The Preacher's Pledge - What every preacher should do to avoid plagiarising

I will make the Bible my primary resource in sermon preparation and preaching.

I may use other resources such as commentaries and web sites to enhance, not replace, my personal interaction with Scripture.

As I study I will strive to accurately understand and honestly apply God's Word, allowing Him to uniquely proclaim His truth in a relevant way through me.

Coming elections is a sign

Elections are on the horizon at last. After that the unveiling...The signs are already there

Jesus was rich? Muahhahahahahahah

I wonder how is it that some churches can have teachers who dare to teach that Jesus was rich, not poor. I wonder why some sheep can really live up to their names and be that stupid to believe such teachings. No wonder they get fleeced, metaphorically speaking.

This is their reasoning. He had a treasurer who even stole and keep stealing without anyone noticing the difference. They met in his house. He was presented with treasures from wise men when He was born. His clothes He wore were divided by the guards.

He had a treasurer? Please lahhh, it was the tradition in those days for one person to hold the money for the band of companions. It was not Jesus’ money that Judas held but everyone in the travelling party. Its like when we were young, we went out as friends and we would all give to one person who would then pay the expenses for all.

Did Jesus have any money? Look at Luke 8:1-3 “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” If Jesus was rich, that means he must have been very unprincipled to live off these women when he had money.

He had a house? Big deal! It just means he was not homeless not that he was rich. How big was Jesus' house? How lucrative was being a carpenter? Being a carpenter was more like being a labourer than being a businessman. The rich of Jesus’ time were the businessman merchants and traders. The rest were just labourers.

He was presented with treasures? How much did he get? If Jesus was rich, why would he say the Son of Man had no place to rest his head? Did he wear fine clothes? Really?

 The soldiers tossed lots for his clothes? It was a tradition of that time for the executioners to cast lots for the condemned's belongings much like an executioner's fee. The soldiers were not doing it because they had been squabbling over who gets his rich clothes. Does anyone think that whatever robe Jesus had that perhaos it could even have been the purple robe that Herod draped over him and not Jesus' own.

The clearest evidence is that his parents were poor despite the claims that he got treasure from the Magi. Look at Luke 2:22-24. Jesus’ parents offered a sacrifice of “a pair of doves or two young pigeons”. Look at Lev 12:7b-8, “These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.” Jesus' parents could not even afford a proper sacrifice of a lamb even at his birth. So Jesus’ parents were poor and he was poor.

Please lahhh, Christians, God has given you a sound mind. Don’t embarrass God’s gift to you by not using it.

I wonder???

I wonder as I look into the near future. Will the said-to-be soon-coming National Elections be a sign? What will the sign point to?

Megachurch Pastors Are Only Human

Pastors are human and can be swayed by money, power and sex. So why can't their actions be scrutinised and they be held accountable? To do so can hardly be called 'judging'

Florida megachurch pastors Zachery and Riva Tims ended their 15-year-marriage in late July, two years after it was discovered that Zachery Tims had an affair with an exotic dancer he met in Paris.
Read more... http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/22954-florida-megachurch-pastors-end-marriage

Ukrainian law enforcers on Tuesday formally charged the ethnic Nigerian leader of a hugely popular evangelical Christian church of complicity in bilking his congregation of millions, the Interfax news agency reported. Pastor Sunday Adelaja, senior pastor of Embassy of God in Kiev, Ukraine, was among the ringleaders in an international scheme to attract funds from Ukrainian churchgoers into questionable Nigerian businesses run by friends and relatives, the accusation read in part.
Read more ...   http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/30666-nigerian-evangelical-pastor-sunday-adelaja-charged-fraud-ukraine.html

From its inception the Pentecostal movement has been marred deeply by scandals, as we have documented in our illustrated 317-page book The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: Its History and Its Error. If the movement had the fullness of the Holy Spirit unction and power that it claims, we would not see such an exhibition of the flesh, but in fact moral and other scandals have continued to plague it in recent history. The following are some prominent examples:
Read more...Recent pentecostal Scandals

