Saturday, October 31, 2009

PG And Wife Continues To Deceive???

Pastor Prince Guneratnam (PG) is scheduled to preach at Evangel Family Church (EFC) in Singapore on 8 November 2009.

EFC is the home church of his good buddy, Rev Robert Lim. EFC is the generous church which PG had claimed gave him a brand new Volvo XC90 4WD and Sis Petrina Guneratnam, a new Honda Civic a few years ago. Whether this is true or false, no one knows? It is inconceivable that EFC will give such generous gifts to PG and his wife especially since Rev Robert is well-known for his sacrificial giving to church planting and actual missions work while denying himself of such luxuries. We hope that someone from EFC will enlighten us on this mystery.

Coming back to the subject in hand, EFC published an online advertisement on PG’s coming preaching engagement. Click on the following link to see the advertisement:
http://www.evangel.org.sg/advertisem/prince/prince.html

If you read through the write-up on the credentials of PG and Sis Petrina, you will be shocked that they are both still proclaiming (by implication) that Calvary International Ministries (CIM) is still alive.

The write-up states that “ Prince Guneratnam is also the President and Founder of Calvary International Ministries.”

The write-up on Sis Petrina Guneratnam states that “She is also the co-founder and Vice President of the Calvary International Ministries.”

CT does not think that EFC would publish this without getting the clearance from PG. It is more likely that EFC was given this write-up to publish.

If this was the case, PG and his wife are certainly a recalcitrant couple, still bent on misleading fellow Christian brothers and sisters and his own peers.

For those unfamiliar with the background, CIM was the personal ministry of PG. CIM became a major issue among Calvary Church members when it was discovered last year that the Board of Deacons and the Missions Department, both headed by PG, had transferred a total of RM1.9m from church coffers into CIM’s account between 2002 to 2007, without the knowledge or approval of the church members.

The FACT is that CIM has been de-registered by NECF last year because it does not qualify to be a member. CIM had originally been registered as a member of NECF as a result of misrepresentation by PG. After the exposure by concerned members of Calvary Church, CIM was removed from the membership register of NECF. The misrepresentation has also been confirmed by the Assemblies of God Malaysia after conducting their own investigations. CIM, therefore, no longer exists as a Christian body.
CIM’s bank accounts in Malaysia are believed to have been cancelled after the de-registration of CIM by NECF but no one knows if its banks accounts in Singapore or US or elsewhere are still existing. Presumably, they still are.

CT does not know the reason behind PG’s “wanting to keep CIM alive”. One can only speculate that CIM is where all the love offerings which PG receives from his preaching engagements and all donations to his ministry are channeled to.

With “Calvary” in its name, none of the churches and pastors out there can be faulted if they thought that CIM was part of Calvary Church when actually it is not. Therefore, any donation meant for Calvary Church could have been addressed to and channeled into CIM’s bank account/s in Singapore or elsewhere and no one would even be aware of it.

Calvarites have often wondered why, after all these years of our Church giving to the building funds of other churches, none of the overseas churches (except for EFC and Cho Yonggi’s church) have made contributions to our CCC building fund. Perhaps, the answer lies in CIM.
On the topic of deception, another interesting thing to note is that in his wife, Sis Petrina’s write-up, it was stated that she “pioneered the first Assemblies of God church, the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Klang, Malaysia”.
Perhaps it was a genuine grammatical error in the way the statement was structured but it does give an impression that she started the first Assemblies of God church in Malaysia and that that church was the Glad Tidings in Klang. For the benefit of readers, the first Assemblies of God church in Malaysia was in Jalan Sayur, Kuala Lumpur and she certainly was not the one who started it in 1934 as she was not born yet.
You can read the History of the Assemblies of God church in Malaysia at :
AOG History

So, dear Pastor Prince Guneratnam, what are you up to now?


__________________________________________

Just Added on 7 November 2009.

To read, "The Bible View on Forgiveness" by Gordon Rumford as recommended by Bro. Vijay on November 7, 2009 11:02 PM, click here :


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

PG Chickens Out!

In a last-ditch mediation effort, a prominent Calvarite together with the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Malaysia, made arrangements to bring representatives from the concerned members or the TTG group (as it is more popularly known) and Pas Prince Guneratnam (PG) and his team together to discuss how to resolve the ongoing saga in Calvary Church.

