Thursday August 19, 2010
Youth Concert with a Message
A YOUTH group comprising 15 members from Hillsong Australia held a concert in conjunction with their visit to Ipoh recently.
Comment: This is NOT TRUE. The people who came and were involved in the musical component of the concert do not make up the band Hillsong Australia. The name Hillsong was used by the organiser for maximum marketing exposure. It was the organiser's deliberate act in cashing in on the name, knowing that many people would not check, would not know how to check, will not bother to verify and would be too gullible to not know what was happening. As it turned out, the organiser whose name is in this article from The Star, succeeded in fleecing the crowd of largely Christians who attended in faith.
The concert called ‘United and Conquer’ was part of a leadership seminar organised by Life City Church in Ipoh.
Comment: I understand that this is a VERY NEW CHURCH set up by the person who organised the Hillsong concert of which we now know is a scam because Hillsong did not turn up, Hillsong did not endorse the use of their name and Hillsong opposed this function. It is also understood that Hillsong Australia is monitoring the event from Sydney. It is also reasonable to expect that there will be considerable legal issues arising from this of which a fairly sizeable law suit is probable. The use of a trading name without permission is a serious copyright offence. If the perpetrator cannot produce written consent or proof in black-and-white, this will only be an open-and-shut case in court.
The audience, mainly comprising youths, also joined the group in singing gospel songs during the three-hour concert at a hotel ballroom.
Hillsong Australia is a Sydney-based church organisation.
Earlier that day, Life City Church conducted a leadership seminar for Christian youths at the same venue.
State executive councillor Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, who opened the event, said he was impressed with the enthusiastic and energetic youths from the audience, who danced and sang with the group.
He also donated RM10,000 to the organiser.
Comment: It is simply stunning that a government official like the state executive councillor did not do his homework. It would have been so simple and straightforward to weed out where the problems are. If Dr Mah isn't a Christian, he can easily ask around the mainline churches to seek advice. Donating RM10,000 of the taxpayers' money based on something so ill-advised and so poorly researched is astonishing. It is shameful and embarrassing that something like this can even catch a government official unaware.
Organising chairman Pastor Ken Raj said the event was a success despite the short notice given to host the gathering.
Comment: It is questionable that Ken Raj is by any degree of qualification, a pastor. Many of us know his background. We know he is NOT a pastor. It is probably useful to ask many of the major churches in Ipoh if any of them consider him to be a pastor or a minister with pastoral experiences. How a newspaper like The Star can be duped into accepting "facts" when they do not even check and verify. Maybe I should tell The Star that I am the Honourable President of the Malaysian Foundation of Pastors and Ministers or MFPM, knowing that they probably won't even check if such an organisation exists or not.
“There is a need to shake, stir and energise the young people to perform their best in life,” he said.
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| The actual brochure used for last year's FAKE event. |
Friday January 7, 2011
Hillsong to perform in Ipoh
WELL-KNOWN Christian music group, Hillsong, will take centre stage during the Perak state-level Christmas and New Year celebrations at Stadium Indera Mulia in Ipoh.
Comment: The first piece of media lie came in August 2010 (see above article). Five months later, the same organiser obviously didn't take heed of possible legal action. Some of us believe that he thinks he can get away with it. So here he is, stepping into the limelight and what is potentially disastrous here is that he now wants to involve the whole Perak State Government. In this scenario, should Hillsong Australia decide to sue, the mud will be also on the state government's face. This is a SERIOUS ISSUE but it is obvious that the organiser doesn't really care. The only thing he is concerned with is the money he will pocket at the end of the event. There is a lot to cash in on with something this big. He continues to use the name Hillsong, KNOWING that the name has cachet. In youth Christian circles, Hillsong is a very saleable name. And he knows it.
State executive council member Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said the popular group from Australia would be performing several songs and dances during the event on Jan 23.
Comment: The same state executive member continues to sink his boot deep into the quagmire. Five months later and it's obvious he doesn't even do his own homework. Many of us are very sure that in that time, he would have heard something about the organiser, something amiss about the lack of endorsement from Hillsong Australia. It is IMPOSSIBLE to believe he didn't hear anything of this sort. On the assumption that he did hear it, why is he going ahead? That must be an interesting question for many of us.
