After Listening with My Heart, I Have Welcomed the Lord’s Return—The Church of Almighty God

After Listening with My Heart, I Have Welcomed the Lord’s Return

Max, United States

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In 1994, I was born in the United States. My parents are both Chinese. My mother was the classic example of a successful career woman. She is able to think for herself and is very competent. I love my mother very much. When I was in Grade 2, my parents brought me back to China to study so that I would be able to learn Chinese. It was also at that time that I started to get acquainted with the Lord Jesus. I remember one day in 2004, after I got home from school, there was a guest at our house. My mother introduced her and told me that she was a pastor from the United States. I was very happy because that was when I found out that my mother had believed in the Lord Jesus for some time. Before, she did not believe. Every Chinese New Year, she would burn incense and worship Buddha. However, after my mother started to believe in the Lord Jesus, I no longer had to smell the whiff of burnt Joss paper and incense. That day, the American pastor told me a story about the Lord Jesus. Soon after, I was brought to the bathroom and before I could react, “plop,” the pastor had dunked my head into the bathtub and after a moment, pulled my head out. All I heard was my mother and the pastor telling me, “Welcome to the embrace of the Lord Jesus. We are all lost sheep.” In this way, I started a new life journey before I knew it. However, because the Lord was with me, my heart was very happy. Afterward, each Sunday, I would go to church to worship and listen to the pastor talk about Bible stories and read from the scriptures. I was very happy all along. My heart was steadfast and I felt that believing in the Lord Jesus was truly a good thing.

I Welcomed the Return of the Lord—The Church of Almighty God

I Welcomed the Return of the Lord

Qingxin, Myanmar

I Welcomed the Return of the Lord

My parents are both Christians and from an early age I started going with them to church to attend services. At the age of 12 I attended a grand Christian camp in Myanmar, and while I was there a pastor told me: “The only way to avoid death and enter the kingdom of heaven is to be baptized.” And so in order to enter the kingdom of heaven I decided to get baptized while I was at the camp. From that time on, I became a genuine Christian.

Fleeing From the “Tiger’s Den” (Part 1)—The Church of Almighty God

Fleeing From the “Tiger’s Den” (Part 1)

Xiaoyou

fleeing-from-the-tigers-den

    My name is Xiaoyou and this year, I am 26 years old. Originally, I was a Catholic. When I was little, I went with my mother to church for Mass, chanting scriptures, confessing and receiving communion. My mother was very zealous in her faith. She would often donate food and clothing as well as money to the church. The church leaders and nuns particularly liked my mother. When they saw her, they would greet her with smiles and show great concern for her. They would also frequently call my mother on the phone to ask her to participate in all kinds of church activities and to help out with various tasks. I would also proactively participate in the classes that the nuns taught. My church friends and I would chant scriptures together. At that time, I felt the joy and the peace that comes along with being with God. I was very happy every day. However, as time passed on, the faith of my church friends became colder and colder. My spirit also became weak and I was unable to adhere to the teachings of God. I would frequently commit sins and confess. After I got married, I went with my husband to other parts of the country for work.

Fleeing From the “Tiger’s Den” (Part 2)—The Church of Almighty God

Fleeing From the “Tiger’s Den” (Part 2)

Xiaoyou

    I never expected that after just two days of peace, I would encounter Satan’s disturbance and coercion once again. One night, my mother, a few of my uncles and aunties as well as my third grandaunt came over in order to obstruct me from believing in Almighty God. When I saw this situation, I became extremely angry. I thought, “What have I done? I just believe in true God; is this a mistake? Why are they going on and on about this?” At this time, my third grandaunt peculiarly said, “Nier, let’s go! Let’s go home to see your grandma.” When I heard my third grandaunt say this, I was surprised, “They are here to take me to my mother’s place. They want to lock me up with my grandma, who is clinically insane! How can they be my relatives? How can they be so heartless!”

