The Experience of Growth of a Christian Born in the 1990s

Wei Chen, Fujian Province

I’m a Christian who was born in the 1990s. I was once a student in one of those famous schools that all parents want their kids to study at and will go to extreme lengths to get them in. In China, they are known as key schools, and I studied in one for 10 years. In China, parents have very high expectations of such schools, and rack their brains for ways to improve their children’s chances of going to these high-quality places of learning. They think that their kids will thus gain a first-class education that will put them head and shoulders above the rest and bring glory to their family and ancestors. In order to get me into a key school, my mother pulled out all the stops to develop relationships with the right people and also spent a considerable sum of money. But the schools run by the C.C.P. have already lost all their purity of purpose and have become dens of lies and falsehoods. The teachers and staff—who should have been upstanding models of fairness, humanity and morality—have become treacherous, cunning and immoral hypocrites who are cultivating batch after batch of similarly hypocritical students, the so-called “pillars of the nation.”

Chinese Christian Prisoner of Conscience Adopted by Congressional Human Rights Commission

On January 29, 2019, the United States Congress' Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission adopted a prisoner of conscience of The Church of Almighty God  (CAG).

A Different Kind of Love

On the next day, I went to Sister Gao’s house, and happened to meet some of her friends. They all accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days and were in a gathering together fellowshiping to each other. We greeted each other, and Sister Li Min got right to the point by asking me: “Brother, what notions do you still hold? What aspects of God’s work in the last days do you still want to understand? We can fellowship together.” I said: “You mentioned that because the work of the Holy Spirit was moving forward in the last days, the church was made desolate. I can accept this, but we who believe in the Lord have already had our sins absolved, and the Lord does not see us as having sin. Why does God want to do a further step of the work of judgment? Aren’t we able to be raised into the heavenly kingdom without going through that step? When God judges a person, is that person not determined to be sinful? Mustn’t they all be punished? How can they still be raised into the heavenly kingdom?” Sister Li Min said: “As far as most people’s notions are concerned, the people whom the Lord returned to judge were those non-believers who did not believe in God. Because God judged people, people were determined as sinful and punished, and those who believed in God had their sins absolved. When the Lord comes, it is to raise them directly into the heavenly kingdom, not to judge them.

Christian Testimony: God Guided Me to Clear the Stumbling Block on My Way to the Kingdom

By Yingying, Malaysia

A pilgrim’s path is perilous. A Christian’s road of following God on the right path is full of difficulties and obstacles—all sorts of Satan’s tests emerge one after another. Aside from having faith in God, Christians must also learn discernment. This is the only way to see through Satan’s trickery and stand witness when Satan’s test befalls you. Now, I’d like to share my own personal story with everyone.

Wonderful News—The Lord Has Returned!

In early September 2017, one of my Facebook friends bore witness to me of Almighty God’s work of the last days. She fellowshiped on God’s three stages of work, the significance of His names, His management plan for saving mankind, and the mysteries of the Bible. This helped me understand that in the work performed by God in the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom, although the names and the works of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus, and Almighty God have all been different, they are all from the same source. It is all one God working, speaking, and saving us. Almighty God appearing and working in the last days fulfills what the Lord Jesus prophesied: “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). “And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 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). I realized that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. After that, I attended gatherings with brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, and through gatherings and fellowship I came to understand more and more truths. Each day was happier than the last; I felt fulfilled within my soul.

A Christian Testimony: My Heart Has Stopped Wandering

by Novo Philippines

My name is Novo, I am a Filipino. Since I was little, I believed in God with my mother. I went to church with my brothers and sisters to listen to sermons. Even though I had believed in the Lord for many years, I felt that I was like an unbeliever. Within my heart, I would think about how to earn more money and live a better life all day long. Furthermore, I would frequently go out and drink with friends. Once I had extra money, I would go out and gamble. Even though I knew that what I was doing was bad and I would frequently pray to God saying that I would change these bad habits of mine, I basically never put it into practice. In this way, I became increasingly degenerated. I did not pray sincerely to God. Each week, I would only pray a few simple prayers in a perfunctory way. Sometimes, I felt very desperate because I knew that when the Lord returned, He would judge everybody’s actions. He would then decide whether each person would go to heaven or go to hell. I felt that I was a degenerate and that God would not forgive me. Afterward, I married and had kids. All I thought about was my wife and my children. When it came to my faith, I pushed it to the back of my mind. In order to provide a better future for my children and to achieve my desires to become rich, I decided to leave the country to find work. As a result, I came to Taiwan. Even after I found work, I still had not changed my past lifestyle. During my leisure time, I would still go out to drink and sing with my colleagues. I was living the life of an unbeliever.

Understand the Significance of God’s Judgement and Welcome the Lord’s Return

By Jinyi, United States

Hearing the Good News of the Lord’s Return at a Meeting

I began believing in the Lord in 2016, and went to meetings every week. Later, a new sister started coming to our meetings. After several meetings with her, I found that she could shine new light on many different scriptures in her talks. Everyone felt very well supplied by her, and I admired her very much. I thought, “She is so young, yet despite her age, her fellowship on the Bible is better than our pastor. How does she manage to read the Bible like that?” Curious, I asked her privately, “Your understanding of the Bible is impressive. How do you understand so much of it?” She said that she also attended another meeting where the brothers and sisters fellowshiped more clearly and understandably, and she invited me to come and listen, to which I happily agreed.

