Western Scholars Gather in Seoul for The Church of Almighty God’s Premiering Photo Exhibit

       October 24, 2018, The Church of Almighty God held its first photo exhibition in Seoul, South Korea with the theme of “The birth and development of The Church of Almighty God,” drawing eleven experts and scholars from seven countries including the USA, Canada, England, France, and Italy to attend and explore the exhibit. Massimo Introvigne, who is an Italian sociologist and the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), France’s Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, professor of North American Studies at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne, Canadian sociologist and author Susan Jean Palmer, and others raised questions on Almighty God’s work of the last days, and several Christians who accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days in its early period provided detailed answers to each one of them. They also shared their feelings and understandings from undergoing Almighty God’s work and words with the guests.

Coming Home (Part 1) | Eastern Lightning

By Muyi, South Korea

“God’s love overflowing is freely given to man, God’s love is around him. Man, innocent and pure, without a care to tie him down, lives in bliss in the eyes of God. … If you are a person of conscience and with humanity, you will feel warm, being cared for and loved, you will feel blessed with happiness” (“How Important God’s Love for Man Is” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). Every time I start to sing this hymn of the word of God, it’s hard to keep down the emotions stirring inside me. That is because I was once far astray from God and went against Him. I was like a lost sheep, unable to find the road home, and it was God’s steadfast love that led me to return home. In what follows, I wish to share my experience of returning to God’s house with both those brothers and sisters who are part of the Lord as well as those friends who have not yet turned to God.

Because my mother and father were always fighting, I was living my life in fear every day. I felt that I had no purpose in my life, but I was also afraid of dying. I didn’t know why people were born and die, but I also intangibly felt there was a pair of hands pulling the strings of my life.

Coming Home (Part 2)

By Muyi, South Korea

In this period, there was another brother named Yang who also investigated Almighty God’s work in the last days together with me. I had always had a careless and absent-minded attitude, but Brother Yang was earnest in his studies. Brother Yang said that he had rejected the gospel of Almighty God when people had preached it to him before but that hearing it again today must be an opportunity granted by God! He wanted to investigate it. Brother Yang saw that I was only interested in listening to the pastor’s words and not investigating with an open mind. He found a passage for me, which was Matthew 5:3–6: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. … Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Reading the word of the Lord, I wondered: Why is it that I can’t seek tranquilly in the presence of the Lord? If the Lord were really to return by some chance, and I did not listen to Him or investigate it, would I not be left behind? I should also learn some humility, and I must not blindly come to conclusions based on my own imagination. Just when I had decided to settle my heart to investigate it sincerely, a missionary of the church gave me a call out of the blue and asked me if I were still with the people from The Church of Almighty God. I said that yes, the missionary again reminded me to cease contact with them. The missionary’s words dispelled the thought that I had just been wanting to investigate. I thought, “The pastor and missionary have a much better understanding of the Bible than I do, and none of them acknowledges that the Lord has returned. I had too little understanding of the Bible and had no ability to discriminate for myself, so I had better just listen to what the pastor and missionary were saying.” When I hung up the phone, I said to Brother Cheng: “If Brother Yang wants to investigate, then you two go on speaking. I don’t want to hear it.” Just like that, I had once again stiffly rejected the salvation of God.

Finding the Way Back After Getting Lost (part-2) | Eastern Lightning

When my wife read out these words of God I recalled an incident that occurred in the spring of 2016. At the time, I hadn’t yet properly investigated Almighty God’s work of the last days. I was driving my wife and one of the sisters from the church to another state. On the way, we stopped so that my wife could attend to something, and when she got out of the car the sister also got out. It was cold and windy outside, and the sister stood beside the car stamping her feet in order to keep warm. I called to her to get in the car but she said: “It’s OK. I want to stand outside for a while.” It took a pretty long time for my wife to return, and only then did the sister get in the car. Seeing that she was visibly shivering from the cold my wife asked her: “It’s so cold outside. Why didn’t you stay in the car?” The sister replied: “There’s an administrative decree in our church that states that a man and a woman can’t be alone together or have physical contact. This is one of the requirements that God has of God’s chosen people, and we have to strictly abide by it.” On hearing this, I realized just how different The Church of Almighty God’s people are from ordinary people—even in the most trivial matters they keep themselves in check. When I recalled this incident I couldn’t help but thump my head in self-disgust for not properly investigating the facts and instead blindly believing those online rumors. When I thought about all of the times I’d interacted with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God and seen how well-behaved they were with members of the opposite sex, how proper and decent they were in speech and action, how principled they were when dealing with people, it was obvious that those rumors online were far from the truth.

