3 Open Letters to National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) by Daniel Tay, Elder David Ng Tah Wee, Rev Lawrence Yam (Dated 1 Oct 2021)
Open Letter to NCCS – by Daniel Tay (Ex New Creation Church Member)
(This letter was also sent to the General Secretary, NCCS office)
Dear Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian (General Secretary of NCCS),
I have been a Christian for about 35 years. I have been to Baptist, Methodist and Assembly of God churches. Even though they are different denominations with their unique doctrinal emphases, the fundamental teachings are the same.
However, when I was in New Creation Church, the church that Joseph Prince pastors, I was very surprised because many of his doctrines are the opposite of all the basic Christian teachings of evangelical churches.
First, every denomination teaches that 1 John 1:9 was written to believers to confess their sins to be forgiven. But Joseph Prince says that 1 John 1:9 was written to unbelievers. To him, it is a verse for unbelievers to pray to receive Christ and not for believers to confess their sins.
Pastors of evangelical churches have all encouraged believers to confess their sins and get right with God from time to time. But Joseph Prince teaches that if a believer confesses his sins, he is insulting God as all his past, present and future sins have already been forgiven.
Just imagine, what’s going to happen to the loads of unconfessed sins of those who embrace Joseph Prince’s heresies? Disappear into thin air? That it doesn’t really matter after all whether they confessed their sins or not. If it doesn’t matter, then why did God put 1 John 1:9 in the Bible in the first place? It makes a mockery of 1 John 1:9. Would such a teaching that there are no more sins to be confessed to God lead believers, especially new believers and weaker Christians, to take a flippant attitude towards sin and cause them to sin even more? If so, the consequences would be horrendous.
Second, Joseph Prince and his pastors keep repeating to the congregation that all past, present and future sins are already forgiven without the need to confess them. He reinforces this teaching by saying that the blood of Jesus is very expensive and Jesus’ blood can cover a lot more sins than we can commit. This may seem to be correct. But what he is also implying is that we can sin as much as we want; no problem because Christ’s blood on the cross has already forgiven every of our future sins.
But what many churches also teach is that “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (Heb 10:26-27 NIV). Joseph Prince twisted these 2 verses in Hebrews 10:26-27 to mean something else than what they plainly mean.
During one sermon at a worship service which I attended at New Creation Church, Joseph Prince said something to this effect, “God is blind to our sins and He cannot see our sins even though we are sinning against Him because of Christ’s blood. So, there is no need to worry about our sins because they have all been forgiven at the cross and there is no need to repent of our sins from the time we accept Christ as Saviour.” This, obviously, isn’t the teaching of true grace but an abuse of God’s grace.
Third, all evangelical churches teach that though the Holy Spirit doesn’t condemn, He comes to convict us of our sins. But Joseph Prince teaches the reverse. He says the Holy Spirit will never convict us of our sins but it is the devil who does it and he does a good or better job at that. Isn’t this blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, making Him the devil who convicts us of our sins? How can one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit not be a heretic?
Fourth, evangelical churches teach that while the ceremonial law is no longer in force, the moral law in the Ten Commandments is still binding on us. What is damaging to his own character is that Joseph Prince purposely and frequently keeps lying. He keeps lying by misrepresenting our views that we teach that we are saved by the law and we have rejected being saved by grace. But no evangelical church would teach we are saved by the law. They teach that we are saved by grace and after we become a Christian, we are to obey God’s laws. But Joseph Prince deliberately keeps lying to pervert our views about being saved by the law to his congregation so that they would be deceived into accepting his so-called ‘right doctrine of grace’.
On the other hand, Joseph Prince leads people towards lawlessness and to their eternal destruction. He says there are no more moral laws of God to obey. But Matthew 7:21-23 clearly indicates that those who are lawless will not enter God’s Kingdom. How can one who leads people to lawlessness and eternal destruction not be a heretic?
