How is New Creation Church for Homosexuals

[Guest guest]

Hi Steve,

 

I think the difference between our views is that u only see Jesus as a "great moral leader", a human being. That is strictly speaking not Christianity. Christianity is founded on the belief that Jesus Christ is God -- He is 100% God and also 100% Man. As God, He has always existed from eternity to eternity, before time began, and is the one who created the Heavens and the earth, as well as you and I. After sin came into the picture due to Adam's disobedience in the garden of Eden, Jesus humbled himself and came in the flesh, God incarnate, to save us, being born as a baby of the virgin Mary. 

 

Jesus also doesn't need our "adulation". He has myriads and myriads of angels in heaven singing and praising him all the time, with much more beautiful voices than our human voices. He could have chosen to be born into a rich and powerful family, or announce his arrival with thunders and lightnings and the accompaniment of a million angels as bodyguards, but he did not. Instead, he chose the most humble of circumstances to be born into -- a manger in a small stable for animals (because there wasn't even room at the inn).

 

Worshipping Christ and putting our faith in Him is not for His benefit. It is for ours. Jesus is not only our Savior, He is Salvation itself. He is both the gift-giver, and the gift itself. When u believe in Him and His sacrifice for your sins, you will be born again in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul the apostle himself says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me". U cannot choose to receive salvation, and yet reject the Savior. Jesus himself is our redemption, our death and also our resurrection life. We are saved by receiving Him into our hearts.

 

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life". What do u do with bread? U eat it. Using your blueberry analogy, the benefits of the blueberry are in the blueberry fruit itself. To obtain its benefits (like nutrients), we need to eat it. Trusting in Christ is akin to the act of eating that blueberry. When u look to Christ for help, He will always be there to help u (whether its your health, finances, emotional troubles etc).

 

To repeat, Jesus himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life", and "No one comes to the Father except through Me", and “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” If u follow His teachings, then u should believe in Him since this is what He expressly teaches. U should not change his words or allegorize them unnecessarily to suit your intentions. Anyway, Happy Easter, everybody : )

 

PS Just to add -- yes, faith cannot be forced, of course. It is a natural response from us -- not out of fear -- rather it is a response to the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself when He died on the cross for our sins, and rose again 3 days later. Jesus has already done all the hard work and offers Himself freely to you. There is nothing we need to do, except be willing to receive Him (by believing).

[Guest Heresays]

Hmmm why is there sermonizing, preaching, evangelising and proselytising in this forum? I don't even need to attend Church or NCC. I can attend church just by reading blowingwind forum. A very refreshing change from all the gay conversion and lifestyle stories!

 

But I need evidence in order to believe something. I need to see it, in order to believe it. Heresays are like fairytales to me. If only I can believe in mermaids, zombies and santa claus. Guess I am too old for those!

[Guest Please!]

4 hours ago, Guest guest said:

Hi Steve,

 

I think the difference between our views is that u only see Jesus as a "great moral leader", a human being. That is strictly speaking not Christianity. Christianity is founded on the belief that Jesus Christ is God -- He is 100% God and also 100% Man. As God, He has always existed from eternity to eternity, before time began, and is the one who created the Heavens and the earth, as well as you and I. After sin came into the picture due to Adam's disobedience in the garden of Eden, Jesus humbled himself and came in the flesh, God incarnate, to save us, being born as a baby of the virgin Mary. 

 

Jesus also doesn't need our "adulation". He has myriads and myriads of angels in heaven singing and praising him all the time, with much more beautiful voices than our human voices. He could have chosen to be born into a rich and powerful family, or announce his arrival with thunders and lightnings and the accompaniment of a million angels as bodyguards, but he did not. Instead, he chose the most humble of circumstances to be born into -- a manger in a small stable for animals (because there wasn't even room at the inn).

 

Worshipping Christ and putting our faith in Him is not for His benefit. It is for ours. Jesus is not only our Savior, He is Salvation itself. He is both the gift-giver, and the gift itself. When u believe in Him and His sacrifice for your sins, you will be born again in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul the apostle himself says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me". U cannot choose to receive salvation, and yet reject the Savior. Jesus himself is our redemption, our death and also our resurrection life. We are saved by receiving Him into our hearts.

 

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life". What do u do with bread? U eat it. Using your blueberry analogy, the benefits of the blueberry are in the blueberry fruit itself. To obtain its benefits (like nutrients), we need to eat it. Trusting in Christ is akin to the act of eating that blueberry. When u look to Christ for help, He will always be there to help u (whether its your health, finances, emotional troubles etc).

 

To repeat, Jesus himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life", and "No one comes to the Father except through Me", and “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” If u follow His teachings, then u should believe in Him since this is what He expressly teaches. U should not change his words or allegorize them unnecessarily to suit your intentions. Anyway, Happy Easter, everybody : )

 

PS Just to add -- yes, faith cannot be forced, of course. It is a natural response from us -- not out of fear -- rather it is a response to the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself when He died on the cross for our sins, and rose again 3 days later. Jesus has already done all the hard work and offers Himself freely to you. There is nothing we need to do, except be willing to receive Him (by believing).

I think you got something awfully wrong by saying "Jesus is god". 

Christianity is surely not founded on the belief "Jesus is God". 

 

Jesus is a revelation of God but not God himself. 

There is a difference and not as simplistic as you put it. 

 

Would be appreciated if you study with more ambition about Christianity before writing wrong things. 

 

Thanks. 

 

But I think this thread should not develop to a lecture on Christianity but on that New Creation Church.

 

 

 

[Steve5380]

10 hours ago, Guest Heresays said:

Hmmm why is there sermonizing, preaching, evangelising and proselytising in this forum? I don't even need to attend Church or NCC. I can attend church just by reading blowingwind forum. A very refreshing change from all the gay conversion and lifestyle stories!

 

But I need evidence in order to believe something. I need to see it, in order to believe it. Heresays are like fairytales to me. If only I can believe in mermaids, zombies and santa claus. Guess I am too old for those!

 

From your post I estimate that you are a very intelligent person.

 

10 hours ago, Guest guest said:

Hi Steve,

 

I think the difference between our views is that u only see Jesus as a "great moral leader", a human being. That is strictly speaking not Christianity. Christianity is founded on the belief that Jesus Christ is God -- He is 100% God and also 100% Man. As God, He has always existed from eternity to eternity, before time began, and is the one who created the Heavens and the earth, as well as you and I. After sin came into the picture due to Adam's disobedience in the garden of Eden, Jesus humbled himself and came in the flesh, God incarnate, to save us, being born as a baby of the virgin Mary. 

