For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
John 3:20
I was there in TOG on and off between the mid-80s and the mid-90s. All I witnessed was hubris, madness, false prophecies and a controlling spirit. People actually went mad in that church. And of course, there was an unending focus on prosperity and money. Now, the same spirit has gone mainstream. I will never trust a Malaysian church again. – Tom
This article is related to two other articles, posted here in this blog months ago, Peter Tan And The Tabernacle Of Glory and Peter Tan & The Zuckermann Report. An anonymous commentator, going by the name of Tom, provided some insights to the history of the Tabernacle Of Glory (TOG), and gave us another perspective to the events leading to the removal of Peter Tan from TOG’s leadership.
The Scripture is unequivocally clear that all darkness will be exposed and all sins will, in one way or another, become known for all to see and judge. In Psalm 44:21, the Bible says, “Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.”
It was the extent of the cover-up of this entire episode, considered to be one of the darkest moments in the history of Malaysian Christianity, exposing the inaction by the church leadership of TOG, the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) and National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF), that is most appalling and shameful to even mention.
AND TWO NAMES WERE ALSO GIVEN BY TOM, A COUPLE BY THE NAMES OF PAUL AND CHRISTINA ANG, WHOM HE ALLEGED WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HOSTILE TAKEOVER ATTEMPT (OF TOG) TO DIP INTO THE SHADY FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THE CHURCH.
Today, Paul and Christina Ang are currently preachers held under their own evangelical ministry known as Paul Ang Global Vision. They are also believed to be resident members of Sijil Injil Borneo Kuala Lumpur (SIB KL).
In their profile, among other things, they boast of being recently put in God’s heart, to start a Kingdom Connection For Ministers and Ministries (KCMM) for fellowship and partnership. Paul Ang is also known to be actively coaching fellow ministers, to address him as “dad” and likewise he will call them his “sons”.
But in Tom’s own words, a former member of TOG himself, he described the church as, “I was there in TOG on and off between the mid-80s and the mid-90s. All I witnessed was hubris, madness, false prophecies and a controlling spirit. People actually went mad in that church. And of course, there was an unending focus on prosperity and money. NOW, THE SAME SPIRIT HAS GONE MAINSTREAM. I WILL NEVER TRUST A MALAYSIAN CHURCH AGAIN.”
The couple, Paul and Christina Ang make frequent appearances as guest speakers in Malaysian churches, including my own ex-church, and whom I have also repeatedly warned my ex-church friends, that these two persons are wolves in sheep’s clothing and cannot be trusted. The first time I heard him preaching, he was already teaching people in my ex-church that the more money we give to the church, the more God will bless us in return. I don’t need much convincing after that to arrive at my own conclusion that this man and his wife are both false prophets.
With the revelation by Tom and soon to come, more from ex-members of TOG and others familiar with this incident, it is now easier to connect the dots together and to construct a full picture of how the iniquities originating from these false prophets, have after more than 20 years, fully bloomed and flourished into mega heresies, mega deceiving and mega false teachings, that we currently witness in Malaysian churches.
By playing host to these false prophets, churches and their leadership are invoking God’s generational curses on themselves, by unknowingly allow heresies and false teachings from these wolves, to continue to live and thrive among unsuspecting sheep and flocks. By their teachings, they strengthen the hands of evildoers (Jeremiah 23:14), they repeatedly make the sheep worthless (Jeremiah 23:16), by the dictates of their own hearts they persistently promised the sheep that no harm shall come upon them (Jeremiah 23:17) and they fail to cause God’s people to turn away from their evil ways and listen to His instructions (Jeremiah 23:22).
The sheep stumble in the day, and by night these false prophets stumble them further. They were taught that God’s law is no longer relevant, therefore no one needs to obey it anymore, and as such because the false prophets coached them to reject God’s knowledge, therefore these people are destroyed and will also be rejected by God (Hosea 4:5-6). And the more they increase, the more they will sin against God, and thus the greater their shame and punishment will become (Hosea 4:7-9).
Paul and Christina Ang have been regularly bragging about how God bless them as preachers and Christina herself repeatedly boast on social media, that because of their faithfulness, God bless her and her son by providing money and provisions for her son to be sent to the United States for education and who is presently employed as a full time attorney in Texas. By now, I guess we have more questions than answers, like where all their money came from to fund their kid’s education outside Malaysia.
But as the saying goes, there’s always two sides of the same coin. In a recently recorded live speech on Facebook, Paul Ang insisted however, that he was the one grieved by church hurt and disappointed with members of his former church rejecting him and his wife. But before he said this, he also claimed that after putting the church expenses in order, repaying all of its debts and he was the one who had willfully resigned from the church. Over time, we can see how words from the mouths of these liars do not match and by what they say, they actually contradict themselves deeper as they speak.
