The CHC Saga

While we must encourage and support the church in the course of fulfilling its calling, it is also every Believer's duty to speak out against false doctrines within their capacity, otherwise the church will  eventually be  corroded.  I believe the leaders of City Harvest Church ( CHC ) were passionate and sincere in their mission to preach the gospel and reach out to as many lost souls possible. Without a shadow of doubt, much good has come out of CHC &  many souls have been saved . So how did a ministry that began sincerely end up in the grave situation that it is in today where its Senior Pastor & Founder Kong Hee have been found guilty in Singapore courts of misappropriating S$50.6 million of church funds.? Well,  the truth is CHC has landed itself in this hot soup by preaching & practicing the following two erroneous & false doctrines :

1. That God requires 10% of a person's  monthly income ( Tithing )

2. That it is necessary to construct a building  or a 'house for God' , hence members should contribute financially to build it

CHC, ( like many other congregations in Singapore)  teaches that a Believer should give 10% of their monthly income to the congregation they belong to. This erroneous tithing doctrine is  false, unbiblical, & a huge LIE. All the scripture passages used by leaders to  justify tithing have been twisted & taken totally OUT OF CONTEXT . Here is some evidence

The second false teaching is that Yahweh God needs a building, hence the necessity to collect  church building funds. So many gullible people have believed this other big lie.  The church is a living organism ( ekkelisa ), and Yahweh God dwells IN HIS PEOPLE.  He does not  dwell in buildings made with man's hands - see a building is NOT a church  .  These are two of the major false doctrines that contributed to CHC's present troubles. Both of them involve money - huge sums of it . But why do so many  in the church succumb to these two erroneous doctrines when they are not biblical?

1) Most Believers have a huge amount of trust in their leaders. After all, we assume they have been placed in position by God & are accountable only to Him. Christians are taught to be absolutely obedient and submit to their leaders under all  circumstances - this is a cultic mindset .  Yes, we are to heed the instructions of those who guard over us, but to submit blindly to your leader is far from Biblical.

The clergy  calls the shots  in the running of the church, & the laity allow them this freedom because of their theological training. But does attending bible college or being a formally trained pastor somehow make them less susceptible to error? No it doesn’t.  The Bible itself constantly warns us of false doctrines & preachers. The point is obvious: Bible education does not insulate a man from error.

2) Spiritual apathy among Believers. Many Believers attend services each week, going through the motion as an obligation. Some treat it as a club or social ground to advance their personal relationships or business interests.  We need to search the Scriptures to see if what we are fed from the pulpit is biblical for wrong believing will lead to wrong action.  Spiritual apathy is one main reason why preachers who preach false doctrines get away with it.

So far, there has been no real diagnosis of the problem at CHC by christian leaders . One of the exception is  Rev Paul Choo. But why only one leader ? More should have the  balls to speak out when people are being led astray through false teaching because evil runs rampant when good men keep silent !




Did we get our facts wrong on this page ? We would like to be factual as we can on Detox . If there is any information here that is inaccurate, please inform us .  All constructive criticism will be appreciated.

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