Pastor Kong Hee from City Harvest Church quoting from the Bible and sharing ten reasons why he thinks Jesus was very rich:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7-NpDVnp-0&t=312s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOc-BU0g2c
Clearly, prosperity theology. Via wikipedia:
“Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel or the health and wealth gospel) is a Christian religious doctrine which claims the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians. The doctrine teaches that faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will always increase one’s material wealth.”
The more you donate, the wealthier you will become. The more you donate, Pastor Kong Hee’s wife, Sun Ho, can make more secular music videos like these two below via the “Crossover Project”:
I found an article published by City Harvest Church’s City News summing up the success of the controversial Crossover Project over the past ten years. Here are some interesting highlights and claims:
– God was said to speak directly with Kong Hee four times to “cross over” to the secular world and promote Christianity via his wife, Sun Ho.
– Taiwan’s Christian population has more than doubled, from a mere three percent to 10 percent in 10 years, thanks to the Crossover Project.
– The Crossover Project helped converted “Teddy”, a notorious leader of a gang and owner of one of the largest nightclubs in Hong Kong.
– In Kuala Lumpur, Sun Ho’s secular concerts in 2003 sparked a revival in City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur (CHCKL). Today, CHCKL is one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant churches in Malaysia.
– In Indonesia, people “broke down the doors and pushed their way into Sun Ho’s concerts”.
– In Singapore, Sun Ho performed 14 times over one weekend at the church’s premises at Jurong West. Over two days, 30,700 people came, and 10,140 salvation decisions were recorded.
– Twenty-five months after the Crossover Project was launched, Sun had performed more than 100 concerts to about half a million people, and out of that, almost 140,000 gave their hearts to Christ.
Based on the numbers from the article, it costs the church S$23 million to reach half a million people and convert 140,000 of them. That works out to S$46 to reach out to one person and around S$164 to convert one person via the Crossover Project.
If each of the 140,000 newly converted makes a monthly income of S$3,070 (based on Singapore’s median monthly income in 2011) and donates 10 percent to the church each…
This gives an additional S$43 million in church revenue each month! You can get back the paltry S$23 million invested over three years in just A SINGLE MONTH!
Even if I based my calculations on the 33,000 church members that City Harvest Church currently has in Singapore, that works out to over S$10 million a month (33,000 x S$307) in donations. The amount spent on the Crossover Project is just two and a half months of pocket change to the mega church. Spread over a period of three years, it is probably a drop in the ocean.
I am afraid I am the one who DO NOT HAVE A SENSE OF PROPORTION.
Wow.
Impressive marketing!
If only there was an accreditation firm like TNS or Nielsen to back-up the numbers, that will give a resounding confirmation on the high ROI for every cent donated and spent.
CHC members pls read : Luke 12:1-3 “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” May God’s light shine on all of you and the truth will set you free.
I watched a few minutes of the sermon and I wanna throw up. So creepy.
Was Jesus rich (materially)? See:
http://www.letusreason.org/wf15.htm and http://www.gotquestions.org/was-Jesus-rich.html
Only those preaching “prosperity gospel” say Jesus was materially rich!
The rich young ruler came to Jesus and he responded by telling to him to give all his riches to the poor and follow him. Was Jesus telling him to rid himself of riches while he actually possessed them Himself? Would he ask someone to do something he himself would not? Kong Hee would right.
I could only watch 5mins of Kong Hee’s sermon on “Was Jesus Poor?”. I stopped because he seems to be justifying all his actions by reference to what Jesus did. Jesus was the Son of God, Kong Hee isn’t. It almost feels as if he thinks he is Jesus and therefore entitled to behave the same way. I also feel that his use and interpretation of Bible quotes are very warped.
holy……….shit!!!!!!!
Why Kong did not say give to the poor of the church?
Can Kong tell us where in the New Testament Jesus, Paul or others instruct believers to sow seeds (to read money) as the means to financial prosperity?
Kong seems to have interpreted Bible verses as he sees fit to suit his message of separating believers from their money.
Sun Ho doesn’t know im fapping to her videos… tee hee
Thanks pastor!
Neither early church sources nor Jewish historians are of the opinion Jesus was rich. If he was indeed so, Jewish aristocracy would not hound him and treated him as a royalty. There was an incident when Jesus had to ask his disciple to catch a fish, and find a coin in it to pay for a tax/toll. Jesus also didn’t have his own tomb. He had to be laid on another Jewish rich man’s tomb. All rich Jewish men had their own tombs prepared.