Cultish: Shincheonji - Infiltrating the New Heaven New Earth Cult, pt.2
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- Опубліковано 10 жов 2024
- Cultish UA-cam Channel: @TheCultishShow
Join us this week as we continue our investigation of Shincheonji - an aggressive Korean cult that is infiltrating churches and is targeting Christians using lies and deceptive practices in order to recruit new members. Our guests this episode, Steve and Chris, are both passionate about sounding the alarm about this dangerous cult.
Steve brings decades of experience in counter-cult studies and apologetics and has personally infiltrated the Shincheonji cult, while Chris is a former registered member of Shincheonji who attended their church services, used to recruit for them, and who knows this group from the inside.
These episodes not only deal with explaining the history and beliefs of Shincheonji, but also offer a solid Christian response and warning about this deceptive group. These episodes are also important because they not only discuss this group, but we also do a fascinating deep dive into the behavior and practices utilized by cults in general.
Be sure to like, share, and comment on this video.
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They Contacted my church and regretted it. We preach truth here and equip our members. I spent an hour evangelizing to the lower member who left wondering...what do I actually believe.
Very informative! Thank you very much for this eye opening message and warning to a lot of other people.
Beginning of this year when i just had decided to go off from social media, before deactivating & deleting my instagram, I came across a dm that said hey, would you like to join our bible studies. I thought, okay let me check this out since i have been wanting to commit to reading more of God's Word and have a community of people supporting me into having a daily habit or commited to reading His word, long story short, this past seven months ive been joining a bible study thats based here in California, most of the "teachers" ive seen are from SF Bay area. Every thing being mentioned here is the exact same teaching as the church based in Korea, dont even know how to spell it 😅... so i thought to check out the teachings from that Korean "church" a few weeks back to check it out, and i was happy thinking i could be ahead with my lessons in this "bible study" that way when they teach about parables and ill be able to understand better when they have a lesson, and i kept joining tjis thursday anx Saturday bible study at 6pm, i tried my best to always be able to attend, and tried being commited to this, turns out a few weeks back (IM JUST SO GRATEFUL THIS VIDEO CAME OUT just when i had prayed for peace and revelation of whether or not this is the truth or not, i became anxious, started praying and just crying out to God and asking for peace, if you dont have peace over a lesson or teachings, be sure to seek guidance from God, confusion is from the enemy not from God) anyways back to them talking about the parables, they emphasized a lot on parables. the scary part is they use Bible scriptures, which makes it appears to be real but the more they kept questioning when i was going to leave the church i attend, that made me reach out to my closest friends to ask them about this situation and for them to pray for me and give me advice. Thankfully all three did. Which made me question a lot why they wanted people to leave their churches and it got me thinking. If they say they're so called teaching is the only one that's true, wouldnt that make them have pride, and we know who the father of lies and pride was in the Bible. I also did more research about this church, and came across videos like this. Also another suspicious thing to look out for is, when you ask them what their organization or church is they're very closed off about it, and i found out for myself and it does relate to some of the churches mentioned here in this video.
I came to the conclusion to leave that "Bible study" that ive attended without explaing to them, i have found more peace in that.
My advice is to continually go to God and prayerfully ask God for discernment, the times are getting tough to discern between God's Word which is TRUTH and words being indoctrinated by men, which they focus on so much, yet they're the one adding and subtracting to the Word. God is not a man that He would lie, if He says it, He sticks with it, if men changes their teachings and keep adding or taking away from it, then we need to be cautious and conclude that it's a red flag, because youre not sticking to what you said would happen.
I pray that the love of Christ will always be with you, reveal His true words and points out things that are not from Him, if youve been part of it or feel guilty, know that God loves you, and He's protecting you from that!
Also amen to Romans 8:28 God works all things for the good of those that love Him, those who are called according to His plans and purpose.
I have learnt to be more vigilant, aware and cautious, but i have also taken the good from being able to read more of God's Word daily.
In Jesus Name, those who are blinded by this will see. Amen be blessed. 🤍
Wow, Praise God I left it four days ago after 7 months ago. I fell into this because I love Bible classes and to learn parables I went in through a person I met. I questioned a lot but was told to wait.. lo and behold, long story short after the test I was told not to say anything to no one or looked at anything on google.. I said not to worry but the moment I closed the zoom meeting and blocked everyone of the meeting. Thanks for the info..
