Biblical Answers to the World Mission Society Church of God

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.--1 John 4:1

Are you or a loved one struggling with this group? Do you need Biblical answers about the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCoG or CoGWMS), their founder Ahnsahnghong (Ahn Sahng/Sang-Hong) or their current leader "Mother Jerusalem" (a.k.a. "Heavenly Mother God," Zang/Zahng Gil-Jah, or Chung Gil Cha)? Thank you for coming here. I hope my blog helps you. Questions and comments are always welcome.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

An Interesting Comment about Sin

I have been noticing a change in my relationship with my sister over the last couple months. I hope it's a good change... She's been calling more often, a lot really, to say hi and chat and also has gotten back into reading the Bible with me. The World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG, or COGWMS, if you'd rather) has somewhat faded into the background. We don't talk about it much at all, which has cut down on the stress, but it's still like a big elephant in the room. We know the disagreement is there and we're just ignoring it for now.

It was our project last summer to read through the Bible beginning to end. Well, the summer got busy and we only made it to about Job. All winter long, she was too busy, so I waited and waited, and now this summer we are back with our reading. It's been nice to be reading the same book and be able to talk about the interesting things we find in God's Holy Book... and we've made a point not to debate about it, just to see what's there.

I was recently talking with my sister after we had each read through the book of Ecclesiastes. And we had a short exchange about a couple verses which I thought revealed something about the WMSCOG view of sin.

We noticed Eccl. 7:20 which says,
For there is not a just man on earth who does good
      And does not sin.

This is not the only verse which tell us there is no one without sin. (If our salvation was based on what we do, how well we obey God, well, we would ALL fail and be lost. That's why we must be saved by our faith in what God has done for us--paying the price Himself for our sin.)

Then we noticed Eccl. 8:5,
He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
      And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment

God's commands were put in place to protect us and help us live a successful life.

After reading these two verses, my sister said...
"So even if we sin, if we are obeying God's command, we will be ok."

Read that again...we can sin and obey God's command at the same time?
How can you sin and obey at the same time?
I think it's because they don't really count ALL of God's commands as necessary for salvation. They say they are ALL necessary, but I think they only focus salvation on the ones that are visible on the outside--attending the feasts, the veil, tithing... Not the ones that are internal, like avoiding lust, hate, worry...

What do you think? Have I got it right?

UPDATE--Yes, I was right.  See "Moral vs. Ceremonial Law."

Monday, July 26, 2010

The First and the Last

Rev. 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.

I was thinking about the Sabbath. There is more to write about it, another day, but today I want to share this thought....

The last (seventh) day of the week is the traditional Sabbath, and Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matt. 12:8)

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, often called the Lord's Day. (Matt. 28:1, Rev. 1:10)

Jesus, as the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End of everything, also lays claim to the beginning and end of each week--the first and the last days.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

No Other Name Than Jesus

Ahnsahnghong himself wrote in his book, "The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life," page 181, Chapter 12 (in the Korean/English edition I read):

“Salvation is found in no other name than Jesus, not only at His first coming but even in the last days.”

WAIT A MINUTE!! Ahnsahnghong himself says that Jesus is the only name to call on for salvation, even in the last days?!? But the World Mission Society Church of God’s own website says, “Today, salvation is only given through the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong, and only those who are the witnesses of Christ Ahnsahnghong and pray in His name will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.” And their church members carefully pray to and call on the name of Ahnsahnghong, not Jesus. They are contradicting their own founder—their own 'god'.

Ahnsahnghong was actually right on with this statement.  Jesus is the only name!
Acts 4:12
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Proof--Remember This!

We can argue back and forth about whether the World Mission Society Church of God is God’s true church and our only salvation, or a church that brings destruction, preaches falsehood, and gives worship to an ordinary man and woman.

Fortunately, the WMSCOG has given us a way to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, whether it is the true church or not. It may take some time before it happens, but rest assured, something will happen one day and the truth will be known to all.

The position of the WMSCOG is that Mother Jerusalem (Zahng Gil-Jah) will not die. And those church members who celebrate the Passover will have the seal of God protecting them from harm, so they also will not die from the plagues and destruction that will come to the earth. Mother Jerusalem and her followers will all go straight to heaven alive, so says the WMSCOG.

