By: Gera Shen
Back then there was a man (yes, Mr Roland Poon) who told the public about the church forcing members to buy Sun Ho’s albums, of which he was fiercely dealt with in church. His cell group leader and mentor rebuked him to no end, his cell group members ostracised him.
Of which then he was pressured to give a public apology to the (City Harvest) church and was definitely treated differently. And to give due credit, Kong Hee did announce in service to forgive and accept him back.
However this social outcasting happened to me when I started asking questions. I started mentally calculating how much money the church was making (10% tithe + offerings of $2 at a conservative amount of per pax), it gave me a rather high number. After thinking through it all, I realised every month the church should have a bit of money left after operational costs. Then why did they constantly ask for money all the time? So how much were they paying the pastors? What else are they spending on? Shouldn’t the leftover money be put into the church’s own building fund, instead of asking for more from the people? Wasn’t the money given to God, for God’s people?
They also showed how well Sun Ho was doing overseas – claiming she was popular in Taiwan and America. Showing us hit charts where she was #1. To me, if she was so popular… Then why did the church make everyone buy about 9-12 albums each to support her? So with the help of the Internet, I went to look around. Only to find that every weekend I was buying into a scam. I chatted up some Americans on IRC and asked about Sun Ho, where 100% response I got was along the lines of, “Who the f**k is that?”
They said the money goes to God. Fantastic. So tell me, do you actually give the money to God? I’m sure our Earthly money means to nothing to Him, who is in Heaven. So if you don’t actually give the money to God… What on Earth do you spend on that you deem worthy enough to be ‘God’?
It was just downright ludicrous.
If they did things the public disapproved of, they’ll say that Jesus also faced this and they need to move on. The devil was fighting against them. Resistance meant they were doing the right thing.
If they did things the public approved of, they’ll shout Hallelujah and how they are bringing God to the world.
In full honesty, they did very good marketing right there. They brainwashed the people into believing every single thing they did, no matter what other facts might state. The people in the church aren’t the bad guys – they were just steered the wrong direction.
To me, I saw the devil doing an excellent job there. I saw so many people leave and strongly shutting their hearts away from the very idea of God. And I saw how those people in church don’t worship God; they worship Kong Hee and the prosperity gospel they’re fed.
Feeling frustrated and powerless, I left and prayed, “God, if You do exist – please save these people.”
I’m thankful for the strength Mr Roland Poon found to stand up for what he believes in, despite all the opposing forces. And I’m glad that at least there’s a little justice out there.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Excerpted from Read Gera Shen’s blog entry ‘9 Reasons Why City Harvest Church Was the Devil To Me‘. Read full article here: http://bit.ly/2cB8s6G.
The High Court found six leaders of City Harvest Church (CHC) guilty of using $24 million belonging to the Church to fund the music career of Sun Ho. The trial judge said they were “effectively putting CHC’s funds into their own hands to use as needed” despite being “not authorised” and handed them jail terms of between 21 months and 8 years. The church leaders are appealing their convictions in the Court of Three Judges.