Was contacted on Facebook. Studied with them since last summer. 😶😞New something wasnt right.thank God! Got out...this week. Before the first test.
Same here sister
God bless you and may He grant you wisdom. So good to hear you got out
May I ask how that came about?
I was contacted by someone in messenger and they’re wanting me to do an online meeting. I never agreed to it. They called me about 3 times through Facebook Messenger. I hung up every time.
This was fascinating and informative, thanks guys! You’re doing very important work 👏🏻
There is a sect of this cult downtown where I live. After almost 9 months with them, I left and I'm glad I did. They completely distorted the Bible.
THEY ARE NOT OPEN NOW. As of 2.28.24, they were NOT open with me as new heaven, new earth.
This evil cult tried to destroy my life. I’d like to know what I can do to stop them from hurting others? Can we get law enforcement involved?
In America definitely not, in other countries, maybe. But I would highly advise against trying. The best way to spread an idea is to persecute it, the best way to destroy an idea is to refute it. Spreading the gospel and biblical literacy is the best way to injure cults like this,. Even if you're only discipling people in small sphere of influence, every bit helps.
Thank you SO MUCH for this! Fantastic interview, so informative.
My brother in law and sister in law are involved in SCJ. They are a part of the Houston tribe and also the Austin group as well.
My husband and I are deeply concerned about his brother because he seems conflicted about being in SCJ, but we think his wife is his main tether to the cult.
Is there a way to get in touch with Steve and/or Chris? We want to loving reach my brother in law, but are uncertain of how to do this considering his wife has cut off our connection to him. Thank you again for this video!
😢
Houston branch is the same tribe my best friend and his wife are part of. I’ll be praying for your brother in-law and his wife to see the truth about this cult.
@becomingless9462 Thank you so much! I'll be in prayer for your friends, too. I'm amazed how many individuals are being approached by and falling into this cult. 😢
Deja vu!!! I wish I could talk to them! This is so similar to the cult I have been trying to get the Christian community to look into.
What's the name of the cult?
@@examiningthescj8176 Homestead Heritage
I have personal experience with this cold for the same reason one of the guests that. My ex dragged me into it. I never really took it that seriously, although I did well on all of the tests because I was genuinely just interested in this lunacy. Here are a few of my experiences:
1. All the instructors were called (first name) teacher. One of them was named Amy so her name was amy teacher.
2. Just like you guys said, everything meant something. The tree of Life, The leaf, the seed, the word, it all meant different things in different contexts.
3. They were (again, as you said) very weird about where Temple took place. I never made it to Temple, but my girlfriend did. I would drop her off and near where it was and one day we both got scolded by a teacher because they saw me. Their color was green.
4. One of the most outlandish things I remember learning is of martyr spirits. These are spirits that died for or in defense of God, and they told us that if we reached a certain level of righteousness we could take on and be possessed by these
Martyr spirits and I think through them we get eternal life.
5. They tried to "youth pastor" us a lot of the time, by which I mean they would have a split into teams and play Bible games. I remember one time we were supposed to split into teams and rewrite the lyrics of a song we knew to be about the Bible instead. Then there was the barbecue we went to where we played the Pearl game, they spread a bunch of tiny pearls on the ground and everybody tried to search individually and not a lot of them are found. Then they lined us up on one side and had us go in a straight line across the field and we found most of the pearls. They used that to teach us something about how if we work together we can find the pearls of wisdom or something like that.
We had the same instructor and I was brought in through a relationship except the man who brought me in became violent and scary when I wouldn’t conform and vandalized my property.
🤣 89
4. One of the most outlandish things I remember learning is of martyr spirits. These are spirits that died for or in defense of God, and they told us that if we reached a certain level of righteousness we could take on and be possessed by these
Martyr spirits and I think through them we get eternal life.
^^ Could you speak more on this one?
@@FreeFromHer I remember comparing it to Dragon Ball Z, going Super Saiyan. I didn't realize it at the time but I'm pretty sure they meant angels or archangels or something. They said that if we can channel these spirits we could take on their holy abilities and perform miracles. I heard that when you go to temple you learn that hee man lee or whatever the leaders name was is doing that but he's channeling God.
