Written by a brother, evaluate it yourself

I was in a cult called True Jesus Church (TJC). They are nice and loving people, however it is the teachings that is all wrong... They have deviated from the mainstream christian teachings and claim that they are the only "true" church that saves. All other church are false because they do not follow the truth as they claim.

However, being a member in that cult for many years, I have seen the cracks of their lofty claim of truth is nothing but an excuse of superiority complex. Likewise, it attract people of the same personality to it:"those who want to control" and those who are "willing to be controlled based on fear" (not questioning the authority of the so called "truth" that they preaches). For me, i am the submissive sheep taking in the "poison" that they preaches every Sabbath Saturday to the point of falling asleep in sermons (which if you look around during TJC sermon, many of their members are sleeping disciples too :)

The defining moment that i woke up to their poisonous teaching is when I realized that they do not follow what they preaches. It is when i realized that their "truth" is merely good in the pulpit not in daily life. On one hand, they preaches "to look for your soulmate within the TJC church not other church or non-christian", on the other, they allow couples that "seek their companion outside of church" (i.e A TJC church brother dating a non-TJC "gentile" girl) to hold holy matrimony in the church. The excuse the church give is that the couple are already baptised by TJC pastor before marriage. however, they twist their word: Firstly they said "not to date non-tjc members", and when things happens, they said, "it is ok, because they are baptised"? I do not agree. Is it alright, if the brother or sister have gone through the baptism for the convenience of marrying? Have baptism became a tool?

What kind of truth are they preaching? Thank God for allowing me experience this episode in my life in order to see how "true" is the "True Jesus Church". Sadly, many members do not see or feel how i felt. And most of them are still sleeping, they think that as long as the issue doesn't affect them it is alright. because most of the adults are already married before coming to believe in TJC church. And their youths are not really holding fast to such a "teaching". except for foolish youths like me who innocently with a childlike faith believe in the "truth" they preaches.

After I decided to leave the church, i get the opportunity to compare TJC to mainstream churches. It was hard leaving, because you are constantly haunted by TJC poisonous teachings that ingrained in your mind "you will lose salvation, because there is no other churches that saves except TJC" "will you be able to find the True church out there? Only TJC saves". these are the words they used quite frequently in their sermons to emphasize the danger of leaving their organization. it gives distress and fear and helplessness for those thinking of leaving TJC cult. Finally, i said enough is enough, and here i am free from their bondage. I research other mainstream churches doctrine and TJC doctrine and found out that many of the TJC teaching are fundamentalist (ie. believe word for word in the bible) eg.TJC only baptise with head bow down in living water "i.e moving water (river,stream etc), not still water (lake) or tap water (swimming pool)". Where as, mainstream churches teaches the principle of the teachings and do not really emphasize on the precise method of e.g baptism. So, to a TJC member, if you dont baptised in the manner their church prescribed you are "not saved". because you do not practises in "the truth" of bible.

When i do an evaluation of both church teachings and my personal life experience in both church, i came to realized that my view of God is very myopic in TJC as compared to mainstream churches. Does God really send you to hell because you do not tilt your head in certain way or do stuff in certain way for baptism?? Does that means Mother Theresa cannot be saved if she didn't baptised in TJC church method?.... These are the further questions that i woke up to besides the "missionary dating" issue that happens to me personally.

TJC is a church that really appealing to those new members with superiority complex (i.e it is we against the horde, we are the right ones and you are all doomed). if you want to feel high and lofty of your status as a "special" child of God, this desire will naturally drawn you to such a church as TJC. For older members in TJC (>5 years), they are on sleeping mode... things are peaceful until things happens personal to their life then they wake up. As most member chose to ignore such things that happens around them.

So if you want to attend such a church and "survive", you have to be thoroughly ignorant to doctrinal matters (i.e sleep mode). My personal advice is, yes there are loving members in TJC but are few. most are selfish and mind their own business. But don't attend a church based on the love they showered to you, I would advise you to compare, study the bible. Read not only bible interpretation of TJC but various mainstream churches, compare and contrast and come up with your evaluation. Remember: Once you get invested in a church it is hard to break those bonds and get out.

