Mother Jerusalem Cult

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

The Local Cult Alert and the World Mission Society Church of God

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. Mike Abendroth is here, solo today on this Thursday, Thursday to you, actually Friday to me, just before I�m getting ready to go to Europe, and of course the hurricane is on its way up, and so then you can�t fly out because of the hurricane.

I think it�s going to miss us, so we might be all right, but that�s just the way things go. I�m not sovereign, so if I was sovereign, I wouldn�t clear my throat in the middle of the radio broadcast here on national radio.

Well, not quite, but I like to think if I do the Todd Friel show, Ritchie Radio, that it�s nationwide. Yeah, I just did a nationwide show, allegedly. I have to give away free books to get listeners. What�s the difference between that and saying that if you bring visitors to church on Sunday, we�ll give you five bucks, or underneath the seat of one of the pew chairs, which is an interesting concept in and of itself, pew chairs.

Bad marketing, don�t you think? Oh, I sell pew chairs. Mm, nice. And well, that reminds me of the story when I first became a pastor and I got the mail to the church, and of course we�re just out here in the middle of the country, a town of West Boylston, maybe 5 ,500 people or something like that.

I have no stop signs or stop lights to get from my house to the church, which is two towns away. So I leave Lancaster, Mass., Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancaster, not PA, but MA, and then I drive through Clinton, just a portion of it.

I drive through Sterling, just a portion of it, into West Boylston where the church is and the studios of No Compromise Radio, of course, Deluxe Studios. We have people just stop by just to see the studios.

So I drive from one town through two towns to get to the next town. I think that�s four towns if I count them right. Lancaster, Clinton, Sterling, which is home of Mary Had a Little Lamb, and West Boylston.

And I don�t have a stop sign, nor do I have a stop light to get there. So of course my pride when people are talking about, �Well, how many people are at your church Well, how many stop lights do I have to use to get to the church?

And if the answer is zero, how many stop signs? If the answer is zero, how many yield signs? If the answer is zero, when you have to teach your 16-year-old son to drive and you say, �All right, now when we come up to these intersections and there�s no nothings, no signs, signs, signs everywhere, signs, blocking up the scenery, breaking my back, whatever the song�s called, then just stop anyway.

So, you know, that�s the safe thing to do at the beginning. I mean, when you get older, run them, look and run. Then you know this is a small podunk little place. It�s a suburb of Worcester. I think there�s a couple hundred thousand people in the area, but we�re kind of a country suburb out in the woods and I don�t know.

So how did I get on that subject? Well, I have no idea. I absolutely have no idea, except we are here at the downtown studios of the mega metropolis, huge radio station, no-compromise radio. I did get an email from my friend here at the church, Ezra, and he said that his wife has been approached twice now in the past six months or so, both in retail shopping settings in Milford and Marlboro by different pairs of individuals claiming to be students doing research from the Church of God, starting out conversations by asking my wife if she was familiar with.

So let�s stop there. If you want to do a little survey, by the way, that�s kind of a cheesy way to do it. �Hi, we�re taking a survey of what people believe in God. One, do you get to heaven by good works

I guess you could do it, but it�s pretty cheesy. Why don�t you just reveal the fact that you�re using the survey so that at the end you can talk to them about who really God is. It�s kind of similar to the youth group.

We have free pizza and donuts and Rocky Horror Picture Show movies, and then we�re going to slip them a Mickey of the gospel at the very end. Of course, it�s a Mickey gospel because it�s not the real gospel.

So why don�t you just say, �We have a youth group. Yeah, there�s some pizza there. Yeah, there�s some fun games they play. Yeah, there�s some Bible teaching there. You know, just tell them, �Of course.

This is a church. We teach the Bible. Why are we ashamed of that Well, what do you do if you�re doing a survey at these different malls? Well, do you know, are you familiar with the feminine image of God?

Wow. I guess this works hat in hand. Hand in hat? Don�t ever put your hand in the hat that we pass for the offering because then that would be the sleight of hand. Familiar with the feminine image of God?

See, I haven�t heard about this. Probably way the master people and Tony Miano and wretched guys, they probably all have heard of this. I just am slowing the uptake. They say they are Christians who have opened a new non-denominational church location locally and are recruiting visitors.

Tonight we did some research. They are a cult from South Korea. Oh, who would have guessed? Who would have guessed that? Their full name is World Mission Society Church of God, English .WATV .org, English .WATV .org.

They will not let on virtually at all that they are a cult. They won�t mention any of their unorthodoxies like they will use the word Christ, but this is in reference to both Jesus of Nazareth and also a guy named Ahn Sang Hong.