The next Sunday, she took me to the meeting she had told me about, and the brothers and sisters there warmly welcomed me. After sitting down, they told me that the Lord Jesus had returned as the incarnated Almighty God, both to express many truths and to do the work of judging and purifying mankind, which fulfils the biblical prophecies, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter). “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). A sister also fellowshiped with me about God’s six-thousand-year management plan, how to discern the voice of God, the mystery of mankind’s destination, and many other aspects of the truth. Her fellowship was very detailed, I understood it very clearly, and I learned that there are indeed many mysteries involved in believing in God, so I decided to investigate The Church of Almighty God. After the meeting, my sister gave me a book of God’s word to take home and read.

The Aftermath of False Pastor Bringing a Storm to My Family

By Linglin, Taiwan

“Mom, are you still meeting with people from Eastern Lightning online? The pastor has asked us to keep an eye on you, and if you have any contact with them again, we have to stop you!” As he said this, my son grabbed my tablet computer away from me.

At that moment, my husband, who had never touched alcohol in his life, unexpectedly lurched drunkenly from another room and, pointing at me, shouted: “Our son’s mother-in-law is a pastor and you have to listen to her. If she says you are not to have any contact with them, then that is what you will do! She said that if you keep believing in Eastern Lightning, then our church will not admit you anymore. You must listen to us on this. You are not allowed to meet with those Eastern Lightning people again!”

The Catholic Faith: I Finally Understand the Meaning of Names of God

By Jingwei, Japan

In the Age of Law, God took the name Yahweh; in the Age of Grace, He took the name Jesus, and the Book of Revelation prophesied that God would have yet another new name. Why does God change names? I nearly shut the door on the Lord Jesus’ return because I didn’t understand this aspect of the truth. But in the end, after a period of seeking and investigating, I finally understood the mysteries behind God’s name and welcomed the return of the Lord Jesus.

Harboring Notions, Shutting the Door on God

In September 2017, a friend of mine invited a Brother Yang to share a sermon with us. That day, I went to the appointed place ahead of time, and after everyone exchanged greetings, we began our Bible study.

A New Understanding of the Mystery of the Gender of God

By Wei Na, Philippines

Dear brothers and sisters, I am Wei Na and I’d like to tell you how I welcomed the returned Lord Jesus. Just like many brothers and sisters in the Lord, my greatest wish was to wait for the Lord to come and rapture me into the kingdom of heaven. However, in recent years, I felt I was very far away from the Lord; I was unable to feel the presence of the Lord even when attending worship in church and always felt drowsy when reading the Bible at home. In order to find a church with the work of the Holy Spirit, I visited several other churches in succession, but the sermons of the pastors there were all the same old stuff—the biblical knowledge and theology—which failed to provide sustenance for my spiritual life. This left me feeling lost, empty and lonely. Therefore, I prayed to the Lord time after time.

Afterward, one day, I came across the website of The Church of Almighty God on Google. Out of curiosity, I opened the website and discovered that the content was very rich, with books of God’s word, hymns, movies, MVs, and so on. It really opened my eyes. In particular, Almighty God’s words benefited me a lot and excited me; the more I read these words, the more I felt encouraged. So, in the several days that followed, as long as I had time I would read Almighty God’s words, from which I understood many truths that I had never heard in my church. Thus, my relationship with the Lord gradually became closer, and I was always moved by the Holy Spirit and felt very fulfilled in my heart. I went back to the feeling of when I first started believing in the Lord.

The Long Road of Exile touches German Viewers: Admiration for Their Steadfast Faith

For the entire rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it has brutally oppressed religious beliefs, and the Party has been making another major push to Sinicize religion since Xi Jinping came to power. It has unrelentingly increased its efforts to suppress religion, not only investigating and eradicating house churches in all regions and madly arresting and persecuting Christians, but also wantonly demolishing Three-Self churches and tearing down crosses atop churches.

Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing

Gangqiang, USA

In 2007, due to a lot of pressure in my life, I came to Singapore by myself to work to make a living. All year round, the climate in Singapore is very hot, so every day I would sweat profusely when I was working. It was so rough that I suffered an unspeakable amount, and on top of that it was an unfamiliar life without any relatives or friends, so I thought it to be boring and tedious. One day in August, I received a gospel leaflet on my way home from work which read: “But the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1Pe 5:10). Seeing these words gave me a warm feeling in my heart. Then a brother brought me to the church, and the brothers and sisters welcomed me cordially and served me delicious food. I had worked the better part of a year since leaving home, and the warmth of family and delicious home cooked food was something that I hadn’t enjoyed in such a long time. Since I was lonely and drifting aimlessly, hot tears immediately welled up in my eyes, and in that moment I had the feeling that I was back home. From then, the church was a place I need to go every Sunday.

I Found the True Light

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.

Fortune and Misfortune

By Dujuan, Japan

I was born into a poor family in a Chinese rural village. Because my family was poor, I sometimes did not even know if I would have my next meal, let alone snacks and toys. And from a young age, I would wear what my older sister used to wear. Her clothes were usually too big for me. As a result, my classmates would laugh at me and they would not play with me. My childhood was very bitter. From that point on, I resolved to myself: Once I grow up, I will be somebody and make lots of money. I won’t let others look down on me again. Since my family had no money, I was forced to drop out before junior high school graduation. I went to the county town to work in a medicine factory. In order to earn more money, I would frequently work until 9 or 10 PM. However, the money I earned was little. Afterward, when I heard that my sister was able to earn in five days what I earned in a month selling vegetables, I quit my job at the medicine factory and went to sell vegetables. After a period of time, I found that I could make even more money selling fruits, so I decided to start a business selling fruits. After I married my husband, we started a restaurant business. I thought that now that I had a restaurant, I would be able to earn even more money. Once I could earn a considerable amount of income, naturally, I would win other’s admiration and regard. Other people would start looking up to me and at the same time, I would be able to live a better life. However, after managing the business for a while, I found that we couldn’t make much money running a restaurant. I started getting anxious. When would I be able to lead a life that others would admire?