What Is the Rapture?

Just like many other Christian brothers and sisters, I eagerly long for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. We abide by the following passage from the Bible: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Ts 4:17). For this reason, we foolishly look up to the skies longing for the day that Jesus will return and take us up into the clouds so that we can be with the Lord. However, after so many years have passed, the four blood moons have already appeared; earthquakes, famines, plagues and war and all sorts of other disasters are becoming more and more intense. The prophecies of the Lord’s second coming have basically been fulfilled. However, we still have not seen one Christian raptured into heaven. I cannot help but think, “Why does the Lord not come to receive us? The Lord is trustworthy. The Lord promised that He would take us into the heavenly kingdom in the last days. The Lord’s promise certainly will be accomplished and fulfilled. I do not doubt this at all. Yet, how come up until now, we still have not been raptured by the Lord into heaven? Could it be that there are some problems with our longing?”

Where Does This Voice Come From?

Shiyin, China

I was born in a Christian family, and I have many relatives who are preachers. From the time I was young, I followed my parents in believing in the Lord. After I grew up, I addressed to the Lord in prayer: If I could find a husband who believed in the Lord, I would offer myself up together with him in service to the Lord. After I got married, my husband really did believe in the Lord, and in fact became a full time devoted preacher. In order for my husband to feel at ease in his work for the sake of the Lord, and to be able to fulfill his commitment in the presence of the Lord, I actively undertook the burdens of running a household. Although it was a little bit difficult and tiring, my heart was filled with joy and peace no matter how much suffering I endured because I had the Lord as my support.

After 1997, I discovered that my husband no longer had as much light as he used to have in his preaching. When I got him to do some housework, he would always make excuses about being busy with his preaching work. Even if he did do some housework, his heart just wasn’t in it, and he would often lose his temper with me over trivial things. Although on the outside I kept my patience and I didn’t argue with him, in my heart I really felt dissatisfied with my husband’s ways. The difficult burdens of household life and the darkness of my spirit caused me to live in agony. All I could do was come into the presence of God and pray in the dead of night when everyone was asleep, and ask the Lord to give me more faith and strength. At the same time, I yearned for the Lord to return quickly and save me from the miserable life.

I Found the True Light (Audio Essay)

Qiuhe, Japan

I was born in a Catholic family. Since I was little, I attended Mass at church with my grandparents. Due to the influence of my environment and my belief in God, I learned to chant many different scriptures and practice various rituals.

In 2009, I arrived in Japan to study. One time, in a fellow student’s dorm room, I met by chance a Christian small group leader who had come to spread the gospel. I thought: Protestants and Catholics believe in the same God. They both believe in the Lord Jesus. As a result, I accepted the small group leader’s invitation to join him at the church. After listening to the pastors preach and hearing some brothers and sisters talk about the Bible, I had some understanding about the Lord Jesus’ life. This caused me to have more faith in the Lord. However, after a few months, the pastors and the preachers asked us to donate tithe every week. Also, each week, we were to hand out pamphlets to spread the gospel. Sometimes, we were so tired that we would snooze during Sunday service. We no longer had a normal routine in our life. At that time, some of us were both working and studying. Not only did we have to make money to pay for our studies, but we also needed money for our everyday expenses. Our lives were already quite difficult, but they still wanted us to give them our money and our energy. We were under a lot of stress and pain. Gradually, I discovered that the pastors and the preachers were not truly people that served the Lord. Normally, since they were those who shepherded the church, they should have been helping us grow in our spiritual lives. However, they did not care about our lives. They did not think at all about our practical problems. Instead, they wanted our energy and our money. Everything they did was to help expand their church and consolidate their status and their influence. At this time, we felt like we had been deceived. Consequently, a few of my brothers and I left the church.

With Life Hanging by a Thread, the Hand of God Came to the Rescue (Audio Essay)

“If I were not saved by God, I would still be drifting in this world,
struggling hard and painfully in sin, every day bleak and hopeless.
If I were not saved by God, I’d still be crushed below the devil’s feet,
snared in sin and its enjoyments, ignorant of what my life would be.
It’s Almighty God who saves me; all God’s words have purified my heart.
Through God’s judgment and His chastisement, my corrupted disposition’s changed.