My above personal life experience on TJC is for you to evaluate too. it will save you years of your time, by not going through what i have been through. God Bless.

Seeing Christ 講座1《看！這個人》

Leave

Written by a sister in Christ


I want to leave the True Jesus Church.
Why?
-I no longer have faith in the doctrines, apart from One True God and perhaps keeping the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week: Saturday, not Sunday.
-I believe in the Holy Spirit but think it can be found in other churches, and there is no requirement that you have to pray in tongues because it is not expressly mandated as such in the Bible.
-I believe in the Bible.
-I believe in Jesus and the power of His resurrection.
-I believe in His commandments to love God and to love one another as you would love yourself.
-I believe in treating each person with respect, regardless of his or her station in life. I believe we should be impartial.
-I believe in setting our sights on heavenly things. I believe that money is the root of all evil.
-I believe in spreading the gospel of salvation to nonbelievers, atheists, agnostics, Daoists, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jews.
-I believe in reflection and in repentance and prayer.

What don't I believe?
-Criticizing other denominations in sermons and proclaiming that ours is the only true path to salvation. If you do not ascribe to the 10 basic beliefs, you are condemned to hell. This is the teaching. I am going to church out of fear. Shouldn't I be going out of reverence to God?
-Judging members who do not attend Sabbath for being unholy.
-Judging members who marry non-believers or Christians of other denominations as being unholy.
-Stigmatizing women in their late 20s or 30s who are unmarried and judging them for being "picky."
-Judging people who dye their hair different colors, have tattoos or piercings in strange places.
-Setting out a TJC "educational" plan whereby one must attend NYTS, PVMP and become a church leader in order to be "holy" and therefore, respected by other church members.
-Labeling people who express different viewpoints as "lost sheep" who must be guided back to the correct interpretation, rather than engaging in fruitful discussion and listening to their viewpoints.
-Ignoring the needs of the poor and underserved in the community and failing to acknowledge the importance of community service and social justice in the life of a Christian.
-Using the pulpit as a means to preach against the corruption and moral depravity of modern society, such as gay marriage, rather than against racial violence and xenophobia, which are equally pressing issues.
-Cultural homogeneity and the refusal to acknowledge that it exists in church.
-Starting a "Spanish-speaking" ministry to preach to the Latino community and ignoring the fact that millions of Latinos are American-born and speak English as their primary language.  Focus should be on bringing culturally assimilated Latinos to church as well.

The 3rd letter submitted by Brother Michael Young to the IA on Sept 3 2012 Final Part

6.4
Lessons the church has learnt from the Pr. YM Yang Incident and things the church
should beware of in the future

The church has learnt many valuable lessons from the painful experience brought about
by the Incident of Preacher YM Yang:

a. God is the Lord of the church; all workers and members should serve Him and
care for His church with a true, devout, reverent and thankful heart.

b. Every one of God’s people will make mistakes and sin against Him. As long as
we sincerely repent of our wrongs, God will surely forgive us.

c. What grieves God most and what God most abhors is when man sins but does not
repent even when he knows he has sinned.

d. As the mouthpieces of God, preachers and other divine workers should behave
cautiously as faithful and honest servants, only preaching teachings in the Bible
concerning which God has left clear instructions; they must not teach or talk
about topics of which God has not given a clear account.

e. The Bible records many mysteries of God;
--1) it is impossible for man to find the answers to these mysteries through his own knowledge and learning.
--2) The church should not engage in inconclusive discussions or dispute over such
topics/mysteries.

f. There are certain issues and topics in the Bible which God has not spoken clearly
about. These include, but are not limited to: 1) the world before the Creation, 2)
what God did before the Creation, 3) the origin of Satan, 4) details of the political
situation of the world before the Lord Jesus’ second coming, 5) when the
millennial kingdom begins, etc.

g. If a person were to insist on answering these questions using his own knowledge,
he would fall into the trap of misinterpreting the word of God, and thus be guilty
of the sin of adding to or subtracting from the word of God. As a result, he may
even be rejected by God.

h. Therefore, when members or truth-seekers ask us questions about the mysteries of
God or about matters not clearly explained in the Bible, we ought to reply humbly
and honestly that we do not know the answers to such questions or how these
matters should be explained, because the Bible does not speak clearly of them.

i. There are some workers in the church today who like to make a fuss over these
questions/the mysteries of God that have no answers. A few such workers are
often 1) very proud of their invented explanations, 2) look down on co-workers
who do not study these new questions, and 3) consider these co-workers to be
people who have fallen behind the times.

j. The history of the church clearly shows that studying and discussing these
mysteries of God has brought about many worries and much danger to the church.

