Aaron Khoo’s Testimony about his 11-Year Journey (2008-2019) with New Creation Church & Derek Prince’s warning for us, and especially Joseph Prince and his followers – By Rev George Ong (Dated 19 Mar 2023)

 

Important Notice:

 

If you have friends, who are Cabinet Ministers in the PAP Government and Members of Parliament of any Political Party, who are Christians, kindly forward it to them.

 

They need to be aware of the heretical teachings of Joseph Prince that are poisoning the Christian community, not only in Singapore, but also around the world.

 

Please click here to view the 6-minute video.

 

Don’t miss Derek Prince’s video at the end of this article.

 

(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)

 

I, Aaron Khoo (real name), attended New Creation Church for 11 years, from 2008 to 2019.

 

Let me share with you my journey with New Creation Church and my comments about Pastor Joseph Prince’s grace teachings.

 

1. We are to revolve around God, not the other way around.

 

If I were to give a summary of Pastor Joseph Prince’s grace teachings, it is basically the philosophy that God revolves around us.

 

God is there to meet our needs, answer our prayers, make us successful, bless us with prosperity, heal us when we call on Him, and protect us from every danger.

 

But fundamentally, Christianity isn’t like that.

 

Scripturally, we are to revolve around God, not God around us.

 

Projecting that the God we worship is a God who revolves around us, simply means that once we make our wishes, God, as our Genie, must answer them.

 

But God is sovereign, and He has His own sovereign will and purposes.

 

Hence, the main thing is total submission to God and not the believer asserting his will upon God.

 

For if we do that, we have become God, and God has become our servant to serve us; and making God our servant and our Genie, who is at our beck and call to serve our human agendas, is not Christianity but a heresy.   

 

While it is true that God would take care of us and provide for our needs, we are not the center, God is.

 

2. Pastor Joseph Prince has no fear of God.

 

The fear of God is a major teaching in the scriptures, and yet, I never once heard Pastor Prince preach a whole sermon on the importance of fearing God.

 

Not to teach on the fear of God in the believer’s relationship with God is dangerous because God has many facets, for example, God is merciful but He is also judgemental.

 

That the fear of God has not been taught from the pulpit in New Creation Church, means that Pastor Prince and all his subordinate Pastors have neglected this very essential aspect of the whole counsel of God.

 

I noticed that many worshippers in New Creation Church arrived late for Sunday worship – this is one of the many evidences of not giving God the honour and reverence due His name. And very little effort is made to correct this bad habit.

 

3. Highlight the association with government ministers & Members of Parliament at special events.

 

There is a tendency for New Creation Church to make a big deal about church events, especially when it comes to the attendance of the Singapore Government ministers and Members of Parliament, at such events.

 

New Creation Church through the Pastors, have been observed to take special effort to particularly highlight these events in the worship services for the attention of all.

 

To advertise and publicise such charitable works, involving government ministers, what is the intention of doing so?

 

In the previous church that I came from, we did charitable works without publicity.

 

4. No uniqueness in the preaching of New Creation Church Pastors.

 

When Joseph Prince isn’t preaching, some pastors are assigned to speak.

 

The trouble is, these pastors preach, more or less, the same things as Joseph Prince does; with the same catchphrases and the same train of thought.

 

There is no uniqueness about each one of them.

 

God has made us unique, and whether it be preaching or ministry, such uniqueness must not be suppressed but be allowed to shine forth and blossom.

 

God has not made us to be carbon copies of one another, but to glorify Him through the unique ministry and giftings, and the unique way of expression that he has created us to be.

 

5. No Accountability on Pastor Joseph Prince’s preaching ministry.

 

Many of the New Creation Church Pastors have the tendency to sing the praises of Pastor Prince when they preach, make announcements, or read out testimonies.

 

While there is a place to affirm what the Senior Pastor does and preach once in a while in any church, the way that this is done in New Creation Church is way out of proportion.

 

It is like these Pastors are competing to see who can give Pastor Prince the highest accolades.

 

Perhaps, it is their job security that is motivating them to do it this way – to toe the line of the Senior Pastor at all costs.