The Loss and Gain of Gatherings—The Church of Almighty God

The Loss and Gain of Gatherings

Guozi, USA

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    My name is Guozi, and I’m a high school student studying abroad in the USA. I was born in a Christian family, and my mother accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days when I was one year old. I remember when I was very young that my mother would always say to me: “God created heavens, earth, and everything that exists. We humans were also created by God, and God loves us more than anything. Whenever something happens to you, remember to pray to Almighty God, and He will watch over and protect you.” So when I was very young I learned that God exists, and when anything happened to me and I prayed to God, I experienced God’s protection for me. But truly having knowledge of God and God’s work was something I gradually gained in the course of attending gatherings and fellowshiping about the truth together with brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God and practicing entering into the word of God …

Blessings Due to Sickness —Essay on God’s Love—The Church of Almighty God

Blessings Due to Sickness —Essay on God’s Love

Dujuan, Japan

I was born into a poor family in a rural village. Since I was a child, I lived a tough life and was looked down upon by others. I sometimes did not even know if I would have my next meal, let alone snacks and toys. Since my family was poor, when I was little, I would wear what my older sister used to wear. Her clothes were usually too big for me. As a result, when I went to school, the other kids would laugh at me and they would not play with me. My childhood was very bitter. From that point on, I would secretly tell 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. 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 not enough to reach my goals. 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 operating the business for a period of time, I discovered that I was actually not making a lot of money. I started getting anxious. When would I be able to lead a life that others would admire?

With Life Hanging by a Thread, the Hand of God Came to the Rescue—The Church of Almighty God

With Life Hanging by a Thread, the Hand of God Came to the Rescue

Ling Wu, Japan

“If I were not saved by God, I would still be drifting in this world,

struggling hard and painfully in sin; every day gets bleak and hopeless.

If I were not saved by God, I’d still be crushed below the devil’s feet,

snared in sin and its enjoyments, ignorant of what my life would be.

If I were not saved by God, I’d be without my blessings here today,

much less know why we should live on or the meaning of our lives.

If I were not saved by God, I’d still be confused about my faith,

still in empty space passing the days, unaware in whom to put my faith.

I have finally understood God’s loving hand holds mine as we go.

I would never go and lose my way ’cause I’m on this brilliant course to stay”

Virginia Christian Film Festival: The Musical, Xiaozhen's Story, Raked in Nine Awards—The Church of Almighty God

The musical, Xiaozhen's Story, raked in nine awards, including those for best director, best feature film, best musical score, and so on, at the Christian Film Festival in Virginia, United States. Since its release in 2015, this musical, with the unfolding of life's transformation as its theme, has received multiple awards one after another in countries such as Russia, India, America, and so on. This is the 7th time since its first screening that this movie has won film festival awards.

God Is the Power of My Life—The Church of Almighty God

God Is the Power of My Life

Xiaohe Henan Province

 

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    How time flies! Fourteen years have flashed by since I followed Almighty God. In these years, although I have undergone various trials and hardships and frustrations, with the company of God’s word and God’s love and mercy, I’ve been especially enriched in my heart. During these fourteen years, what was most deeply engraved on my heart was my being arrested in August, 2003. After I was arrested that time, I was cruelly tortured by the CCP police and was almost disabled. It was Almighty God who cared for and kept me and led me with his word of life time after time, so that I overcame the cruel tortures of the devils and stood testimony. In the experience, I deeply felt that the power of Almighty God’s word is transcendent and Almighty God’s life force is great. I firmly believed that Almighty God is the only true God who rules over everything and controls all things and is even more my only salvation and reliance. No hostile force can take me away from God’s hand or hinder my footsteps of following God.

The Transformation of a Fallen Man

The Transformation of a Fallen Man

Tong Xin Fujian Province

   

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     I was born in the countryside. I came from a line of humble farmers and on top of that our family was few in number, so we were often bullied. When I was 13 years old, there was a child beaten by someone from outside of our village. The villagers falsely accused my father of instigating it and they said they were going to search our house and confiscate our property, take away our pigs and even beat my father. There was also a time when another villager took our fishing net and kept it as his own. When my father went to get it back, the villager actually hit my father, relying on his own power and influence. My father had to just eat humble pie as he knew that he had neither money nor power. My mother told my brothers and me that we must fight for ourselves in the future, and never live a life of oppression like this. Being young and detesting the injustice in society, I was determined that in the future I would stand out from the crowd and earn their respect, and never be oppressed. So I studied very hard, but I wasn’t smart enough and I couldn’t get into any universities, so I chose to pursue development in the army and joined easily by going through connections.

