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 19, 2011

Complete Trust and Devotion

Whenever my friends or I try to share our concerns with WMSCOG members (such as these contradictions or behaviors) we are met with the following responses.  Are any of them familiar to you?
  • "The problem is that you're putting your own mind to it." (In other words, "We must be told what to think and not think for ourselves.")
  • "God's words can't be judged by man's common sense." (In other words, "Even though God gave you the Bible and a sound mind, you are not capable of using them by yourself.")
  • "You can't understand the Bible by reading it by yourself."  (In other words, "Only our leader can interpret the Bible for us.")
  • "Do you believe the Bible?"  (In other words, "If you believed the Bible, you would believe our interpretation.  Never mind that many (ok, most) reputable Bible scholars disagree.")
  • "God's sheep hear His voice."  (From John chapter 10.  In other words, "If you don't believe this it's not because it's wrong, it's because you are not one of God's people.  And if you are not one of God's chosen people, then I'm not going to waste my time with you.")
  • "The secrets of the kingdom have not been given to everyone."  (From Matthew 13:11.  In other words, "God has not entrusted you with these secrets, and that's why you don't understand.")
  • "The problem is that you don't understand God's administration."  (In other words, "It doesn't make sense because you don't understand it...and I'm not going to explain it.")
  • "You refuse to accept the truth of God."  (In other words, "I won't consider problems with the teaching, the problem is with you.")
  • "You haven't studied enough.  If you completed more of the WMSCOG's studies then it would make sense."  (In other words, "Again, the problem is not with the doctrine, it's with you, and I can use this line no matter how much you have studied with us.")
  • "Satan is using you to attack me and try to take me away from the truth."  (In other words, "What you say makes some sense, and now I'm confused.  But I must not doubt!  I will trust in this 'truth' even if it doesn't make sense.")

All of these responses mean one thing--a refusal to consider any thoughts that don't line up with the "truth" as taught by the WMSCOG.  The following is a direct quote from a conversation between "Carly" and "Lizet" (two WMSCOG members) on Jamie's Blog illustrating this.  (The bold emphasis is mine.  The typos are from the original posters.)

Lizet: "...If you really believe in Father and Mother, these things [that 'Father' and 'Mother' had been married to other people and had children] should not change your faith...."
Carly: "...I had no idea about this matter [Carly had previously said that it's a false rumor that 'Mother' has physical children that came from her own body.]...are you 100% sure??  Of course they are Elohim no matter what but that doesn't make any sense, I don't understand...."
Lizet: "Yes, I am 100% sure, unless I was lied to when I first came to the truth, but I refuse to believe that was the case....  Pls let me know if i am the one who is wrong, althoug that would mean i was lied to.  In any case let's not allow these things to shake our faith."

Here's the main problem... and I'm speaking now to our WMSCOG friends:

Has the WMSCOG earned your unconditional trust and devotion?  How will you know if they are worthy of your complete trust unless you thoroughly test them?

Please watch these videos of other people who give their complete and unconditional trust and devotion to their leaders.  Would you agree that these other churches are not worthy of that trust?  And yet, they have convinced these followers of just that, so much so that they will use any and all of the above responses to avoid testing their leaders and finding them false.

How can you know that you are not deceived just as much as they are?  Don't just say, "Well, I know I'm not!"  A deceived person doesn't know they are deceived--that's the definition of deception.

The only way is to put the WMSCOG to the test, with an open mind, being willing to accept the results even if it proves the World Mission Society Church of God as false.  The people in the following videos have obviously not done that with their "churches."  I pray that you will.

(Please notice that the members of these groups are all very happy and sincere in their faith.  Happiness and sincerity are not the primary indicators of truth.)

Wayne Bent
A Russian Messiah
Brian Leonard Golightly Marshall
Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda
Harold Camping (yes, he still has followers)
Westboro Baptist Church

Now for something inspiring...
You may have heard of the Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong.  After Armstrong's death, the church's new leadership realized the doctrines they had held dearly were actually false.  They were brave enough to stand up for the truth, despite resistance and splintering within their church.  And what emerged was Grace Communion International church.
Here's their uplifting story.  It's a long video, but well worth the watch:
"Called to Be Free"

8 comments:

  1. Hello my name is Amanda. I have went to this Church of God Mount Zion. If you don't mind I would really like to tell my story. All of the above that you have listed, they have used on me. Pretty much they weren't giving me a choice here. It was as if they were telling me that if I don't take the studies that I'm not a child of God, but God has always been in my DREAMS and he speaks to me in all kinds of ways. He has saved me from that church. God gives people the CHOICE and he doesn't make it so uncomfortable either. If you want to hear my story let me know please. I would gladly tell it as it just happened a week ago.

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  2. Hi Amanda. Thank you for taking the time to write. I think you've just told your story :) but if you'd like to tell more please send me an email.

    You are correct that there is not much choice according to the wmscog doctrines. Yes, it is pretty much either you agree with them or you are a follower of Satan. Sounds harsh I know, but if you listen to them and read their sermons, that's what they teach. The only middle ground is for the people who haven't heard their teachings yet.

    I know we do have a choice in whether to believe them or not--God gave us free will. But with the kind of pressure applied by a wmscog member, it can take a huge amount of strength realize what's happening and say no to them.

    Good for you for not falling for it. Praise God!

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  3. Hi Amanda again,
    I sent an email, but it didn't send because it said error, so I lost everything that I wrote and it's not even in the sent box. So now I'm frustrated, but I will type it again. Sorry. I'll just have to type it a different way and remember the stuff I wrote or write on paper so I won't loose it. should have done that the first time.

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  4. I'm sorry about that--it's happened to me before too. I hope you'll try again.

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  5. They have said these things to me as well. It is very confusing, especially when they seem to truly believe it themselves. Let God lead us in the right way, as sheep to the only Good Shepard..

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  6. Yes, so many do seem to believe sincerely themselves, which is very sad that they are unable to consider their beliefs in a more objective way.
    I see these phrases repeated so often and by different members, that I wonder if they are taught them for 'thought stopping' to avoid critical thinking. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-stopping_clich%C3%A9)

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  7. Why is it that you don't have recent comments and lot no to this church ,y son just got into this church and these comment and statements are from 2011 what had happened since. I am disturb by this church and eortuef for my don

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    Replies
    1. This particular article hasn't had new comments in a while. Currently you can find the most recent comments (on any article) by looking at the column on the right side (if you are on a computer). Look under "latest news" and "subscribe" and you will see "recent comments."

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