Where Does This Voice Come From? (Audio Essay)

Shiyin, China

I was born in a religious family, and I have many relatives who are preachers. From the time I was young, I followed my parents in believing in the Lord. After I grew up, I addressed to the Lord in prayer: If I could find a husband who believed in the Lord, I would offer myself up together with him in service to the Lord. After I got married, my husband really did believe in the Lord, and in fact became a full time devoted preacher. In order for my husband to feel at ease in his work for the sake of the Lord, and to be able to fulfill his commitment in the presence of the Lord, I actively undertook the burdens of running a household. Although it was a little bit difficult and tiring, my heart was filled with joy and peace no matter how much suffering I endured because I had the Lord as my support.

Catholic Beliefs: The Lord Really Has Returned

By Renshi, USA

My whole family believes in God. I attended mass with my mom from the time I was a little girl and God bestowed so much grace on us—we were full of gratitude toward Him and we were also longing for the Lord’s return. But I never imagined that when the Lord really did return to work and save us, I wouldn’t recognize His work but would instead rely on my arrogant nature and cling to my old notions, nearly missing out on the Lord’s salvation. Every time I think of this I feel self-reproach but I also rejoice. The Lord Jesus had mercy on me and through my brothers’ and sisters’ patient fellowship on the Lord’s new words I have gained an understanding of His new work, thus becoming able to follow His footsteps. I am grateful for the Lord’s salvation for me that allowed me to catch the very last train for the Age of Kingdom. Now all sorts of scenes of me accepting the Lord are playing in my head…

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Returning to Life From the Brink of Death（part-!）

By Yang Mei, China

In 2007 I suddenly fell ill with chronic renal failure. On being told the news, my Christian mother and sister-in-law, and some Catholic friends all came to visit me to preach the gospel to me. They all told me that I only had to go to God and my illness would be cured. But I didn’t believe in God at all. I thought that illness could only be cured through scientific medical treatment, and that any disease that couldn’t be cured by science was incurable. After all, was there any power on earth greater than the power of science? Faith in God was just a form of psychological crutch, and I was an upstanding state school teacher, a person who was educated and cultured, so there was no way I’d start believing in God. So I turned them down and started looking around for medical treatment. Within a few years I’d been to virtually every large hospital in my home county and throughout the province, but my condition didn’t improve. In fact, it was getting worse, but I stubbornly clung to my own way of looking at the situation and insisted that science could change anything and that curing illness was just a question of finding the right process.

Fallacy (4): Someone says, “If Almighty God’s work of the last days that you are spreading is the true way, then why isn’t it accepted by the elders, pastors, and priests?”

Response: Determining whether or not something is the true way based on whether the elders, pastors, and priests accept it is really unsound and unreliable. We all know that the work of Jesus Christ is the true way, and we believe it without any doubt. But when Jesus worked among the Jews, did the religious elite of that time—the chief priests, elders, and scribes—accept His work? Did they acknowledge that His work was the true way? Not only did they refuse to believe in Jesus and accept His work, but they did everything they could to prevent others from believing in and following Him. Could we draw the conclusion that it is not the true way just because the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees refused to accept the work of Jesus? It is clear that determining whether or not something is the true way based on whether the religious elite accept it is not at all sound. In truth, whether or not it is the true way cannot be determined based on the approval, acknowledgement, and acceptance of the elders, pastors, and priests. Neither can it be determined based on the judgments of any spiritual greats or celebrities. It must be determined based on whether it is God’s own work. If it is God’s work, it can surely express God’s disposition as well as bring the truth, the way, and the life to mankind, and it can surely save mankind from corruption and restore their life dispositions of normal humanity. If someone cannot express God’s disposition, do the work of God Himself, or save mankind from their corruption, then even if he is acknowledged by pastors, elders, or priests, that does not prove that his work is the true way. So, weighing whether or not something is the true way must be determined based on whether it is God’s own work, and not on whether the top leaders in the religious world accept it or not.