Bishop Rick Hawkins is described many ways by many people: showman, a charismatic and powerful preacher, founder of the massive San Antonio church the Family Praise Center, as well as a charter school that bears his name, and an accredited bible college that trains evangelicals. But in recent months Bishop Hawkins is best known for a storm of sex scandal. In 2007 his Family Praise Center was rocked when allegations surfaced of Bishop Hawkins sexually harassing church members, having adulterous affairs. Several women charged that he took advantage of women who came for him for spiritual counseling by soliciting them for phone sex. He is reportedly under investigation for using thousands of dollars in church funds to hush up his victims. Hundreds of church members have fled his church.
Read more ... Who is Bishop Rick Hawkins

Financial scandal. Faulty theology. Moral failure. The last few years have shown that the Church and her leaders are not immune to scandal and corruption. The real problem, however, is that no one is holding them accountable. Until now. Charismatic insider and contributing editor to Charisma magazine, J. Lee Grady has been a voice crying out against the abuse of the gifts of the Spirit in his weekly, award-winning column "Fire in My Bones." Though an avid proponent of the charismatic experience, he has observed trends that both distress and anger him. And now he is overturning the money tables.
Read more Respected Journalist Exposes the Scandals of the Charismatic Renewal

Lori Lewis' pastor let her family stay in a church apartment when her husband went to jail. Five months later, the pastor joined her husband behind bars. He was not there for inmate ministry. The Rev. Robert N. Riddle was charged in April with swindling an elderly widow out of more than $100,000. While not personally affected by the scandal, the disappointment stung Lewis. "If you can't trust your pastor, who you can trust?" she said. Churches are learning that the preacher in the pulpit should not be accepted on his word alone. Scandalous stories of bad pastors floating from one church to the next have also made some wonder whether denominations where there is little oversight over congregations are even more vulnerable to clergy abuse.
Read more... Pastor scandals erode trust in pulpit

Jim Bakker Renounces The Prosperity Gospel As A Lie Jim Bakker on Youtube

The music is catchy, the mood euphoric and the message perfect for a material age: believe in God and you'll be rewarded in this life as well as the next. Greg Bearup visits Hillsong Church and learns how faith and finance go hand-in-hand...
Read more ...Praise the Lord and pass the chequebook

Worshippers at Without Walls International Church are accustomed to seeing the offering collected two or three times each service. At services in May and June, worshippers stuffed the offering buckets with cash, jewelry, and hundreds of colorful envelopes filled with checks and credit card numbers. The envelopes identify seven donation designations: tithes, offering, building fund, Without Walls television, benevolence, pastor's gift and Paula White Ministries. With all the money pouring into the $40 million-a-year enterprise, how do those who give know where it all goes? How can congregants be sure their money supports the causes they intended? The answer: They can't.
Read more ...in God's Hands or the Pastors'?

Permission was granted for reprinting what?

City News recently ran an article on “Action taken to Rectify Citation Issues” regarding Kong Hee’s plagiarism of certain articles and infringement of copyright by claiming copyright when he printed them in his books “Renewing your Spiritual…” KH claimed he and others concerned “had taken measures to do what is necessary to put things right”. What caught my attention was the statement, “One such example is portions that were taken from “The Leadership Bible, New International Version.” In March 2010, Kong’s editorial team wrote to publisher Zondervan Publishing House to seek permission to reprint these portions in the Daily Devotion. The Leadership Bible is authored/edited by Sid Buzzell, Kenneth Boa and Bill Perkins. Permission was granted the following month, stating that “since [the request to reprint] falls under our fair use guidelines (you are using less than 500 words), Zondervan is happy to grant permission at no charge”. The article can be read here http://www.citynews.sg/CNnewspaper/cnjune2010p22/

I am a little curious as to the exact nature of their request for re-producing the articles. 1) Did they SPECIFICALLY STATE their request was to print some of the articles/notes from the Leadership Study Bible? 2) Or did they JUST REQUEST TO reproduce from the Leadership Bible? There is a difference depending on how the written request is crafted. If it is the latter request, Zondervan could be thinking the request is to reprint the NIV BIBLE TEXT IN A COMMERCIAL REFERENCE, not for reprinting of the articles. Looking at Zondervan’s above reply, this may be the permission granted Kong’s team. Zondervan’s reply is based on fair use of the NIV text which is freely given. Just look inside any Zondervan-published Bible. Stated in the inside page is “the NIV TEXT may be quoted in any written form…, up to and inclusive of 500 verses without express written permission of the publisher…” They have written fair use guidelines but it is meant for the NIV text and these guidelines are worded very closely in Zondervan’s reply to KH’s team.