 

But by doing that, they are dangerously putting Pastor Prince further on a pedestal and making him proud, and this may well result in his downfall.

 

It is time to stop pointing people to man but to God and God alone.

 

Furthermore, with such Pastors who constantly sing praises of him, Pastor Prince has surrounded himself with Yes-men, who wouldn’t dare to correct him.

 

Does anybody dare to correct Pastor Prince?

 

Does Pastor Prince give permission to his staff to correct him regarding whether he correctly interpreted the many Bible passages regarding his grace doctrines?

 

And even if he were to give them permission to voice out their opinions, would they dare to say that 1 John 1:9 was wrongly interpreted by him?

 

In fact, Pastor Prince operates in such a way that no other Pastors can check him and make him account for any wrong doctrines that he is preaching.

 

This is where the danger lies.

 

The truth is, Pastor Prince is accountable to no one in the body of Christ regarding the doctrinal aspects of his grace teaching.

 

He is operating like a lone ranger regarding his grace doctrine, submitting to no one except God.

 

When any preacher starts saying that he submits only to God, you can tell straightaway that he isn’t a true prophet of God.

 

6. Using testimonies to give a false impression.

 

In my years at New Creation Church, I’ve noticed that Pastor Prince has kept using testimonies of prayers answered and people healed; and these are shared frequently during worship services and on his website as proof that he is preaching the right doctrine.

 

But this is being dishonest, as he has only surfaced the so-called successful cases, which are in the small minority.

 

As an example, at the beginning of every year, the church will ask the congregation to ask God for 3 wishes.

 

But the leadership does not check or find out in detail how many people in the entire congregation really had their wishes answered and/or how many are struggling with real issues and challenges because their wishes were not answered.

 

And when there are a number of wishes answered by the roughly 34,000 (was then 34,000 when I attended), the leadership of New Creation Church will make a big fuss about it by featuring and publicising them as testimonies, giving the false impression that this small number represents the majority.

 

It is the same with testimonies of healing.

 

As the saying goes, “You will inspect what you expect.”

 

But New Creation Church doesn’t.

 

They only inspect or highlight the so-called successful cases, which represent only a small minority.

 

But what about the majority whose prayers are not answered and those who are still sick?

 

7. The Great Commission, discipleship, self-denial and taking up the cross aren’t taught at all.

 

Discipleship is never emphasized at all at New Creation Church.

 

How can that be?

 

It was the Lord Jesus who gave the Church the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations in Matthew 28:18-20.

 

The Commandment of Christ is not merely to win souls, but to make disciples.

 

I, personally, have not heard Pastor Joseph Prince preach on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 even once in my entire time at New Creation Church. 

 

Pastor Prince, by not preaching on the Great Commission and not carrying out his responsibilities to make disciples, is simply disobeying Christ.

 

For a preacher like Pastor Prince to disobey Christ for such a crucial commandment as the Great Commission, makes all his claims that he is preaching the Jesus of the Bible and that he loves Jesus hollow, self-contradictory and even hypocritical.

 

Any preacher who loves Jesus and claims to preach the true Christ will never disobey Him on such an important commandment in the Great Commission that He calls the Church to carry out.

 

To deny yourself and take up the cross, which are part and parcel of discipleship that was emphasised by Christ Jesus Himself in the gospels, was also never preached by Pastor Prince.

 

If that is so, why does Pastor Prince keep saying on the pulpit that he is preaching what Jesus preaches?

 

He isn’t!

 

Because of the dire absence of true discipling of believers, members of New Creation Church are not growing spiritually.

 

Besides, what is being done in New Creation Church is just one-way traffic, ie, from the pulpit in the teaching of Pastor Prince to the congregation.

 

This is why I don’t see real fruits in the members, cell group leaders and even Pastors – it is as if life is all about success and a worldly one too – my job, my career, my hopes, my dreams and my business.

 

8. No sermon on persecution, suffering, holiness, or sanctification was ever preached.

 

No sermon on persecution, suffering, holiness, or sanctification was ever preached by Pastor Joseph Prince in my 11 years at New Creation Church at all.