 

Jesus also doesn't need our "adulation". He has myriads and myriads of angels in heaven singing and praising him all the time, with much more beautiful voices than our human voices. He could have chosen to be born into a rich and powerful family, or announce his arrival with thunders and lightnings and the accompaniment of a million angels as bodyguards, but he did not. Instead, he chose the most humble of circumstances to be born into -- a manger in a small stable for animals (because there wasn't even room at the inn).

 

 

My seeing of Jesus as a great moral leader is not excluding other attributes he may have.  If he is also a God,  good for him.  But my faith does not go so far.

 

If Jesus has myriads and myriads of angels in heaven singing and praising him all the time,  and he doesn't need "adulation", then what...  what in heavens are all the singing angels doing around him?  Don't they have anything better to do?  Don't they have a life?

 

10 hours ago, Guest guest said:

 

PS Just to add -- yes, faith cannot be forced, of course. It is a natural response from us -- not out of fear -- rather it is a response to the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself when He died on the cross for our sins, and rose again 3 days later. Jesus has already done all the hard work and offers Himself freely to you. There is nothing we need to do, except be willing to receive Him (by believing).

 

 

Where is all this "the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself" ?  We are old enough to realize that there is no love in the forces of nature.  Hurricanes, tornados, flooding, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes don't come with love.  Also the existence of virus and bacteria that can kill us are not expressions of love.  And even more baffling,  where is awesome love in the victimization of innocent children with birth malformations and infant mortality?  You must believe that God is the creation of all what exists, and therefore is the creator of all the loveless forces of nature which we are subjected to.  How you find reconciliation for this? 

[Guest Guest]

On 3/29/2021 at 7:29 PM, singalion said:

 

The business endeavours of these new churches seem quite extravagant. I guess they understood the word "rich" in a wrong sense, more to rich pocket than rich spirit.

 

The more monies they accumulate the more temptations to suck into the wealth at such organisations.

City Harvest should have been the best example how things go overboard. And this church started in concerts too. With the different company sections somehow connected to this one church it is easy to channel monies somewhere or into the pockets of certain people.

 

What you read a lot is that these new churches pressure their followers very much to give money.

To my surprise on the statistics, just 581,000 out of 122 million collected in one year went for charity or charitable purposes.

 

The founder not disclosing his salary tells me, it must be too shocking for the normal people to know...

 

The government should actually impose on all these churches (religious organisations) to make public what they do with the monies and treat them like listed companies.

 

All this extreme money accumulation would already be the biggest deterrent to me.

 

 

 

 

If I ever have to meet this Mr Prince, I would tell him the following:

Mark 10:21

Jesus: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 

And there you are... making so many comments about religion here, after you can go around advising other foreigners to refrain from talking about religion in another thread here? What a hypocrite. 

[Guest Slice and dice]

7 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

Where is all this "the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself" ?  We are old enough to realize that there is no love in the forces of nature.  Hurricanes, tornados, flooding, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes don't come with love.  Also the existence of virus and bacteria that can kill us are not expressions of love.  And even more baffling,  where is awesome love in the victimization of innocent children with birth malformations and infant mortality?  You must believe that God is the creation of all what exists, and therefore is the creator of all the loveless forces of nature which we are subjected to.  How you find reconciliation for this? 

The reconciliation comes when he feels the cool blast of free aircon, experiences their concert hall sound system, dance club strobe lights and well rehearsed musical extravaganza

 

You don't get labelled as a cult for nothing. Even Christian church denominations are blasting one another as cults and false preaching all the time.

[Guest Hippocrates]

1 hour ago, Guest Guest said:

 

And there you are... making so many comments about religion here, after you can go around advising other foreigners to refrain from talking about religion in another thread here? What a hypocrite. 

Astute observations. She is another religion all by herself. 🥱

[Guest blessed]

The articles shared earlier indicate that Pastor Prince has not drawn any salary from the church since 2009. All his income is derived from the sale of his books and sermon CDs. In fact, he also contributes a huge portion of his income every year to the church instead. All of this is evident in the financial records of the church.

 

He also has far less than the $5 million reported in the media. Whatever amount of money he has is none of our business anyway. He works hard preaching every Sunday, leading the church, and releases on average 1 new book every 2 years. Some of his books have also appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. I encourage you to get his book "Destined to Reign". It has changed many lives around the world for the better, including mine, by teaching the gospel in an accurate manner as originally recorded in the bible by its various authors through the inspiration of God.

 

If God chooses to bless the shepherds he uses to lead the flock, who are we to say anything? Pastors are also human and have bills to pay, families to look after and need to eat. Or do you see God as a stingy God who wants his people to be poor and starving? In heaven, even the streets are made of gold. Poor does not equate to holiness, a common misconception many people have. It is the LOVE of money that is the root of evil, not money itself. There are many poor people who love money & constantly obsess over money (how to make it, spend it, who has it etc). Conversely, there are many rich people who are generous and donate huge sums to build hospitals and help the poor etc. God is a generous God who provides for his people -- just look at the size of the universe, and all the natural resources he created on earth (including wind, water and solar power). The law of economic scarcity actually reveals man's poor understanding of God's goodness and provision, and is just society's attempts to control the distribution of resources. 

 

Someone quoted Jesus earlier and asked if Pastor Prince has sold all his belongings to give to the poor. Well, how about yourself? Have u done so? U need to look at the context of the quote in the first place. Jesus had made that statement in response to a rich young man who was boasting that he had kept all of the Jewish laws since young perfectly. Jesus' statement was to help the man realise the foolishness of his boasting, and expose what was in the young man's heart, because obviously the young man could not even give up a single cent. The young man assumed he could be like Jesus, and just follow him as a model, but Jesus showed the man his own desperate need for a Saviour in the first place. This was not done to shame him, but done out of love.