It is said: “God should show people great miracles; He must heal the sick and cast out demons, and He must bestow

Response: There are people who deny that Almighty God is the return of Jesus and that He is the true God because people who believe in Almighty God still get sick and their homes are not at peace. They believe that by believing in the true God, people should be free from illness and disaster and their homes should be totally peaceful. These are nothing but human notions and imaginations, and they absolutely are not a genuine understanding of God. They are particularly out of line with the facts of God’s work. As everyone knows, Job believed in the true God, and Jehovah was inherently the one and only God, but Job’s family suffered robbery, plundering of all their wealth, and the death of their children. Even Job himself was covered in sores head-to-toe. So if you say that by believing in the true God everything should be peaceful, there should be no sickness and no disasters, then what do you think of what Job experienced? Could it be that we should deny that Jehovah is the true God?

Giving Credence to Rumors Means Losing God’s Salvation of the Last Days

Many brothers and sisters are unable to take heed whenever they hear someone talking about Almighty God’s gospel of the last days, and don’t dare accept what is preached because they have been spooked by the sensationalized rumors fabricated within religious circles. They may hear someone say: “Those who believe in Almighty God are really something—you’ll be taken in as soon as you have contact with them. There are many true believers from every denomination who are good sheep and even bellwethers of good caliber, but they are being stolen by believers in Almighty God….” Or some have said: “The believers in Almighty God are really enthusiastic about spreading the gospel. If they convert a believer they receive a prize of 2,000 RMB, if they convert a church leader they can get 10,000 to 20,000 RMB….” And still others have said: “They don’t maintain good boundaries between men and women—they are all very promiscuous….” Some have even said: “Eastern Lightning is a criminal underworld organization. If you get involved with them, you’ll never escape. If you try, they’ll gouge out your eyes and cut off your ears, or they’ll break your legs….” and so on, and so forth. It is rumors like these that stop some brothers and sisters who are not clear on the facts from seeking and studying Almighty God’s work of the last days. Brothers and sisters who believe the rumors, have you earnestly considered or investigated whether there is any basis for these things, and if they are in line with the facts? Have you ever thought about what sort of dire consequences there will be if you blindly believe all the rumors you hear and miss the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s arrival? For now, we will first have a simple fellowship on these rumors so that our brothers and sisters can clearly see their substance, and have clear discernment regarding who is really spreading them, what the motivations are behind their fabrication, and what goal they want to achieve.

God’s Love Guided Me Through the Trial of Illness

By Yiming, Hubei Province

I Rejoice to Be Reunited With the Lord

I’m 78 this year and I have always suffered from headaches and diabetes. After I began to believe in the Lord in 2005, the illnesses that had beset me for years were eased; I perceived God’s love and thanked the Lord from the bottom of my heart. Two years later, a relative preached God’s work of the last days to me and he said that the Lord Jesus had returned as the incarnated Almighty God. He said that Almighty God was now performing a newer, higher stage of work on the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption, and that Almighty God was using the truth to judge and chastise man, to cleanse our corruption, and God would lead those who ultimately attained salvation into His kingdom. I was thrilled to hear this news, and I thought to myself, “I never imagined that I would actually be able to welcome the Lord in my lifetime. If in the future I could be led by God into His kingdom, that would be wonderful indeed!” Thinking this, my heart became filled with a joy I couldn’t express, and I thanked God’s love and salvation. After a period of seeking and investigating, I became certain from reading God’s words that Almighty God was indeed the Lord Jesus returned, and very soon after I was living the church life and doing all I could to perform my duty within the church.

Returning to Life From the Brink of Death(part-2)

One day, my husband saw the book that the sister from The Church of Almighty God had left for me and opened it. He saw the following heading, “Do You Know? God Has Done a Great Thing Among Men,” which grabbed his attention. So he read out the following passage for me: “The work of God is that which you cannot comprehend. If you can neither grasp whether your decision is correct nor know whether the work of God can succeed, then why not try your luck and see whether this ordinary man is of great help to you, and whether God has done great work.” Hearing him read this sentence was like a jolt to my heart! Especially the bit “then why not try your luck,” which kept on reappearing in my mind. It was like a shaft of light shining on the deathly stillness in my heart, and it seemed that I could see a glimmer of hope of staying alive. I urgently made my husband read out another 2 passages of God’s words, which contained truths about God using His word to judge and cleanse people and transform their life dispositions. All this was completely new to me, and even though I didn’t really understand the full significance of what was being said, I could feel in my heart that these teachings were different from the gospel of the Lord Jesus that I’d heard from other people. They had mostly told me about how to gain grace, and that all I needed to do was believe in God and my illness would be cured, which I didn’t believe. But the words of Almighty God seemed much more practical, and the more I heard the more I wanted to hear.