To cover up a scandal is not the same as to settle disputes within the church without involving heathens, as we are taught in Matthew 18:15-20. In any full dispute resolution undertaken by the church, there should be a trial and there should be conviction to bring the guilty to repentance. And if the accused refuse to cooperate, then the matter should be handed over to the heathens, in this case the Malaysian police, for justice to be meted out accordingly. But what is seen happening inside churches in Malaysia today, is nothing more than sheer fabrication of the truth, sweeping sins under the carpet in the name of God’s love, all being done and disguised as church magnanimity in emulating how Christ forgives. Does this sound familiar to you? It sure does to me.
Nevertheless, it becomes very tricky, when the institution of the churches themselves, refuse to undertake the instructions found in Matthew 18, thus resulting in the entire organization falling into sin and transgressing against God and His laws. But the regular churchgoer will not be able to recognize this and when God’s wrath arrives, they’ll keep asking their respective church leaders, why God is not answering their prayers or why bad things are happening to the Christians. Well, this is because all along they had been taught by wolves that God’s peace will always be upon them and no evil shall come upon them as long as they profess they are believers of Christ (Jeremiah 23:17).
The Full Transcript Of Tom’s Comments
I read the Martin Tapia Zuckermann report. It is over-simplistic to say the least. Refer to: https://pdfcoffee.com/true-move-of-god-pdfpdf-pdf-free.html
There are serious questions that remain unanswered over Peter Tan’s “first scandal” involving a girl referred to as MAG in the report:
- If the TOG found out that Peter Tan Sung Hee had sex with an underage girl, then the church, or any members within the church, should or could have lodged a police report. Where is it?
- If they had not lodged a police report, then the church was willfully involved in a cover-up. Would you trust a “church” that covers up statutory rape by a pastor? Shame on not only Peter Tan, but shame on Paul and Christina Ang as well.
- Were the girl’s parents bullied by church leaders NOT to lodge a police report? Which sane parents would not go to the police over an incident as outrageous as this one? Or were they handsomely paid off?
- Was this incident used as a hostile takeover attempt to dip into the shady financial resources of TOG? I guess those who ultimately benefited were Paul and Christina Ang.
- What was the role of the church leaders in this adoption process? Didn’t it strike them as bizarre? I think the girl may have started living in Tan’s household (at least on and off) before 1994, and the formal adoption took place only in 1994.
- The girl “MAG” was an immediate neighbor of the Philipose family (this includes Mathew Philipose and Christina Philipose, now “Pastor Dr.” Christina Ang). Did the Philiposes play a role in this adoption?
- How did the girl allow this sick state of affairs to persist for more than a year? What kind of girl allows herself to have sex with a pastor under his roof over the course of an entire year while his wife and kids slept in adjoining rooms? Surely, she is probably as sick as Peter Tan himself.
- This “affair” reportedly went on for more than a year. Surely, Amy Tan would have suspected something amiss. How could she sleep through entire nights while her husband was having sex with a minor? She had two kids, and kids are prone to wake up in the middle of the night. Amy Tan has a lot of explaining to do.
- Due to the serious nature of this alleged crime, why didn’t the Christian Federation of Malaysia, the Council of Churches of Malaysia and National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) etc. lodge a police report? Were they involved in the cover-up? All the churches, and even the police, knew of this scandal.
- Peter Tan was also accused of embezzling church funds worth millions and acquiring property in Malaysia and abroad. Were any attempts made to recover these assets? Surely, another police report over larceny should have been lodged. Or was a deal made with certain church members as part of a separation scheme agreement?
- What kind of Christian teenager would allow herself to have sex with an older predator who was in fact her pastor? That too over the course of a year? That too under the same roof as his wife and two kids.
- The girl MAG did very well in the church scene and in the world after the incident. Was this a nice pay-off for her silence? Isn’t this a case of tacit blackmail?
- The girl’s eldest brother insisted for years (2-4 years at least) that this incident was a fabrication by Paul and Christina Ang to take over TOG. He later reconciled with Paul and Christina Ang and is now rewarded as Pastor “RR”.
I was there in TOG on and off between the mid-80s and the mid-90s. All I witnessed was hubris, madness, false prophecies and a controlling spirit. People actually went mad in that church. And of course, there was an unending focus on prosperity and money. Now, the same spirit has gone mainstream. I will never trust a Malaysian church again.
April 21, 2022 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for publishing my comments and for the excellent write up to accompany my observations. Here are a few more random TOG observations from my end.
1. The TOG (every member including Peter Tan) seems to be one of the seed churches for all the FALSE churches and teachings going on in Malaysia today. A bad tree produces bad fruit. It doesn’t not matter when its spores are pollinated.