Finding the Way Back After Getting Lost

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.

In the fall of 2015, fate determined that I became acquainted with my present wife. By that time, my wife had already accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days. When she told me the gospel of the kingdom, it all seemed well and good to me, but because I was so busy with work I said to my wife: “I don’t have time for faith in God, but if you want to believe, go ahead. Knowing in my heart that God exists is enough for me.” One day half a year later my wife let me watch one of The Church of Almighty God’s videos with her—The Days of Noah Have Come. What I saw in the video really startled me: When faced with disasters mankind was tiny and fragile, unable to withstand the slightest of blows. I suddenly felt that no matter how much money a person has, how much luxury they enjoy or how high their status is, it’s all meaningless. When disaster strikes and death is staring us in the face, all of these material things are worthless and useless. As Almighty God’s words say: “However, I must tell you that in the time of Noah, men had been eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage to such a point that it was unbearable for God to witness, so He sent down a great flood to destroy mankind and left behind only Noah’s family of eight and all kinds of birds and beasts. In the last days, however, those kept by God are all those who have been loyal to Him until the end” (“Do You Know? God Has Done a Great Thing Among Men” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Then look upon the present age: Such righteous men as Noah, who could worship God and shun evil, have ceased to exist. Yet God is still gracious toward this mankind, and absolves mankind during this final era. God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their heart and body to Him. He seeks those who are as obedient as babes before Him, and do not resist Him” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). In these words I could feel the urgency of God’s intention to save mankind. I thought about how in these times nobody seems to like positive things or wish for God’s return. People’s hearts are full of selfishness, arrogance, and craftiness. In order to gain fame and fortune they plot and scheme against one another, cheat one another, and even resort to killing one another to get what they want. People are slaves to their sensual desires, and constantly trample on morals and virtue and bury their conscience. People have lost all humanity, and the degree of corruption of mankind really is far beyond that of the age of Noah. But God hasn’t destroyed mankind because of this wickedness and corruption, but instead is employing various forms of disasters to warn mankind and give us the chance to turn around and move toward God. When I pondered over God’s words, my heart was deeply moved by God’s love. I also thought about how the world was becoming more evil and corrupt by the day, about how the disasters were getting bigger, and about how when God finally vents His rage on evil mankind and destroys mankind, all of the money and status that I’ve accumulated will not be able to save me. Only by coming before God and seeking the truth can a person gain protection. When I thought all of this through it was like waking from a dream, and my intuition told me that I should come before God and accept His salvation as this is the only way to be saved. If I were to lose the chance of salvation due to the temporary pursuit of physical pleasures then I’d regret it all of my life! Consequently, in May 2016 I began to believe in God and attend meetings.

Not long after believing in God, I was surfing the web and unintentionally came across some negative propaganda that condemned and blasphemed The Church of Almighty God. Reading the condemnation and blasphemy of Almighty God left me momentarily stunned. What was this “making people donate money and not respecting the boundaries between men and women” stuff? What I read seemed to make some sense and it became difficult for me to distinguish right from wrong, fact from fiction. I became confused and puzzled, and the burning fire of my faith in God was instantly extinguished by the negative stuff I was reading. And just at that moment I heard in the background my mother-in-law talking on the phone to my wife about donating money to the church, which made me even more inclined to believe what I was reading online. After that, I stopped my mother-in-law from donating any more money and also urged my wife to stop believing in Almighty God, to prevent the possibility of us being cheated. But my wife didn’t listen to me at all, and said to me firmly: “The reality of the situation is nothing like you’ve read online. The stuff online is all rumors, all false testimonies! …” Then she got a book of God’s words and started fellowshiping with me, but I’d already been totally convinced by the rumors and didn’t listen to her in the slightest. Not long after, some brothers and sisters came to our home, but I ignored them too. During those days I was living in darkness, and was constantly worried that my wife and my mother-in-law were being cheated. I was so worried that I couldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep well at night, and suffered greatly psychologically. Seeing the sorry state I was in, my wife tried to fellowship with me again. She opened up a book of Almighty God’s words and chose this passage to show me: “What I want is not human conceptions or human thoughts, even less do I want your money or your possessions. What I want is your heart, understand? This is My will, and even more it is what I want to obtain” (“The Sixty-first Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). My wife also read out some of the principles for the management of church life of The Church of Almighty God for me: “The church does not allow anyone to ask others to make offerings through preaching or any other reason. All those who are keen to talk about making offerings have ulterior motives” (“The Principles for Establishing a Church and the Management of Church Life” in Selected Annals of the Work Arrangements of The Church of Almighty God). Then she fellowshiped this with me: “In The Church of Almighty God there are strict required standards and principles for every aspect. As for donating money and other items, the words of Almighty God state very clearly that God doesn’t want our monies or objects. The principles for the management of church life also clearly stipulate that the church does not allow anyone to sermonize about donating money or employ any form of reasoning to encourage people to donate money. Since I’ve been following Almighty God, the church has never asked me to donate a single cent. Not only does the church not call on people to donate money, it even gives all the brothers and sisters who are true believers books, CDs, etc. free of charge. Now, my mother wants to give some money to help some of the brothers and sisters who are having financial difficulties. She’s doing it of her own free will; nobody is forcing her to do it. Anyway, helping people in need is a good deed, so there’s nothing to reproach her about, right?”

