The Church of Almighty God / Eastern Lightning: 10 False Myths

Most of what you find on the Internet about The Church of Almighty God is false. Here is why, and where to look for more reliable information.

The Church of Almighty God (CAG) is the largest Chinese Christian new religious movement. It is also known as “Eastern Lightning.” It has been founded in 1991, and after its rapid growth alarmed the Chinese regime, it was banned in 1995. It was heavily persecuted since, with hundreds of thousands arrested, hundreds of cases of torture, more than one hundred well-documented instances of death while in custody or as a consequence of police mistreatment, and several cases of organ harvesting. In the 21st century, to justify the persecution, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has launched a massive campaign of fake news against the CAG. Unfortunately, despite having been debunked by independent Western scholars, the fake news has been uncritically spread by some Western media and is still widely available on the Web, where Chinese propaganda is also active with anonymous or pseudonymous texts. Here is a guide to the most common myths and fake news.

Bible Prophecy Has Come True | "How Exactly Does the Lord Come" (Crosstalk)

Christian Variety Show | "How Exactly Does the Lord Come" (Crosstalk)

In the last days, the mood of Christians awaiting the return of the Lord Jesus becomes more intense, but how, exactly, will the Lord return? Some say, "The Lord Jesus will come with clouds." Others say, "The prophecies predicting His return also state, 'Behold, I come as a thief' (Rev 16:15). 'But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation' (Luk 17:25). 'And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him' (Mat 25:6). If He comes with clouds for all to see, how do we explain the mystery of Him coming in secret, suffering, and being rejected, as well as saying that others will testify about His return?" How will the Lord appear to us? The humorous crosstalk How Exactly Does the Lord Come attempts to resolve our doubts about the issue.

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How the Prophecy of the Lord Jesus’ Return Is Fulfilled

The Word of God | "The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age" (Excerpt 1)

The Word of God | "The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age" (Excerpt 1)

Almighty God says, "For this reason, since we are searching for the footprints of God, it behooves us to search for God's will, for the words of God, for His utterances—because wherever there are new words spoken by God, the voice of God is there, and wherever there are the footsteps of God, God's deeds are there. Wherever there is the expression of God, there God appears, and wherever God appears, there the truth, the way, and the life exist. … If you desire to witness the appearance of God, to follow God's footsteps, then you must first walk away from your own conceptions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own conceptions. Instead, you should ask how you are to seek God's footprints, how you are to accept God's appearance, and how you are to submit to the new work of God; this is what man should do. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, he should seek, accept, and obey" (The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Gospel Movie Clip "Who Is He That Has Returned" - Testimonies of Experiencing Judgment Before the Seat of Christ

Gospel Movie Clip "Who Is He That Has Returned"

Introduction

Listen! The brothers and sisters from the Church of Almighty God are talking about their testimonies of how they experience the judgment and chastisement of God’s word to get their disposition changed.

Storyline:

Jin Yinglu was a devout pastor in Korean religious world. He thirsted for the truth and expected the return of the Lord Jesus all along. One day in 2013, he came across the words expressed by Almighty God in Chosun Ilbo, and immediately his heart was deeply touched by those words which are full of authority and power. In order to ascertain whether Almighty God is his long-expected Savior Jesus, he began to seek and investigate the work and word of Almighty God. … As one doubt after another was solved, Jin Yinglu was so excited and fell on his face: Almighty God is the Lord Jesus who has returned in the last days; He has long quietly come among man and done the work of “judgment beginning with the house of God”!

God’s name may change, but His essence will never change

Relevant Words of God:

     There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and His substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change. If you say that the work of God is unchanging, then would He be able to finish His six-thousand-year plan of management? You only know that God is forever unchanging, but do you know that God is always new and never old? If the work of God is unchanging, then could He have led mankind all the way to the present day? If God is immutable, then why is it that He has already done the work of two ages? His work never ceases to move forward, which is to say that His disposition is gradually revealed to man, and what is revealed is His inherent disposition. In the beginning, God’s disposition was hidden from man, He never openly revealed His disposition to man, and man simply had no knowledge of Him. Because of this, He uses His work to gradually reveal His disposition to man, but working in this way does not mean that God’s disposition changes in every age. It is not the case that God’s disposition is constantly changing because His will is always changing. Rather, it is that, because the ages of His work are different, God takes His inherent disposition in its entirety and, step by step, reveals it to man, so that man may be able to know Him. But this is by no means proof that God originally has no particular disposition or that His disposition has gradually changed with the passing of the ages—such an understanding would be erroneous. God reveals to man His inherent and particular disposition—what He is—according to the passing of the ages; the work of a single age cannot express the entire disposition of God. And so, the words “God is always new and never old” refer to His work, and the words “God is immutable” to what God inherently has and is. Regardless, you cannot make the work of six thousand years hinge upon a single point, or circumscribe it with dead words. Such is the stupidity of man. God is not as simple as man imagines, and His work cannot linger in any one age. Jehovah, for example, cannot always stand for the name of God; God can also do His work under the name of Jesus. This is a sign that God’s work is always moving in a forward progression.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    God is always God, and will never become Satan; Satan is always Satan, and will never become God. God’s wisdom, God’s wondrousness, God’s righteousness, and God’s majesty shall never change. His essence and what He has and is shall never change. As for His work, however, it is always progressing in a forward direction, always going deeper, for He is always new and never old. In every age God assumes a new name, in every age He does new work, and in every age He allows His creatures to see His new will and new disposition. If, in a new age, people fail to see the expression of God’s new disposition, would they not nail Him to the cross forever? And by doing so, would they not define God?

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

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When Will Jesus Return? 5 Prophecies Tell You

Gospel Movie clip "Waiting" - How Should We Watch and Wait for the Lord’s Return?

Gospel Movie clip "Waiting" 

Will the Lord return upon a cloud or in secret like a thief? How should you treat the Lord’s return? Will you refuse to seek due to fear of the false Christs’ deception? Or will you carefully listen to God’s voice like a wise virgin? How should we watch and wait so that we can behold the Lord’s coming? Please watch this clip!

The Church of Almighty God: The Most Persecuted Religious Movement In China

The Church of Almighty God has replaced Falun Gong as the main target of Chinese religious persecution. Here is the essential information on what this Church is and why it is persecuted.

Eastern Lightning

Readers of Bitter Winter frequently encounter references to The Church of Almighty God, a Chinese Christian new religious movement. There is a good reason for this. The Church of Almighty God is the most persecuted religious group in China today, often referred to as “the new Falun Gong”— not because of its theology, which is obviously very different, but because it has become the main target of the repression of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a position Falun Gong occupied until a few years ago.