[Moved-Comment]

This comment was originally posted by "Iamapartofthescog" on the article "It's not the devil… It's my baby" – A Former Member's Story on 10/26/11

Reading this, I'd like to take the time to say I'm sorry that you had an experience like that. All the people I see here online talking about wmscog are people who only studied with them for a week or a couple of months never have I've seen testimonies from someone who been there for more than a couple of years. Ive been a member for 2 1/2 years and counting. They never pressured me to get baptized or anything. Being 20 at the time I was born and raised catholic never ever opened the bible in church though I went every sunday. Which to me I taught the bible was just too much to follow by and it didn't matter to me to see what was in it for that matter. My whole family from my dads side to my mothers side are all supposedly "devoted" Catholics I say supposedly because many of them worship or go to Chruch they just say they are catholic and keep statues all over there house. Do the whole sign of the cross of the forehead which to me I didn't understand where they came up with that but I was told to believe that when u do it it is a sign saying father,son, holy spirit. Everything from kissing statues and kneeling down to them, calling the priest "Father", praying with the rosary. All that stuff I was told to do it as it is a holy ritual. All my life I was told to do that without even knowing why. As also for my friend was too, but later he became a member or wmscog and started to preach to me about the sabbath day. I was utterly shocked to even see him pull out the bible. Never in my life have I even looked into the bible and now I see my friend who I used to even go parties with is pulling out the bible?! And he even starting dressing differently no more street wear or anything that looked like a "thug". I was amazed and really was intrested in listening because he was so serious and earnest in telling me about the sabbath day. I on the other hand never knew about "Sabbath day" all I knew was Sunday worship. He showed me threw the bible that the day of worship since the creation of the world was on the 7th day. And yes I did know that I think everybody knows that even atheist.  (gen2:1-3) but further more he explained the importance of sabbath day thought the old and new testament. Also showed me throught the bible that 7th day is indeed Saturday. I understood right away it was very clear even though I attended Sunday service for 19 urs of my life. Then I went home taught about it and realized the whole world keeps Sunday?! So god is not going to punish the whole world after this I didn't want to study I persecuted him harshly you wouldn't even believe. Even tried to avoid him. But he still kept trying. And as I saw he was sincere again I took time to listen this time it was a more in depth study never had I ever taught or imagine I would learn such thing about our soul and where we came from. I always prAyed to God asking if there is a heaven and it's a joyful place where there is no sickness or pain or suffering just flying around being Angela and most importantly being with God then why am I here on this earth daily with so much sufferings depression worries and pain? Why can't u take me home already I want to be with u god and not here in this cold world. I prayed that everyday because as a teenager I had so many problems at school. But when he studied with me about where we came from why are we here and where we are going it all made sense and I felt bad for complaining. After that study I cried because it was a slap of my face knowing I was praying to God asking why me? Little did I know after that I finally came to have a study me and my sister. And as I studied more and more it all made sense I've studied for 3 months and not just once a week but nearly every day I came to study. Not because I was forced to or anything but because I was eagered to learn more and more. And the church wow was so different from my catholic church all my life I've been going to my catholic church and never have a talk to any of the members just saw them every Sunday but never knew their names or anything. But when I came to this church everything was different the vibe was so welcoming everyone was telling me God bless u and I'm like what are u talk to me? Because at my old church nobody paid anything attention to anybody but their own families just came for 30 min and left. But here they took the time to introduce themselves and ask for your name! I was so happy that I an know the people I go to church with. As my first visit I told my mom. I told her I went to a Christian bible study today  nd the peopl were so nice I know their names even have one of their numbers because they actually want to take the time to study the bible with me. My mom was happy but mad because it wasn't a "Catholic" church and yelled at me and oh my Dad wow he started yelling at me like crazy telling me ur raised catholic and you should remain catholic. He made me feel like studying the bible was wrong. My own father. But that didn't stop me I was on 20 yrs old I can decide for my self not to mention I asked a lot of questions about the rosary about why they worship statues and worship Mary and all that and he couldn't even answer me. So I took that and ran away from being catholic. And decided to study more at cog. After three months of learning so much I couldn't be more sure that this is the truth that it was 9pm and I still was at church still learning then I asked them if I could be baptize after learning and accepting Ahnsahnghong learning many prophecies I got baptized. The things that people say on here about Ahnsahnghong and Mother are all how shall I say,twisted. Studying for more than 2 1/2 years I can back up the truth to each and everyone of you guys false testimonies of what u herd or what u may perceive what u think we believe in.  But argueing will not accomplish anything what so ever. What I came here to say is I'm a member of wmscog and what people say about oh we can't spend time with our families or we are brain washed and we are forced to leave our lives to believe in a "man" and this "woman" but you know nothing in what we know. But just go about on what u perceive. The many who studied for just a couple weeks and fell aways because of people talking in their ears or even people bashing online saying run away. Then they feel like it was really a cult. Only one can judge for himself. My family thinks in a cult and I spend alot of my time with them and after I became a member my relationship became stronger with them and they see that because I was a horrible daughter always rebelling going out partyting disobeying not helping out at home answering back yelling..etc but after learning about the truth I totally changed. My parents see that. But still they are mad that I'm a Christine my whole family makes fun of me at family gatherings telling me I'm brain washed I'm crazy for falling for that. At first it hurt me so bad that I started to cry. But after studying more I realized that the disciples at the time of Jesus they too were presecute actually way harshly than us in our time. God said if the world hates you keep in mind that it hated me first. And after experiencing that from my own Family I knew that it is the truth Jesus and his disciples were treated was worse than us. I'm truly blessed. Now I once in a awhile go to family gatherings not because wmscog says no actually they encourage us to spend time with them so that we can glorify God and show our families we are love them and show them the truth through our actions. But I tend to only go to some family gatherings because sometimes it gets out of hand and my own family makes me feel so uncomfortable. I don't even speak anything about my beliefs yet they themselves bring it up the. Yell at me an make fun of me. And then you think and wonder why most of us don't go to most of the family gatherings? But I can only speak for myself and only myself. I learn something new everyday at cog the bible is so thick filled with many mysteries of God that only God can reveal why do you think Jesus spoke in parables? Because only a few can receive and understand them. Why do you think heaven is a narrow road? While hell is such a wide road? Because many people are submitted to their own thoughts. But only Gods ways can lead us to heaven not mans ways. Be careful who you follow I know for sure I follow true God. But do you? All this distorted falseness you have going on here makes my faith grow even stronger. And I say thank you. You are a gift from God and to the young lady who experienced a not so good experience I just wanna say sorry and that is truly not how church of god members act we do not make one feel terrible for missing a sabbath day. I used to miss half of the sabbaths but nobody yelled at me or made me feel bad instead they took the time to explain to me the meaning of sabbath and after that I understood and kept it fully.  We are told to cover brothers and sisters faults and share with them love. I hope that many people understand that the members how stay in cog verses the people who were in cog for just a little while and left have totally different understandings. And you should see it from that view and not fromw someone who just wants to see the negative and not what truly is there and that's Love.