I was told by a knowledgeable church member who was very certain of this, that if “Mother God” (Zahng Gil-Jah) dies it will show that it was a false church after all. My sister and other WMSCOG members have confirmed this, though of course they are certain it won’t happen that way.

So here is the proof (and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has brought this up):

In a matter of time, one of two things will happen…
1) Mother Jerusalem and all her church members will in some way disappear from the earth when they all go to heaven together – or –
2) Mother Jerusalem will die as all humans do, and her church will be left here without her.

If #1 happens, we will know it was the true church.
If #2 happens, we will know it was a false church.

If #1 happens, as our WMSCOG friends are certain it will, then they have nothing to worry about, and the rest of us will rely on the mercy of God.

If #2 happens, as the rest of us expect it will, I fervently pray that all the church followers will wake up and not take any excuses from the church leadership. It will have already proven itself to be false, so do NOT let your church leaders try to convince you otherwise with statements like these:
--She has gone ahead to prepare a place for you and will return to get those who remain faithful.
--She wanted to allow more time for more brothers and sisters to come to faith, but her earthly body couldn’t survive any longer.
--She has left (insert name here) to be in charge until she returns.
--She has introduced you to the “Heavenly Daughter”, or some other member of a god-family, who will continue her work. (If there is a trinity of the male god —father, son, and holy spirit— why not make up a trinity of the female god —mother, daughter, and who-knows-what.)

Also, beware of these tactics which may be used to cover up the death of “Mother” (Zahng Gil-Jah):
--She goes into “seclusion” and does not wish to see any visitors any more.
--She only seen by recorded message, not live.
--Or (heaven forbid!) she knows she is going to die and asks all her faithful followers to die with her (aka —drink the kool-aid together). She might tell everyone that they must shed their earthly bodies so they can get new ones in heaven —their souls will go to heaven alive, after all….

These are only a few of the things that could be said by the church leaders to try to recover from being exposed as a false church. I expect there is also a chance the church could splinter into groups that think the WMSCOG had things almost right and try to repair the damage, but the truth will remain—when “Mother’s” body dies, she will be exposed as a false prophet. Neither she nor her teachings, and neither Ahnshanghong nor his teachings (since he’s the one who pointed to her), are to be trusted.

So my message to my sister (and our other loved ones) is this:
If we cannot agree about the church, then let’s agree to disagree for now. BUT should Mother Jerusalem die, please remember that your family has always loved you. Please take the open door that God has given you and be set free from the enemy’s deception. Come back and be restored to your family who has missed you and loves you still.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Wedding of the Lamb

Revelation 19:7-9
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

This passage about the Wedding of the Lamb in Revelation mentions
(1)the Bridegroom (Jesus, the Lamb),
(2)the bride, and
(3)"those invited to the wedding supper."

The WMSCOG say that if the church/believers are the bride, then who would be the guests? They conclude that it must be Jerusalem Mother who is the bride, and the church/believers are the guests. How can you be invited to your own wedding?

Well, let's look at this in a different way...
Let's imagine a romantic bridegroom who has chosen a bride and will have a wedding soon. The groom has planned the lavish wedding, but hasn't told the bride when it will be. She only knows that she needs to have a travel bag and dress ready at any moment. She may even find herself wearing her nicest clothes and carrying her travel bag as her purse every day! Finally the day of the surprise wedding arrives. The groom stops by to pick up his unsuspecting bride, and drives her to the wedding banquet, and they are married. Since the groom did all of the wedding planning, and the bride only had to show up, she is both a guest and the bride at her own wedding. When she accepted the bridegroom's proposal, she accepted the invitation to her wedding.

Now let's take that same scene, and imagine it as the Wedding of the Lamb in Revelation...
God Himself is entirely in charge of arranging His own wedding--His final union with His faithful Church. We don't know exactly when it's going to be, but of course each believer wants to be ready at any moment. When the time is right, Jesus ushers His Church (the collection of believers) into the Wedding celebration. The Church CAN be BOTH the bride and the guest at the Wedding of the Lamb.

When you accept God's invitation to faith in Jesus Christ, you accept the invitation to be part of the Bride of Christ. You are invited to the Wedding where you will also be part of the Bride. The invitation is open to EVERYONE.
The Church IS the Bride of Christ.