After reading Almighty God’s words and listening to my wife’s fellowship I suddenly remembered that one of the sisters had previously told me that The Church of Almighty God does not accept donations from new members, and anyone who wants to donate money or other items should pray a few times first until they are sure they are completely willing to do so and will never regret it. If the church thinks the money and other items are not being donated willingly, they absolutely will not accept them. When I remembered this, some of the worries and concerns that I had were somewhat alleviated, but the knot in my heart was not entirely loosened. My wife saw that I was still frowning, and knowing what I was thinking she said: “Don’t believe those rumors. Satan wants to disrupt and destroy God’s work of saving people, and prevent us from coming before God and accepting salvation, and so will say all sorts of garbage and give all sorts of false testimonies. God is holy and God detests mankind’s evil. As for those people who don’t have a good reputation and don’t know how to behave properly around members of the opposite sex, The Church of Almighty God never accepts them. This is something that Almighty God has spoken very explicitly about.” Then my wife read a passage of God’s words for me: “Many people will kneel down for mercy and forgiveness because the seven thunders peal. But this will no longer be the Age of Grace: It will be the time for wrath. As for all people who do evil (those who fornicate, or deal in dirty money, or have unclear boundaries between men and women, or who interrupt or damage My management, or whose spirits are blocked, or who are possessed by the evil spirits, and so on—all except My elect), none of them will be let off, nor any pardoned, but all will be cast down to Hades and perish forever!” (“The Ninety-fourth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Almighty God’s words are majestic and wrathful and cause people’s hearts to develop fear and reverence for God. I felt that God’s righteous disposition does not tolerate man’s offenses. God very much hates promiscuous people, and this kind of people will eventually suffer God’s righteous punishment. Realizing this got rid of some more of the concerns that were bothering me. My wife then fellowshiped the following with me: “When God was doing His work in the Age of Law anyone who acted promiscuously would be stoned to death. This amply shows God’s righteous, majestic, and wrathful disposition. In the Age of Kingdom, in terms of sexual relationships God’s administrative decrees are even stricter. As it says in God’s words: ‘Man has corrupt disposition and, moreover, he is possessed of emotions. As such, it is absolutely prohibited for two members of the opposite sex to work together when serving God. Any who are discovered doing so will be expelled, without exception—and no one is exempt’” (“The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

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. At this point I felt very ashamed for blindly believing a bunch of online rumors that were slanderous distortions of the truth or outright fabrications, and for having doubts about Almighty God and The Church of Almighty God. I was such a confused idiot! My wife then continued with her fellowship: “God has incarnated in the mundane world to express truths, judge people, and cleanse people. In other words, God wants to thoroughly save people from Satan’s dominion. He wants to rid us of our corrupt dispositions—our arrogance, trickery, deceit, selfishness, vileness, evil, filth, etc., and help us to achieve transformation in our life disposition so that we may live as true human beings. God knows that mankind has been very deeply corrupted by Satan and so doesn’t have the capability to overcome sin. So in order to ensure that people don’t offend God’s disposition during the time when they are accepting God’s salvation, and thus avoid being eliminated and punished, God has laid out the administrative decrees of the Age of Kingdom in order to keep believers in check. Anyone who offends the administrative decrees will be punished by God, and serious offenders will be expelled from God’s house and lose any chance of salvation. God’s setting out of these administrative decrees for the church is so that we gain some real knowledge of God’s righteous disposition which is not to be offended, and also so that we have decrees to keep us in check. This way, there will always be a line that can’t be crossed for all our behaviors, and if we keep within these boundaries then we can generally avoid being tempted by Satan. This is God’s way of preserving us and, even more so, is God showing His true love for us!” While listening to my wife’s fellowship I found myself involuntarily nodding my head, and this is how the knot in my heart was completely untied and the suffering that had enveloped it was alleviated. After that, I once again began to participate in the church meetings.

Every time that I recall this experience there is always some lingering fear in my heart because I saw how damaging these rumors are and how I nearly got confused by them and lost the chance for God’s salvation of the last days. In the Age of Grace, the Israelites also got bemused by false rumors and ended up not admitting that the Lord Jesus was the coming of the Messiah. They abandoned the Lord Jesus and thus lost the Lord’s salvation. This made me realize just what huge obstacles such rumors are for people to accept the true way! But what I still couldn’t understand was why there are so many false rumors and false accusations about The Church of Almighty God online when it clearly is a good church. So, in a meeting, I brought up this question with the brothers and sisters so that we could openly fellowship about it. The brothers and sisters played for me one of the church’s gospel movies, Break Through the Snare, and this movie completely resolved my confusion. With a bit more fellowship from the brothers and sisters I was then able to understand even better that the use of rumors to disrupt and ruin God’s work is one of Satan’s most common methods. When the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Jewish leaders, chief priests, scribes and Pharisees wanted to ensure that they kept permanent control over God’s people, and so they created many false rumors about the Lord Jesus. They blasphemed the Lord Jesus by saying that He relied on the prince of the devils to cast out demons, they falsely accused the Lord Jesus of not letting people pay their taxes to Caesar, and they also gave false testimony by saying that the Lord Jesus’ physical body was stolen by His disciples and that He didn’t resurrect. I’m sure that if the Internet had existed then those religious leaders would have put all of their rumors and false testimonies online in order to blaspheme, attack, and condemn the Lord Jesus more effectively. Nowadays, in the Age of Kingdom, Almighty God is doing the work of expressing words to judge and purify man, and the government of China and the pastors and elders in the religious community are acting as Satan’s tools. In order to achieve their goal of controlling and entrapping people, they are blaspheming and condemning Almighty God and are creating a mass of rumors and false testimonies in order to frame and discredit The Church of Almighty God. They want to confuse people and keep them in the dark, and attempt to make people abandon God’s work of salvation of the last days and follow them in resisting God. Satan really is just so evil and loathsome!