For instance,
In 2012, an IA preacher came to California to pastor the churches here; his
interpretation of a certain verse in the Bible (Rev 6:3, the red horse of the
second seal) on this occasion differed from that which he had given a few
years ago.

Consider this:
i. Would the word of God change with time?
ii. Does the word of God have to change because this preacher’s views
concerning the global situation and the state of the church have
changed?

k. Unfortunately, this preacher insisted that “These words of God should now be
interpreted in this way”. This preacher made the same error that Elder Yung Ji
Lin did when Elder Lin stated in the Holy Spirit Monthly, issue no. 387
(December 2009) that the Lord Jesus would not come again in the next 100 years.

l. Both these workers believe that the true God in heaven has to act according to
their interpretations of the Bible, having forgotten that the Lord Jesus is their God
and their Lord.

The End

The 3rd letter submitted by Brother Michael Young to the IA on Sept 3 2012 Part 22

VI. Where Does the Church go from Here?

Based on the actual administrative lapses of the IA stated in this document, the reader will
be able to understand that these lapses have caused the IA
1) to be untruthful, unfair and unjust in many of its decisions, an
2) to commit the serious error of wronging many people, even to the extent of causing harm to many innocent members and workers. In order to correct its errant ways and to operate according to the teachings of God once again, the IA ought to:

6.1
Reinstate Preacher YM Yang’s position as IA EXCO member immediately and await
the decision of the WDC concerning this matter.

Reason:
-The IA EXCO overstepped its authority and mandate and violated the IA’s
constitution and its rules and regulations in terminating Preacher YM Yang’s position
as IA EXCO member during its meeting held in Korea from March 22-23, 2012.

-The procedural rules/constitution of the International Assembly of the True Jesus
Church, Chapter 1, Section 4, and Article 10 clearly stipulates that taking disciplinary
action against IA EXCO members and their removal from office is the responsibility

of the WDC.

6.2
Establish a commission of inquiry to
1) investigate and understand the deficiencies in the IA’s administrative operations and the effect of these deficiencies on the church and on Pr. YM Yang, and
2) make reparation to all injured parties.

The examples and evidence cited in this report clearly prove that, due to conflicts of
interest under the leadership of Elder Lin, the IA has lost its capacity for self examination,
self-discipline and self-governance. For the sake of

1. the history of the church,
2. restoring the good name of the members and workers who have been falsely
accused or wronged by Elder Lin, and
3. allowing the church to return to its former state of purity, honesty, godliness
and loving-kindness, so that it can once again be pleasing to God, the church
needs to overcome all its difficulties and establish an independent commission
of inquiry to find out the truth.

The responsibilities of such an independent commission should minimally include:

a. investigating the errors and deficiencies in the administrative operations of the IA
that occurred during Elder Lin’s term of office,
b. verifying the above errors and deficiencies as cited in this report along with the
accompanying evidence the report provided,
c. revealing the effects these deficiencies have had on the IA’s handling of the Pr.
YM Yang Incident,
d. re-investigating and handling the case of Preacher YM Yang in an honest, fair and
just manner according to the teachings of the Bible,
e. reporting the findings of the inquiry and the evidence on which the findings were
based to the WDC, and
f. reforming the IA’s administrative operations based on the lessons learn report to
be issued by the commission of inquiry.