I once heard one of the most absurd statements in a sermon at New Creation Church from Joseph Prince in his crusade against the law. He said that if we go to the Law and also go to Grace, we have committed spiritual adultery. This is a very serious allegation against all evangelical churches; that we are spiritual adulterers. This is also a sacrilegious attack against God. We must remember that the moral law which was given by God is still binding on New Covenant believers, and yet, he dared to utter such irreverence not only against the law but also against God Himself who is the giver of the Law.
Fifth, Joseph Prince teaches that it is the covenantal right for every believer to be very wealthy as Abraham was. There was one Sunday I heard him teach that if we sit under him and believe his grace teachings, we will be very blessed and will become millionaires. We all know that such teachings will only breed covetousness and greed.
But I’ve never heard any church teach wealth in this twisted way that Joseph Prince does. While there is nothing wrong to be wealthy as God chooses to bless whoever He wants, no true evangelical church will teach that every believer has the right to be and must be very rich. In fact, the Apostle Paul warned that greed and the desire to get rich would plunge people into ruin and destruction (1 Tim 6:6-10 NIV). This means that Joseph Prince’s teaching on wealth that leads to greed will lead people to their eternal destruction. How can one who leads people to destruction not be a heretic?
Sixth, Joseph Prince teaches that the Holy Communion can make us healthy, strong, young and even make us look good (I’ve never heard any evangelical church teach such nonsense before). This causes my wife and son who are still attending New Creation Church ‘to go crazy’ because they are very concerned about good looks. Like under a spell, my wife and son bought big bags – hundreds of Ribena water cups and plastic biscuits. Can you imagine, they actually keep eating them every day. Strangely, after a few months, my son ended up in hospital and my wife got joint pain but she did not become younger.
Seventh, Joseph Prince teaches “another Jesus” not of the Bible. He presents a Jesus who never demands; a Jesus who never tells you that you need to carry the cross, sacrifice for His sake and deny yourself; and a Jesus that promises forgiveness without repentance. He offers a Jesus who has come to only love you; a Jesus who serves you by always blessing you and making you very rich. If Joseph Prince teaches a Jesus that is not of the Bible, how can he not be a heretic?
The seven points I have highlighted are not Joseph Prince’s recent teachings but they have been taught by him for many years now.
With what I have explained, any sensible Christian will come to the conclusion that Joseph Prince is a heretic as what he teaches are not only against the Bible but they are also the complete opposite of all that the evangelical churches teach. And I have not even covered the many other areas of his heresies, which can be found on Rev George Ong’s website. I have viewed almost all of Rev George Ong’s videos on his website. The resources on his website have provided overwhelming and conclusive evidence that Joseph Prince is a heretic and a wolf in sheepskin.
If that is so, I wonder why are the Singapore Church Leaders blind to his heresies? You mean they can’t see all these heresies of Joseph Prince that are clearly false? If I as an ordinary layman can see the horrendous nature of his heresies, why can’t they, as experienced pastors and being theologically trained?
NCCS, being leaders of the Singapore Church should have acted against Joseph Prince some time ago. And if they didn’t act then, they must act now as Joseph Prince is indeed a liar, a wolf and a heretic. I can say that with confidence and conviction as I have listened to many sermons by Joseph Prince first-hand when I was attending New Creation Church.
I trust that NCCS will do the right thing concerning Joseph Prince’s heresies. Any decision by NCCS that encourages believers to join New Creation Church instead of warning them to leave her, would, to my mind, be the severely wrong and ungodly path to take. It would put all the efforts of Ex New Creation Church members, like me, who are trying to pull people out of the fire of New Creation Church, to waste. We would become the laughing stock of the world. If such is the case, never will I put my trust in the Singapore Church Leadership of NCCS ever again.
May I invite NCCS and the Christian public to read (if they haven’t) not just my testimony but also the testimonies of eight others who have been delivered from Joseph Prince’s heresies. Our prayer and cries are for God to deliver as many people from the clutches of Joseph Prince and be set free from his destructive heresies as He did to us.
