Accusations -- Responding to WMSCOG comments

I have received quite a few comments from World Mission Society Church of God member(s) in the last few days.  Rather than trying to address them all in the comment section, I'm going to post them here.  I'd also like to remind everyone about the forum where you can discuss WMCSOG topics.

I'll copy the comments exactly as they were written, without adding, removing, or editing anything.  However, they will not necessarily be in the order received...

On July 29 at 6:39 pm, Anonymous posted on "The name of Jesus" --

Genny, you are not posting all comments on your blog!!! These means that you are a false prophet who testifies falsehood. You do not want your evil schemes to be exposed so people will believe your lies!!! 

No, I do not post all comments on my blog.  You might be surprised at the magnitude of rudeness (to put it nicely), that occasionally comes through (both from pro- and anti-WMSCOG commentors).  I also won't post any comments that reveal personally identifying information.  Also, some comments are picked up by the spam filter.

Another thing to think about, I have a full life outside of this blog, my own family and job and activities, so sometimes I am delayed at approving comments and responding to them.  Please be patient with me.

Now, if you are serious that my "not posting all comments" is evidence that I'm a "false prophet" and that I don't want my "evil schemes to be exposed," then what would you say about all of the WMSCOG sites and member blogs that do not post all comments?

On July 29 at 5:54 pm, Anonymous posted on "The name of Jesus" --

The secrets of the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven has been given to God's children but not to people who are not God's children that is why Ahnsahnghong's books are not available to the general public. 

That's not a very useful quote to argue with.  Anyone could say, "I am God's child and you are not.  That's why you don't understand the truth I'm telling you."  You need something more substantial than that.

If Ahnsahnghong's books truly held the truth, and the WMSCOG truly preached the truth, why wouldn't they want the truth available to everyone? 

Think about other organizations that restrict their publications in the way the WMSCOG does.  What kinds of organizations are they?  Why do they have those restrictions?  (If you can't answer those questions for yourself, let me know.)

On July 29 at 6:44 pm, Anonymous posted on "The name of Jesus," in response to Carlos' comment --

Carlos, this website did not open your eyes but it closed your eyes to the truth! Genny does not follow the teachings of the bible absolutely and she encourage people to worship God in their own ways. That is absolutely WRONG. It is because Salvation belongs to God. And His statutes we need to keep. You are being deceived!!!  

We can each call the other "deceived!" but the word means little if it's not backed up by evidence.  Please check out my three summary pages (Key Verses, Internal Evidence, and Mistakes).  Also, if you haven't read the Start Here page, please do.

When you say that I "encourage people to worship God in their own ways," what do you mean by that?  What I think of when I hear that is that people should worship according to the personality that God gave them, and what is meaningful to them, in a way that pleases God.  For example, someone who loves nature probably worships God better when they are camping or on a hike and should not think that a building is the only suitable place to worship God.

On July 29 at 6:24 pm, Anonymous posted on "The name of Jesus," in response to Daniyyel's comment --

Danniyel, your sister is the one who is so sorry for you because your poor soul is dying. You believe that she is in a cult but in reality, you are the one who is in a cult. Let me explain this. The Jews captured apostle Paul and beheaded him because Paul was charged of heresy leading the Nazarene sect(cult). In the eyes of the general public who claim to believe in God persecuted the true believers: Paul, Peter, Stephen, the disciples. People like you also believe in God right? But you are the one persecuting the true believers in God, you even call them being in a cult! Someone who is in a cult does not follow the teachings of the bible. Let me ask you this. Do you celebrate Christmas? Are you a Sunday worshipper? If you are, then you are not following the teachings of the bible because the bible does not teach people to worship God on Sundays and also, nowhere in the bible Dec 25 is the birthday of Christ. You are being deceived by satan's schemes. 

And, on July 29 at 6:11 pm, Anonymous posted on "The name of Jesus" --

What is heresy? How do we know that a church is heretical? In the bible, heresy is a practice that does not follow the doctrine of the bible. Then which church is heretical? Sunday keeping churches or Saturday keeping churches? In the bible, God commanded people to keep the Sabbath day holy, which is Saturday. There is a Sabbath in accordance with the law of Moses and there is a Sabbath in accordance with the law of Christ. Since Christ gave us examples to follow even after his baptism, He kept the Sabbath day as his custom which is on Saturday. He said he is the Lord of the Sabbath. Obviously, Sunday is not the day Jesus gave, as an example to follow. Then, which church does not follow the example of Jesus Christ? Sunday keepers or Saturday keepers? The Sunday keeping churches are obviously heretical because they do not follow the examples of Christ and his disciples. Who introduced Sunday worship then? If it did not come from God, then it must come from the enemy of God which is the devil who uses all religious leaders, priests ,pastors, government officials, etc in his evil schemes to lead the whole world astray. 