Good morning,
God bless you, continue to denounce. May all glory go to God.
where can we find the books besides Lee, which is in your hand the brother with glasses?! Is it inside that there are these inconsistencies of these pseudo prophecies? where do we find this “proof” that he said? in order to demonstrate that it is not accomplished?
pray for my brother please he was taken away.
If WMSCOG or any cult says Jesus lied in John 7:8-10.. all you have to have to refute that claim is 1. Read the context, 2. Read the verse from the King James Bible and that will destroy their argument that Jesus lied.
I've been studying since Jan '24. Not until 5 months later did they start mentioning who they really were. They do mention Jesus a lot. But also Lee man hee.
I'm still in it...I never felt so confused, but I know I don't want to follow them anymore. I got the red flags when they told me not to look them up, and they said I couldn't mingle with other ppl outside of study group and the uniform for service. Freaked me out. I have not been a service yet. I never mind donations or giving to a church, but 10% of my check every week is insane to me.
I love Jesus, and I have faith, but this is not what I was looking for.
Any advice ?
Hi, I was 7 months in and just got out. I know this advice may seem basic, but pray. When you read the bible, ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding. Pray, read your bible, fast; seek Him and you will find Him. I will pray for you 💕
There is a verse in the Bible that stuck with me since childhood, and ultimately is the verse that gave me the strength and awareness to leave these corrupt “Bible studies” after 4 exhausting long months. Read 1 Corinthians 14: 33 “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints”. The full sub chapter 26-40 will give you more insight. Praying for your strength to leave and be free 🙏🏽
The World Mission Society Church of God has very similar tactics and teachings well. You need to tithe, believe in a Korean man and woman as God, can't look them up online, all Christian churches are corrupted by the devil, must wear your best formal attire for service, they will say they are part of clubs on college campus or a theological school when it is completely made up, you are not allowed to read the founders original writings, need to have your name written in the physical book of life, only the Root of David can unseal the scroll and interpret the bible. The list goes on and on.
Can someone help me where I can find good bible study sites? - funny thing, I was with these guys for 5 months. And after watching this... I'm leaving this group (Shincheonji)
I'm afraid I don't know any bible study sites, though there are some awesome resources here on Apologia Radio, and through Mike Winger's youtube channel. Also sermons by Voddie Bauchum, Alistair Begg, Jeff Durban, and James White just to name a few.
If you can find a sound church, they will almost certainly have solid bible studies they put together.
"An Apologetic of Fellowship for Nimrods and Atheists" by Pastor Dr. G. H. L. Shuckrudy, MDiv. Howard University of Howard, Mississippi
I’d like a visual graph all the cults specific similarities. Does that exist? For example- different calendars or how the 144,000 is interpreted or the 12 tribe etc. and Especially the ones you have covered.
Chris also went on another podcast comparing shincheonji and the JWs, definitely go and check it out.
@Scrubology254
Both SCJ and the JW's believe that the Great Multitude in White will be saved, and both groups have intense inner competition with each other to get the prestigious slot of being one of the 144,000.
For the JW's, it will be becoming a Spirit body that will rule with Christ in Heaven, for SCJ, it is becoming a sealed Priest that will rule the world alongside their leader Lee Manhee.
ITS TERRIFYING
St. Thomas Aquinas defined "religion" as virtue under justice - it is the virtue by which we give God His due as creatures, worshipping and praising God who is our Creator. Unfortunately, religion is often twisted and distorted by demonic influences which often destroy and sour the virtue of religion in one's soul, so that even when a cult follower is freed, he or she may retain a sour and distorted taste of religion, as it had been poisoned and abused in their experience. Healing is needed in such souls to regroup and rediscover what the real purpose and virtue of religion is meant to be. This is what is largely behind this video's description of "needing a breather" after leaving a cult and before immediately jumping into something else. Some souls may be so wounded and poisoned that they may never be able to turn to true religion again. This is the real evil of the devil's work here in cults.