Testimonies of Ex New Creation Church Members (Joseph Prince’s Church):
Yours truly,
Daniel Tay (Ex New Creation Church Member)
Open Letter to NCCS – by Elder David Ng Tah Wee
(This letter was also sent to the General Secretary, NCCS office)
Dear Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian (General Secretary of NCCS),
My name is David Ng Tah Wee. I am an elder worshipping at True Way Presbyterian Church English Congregation.
I believe we all know very well that the Bible has many warnings against false prophets. Since there are many warnings in the Bible, false prophets must be real. So, there were, are and will be false prophets.
Of course, the false prophet situation is made worse, especially in this day and age, by the fact that people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Paul, while speaking to the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20:28, charged them to “pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.”
We, as leaders of the Church, have an awesome responsibility to care for the flock, which surely includes warning them against false prophets.
I have been following Rev George Ong’s refutations of Joseph Prince’s (“JP”) teachings for some time now. Before reading Rev George Ong’s refutations, I already have my doubts about JP’s teachings, famously known as the prosperity gospel.
After reading many of Rev George Ong’s refutations and the tremendous amount of evidence he has put forward, I began to see that JP is not just a misguided preacher with perhaps a different interpretation of the Bible. He is in fact a modern-day false prophet. And the consequences of his false teachings are deadly serious. People following his false teachings are destined to hell. It is that serious.
Therefore, I can no longer stand by doing nothing, having the attitude of “to each his own” or “just maintain the peace”. This will be most irresponsible. I have to do all I can to expose him, so that others may be warned. That is why, after much prayer, I decided to write to NCCS.
I believe leaders at NCCS know of JP’s prosperity gospel and his other teachings. I pray that leaders at NCCS will take a serious second look at JP’s teachings, being responsible for the flock of the Church.
I pray that leaders at NCCS will be like the Bereans, examining JP’s teachings against the Bible and come to a conclusion whether JP is a false prophet. You can certainly make reference to Rev George Ong’s website for the tremendous research he has done on this.
Having come to a conclusion, I pray that the NCCS leadership will have the courage to do the right thing before God, remembering that we seek to please God, not man.
Let us also remember that one day, all of us will have to stand before God to give an account. And I pray that this eventuality will compel us, with fear and trembling, to do the right thing regarding this serious matter at hand.
God Bless,
Elder David Ng Tah Wee
Attending True Way Presbyterian Church English Congregation, Singapore
Open Letter to NCCS – by Rev (ret) Lawrence Yam
(This letter was also sent to the General Secretary, NCCS office)
Dear Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian (General Secretary of NCCS),
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus!
I am a Baptist pastor (ret) in Singapore and I’m writing in my own personal capacity.
It took me a while to ponder and pray before I decided to write to you and to the good office of NCCS.
I am writing with a heavy burden with regards to the hyper grace theology purported by New Creation Church, the church that Joseph Prince is pastoring.
George Ong has taken great pain, time, and effort – not to mention his “sacrifices” to debunk many of Joseph Prince’s interpretations of the scriptures.
Please see his website on the numerous write-ups, YouTube, and testimonies by ex-New Creation Church members on the erroneous teachings of Joseph Prince.
Personally, I have also read several of George Ong’s counterarguments with scriptural backings to Joseph Prince’s interpretations of the biblical text while preaching on the pulpit (videos) as well as his writings (books).
I was indeed troubled by the way he “ixegeted” (exegeted) & allegorised the text to suit his hyper grace and prosperity gospel doctrines!
I believed God has established NCCS for His divine purposes in Singapore and one of these is the defence and preservation of the gospel of Christ and sound biblical doctrines!
In Revelation 2:12-17, the Lord rebuked the Church of Pergamos for tolerating false doctrines (Balaam, Nicolaitans) and they were in danger of having the Lord declare war on the church.
New Creation Church is a member of NCCS; therefore, the NCCS Leadership cannot and must not be seen to be “sitting on the fence.”
I will appreciate if you would treat this matter seriously and investigate the concerns that have been raised by the members (myself included) of the larger Christian community in Singapore.
Warm regards,
Rev (ret) Lawrence Yam
Baptist Pastor, Singpaore