False WMSCOG “Deceptive Recruitment” Claims

Recently, there have been a series of news outlets voicing the opinions of former members of the World Mission Society Church of God as if they were facts. They’ve put out false WMSCOG deceptive recruitment claims and labeled the Church a “cult.” Here’s what I mean:

The Bergen Record says:

“These ex-members — from New Jersey as well as other parts of the country — offered similar, independent accounts of being lured into the church, slowly at first, without being told all of its believes…”

“But former members say the church has a largely hidden dangerous side, recruiting young people at malls and on college campuses…”

People.com says:

“They’re opportunistic. They look to recruit people who’re going through a transition period in their lives or have some void to fill — and they will fill it.”

“They don’t tell you what they are all about upfront, because if they did, no one would join them,” Colon tells PEOPLE. “It’d be fine if they said, ‘There’s this lady we believe is God and we’ll convince you to give up your family and your money and your hobbies.’ If you still want to join after that, good for you. At least you’re making an informed decision.”

Instead, she says, “you’re spoon fed information when they feel you’re ready to hear it. If you ask questions, they just tell you to ‘Study more’ and that all of your questions will be answered if you keep studying. They dangle a carrot in front of you.”

And the article goes on to claim that the Church “dispatches” members “multiple times a week to malls and colleges for recruiting drives,” to recruit people who “appear wealthy,” “recently-returned army veterans who might be more psychologically vulnerable.”

These are pretty bold statements and are completely false. Michele Colon and her posse are making generalizations and simply making up lies about the Church of God.

Before I continue, I just want to make one thing clear. The first time I heard about the World Mission Society Church of God, I was told about God the Mother — before I even heard the name of the church. I was on a train and the gentleman who spoke to me simply wanted to share a few verses in the Bible about God the Mother. Don’t people do this all the time? Anyway, I was about to get off at my stop so he didn’t have much time to tell me more, although I was curious to know. He invited me to a Bible study and gave me his contact information and I got off the train. I was intrigued, but I never called.

The second time I heard about the WMSCOG was from my college friend — as I’ve written about in several other posts. We studied the Bible for hours and he taught me just about EVERYTHING he could think of that he had just learned at Church.

I came to the Church of God after making an informed decision and studying the Bible and doing my research about the church. I was not going through any traumatic experience and I was not looking to fill any void. I just wanted to know God and study the Bible. And the Church of God provided that for me.

By the way, Michele herself was not “deceptively recruited” either. She heard co-workers who attended the Church talking about it, and she invited herself. And a week later, she invited her then-boyfriend. So for her to make these claims as if she had been a victim of some scam is pretty bold.

But I will show you why they’re all lying. They say the Church of God doesn’t tell you upfront their beliefs. Here’s one website from the Church of God.

Photo Credit: www.english.watv.org

Photo Credit: www.english.watv.org

Here’s another website from the Church of God.

Photo Credit: www.wmschurchofgod.org

And what about this clip?

As you can see, the Church of God is very upfront about its beliefs.

As members of the Church of God, we like telling people about our beliefs. Whether we’re on campus at our school, walking down the street, at a supermarket, or in the mall, we want people to know about God the Mother in the Bible. We want people to know about the New Covenant Passover. And in passing, there’s no way to can explain the entire Bible and the history of Christianity. You cannot explain hundreds and thousands of prophecies in the Bible in just one 30-minute Bible study either. This takes months and even years to learn.

John 5:39 (NCV) You carefully study the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. They do in fact tell about me, but you refuse to come to me to have that life.

Jesus clearly told the disciples 2,000 years ago that in order to learn about the Savior, they had to study the Scriptures. I encourage you to read Luke 24 about Christ’s resurrection. The disciples who had walked with Christ for three years, who had learned from him, and who believed in Him, lost faith after His crucifixion and saw Jesus only as a prophet and not as their savior. So what did Jesus have to do?

Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

So it’s not easy to understand the Savior in the Bible. So how can people say the Church of God deceives people by not being upfront about our beliefs?

John 13:15 (NLT) I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done for you.

Jesus Christ did everything He did while on the earth to set an example for us to follow. As Christians, we should also do as He did. The Church of God keeps the Sabbath day just as Jesus did, the New Covenant Passover just as Jesus did, the feasts of God and everything else Jesus did, including preaching.

Jesus Christ clearly stated that He came to the earth to preach.

Mark 1:38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

And if people accuse the Church of God of “deceptively recruiting members,” they should say the same about Jesus. When Jesus chose His disciples, do you think He first taught them for a long time and told them they’d be persecuted and tortured and even killed for following Christ?

Matthew 9:9 (NLT) As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

John 1:43 (NLT) The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.”

When He called them, Jesus did not explain in detail what they were going to face.

This is how Apostle Paul describes His life after following Christ:

2 Corinthians 11:23 (NLT) I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

But this is the only thing Jesus Christ said to Apostle Paul when He called him:

Acts 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Did Apostle Paul ever blame Jesus of deceptive recruitment? Did the disciples ever say while preaching to people 2,000 years ago:

“Come to our Church. We believe that a Jewish carpenter in his 30’s, who is single, hands around prostitutes and tax collectors, speaks against the religious leaders, is to be crucified and come back to life, promises us life in another place if we eat his flesh and drink his blood, and claims to be the king of a kingdom we cannot see right now. We believe this man is God.”

If you have questions about the Church of God, ask. If you’re genuinely interested in studying the Bible, visit your nearest World Mission Society Church of God and study the Bible. I can assure that all of your questions will be answered.

One more thing…

In the Bergen Record article, they say:

Ramos said he had been instructed to bring new church members along slowly because you “don’t feed a baby solid food.” They would be taught early on that the church observes Passover and the day of rest is Saturday, he said, but it might take months to mention the Heavenly Mother. “When everything else made sense, that made sense, too,” said Ramos…

They decided to include this quote from Ramos to prove their point that the Church of God is “deceptive” and doesn’t tell people all its beliefs right away. But what they don’t tell you is this:

Hebrews 5:11 (NLT) There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Teaching the elementary truths first is a teaching in the Bible. How can you teach someone calculus if they can barely do long division? Likewise, how can you teach someone prophecies about God coming in the human form if they don’t even know the correct day of worship in the Bible?

The Church of God does not recruit and does not deceive newcomers. The beliefs of the Church of God are pretty out there — the website, videos, not to say that they’re talked about during services. It’s impossible to teach everything in the Bible in a five-minute conversation or even in a 30-minute Bible study.

This is a natural cycle of things — whether it’s the Bible, or college, or just about everything else in life. There is a succession of things. And things have to happen in a certain order. First you learn how to crawl, then you learn how to walk, then you learn how to run. Then you sprint. First you learn how to count, then you learn how to add and subtract, eventually you can learn algebra, geometry and calculus. First, you learn why the Bible is the word of God and is true, then you learn the basic teachings of God — the Sabbath, the Passover — then you can understand deeper prophecies about God coming in the human form and so on.

Please study the Bible correctly without twisting its meaning and trying to make controversy out of God’s laws for His people. If you do not agree with Christian beliefs, just let us practice our religion in peace.