Now, listen, I don�t care what your nationality is. I don�t care what your ethnic background is. I don�t care how much pigment you have in your face or lack thereof. I don�t care what your forehead is like or your ears or your nose or your eyes or your neck.

I don�t really care. God made you in his likeness and in his image. And thankfully, as a Christian, with all honesty, I can say I�m not prejudiced. I�m not disobeying the commands of partiality based on what someone looks like.

I could care less. I have four children. If they come home and say, �I�ve met so-and-so, and they don�t look like we look like. My wife is English by her ancestry and Scottish, so that makes the kids one quarter Scot, one quarter English, because my wife is half of each of those, and I am half German and a quarter Swedish and a quarter Danish.

So that makes my kids one half, wait, that makes my kids one quarter Scottish, that�s the one that wins, right? We have scotophilia around here in terms of theological preferences, one quarter Scottish, one quarter English, one quarter German, one eighth Swedish, and one eighth Danish.

Now, if they come home and they say they�ve met someone from Sri Lanka, they�ve met someone from, they�ve met a Maori from New Zealand, they have met somebody from Chile, they have met somebody from Morocco, they have met somebody from Paris, well, I don�t think I go for that one.

Just kidding. I don�t care. We have a mediator between man and God, and it�s not the Jew Christ Jesus, although he was a Jew, he was a man, the man Christ Jesus. Adam, a man, failed miserably when he was put on probation in the garden, call it covenant of works if you like, call it a probationary period, call it Adam the public person, Adam the public man, all of us hanging on Adam�s girdle, as Thomas Goodwin would say, whatever terminology you would like to use, Adam was our federal head, and Adam sinned, and we got credit for it.

Don�t be like Ebenezer Gay, who was a pastor for 69 years in Massachusetts. I don�t mean he was 69 years old. For 69 years he pastored in Massachusetts, started off as a Calvinist, started off as a Puritan, loved those things, but could not say, �I give to some of the great truths like federal headship, and he ended his life as a Unitarian.

He was the first Unitarian pastor, Ebenezer Gay, and so I don�t want to do that. So when you think of Adam sinning, there had to be the last Adam. There had to be the one who also could determine the fate of all those who were in him, all of us in Adam, everybody who was ever born except for Jesus Christ, including Mary by the way, and in Christ, all of those who by the grace of God have repented of their sins and looked to the substitutionary and representative work of Jesus Christ, the risen Savior.

So we�ve got to have the first, since the first man sinned, then there has to be a man who undoes that, undoes it, renews it, flotsam and jetsam, etc. So here�s my point. My point is this, my point is I have no idea what I�m talking about.

Oh, I�m not a racist. When anybody has to tell you that, they probably are. I�m not prejudiced, they probably are. I don�t discriminate, I probably do. Oh, I have lots of sins, believe me, but honestly I don�t have this particular sin.

So if my kids come home and they say, �We�re white and we want to marry a black guy. My daughters say that. If my son says, �He won�t say he�s white, but since he is white and he wants to marry an Indian.

You know what? I don�t care. I don�t care. Puerto Rican, Mexican, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, I don�t care. But I do care if one, they�re the opposite sex, two, they�ve always been the opposite sex, three, they�re regenerate, four, they�re Calvinist.

I do care. Those are four non-negotiables before I�ll do the wedding. Now everybody learns and grows and they�re not all Calvinistic to start, but I�m pretty much holding the keys to the kingdom with my three daughters especially because they�ve got to go through me to get to the girls and I�m holding the keys to the kingdom because my son�s probably going to want me to do the officiating at his wedding.

So there you go. So see, I got it. I got it covered. So I do not care about skin color, but I do care about those four things that I�ve told you. So when I say they worship a guy named Jesus and they refer to Jesus of Nazareth and also, once you have a cult that says and also, then you�re in trouble.

Scripture and also tradition, scripture and also magisterium, scripture and also doctrines and covenants, scriptures and also Book of Mormon, scriptures and also the Koran, scriptures and also, you know, you�re in trouble.

Similarly, Jesus Christ of Nazareth the Savior and also Jesus Christ the Savior and also Jesus Christ the Savior and also, what is this guy�s name? Well this guy�s name is Ahn Sang Gong. Oh, he�s now recently deceased, 1985, who they believe to have been the second coming of Christ.

Hmm, that whole �every eye will see him� kind of bit, �in the clouds, behold, I�m coming, my rewards with me. I think they kind of missed that, didn�t they? Let�s just see what the Book of Revelation says about that very thing because I would be interested to know about Ahn Sang Gong.

Now maybe that�s, you know, like Jesus is to Jesus, Ahn Sang Gong is to Jesus. Maybe that�s true. I don�t know. I�m willing to learn. The Bible does say, let�s just see if I can find this verse, I don�t know if I can or not.