Then the brothers and sisters read out another two passages of God’s words for me: “On earth, all manner of evil spirits are endlessly on the prowl for a place to rest, are ceaselessly searching for the corpses of men to eat up” (“The Tenth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Satan is constantly devouring the knowledge that men hold of Me in their hearts, and constantly, with teeth bared and claws unsheathed, engaged in the last throes of its death struggle. Do you wish to be captured by its deceitful stratagems at this moment? Do you wish, at the moment that the last phase of My work is completed, to cut off your own life?” (“The Six Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). They also told me that Almighty God’s words have told us the true situation regarding the spiritual battle, which is that in order to hinder people before they are able to come before God and achieve its goal of devouring them, Satan carries out all sorts of trickery. This includes spreading rumors and false testimonies on the Internet, getting religious leaders to harass and threaten believers, and getting family members to coerce them and prevent them from following Almighty God. In short, anything which makes us doubt, deny or move away from God comes from Satan. If people are unable to seek truths, then they will never be able to see through Satan’s trickery, will easily lose the chance to gain God’s salvation, and will go downhill and eventually be destroyed along with Satan. Thanks to God’s leadership I was able, through watching The Church of Almighty God’s gospel movies and listening to the fellowship of the brothers and sisters, to clearly see Satan’s evil and despicable essence and see through Satan’s schemes.

Since following Almighty God I’ve gained true release and freedom. Now, no matter what happens to me I can read God’s words and pray to God to help me find a path of practice. The brothers and sisters in the church all abide by God’s requirements and seek to become honest people. Their mutual relationships are uncomplicated and open, and they help and support each other as much as they can. As a member of the church, I never have to worry about someone trying to put me down, deceive me, or rip me off. I feel truly happy and content, and this is the life that I always want.

The Storm Caused at Home by the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan

Enhui, China

I’m an ordinary country woman, and I would often be weighed down by the strenuous burdens of the household. Because of this, my temperament became quite violent, and my husband and I were always at each other’s throats day in and day out. Our lives simply couldn’t go on like that. Whenever I was suffering, I would yell, “Heavens! Please save me!” In 2013, the work of Almighty God in the last days chanced upon me. Through reading the word of God and attending gatherings with brothers and sisters, I became certain that Almighty God had been the God whom I had cried out to in my suffering, and then gladly accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days.

I have read in the word of God: “Since the creation of the world I have begun to predestine and select this group of people, namely, you today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, stature, family in which you were born, your job and your marriage, the entirety of you, even the color of your hair and your skin, and the time of your birth were all arranged by My hands. Even the things you do and the people you meet every single day are arranged by My hands, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today is actually My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly” (“The Seventy-fourth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). It was only from the word of God that I came to know that all things are in God’s hands, and recognize that I had the fortune to come before the throne of God and accept God’s salvation in the last days and obtain the watering and supply of the word of God. All this was foreordained by God before the ages, and my husband and family were both predestined by God. I should accept and submit to what God has brought about and arranged. From then on, whenever things would happen that were other than what I wanted, I would no longer complain as I had before. Rather, I would have faith that those things had been arranged by God, and I would wish to continue obeying God in order to let Him guide me and learn to live with my family harmoniously. Gradually, I no longer quarreled with my husband. After he saw the changes that had taken place since I began to believe in God, my husband was also very supportive of my faith. When the brothers and sisters came to my house to attend gatherings, he was very polite to them, and would sometimes chat with them and ask how they were doing. At that time, I read God’s word every day, and would frequently attend gatherings and share experiences with the brothers and sisters. I felt enriched in my spirit and enjoyed the peace and joy that I had never had before, and felt how great it is to believe in God!

But all good things must come to an end, and on May 28, 2014, the case of Zhaoyuan, Shandong broke out. Those harmonious and tranquil days in our household were no more. At its root, this was an ordinary criminal case, but it changed fundamentally after three days when it was determined by the Chinese Communist Party government to have been perpetrated out of religious motivation. On this pretext, the CCP made The Church of Almighty God its focal point, and used the news media to plant false evidence, make false charges, and defame The Church of Almighty God in an unbridled and wanton manner. In an instant, people were inundated with every kind of rumor imaginable about The Church of Almighty God. After my husband saw something in connection with this reported on the news, he was misled by the CCP’s propaganda and it was as if he changed instantaneously. He began to do everything he could to oppose my faith in Almighty God.

