Lawrence Khong

Lawrence Khong
Born 1952
Singapore
Spouse(s) Rev (Dr) Nina Khong
Children 4
Church Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC)
Offices held
 Senior Pastor
Title Lawrence Khong

Lawrence Khong (full name: Lawrence Khong Kin Hoong; born in 1952) is the Senior Pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) in Singapore. Founded by Pastor Khong in 1986, FCBC is one of the mega churches in Singapore and has a congregation of about 9,000.[1][2]

He was commissioned as an Apostle by Dr Peter Wagner of the International Coalition of Apostles in 2000.[3] Pastor Khong is the founder and chairman of TOUCH Community Services, a non-profit welfare organization that has 18 centres in Singapore helping the under-privileged and the needy.[4]

In recent years, Pastor Khong entered the media and entertainment world by producing movies[5][6] and performing magic shows such as "Magic of Love" and "Magic Box" as a platform for him to share Christ with pre-believers[7] and to “reclaim the media for God’s Kingdom”.[3][8]

Early life

Pastor Khong is the son of a successful businessman and a housewife. His father, a general commodities wholesaler who came from Guangdong province in China, had another family in Hong Kong with four children, but remarried when he came to Singapore before World War II broke out.[9]

As a young boy, Pastor Khong was rebellious and did poorly in primary school. However, his grades dramatically improved when he entered secondary school at St Joseph's Institution. Following this, he went on to National Junior College, where he met his future wife, Nina. In the army, his rebellious streak resurfaced; he took to chain smoking, sometimes up to three packs a day. He also stopped going to church. Upon entering his first year as a business administration undergraduate in the University of Singapore, he had a spiritual awakening during the summer vacation.[9]

Subsequently, he followed his future wife, Nina, to a church camp in Port Dickson, Malaysia, where a boy drowned on the second day. That startled him and he "felt a calling" to become a pastor.[9]

Faith Community Baptist Church

While in university, he joined the Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF) and eventually preached on the pulpit while still an undergraduate.[10] After graduating with a B.A Business Administration from the National University of Singapore,[3] he worked as an intern pastor in his church. And three weeks after he and Nina tied the knot, they left for Texas in the United States so that he could study for a master's degree in the Dallas Theological Seminary.[9]

About five years later, he returned to serve in his church, then set up Faith Community Baptist Church. It has about 9,000 members today and was at one point the biggest church in Singapore, although other mega churches such as City Harvest Church, New Creation Church and Lighthouse Evangelism (Singapore) have since overtaken it.[9]

He was commissioned as an Apostle by Dr Peter Wagner of the International Coalition of Apostles in 2000.[3]

FCBC was founded as a cell church.[11] It is fully committed to the "paradigm shift" in thinking about the global church, whereby the entire philosophy of "church" changes. Pastor Khong began every Cell Conference he led by proclaiming: "There is a heaven and earth difference; an east and west difference between a church with cells and a cell group church". This statement has since become a major landmark of Pastor Khong's teaching about the Cell Church.[12]

In 2002, he led FCBC to transit to the G12 Vision which focusses on helping every believer to become a father of multitudes. He is one of the International Twelve of Pastor Cesar Castellanos, founder of the G12 movement, and is committed to bring the G12 Vision to churches in Asia.[13] FCBC is a charismatic church that moves, teaches and believes in the power of the Holy Spirit.[14]

Following the pattern in G12 churches, FCBC is led by Apostle Lawrence Khong and his wife, Rev (Dr) Nina Khong. Apostle Lawrence Khong is the head of the Men's Network, whereas Rev (Dr) Nina Khong heads the Women's Network.

TOUCH Community Services

Pastor Khong founded TOUCH Community Services (TCS), a community arm of FCBC. TCS serves the local community in Singapore and is a non-profit, non-religious community organisation, which has served over 100,000 individuals since its establishment[9][15]

Pastor Lawrence has been recognised for his community work over the years. In 1998, he was conferred the public service medal in recognition of his contributions to the community.[15][16]

In 2002, Pastor Lawrence conceptualised Project SMILE or Sharing Magic in Love Everywhere. For his achievements as a social entrepreneur through Project SMILE, Pastor Lawrence was selected as a finalist for the SIP-Schwab Social Entrepreneur of 2007.[17]

In 2007, TCS won the Outstanding Non-profit Organisation Award in the National Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards, which recognises best practices in the management of volunteers and donors, including fundraising practices, in non-profit organisations.[9][18]