[Steve5380]

8 hours ago, Guest blessed said:

 

If God chooses to bless the shepherds he uses to lead the flock, who are we to say anything? Pastors are also human and have bills to pay, families to look after and need to eat. Or do you see God as a stingy God who wants his people to be poor and starving? In heaven, even the streets are made of gold. Poor does not equate to holiness, a common misconception many people have. It is the LOVE of money that is the root of evil, not money itself. There are many poor people who love money & constantly obsess over money (how to make it, spend it, who has it etc). Conversely, there are many rich people who are generous and donate huge sums to build hospitals and help the poor etc. God is a generous God who provides for his people -- just look at the size of the universe, and all the natural resources he created on earth (including wind, water and solar power). The law of economic scarcity actually reveals man's poor understanding of God's goodness and provision, and is just society's attempts to control the distribution of resources. 

 

 

I suppose that we are talking here about a Christian god and not a god of some tribe in the Amazon.   A Christian God is something spiritual, and not something that can be associated with GOLD.

 

And we are not talking here of the bare necessities of pastors.  But about their luxurious lifestyles, and their thick bank accounts full of wealth.  Their mansions, boats, airplanes, and luxurious vacations.

 

One of the richest evangelists in America lives in Houston.  His "Lakewood Church" is across the freeway from my house,  I can see it from my living room.  This is pastor Joel Osteen and his wife (or ex-wife?) Victoria Osteen.  I used to like his preaching because it was more self-help than doctrinal.  But I can see the hypocrisy of his prosperity gospel.   Some years ago this "holy couple" left in a hurry their FIRST CLASS seats in a flight to a vacation resort,  because...  Victoria had felt that the flight attendant had not paid sufficient attention to her.  Such HUMBLE Holy people...

 

8 hours ago, Guest blessed said:

 

Someone quoted Jesus earlier and asked if Pastor Prince has sold all his belongings to give to the poor. Well, how about yourself? Have u done so? U need to look at the context of the quote in the first place. Jesus had made that statement in response to a rich young man who was boasting that he had kept all of the Jewish laws since young perfectly. Jesus' statement was to help the man realise the foolishness of his boasting, and expose what was in the young man's heart, because obviously the young man could not even give up a single cent. The young man assumed he could be like Jesus, and just follow him as a model, but Jesus showed the man his own desperate need for a Saviour in the first place. This was not done to shame him, but done out of love.

 

 

You should read Matthew 19:16-28 again.  The man who approached Jesus was not boasting at all.  He seemed sincere in wanting to know what he needed to do to attain salvation.  When Jesus told him to follow the Commandments (Jesus only mentioned 6 of them, leaving off the first 4), the man replied that he was following them.  No boasting at all.  Then it was Jesus who told him to give is possessions to the poor and follow him.   OF COURSE this man was shocked at this, since he had some richness.  I would have reacted the same,  even if I am not "rich".    And Jesus was correct.  a Christian Pastor should be DETACHED from the wealth in this world.  He may have a modest home and receive a modest salary, if he needs it.   Neither Christ nor Buddha lived in a GOLDEN PALACE.  The Prosperity Gospel is an abomination invented by the rich evangelists.

[Guest my observ]

13 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 

And there you are... making so many comments about religion here, after you can go around advising other foreigners to refrain from talking about religion in another thread here? What a hypocrite. 

I observe u follow this guy on every post and plaster him with ur insults.

Take an effort to read and u can note he wrote about this New Creation Church and not about the religion himself. Dun see where he made many comment on religion.

Ur label "hypocrite" is inaccurate. Ur post don't add a thing on the New Creation Church, can ignore then.

[Guest insider]

10 hours ago, Guest blessed said:

The articles shared earlier indicate that Pastor Prince has not drawn any salary from the church since 2009. All his income is derived from the sale of his books and sermon CDs. In fact, he also contributes a huge portion of his income every year to the church instead. All of this is evident in the financial records of the church.

 

He also has far less than the $5 million reported in the media. Whatever amount of money he has is none of our business anyway. He works hard preaching every Sunday, leading the church, and releases on average 1 new book every 2 years. Some of his books have also appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. I encourage you to get his book "Destined to Reign". It has changed many lives around the world for the better, including mine, by teaching the gospel in an accurate manner as originally recorded in the bible by its various authors through the inspiration of God.

 

 

The thing remains the New Creation church created various other subsidiaries and related companies.

Straits Times said, the church did not disclose. Even if you read financials lodged with ACRA you won't find info if he received a salary or not.

My point is, they can channel through other means.

Do you know how much the Creation church pays to related companies for then to pay some "consultancy" fee or anything to the Pastor Prince.

If you want it is easy to hide.

The Church even has a subsidiary in US, and would you know how much is paid to the subsidiary in US and how much they pay Prince?

 

Your way of thought is too naive.

 

As long as there is no full disclosure you will never know.

 

Look at the City Harvest, they even bought their own CDs from the pastor wife to boost the sales. It's like bread talk buying their own bread.

 

What do we know about the payments from these other companies, some might even be set up as sham operations with Directors and Shareholders who are separate from the New Creation church but still collect monies from that church. it's all too easy.

 

And as quoted. he did not receive a salary as pastor but what if he received consulting fees, commission etc....

 

What I reckon is, the Prince achieved a certain personal life style and probably is not drawing down from that life style.

 

These guys are greedy businessmen. I don't even trust their "belief " in any religion.

 

 

 

 

[Guest Church mouse]

On 3/30/2021 at 7:04 PM, Guest guest said:

PS Just to add -- yes, faith cannot be forced, of course. It is a natural response from us -- not out of fear -- rather it is a response to the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself when He died on the cross for our sins, and rose again 3 days later. Jesus has already done all the hard work and offers Himself freely to you. There is nothing we need to do, except be willing to receive Him (by believing).

A zombie had purportedly also died and risen from being dead.

 

Do I believe in zombies too?

[Guest lol]

Hi Steve,

 

Golden Palace? Prosperity gospel? Have u actually attended NCC before or read any of Pastor Prince's books? Most of your speculations are just careless, sweeping generalisations based on your American experience. Even your accusations against Joel Osteen seem to be based on fluffy conjectures about their attitude. Pastor Prince stays in condo only lei, and only because he needs to maintain some sort of privacy for normal family life as he is so popular... btw how modest is modest? What salary u think is humble enough for a pastor? Oh wait, he doesn't draw any salary from NCC.... Should he stay in 1 -room flat then? And your idea of a God who is only concerned with our "spiritual side" (whatever that means), or that being "spiritual" means one has to be poor, is so short-sighted... Wait, do u even believe in the existence of God? U are an agnostic, right?