One evening, my husband returned home fuming with rage, and loudly reproached me: “What is it, really, that you believe in?” Confronted with his unusual attitude, I thought it completely unfathomable. I answered, “I believe in the returned Lord Jesus—Almighty God, who we used to call ‘Heaven.’” He said, “You believe in Almighty God! Look what they’re saying on television!” As he spoke, he turned on the TV, and the news was broadcasting the May 28 Murder Case in Zhaoyuan, Shandong. It said many accusatory things about The Church of Almighty God. It went on to say that those who believe in Almighty God were disturbing social tranquility, and the Public Security Bureau in Shandong prepared to attack forcefully and to round them up with great severity. Seeing this, I was filled with righteous indignation, and right away said to my husband, “All this is slander and rumors. This murderer absolutely is not a believer in Almighty God! In spreading the gospel, The Church of Almighty God follows a certain principle, which is to only transmit it to good people who believe in God and who are kind-hearted. They do not transmit it to wicked people. As the evil Zhang Lidong does not conform whatsoever to this principle of The Church of Almighty God in transmitting the gospel, he certainly can’t be someone who believes in Almighty God. Another thing—when Zhang Lidong asked the other person for their phone number and they didn’t give it, it was out of humiliation that Zhang flew into a rage and committed the homicide. We brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God never try to force people to accept the work of God when spreading the gospel, because God clearly stipulated in ‘The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom’ that ‘Kin who are not of the faith (your children, your husband or wife, your sisters or your parents, and so on) should not be forced into the church. God’s household is not short of members, and there is no need to make up its numbers with people who have no use. All those who do not believe gladly must not be led into the church. This decree is directed at all people. In this matter you should check, monitor and remind each other, and no one may violate it.’ When the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God spread the gospel, they never drag people to it against their will, and this is something no one can violate. This news is just slander and falsehood. It’s nothing more than lies and defamation of The Church of Almighty God at the hands of the CCP.” Who would have guessed that after hearing this, my husband opened his eyes wide and roared at me, “It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. As long as the CCP is opposed to it, you can’t believe in this! I don’t want the government to come and ransack our house. My son still hasn’t even got married yet!” Seeing those rumors and lies created out of whole cloth on the TV and my husband who had been deceived by these false words, my heart was full of hatred: The CCP was doing everything in its power in repressing and persecuting The Church of Almighty God for the sake of suppressing religious belief! It was using the case of Zhaoyuan to frame and make false charges against The Church of Almighty God, and what a cruel and wicked means it is!

That evening, neither my husband nor I was able to sleep like a log. My husband urged me to go into hiding and to put the book of the word of God in a good hiding place, or if not that then to return it to the church. Otherwise, when the CCP finds it one day, they would raid our home. After hearing what my husband said, I thought of the experiences of the brothers and sisters in the past I had heard of who had been seized, been fined, and been imprisoned, and whose houses had been raided, and I also thought of my own cousin. He got into a dispute with the chief of the local police station because he couldn’t bear the sight of the man always obnoxiously bullying the common people, and was sentenced to a year of reeducation through labor. The whole house suffered, young and old. The CCP is a demon that can’t be reasoned with. If I were arrested and imprisoned because of my faith, and if our house was raided, would that be fair to my husband and child? I tossed and turned restlessly and had trouble falling asleep, constantly imagining myself in a scenario where I was being taken away and my house was raided by the CCP, and my husband and child were implicated…. I couldn’t help but feel a wave of desolation and fear in my heart. I felt how difficult it was in China to believe in God, be a good person, and follow the right path, and that my life is in danger at any time. But if I were to betray God out of fear of the CCP, my conscience would be condemned for the rest of my life. Even if I were drifting along in life without purpose, I would be essentially a walking corpse. If I died I would also be barred from seeing God again. At that time, I was confused and pained in my heart, was totally powerless, and had reached an extreme in being negative and weak.

Just when I was suffering, I recalled the words of the Lord Jesus: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat 10:28). “For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Mat 16:25). The words of the Lord Jesus gave me faith and strength, and dispelled anxiety and fear from my heart. I thought: “God is sovereign over all things and living creatures, and my life and household are also under God’s control. All that I have come from God, and I cannot betray God at this crucial time.” At this time, I thought about Job’s circumstances when his household was plundered and his children were killed, and he was left with nothing, yet he was still able to maintain his loyalty to God. He praised the holy name of Jehovah and stood witness to God. And yet, merely in the face of the rumors and disturbances manufactured by the CCP government, and not even having been arrested or raided at home, I was weak and negative. I saw that my stature was in fact pathetically low, and that I had not one iota of true faith in God. Thinking of this, my heart was filled with shame before God. I silently made the resolution: No matter what, I must not betray God, and I would keep my faith no matter how much suffering or difficulty I faced!

At noon on the following day, my husband came back home, and threw down the newspaper in his hand in front of me. He said, “Take a good look! It says in the newspaper that they can be arrested as long as one is discovered to believe in Almighty God. Prison is not a place you want to spend any time at all. Not only are people beaten, but dozens of them are crammed together in a single cell. If someone goes to the bathroom in the middle of the night, they have nowhere to sleep when they get back. If you’re arrested, I’ll have no money to bail you out. If you’re arrested and sentenced for several years, you’ll be submissive!” Listening to my husband’s merciless talk, I was deeply pained in my heart. Even more than that, I hated the demonic CCP. If not for them creating confusion through rumors, their compulsion, and their persecution, my husband would support me in my faith in God. He wouldn’t be compelling me like he was at the time. For lack of any better option, I just implored God in my heart: “Almighty God! I know that everything the CCP is disseminating is just rumor and slander, libel, and blasphemy against You. The CCP is none other than Satan, Your enemy. But now, I am experiencing some weakness in my heart, and I wish that God would protect me, give me more wisdom, allow me to be able to see through the tricks and craftiness of Satan and to be able to stand resolutely with God and not be intimidated by the evil forces of the CCP….” After I prayed, I had no desire at all in my heart to shun God, and thought of the word of Almighty God: “When the Lord Jesus did something such as bringing Lazarus back from the dead, His goal was to give proof for humans and for Satan to see, and to let humans and Satan know that mankind’s everything, mankind’s life and death are determined by God, and that even though He had become flesh, as always, He remained in command of the physical world that can be seen as well as the spiritual world humans cannot see. This was to let humans and Satan know that mankind’s everything is not under the command of Satan. This was a revealing and a demonstration of God’s authority, and it was also a way for God to send a message to all things that mankind’s life and death is in God’s hands. The Lord Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus—this type of approach was one of the ways for the Creator to teach and instruct mankind. It was a concrete action in which He used His ability and authority to instruct mankind, and to provide for humans. It was a way without words for the Creator to allow mankind to see the truth of Him being in command of all things. It was a way for Him to tell mankind through practical actions that there is no salvation other than through Him. This type of silent means of His instructing mankind lasts forever—it is indelible, and it brought to human hearts a shock and enlightenment that can never fade. The resurrection of Lazarus glorified God—this has a deep impact on every single one of God’s followers. It firmly fixes in every person who deeply understands this event the understanding, the vision that only God can command mankind’s life and death” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). This fact of God allowing Lazarus to rise from the dead deeply encouraged me, and I had strength again in my heart, and I rose up again unyielding: Yes! God controls all things in the universe, and people’s life and death are in the palm of God’s hand. No person can be in charge of it, and whether or not I am arrested is also in God’s hands. The word of God once again protected me, and the faith in my heart in God was once again increased. The panic and fear in my heart was also greatly settled.