 

This is strange, as these issues were taught extensively in the scriptures.

 

For example, both Jesus and Paul taught that Christians will go through persecution and suffering (Matt 5:11-12; Rom 8:17; Phil 3:10)

 

Pastor Prince is clearly not preaching what Jesus and Paul preach and the whole counsel of God’s word.

 

He is merely teaching those half-truths in the scriptures that support his grace doctrine, while ignoring those big chunks of scriptures that refute it.

 

And he gets rid of these many passages of scriptures by explaining them away through some fanciful ‘isegesis’, not exegesis, and worse, he preaches against many of them.

 

By not teaching the congregation about suffering and persecution, there are huge implications.

 

The Bible clearly teaches that Christians will be faced with tribulations, especially the great tribulation in the end times.

 

This is taught by none other than Christ Jesus Himself in Matthew 24.

 

If Christians aren’t prepared for suffering and persecution, and especially the great tribulation, how many will end up denying Christ is up to one’s imagination.

 

If we deny Christ, then Christ will deny us (Matt 10:33).

 

If Christ ever denied us, that would be the end of us.

 

Instead of suffering and persecution, what I often hear from Pastor Prince is the church’s motto:

 

“Richly Blessed, Deeply Loved, Highly Favored.”

 

This is not wrong in and of itself, but it gives a false impression of Christianity that it is only about being blessed, and that Christianity has no suffering and persecution.

 

9. Pastor Prince does not believe in repentance or confession.

 

In Pastor Prince’s gospel preaching and altar calls, he always and only mentions those who wish to believe in Jesus, can repeat after him to say the sinner’s prayer.

 

This is going against the grain of scriptures.

 

Christ Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Peter, and John the Baptist, all preach about the need for repentance (besides believing in Jesus) before one can be saved.

 

Even Jesus preaches about the need for repentance, not just for unbelievers, but also for believers, especially in His message to the 7 churches in Revelation chapters 2-3.   

 

But Pastor Prince preaches against repentance, as, according to him, there is no sin to repent of, or confess to God, since all sins have been forgiven at the cross.

 

Furthermore, Pastor Prince preaches that when we sin, or do wrong, we are not to confess our sins, but our righteousness.

 

To declare that one is righteous although one has sinned is to affirm that sin does not change one’s identity as a righteous saint.

 

Although this is true, living righteously must invariably include the admission out of a pure conscience that the wrong done, which is sin, affects both the sinner and those who have been sinned against – there cannot be no consequence of sin.

 

For example, when harm is done to others as a result of our sin, we must apologise to the aggrieved party besides asking God to forgive us.

 

This has never been emphasised in New Creation Church, which is a necessary requirement of being Christlike, ie, how we treat people.

 

If a father catches a son stealing, it is only natural for the father to expect the son to confess that he has committed the forbidden act of stealing, say sorry for what he has done, and repent by promising not to commit the wrongdoing again.

 

Instead of doing that, what if the son starts to confess that his father loves and cares for him, but not a word is mentioned about his confession of his act of stealing and to repent by not doing it again?

 

Would the father accept it?

 

Of course not!

 

Does the father love the child?

 

Sure, he does.

 

In the same way, even though our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us, He still requires us to confess our sins and repent from them.

 

This is because God, as our Heavenly Father, loves us enough to correct us so that we don’t stray into the wrong path.

 

But this is not what Pastor Prince is teaching.

 

Let’s be reminded that sin is insidious and has its consequences.

 

By teaching that there is no need to confess our sins, one becomes immune to sin.

 

Sooner or later, we can be sinning more and more without being bothered by our God-given conscience because we have been wrongly taught by Pastor Prince to focus on our righteousness when we sin.

 

What makes it worse is Pastor Prince’s related false teaching that the Holy Spirit does not convict us of sin but only of our righteousness.

 

What is also unacceptable is that in Pastor Prince’s grace teaching, sin is not the issue but the law, as it causes us to sin.

 

He further teaches that the Ten Commandments are used by the devil and his demons to tempt us to sin.