2. Sometime in the 80s, the TOG broke away from the Word Centre which was based in Pertama (or Campbell) complex in the 80s. So far, there are no reports from remnant members of the Word Centre on what actually caused the split. In fact, I have identified one product from the Word Centre who is now a pastor and who is associated with the notorious “Dr.” Jonathan David. Back then, TOG members would frequently belittle Word Centre (as they would other churches) and one would have expected members from the Word Centre to shed some light on schisms leading up to Peter Tan’s depravity.
3. Apart from Paul and Christina Ang, who were the other TOG elders who swept the underage sex (statutory rape) saga under the carpet? Yes, church disputes should not involve the heathen BUT NOT when a heinous crime is committed. If a pastor had murdered someone, wouldn’t it be logical to lodge a police report? Same with statutory rape.
4. Who ultimately hushed up the scandal on behalf of the TOG? As soon as the scandal surfaced, the knives were already out by other “pastors” who had accused Peter Tan of poaching members from their church, leading to TOG’s explosive growth. These “pastors” were also decidedly jealous of of TOG’s membership growth, much like corporate sharks jealous of competitor dividends (aka 10% tithes). So, who was the kingmaker who shielded the TOG from any action from the authorities?
Here I must posit a tenuous possibility. This comes from another INSIDER who has been trying to piece the TOG’s coverup puzzle.
1. The connection to the Mar Thoma church in Kuala Lumpur. This church only serves Christians who “Syrian Christians” who originally hailed from the Indian state of Kerala. Intermarriage was traditionally frowned upon. They also claim to be descended from Brahmins who were converted by the Apostle Thomas in AD54. So, it’s an insular church that one expects to have little clout in Malaysia but we shall see that this is really NOT the case. Our ex-Attorney General Tommy Thomas is from this church. Children of the rich here regularly held wild parties.
2. The Philipposes (entire family) were members of this church. They were pretty much despised because they were poor. Right from the start, the Mar Thoma church was divided into the rich and not-so-rich. The Philipose children later drifted to other churches and finally ended up with the TOG. This is not uncommon amongst younger Mar Thoma members who hailed from poorer families.
3. The “underage girl” and her two brothers were attending early morning Sunday school at the Mar Thoma church in Kuala Lumpur for a few years. This was odd as they were Tamilians. Why did the Philiposes bring these kids (their immediate neighbours to be precise) to this church when they knew that the presence of these kids would be met with silent contempt? They were poor and not Malalees (from Kerala).
4. The insular Mar Thoma Church in Malaysian actually turns out to be quite influential. Look at their disproportionate representation throughout the history of the Council of Churches Malaysia:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Council_of_Churches_of_Malaysia
5. One notable character stands out, the Rev George Vergis who was president of the CCM between 1983 and 1986. A former civil servant turned cleric (as recounted to me), George Vergis claimed he was the point person who negotiated with Anwar Ibrahim over the Al-Kitab controversy. This was in the 80s. No surprises that the issue is still burning.
6. Rev George Vergis was a nasty piece of work under the facade of affability. His household would regularly breach confidences entrusted by the Christian community. With such a passion for gossip and innuendo, Rev. Vergis would have definitely known about the TOG scandal. What did he do about it?
7. Some of Vergis’s relatives and sympathizers from the mid-to-late 80s belonged to the “reformers” camp in the Mar Thoma Church, right at a time when the underaged girl “MAG” and her brothers got involved in the Mar Thoma Sunday School. There were children’s extracurricular activities by the Mar Thoma Church where these three kids were involved as well i.e. sports day, youth camps, workshops.
8. An influential number of the reformers in the Mar Thoma church regularly attended either the TOG or its affiliates. One of Rev. George Vergis’s nephews (who was called “Sunumon” by the insider) actually set up his own charismatic-type church.
9. Sunumon was close to Christina Philipose (later “Pastor Dr.” Christina Ang) and was her Sunday school mate in the Mar Thoma church before she moved to the Word Centre and later the TOG. So, the Vergis family had inside knowledge of what went on in both the protestant and charismatic circles.
10. When Sunumon later passed away, these reformers and their chums tried to raise him from the dead during the wake. This was very TOG, very Peter Tan.
Did these links contribute to the coverup behind the scenes? I do not know. On the other hand, there seems to be a number of freemasons in the Mar Thoma church, led by a retired justice (VCG). When the Mar Thoma church bills itself as a “small but highly influential church”, they are effectively referring to the Masonic clique in the church.
The Malaysian government has had a tetchy relationship with the Mar Thoma church. A new building slated for construction and completion in the 80s has yet to break ground. It’s been more than 40 years. Lies and skullduggery buried for years have finally come home to roost.