The rumors of the CCP destroyed the peace and happiness that we once had in our household. In order to avoid any further disturbance at home, I had to be very cautious and careful in attending meetings and doing my duty, and I felt very oppressed by this. Later, after my father heard about the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan, he began to oppose me. He said, “Believe whatever you want, but you may not transmit the gospel to anyone else or go out to attend gatherings. At such an old age I won't be able to handle any trouble. You have to think about the whole family, young and old! Believing in God is good, but you weren’t born in a country with freedom of belief. The weak can’t contend with the strong, and the CCP treats people who believe in God as political prisoners. You know all this, so don’t make us feel the same level of anxiety as you.” My own family compelling me against my will and their lack of understanding made me feel deeply tormented. In that time, my heart was in worry and suspense all day, living in fear that I myself would be arrested by the CCP and would bring trouble to my family at the first slip-up. So whenever I would go out, I would carefully conceal the books of the word of God and anything that had to do with believing in God. When I attended gatherings, I was afraid that I would be reported by someone, and that I would cause my family to be implicated. For this reason, my mind was constantly in a state of high alert and defensiveness, and whenever I saw a police car or an officer my heart would involuntarily jump into my throat. This was indescribable suffering, and I felt that believing in God in China was like living one’s life on the edge of a knife blade. I couldn’t help but feel even greater hatred for this evil atheist CCP: What was it that was bad about us following the correct path? Why don’t they let people believe in God? Why do they frantically oppress, seize, and persecute people whom they see believing in God? Why do they hate it so much when people believe in God? It’s so evil!

Afterward, I finally understood the truth of the matter when I read the word of Almighty God. The word of God says: “God works, God cares for a person, looks upon a person, and Satan dogs His every step. Whoever God favors, Satan also watches, trailing along behind. If God wants this person, Satan would do everything in its power to obstruct God, using various evil ways to tempt, harass and wreck the work God does in order to achieve its hidden objective. What is its objective? It does not want God to have anyone; it wants all those that God wants, to possess them, control them, to take charge of them so they worship it, so they commit evil acts alongside it. Is this not Satan’s sinister motive? … This issue has made Satan’s hideous countenance and its essence very clear. Satan is at war with God, trailing along behind Him. Its objective is to demolish all the work God wants to do, to possess and control those whom God wants, to completely extinguish those whom God wants. If they are not extinguished, then they come to Satan’s possession to be used by it—this is its objective” (“God Himself, the Unique IV” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The word of God allowed everything to become clear to me: Looking at it from the outside, it was the CCP government forcing us not to believe in God, but behind the scenes it was a spiritual battle taking place. It was God and Satan battling with each other over mankind. Because Satan is the arch enemy of God and is the demon which betrays and resists God, it has wanted ever since it corrupted mankind to take control of them, as well as not to allow people to worship God or to allow God to obtain mankind who God created. So since the beginning of God’s work in saving mankind all the way up to the present, Satan has been doing its utmost in causing disturbances and trying to tear down God’s work. Satan makes use of every kind of despicable means for obstructing us from returning to God. Today, in order to obstruct me from believing in God, Satan uses rumors to incite disharmony among me and my family members. It uses affections and psychological tactics to threaten, entice, menace, and attack me. Its goal in doing all of this is to cause me to shun, deny, betray God, and to attempt to control me in its hands and make me its slave, and ultimately to cause me to be destroyed alongside it by God. The CCP’s intentions are truly insidious, and it resists God frantically in being the enemy of God. It is certainly a demon which devours the souls of the people, just as is said in the word of God: “Satan wins its fame through deceiving the public. It often establishes itself as a vanguard and role model of righteousness. Under the banner of safeguarding righteousness, it harms man, devours their souls, and uses all sorts of means to benumb, deceive and incite man. Its goal is to make man approve of and follow along with its evil conduct, to make man join it in opposing God’s authority and sovereignty. However, when one grows wise to its schemes, plotting and vile features and does not wish to continue to be trampled upon and fooled by it or to continue slaving away for it, or to be punished and destroyed together with it, Satan changes its previously saintly features and tears off its false mask to reveal its true evil, vicious, ugly and savage face. It would love nothing more than to exterminate all those who refuse to follow it and those who oppose its evil forces” (“God Himself, the Unique II” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The revelations in the word of God have let me see through to the true face of the CCP, and see that it is genuinely the embodiment of Satan, and that it is the most evil influence of Satan. It uses the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan to start rumors and frame The Church of Almighty God in an attempt to deceive and incite people, and to get those people who don’t understand the truth of the matter to stand together with it and resist God along with it. The purpose of the CCP concocting the case of Zhaoyuan and shifting the blame onto The Church of Almighty God was to search for grounds and excuses for seizing and persecuting Christians. It is a futile attempt to snatch up all Christians in one net and eliminate them root and branch, and to thoroughly prohibit The Church of Almighty God and religious belief, reaching all the way to their wild scheme of establishing an atheist zone in China. The essence of the CCP truly is extremely treacherous and evil!