 

This is heretical and blasphemous, as it was none other than God, who was the one to give His people the Ten Commandments.

 

10. Obedience to God and Christ is not only not preached but spoken against.

 

Our Lord Jesus has warned that even though people may claim to do miracles in His name, He will still say to these people that He never knew them (Matt 7:22-23).

 

What’s important is, before Christ could let us into His kingdom, it is our character – our obedience to God (as an expression and evidence of true faith) that really counts:

 

Matthew 7:21 NASB

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 

 

Yet our obedience to God is not what Pastor Prince emphasizes.

 

In fact, he teaches against it.

 

He says that when we focus on obeying God, we are focusing on ourselves and our efforts.

 

Pastor Prince is clearly a heretic, as his teaching against obeying God, would mean that those who follow his teaching and live a life of disobedience will not enter God’s kingdom.

 

Pastor Prince would defend himself by saying that he teaches that those who focus on the obedience of Christ, who died on the cross, will automatically obey Christ and God.

 

There is nothing automatic about that.

 

Obedience to God is often taught in the scriptures as a command and an act of our will.

 

11. Effortless change or effortless Christianity does not exist.

 

There is no such thing as effortless change or effortless Christianity that Pastor Prince teaches.

 

On the contrary, the Apostle Paul teaches that we are to work out our salvation with what? – Fear and trembling!

 

And in many passages in Paul’s letters in the New Testament, he was the one who exhorted us that, by virtue of the fact we belong to Christ, we are to do this and do that; we are to put on this and put off that; we are to avoid this and avoid that.

 

But just because it takes believers much effort to obey Christ, that does not mean that we are depending on our human efforts, which Pastor Prince has repeatedly and falsely accused us of.

 

Though Christ is and must be the source of our efforts and strength, nevertheless, the fact remains that we must still put in much effort on our part.

 

By teaching that Christianity is effortless, it gives a wrong, romantic and unreal idea about what it means to live for Christ in this real world.

 

To tell his hearers that change is effortless is to deny the need for personal effort.

 

The reality is that it requires much effort on our part to live the Christian life and obey Christ, but such efforts are anchored in our dependence on Christ and His strength.

 

12. False hopes of the Prosperity Gospel.

 

The dangerous thing about the Prosperity Gospel, or Health and Wealth Gospel, is that the way that Pastor Joseph Prince preaches gives the impression that money is the priority and that we could all be healed all the time.

 

Of course, Pastor Prince tries to qualify and defend himself every now and then, saying that that is not what he teaches, especially on the issue of money or wealth.

 

But the fact that he teaches that every New Covenant believer is entitled and promised by God to be very wealthy as Father Abraham was has removed all doubts that money is a priority for Pastor Prince.

 

The fact that he teaches that we all ought to live in perfect health the way Jesus did on this side of eternity, only proves that his teaching is totally unrealistic and unachievable.

 

13. Unseen forces exist in the realm of the demonic.

 

Even at that time when I attended New Creation Church, I had already realised that many of the doctrines that Pastor Prince preached were unsound and clearly false, as they were against the scriptures.

 

But that did not push me to leave the church, as I felt comfortable staying with it.

 

I felt that I should leave, but I made no effort to leave, and I continued to stay on.

 

One reason could be the unseen forces in the realm of the demonic that lull me into a state of complacency and comfort so that I continue to remain in New Creation Church, even though I am aware that many of the doctrines taught by Pastor Prince are false.

 

And if God had not allowed me to go through an unpleasant incident with New Creation Church, which drove me to leave, I might well have stayed on.

 

So, we need to pray against such a spirit of demonic control that has continued to put many people at New Creation Church under bondage – that they kept on staying in New Creation Church, even though they knew things were amiss doctrinally concerning the sermons of Pastor Prince.

 

Pray that they would be delivered from the control of such a spirit, and have the courage to leave New Creation Church and never return again.

 

14. Pride is Pastor Joseph Prince’s number one problem.

 

Rev George Ong has mentioned on his website a few times that pride is the number one problem facing Joseph Prince.

