Dear Friends,
I have previously written about the Chinese cult Eastern lightning, but the struggle between biblical Christianity and this cult has intensified in Anhui Province and Anqing City. They believe that Jesus has returned – as a woman – who is now setting up the Kingdom in Henan Province, a neighboring province to where I teach. Their beliefs are taken from her distortions of the biblical book of Revelation, which she dictated to some of her followers who published it under the title Footprints of the Lamb.
As with many cults, the followers of Eastern Lightning are very aggressive in their efforts to win converts. I was told that they have probably knocked on every door in this city of one million people. And they do win converts – one house church of 700 people in an Anqing suburb recently converted en masse.
Part of the incentive for outreach is that this cult pays its followers for each person they bring in, like a bounty per head. As outrageous as that sounds to us, it’s very appealing to poor, ignorant, superstitious people. They also spread their false teaching by making it available on MP3, and giving away devices so people have access to it.
Even though Eastern Lightning has existed for only about 10 years, it has spread to other countries, mostly in east Asia. But accounts indicate that this spiritual cancer has appeared in the Chinese communities of America’s West Coast cities.
Not only is this cult spiritually dangerous as a satanic deception, but it’s physically dangerous as it kidnaps pastors, tortures them, and sends them back to their churches to lead the whole congregation away from true Christianity and into their cult. Some people (mistakenly) believe they can curse people, even causing their deaths. To say this spiritual battle is intense is a vast understatement.
When you and I hear these kinds of reports, we think, “How can people possibly believe such nonsense?” The basic answer is that the majority of Christians in China have so little biblical/theological knowledge, that they just don’t know any better. They don’t have trained pastors to teach them the Bible or to warn them against such lies from Satan.
One nearby county has 50 churches of 50-80 people each, but only two pastors, neither of whom are trained. Some of my current students are from those churches, preparing to be able to teach the Bible to their people. The need for training pastors and church leaders is obvious. Please pray for us and others who are doing what we can by teaching God’s Word to counter Satan’s efforts in China. Thank you for your partnership in this critical ministry.
In His Service & Yours,
Rick
http://parkerbiblechurch.org/?s=Rick+Cornish
