Eastern Lightning a.k.a. The Church of Almighty God

by Francina Palabra

Eastern Lightning (also known as The Congregation, Church of Almighty God, Seven Spirits Sect, New Power Lord's Church, True Light Sect, or True Way Sect) is a reference to a group originally from China that is a cult. It is officially known as the Church of the Almighty God (Wikipedia). The group was founded in 1989. As of 2001, the sect had around 300,000 adherents (Time Magazine). Current membership is estimated to be from 1 to 4 million. Exact figures are difficult because C.A.G. is illegal in its country of origin and secretive in other countries. Meetings are held primarily in homes.

Some of their sites are: hidden-advent.org, holyspiritspeaks.org, endtimeworksofgod.org, thelordsadvent.org [and others].

They seek to infiltrate Christian worship services with their seeker mentality, but then later introduce subversive doctrines to prey on Christians. They have an apocalyptic and anti-Chinese government stance. They appeal to many peasant groups who are dissatisfied with China. The church converts people through building trust by lending money and slowly revealing doctrine. The Eastern Lightning cult hands out leaflets in Chinatowns in San Francisco and New York City, but the organization is spreading world-wide.

Central belief: Christ returned to earth as a woman, so they say.

This cult was started by a physics professor in China named Zhao Weishan.

He and his lover, the false Christ named Yang Xiangbin, now live in the U.S.A.

You could say he is the Yin to her Yang. [Sorry, I couldn't resist.]

Weishan abandoned his wife to be with Xiangbin, also known as "Lightning Deng".

The two are reputed to now be married with one son by their union.

Important! --

It must be noted that in 1989, Zhao Weishan declared Chinese preacher, Witness Lee, to be Christ.

In 1991, he changed his view, declaring Yang to be Christ.

Note: "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" [James 1:8]

She has written an alleged "third testament" to the Bible.

Church of Almighty God teaches that Yang is the "incarnation" or reincarnation of God; therefore, Jesus did not rise from the dead bodily; however, in truth the Bible says Jesus rose bodily, ate bread, fish, honeycomb, and asked disciple Thomas to touch Jesus' scars resulting from the crucifixion.

Church of Almighty God also teaches that though Jesus died to forgive sin, He did not defeat sin; it is Ms. Yang's job to free us from sin by her teachings.

The Bible says: "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." [1 John 3:8]

True Christianity teaches that by both the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, sin is defeated when we are baptized into His death and when we arise with Him to walk in newness of life. Water baptism is representative of these facts, but not necessary for salvation, but it's a commandment to be obeyed by believers as a bold public profession of faith in Him and identification with Him. We are saved by complete trust in Him alone, without water or any other substance or act. Acts are evidence of faith.

Not surprisingly, this cult also says the Bible is in "error", because its words were recorded in writing by fallible men. This begs the question: is Ms. Yang's "third testament" infallible, is her editor infallible, is the proof-reader infallible, and is the printer infallible? And where are Ms. Yang's miracles to prove Christ is in her and her word is God's? "These signs shall follow them that believe" [Mark 16:17].

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The Church of Almighty God especially preys on woman.

Their clever, deceptive movies appear on Youtube.

There are phrases like "repent or God will judge you", but the name, Jesus, is almost never mentioned.

They talk about pleasing God by being good.

They do not tell you that you must be born again by surrendering your heart to the risen Lord Jesus Christ Who from His seat in Heaven has sent the Holy Spirit throughout all the earth.

Neither did I see in their literature that Jesus died in place of you and I, and rose from the dead bodily [not only in Spirit]; He ascended into heaven, and has sent the Holy Spirit to live inside us when we allow Jesus to be the Lord of our life, and then He will change us from within.

They do not tell you salvation is a gift by grace through faith alone, not by good works.

For them, it is all about obeying God's commands by striving to be good, or He will punish you.

In their videos and information, on the surface it is not revealed that they believe Christ is a woman living in the U.S.A.

You will find out about this female Christ of theirs again and again by surfing the internet.

It seems they are aware that this "female Christ" is a bad selling point, and do not reveal it until the member is totally "hooked".

Conclusion:

The Bible says the Holy Spirit, also known as Christ, is the Spirit of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son. Likewise, 1John 2:23 says, "he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." Therefore, the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the Father and Son, not the Spirit of a mother, daughter or this woman.

The Bible says that God changes not, so Who He was then is Who He is now.

The Christian Church is the Family of God, and the Head of the family is the man, which would be the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Lord, we pray now that Mr. Zhao and Ms. Yang might repent and accept You alone as God and Savior. Amen. Bless the reader!

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