 

And in my 11 years at New Creation Church and seeing how Pastor Prince operates, I fully agree with Rev George Ong.

 

Pastor Prince has evolved a system in which no one dares to correct him, especially regarding the preaching of his grace doctrines.

 

This shows him to be a proud man and pride will be his eventual downfall.

 

15. My heart is to see more people delivered from the heretical teachings of Pastor Prince.

 

I also totally agree with Rev George Ong that Pastor Prince is misleading and leading thousands of believers in Singapore and millions around the world to their destruction with his heretical teachings.

 

This is why that pains me.

 

I pray with all my heart that if you happen to read what I have written, and if you have been influenced by Pastor Prince’s preaching, you will not harden your heart, and break off all association with his heretical doctrines and New Creation Church.

 

This is the reason I am writing this testimony – to warn those who have been deceived by Pastor Prince’s teachings before it is too late, because such teachings would only lead to their destruction.   

 

16. Pray for Rev George Ong.

 

I wholeheartedly support the work that Rev George Ong is doing, in exposing the heresies of Pastor Prince.

 

Without my mentioning it, most of you already know that the task of Rev George Ong in exposing the heretical doctrines of Pastor Prince is a very tough one.

 

It is a task that only those who are genuinely called by God, endued by Him with a special persevering spirit and exceptional courage would dare to tread.

 

If there is anyone who needs prayer for such a herculean task, a task that is fiercely opposed by Pastor Prince’s supporters, and unappreciated and even criticised by some quarters in the Church, it is him.

 

Aaron Khoo

 

Rev George Ong’s comments:

 

My heartfelt thanks to Aaron Khoo who has boldly come forward to share his testimony.

 

My heart’s cry is for more Ex New Creation Church members to come forward to share their stories.

 

Many may think that it is impossible given their individual situations,

 

but may God encourage you that nothing is impossible.

 

God can use each and every testimony to deliver more and more people from the destructive heresies of Joseph Prince,

 

who has been preaching his false grace doctrines unrepentantly for the last 25-30 years.

 

Next, think with me

 

– how can a preacher like Joseph Prince, who teaches that

 

every New Covenant believer has the covenantal right to be very rich as Abraham was,

 

every New Covenant believer can enjoy the perfect health of Jesus on this side of heaven,

 

makes a blasphemous statement

 

that the Ten Commandments given by God are used by the Devil to tempt us to sin,

 

doesn’t believe in

 

repentance for salvation and confession of sins,

and that the Holy Spirit can convict us of sin,

 

and, unbelievably, never preaches a single sermon in his many years of preaching ministry on (which means he doesn’t believe in them)

 

the Great Commission,

discipleship,

self-denial,

take up your cross,

suffering,

persecution,

fear of God,

Obedience to God/Christ,

holiness or sanctification,

 

as pointed out by Aaron Khoo,

 

not be a heretic or a false prophet?

 

All the above areas are not minor issues, but they are major areas of the Christian Faith.

 

What is worse is that Joseph Prince directly preaches against some of these areas.

 

And I have not even listed out the other areas that are not mentioned by Aaron Khoo such as,

 

that the Holy Communion can be partaken as many times as you take medicine per day, and it can make you look young and improve your appearance.

 

that most of the incidents in the gospels, which happened before the cross, and comprised most of the teachings and sayings of Jesus, are no longer applicable or relevant to New Covenant believers because they belong to the Old Covenant – meaning most of Jesus’s teachings in the gospels are ‘deleted’,

 

that the call to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbours as ourselves belong to the Old Covenant, and New Covenant believers have nothing to do with that,

 

that loving God belongs to the Old Covenant and God loving us belongs to the New Covenant, so we should focus on letting God love us rather than loving Him,

 

that the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus gave many of His teachings, is applicable only to the Jews under the Old Covenant and not the Church under the New Covenant – thereby wiping out many of Jesus’ teachings,

 

that God will never be angry, judge and punish believers even though they may sin against Him,

 

that there is no place for New Covenant believers to please God as God is always pleased with them all the time even though they are disobedient to Him,