When I came to know the actual situation of the spiritual war and the evil essence of the CCP, another question arose in my mind: Isn’t God omnipotent? Why does God allow the CCP government to persecute us? The word of Almighty God unraveled the confusion in my mind, where it says: “I once said that My wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s schemes. Why did I say that? Is that not the truth behind what I am saying and doing right now?” (“The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “God intends to use a portion of evil spirits’ work to perfect a portion of man, so that these people can completely see through demons’ deeds, and allow everyone to truly understand their ancestors. Only then can humans completely break free, not only forsaking the posterity of the demons, but even more so their ancestors. This is the original intent of God completely defeating the great red dragon, to make it so that all of man knows the great red dragon’s true form, completely tearing off its mask, and seeing its true form. This is what God wants to achieve, and it is His final goal on earth for which He has done so much work; He aims to accomplish this in all of man. This is known as the maneuver of all things for God’s purpose” (“Interpretation of the Forty-first Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I understood from the word of God that God was making use of the compulsion by satanic evil influence of the CCP to do service for the perfection of His chosen people. Through the CCP’s resisting, accusing, and starting rumors to besmirch The Church of Almighty God, and compelling and seizing Christians, God lets us see through to the satanic essence of the CCP’s enmity for the truth and for God. He lets us truly distinguish and forsake it and allows us never again to suffer its confusion, to get out from under the domain of Satan, and to return to the presence of God. At the same time, God also makes use of the seizure and persecution by the demonic CCP to reveal all kinds of people, and to separate people according to their class. Those who are timid, of false belief, and are like Judas are revealed and eliminated in the ferocious persecution of the CCP; those who truly believe in God and pursue the truth and who have the loyalty to God stand witness to God under the ferocious persecution of the CCP and become overcomers made by God. When I understood all this, my misunderstandings, complaints, and perplexity about God were all removed. Furthermore, I saw how wise and almighty God is, and that God’s wisdom is certainly established upon Satan’s ruses.

I also read in the word of God: “We trust that no country or power can stand in the way of what God wishes to achieve. Those that obstruct God’s work, resist the word of God, disturb and impair the plan of God shall ultimately be punished by God. He who defies the work of God shall be sent to hell; any country that defies the work of God shall be destroyed; any nation that rises up to oppose the work of God shall be wiped from this earth, and shall cease to exist” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I saw God’s righteous and majestic disposition in the word of God, and saw that no power can resist or surpass God’s almightiness and authority. Although the CCP government always frantically resists God, suppresses, seizes, and persecutes the chosen people of God, and concocts all kinds of rumors to mislead and obstruct people from returning to God, God’s work has still spread throughout the whole of China. Furthermore, a group of overcomers has been made in China, and the gospel of God’s kingdom is in the process of extending to the entire world. No one can obstruct God’s work. Those who resist God and disturb and destroy God’s work are fated to suffer the righteous punishment of God and to be annihilated. This is decided by the righteous disposition of God. The word of Almighty God allowed me to have a sudden flash of insight and for everything to become clear. I was enlightened in an instant, and could not help sighing in my heart, and praising God’s miraculous work. God’s wisdom truly surpasses all the heavens. It is truly wise for God to use the CCP to do service. God’s salvation of mankind is very practical, and makes me convinced in my speech and heart, praising Him without end! In my heart, I silently prayed to God, “God! I don’t want to become chaff that You throw out from the threshing floor, and I don’t want to be blown away by the evil wind of the CCP. I want to become grain stored by God. God! Before, I have never satisfied You, but in the frantic coercion of the CCP, I hope to exhibit sincerity, and to pursue the truth hard, and not to surrender in the face of the evil influence of the CCP government. I also hope to be a person who thirsts for justice and yearns for light, to stand witness to God, and to let God obtain glory….”

After I had this knowledge, I became strong in my heart. I understood that when I was faced with my family members not understanding me and obstructing me, this was all allowed to be so by God, and that it is God who meticulously appoints them to perfect my faith and loyalty and obedience. Never again will I complain about the environment around me, nor will I ever again suffer being controlled by the environment around me. Rather, I will be grateful to God, and secretly resolve the will that no matter what kind of environment God arranges for me, I must always stand witness to God, and loyally do my duty, and that I must absolutely not betray God! Afterward, when I had seen the way God acts, my husband did not oppose me or force me to stop as he had before. Rather, he told me: “It’s not that I don’t allow you to believe, and I admit that you have changed since you began believing in God; it’s just that later you have to be careful and cautious when you go out to attend gatherings!” When I heard what my husband said, there were hot tears in my eyes. In my heart I gave thanks and praise to God for His action, because I had seen that truth and justice is able to overpower all that is dark and evil. Satan’s evil force will die out in God’s work! In this experience, even though I suffered some of the hardship of being refined, I gained some knowledge of the wise work of God. I gained as well the ability to distinguish between positive things and negative things, and all this is wealth in my life that has aroused my resolution and faith to pursue the truth and yearn for light.