   

Walking Down the Bright Path of Life—The Church of Almighty God

Walking Down the Bright Path of Life

Xie Li, America

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    I used to be someone who would chase after the trends of the world, I wanted to abandon myself to a life of pleasure, and I just cared about the pleasures of the flesh. I would often go with my friends to KTV all night long, I would go for joyrides in the middle of the night, I would go fishing out on the ocean, and travel all around in search of fine foods. I’d see others around me, and they too were all striving to eat well, wear nice things, and enjoy good things. I felt that these were the things that a man must work for in his life, that this is why you must work hard to earn money, that this is the goal in life that everyone should have. Only with these things would life not be in vain. In order to obtain these things, I didn’t care what distance I had to travel, so I crossed the ocean to come to America, and after struggling for several years, I opened my own business. I had my own car and my own house. I was living the blessed life that I had dreamed about. Every day I would eat, drink and pursue pleasures until I was full and my heart was content. I thought that it was only by living in this way that life had any meaning, and that is until I received the work of Almighty God in the last days. Only after experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God did I become aware of what a truly significant life is, and then I set out walking down the bright path of life.

The Chinese Communist Party Uses “Cult” as a Pretext to Persecute Religious Beliefs | What’s a Cult?—The Church of Almighty God

    Since the Chinese Communist Party took power, it has been frantically suppressing religious beliefs. The Chinese Communist Party's religious policy and China's human rights conditions have been roundly denounced by democratic countries and international human rights organizations. China's definition of "cult" and its use of cult as a pretext to attack religious beliefs have particularly drawn serious doubts and criticisms of the international community. The guests in this episode are Professor Massimo Introvigne, founder and director of the Center for Studies on New Religions in Italy and Professor Holly Folk from the University of Western Washington of the United States.They have an in-depth discussion and exchange of views on the CCP's definition of "cult" and on the issue of the CCP's condemnation of The Church of Almighty God under the pretext of cult. So, how do the professors look at the CCP's use of cult as a pretext to suppress and persecute religious beliefs? Please have a look!

God’s Word Created Miracles of Life—The Church of Almighty God

God’s Word Created Miracles of Life

Yang Li Jiangxi Province

    When I was a child, my mother died. I shouldered the family burden at a young age. After getting married, I was even more loaded down with the burden of life. Having fully tasted the hardship and misery of life, I gradually became depressed and silent and fiddled my life away day by day. In 2002, when the brothers and sisters preached Almighty God’s end-time work to me, I accepted it readily and also brought my husband and children before Almighty God. From then on, the brothers and sisters often came to my home to have meetings. We fellowshipped about God’s word and sang hymns and danced to praise God together. I felt great enjoyment in my heart and no longer felt distressed or worried. My children said that I was getting younger and younger and more and more cheerful. My family often read God’s word together. From God’s word, we understood many truths and also knew that God’s eager intention is to save man. To repay God’s love and bring those who had been afflicted by satan like me before God earlier to be saved, I went out to preach the gospel. Unexpectedly, I suffered the CCP government’s cruel persecution because of that….

God’s Love Is Most Real—The Church of Almighty God

God’s Love Is Most Real

Wenzhong, Beijing

August 11, 2012

God’s Love Is Most Real

    On the night of July 21, 2012, we had a huge flood here, which seldom happens. I would like to tell everyone who thirsts for God what I actually experienced and saw then.

Breaking Through Satan’s Tight Encirclement (Part 1)—The Church of Almighty God

Breaking Through Satan’s Tight Encirclement (Part 1)

Zhao Gang

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    It was bitterly cold this past November in Northeast China, none of the snow that fell to the ground melted away, and many people who walked outside were so cold that they stuffed their hands into their armpits and walked along cautiously, bodies bent over. The other day in the early morning the winds were blowing from the northwest, when I, my brother-in-law and his wife and about a dozen brothers and sisters were sitting in my home on the warm kang (a heatable brick bed). Everyone had a copy of the Bible beside them and in their hands everyone was holding a copy of the book Judgment Begins With the House of God. Two sisters from The Church of Almighty God were fellowshiping on the truth concerning God’s three stages of work. The two sisters were drawing pictures of the three stages of work as they fellowshiped: “God’s work for the salvation of mankind can be divided into three stages, from the Age of Law to the Age of Grace and then to the Age of Kingdom. Each stage of work is newer and more improved and also more profound than the previous stage. The work done in the last days is the final stage of work, in which God expresses words to judge and cleanse man….” We nodded our heads as we listened, and our minds felt especially clear: Who would’ve thought that God’s management plan for the salvation of mankind would have so many mysteries! Besides God Himself, who else could speak of the mysteries of these three stages of God’s work so clearly? This truly is the work of God! We fellowshiped into the evening of the following day, and our whole group expressed a willingness to seek out and look into Almighty God’s work of the last days.