 

that God does not see sin in us even though we sin,

 

that we must not examine ourselves, as that would make us sin-conscious, even though Paul had instructed us to,

 

that fasting is an Old Covenant practice and has no place for New Covenant believers,

 

that God can only give, but he will never take it away from us, because Job 1:21, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;” isn’t said by God but Job,

 

that when Jesus rebuked the 7 churches in Revelation, He wasn’t doing it to members of these churches, but only the Pastors,

 

that Stephen, the first martyr, who died not because of the stoning but because he uttered something negative and about death – “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” – because Joseph Prince teaches that life and death are in the power of the tongue,

 

that in the end times, there will be a wealth transfer from unbelievers to believers, and Christians will find themselves with great riches,

 

that Joseph Prince teaches Antinomianism, which is itself a heresy – that by virtue of grace, the law is no longer applicable to believers,

 

I could go on and on.

 

Despite all these evidences that I have lined up before your eyes,

 

and if any Believer, or Leader, or Pastor, or Bishop, or Ex and Present Chairmen and Council members of the National Council of Churches of Singapore

 

were to protect Joseph Prince for their own self-preservation,

 

and say Joseph Prince is not a heretic,

 

they must have their heads closely examined. 

 

Let’s just assume that Joseph Prince’s teachings are technically, not heretic,

 

but as we all know, his teachings are so dangerously deviant and frighteningly numerous

 

and affecting so many churches across the many different denominations over a long period of time; 

 

these reasons alone are enough for the leadership to act. 

 

Finally, have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to get through to the people in New Creation Church and those who have been deeply influenced by Joseph Prince’s heresies?

 

Nothing seems to work on them, even though you have tried everything – every scripture – every doctrinal argument – put them across as sensitively as possible to convince them about the false teachings of Joseph Prince.

 

The answer was already given in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.

 

Let me share with you what Derek Prince has so aptly and powerfully put forward:

 

Please click here to view the 3-and-a-half-minute video.

 

“That’s because they hardened their hearts against God. They rejected the truth of God.

 

And this is one of the most frightening facts of the spiritual life, that if we persistently and obstinately reject the truth of God has brought to us,

 

God will withdraw from us the ability to understand the truth.

 

And God will open up to us some kind of spirit that will take in

 

– that’s the spirit of error and deception.

 

I think that’s one of the most terrible judgments

 

that can come upon those who deliberately reject God’s revealed truth.

 

There are two examples of it which are given here in the outline.

 

In 1 Samuel 16:14, this is the story of Saul, the King of Israel who rejected God’s revealed purpose, turned against it.

 

And it says about him in 1 Samuel 16:14:

 

“Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord terrified him.”

 

Can you absorb that?

 

God permitted an evil spirit to have access to Saul because he had rejected the truth.

 

That frightens me.

 

I continually ask myself am I hardening myself against the truth?

 

I don’t want God to take His Spirit from me and release an evil spirit instead.

 

See, Satan doesn’t have any power to do anything that God doesn’t permit him to do.

 

But God can permit Satan to release an evil spirit against us if we persistently reject the truth.

 

And then there’s a warning in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 of what is going to happen, and is already happening, I believe, at the close of this age.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:10 -12.

 

This whole chapter is really about the coming of the antichrist and how the way is being prepared and what he’s going to do.

 

And it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 10 and following:

 

“He will come with all deception and wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

 

Isn’t that frightening?

 

If we don’t receive the love of the truth

 

then God is going to deal with us.

 

And we’re going to come under deception.

 

And then it says:

 

“And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

 

I believe that is already happening.

 

I believe God is permitting a deluding spirit to come upon various sections of the church

 

which have deliberately rejected the revealed truth of God.

 

Especially upon ministers and leaders who are responsible for these errors.

 

And when that deluding spirit comes upon any person,

 

that person can no longer see the truth, they lose the ability.”

 

My parting shot and loving warning to you is that while you are still not permanently deluded by the spirit of deception, and reach a point of no return,

 

it is time for you to get out of Joseph Prince’s heresies before it is too late.

 

Rev George Ong