Parameters for the meeting from both sides were given to the two mediators who then came out with a harmonized set of parameters for the meeting. The date of the meeting, which was to be held in the hotel of the said Calvarite, was mutually agreed upon and set for this Thursday, 29th October.

The proposed meeting was to be attended by 4 representatives from the TTG group and 4 from the Church leadership including PG. The Chairmen would be the 2 mediators. Another 3 council members from the Assemblies of God Malaysia were expected to attend as observers.

Admittedly, the concerned members were pleasantly surprised that PG finally agreed to meet with the concerned members to seek an amicable solution to the many issues in our Church.

The members had renewed hope that there will be a positive outcome to this meeting so that everyone can return to Calvary Church to rebuild the Church and to move forward.

Sadly, this hope was dashed today (Tuesday). PG has decided not to proceed with the much anticipated meeting. He came out with a flimsy excuse that his deacons cannot make it. This is akin to saying that out of his 7 deacons and 8 pastors, he could not get 3 of them to join him.

If indeed this was true, then all the deacons and pastors ought to be sacked. Just a few months ago, they spent many evenings holding small group ceramahs to defend PG and to justify their sacking of Dr Lum for speaking the truth. (Click the link to read SP and BOD Divides Church Further).

Now they cannot even spend one evening to try to save a dying Church. If this is the real situation, then the Pastors ought to re-examine their calling seriously and the deacons should give way to others who have a heart for the welfare of the church.

Furthermore, if it is really true that none of the deacons and pastors can accompany PG to the meeting, let it be known that even if he came alone, he would have gotten the respect of the TTG (and the entire Church) for keeping the appointment.

If, however, the above is not true, then PG is outright lying.

The concerned members had, time and again in the past, initiated steps to seek legal redress, only to hold back each time, always, in the hope that PG will come to his senses and agree to resolve the issues in an amicable way. In a final attempt, the group recently, issued a letter through a lawyer to PG to request him to re-convene an EGM to re-consider the resolutions which were thrown out by Rev Ronnie Chin at the last AGM. PG promptly replied that he cannot accede to the members’ request. In his reply he said,

“I humbly implore upon your goodselves to advise your clients (concerned members) that the Deacons and I are ever ready and willing to discuss any concern that they (concerned members) may have in respect of the Church.”
So, after all that rhetoric about wanting to resolve the ongoing saga in Calvary Church the Christian way and about his ever willingness to meet the concerned members, Pastor Prince Guneratnam has once again proven that he is not a man of his words.

This is just real sad!

Monday, October 19, 2009

PG’s Vision Begins To Crumble

Pas Steven’s announcement over the pulpit yesterday morning on the Calvary Convention Centre (CCC) situation was brief and general. But what he said was misleading and a gross misrepresentation of the seriousness of the situation affecting the extravagant project. He said that the main contractor, Nam Fatt Bhd had defaulted on the contract to complete the CCC by 14 October 2009 and consequently, the Church had issued them a Notice of Default. He went on to say that the deacons are now studying various options and as a result, the completion of the CCC has been moved to 2011.

Pas Steven and Pas Guneratnam (PG) and his deacons probably thought Calvarites are little kids who can be easily fooled.

The news of the failure of Nam Fatt to complete the project on schedule did not shock anyone because most of the members already know that work at the site stopped months ago. The rest are probably simply blinded by the pastors' charm to recognise the truth. And now, this announcement comes just 4 months after our recent AGM, during which, ex-deacon Han assured the members that work at the site is progressing and has not stopped. It is obvious now that Bro Han and the Board of Deacons lied through their teeth at the AGM.

What irk most members was that Pas Steven could nonchalantly announce that the completion
of the project is now moved to 2011. Anyone with some knowledge of the construction industry or even some common sense can tell you that in a situation like this, it takes months and sometimes, years to resolve the many issues and disputes that arise with such stoppages. Unless, of course, the Church is willing to throw extra millions to clear the claims by Nam Fatt and or the sub-contractors and to induce a new contractor to quickly re-commence and complete the abandoned project without going through the rigmarole of project due diligence, engineering surveys and valuation.