The articles/notes in the Leadership Study Bible are however a different thing. In any study/devotional Bible, these are the intellectual property of the person who wrote them, not necessarily the publisher. Just check any study Bible to ascertain this. In the case of the Leadership Bible, the copyright remains with Buzzell & Boa and so Zondervan has no right to grant permission for anyone to re-print them. In mid-March, I did query Buzzell & Boa as to their copyright ownership of the Leadership Study Bible articles. They replied (in their own words) “Zondervan turned the rights to the material over to the authors” (i.e. Buzzell & Boa). So how can Zondervan grant permission in April 2010 (according to City News) to reprint the articles? In fact, the articles/notes from the Leadership Study Bible have already been re-printed by Buzzell & Boa in other books by other publishing houses. KH’s excellent backup team can ascertain this for themselves.

So many questions to ask over what is a simple copyright issue! Did KH’s team SPECIFICALLY ASK to reprint the articles/notes from the Leadership Study Bible? HOW CAN Zondervan grant permission for the reprint of something they have no copyright to? Is the Buzzell & Boa team MISTAKEN in thinking they have copyright to the articles? Has the Buzzell & Boa team’s publishing houses INFRINGED ON COPYRIGHT by printing the Leadership Study Bible articles in the books of Buzzell & Boa?

I sincerely hope this article will be helpful to KH’s team to make the necessary clarifications. After all, they should try to be sure so as to avoid more legal complications of infringement of copyright should they reprint “Renewing your Spiritual…”

Singapore needs RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.

Does Singapore need a SG version of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act? Under US Federal law, RICO enables the law-enforcement officials to take action by providing stronger penalties against organizations that have displayed ongoing criminal activity over a period of time. Wikipedia states that “Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes like tax evasion, bribery, money laundering, embezzlement, theft, fraud, etc. within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering under RICO. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of ‘racketeering activity.’ RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.”


Currently, those found guilty of such crimes mentioned above are still sentenced as if they have committed the crime individually. This is applied even if it is a group of people who conspire to commit the same crimes like embezzlement and fraud over a period of time. Simply put, racketeering is a group of people working together to carry out a criminal enterprise over a period of time. RICO provides for heavier penalties.


Imagine the charities industry in Singapore. It has to be an industry because of the potential to raise enormous funds by tugging at people’s heartstrings. Imagine a group of people with marketing savvy, organizational acumen and slick PR who are able to address a mass need in society. This could be a need like helping children with vision disorders. After all, who wants a young child to go blind? Or how about children’s cancer since Asians especially cannot bear the thought of children dying. Use emotional appeals through pictures and film which tugs at people’s hearts to give. Why shouldn’t people give? It plays on their guilty conscience since they are healthy while others are sick/dying. Slicker marketing each year, better PR and the money snowballs humongously. Don’t have to take my word for it. Just consider the news on charities for the last five years.


Another need is to be assured of what will happen to you in the afterlife, i.e. salvation. The group addresses the need with slick marketing like ‘giving sacrificially’ and give examples of people who have experienced exponential increase in income after giving until it hurts. They may play on your fears by claiming only such acts of sacrifice will prove you are a real child of God. There may be peer pressure also indicating you are not being faithful if you don’t give playing on your fears of whether you will go Heaven or otherwise. In return, the group offers therapeutic messages and music that make you forget your sorrows or massage your ego for just a little while each weekend and sometimes on a weekday. With slick marketing and PR and more emotional manipulation, the group continues to draw more devotees over the years. And the racket increases in income because they have more people who are giving more and more over the years. After all, everyone is interested in their eternal destiny. Offer it to them on a platter; make it easy for them to believe and soon your devotee numbers increase. Look at the spiritualism (not just Christianity) industry worldwide. Just Google religious scandals and see what happens.


That is why SG also needs a RICO. This will prevent the charity industry from falling into wrong hands such as a charity that commits serial plundering of the funds raised and available for the leadership group’s use. Its not just crime but organized crime since it a group of like-minded criminals out to fleece the people who trust them and get their hands on the charity dollars. I hope the SG government earnestly looks into this.