Almighty God Conquered Me, a Stubborn Person Who Resisted God

The Almighty God Conquered Me, a Stubborn Person Who Resisted God

Li Wenming

Mulan County, Heilongjiang Province

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    I am Li Wenming, formerly a leading area co-worker of the Three Grades of Servants Church. In 1991, I was called and turned to the Lord. After that, inspired by the Lord’s love, I pursued very hard. In less than one year, I became a preacher and shepherded some nearby churches, whose members totaled over two hundred. At that time, my faith and love were especially great, and I had the working of the Holy Spirit when I preached. Whether it was in spring, summer, autumn, or winter, and whether it was windy or rainy, I did not stop going to the churches to support the brothers and sisters. I considered doing so as suffering for the Lord, so I believed that I would surely receive a reward from the Lord and be taken to heaven by the Lord when he came in the future. However, I had never thought that when the Lord really came to “take me,” I, ignorant and blind, failed to know God and completely shut him out. And I even exerted myself to the utmost to resist and condemn the only true Almighty God. My deeds brought me lasting remorse and nothing could make up for them.

Almighty God’s Word Has Conquered the Arrogant Me

Almighty God’s Word Has Conquered the Arrogant Me

Zhao Kun

Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province

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    I was born into a Christian family. I’m 50 years old. Since the 1970s, I had begun to serve God fervently. At that time, there weren’t many believers, so I became a leader in my twenties. I had joined several denominations, and in the end, I joined the “Shouters.” I thought that the messages of Witness Lee were the highest and best, and no one else could compare with him in the religious world. I treated his spiritual books as treasures. Whenever I got those books, I was very proud as no one else around me had them. Because I had some biblical knowledge, others all spoke highly of my preachings. Everyone said that I had love for the Lord and was a good “shepherd.” I thought that I would certainly be an elder in the “Shouters,” and would certainly be raptured in the future. I spent more than thirty years in a life of “enjoying the respect and support of others” and became more and more arrogant. I especially looked down upon people of other denominations and didn’t even want to talk to them. I always thought, “What do they know? They have nothing but the Bible. Can they unlock it by their mind? They are all ignorant peasants.”

God’s Words Released My Heart Bound by Rumors—The Church of Almighty God

God’s Words Released My Heart Bound by Rumors

Liao Zhiming

Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province

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    I, a once junior leader of the “Hua Xuehe sect,” was a son of disobedience who resisted God. If Almighty God hadn’t forgiven me, I would have long died somewhere. Today, when I recall the past, it is still as fresh as ever in my memory…

The Chastisement and Judgment of Almighty God Awakened Me

The Chastisement and Judgment of Almighty God Awakened Me

Liang Ping

Huainan City, Anhui Province

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    “When the waters swallow men whole, God saves them from the stagnant waters…. When men disobey God, God causes them to know Him in their disobedience. … How many times have people seen God’s hands and seen God’s kind countenance and smiling face; and how many times have they seen God’s majesty, seen God’s, God’s wrath. Though humanity has never known God, God does not seize upon their weakness to ‘make unnecessary trouble.’ Experiencing humanity’s hardships, God thus sympathizes with man’s weakness. It is only in response to men’s disobedience, their ingratitude, that God metes out chastisements in varying degrees. Rather than putting humans to death, God allows them to repent and make a fresh start; when men suffer famine, God wrests them from death.” Whenever I hear this hymn about God’s love, I cannot help remembering my yesterday, and my heart swells with gratitude. Although those things happened three years ago, how can I forget that it was Almighty God who through His love saved me, a once disobedient and blind person?

The Confession of a Person Who Frenziedly Resisted Almighty God

The Confession of a Person Who Frenziedly Resisted Almighty God

Zhao Tingting

Xuchang City, Henan Province

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    A baseless rumor spread that “the people of the ‘Eastern Lightning’ cut off others’ ears or gouge out their eyes.” After hearing it, I, who was foolish and ignorant and without any discernment, began to act as a daring vanguard of resisting God with the Bible in my hand. However, in the years of competing with the “Eastern Lightning,” I not only didn’t hinder the surging waves of Almighty God’s work from advancing, but I exposed my ugly face in God’s light thoroughly and suffered punishment from God. Recalling the past events, I’m really extremely ashamed.