“The group of seven singers will be the highlight of the event,” he told a press conference at the state secretariat building in Ipoh on Tuesday.
Comment: The highlight of the event will not be singers or musicians from the official Hillsong groups. It was a fake last year and it is still a fake event this year again.
He also said that 16 churches in Ipoh would stage a 40-minute combined musical performance.
Comment: Ask the organiser to name which SIXTEEN CHURCHES these are. Would he also like to tell the public which churches have pulled out and why they have pulled out? Would any of you like to ask him why other mainline circuit churches have pulled out and do not want to have anything to do with the organiser? Would he explain why a certain pastor from a very populous church in Ipoh walked out of the meeting? More questions here...
Was the organiser asked at the meeting to produce WRITTEN PROOF that Hillsong Australia has sanctioned and endorsed this coming event? And did he produce this piece of evidence?
Was the organiser asked of the names of the musicians who will be performing for this event allegedly from Hillsong? Did he provide the names? And why not? Was it because the person who asked for the names mentioned that he would crosscheck the names with Hillsong Australia in Sydney?
Dr Mah, who is Perak Non-Islamic Affairs Committee chairman, said he expected a crowd of 4,000 people at the event which is open not only to the Christian community but also to the general public as well.
Comment: The most SERIOUS concern here is that those who knew that last year's event was a scam should let others know as widely as possible. Another concern is not to allow those who don't know to attend this coming event and get duped again. Yet another concern is not to allow the reputation of our church - and the name of Our God - to be smeared by people who seek their own glory, who have a premeditated intention to deceive, who uses God's Name to forward their own personal agenda often at the expense of ordinary Christians including those who seek to embrace Christ for the first time. We cannot allow this to happen anymore.
“There will also be 2,000 door gifts to be given out on a first-come, first-served basis,” he added.
Comment: Please don't let these door gifts be baits to entice you to go. Think of the big picture. Think of God. Think how you can stand up for God. Think how you can do your part to prevent someone from dirtying His Name, from ruining His reputation, from causing others to stumble, from stopping non-believers from knowing and accepting Christ. Imagine what it will be like for all Christians in church when this issue blows up and everyone knows about it. Imagine what you will have to say to defend your faith, to defend your church and to defend Christ to those who will question you about what happened. Imagine the shame that Christ will endure simply because we stood by the wayside and not do our part in helping to protect the Good Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He said the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, the royal family and Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir were expected to attend the event which would start at 7pm and end at 11.30pm.
Comment: This is as disgusting and predictable as they come. Exactly why is the Sultan and the Chief Minister involved? Because by getting them to come, the media event will become headlining news. Because by getting them involved, it's megabucks for the organiser. Put the two together and it's obvious what is on the organiser's agenda... get rich quick, step on all possible Christian values (of which it is questionable if he has any), rip everyone off. It won't surprise some of us that when the law catches up with him, he'll be gone and hidden away somewhere. Some of us know his background. We know what he is up to. We know his modus operandus.
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| A cut out from the Star Newspaper. |
IF YOU ARE A CARING CHRISTIAN, forward this email to your fellow Christian friends, family members, work peers and ANYONE who may be entertaining the possibility of attending this forthcoming event. We cannot attend and we'll tell you why:
1. We should never attend any event or be involved in any activity that deceives, that is an objectionable act of sin
2. Remember by attending, we are merely endorsing the organiser's intentions
3. We must acknowledge - as Paul says in the New Testament - that often, the enemy is not from without but from within the church itself; so forget about whatever externality problems our churches have because right now, the problem is from within our very fold and we have to cleanse
4. No churches should be working with ANYONE who does not come clean
5. No churches should get involved in any activities that are potentially libellous, slanderous and breaching of any laws including those of a copyright nature
Given the serious nature of this whole thing, we're sure you can add more reasons to these five.
Attached are the official letters by Hillsong Music Australia.
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| The first letter sent by Mr.Tim, manager of Hillsong Music Australia. |
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| The second letter sent by Mr.Tim because the first letter was ignored by the organizer. |