IS THIS REALLY TRUE!

A poster on KH's blog said this "City News this week explains at length points which show the imbalances in the writeup by both the Straits Times and certain bloggers about Pastor’s devotionals... the publishers had given their permission for the reproduction of the content concerned in the devotionals. So rather than go to the publishers who were the correct people to seek clarifications from, bloggers went straight to the authors (wrong party to look for) and sought their own conclusions from there. Nice one. Shouldn’t the paper and the bloggers therefore apologize as well then, at least for their oversight?"

My response is are the reps of KH still claiming they had permission to reproduce the plagiarised articles? City New is CHC's mouthpiece right? I'd be happy if someone can post the article link here! Why not rebut the papers' reports directly then instead of in your own handouts? That would have a wider circulation and lead to total vindication. Why not show CONCRETE PROOF such permission exists? In fact, I am very interested to know HOW MANY ARTICLES they willingly admit to 'lifting from external sources." I sure would like to know if their number of 'permission-granted' articles correspond with the number of copied articles I have found. Furthermore, if KH, his publishers, etc had permission to print PRIOR TO presstime and circulating online the plagiarised articles, that would have been their first arrow in their salvo against the claims of the bloggers and the press. But has it been? Frankly speaking, I would be happy to apologise if such proof is forthcoming. It gives me no pleasure to find that a man of God (as claimed by his devotees) has fallen short of the standard required. 

So perhaps now KH's reps can claim this word for word copy of Ken Boa's article is also 'permission-granted' for then to reproduce? Call me a legalist if you want to but perhaps it is time to walk the talk and glorify God with action and now with words.

Like someone posted on that same page, "denial is not a river in Egypt."

Whatever...

I wonder if someone can help me understand. Is it only in Christianity that those who stand for the truth and cast light upon darkness are vilified? Or maybe ordinary bloggers make easier target as compared to the government.


Ancient Israel was let astray and cast into captivity simply because their leaders led their followers astray. They even stoned and killed the prophets who warned them of their wrongdoing instead of repenting. What lessons can we in the church learn from this.

I would like to say kudos to our local government for taking the courageous stand to investigate wrongdoing by church leaders. This could have boomeranged on them but they have taken this step for the sake of law and justice, a subject that is close to God's heart.

The Westminster Confession Chapter 23 reminds us "God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained civil magistrates, to be, under Him, over the people, for His own glory, and the public good: and, to this end, has armed them with the power of the sword, for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil doers.  

Christians should obey the goverment not because we fear the governement law but because we love God and obey God's commands.

Romans 13:1-4 - Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

Attributes "assert" they had right to use plagiarised material

 

The publisher of the book said that after investigation, they discovered that out of the 350 articles in the book, there were about 10 articles which contained similarities with other authors. However, the publisher asserted that KH had used their materials with the permission of the original authors, and therefore it is not a case of plagiarism. He also said that their oversight is in not clearly letting readers know which articles were written by other authors and reproduced with their permission.

The above translation of KH's publishers' "oversight" is taken from http://thelogicalchristian.blogspot.com/2010/06/pastor-kong-hees-publisher-explains-its.html. Thanks Stan. You're an esteeemed man of letters.

Actually I had earlier considered not blogging any response to KH since Stanley had done admirably in showing how HOLEy is KH's 'clarificatiom'. But then the publisher now says its their 'honest mistake'. Really? The game is afoot!

“Contained similarities”. That’s a good spin. Hello, it’s a word for word copy in practically all the articles. There were 350 articles? Looks like even Attributes don’t know the contents of their publishing. The book is called “Renewing…. 90 days”, i.e. one day one articles @ 90 articles/vol. Do the maths Duhhh!

The publisher “asserted”? Why not show hardcopy proof to CONFIRM rather than merely “assert”? If Kong Hee had permission to use the materials, its strange that he did not mention this in his ‘clarification’. Its strange that he did not post a copy of photo of one written permission. That would have shut his detractors up.