 

The God I know is one who cares deeply about every aspect of my life, including my material needs. God is a practical God -- Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves for the people to eat when they were hungry; He told Peter to lay the nets on the other side of the boat so they could haul in a huge catch of fish. God blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with huge flocks of sheep and cattle; He made Joseph the viceroy over Egypt, and made David king of Israel and blessed Solomon with so much wealth that he remains the richest man that ever lived.

 

Also , I'm not sure u understand the cost of living in Singapore. Home properties here are the most expensive in the world. There are many, many, many Singaporeans whose combined assets easily exceed $1 million. Sadly, I am far from being one of them... lol

 

As for the guest who speculated about Pastor Prince being financed through other methods by the church -- U have any solid proof? This is Singapore you know... any hanky panky would have been detected by CPIB already, considering how big the church is, and especially after the City Harvest saga. There are various independent auditors auditing the church finances as well, so unless u have evidence...

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, Guest lol said:

Hi Steve,

 

Golden Palace? Prosperity gospel?

 

The God I know is one who cares deeply about every aspect of my life, including my material needs. God is a practical God -- Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves for the people to eat when they were hungry; He told Peter to lay the nets on the other side of the boat so they could haul in a huge catch of fish. God blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with huge flocks of sheep and cattle; He made Joseph the viceroy over Egypt, and made David king of Israel and blessed Solomon with so much wealth that he remains the richest man that ever lived.

 

 

What happened to your God after the biblical times?   

 

In today's world, over 10,000 children die every day of starvation.  Why isn't your God multiplying the fish and loaves for these poor kids?

And why would your God care deeply about YOUR material needs at the same time that THOUSANDS of innocent children are dying for lack of material things?

 

Even more strange is what happened in your biblical times.   What kind of MATERIALISTIC god would bless Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with "huge flocks of sheep and cattle"?  And what kind of MATERIALISTIC god would bless Solomon by...  "giving him so much wealth that he reminds the richest man that ever lived" ???   Would it not have been sufficient to give these biblical figures enough material things to keep them alive?  Isn't it reasonable to suspect that at the time Solomon was receiving his immense richness ...   there were already countless children dying of hunger throughout the world?

.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Steve5380

[Guest Ppp]

Hi guest lol, Clearly you have been attending ncc as your replies are straight out from Prince sermon. I was once like you having attended ncc during teenzeal days up to my early 30s.

God is more than a genie that grants us wishes. I am totally with you on a merciful God and a loving God who takes no pleasure in seeing His flock poor.

 

There are sublime messages in ncc. Tithing is optional and ncc does not have any lengthy reminders on that. When you would like to serve in ministry, what was the question that you need to fill up? Do you tithe? It is compulsory for someone in the leadership to tithe. Sure the befits etc.

 

I can overlook all of these except that I can’t because I can never ever live an authentic life before God in ncc as a gay man. 

[Guest Real before God]

Just turned 45 this year and I would say that while I cannot be totally open to everyone in church (NCC included). 

 

There's nothing to hide before God. 

 

I attend the church cos I need the constant reminder that there is a God who loved me and gave His Son for me. Else how to survive in this hopeless world. 

[Guest Fact]

Don’t tweak here and there please la. Gay is gay, and sin is sin. This is confirmed already in the bible; we as gays just be gays, find what loophole to tweak. There won’t be any benefits also if we keep doing this; just accept that being gay is a sin as Christians (Note: please don’t bring in the catholics Pope’s approval of gays in church: what he meant there was we respect gays [for those who haven’t gotten to know Christ in depth yet], but for those who’ve already known about Christianity are not advised to practise gay’s life but to respect also]). 

[Guest Right?]

5 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

In today's world, over 10,000 children die every day of starvation.  Why isn't your God multiplying the fish and loaves for these poor kids?

 

Because God was mad at people treating politican like "GOD" and then behaved like demigod.  Since people are trying hard to suck up to politician, there is no need for "GOD" anymore, so why save these people.  Make sense right?

[Steve5380]

18 minutes ago, Guest Fact said:

Don’t tweak here and there please la. Gay is gay, and sin is sin. This is confirmed already in the bible; we as gays just be gays, find what loophole to tweak. There won’t be any benefits also if we keep doing this; just accept that being gay is a sin as Christians (Note: please don’t bring in the catholics Pope’s approval of gays in church: what he meant there was we respect gays [for those who haven’t gotten to know Christ in depth yet], but for those who’ve already known about Christianity are not advised to practise gay’s life but to respect also]). 

 

Please remember that Christianity also condemns suicide.

 

So in your desperation for being so full of sin being a gay and afraid to know Christ's deep homophobia, please don't resort to taking your life!  

[Guest Church mouse]

19 minutes ago, Guest Right? said:

Because God was mad at people treating politican like "GOD" and then behaved like demigod.  Since people are trying hard to suck up to politician, there is no need for "GOD" anymore, so why save these people.  Make sense right?

Erm, no? Only saving those who believe in him. Isn't that favouritism? Sounds rather petty and unloving to me too. Like so transactional. I thought love is not jealous and conditional? Doesn't make any sense at all!

 

What about believers who died in plane crashes? They all deserved it?

 

 

[Guest Guest Curious]

We are living in 2021 - not the first century or even much earlier when many of the exhortations against gay behaviour and other "sins" are alleged to have been written. Where is there any proof? If gay guys actually believe "rules" about sin that were allegedly laid down by tiny tribal societies at that time living in just a speck of our huge globe and with absolutely no idea what existed in the rest of that globe, then why stop them? Don't they realise that the interpretations of what has been written down often centuries after the events they describe are capable of many variations? If not, how come the church of Jesus, a Jew, has split into Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox branches as well as many other smaller and often dubious sects. 

 

I think we should each believe what we wish to believe and what makes our life feel meaningful and valuable. I just can not believe a lot of what was written millennia ago. I am gay and happy to be gay.

[Guest Habis Cerita]

34 minutes ago, Guest Guest Curious said:

We are living in 2021 - not the first century or even much earlier when many of the exhortations against gay behaviour and other "sins" are alleged to have been written. Where is there any proof? If gay guys actually believe "rules" about sin that were allegedly laid down by tiny tribal societies at that time living in just a speck of our huge globe and with absolutely no idea what existed in the rest of that globe, then why stop them? Don't they realise that the interpretations of what has been written down often centuries after the events they describe are capable of many variations? If not, how come the church of Jesus, a Jew, has split into Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox branches as well as many other smaller and often dubious sects. 

