anything? You did not even say. How did I take James verses out of context? You did not say. Do you mind answering that simple question which requires only a Yes or No answer as asked by James?

“If an old man on his deathbed regretted his past sins and receives Christ as his saviour, by YOUR interpretation of your goddamn faulty scripture he would be heading to hell.”

Since when did we said that? Go and read the story of the good thief that you fellow “brother” misquoted and misused. Your wrong understanding does not make our salvation theory wrong. It certainly did not make your correct.

“your group who are equal to that of pseudo-Christian cults.“

How irresponsible of you to say that Catholics are cults. If so, they would not survive 2000+ years and still thriving. Dispute all you want but the history of Catholic Churches traces us back to the early Churches which Jesus has build with Peter as the rock. How dare you even call Jesus’s Church a cult and without any valid factual reasons?

“Unless you Catholics do something to stem the flow of apathy that I see so many of your members are afflicted with, we will call for arms and take action against your kind. We even have no qualms about executing homosexuals for sinning.”

What apathy are you talking about? Go ahead, load your guns and take actions. Catholics have no fear of you because we have God on our side. Everything you said here is anti-Christ and against teachings of Jesus and the Bible.

You are a classic example of extremist as a result of wrong teachings. That’s dangerous and you are showing every bit of it. You have the real potential of the making of a cult and terrorist.

Though I said your name did not appear in the forum, I believed that you are using another name and was on my ignore list. If you persist to use foul language and continue to display your anti-Christ antics here, I will moderate the comments and ban you forever.

For you have already shown us enough of what anti-Christ is and what wrong teachings can lead one to – you are even now displaying signs of being an extremist / cultist / terrorist.

For sure, you need plenty of prayers because you are heading the wrong way. God Bless You!

Catholics are well respected Christians worldwide - Well said and true fact.

Image via WikipediaWell, I am getting a little worried that this blog will turn into a war zone. So, JC, please do me a favour and keep your cool. I appreciate your support and willingness to stand up for what is right.

To me, nothing is personal however testingblog wants to attacks. His words and actions will prove to all what he really is and what kind of teachings he is following.

You rightly pointed out that nothing he does or said is by the teaching of Christ.

I have nothing to fear and none of his attacks can affect me since I am speaking the truth.

Now, he is also asking readers not to go to the forum because you will see people like him “contributing” with vulgarities and attacking Catholics with untruth, half-truth and outright lies. Anyone who is reasonable can tell once they read the postings there carefully.

I can moderate comments in this blog but choose not to. It’s God’s way to tell us what happen when one is not guided by God. So if anyone has young children, be careful where your children attend their Sunday schools……. living example here totally unsolicited.

I am still waiting for testingblog to come out with something that is worth a discussion or worth reflecting……. Since he disagreed with my salvation theory, what’s his? Why did he not agree? He mentioned wrong quotation of Bible, so what’s wrong and what’s right? Etc…

Well, his actions remind us of one when Jesus was persecuted when He speaks the truth, stood up for what He said. Yet, He was accused with untruth, half-truth and outright lies. Finally, He was nailed to the Cross…..Compare that to what we need to endure here is just like dealing with a wart in our behind.

So, JC you can e-mail me if you like but no need to get work up. Thanks and God Bless You!

About the sower parable?

Image via Wikipedia To continue on the issue of true disciples, read up on the sower parable LK 8:5-21. The seed is the word of God and the field is the world.

How did seed (word of God) end up in your case?

Read up and reflect upon it.

Again, Jesus tell us that the good harvest (true disciples) are those who “As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.” LK 8:15

For the sake of Chadley boy, I must highlight LK 8:13 “Those on the rock are people who, when they first hear it, welcome the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of trial they give up.”

And as a result of being with the wrong people, wrong teachings, LK 8:14 “As for the part that fell into thorns, this is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life and never produce any crops.”

That pretty much explained the science behind why you are still gullible Chadley boy.

Hello and good to be back and ALIVE!

Image by shioshvili via Flickr Sorry guys to disappoint you – NO I am not dead but alive and well!

I thank-you guys for the comments in my blog. I also encourage readers to visist SiingaporeChristianonline forum to find out for themselves.

I am surprised that it is insisted that the salvation theory is debunked there? How? By attacking the Catholic Churches with baseless, untruth and wrong perceptions? And always with issues that are not related to what is being discussed?

It was never and can never be debunked because these are Word of God!

How would I be not confident of God’s Words and promise? Just because I choose to blog it? Or Just because someone one insist on that? You must be kidding !!!

Well, it’s not hard to understand the truth which is fully defensible with the Bible. There is no need to add non-biblical notion....It's only up to one to discern, reflect and search for it.

Why stick to one that need to add on a non-biblical notion just to make it “sound correct” (and still then, it simply does not make any sense)and not defensible by the bible?

The Gospel is all about faith, hope and love and nothing is greater than love. Do you agree?

More on tithings....

In case you do not have the chance to read everything in the forum about tithings in my last post, here are some interesting links that you should read with regards to tithing:

Should the church teach tithing?

Will a man rob God?

Biblical model of giving

Pastor cannot defend tithing?

No more tithing!

What does the Bible say about Christian tithing?

Does God require me to tithe what I earn?

The truth about tithing

Should all Christian tithe ?

I came across this interesting forum where the discussion on "Should Christians tithe?" was thoroughly discussed.

There are many quotes, misquotes and quoting out of context from the bible.

In the end, the truth prevail and all mis-quoting and quoting out of context was explained and exposed. More importantly, they are debunk using the bible.

I strongly encourage all to read through all the posts (I know it is very long - 9 pages at this time of my posting) but you will learn a great deal.

Find out the truth about tithing HERE.

If you believed that you must tithe or you are in sin, you must read this thread.

God Bless All Of You!