It is true that when you have two people with opposing stands, each will say that they themselves have the truth and that the other is the one who is wrong.  That is why it's so important for both to set aside any preconceived notions, distinguish fact from opinion, and look at the issue from a rational standpoint.

No one likes to be told they are in a cult.  It could be true, or it could be a misunderstanding.  Since it is a word used by professionals to describe the World Mission Society Church of God, it is worth investigating.  (As a side note, one of the organizations I have a good opinion of is also on the list of cults at the Freedom of Mind resource center.  Is it true or a misunderstanding or what?  If I were considering joining, it would be worth investigating.)

Let me ask you this.  Do you celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, New Year on January 1, Independence Day (July 4), Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc.  Where does the Bible teach you to celebrate those days?

The Bible does have something to say about Sunday.  Here is a place you can go for resources about Sunday and the Sabbath. 

Sunday meetings were introduced by the apostles, who remembered Jesus' resurrection every time a Sunday came around.  If you don't like that, then perhaps you should tell God that He should have picked a different day for the Resurrection so the apostles wouldn't have use the "Day of the Sun."  Maybe He should have worked it all out for a Monday?  Oh, no, then you would probably accuse Christians of "Moon worship" for meeting on Mondays...

That's all I have time for right now.  It's been a very busy summer for me, but I have lots to write about and more comments to address, so I hope to get back here again soon.

A Little More about the Sabbath

Before leaving the subject of the Sabbath for a while, I'd like to respond to specific statements the World Mission Society Church of God has made about Sunday worship and the Sabbath.

I can't emphasize enough that our salvation is not decided by the keeping of the Sabbath on a particular day. Neither are we to judge fellow Christians about it. (Romans 14)

BUT the World Mission Society Church of God has made some false statements about Sunday worship, and I think they should be addressed. I'm going to take them directly from the official church website.
I'll put the quotations in green....

In the New Testament times, the Sabbath day is referred to as "Jesus' [the Lord's] day" because the true Lord of the Sabbath is Jesus Christ. "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8; Luke 6:5). The apostles kept the Sabbath day as the "Lord's [Jesus'] day."

No, in New Testament times, the Sabbath day is referred to as "the Sabbath" not "Jesus' Day" or "the Lord's Day".  I've searched the Bible and never seen the phrase, "Jesus' Day."

As for "the Lord's Day," that occurs only once in the Bible--in Revelation 1:10, when John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day..."  If he meant the seventh day Sabbath, don't you think he would have said, "I was in the Spirit on the Sabbath..."?

Also, there are documents from church history, as early as the first and second century, that refer to "the Lord's Day" as the first day of the week, not the seventh day.  (I can give a list if you'd like the references.  I'm just trying to save space here in an already long post.)

After the apostles died, Christianity spread to western regions, including Rome. The gospel was preached to sun-god worshipers, and in the early 4th century, even the Roman emperor had heard the message of Christ. The emperor happened to be a leader of the sun-god worshipers, and when he converted to Christianity, many sun-god worshipers began to attend Church. As time passed, the faith of the Christians weakened, and they began to accept the customs of the sun-god worshipers. During this turn-over, they even began to rest and to worship on the first day of the week [Sunday]. In A.D. 321, Constantine, a Roman emperor, decreed an edict: "All judges, city-people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun."

According to the WMSCOG, Christians did not begin to worship on Sundays until about the 4th century, and it was Constantine and the sun-god worshippers who instituted the change to their custom of "Sun"day.

First of all, the apostles and early church were ALREADY meeting regularly on the first day of the week.  Besides the documents of early church history from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd century (as I mentioned before), there are indications of this in the New Testament.

The apostles, being Jews, continued their custom of the Sabbath, especially because it provided opportunity to preach to their fellow Jews. But they also began meeting on the first day of the week to commemorate the Lord's resurrection--starting with the first Sunday a week after the Resurrection (John 20:26).

In 1 Cor. 16:2, Paul instructs the believers to set aside their offerings "on the first day of the week." That implies that they were meeting together on the first day of the week.