Just like PG’s past failed visions for Calvaryland, a 5,000-seat church in Sri Hartamas and a redevelopment of the existing Damansara Heights sanctuary into a multi-storey horse-shoe design church, his vision of the RM200 million 5,000- seat CCC now appears to be heading the same direction of another failure.

With the impending CCC Fund-raising Carnival that will be held later this month, we wonder what propaganda would be churned out to mitigate this damaging news. Be prepared to hear comments like "It's not that serious", "Just a slight delay only", "Don't listen to the devil", "Trust God" and all those 'feel good' factors, the 'Calvary Boleh" and 'all is well' messages.

BY God's divine wisdom and guidance, CT received the following article just 3 days ago from a member. CT wanted to verify the statements therein before publishing it. Yesterday’s announcement has confirmed that the CCC project has indeed stopped. There are many interesting questions raised by the author, which only PG and his deacons can answer. With what has happened, the situation now demands that PG and his deacons come out openly with truthful answers. No more lies, Pas Prince Guneratnam!


(The following article was contributed by a long-serving member)

ABRAHAM WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CITY……

Received ‘very reliable’ confirmation that construction works for CCC had stopped due to non-payment to the Sub-Contractors (SC). Sources revealed that the church had been paying, but the problem is on the Main Contractor’s (MC) side. Another interesting revelation is that, 14th. Oct. 2009 is the official Date of Completion for the project.

Pertinent questions are begging for answers now.

1) Was there any proper due diligence done in selecting the MC; such as:-

i) Pre-tender qualifications,

ii) Tender interview conducted after submission of tender with such questions as to the ability & capability of the MC to take on a project of this magnitude with regards to financial, technical, human resource & job commitment.

iii) What was documented in the tender reports?

2) If the church decides to determine the contract, we still have to pay the MC for all the work done as per the certification of the QS, & then we are saddled with a host of problems;

i) What happened to the warranties to the work executed by the MC & his SCs, bearing in mind, whosoever tenders for the remaining portion of the work would put in a premium for this warranties as well as responsibilities for all the works previously executed.

ii). What about the defects, whether discovered earlier and documented and waiting to be rectified or yet to be discovered as well as latent defects (defects appearing in later stage). Who will be responsible, do we pay extra to the next MC to undertake the rectifications.

iii). Would the contracts of the existing SCs be determined as well, would the new MC have to work with the existing SCs, can he get along with them, or get his own SCs, what about warranties & responsibilities of the existing SCs?

All these problems have a weightage to the amount the new tenderer would bid for the job and notwithstanding that, the current cost of materials & labour.

3) What happened to our rights and remedies under the contract?

Contractually, if the MC fails to complete the project on time and if he had exhausted all avenues for application for Extension of Time, Certificate of Non-Completion would be issued and then Liquidated & Ascertained damages would be recommended by the QS, giving the client the prerogative to deduct whatever monies due to the penalty for every Certificate of Payment presented by the MC. Could the MC still continue when monies are deducted, when even he had difficulty paying his SCs when money was not deducted.

Question is, does the MC have any application of time pending, as we have heard of ‘numerous changes’ being made. If these changes are caused by the client & consultants, the MC has valid grounds.

In the light of the MC non-performance in paying the SCs & his failure to complete the project on schedule, why did the church accept the Performance Bond in the form of ‘Corporate Guarantee’(on hindsight). The church has never been in the construction business & do not know the reputation and background of contractors, why did it trust the MC to the extent of accepting a ‘Corporate Guarantee’.

‘Corporate Guarantee’ is an exception rather than the norm, as most Performance Bonds are in the form of ‘Bank Guarantee’ or at worse, ‘Insurance Guarantee’. What recourse do we have, besides determining the contract. We have to console ourselves with the tattered reputation of the MC as Performance Bond. Normally, even when the MC have submitted a Bank Guarantee as Performance Bond, the client still will be on the losing side, should the contract be determined prematurely, due to non-performance of the MC. More so in this case.

The church lost out in terms of time & money as the new premises would not ready for occupation for quite a while, should the contract of the current MC be determined.