Any self-respecting publisher would make sure the author proof-reads and approves the book contents. I know all publishers make their client author or his representative sign against the printed proofs? This is so that they avoid being blamed and sued by the author if there are any legal hassles in the book contents. Attributes did not bother to check and get Kong Hee to approve the contents? It is not their ‘oversight’. The onus is on Kong Hee to provide the material including the crediting of the external sources. So why are they willing to take the fall for Kong Hee’s ‘oversight’?

Now so many know

Now so many people know about the contents of this blog. Well, we can see how God is at work then. Hopefully, the Lord's promise of 2 Peter 3:9 will hold still "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."


Anyway I am going away for two weeks. Work and enjoy life at the same time. Wish all you readers a good walk with God in all things

Another plagiarised article or can it be vice versa?

Another copied article, all from Derek Prince Ministiries. Or will KH tell us that Derek Prince copied from him? The prayer and the main points are from different sites. If copied that means he canot claim as his insights right? Some more the article is also in Kong Hee's book "Renewing Your Spiritual Life in 90 days, Vol 1" day 55, "Jesus broke every curse." The book is alreayd sold in public for money so how can he say claim "The Daily Devotion on this website is non commercial in nature and meant solely for the believer’s personal edification." 

http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/05/jesus-broke-every-curse/

http://www.dpmuk.org/Mobile/default.aspx?article_id=109267

http://www.porn-free.org/prayers_occult.htm

Is serial plagiarism a sign of bondage?

More Plagiarism by Man of God?

Wahhh, another plagiarised article. Look at Kong Hee's article http://www.konghee.com/www/2009/07/the-holiness-of-god/.  The first two points is also word for word copy of this article here http://deborahshank.blogspot.com/2007/10/holiness-101.html.


And then look at KH's article point 4 "God’s holiness cannot tolerate sin". It is directly copied from the study notes of Life Application Study Bible Isa 59:1-14. You can check your Life Application Study Bible if you don't wanna believe me. The proof is also here http://www.abible.com/devotions/2005/20050502-1812.html. If he copy from others wholesale, can he say that they are his insights. Because he printed this artincle in his book "Renewing your spiritual life, Vol 2, day 76. Doctor of theology should know the importance of crediting the source of your information. Any seminary will be very strict about plagiarism.


I have posted pictures of the website articles here to make things easy for you. So how? Furthermore, in this article KH says "we must never use unholy means to teach a holy goal because..." What do you think? Is plagiarism unholy? legal maybe but defintely cannot call it holy. Will a man of God follow man's laws or God's laws

Plagiarism again?

Wahhh is the Man of God still copying? See here
http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/05/godly-sorrow/


This first half is definitely similar to Neil Anderson's devotional. http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/dailyinchrist/544432/

Too many paragraphs are word for word copy. What do you think? Will the world-renowned Neil Anderspn plagiarise another man's work? Some more KH can talk about repentance and godly sorrow? he already known to plagiarise before so he should walk the talk and repent right? Some more this article is also found in KH's book sold at S$14/ "Renewing Your Spiritual Life Vol 2" Day 46 Page 99. If he borrows another man's article, can he claim that he is "sharing his insights from the Bible" (his claim on back page of book?)

Did Man of God plagiarise his Devotion article from Internet or vice versa?

This is one example of plagiarism that takes the cake. LOL. Kong Hee's article is found in two different places.

This is Kong Hee's article http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/03/receiving-kingdom-power/

Look at his three points on the Holy Spirit and compare with the three points found in the Christian Cowboy's web article http://www.silveradocowboychurch.org/holyspirit.htm... Very, very similar in the words and points given. If God is a creative God, why does he need to give the same revelation in same words to two different people.

Now look at Kong Hee's 4 application points at his article's end. 1st, 2nd & 4th is directly taken from the commentary of the Spirit-filled Bible, almost word for word. The article can be seen here although I have posted the screenshot also
http://www.ruachfellowship.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=88

So how? What do you think? Who do you think copy from who? Anyway we know KH has copied from the Leadership Bible for sure.

This article is also day 70 devotion of Kong Hee's book "Renewing your Spiritual Life... Vol 1 (Page 149)". So how? Should a man sell bread that is baked by another person? Can a Christian apportion for himself manna collected by another man?

Why Must Man of God Plagiarize Another Man's Work

Another example of pastors plagiartizing from others.