And in Acts 20:7, the believers had gathered together on the first day of the week to break bread and listen to Paul preach. I've had more than one WMSCOG member tell me that they were gathered for the Feast of Firstfruits, which occurs after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which starts with the Passover) on the day after the Sabbath.

Now follow carefully....  Rabbinic Jews say the Day of Firstfruits is the day after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which itself is always a Sabbath rest (even if it is not the seventh day), while the Karaite Jews say that it is the Sunday (first day of the week) following the Passover. In either case, the first day of the week in Acts 20:7 canNOT be the Day of Firstfruits.  The Day of Firstfruits cannot be more than a week after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Acts 20:6, "But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days." In verse 7, Paul is getting ready to leave the next day. That means this first day gathering was about 12 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread--much too long to be the Day of Firstfruits. 

They sailed "after the days of unleavened bread."  They waited until all seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were finished before sailing.  So you can start counting those 12 days from the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but the Day of Firstfruits is not more than a week after the first day of the Feast.
They were gathered together, and it was just a regular Sunday.

No matter how many members a church has, if the church has different doctrines than those of Jesus Christ, it could not have originated from Jesus. We keep the Sabbath day?the memorial day of the Creator?not observing the law of the Old Testament, but following the law of the new covenant which Jesus and the apostles obeyed.

The seventh day Sabbath is part of the Law of the Old Covenant.  But where is it commanded as part of the New Covenant?  Jesus kept the Sabbath because He was "born under the law to redeem those who were under the law" (Gal. 4:4-5), and He showed the Pharisees the manner that it had been meant to be kept.  But while Jesus gave us commands on how to live, He never gave the command to keep the Sabbath, even though He had plenty of opportunities if He had wanted to.

As for the statement, "if the church has different doctrines than those of Jesus Christ, it could not have originated from Jesus."  Yes, so where did Jesus promote the doctrine of worshipping a second god, "God the Mother"?!?  Ahnsahnghong's World Mission Society Church of God did NOT originate from Jesus.

The Sabbath, Part 3

I was just rereading what I wrote last time and realized it might be a little unclear. So I revised a little. Hope it helps.

Romans 14:5 says, "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind." We are not to judge each other on this matter. But I wondered, what would make someone choose either Saturday or Sunday as the "proper" day?

Regarding Saturday vs. Sunday, I've seen that the various views of churches fall into these categories:

• The Sabbath was kept on Saturdays throughout the Old and New Testaments, and it must be kept on Saturdays now. That is the Biblical day, despite the efforts of the Church to change it to Sundays.
• The Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday by apostles in the early church. It is clear that God approved this change (perhaps even meant it to change), and therefore we must keep Sabbath on Sunday, and not Saturday.
• The Sabbath does not need to be a particular day of the week. To work 6 days and rest on the 7th means that we must have one day a week for a Sabbath. It could be any day, even Thursdays, just as long as you keep a Sabbath every seventh day.
• The Biblical Sabbath has always been on Saturdays, but Jesus fulfilled the law for us. The Sabbath is one of the ceremonial laws (like the Feast days) and it was not re-commanded (is that a word?) by Jesus, and so we are no longer obligated to it. We choose Sundays to gather together in worship as a continual memorial to the Resurrection.

Can you think of any other category for viewing the Sabbath? If you know of one I've missed, please share.

My children are studying for a Bible quiz, and one of their questions is,
"Why do Christians worship on Sunday instead of the Sabbath?"
Their answer is,
"Because Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath, we worship on the day of His resurrection."

You can see then, the teaching of the denomination I attend falls into the fourth category. But the more I study the Sabbath, the more I can understand each of the viewpoints. But I thank God that He is a righteous judge who looks at our hearts. We are not to judge each other on this matter.

The funny thing I've noticed about my life, is that although Sunday is my special day for worship with my church family, I am so involved in different ministries at my church, that it is definitely NOT a day of rest. It turns out that Saturday is the day I can really find rest from my busy week. So in a sense, I've got both--Saturday AND Sunday. Interesting how it worked out that way...

Read a little more about the Sabbath here.

The Sabbath, Part 2

The Bible is so rich and deep. There is so much to study and learn from it. I wish I had more time, but I’m glad for the time I have, and I’m also glad for my family and the other responsibilities that God had blessed me with. After all, we can’t study ALL the time, or there would be no time to put it into practice, right?