No, I can�t get it off the top of my head. I�m here about, I�m looking at the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and is to come. That�s not the part that I�m looking for. I�m thinking it�s rather in Revelation chapter 22.

�Behold, I am coming soon. Okay, I�m getting closer, aren�t I? Don�t seal up the words of the book. Oh brother, I should do this show with a little more planning, don�t you think? He who testifies to these things says, �Surely I am coming soon, Amen.

Come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Well, that�s not the one I was looking for, but that�s okay. Ahn Sang Gong, apparently his wife, Ahn Sang Gong�s wife, is their, quote, �Mother Jerusalem.

Hmm. Now I do like Peter Tosh�s Mama Africa, but I think that�s different, don�t you? Who I think, or rather I think that they think, says Ezra, which I don�t think, is a person of the second image of God, the first image being more clearly revealed in Scripture.

They flip through Scripture and are pretty well schooled in the relative context of many passages they craftfully rip out of context. Don�t you like people like this in your church body? Below is a link to a description written by an apparent Christian of a brief exchange he had with a similar cult missionary, so you get a little more insight, http://ionapologetics .com.

So then you can type in World Mission Society Church of God Cult. I�m writing to you, Pastor, for two reasons. One, forward to congregation so if any members are encountered by them, they should not entertain the researcher�s line of questions, conversations.

You can tell Ezra�s a doctor. They should be aware that they are in fact a cult and the biblical vocabulary they use often has different definitions compared to the true meanings of the words. So, one should either get out of the conversation to avoid confusion and frustration or resolve to go at them with the full metal jacket of the true gospel message.

Oh, see, don�t you like that? Now, if truth be told, I�ve shot some rifles with Mr. Ezra. So, when you�re named Ezra and your kid�s name is Zeke, I think that�s pretty cool. And he said the only instrument through which they can escape the eternal torments of hell.

And number two, the second reason I�m writing to you is so that perhaps you can use it for NOCO material. How do you like that, Ezra? Uh-huh, Ezra. So, local cult alert. When you ever get that in an email, a no-compromise radio, local cult alert, then you kind of figured you probably should do a show on that.

The Gospel, the Finished Work of Christ, and the Power to Evangelize

So, today, my name is Mike Abendroth. We were going to do Ephesians, but I didn�t have time because that was a 15-minute local cult alert. Local cult alert. Now, just try saying that faster. That is very difficult.

So, what am I going to do now? Well, I just did pick up the message, paraphrase, New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, Eugene Peterson, NABDA Press. And I just opened it up to the very back. And you know, in the back of this particular book, it isn�t Revelation 22.

It is Proverbs 31. Oh, that�s because they put in the Psalms and Proverbs. Okay, that�s not bad. Here�s the last verse about the Proverbs 31 woman. �Give her everything she deserves. Festoon her life with praises.

Wow. Festoon. I did not know that the English word festoon was in the Bible. See, these things they don�t tell you at seminary. I wish they would tell you. What else does it say? Well, I was just reading Revelation, so let�s see what this says.

Revelation 22. �I give fair warning to all who hear the words of the prophecy of this book. If you add to the words of this prophecy, God will add to your life the disasters written in this book. If you subtract from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will subtract your part from the tree of life and the holy city that are written in this book.

He who testifies to all these things says it again. I�m on my way. I�ll be there soon. See what I have to deal with? I thought this was going to start off as a positive encouraging Caleb Thursday because of Ephesians, and then I�m relegated to I�m on my way.

Catch you later, alligator. That�s the new one. I think it�s been up. I think it�s been revised. The message et. If we�ve got a mother Jerusalem, we should have to have a message et. The message et says, what did I just say again?

Catch you later, alligator. Yes. Gump. Oh, I can�t believe it. What else is happening? Well, I do want to say that we�ve got the Greece trip. We�d love to have you go. So far I think, all right, let�s just talk shop for a second.

All right. We�ve got a few people from No Compromise Radio who have written in and they�ve wanted their brochure. And so I�ll know soon how many people are going because you have to send in your $300 deposit to Pilgrim Travel.

If you want a registration form and a brochure, of course, write info at nocompromiseradio .com. Well, and there�s a website too. I just can�t remember. I think a few people have said, oh, we�d love to go but we can�t.

We�re thinking about it. But here�s my prediction. Are you ready for my prediction? My prediction is the same amount of people that went with us to Israel will go with us to Greece. I pray thee. So we had a good crowd.

I think we had 22 that went with us to Israel and, of course, Omaha Bible Church�s pastor, Pastor Pat Ebenrod. You should go to omahabiblechurch .org and listen to some of Pat�s, Pastor Pat�s provocative preaching.

