David Yonggi Cho, pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, has been a personal friend of our family for more than 40 years. He has stayed in our home, and my father and I have served on his church growth board for a combined 38 years. Presently, I serve as president of Church Growth International of the Americas.

Because of the slant of some of the media reports, it is important certain details of the situation be made known. Not only was I present in Seoul during much of the trial, but there was also information disclosed during closed-door meetings which has not yet been made public. I want to share some of this as follows.

First, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Cho, 78, to a three-year prison term suspended for five years. He had been indicted for allegedly causing financial losses worth more than $12 million. He was also fined $5 million. He will not have to serve prison time, but he is on probation.

Second, Cho’s son, Cho Hee-Jun, 49, was indicted for the same charges. Because he was considered a flight risk, he was immediately taken into custody following a court order after being sentenced to three years in prison.

Cho has three sons. The second and third sons are very productive and work in church-related ministries. His eldest son has been the prodigal. He has been married four times and has been involved in sexual scandals with national personalities. In addition, he has served prison time for investment scams and embezzlement. His scandalized life has been an embarrassment to his family and the church.


Twelve years ago, this son purposely defrauded the church in excess of $12 million in a stock-related scheme. Cho testified that he trusted his elders and son and didn’t check and read the thousands of pages of paperwork, which was prepared for him to sign. Because Cho relied upon the direction of his choice elders and son, he signed the papers. He never received any monies from the transaction.

Third, the presiding judge said, “The court considered that even though Pastor Cho had the final say in the church, he never took the lead in any of the crimes, including tax evasion, committed on the suggestion of the accounting firm.”

The court also considered Cho’s life journey as a religious leader and his long-term contribution to social welfare as mitigating circumstances on his behalf. The court ruled that his son, Cho Hee-Jun, was the instigator of the crime related to the purchase of the shares of 1-Service stock.

Even though Cho established the world’s largest church, with more than 1 million members, he lives a simple life in a 1,000-square-foot church apartment. Neither does he own a car. Cho has raised and given personally to the church more than $170 million.

Dr. Bob Rodgers Sr. is pastor of Evangel World Prayer Center in Louisville, Ky.

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/42918-setting-the-record-straight-on-david-yonggi-cho

"Even though Cho established the world’s largest church, with more than 1 million members, he lives a simple life in a 1,000-square-foot church apartment. Neither does he own a car. Cho has raised and given personally to the church more than $170 million."

This does not sound like someone that is embracing the prosperity message to me. Although I do not agree with some of Brother Cho's teachings, I do not see him as someone that is trying to fleece the sheep. The devil is not the one that is wakikg thousands of Christians up at 4:00 in the morning to pray. Also, I respect what he has done in forming of cell groups, which are similar to house churches if they have good leadership and allow the Holy Spirit to lead the meetings. Brother Cho believed in preaching the "full gospel" which not only provides for the salvation of souls but also for the healing of the body.

Having said that, I am troubled by some of Brother Cho's teachings, which I do not find to be scriptural.

Mike

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Mike

So I did a little bit of research on Bob Rodgers, who is the author of the Charisma Magazine article posted here and I found some interesting details that I thought to share to add more context to where he is coming from in writing the article to help make a clearer assessment of the whole matter. Bob Rodgers graduated from Oral Roberts University and is the president of Church Growth International, which is an organization founded by Yonggi Cho. He is also the senior pastor for Evangel World Prayer Center. If you go on his website, you can see some indicators that suggest he may have a slant toward prosperity and word faith doctrine:
http://www.worldprayercenter.org/four-laws-of-prosperity-2
http://www.worldprayercenter.org/2014-fast-key-house-david
http://www.worldprayercenter.org/release-of-increase

And he happens to be friends with Benny Hinn:
http://www.worldprayercenter.org/benny-hinn-visits-evangel
http://davidcho.com/neweng/Main_News.asp?no=78

With that said, I am not trying to accuse Bob Rodger's of any malicious intent, but what I am trying to present is that the article may be somewhat biased due to his strong affiliations with Cho. I always like to check my sources and not just take something at face value because it is in a reputable magazine or other media outlet, especially on an Opinions column (although Charisma in my opinion is not the most reliable source). Although the matter of Cho's guilt regarding embezzlement might be somewhat ambiguous, it doesn't negate the fact that he has done great harm to the body with his wrongful teachings, regardless of how effective some of his strategies were or his results in church growth; the end never justifies the means in the eyes of God.

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Will

Thank you for that tb. Anyone who has ever been around the power structures of the kingdoms within Christendom know that powerful men put into place men who will not question them. They typically surround themselves with what the world would call " yes men." It is of course the opposite of the Biblical model but perfectly in line with the world and how it runs itself. It is interesting that we hear and know nothing of the children of the Apostles. Why? Because it was not a dynasty, it was not a family business where sons are promoted by virtue of who their fathers are. Time and again we see this within Christendom, this is just one more reason that bro David Wilkerson managed to avoid so many of the problems of other men with similar sized organisations. He could have easily promoted his own son and groomed him to take over when he retired, but instead he puts an ex-policeman from Canada into that position. Jesus has to be preeminent in our lives, in our gatherings and in our structures and we have to be but mere bond servants to the cause of Christ and to those who follow Him..............bro Frank

A Korean friend of ours who attends our church alerted me to this news report...

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/611326.html

Sad how money and power corrupts.

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Sandra Miller