So last time I was here looking at the Sabbath and saw that in Romans 14 and Colossians 2, Paul warns us not to judge other believers on their keeping of days. That would cause division and stumbling.

The World Mission Society Church of God wants us to believe that if we don’t keep the Saturday Sabbath, then we are not saved, not going to heaven. But if we are not to judge each other on the keeping of days, doesn’t that mean our salvation is not linked to keeping the Sabbath (on Saturday or any other day)? How do we gain salvation anyway?

This takes us back to whether it is faith or works that saves us. And as I’ve shown before, we are saved by grace through faith, not by any works that we do. (Eph. 2:8-9)

The WMSCOG says that God commanded the Sabbath to be kept on Saturday, and so Sunday worship is a “rule of men,” from Matt. 15:9, “They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

But if you look at what was happening in Matthew 15, you see that Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees for imposing their own rules and traditions on the people, making them additional requirements to be acceptable to God.

Sunday worship is NOT a requirement earn salvation or be acceptable to God. It is NOT a “rule of men” in this way like the WMSCOG would have us believe.

We do not keep Sunday worship because we are obligated to, under the law upon pain of death (like the Sabbath laws). There is NO command in the New Testament to keep ANY special day, Sunday or Saturday or any other. We keep Sunday worship because we LOVE to worship our Lord Jesus and remember His resurrection. The principle of the Sabbath is still there—a day for rest and focus on the Lord, once a week. But the legal requirement of the particular day is gone.

That’s what I see.

Whichever day we set apart to the Lord, we remember that our observation of that day is not a matter of salvation. It is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins—that’s what has provided our way to heaven. We as believers serve the Lord everyday of the week, but for our spiritual and physical well-being, it is a good idea to give one day out of seven as a specific time for rest and worship. One day out of seven--that is the way we take our Sabbath rest.

But again, let me emphasize, that the Sabbath rest is like any other commandment in this way: They are given so that we may "enjoy long life" and "so that it may go well with you" and so that we may learn to "fear the LORD" (Deut. 6:1-3). It's Jesus' work on the cross which provides salvation (our eternal life with God), not our work in keeping all those commandments, including the Sabbath.

I’d like to focus next time on the day of the week—Saturday or Sunday. What would be the reasons to choose one or the other?

Click here to go on to Part 3.

The Sabbath, Part 1

The keeping of the Saturday Sabbath is one of the World Mission Society Church of God's main doctrines. They believe that long ago the Christian church changed to keeping the Sabbath on Sundays to satisfy sun-worshippers, that worship on Sunday is basically a scheme of Satan, and that Jesus and the apostles kept Saturday Sabbath so we must also. They say that Saturday Sabbath is one of the marks of Jesus' true church, and therefore a church that worships on Sunday cannot be a true church of God.

I’ve been studying about the Sabbath, and oh my goodness! I knew there were differences of opinion, but I didn’t know it was such a BIG controversy! And with many so adamant about either Saturday or Sunday, and each view point using scriptures, history, and logic to support it… How is someone like me going to sort through it all? There’s only one way—going straight to the Bible to see what it says and read it for myself… and pray that God would give me clarity.

Are Christians required to keep the Sabbath, and should it be Saturday or Sunday, or could it be any day of the week? What can we understand about this directly from the Bible?

The first thing to note is Romans chapter 14. I can’t copy the whole chapter here, but if you have the opportunity right now, go read it. It’s all about judging others about what they do or don’t do according to their faith. At that time in the early church, one of their big controversies was about what to eat—the dietary laws. In talking about whether or not we should judge others about their diets, Paul mentions days of worship as being similar.

Romans 14:1-6
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

Now, I’ll let you decide which has “weak” faith – the man who “considers one day more sacred than another” or the man who “considers every day alike.” Either way, if he is “fully convinced in his own mind” and “does so to the Lord,” then we are not to be the judge. It is God who will judge His own servants because it is God who knows their hearts.

Romans 14:20 says, "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense."

Since Paul equates the day of worship with this food issue, I think Paul would also say…
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of the day to worship. All days are worthy of being used to worship God, but it is wrong to cause someone else to stumble because of your insistence on the “right” day.

In other words, the difference in which day to go to church should not cause such division among Christians as to destroy the work of God and cause others to stumble.

Colossians 2:16-17 has a similar tone…
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

I think that’s enough to get started, but this is a big topic. I’m sure it will take several posts to get a thorough look….

Click here to go on to Part 2.

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.