 

I think we should each believe what we wish to believe and what makes our life feel meaningful and valuable. I just can not believe a lot of what was written millennia ago. I am gay and happy to be gay.

Ah, see lah. Again, typical millennial mindset of “we can do whatever we want; as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone and we’re happy.” 
 

tbh Curious, I’m a gay myself as well; I understand the frustrations but it’s our own decision. We don’t have to follow what exactly the Bible has instructed us to do, but once we’ve decided to be ourselves, whatever the outcome is, we have to bear it ourselves.

[Guest Guest Curious]

30 minutes ago, Guest Habis Cerita said:

I’m a gay myself as well; I understand the frustrations but it’s our own decision. We don’t have to follow what exactly the Bible has instructed us to do, but once we’ve decided to be ourselves, whatever the outcome is, we have to bear it ourselves.

Totally agree.

[Guest puzzled]

4 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

Please remember that Christianity also condemns suicide.

 

So in your desperation for being so full of sin being a gay and afraid to know Christ's deep homophobia, please don't resort to taking your life!  

 

For somebody who boasts about his understanding of "spirituality", and claims he is Christian, Agnostic, Catholic and Buddhist all at the same time in his earlier posts, u seem awfully un-spiritual. I see you are engaged in so many petty arguments in so many threads on BW, always wanting to have the last word, often with this know-it-all attitude. Why don't u spend more time doing charity work, instead of arguing all the time with asian boys half your age on the other side of the world? I hope I am more mature than you when I reach your age...

[Guest Congratulations]

2 hours ago, Guest Habis Cerita said:

Ah, see lah. Again, typical millennial mindset of “we can do whatever we want; as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone and we’re happy.” 
 

tbh Curious, I’m a gay myself as well; I understand the frustrations but it’s our own decision. We don’t have to follow what exactly the Bible has instructed us to do, but once we’ve decided to be ourselves, whatever the outcome is, we have to bear it ourselves.

Typical fundamentalist mindset. Even worse than love the sinner hate the sin.

[Guest Passive aggression?]

"whatever the outcome is, we have to bear it ourselves."

 

I don't know about you, but that sounds like an EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL, A PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE THREAT to me. 

 

A precursor to vengeance or aggression even, particularly alarming especially when spoken by women folks and terrorists.

 

Fundamentalists are talibans in disguise?

 

 

 

 

[Guest Habis Cerita]

18 minutes ago, Guest Congratulations said:

Typical fundamentalist mindset. Even worse than love the sinner hate the sin.

At least I expressed my genuine decision, rather than "tweaking", "finding loopholes to justify being gay is non-problematic". 
Just accept the fact, straight to the point, don't keep twisting the fact just to fit in our own "mindset".

[Guest cleansed]

Whatever your struggles, just know that ALL your sins (past, present & future sins included) have been forgiven by God, if u have received Jesus Christ as your savior.

 

Christ's holy, sinless blood shed at the cross for us has washed away all our sins for all time. His atoning sacrifice is a perfect work that stands outside of time itself (God Himself exists outside of time, in an eternal state, and in fact He is the One who created Time. Time does not exist in heaven, like on earth. If u study quantum mechanics or the theory of relativity, u might understand. Time is just  the 4th dimension and there are possibly up to 11 dimensions, as discovered by mathematicians and physicists. That is why God knows the end from the beginning.) The bible describes Christ as the sacrificial lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.

 

And Christ was raised on the 3rd day on account of us having been justified. If our sins were not fully paid, He would not have been raised. Just before he breathed out his last breath on the cross, He cried "It is Finished!", meaning all our sins have been fully paid for. Now He is seated at the Father's right hand in heaven. And yes, He is coming back very soon to earth, this time He will be returning as King to judge the earth. The first time He came was as a servant 2000 years ago, to teach, to heal and to love. We are living in the last days, folks, the prophetic signs are all around us -- Pandemic, exponential increase in earthquakes over the last 50 years, self-love & idolatry due to social media, rise of global financial system & the soon-to-be implemented Mark (of the Beast?) system (by Bill Gates?) controlling who can buy & sell. The current worldwide vaccination drive is just the dress rehearsal.

 

Anyway, if you are already saved in Christ, you don't have to worry about anything. As Christians, we will all be raptured into heaven before it happens, before the 7-year tribulation starts. As for now, just live for today and don't worry about what tmr brings. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

 

 

 

[Guest Boomdar!]

6 minutes ago, Guest Habis Cerita said:

At least I expressed my genuine decision, rather than "tweaking", "finding loopholes to justify being gay is non-problematic". 
Just accept the fact, straight to the point, don't keep twisting the fact just to fit in our own "mindset".

Bible (or quran) thumper spotted!

 

I suppose you believe everything said in the old testament too? Good for you! Now I must be talking to a boomer? OK my hand is free to listen to you. ✋

[Guest Habis Cerita]

hah! You guessed it wrong. I'm in my 20s btw.

[Guest Church mouse]

On 3/30/2021 at 7:04 PM, Guest guest said:

PS Just to add -- yes, faith cannot be forced, of course. It is a natural response from us -- not out of fear -- rather it is a response to the most awesome love ever demonstrated towards us by God himself when He died on the cross for our sins, and rose again 3 days later. Jesus has already done all the hard work and offers Himself freely to you. There is nothing we need to do, except be willing to receive Him (by believing).

Except belief cannot be willed. It is not a consent to be given, but a reaction to truth with evidence.

 

You are talking about faith. More specifically, blind faith in a specific religion. Whatever words you want to use, that story is unverifiable. It cannot be a true belief when the facts can never be verified!

 

The right word to describe this is superstition, not belief.

 

To call a superstition a belief is intellectually disingenuous, when calling it "faith" is already quite the stretch.

[Guest insider]

13 hours ago, Guest lol said:

 Pastor Prince stays in condo only lei, and only because he needs to maintain 

 

As for the guest who speculated about Pastor Prince being financed through other methods by the church -- U have any solid proof? This is Singapore you know... any hanky panky would have been detected by CPIB already, considering how big the church is, and especially after the City Harvest saga. There are various independent auditors auditing the church finances as well, so unless u have evidence...

 

Guess that's a bit too simplistic. 