I�m going to have Pat on again. If you�ve got a question you want me to ask Pat Ebenrod, then write me at info at nocompromiseradio .com and I�ll ask him the question, if I like the question. Pastor Pat�s provocative preaching, omahabiblechurch .org.

He�s preaching through Luke, and I want to do Luke in a couple of years. So what�s he doing? He�s beating me to the punch. Pastor Pat Ebenrod�s provocative preaching also pushes pedals on his Peugeot.

He�s got a new bicycle too, but he didn�t have a Peugeot. I think he�s got a German brand named Giant. Okay, so back to Pastor Pat and back to Israel and back to Greece. Boy, I�m glad we made it there.

We didn�t have anybody show up besides that. I think we had a bus of 40-something. So we�d love to have you come. It�d be a good way to hang out. I always get emails from No Compromise listeners, �Hey, why don�t you move out here and plant a church

And my response now is always the same, �Why don�t you move here We�ve had about eight key families leave in the last 18 months, and we need to have some makeup for that. So come on. It�s hard to preach to a half-baked congregation.

Half-full, I meant. Half-full, I meant. I�m sorry. Now, I read this the other day, but it�s so impactful that I thought I would try to read it again. Who knows when I read it last time? I�m not exactly sure.

The War Cry of Our Age and the Happy Exchange

�The war cry of our age says Walter Sundberg, �says psychologist Bernie Zeldergeld. I deserve love. I deserve to be trusted. I deserve freedom. I deserve friendship. I deserve respect. I deserve sexual pleasure.

I deserve happiness. So Sundberg�s quoting Zeldergeld. �This war cry is the motive force of much of what is taught in mainline church about personal ethics, pastoral care, and even the gospel itself.

Many would like to make Luther the precursor of the modern liberator who teaches a gospel of self-fulfillment, in which the law becomes that which restricts us and the gospel that which releases us from any encumbrance, who binds the conscience not to Scripture but to oneself, who endorses, as it were, a new type of happy exchange.

Not that between the sins of believers and the innocence of Christ, as Luther describes it, and the freedom of the Christian, but rather that between the ego and the id. So, this is a quote that Carl Truman sent, that Walter Sundberg quoted Bernie Zelderbelg, Zilbergelb, and then made some comments.

I keep this on my desk here in the No Compromise Studios, the deluxe swanky studios here, because it is so true. We have the fortunate exchange, the happy exchange. We get Christ's righteousness. He got our sin, and he bore our sins on his body, on the tree.

He cried out, among other things, �It is finished. And then he gave up his spirit, and he made redemption. He justified at the cross. God confirmed that work. God affirmed that work. God vindicated that work by raising him from the dead the third day.

So, now the happy exchange is, there are things that bind us, and we need to have a release from that bondage. Now, if what binds us is sin, Satan, self, the world, et cetera, then the gospel is a great liberator from that and makes redemption possible through, makes redemption accomplished.

I don't like the impossible thing, but see how it's just, Kim Possible is right in my mind. So, once it gets turned to self-fulfillment, I deserve all these things. See how hard it becomes to preach the gospel?

People are so concerned about themselves. This is a great, quote, great war cry of our age, and we have to evangelize in the middle of that. And so, what do you do if you have an unbelieving friend that's smarter than you are, that's, they know comparative religions more than you do?

What if they know the Bible better than you do? What if they know doctrine better than you do? How do you evangelize an unbeliever who grew up in the church and they can quote Greek verses to you? They can quote Awana verses to you.

What do you do? But see, here's the great thing. The gospel's got the power. God, through the work of the Spirit of God, attending to the words of the gospel, faint though they may be, frail though they may be, still words of good news about what Jesus has accomplished, his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his appearances, his soon return.

When you talk about this great Savior and then you say the response to that is you must believe, you must repent, you must put down your weapons of unbelief and raise the white flag of faith, then God, through that, at his good pleasure, saves.

So here's the good news. You can meet people who are smarter than you and evangelize. Matter of fact, tomorrow I'm going to go to a Boston College game with a friend, a few friends. I don't know who to root for because it's Boston College versus Maryland, and so do you root for Maryland or do you root for the Catholic Boston College?

See, that's a conundrum for me. But this guy I'm going to preach to, and he knows I'm going to preach to him, and he asked me questions. He's smarter than I am. What do I do? It's the gospel. It's the gospel.

It's the gospel. The gospel is the power of God's salvation for all who believe, the Jew first and then the Greek. My name is Mike Abendroth. No Compromise Radio. When you meet a cult, tell them the good news.

When you meet a cult person, tell them about the finished work of Jesus Christ.

God bless you. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.