6.3
Basic operating principles of the commission of inquiry

a. The objective of the commission of inquiry would be to solve the issues in hand
and not to discipline the people involved.

b. The commission of inquiry should examine material provided by all parties
involved, including the injured parties as stated in Section 4.7 of this report. With

a heart of truthfulness, loving-kindness and tolerance, it should
--i. examine each of the original issues —the original dispute between Elder
Lin and Preacher Yang,
--ii. identify and classify all the derived / distorted issues arising from the
IA’s administrative lapses or from other human factors,
--iii. list all original and derived/distorted issues in chronological order,
--iv. reset all the derived/distorted issues to zero (i.e. ignore and remove the
distorted issues and focus on the original issues),
--v. carefully discuss and resolve all the original issues with Elder Lin and Pr. YM Yang under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, with the mediation of senior members.

c. Once the commission of inquiry has determined
---1) the nature and cause of each
IA administrative deficiency,
---2) the effect these deficiencies have had on the IA
and the church, and
---3) ways of coordinating, discussing and resolving matters, it
should leave it at that; there is no need to make things difficult for the divine
workers who have make mistakes in their weakness.

d. When it has properly understood the causes, nature and consequences of the IA’s
administrative deficiencies, the commission of inquiry should try to find a
solution for every mistake that has been made, and also create a new
administrative structure and a new set of operational procedures for the IA.

Note: The commission of inquiry’s plans for improvements to the administrative operations of
the IA should include designing and conducting on-the-job training workshops for IA
administrative workers, so that the technical knowledge required by the staff to perform
their duties may be systematically imparted to them, and that they may be taught correct
and effective methods of handling the necessary administrative operations. This is so that
every divine worker may have a work ethic that is in keeping with God’s teachings, that
with the Lord’s guidance and blessing, the work of the IA will once again flourish when
everyone labors in one accord for Him.

e. The findings and recommendations of the commission of inquiry (including the
process by which the dispute between Elder Lin and Pr. YM Yang was resolved,
and the recommendations for the improvement of the organizational structure and
administrative operations of the IA) should be presented to the WDC as important
reference material for WDC’s meeting.

In this way, the painful path travelled by the church over the past few years will not
have been in vain. God will have taught us a lesson through the Pr. YM Yang
Incident and allowed the church to be more mature, more united, more thankful, more
loving and better equipped to fulfil the holy work that He has entrusted to us in these
last days.

The 3rd letter submitted by Brother Michael Young to the IA on Sept 3 2012 Part 21

V. Disputes over Differences in the Interpretation of Certain Bible Verses

I am not well-versed with the Bible, but out of necessity I share here my understanding
concerning the origin of Satan.

5.1 The origin of Satan

1. Why did Preacher YM look into this special topic?

-a. In 1999, as a special topic for study, the IA assigned Elder ST Hsieh and
Preacher YM Yang to do research on the origin of Satan.

-b. Consider:
--i. At the time, the church already had a view on the origin of Satan (namely, that Satan was
a fallen angel).

--ii. If the church had been so certain of this view, the IA would not have assigned two
workers to do research on this established “fact” as a special topic.

--iii. By this simple inference, I would guess that the IA at the time was actually not very
certain of the view that Satan had originally been a fallen angel. This is why the IA had
assigned Elder ST Hsieh and Preacher YM Yang to do research on this as a special topic;
the IA and church were hoping to hear a new perspective and commentary on the topic.

--iv. When, acting in accordance with the IA’s instruction, Preacher YM Yang thought about
this question, did research on it and presented his new perspectives and ideas at the IA
TRC. Certain TRC members immediately accused Pr. YM of going against the "basic
beliefs" of the true church!

--v. Think about it: is this reaction an appropriate way of discussing the Bible in the church?
Given such a mentality and culture how are the teachings of the Bible to be discussed
during Bible studies and family services?

2. Both Preacher Yang’s and the IA’s explanations (theories) of the origin of Satan are

not in accordance with the Bible and are incorrect.

a. I am not very well-versed in the Bible, but I hold a simple and firm belief about it: the entire
Bible is a record of God’s word and is from God; therefore, there cannot be any contradictions
whatsoever within the Bible.

b. Based on this truth, it would not be very difficult for us to examine whether someone’s
explanation (exegesis) of a certain topic in the Bible is in accordance with the will of the Lord.

c. Take for example the origin of Satan: If someone were to propose a theory on the origin of Satan,
but discovers that his theory is unable to explain ALL the verses in the Bible concerning the
devil, sin, evil and the nature of God, this clearly shows that
--i. this theory was not originally intended by God and is not from God,
--ii. this theory was derived, invented and constructed by man and is incorrect.