 

Since when do the authorities in Singapore look into every single commercial transactions? Churches are not under any special or more stringent scrutiny by the authorities and not comparable to charities. Singapore doesn't even have the much authority to look into transactions of overseas companies. City Harvest might have been too focussed to siphon off monies into the church leader's own pockets under a sham scheme but it doesn't mean all transactions of New Creation church are justified or not purported to disguise money flows to certain people of this church or the pastors. Companies can pay dividends to shareholders if there are accumulated profits. It's as simple as such. It might not look fishy but it could still be fishy or massively inappropriate.

 

The main irritating point to me is the fact that Pastor Prince's monthly electricity bill in his personal home is triple the average monthly salary of his church members. 

 

Third: The focus of churches should not be in money accumulation and commercial business. 

 

Despite that New Creation church does not run any hospitals, senior citizen home or elderly care centers and the little amount of monies going into charity is striking low. For what purposes does New Creation church collect 122 mil from their members?

 

If churches or other religions are run as a business, then what to they sell? I think such behaviour is going into the wrong direction and objectionable. It is against the true spirit of the religion. 

 

To me it would constitute a clear deterrent to join such church. 

 

More stringent transparency by the authorities would surely be required to scrutinise such religious organisations. 

 

[Guest Hihi]

1 hour ago, Guest Church mouse said:

 

“Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

 

If the evidence can already be seen, then faith is no longer needed. It will be knowledge based on sight instead, not faith.

[Guest CSI]

Wow guest insider, u even know pastor prince's electricity bill?? R u sure ur sources are legit?? It's a pity u don't join the CSI, FBI, CIA or CID... Why waste your snooping talents on a humble platform like Blowing Wind, seriously....

 

Last year, I think NCC spent most of their money on purchasing over the Star Vista building from Capitaland. It was all over the news, or have u not heard? And don't forget that the pandemic happened last year.... And a church doesn't have shareholders la, it's not a listed company. This shows how dubious your claims are, just wild conjectures at best...

 

 Every year, the church also sponsors a lot of charitable organizations all around the WORLD, including in countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Phillipines, China, the list goes on... Here are some examples:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AL7Kxr-t1c

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGfdYc991DU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Fs_m9ksc0

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GcgeZU35d0

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICwiBXdu_dw

 

The last 2 links are healing testimonies. Enjoy!

[Guest share]

 

[Guest hehehe]

NCC wouldn't take the path of what City Harvest did.  Their preaching is pretty safe and they don't talk about compulsory tilthing but up to individual's will and ability to donate.   Unlike City Harvest, the staged show presentation is pretty decent with young boys playing piano or a girl playing harp or violin.  Sometime, there are dances and the songs are not really screamy unlike the rock n roll we heard in the west.

 

Most of the time, they talked about bible, the scriptures and its interpretation.  NCC sermons are almost like a bible study class.   They presented slides after slides of the verses in question and then provide answers using the bible verses instead of self guessing nor based on individual preferred perception.  Hebrew and Greek words were added to extract the "juice" out of English words in the bible    JP will repeat quite regularly the same subject, may be boring to some,  in order to drive home (& internationally) that Mosses era is over.  His books basically cover all his sermons throughout the decade and reading them is as good as knowing what he will be preaching without attending the sermons.  According to his preaching, the bible is basically just a very few important points to take note and those points were highlighted from Genesis up to the book of Revalation very consistently, making bible very easy to understand and less harsh.   He once covered the entire bible within less than 2 hours , books by books, during one sunday sermon.  It was an eye opener for those who attended the sermons that day and a shocking surprise to many, including me a non christian.  You don't need to bring a bible with you.  Just sit down and listen.  Sometime, I felt like his preaching was targetted at people who are believers and non believers which make the entire sermons quite interesting and entertaining to watch.  It is ok if you don't like the singing part if you are not a good singer.  Just keep quiet...hahaha

 

As for the donation money.  I think the bulk went to pay for rental and utitlties as we know there are several theatres they rented on Sunday for the whole day (prior to pandemic).  Other cost are the staff salaries,  stage shows and video shoots and god knows what else because there were other international involvements in evangelical sense that may involve cost of advertisements and media coverage.   I think JP mainly earn from selling his books as well as operating a store called "ROCK.  I don't discount that other sincere wealthy christians willing to donate to him personally for liking his preaching.  

 

NCC bought Star vista for the sake of their massive sheeps during Sunday.  This enable them to have absolute control over the carpark capacity and specially reserved for the Church goers.  If Star Vista is controlled by other entity,  NCC will have no control over the use of parking space during sunday sermons.

 

The above, is my opinion and thru some hearsay.  

 

[Steve5380]

10 hours ago, Guest Guest Curious said:

We are living in 2021 - not the first century or even much earlier when many of the exhortations against gay behaviour and other "sins" are alleged to have been written. Where is there any proof? If gay guys actually believe "rules" about sin that were allegedly laid down by tiny tribal societies at that time living in just a speck of our huge globe and with absolutely no idea what existed in the rest of that globe, then why stop them? Don't they realise that the interpretations of what has been written down often centuries after the events they describe are capable of many variations? If not, how come the church of Jesus, a Jew, has split into Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox branches as well as many other smaller and often dubious sects. 

 

I think we should each believe what we wish to believe and what makes our life feel meaningful and valuable. I just can not believe a lot of what was written millennia ago. I am gay and happy to be gay.

 

I agree.  What believers have to substantiate their beliefs is hearsay.  And not much more.   Some historic references in scriptures can be independently verified, but all the rest comes from the thinking of the writers,  and we know the vast differences between thoughts and realities.  One example that always comes to mind is the letter to the Romans by apostle Paul.  What he describes of the people he saw in Rome and his judgment of their acts bears no resemblance to what we typical gays are today.  We are not what is described there:

 

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^zGod gave them up to ^aa debased mind to do ^bwhat ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know ^cGod’s righteous decree that those who practice such things ^ddeserve to die, they not only do them but ^egive approval to those who practice them.

 

Yet organized religions take what Paul wrote to justify their condemnation of gays and their calling us "sinful".   

Why some religious people don't abandon their BLIND faith and do a little investigation of where these condemnations come from? 

And why some gay people like us don't set our goals to live a life of happiness, while taking guide in some good philosophies like the one of Jesus Christ?  All the rest can be religiousness NOISE.  

 

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, Guest share said:

 

 

HOW INTERESTING!   I didn't know that Joseph Prince had come to Houston and preached at the Lakewood Church, the one so close to my home.   The AURA of his preaching could have crossed the freeway and entered my house too,  ha ha.