Two examples of the ‘feel good factors’ :-

1) When the church bought the land at Bukit Jalil, it highlighted that it had got a discount for the commercial portion of the land. Even though it was at a discounted price, the church is not putting up a commercial building, for all intent & purposes, it’s a church building, so, we paid extra for a commercial land to build a church building; it is akin to buying a piece of commercial land, even though at a discounted price, but building a residential building on it. This was not made known, only a half-truth was disseminated that we got the land at a discounted price…and everyone was so happy.

2) When the construction price shot up to RM150 million, they told us that there was a reduction in the ‘contingency sum’. Now a ‘contingency sum’ is for the purpose of….A CONTINGENCY. It is prudent for any project to allocate a 5% of the total construction cost for ‘contingency sum’. However you might not have to utilize this sum. So, for them to increase the cost from RM50 million and then throw in a feel good factor that the contingency sum is being reduced is a deception. You might as well jack up the construction cost to include in the contingency sum and tell all and sundry that this project is so well planned, that there is no need of a contingency sum.

Going back a little bit further, Calvarites have all along been led by the nose in accepting the building of a 5000 seating capacity 'church', it's "God's vision" and it had to succeed come what may. Wonder whether this so-called "God's vision" encompassed the following :-

1) A RM100 million mistake. This was acknowledged by the renowned architect who wants to build a signature building. Has the BOD practiced due diligence with our money and questioned how and why this RM100 million mistake was committed.

i) Has anyone thought of filing a 'professional negligence' suit against the architect or at least lodging a complaint with Lembaga Akitek Malaysia or Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia to suspend his practice?

ii) After all, has anyone ever heard of a RM100 million mistake?

iii) Was the decision to award to him, even after knowing his religious leaning, with consensus & above board?

2) During the 2007 AGM, HJK challenged the congregation by saying that "God asked, am I not worth that much?". Yet during the 2008 AGM, he spinned a tale that 'by value engineering (which actually is another name for cost-cutting, albeit a better sounding name), the church saved RM40 million, without compromising on design intent and quality. When questioned how did he managed to do that, he was dumbfounded and had to be 'rescued' by the Project Manager who said that they changed the material for the roof from 'enamel' to 'alucobond'.

i) Is that not a compromise for quality?

ii) The question is still ringing in my ears, "Am I (God) not worth more than that?", why need to cost-cut?

If you can saved RM40 million by cost-cutting and without having to compromise on the design intent and the quality, it means in the first place, you have jacked up the actual figure and then bringing it down to look good. HJK might now clarify that he was wearing different shoes when he spoke up during the different AGMs, remember how he said that he spoke in the capacity of a life-group leader & not a deacon, when promoting Calvary Kini. Anyway, I have never trusted people with multiple personalities.

3). The building had to be scaled down due to the exorbitant cost and yet with a lower construction cost, the MC could not performed and did not pay his SCs.

i) What would have happened had the cost not be scaled down, would the stoppage happened earlier?

ii) Was the decision to award to the MC done above-board?

iii) Was there a pre-determined plan to award to the current MC despite and in spite of whatever adverse reports?

Your guess is as good as mine. Most of us have not seen the drawings, specifications & documents pertaining to CCC, much less the tender reports. There are no monthly or bimonthly updates on the building, how much was paid out, what stage had the building been up to, whether the progress of construction is ahead or delayed, nothing, zilch. The whole project is shrouded in secrecy, more stringent than the official secrets act. You only give and don't question is the mantra not only applicable to tithes & offerings but also to CCC.

iv) How long had the MC not been paying the SCs and when was this brought into the open? It surely cannot be an overnight affair.

v) What has the consultants, especially the architect been advising, since he is the superintending officer of the project and would have known all this, or is he still busy looking at his design, first thing in the morning & the last thing at night that he had forgotten to administer the contract professionally or is there another RM100 million mistake in the making?

vi) What actions have been taken by the project team and the client to resolve the situation, like making direct payments to the SCs, so that the project can continue?

vii) Why is the church still paying the MC until now, is there something you & I don't know?

Anyway you look at it, the church members will have to bear the brunt of this fiasco.

SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP……… ANYBODY……….. P L E A S E ……

“ Abraham was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10) ; Calvarites are forced to look forward to a building without foundations of Truth, Transparency & Godly Governance, whose architect is a Free Mason and the builder is a default-paying MC.