Kong Hee's devotion on fasting is found here

The other article from AgapeFellowship in USA is found in their 31-day Fasting Manual in here ...

This manual is actually a very comprehensive manual on fasting. It contains prayer topics for your fasting days, foods to avoid, foods to compliment your fast, scriptures to meditate on. The pastor must have put a lot of research into it.

So how? what do you think? Both pastors seem to be experts on fasting. So why does one pastor need to copy the other's devotional article. During his fasting, God never reveal anything to him mehh? Some more one is a fasting manual. So which is the 'expert' that plagiarize from the original expert? Difficult to guess or not?

Another example of Christian pastors who plagiarize each other

Why do Christian pastors need to plagiarise other Christians' work? I believe every pastor will seek the joy of God's company in devotion every morning. So that means he should be having a fresh revelation from God every morning. They why copy others' devotion writing? Is it because for the plagiarist pastor "In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions."? It is scary when a man claim to be a man of God but has tro resort to copy another man's revelation from God.

Just see this example. Look at this artcile, 'The Charismatic Gifts' by the megachurch pastor Kong Hee http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/05/the-charismatic-gifts-2/. It is a word for word copy of http://donfran.multiply.com/journal/item/54/The_Charismatic_Gifts...

WHO COPY FROM WHO? Makes no difference. The question is why they cannot credit the source of their article if they copied it. Why cannot they write their own revelation from God.

What is plagiarism? (taken from desiringgod.org)

There are two factors that, taken together, make plagiarism a danger for those in the Christian ministry. First, those engaged in pastoring and teaching generally love to learn and share what they have learned with others. This is obviously a very good thing. But, second, the guidelines for giving proper credit to those we have learned from are not always clear. Hence, there is a danger that the good desire to share and spread truth will sometimes be carried out, unknowingly, through the untruthful means of plagiarism.

Defining Plagiarism
The essence of plagiarism is to give the impression that the ideas or words of another person are actually your own. This can be done intentionally (in which case it is outright theft) or unintentionally-but either way it is wrong.

The tenth edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary formally defines the term "plagiarize" from three different angles:

• "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own"
• to "use (a created production) without crediting the source"
• "to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source"

In a nutshell, you have committed plagiarism whenever you use another's ideas or words without crediting or acknowledging the source.

Committing Plagiarism
We can spell this definition out more concretely. There are basically three ways in which plagiarism can be committed:
1. Quoting someone else word for word but not crediting them as the source.
2. Paraphrasing another's words without acknowledging the author whose words you are restating. In other words, if you do not quote the person verbatim but instead just change a few words and do not give credit, you have committed plagiarism.
3. Using the ideas of another without acknowledging their source. Hence, even if you state another person's ideas entirely in your own words, you still must credit them as the source of the ideas. The only exception is when the idea is well known and has become common knowledge. For example, if I state that "it is 93 million miles to the sun," I do not need to cite a source. It is common knowledge.

The Problem with Plagiarism
The central problem with plagiarism is twofold: (1) it is stealing; and (2) it bears false witness. Obviously, both of these are unacceptable for Bible-believing Christians (see Exodus 20:15; Mark 10:19; Matthew 15:19, etc). Stealing and bearing false witness fail to love your neighbor as yourself (Romans 13:9). The words and ideas of another person are precisely that--their words or ideas. To fail to acknowledge their source is to give the false impression that they have originated with you. Hence, plagiarism steals from another and gives a false impression to your audience. Both of these factors should be of utmost concern to the Christian, and especially pastors and teachers whose should have the utmost respect for the sanctity of truth.

Overcoming Plagiarism in Preaching and Teaching
It is not hard to avoid plagiarism. All that you have to do is acknowledge the source whenever you quote, paraphrase, or use the ideas expressed by another. But, of course, life almost always throws us complex situations where it is not clear how to apply a general principle such as this. Hence, it will be helpful to spell out some specific guidelines.

1. General acknowledgements do not suffice. It is not enough, for example, for a pastor simply to say to his congregation, "Once in a while I use the ideas or words of other theologians. I don't tell you every time I do it because I have reminded you from time to time not to think that everything I say originated with me." Instead, each instance of quoting, paraphrasing, or using another's ideas must be accompanied by attribution to the source.