[Hailey Stevens]

[Hailey Stevens]

Iamapartofthescog

All the people I see here online talking about wmscog are people who only studied with them for a week or a couple of months never have I've seen testimonies from someone who been there for more than a couple of years. Ive been a member for 2 1/2 years and counting. They never pressured me to get baptized or anything. 

 Hello Iamapartofthescog,

Did you read all of the former member testimony?  Not everyone studied with the wmscog for a short period of time like you said.  I personally know former members of the wmscog that prefer not to come forward with their stories because they just want to forget about their negative experiences with the group.  It seems that your experience has been different from what I have heard so far.  Also, I just spoke to someone the other day that told me that she was pressured to be baptized.  She was pressured so much that she was asked not to return because she wouldn't be baptized until she fully understood and believed the claims the wmscog was making in their Bible studies.  Do you agree with your church that she should have been turned away?  I have attended other churches and have never experienced that.

I was amazed and really was intrested in listening because he was so serious and earnest in telling me about the sabbath day. I on the other hand never knew about "Sabbath day" all I knew was Sunday worship. He showed me threw the bible that the day of worship since the creation of the world was on the 7th day. And yes I did know that I think everybody knows that even atheist.  (gen 2:1-3) but further more he explained the importance of sabbath day thought the old and new testament. Also showed me throught the bible that 7th day is indeed Saturday. I understood right away it was very clear even though I attended Sunday service for 19 urs of my life. Then I went home taught about it and realized the whole world keeps Sunday?! So god is not going to punish the whole world after this I didn't want to study I persecuted him harshly you wouldn't even believe.  

 One of the things that the wmscog claims is that "Constantine abolished the sabbath" and therefore he is the devil.  I am sure you have heard and believe this as well.  Have you checked the historical facts on that?  (Read here).  If the wmscog is going to observe the sabbath, then shouldn't they do it at the right time?  They don't according to Leviticus 23:32.  (Read more here).  They also make mistakes when calculating the feast dates.  (Read here).  If the wmscog was led by god, then why would these errors occur?  I am really interested in hearing what you have to say about this.

The things that people say on here about Ahnsahnghong and Mother are all how shall I say,twisted. Studying for more than 2 1/2 years I can back up the truth to each and everyone of you guys false testimonies of what u herd or what u may perceive what u think we believe in.

 How is the information on the site twisted?  Can you expand on this?  What evidence do you have to the contrary?  What "false testimonies" are you referring to? 

And as I saw he was sincere again I took time to listen this time it was a more in depth study never had I ever taught or imagine I would learn such thing about our soul and where we came from. I always prAyed to God asking if there is a heaven and it's a joyful place where there is no sickness or pain or suffering just flying around being Angela and most importantly being with God then why am I here on this earth daily with so much sufferings depression worries and pain? Why can't u take me home already I want to be with u god and not here in this cold world. I prayed that everyday because as a teenager I had so many problems at school. But when he studied with me about where we came from why are we here and where we are going it all made sense and I felt bad for complaining. After that study I cried because it was a slap of my face knowing I was praying to God asking why me?

 So it was the study on the "forgiveness of sins" that convinced you that the wmscog was the true church?  That really doesn't surprise me.  After seeing all of the ways that the verses in that study are twisted and taken out of context, I can only conclude that the purpose of that study is to make you feel guilty.  I mean they convince you that you tried to kill god.  What could be worse than that?  Once you are convinced that they are telling you the truth, you have basically confessed to a crime that you didn't commit.  After accepting this study as true, you are left to feel powerless.  If you have accepted this study as true, you may feel like your entire life has been some kind of a lie.  It seems like a well orchestrated plan to make you dependent on the organization.  But if you can refute the articles on this study found here, please do.  This topic is very involved and I just ask that you respond in a separate forum post so that we can keep track of the different topics.   

Also, since you were catholic before you probably have heard the wmscog claim that they are wrong about everything and even claim that the pope is the devil.  (Which pope, I'm not sure.)  Why then would the wmscog put a catholic song in their "new song" book?