I feel like you're giving way too much importance on what a demon may do. Not enough emphasis on what fallen human nature desires and achieves on its own with its own wicked rebellion of the heart. It gives off the impression that "people are by nature basically good."
Also again with the Devil as you say making it that some of these people won't recover due to the damage done within a cult it seems like you're assuming that specific person was ever going to be a saved person. Which you couldn't know.
God is sovereign. He knows. We don't. Satan isn't the source of our daily fight against God. Our own nature and the curse we inherited makes that happen. Satan has been dethroned. The clown show you're witnessing is humanity.
@@robertknight3354 I speak from the experience of knowing some friends who left a cult and afterward were forever poisoned against religion, having been so abused psychologically. It didn't seem like a trivial matter watching them go through this. I did not add or subtract anything from it. I think demons allure folks to cults for this very reason. I'm not saying the folks lose control or get possessed, but the damage can go on for years, decades, or life. If you are saying that demons are not acting to tempt or hurt us, I think you are wrong. Their influence is possible, but only to the degree that God allows it, and not one step or one second more so. They are not all finally imprisoned until the final judgement. Their time is indeed limited, and they know it.
@@jtg3765 Your experience of SOMEBODY ELSE'S religious life is never ever ever going to include you having the ability to see their heart or to see God's unrevealed will in their life. I don't know how you can think you have this ability. It's possible they come away and are saved by the living God but it's also possible that this person was never going to be saved and all we can do is proclaim the truth to them AS COMMANDED. These guys, as much I love them are wrong if they're saying not to promote the gospel to a person at ANY time.
@@robertknight3354 I agree, and I'm not making the claims you're accusing me of. This is your baggage somehow, not mine. I see this person's pain and suffering and confusion as he has testified to me. I do believe that God can and is working secretly in this person's soul, bringing him along on a path which people don't see, for whom I always pray, too. I do not know, nor do you have the knowledge either, whether everybody always finds the way. Some make a deliberate choice in free will not to search.
One thing you got wrong is that they actually don’t evangelize to rehabs and people with mental issues that are going through a hard time. There’s members that are doctors lawyers etc…. You make them out to be as if they target weak people but that is not true.
how would yall recommend to study church history
Maybe start from the beginning. First the apostles, then their direct students, then so forth and to bigger folk?
Like just hit the monumental Christian figures and their writings. Augustine, Polycarp, Origen, Clemont, Thomas Aquinas.
Additionally, check out the didache, which was written in the 2nd century.
Aquinas (~7th century, Contemporary with Muhammad/Islam) and the didache actually tackle a lot of advice and discernment dealing with cults and gnostics.
Great talk Steve, ending was hysterical.
Wheelchairman shall return!
They are also using the SALT dating app, be careful.
Good info. Unfortunately I had to turn it off due to all the interruptions from guy with the ponytail. The guy is knowledgeable but constantly interrupts the young man on the left who was in the cult. Dude comes off as super controlling and borderline manic. Ugh…
John 8:58
There should be an episode on WMSCOG
There is!
Pastor Mike Winger did an episode with cultish on the WMSCOG, and he also has more material about the WMSCOG as well.
@@examiningthescj8176 had James white or Sam ever tried refuting WMSCOG? Or Dr brown
@@YordkarYordkar
No, not yet. James White did debate an Iglesia Ni Cristo member on the Trinity.
Why did the young man say, "We don't believe in the Trinity?" if he's out of SCJ? Did he mispeak?
I think he was speaking with his former opinions, he does believe in the Trinity from what I saw
He was referring to what he believed while he was still in SCJ. He left SCJ.
I was told that I would be able to do what ever I wanted with my Bible study to my face by a heartless evangelist! Liars liars liars about everything! How can you trust them! They will cross you than toss you like used chewing gum! I won’t even start on the monies that I was used for. They know Christians are generous so we are preyed on.
Cultish......Calvinism is Cultish. Ironic isn't it?
We are saved by Christ alone.
They sound like the Jehovah's Witnesses.
This all they bang on about. (and they even get that wrong like this cult)
Even the JWs made their own calendar back in Russells day
They teach they are the only true church (restoration theology)
They say that 144'000 are only Jehovah's Witnesses...
So many similarities - two cults in the same pod i guess.