Returning to Life From the Brink of Death（part-2）

In 2010 a sister from The Church of Almighty God came to preach the gospel of God’s kingdom to me. She said that the Lord Jesus had returned to the mundane world to do new work, which involved issuing truths to judge and cleanse people. This was a phase of God’s work designed to thoroughly save mankind, and was also mankind’s last chance to be saved by God. I still wasn’t willing to accept all this, but because of all the failures and frustration that I’d encountered over the previous few years seeking medical treatment my attitude wasn’t as unyielding as it had once been and I allowed myself to be persuaded to take a book of God’s words from the sister. But, at the time, I certainly didn’t believe that the stuff in the book was truths expressed by God. I still maintained that only science could change my fate, and thus continued to believe that only drugs could improve my condition. Eventually, I was ingesting more drugs every day than I was eating food, and yet my condition didn’t improve a jot. I lost count of the number of times the sister came to my home, but I still refused to believe in God. This went on for about a year.

Unveiled: The True Meaning of “It Is Finished” Spoken by the Lord Jesus on the Cross

By Xiang’ai, Heilongjiang Province

Many brothers and sisters believe that what Jesus meant by saying “It is finished” when He was on the cross was that God’s work to save mankind was completed. But was this really the case? What exactly did He mean by saying “It is finished”? The following article will uncover the true meaning of the words “It is finished” that the Lord Jesus spoke upon the cross. Please read on …

At seven o’clock in the morning, Wang Xue was hurrying to her daughter Hui Min’s house. Half an hour before, Pastor Zhang had come to Wang Xue’s house to tell her that her daughter and son-in-law had accepted Eastern Lightning. This came as a great surprise to Wang Xue, and she thought to herself: “The members of Eastern Lightning testify that the Lord Jesus has returned and that He is expressing His words and performing a stage of work to judge and purify man. And yet the Lord Jesus clearly said ‘It is finished’ when He was upon the cross, and this shows that God’s work to save mankind has already finished. How can the Lord possibly return to do a new stage of work? My daughter and her husband are quite familiar with the Bible, and they pursue the truth quite diligently; they are thoughtful and insightful people, so they won’t have made this decision blindly. How could they have accepted Eastern Lightning? What’s going on here?” Wang Xue was extremely baffled and she wanted to understand the reasons behind this as soon as she could, and so she hurriedly set off for Hui Min’s house.

God’s work of judgment of the last days ultimately makes a group of overcomers, thus entirely fulfilling the prophecy of the Bible’s Book of Revelation. So why can only God’s work of judgment of the last days make the true overcomers?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:12-13).

“And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not…. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:47-48).

“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).

“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:11).

Finding the Way Back After Getting Lost (part-1)

Xieli, USA

I’d always wanted a happy life with a high standard of living, so I came to the U.S.A. to work as hard as I could. After a few years of hard work and suffering, I was able to gradually get the things I wanted: my own company, my own car, my own house, etc. I was finally living the “happy” life that I’d dreamed of. During this period, I made friends with a few guys and enjoyed eating meals, drinking and having fun with them during our leisure time. We all got on pretty well together, and I thought I’d met a good bunch of guys. But then I came to realize that they were just drinking buddies who often talked nonsense, and when I was worried or depressed there was not one of them whom I could go to share my troubles with. Not only that, but they deliberately ripped me off: One of them lied to me about his mother in China being really ill and when I lent him some money he disappeared without trace. Another, from my home town, told a bunch of lies about needing finance for a project and cheated me of some money. And even the person nearest and dearest to me—my girlfriend—betrayed me and cheated me of a large sum of money that it had taken me years of blood, sweat, and tears to accumulate. The heartlessness of these people and the indifference of society made me depressed and disheartened. I lost confidence in my ability to keep on going, and it seemed that nobody could alleviate the bitterness and emptiness that I felt in my heart. After that, I often turned to eating, drinking and having fun to fill the emptiness in my heart, but these temporary physical pleasures were totally unable to resolve my spiritual suffering.