 

This gives me a better idea of the New Creation Church.  Prince seems like a carbon copy (but better looking) of pastor Joel Osteen,  the same slick velvet voice preaching so beautifully...   I can be pleased listening to the two of them, recognizing that they are simply ACTORS.  Well trained in "religious acting",  like some famous actors train in the works of Shakespeare. Nothing holy in them.  And their stories can be more entertaining than the old Shakespeare dramas.  I can filter out any useful self-help in their preaching from their standard filling of supernatural stuff.

.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Steve5380

[Guest My Angelic thought]

9 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

HOW INTERESTING!   I didn't know that Joseph Prince had come to Houston and preached at the Lakewood Church, the one so close to my home. 

 

I have nothing much to say about Joel Osteen and his wife.  I do know that Pastor Joseph need to use Lakewood, as platform to "lecture" American Christians and dilute the White supremacy traits so rooted in the caucasian genes.   As such, he was seen constantly massaging Joel Osteen ego during the preachng because I doubt Joel has the same intense biblical knowlege as Joseph Prince.   Furthermore, he has made friend with TBN's host,  Matt and Laurie Crouch, to reach out internationally and the entire Christian Kingdom has slowly changed from sin basher to grace lover.  It is a grace revolution.   Pope Francis is a little too late in catching up, may be the whole catholicism has not fully grasped the nuance of the whole biblical text, at least not their sheeps who just wanted to kiss the hands of their pope and treated him like God to be adored, endeared and exalted.  Do catholicism even put Jesus at the center of the whole ritualistic and formalities of any of their event and even when they pray - from written catholics booklets?  I don't think you know too.

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, Guest My Angelic thought said:

 

 Do catholicism even put Jesus at the center of the whole ritualistic and formalities of any of their event and even when they pray - from written catholics booklets?  I don't think you know too.

 

 

I know it perfectly well.  I was educated for 10 years in Catholic schools.

 

Catholicism puts Jesus Christ at the absolute center of the doctrine and the ritual.  The Mass is the ritual that celebrates the life of Jesus,  its central part is the recreation of the "last supper" with the eucharist, or communion, where the blessed hosts and wine are transformed into the flesh and blood of Jesus and ingested by the attendants. It is part of the Catholic dogma that Jesus is present in person in every celebration of the Mass.

[Guest yoy]

I think the Pope once said that u didn't need to believe in Jesus to be saved, as quoted in the media??!! Be careful of wolf in sheep's clothing, guys! Christianity & Catholicism are 2 very different things. True Christianity started with the first churches during Jesus' time. Catholicism only came later around 300 A.D. and was started with Emperor Constantine of Rome declaring himself as the 1st Pope and head of the church, in order to control the burgeoning Christian population as he was afraid of their influence. As for Protestantism, it is a movement to return to the pure, unadulterated gospel as presented in the bible and practiced by the first disciples of Jesus, and the movement was led by Martin Luther in the 15th century. This is because he believed the Catholic church had strayed so far away from the original teachings of Jesus.

 

For example, do u know Catholicism has its own Constitution (like the American constitution for instance) with so many man-made rules & regulations that were never in the bible in the first place? For example, the vow of celibacy among priests is a requirement that was never stated in the bible. The Vatican is the richest religious organization in the world, with 1 billion followers around the world, but as exposed in the media, there is much corruption and paedophilia among its priests. In Catholicism, they call the priest "Father". However, Jesus himself said, "And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven." (Matthew 23:9).
Many bible end-times prophecy scholars have speculated that the current pope might be the so-called "False Prophet" who is in cahoots with the very soon-to-be revealed Anti-Christ. Both these figures are major players during the last days, as prophesied in the Book of Revelations which is the last chapter of the bible dealing with end-times events.

[Guest yoy]

And during Holy Communion, the bread does not transform into Jesus' flesh, nor does the wine into Jesus' blood, as believed by Catholics. Otherwise, we would all be cannibals and vampires!!

 

Holy Communion is not a ritual, but rather it is a time of fellowship and intimacy with Jesus, remembering what He did at the cross for us.

The bread and the wine are symbols of Jesus' flesh and blood, yes, and as symbols they are very powerful reminders of Christ's sacrifice, enabling us to receive all that Christ has purchased for us through the cross -- healing and salvation.

 

Happy Good Friday!!!

[Guest Boomdar]

19 hours ago, Guest Habis Cerita said:

hah! You guessed it wrong. I'm in my 20s btw.

Am I right that you are a bible, or even quran thumper then? NOW which one are you? 🙂

[Guest yoy]

And just to add -- True Christianity is about believing in Jesus and his sacrifice at the cross, and just accepting his free offer of salvation (i.e. salvation by Grace).

 

For Catholicism, it's salvation that is based more on your own efforts (i.e. salvation by works) --  u have to confess your sins regularly to a priest and get him to forgive u of your sins, u have to do charity works, u have to attend mass etc. U also pray to various saints like Mary, St Peter, St Francis, St John etc, instead of just praying to Jesus or God directly. If u have visited the various Catholic churches in Europe, u can see that they are often filled with statues of all these saints.

 

God states clearly in the bible, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:3-4).

 

Jesus also teaches, "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined." (Luke 5:37). New wine refers to (salvation by) Grace, and the old wineskins refer to (salvation by) Works. U cannot mix Grace & Works, because they cancel each other out. As the apostle Paul puts it, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace." (Romans 11:6).

 

Grace means it is free -- salvation freely given! U cannot earn it based on your self-efforts. In fact, the bible says that "all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment" (Isaiah 64:6). For example, u might assume your motives are pure when u perform some act of charity, but honestly, we might just not be aware of our own pride & self-aggrandizement hidden deep within our hearts in the process.

 

 

[Guest Habis Cerita]

1 hour ago, Guest Boomdar said:

Am I right that you are a bible, or even quran thumper then? NOW which one are you? 🙂

Now my question for you: are you finding loopholes again? 🙂 sad that you keep 转牛角尖. Just accept it

[Guest Boomdar]

5 minutes ago, Guest Habis Cerita said:

Now my question for you: are you finding loopholes again? 🙂 sad that you keep 转牛角尖. Just accept it

I no need to find. The bible is full of holes in all sorts of places. Allegories? More like fundamentalism. Bore by "worms". Not by humans. 