“Abraham believed in God and it was imputed to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3); Calvarites were made to believe in a Tan Sri/Dato’/Dr but it can only be imputed to them as blind or misguided faith.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Where Would Jesus Give To In Times Like This?

Matthew 24 : 3-8As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "… what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

We are certainly living in the days nearing the end of the age and in troubled times indeed. The recent string of disasters all around us is a testament of that fact. We were first shocked at the fury and devastation of the super Typhoon Ketsana which has caused massive floods and destroyed houses and farms in Philippines, Vietnam and Laos since 26 September. Then, barely 3 days later, we were stunned by the massive 8.3 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which wiped out entire villages in Samoa. Almost immediately, another massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Padang, Sumatra. The Sumatran earthquake tremors were even felt in many parts of Malaysia.

In all these disasters, many lives were lost, untold numbers were made homeless, entire villages were destroyed. Women became widows and children became orphans. Suffering, hardship, pain, hunger, broken lives resulted. Cries for help rang throughout the world and many are responding to the plight of these unfortunate victims.


(These photos are compiled from the Star newspaper and online resources)
Volunteers are being mobilised to go to the aid of these people. Funds are being set up and many are coming forward to give. It is everyone’s hope that their little help extended will bring some relief to the poor victims and help to wipe away their tears. But really, none of us can ever fathom or even imagine the hurt, the pain, the suffering which these fellow human beings are going through right now. Seeing such tremendous suffering around us, what should our attitude be as Christians?
Deuteronomy 15:7 - “If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.”
Deuteronomy 26:12 - “When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.”
Proverbs 14:31 - “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”1 Timothy 6:18 - “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”James 1:27 - “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
1 John 3:17 - “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”

Proverbs 22:9 - “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.”
Isaiah 58:10 - "And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."
Proverbs 19:17 - “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.”
While the whole world is responding in compassion and mercy, here in Kuala Lumpur, the pastors of Calvary Church are busy encouraging or almost forcing the church staff and life group leaders to sell coupons for the coming Calvary carnival in an effort to raise funds to build the extravagant world-class 5,000-seat Calvary Convention Centre (CCC) costing no less than RM200 million including land.

To achieve their sales target, bundles of coupons are shoved into the hands of the church staff and life group leaders who are “encouraged” not to return unsold coupons but only to hand in the cash for the coupons. This has put unnecessary burden on the church staff and lay leaders.

There should not be a need to compel church leaders and church staff to hard sell the coupons in order to raise funds. Our God is a rich God and if indeed, the CCC is His vision and His will, He will surely provide the funds. There is no need for Senior Pastor and his pastors and deacons to worry. They just need to trust in Him and exercise the faith which they preached about.

However, every Calvarite (including the pastors and deacons, if they will be honest enough) knows that this mammoth Convention Centre, if completed, will become another white elephant which will suck every cent from the church coffers just to maintain it. Yet the leadership can be so blinded as to continue to push the members to give to the building of this centre and in the process, lay heavy yokes on the shoulders of the church members. Where is their conscience?

How can the leadership of Calvary Church say that they are followers of Jesus but continue to have their priorities totally out of sync with the heartbeat of God? Jesus did not come to build mega churches or big convention centres. He came to build lives…. period! The Bible says He came for the poor and needy, for the widows and orphans. That is what missions is all about…..touching lives and saving souls. Missions is never about buildings. Buildings can never bring glory to God. Lives touched and won for God will bring glory to God.
Therefore, in harsh and troubled times like this, when people are dying around us, when the cries of the poor and the suffering echo all around, when love and compassion are much needed, every child of God and every church ought to re-examine themselves and set their priorities right.

CalvaryToday hopes that all the funds raised in the coming Calvary carnival, bowling event and golf tournament will be totally channeled to the victims of the recent calamities. Better still, the Church should sell off the CCC project and give the proceeds to where Jesus would give to.

Matthew 19:20 “‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’ Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions (the CCC?) and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’"

So, dear Senior Pastor Tan Sri Prince Guneratnam, what say you?


AND, To all Calvarites, WHERE WOULD YOU GIVE TO IN TIMES LIKE THIS?
















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