2. Detailed bibliographic data is not necessary. It is not necessary to give detailed information as to the page number, publisher of the book, date of publication, and so forth when attributing a source in a sermon. It is helpful to do this in papers, but even then the absolutely necessary thing is to name the person from whom you got the idea or quote, and if possible the specific book or lecture or article.

3. Common knowledge does not need to have its source cited. "Common knowledge" does not necessarily mean that everyone in your audience knows the information. What is it then? The Purdue University English Department suggests helpful criteria. You have "common knowledge" when (1) "you find the same information undocumented in at least five other sources"; (2) "You think it is information that your readers will already know"; "You think a person could easily find the information with general reference sources" (source). Hence, "Jonathan Edwards was born in 1703" is common knowledge. "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him" is not common knowledge.

4. If the original source simply cannot be found, it is acceptable to say "As someone has once said…" (Most sources, however, can be found. For online searches, www.google.com is indispensable. You might also try the new "Search Inside the Book" feature at Amazon.)

5. Restatements, in your own words, of the positions of general movements do not necessarily require citation. For example, it is OK to say, "Calvinism holds X" without detailing the history of the movement or even discussing its historical origins in general. However, a restatement of the Calvinist position that follows the structure or outline or unique wording of someone else's prior work on the Calvinism would require citation.

6. The preaching of another's sermon is usually a bad idea, but is not plagiarism if the original author is clearly cited.

7. To base the structure of your sermon on someone else's sermon, but to use your own words, is plagiarism. The author on whose work you are basing the structure of your sermon would need to be cited.

Taken from

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1623_What_is_plagiarism/

Another plagiarized article

Another example of word-for-word plagiarizm. See here http://www.biblestudyspace.com/profiles/profile/show?id=pastorendluriprabhakar& and compare with Kong Hee's article here http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/03/tribulation/.

Definitely is carbon copy. Question is did Kong Hee copy from biblestudyspace or was Kong Hee copied from. One thing for sure though, we do know Kong Hee plagiarised the first three articles mention in this blog (infringement of copyrught too??). Actually should count for 4 since the Spurgeon article is definitely copied too. You discern for yourself.

IF CHRISTIANS HAVE A DIRECT REVELATION FROM GOD, WHY DO THEY STILL NEED TO COPY OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK AS THEIR OWN DEVOTIONAL WORD FROM GOD? IF THE ARTICLE IS NOT THEIR OWN, WHY CAN'T THEY SAY THAT THE ARTICLE ENCOURAGED THEM SO THEY ARE SHARING IT? BY NOT CREDITING THE SOURCE OF ARTICLE, THEY ARE PROMOTING THE IDEA THEY WROTE IT THEMSELVES. THIS IS PLAGIARIZM.

Plagiarism is the presentation or representation of another’s work as one’s own, such aspresenting ideas or words of a source without documenting the source.

Plagiarism, as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."

Plagiarism is not copyright infringement. While both terms may apply to a particular act, they are different transgressions. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of a copyright holder, when material protected by copyright is used without consent. On the other hand, plagiarism is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing author's reputation that is achieved through false claims of authorship.

In other words, THE RISKS OF PLAGIARISM: If you plagiarize another author's work, you risk your credibility as an author and your reputation for originality and honesty. Also, plagiarism is against the law and you are also risking control of your finances should a lawsuit result in a judgement against you. Also risked is your freedom should you be convicted of the crime of plagiarism and sentenced to time in jail or prison.

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism for the full article.

After reading, can you agree if what I said about the article mentioned here is that it is true they have been plagiarised

5th Example of serial plagiarizing by Kong Hee??

See another example of Kong Hee article with striking similarity to another leadership article found on the internet. For sure, one has copied from the other article. Do you think Kong Hee will dare tell us he is a megachurch pastor so the other person copy from him? You can compare the web articles here... See Kong Hee's article here http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/03/ready-for-leadership-2/ Then compare the article here http://barrywerner.com/do-you-take-time-to-consider-the-big-picture-74-3/2009/06/17/...