How wonderful is that?!

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Plural or Singular God?

It's clear that the WMSCOG believes in TWO gods--a father and a mother.
Yet why so often do they refer to their gods in the singular sense? And with masculine pronouns?

Here are examples, taken from the sermon "Overcome Temptation" from the church website, WATV.org:
"Sometimes God puts trials into our lives. It is not because He wants us to fall into error. God loves us so much."
"The 144,000 are the ones who follow God to the end wherever He leads them."
"Let's fear God and give Him glory, absolutely trusting and following Him"

I notice this happens a lot. Why don't they say things like...?
"Sometimes our Gods put trials into our lives. It's not because They want us to fall into error. Our Gods love us so much."
"The 144,000 are the ones who follow our Gods to the end where ever They lead them."
"Let's fear our Gods and give Them glory, absolutely trusting and following Them."

Is it only the father god that gives trials? Is it only the father god that leads the 144,000? Is it only the father god that should be feared and given glory, trusted and followed?

Or perhaps the father god is the dominant god, and the mother god is a minor, secondary god? Is the mother not equal in status or power with the father god?

Why aren't they consistent in the way they refer to their plural gods? Do they really secretly believe in just ONE god? But then that would ruin their whole argument about "Elohim" meaning two gods...

Monday, July 5, 2010

Was the Lord's Supper a Covenant or a Command?

More from Ahnsahnghong's book, “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life”:

Page 401, Chapter 31
“The words in John 13:34, “A new command I give you,” are the same as the words in Luke 22:20, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” In the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it is described as the “new covenant” or the “covenant” instead of a “new command,” and in the Gospel of John it is described as a “new command” instead of the “new covenant” (John 13:34; 15:10-12). This new covenant, the new command, is a memorial day of our Redeemer. It is the Passover through which we love Jesus and also love one another in Him as He has loved us.”
And on Page 413, Chapter 31
Regarding “the new command” and “the new covenant”: “…the two are the same words; the new command is the new covenant.”

Is the "new covenant" that Jesus talked about at the Last Supper really the "new command" that Jesus wants us to follow?

First of all, the word for “covenant” used in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is the Greek word “diatheke.” The word for “command” used in John is the Greek word “entole.”

"Diatheke" = a covenant, testament, contract, compact
"Entole" = a command, order, prescribed rule

Those are two different words with two different meanings, not the same word, not even from the same root word, not even interchangeable words with the same meaning.

But if you look at the context, would the verses correspond to show us that the Lord’s Supper is both a “command” and a “covenant”? Here are the verses, first for “covenant”:

Matthew 26:27-28
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

Mark 14:23-24
Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many."

Luke 22:20
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."

And now for “command”:
John 13:34-35
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 15:10-12
"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Is the “new covenant” the same as the “new command”?  No, or Jesus would have said, “A new command I give you: take the cup of the Passover without fail,” or “My command is this: drink from my cup.”
The “new covenant” is the blood of Jesus poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
The “new command” is to love each other.
Different.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

What Ahnsahnghong said about Faith

Another problem from Ahnsahnghong's book, “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life”:

Chapter 32, Page 435 (English/Korean edition)
“According to the law of faith, our salvation is guaranteed once we are justified by faith in Christ…. According to the law of faith, once a believer has the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus, his salvation is guaranteed.” [quote from John 5:24] “When we carefully study the words above, we can clearly see that salvation depends on faith, not the deeds of the law. This faith is not what the general Christian churches believe, but the conviction that we have redemption through the blood of the new covenant which Jesus made with us.”

If the church claims that its founder is God in the flesh, shouldn’t they follow what he teaches? Is this what the World Mission Society Church of God teaches, that salvation depends on faith (through the blood of Jesus) and not deeds, and that you cannot lose your salvation? No, they teach that a person must physically eat the bread and wine of the Passover every year, and not just Passover, but ALL the feasts of God, and all the “Law of Christ,” and every commandment no matter how small.

The WMSCOG website itself says (concerning the veil), “Even though this regulation seems minor, it cannot be neglected. None of God's commands were instituted meaninglessly. All of the regulations were given to God's people because they are necessary for our salvation and allow us to enter the kingdom of God.”

The WMSCOG then, also contradicts its own founder, Ahnsahnghong.