d. Preacher Yang’s new theory on the origin of Satan cannot fully explain all the verses in the
Bible concerning the devil, evil, sin and the nature of God. Hence, Preacher Yang’s theory is a
human invention and construction and is incorrect; Pr. YM Yang's view and theory is not God’s
explanation, nor was it originally intended by Him.

e. Similarly, the traditional view of our church on the origin of Satan cannot fully explain all the
verses in the Bible concerning the devil, evil, sin and the nature of God. Hence, this traditional
view (theory) is also a human invention and construction and is incorrect; our church's
traditional view (theory) on the origin of Satan is not God’s explanation, nor was it originally
intended by Him.

3. How should both parties handle the dispute over the origin of Satan?

a. Since both parties’ theories/explanations are not in accordance with the Bible, the IA should not
insist that “the church’s traditional view is correct, and Preacher YM Yang’s new theory is
incorrect”, or issue edicts or correspondences claiming so. In so doing, the IA is deceiving both
itself and others.

b. By the same token, since both parties’ theories are incorrect, Preacher YM Yang should similarly
not insist that his theory is correct and that the church’s view on this issue is incorrect. In so doing,
he would also be deceiving both himself and others.

c. In future, if someone were to ask us where Satan came from, we should honestly and humbly reply
that the Bible does not speak clearly about this issue; it is one of the many mysteries of God
contained in the Bible, and no man can know the answer to this mystery.

4. The Bible contains many mysteries of God; man cannot find the answers to these
mysteries through his own knowledge and learning.

a. Even if a person were to spend all his time, energy and money in studying the mysteries of God
contained / described in the Bible, he would not be able to find the answers, because being
created by God, it is impossible for man to know the mysteries of his Creator.

b. If a person were to insist on explaining these mysteries using his own knowledge and skill, he
would fall into the trap of misinterpreting the word of God, or even be guilty of the sin of
adding to or subtracting from the word of God (Rev 22:18–19).

5. The mysteries of God contained in the Bible have nothing to do with salvation; the
church should not discuss or argue over such topics which do not have correct and
clear answers.

a. The God we worship is an honest, upright, righteous and perfect God.
--i. God states very clearly in the Bible what mankind should know and should do in order to
be saved; there are absolutely no ambiguities in His instructions on these topics and
requirements.
--ii. As God is an honest, upright, righteous and perfect God, He would not require man to do
anything that He did not stipulate or that He did not provide clear instructions about.
--iii. Based on the nature of God described above, we can gather that since the Bible does not
state clearly where Satan has come from, the origin of Satan
----1) has nothing to do with salvation
----2) is one of the many mysteries of God contained in the Bible.

b. If members or truth-seekers were to ask us
--1) where Satan has come from or
--2) other questions to which the Bible does not provide clear answers, we should humbly, honestly and directly answer that we do not know the answers to such questions because the Bible does not speak clearly about
them.

The 3rd letter submitted by Brother Michael Young to the IA on Sept 3 2012 Part 20

4.8
God Saves when Man Repents

I wholeheartedly believe that it is God’s will and that it is due to His divine arrangement
that the Pr. YM Yang Incident has been allowed to happen in the true church. Although
we cannot fully understand God’s wonderful works at present time, but from the history
of the Israelites, His chosen people, we can come to understand that:

a. God has allowed the church to pass through this painful and difficult wilderness
because He wants to refine us and force us to reflect on the past, examine
ourselves, admit our mistakes and repent, and ask for God’s forgiveness.

b. Preacher YM Yang failed to comply with the existing IA TRC's (Truth Research
Committee) rules in how to share his interpretations of certain Bible verses that
have not been adopted by the TRC.

c. Elder Lin Yung Ji / the IA administration made a series of unbiblical mistakes in
its handling of the Pr. YM Yang Incident.

d. For this reason, both parties must sincerely reflect upon the past, admit their
respective mistakes and turn over a new leaf. God will surely forgive all parties
concerned and also the church, so that the true church will once again become a
spiritual body pleasing to God and able to fight the good fight for the Lord in the
last days.