Some paragraphs are copied wholesale. Some have changed sentences for whitewashing reasons but the points basically all remain the same. Only a blind or brain-dead person can say that one is not a plagiarized copy of the other. But Barry Verner is already a prolific writer of leadership articles. If he copy one article, then surely all his other articles must have been copied. I also wonder if this constitutes infringement of copyright?

And we know Kong Hee has already posted 3 other articles that have been copied wholesale and another article with 2 paragraphs copied wholesale. SO IS THE CONCLUSION IS VERY CLEAR TO THE QUESTION OF WHO COPIED WHOSE ARTICLE?

SOME MORE KONG HEE'S ARTICLE IS ALSO PRINTED AS "READY FOR LEADERSHIP", DAY 64 IN HIS BOOK"RENEWING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE IN 90 DAYS, VOL 1". Some more he can claim, he is "sharing his insights from the Bible"? If you have copied from the work of some other people, can you claim the articles in your book as "YOUR INSIGHTS"?

4th Example of megachurch pastor's Word for Word Copying - This time its a Spurgeon devotion

Alamak, another example of the megachurch pastor copying another man's article to put on his own Daily Devotion website. Check out his article here http://www.konghee.com/www/2009/11/the-value-of-prayer/...

Now see this website posting of Spurgeon's devotional.. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/morneve.d0219am.html...

Now you see how another pastor does it when he copies an article that is not his own onto his website... http://www.watsekafirstassembly.com/2010/02/page/3/.. See how this other pastor does it? He credits the source where he took the article.

To make it easy, I just post all the screeenshot captures here for you to see :).

Why is it that a man of God who can preach so much about answering prayer cannot write from his own revelation from God. Why does he need to copy from others? Surely a Doctor of Theology don't need to copy from others right? If want to copy at least credit the source lahhh!

3rd Example of cheatgrace pastor's plagiarism (also infringement of copyright)

Check out this article "The Gift of Encouragement" from the cheatgrace megachurch pastor. The link is here... http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/03/the-gift-of-encouragement/. The article is also found in KH's book "Renewing your spiritual life in 90 days Vol 1" day 89.

This article is copied word for word from Kenneth Boa's article on page 1308 of the Leadership Bible. (I will take some pictures of the page and post them tomorrow). The expanded version of this article is found in Kenneth Boa's book, The Perfect leader pages 193-195. I will take some pictures of the original pages and post them here tomorrow.

The original article has also been posted on this website... http://bible.org/seriespage/encouragement

and we can see the megachurch pastor's article is a word-for word copy. For convenience I post jpeg images of this article

So that is already three strikes against the cheatgrace megachurch pastor. Is this the work of a serial plagiarist or can we be direct and just say this is a serial cheat?.

Megachurch Pastor Copies from Leadership Bible

Wahhh. this megachurch pastor copied a whole article from the Leadership Bible and paste as his own Daily Devotion on his KongHee.Com website... http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/02/secure-in-yourself-2/comment-page-1/#comment-5287.. I have attached a jpeg of the article from his website here

This article is found in page 1258 of the Leadership Bble. Its a word-for-word 100% copy. Just check the photos of the leadership Bible page 1258 seen here. It is also found on Vol 1 day 61 of KH's "Renewing your spiritual life in 90 days." And thhen this megachurch superpastor can claim his boook, "all rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission, with the exception of brief excerpts in magazine reviews". He can copy others' work but others cannot copy his. Even the work he has copied from others cannot be copied by another. :))

Pls lahh megachurch superpastor, how can you do this? Having done a Doctor of Theology, I am sure any respectable college will always warn you ahout crediting work not done by you

A Cheat-Grace Megachurch Pastor's good work - Plagiarizing

Look at this. Megachurch pastor sets good example in how to plagiarize another person's work. This is an article he wrote for his website called "Thomas Faith". Can see in the screeehshots. His (so he claims it to be) devotion article is also found here on his website http://www.konghee.com/www/2010/03/thomas-faith/. See the first two paragraphs? Its a word for word copy of this article found in the Leadership Bible. I have attached two photograpsh I took of the article from Leadership Bible.

What is the point of talking so much about how many people you have saved when at the basic level, you copy others' work? Daily Devotion article are normally about how God has spoken to you as you meditate on the verse or character. So then can you honestly say this is what God uniquely said to you only?