[Guest Habis Cerita]

11 minutes ago, Guest Boomdar said:

I no need to find. The bible is full of holes in all sorts of places. Allegories? More like fundamentalism. Bore by "worms". Not by humans. 

Now you’re finding the “holes”. Since you want to justify your “worms”, mind giving a few statements or examples from it? I don’t mind going hours with you just to help you understand them; coupled with the repliers above, I’m sure there are many “justifications” that you’re looking for I guess. 

[Guest Boomdar]

52 minutes ago, Guest Habis Cerita said:

Now you’re finding the “holes”. Since you want to justify your “worms”, mind giving a few statements or examples from it? I don’t mind going hours with you just to help you understand them; coupled with the repliers above, I’m sure there are many “justifications” that you’re looking for I guess. 

Enough holes as there are in the Bible. Just do a Google search yourself. Rabbit holes can go very deep. Not in the mood to entertain a fundamentalist.

[Guest Habis Cerita]

5 minutes ago, Guest Boomdar said:

Enough holes as there are in the Bible. Just do a Google search yourself. Rabbit holes can go very deep. Not in the mood to entertain a fundamentalist.

Haha, 来了. Your last sentence speaks it all, typical mindset of “entitled to own opinion” as expected. I wish you all the best 

[Guest Guest Curious]

On 3/31/2021 at 12:47 PM, Guest blessed said:

1. The articles shared earlier indicate that Pastor Prince has not drawn any salary from the church since 2009. All his income is derived from the sale of his books and sermon CDs. In fact, he also contributes a huge portion of his income every year to the church instead. All of this is evident in the financial records of the church.

 

2. He also has far less than the $5 million reported in the media. Whatever amount of money he has is none of our business anyway. He works hard preaching every Sunday, leading the church, and releases on average 1 new book every 2 years. Some of his books have also appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. I encourage you to get his book "Destined to Reign". It has changed many lives around the world for the better, including mine, by teaching the gospel in an accurate manner as originally recorded in the bible by its various authors through the inspiration of God.

I am merely curious when I see statements that I find sometimes a bit odd. I admit I have struggled to find a belief in Jesus. As the world celebrates Easter, I am unable to work out why the death on the cross of one man - a man I do believe actually existed - should have been for the purpose of forgiving my sins. Why my sins? Why the sins of the Nazis who murdered 6 million Jews in cold blood? Why the sins of the Khmer Rouge who massacred 1.5 million - perhaps more - of their own countrymen? Where was Jesus then? History throws up so many examples. Why in the name of Jesus were the Aztecs and the Incas in the Americas all but wiped out - more than ten million ordinary men and women killed by the sword or the diseases brought to their lands? I am sure @Guest blessed will have been asked this many times. I have never found a satisfactory answer, the more so when I am told that Jesus was the son of the God of Love.

 

As to the two points I have marked above, I have other questions.

 

Why is it that non-traditional churches and sects are always so ultra secretive about their finances? That immediately makes me suspicious. The Straits Times article cites a considerable number of revenues earned by the Church and allegedly by the Pastor. US$50,000 monthly was claimed as his salary before 2009. This has been rubbished by some. Why? Given the very murky finances found in many similar evangelical organisations - remember City Harvest Church? - why are the finances not transparent to everyone? If his total wealth then was less than the alleged US$5 million, why not simply tell people. Jesus favoured the poor over the rich and the money lenders. The Pastor does not need to be poor. But why hide his income?

 

After all, the gentleman does not really do very much work despite what @Guest blessed states. So he preaches on a Sunday. That's one day. It cannot take more than a few hours to write a sermon.  So he writes books. Other people write books as well and certainly do not take 2 years to do so. I looked up "Destined to Reign" on amazon to check on the reviews. At first glance it appears popular with an overall 5 star rating. Well, I also check a site called Tripadvisor when I travel to get an idea of the ratings for hotels in cities where I might be staying. Some years ago after reading a detailed expose of several travel related review sites in Business Traveller magazine, I realised that Tripadvisor is packed with a considerable number of fake reviews. It did not take me long to discover that most of these were just one line reviews (two at most.) "Great stay - keep up the good standards". "Loved the pool, will return next time." You get my drift. Thereafter, I totally discount one and two line reviews along with the best and the worst reviews. That mostly gives me a pretty good idea of the property.

 

Well, guess what? Looking at the reviews for Pastor Joseph's "Destined to Reign". In the USA edition of the amazon website, 91% of reviews are 5 stars. BUT 6 of the eight are just one line or two lines. Less than 20 words and including phrases like "I am glad I bought it", "I had to order another", "A life changer", "Great price and a great book to read", "The shipping was fast", "Excellent book". I won't go on because in my view most of those 5 star reviews are probably fake.

 

Back to finances. Of his 20 books, how much did he make? One did indeed reach No. 2 in the New York Times best seller list. But that means nothing without knowing who actually bought the books. It is perfectly simple to go to several of the bookstores whose reporting helps create the NYT best seller list and have hand picked people purchase a couple of hundred at each. But let's assume this purchases were real purchases. For a time the paperback version cost double that for a standard paperback in the USA - US$14.40. Why? Why is it a secret what he earns from these books? He is also President of Joseph Prince Ministries, allegedly a non-profit, which produces TV religious programmes broadcast, it is claimed, in more than 200 countries. That factually can not be true since there are less than 200 countries in the world today! I wonder what the penguins in Antarctica make of his sermons? Odd, is it not, that this Ministries company is based not in Singapore but far away in the USA? In the tax document found by the Straits Times, in its 2012 tax filing that organisation reported an income of US$27.6 million. How much of that money is spent and and how much of it was profit? Does it pay US taxes? Many allegedly religious organisations in the USA do not have to pay tax.

 

Still on finance, the Church's Singapore business arm Rock Productions owns and manages the S$500 million Star Performing Arts Centre in the mall in Bueno Vista. In 2001 Rock Productions also paid S$10 million for a recreational and restaurant cluster in the East Coast Parkway. The Church is also a powerhouse fundraiser. In one day alone in 2010 it raised S$21 million, breaking its earlier record of S$19 million in 2009. Where does all that money go? Do church members never think to ask?

 

Then there is his obvious vanity. Not unusual, I know, in most performers. But I wonder why the photographs of him on his book covers and the family portrait on the Church website have been so obviously photoshopped to make him look a good 20 years younger? Did Jesus approve of vanity? I thought not.

 

As stated, I am curious and would love to have some answers.