Media & Entertainment

In recent years, Pastor Khong entered the media and entertainment world by producing movies[5][6] and performing magic shows such as "Magic of Love" and "Magic Box" as a platform for him to share Christ with pre-believers[7] and to "reclaim the media for God's Kingdom".[3][8]

He is the founder of Gateway Entertainment that was formerly TOUCH Media, the entertainment ministry of FCBC, which provides Christian-friendly stage and movie productions and magic shows.[5] These productions soft-sell religion to a secular audience.[19] Gateway Entertainment was involved in the staging of FCBC's evangelistic harvests such as Spook Show 2004, 2005[20] and their recent shows Christmas Magic 2010, 2011 and 2012[21]

Pastor Khong has performed magic shows, with his daughter Priscilla, both of which were recipients to the Elite Diamond Merlin Awards[22]

Pastor Khong shared his experiences of "Magic of Love" in his book Give me the Multitudes! Obeying God's Call into the Media World, TOUCH Ministries International: Singapore but has received some criticism from fellow Christians for his use of magic and involvement in "marketplace ministries"[23]

Controversy

Lawrence Khong views homosexuals as having "a shorter lifespan, more sexually transmitted infections and more health problems than the general population",[24] and has, in January 2013 issued a statement to ex-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong against repealing discriminatory laws. He sees the repeal of controversial Section 377A of the Penal Code, which effectively criminalises homosexuality[25] as "a looming threat to this basic (nation) building block by homosexual activists."[26]

Personal life

Pastor Khong and his wife, Rev (Dr) Nina Khong, have four children – Priscilla, Michelle, Anthony and Daniel, and a grandson, Isaac.

In 2003, Khong's daughter, Priscilla had a child out of wedlock.[27]

He is also a national polo player who won a silver medal with the Singapore team at the 2007 South-east Asia Games.[28][29][30]

Related links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "About FCBC", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  2. ↑ http://www.fcbc.org.sg/index.asp
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 G12 International Conference 2009
  4. ↑ "TOUCH Community Services Corporate Information", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Destiny with HD", TODAY, 25 September 2003
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Digital dramas", The Straits Times, 14 October 2003
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lawrence Khong (2008) Give me the Multitudes! Obeying God's Call into the Media World, TOUCH Ministries International: Singapore
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Winning the Marketplace", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 "The Pastor Who Does Magic: 'PREACHER'S MAGICAL TOUCH'", The Straits Times, 7 July 2008
  10. ↑ "FCBC: Apostle Lawrence Khong", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  11. ↑ Lawrence Khong (2000), The Apostolic Cell Church (Paperback)
  12. ↑ "Purpose Driven Church", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  13. ↑ "PastorNet: Lawrence Khong", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  14. ↑ "FCBC: Characteristic", Retrieved 5 October 2009
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Profile of Lawrence Khong", Retrieved 3 October 2009
  16. ↑ "Public Service Medal Recipients", The Straits Time, 14 August 2009
  17. ↑ "Business With Heart: He's Well-Schooled", The Straits Times, 15 December 2007
  18. ↑ "SMRT Has A Soft Spot for Charity", The Straits Times, 16 November 2007
  19. ↑ "Rise of New Churches", The Straits Time Interactive, 21 July 2002
  20. ↑ Academic. http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/894566. Retrieved 21 July 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ http://www.lawrenceandpriscilla.com/christmas_magic_2010.html. Retrieved 21 July 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ↑ http://www.lawrenceandpriscilla.com/lawbio.html. Retrieved 21 July 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ "Lawrence Khong's Give Me the Multitudes", 13 December 2008, Retrieved 5 October 2009
  24. ↑ Khong, Lawrence. "HPB's Sexuality FAQs Undermine Family". HPB's Sexuality FAQs Undermine Family. Facebook. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  25. ↑ "Singapore High Court upholds criminalization of homosexuality". Singapore High Court upholds criminalization of homosexuality. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  26. ↑ Khong, Lawrence. "SP Lawrence Khong's statement at ESM Goh Chok Tong's visit to TC". SP Lawrence Khong's statement at ESM Goh Chok Tong's visit to TC. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  27. ↑ theindependent.sg/the-passion-of-pastor-khong/ June 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help);
  28. ↑ "SG Polo Team Clinch Silver Medal: 'POLO TEAM EARN SILVER TO END SEA GAMES ON NICE NOTE FOR TEAM SINGAPORE'", 2007
  29. ↑ "Polo Player Who Wears Many Other Hats: 'Middle-aged, But at the Top of his Game'", The New Paper, 15 December 2007
  30. ↑ "The Polo-Playing Pastor: 'Being a Sport'", TODAY, 25 October 2007

External links