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Continuing our discussion from part one, as I said, "Break the Spell" is a very powerful deception from beginning to end, and they are very good at it. The film's creators take their time and slowly build their case in a seemingly very logical fashion. In fact, they start off by finding common ground which is shared by many Chinese Christians, and no doubt by many other non-Christian Chinese citizens as well. That is, their deep hatred for the Chinese Communist Party. To a lesser degree, that same strategy will appeal to some non-Chinese citizens as well. In other words, the Church of Almighty God is spreading their deceptive web far beyond the shores of China, in the hope of acquiring new members.

But you see, my friends, as I said, those anti-CCP scenes near the very beginning of the movie are just the hook which the film's creators use to soften up their viewers, to cause them to lower their spiritual guard, and to make them more receptive to the deceptive doctrinal poison which fills the rest of the movie. And believe me when I say that there is a lot of it.

Thus, in the film's opening scenes, we are introduced to a small Chinese house church of Christian Believers who are growing fearful, because the Chinese authorities have begun arresting Christians. It is during this segment that they refer to the Chinese Communist Party as a demon, and they question how much longer they must continue to suffer before Jesus returns. By the way, this movie adopts a very Futurist perspective in regards to Bible prophecy. In other words, the belief of this house church, like many modern Christians, is that Christ's Return is a near-future event. However, this is NOT what Eastern Lightning believes, as is revealed later on in the movie.

That the movie's creators take this approach is yet another subtle hook to trap gullible Christians in their deceptive web, because they know that many Christians eagerly await the Return of Jesus Christ. It is right after this that the film's creators begin to sow the first seeds of doubt. This occurs when a few of the house church's members begin to wonder if perhaps they have misunderstood Bible prophecy, and perhaps that is why they have not yet seen Jesus return in the clouds of heaven.

With the trap set, the movie then reveals its solution to this Chinese house church's dilemma -- or reveals its first piece of poisonous doctrine -- with the very first mention of the Eastern Lightning cult, and the fact that the cult believes that Jesus Christ has ALREADY secretly returned to the Earth in human flesh, and has since been teaching those people who have recognized his voice.

Let me just mention here that the acting in this movie is quite wooden and mechanical. I doubt that any of the actors are professional actors, though I could be wrong. While the actors who portray the house church members are shown to be eager to discover the truth, and to hold to sound, Biblical doctrine, for me personally, they clearly represent typical, gullible, modern Christians who are very easy to deceive. But again, this is simply another part of the movie's deception, and an attempt by the Church of Almighty God to appear fair -- at least on the surface -- so that they can later use these house church members as vehicles to promote their wayward doctrines.

So, yes, at first we are given the clear impression that these house church members are strong, careful Christians who would not be deceived by false doctrines, and who, like the Bereans in Acts chapter 17, would compare and confirm all things with the Scriptures, as we can determine by the following set of verses:

"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few."


Thus, at first there are a few house church members who are opposed to Eastern Lightning, and who reject the suggestion that Jesus has already secretly returned. However, by this point in the movie, it is already becoming apparent -- at least to me -- where the movie is headed, and what its main goal is. So, not surprisingly -- and foolishly, I might add -- because of those house church members who have begun to wonder if their understanding of Bible prophecy and Christ's Return is correct, the group decides that it is only proper for their church to more closely examine Eastern Lightning and its teachings, before outright rejecting them. Big mistake!

Well before long, this house church has invited some members of Eastern Lightning to come and speak to them, in order to more fully explain their beliefs to the members of the house church, and also to confirm whether or not the beliefs held by the house church are correct. From this point forward in the movie, because we have already begun to realize that the film is a thinly-disguised propaganda piece, and because we already know what it's really trying to accomplish, the house church members become more gullible and more stupid by the minute. I mean, they are like dumb sheep being led straight to the slaughter. They just suck up one cult lie after another.

I mean, think about it. Does it make any sense that they would go to a cult in order to determine if their church's beliefs are correct? As we read a moment ago, wouldn't the proper thing for them to do, be to go to the Scriptures if they have any doubts about their current beliefs? But as I said, the Church of Almighty God had a specific agenda in making this film. So in order to advance the plot, they had to make the house church members make some rather stupid decisions. It was like going to the Devil and asking, "Hey Satan! Are my beliefs correct?"

While there is still some resistance by a few members of the house church, before long, and after listening to the quite twisted Scriptural interpretations which are offered by the representatives of Eastern Lightning, and listening to them read actual quotations from volumes of "The Word Appears in the Flesh" -- which are the printed teachings of their false christ -- Yang Xiangbin, who they call Almighty God -- most members of the house church have become convinced that as a result of their own foolishness, stubbornness, arrogance and pride, they've been wrong with regards to their understanding concerning the timing and manner of Jesus' Return.

Well, this change in attitude by the house church members is obviously a very major win for the Eastern Lightning cult, because the house church members have now made themselves very vulnerable to deception. They have basically taken off their spiritual armor, and invited Satan to attack them with his fiery darts, as in the following verses:

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"


My friends, just like the house church members in this movie, that is precisely what Eastern Lightning wants every viewer of this movie to believe. That is, that unless they believe exactly as the Church of Almighty God believes, then they are dead wrong in their doctrines, and they need to repent. This message is strongly enforced in the second half of the movie. It is either their way, or the highway.

In other words, by the time I reached the mid point of this movie, the members of this Chinese house church had made a complete 180° degree turn, abandoned all caution, and now embraced the belief that Jesus had indeed already returned in a body of flesh -- known as Almighty God -- and was now secretly teaching his followers who had heard his voice, and who would thus become overcomers in God's Kingdom.

It was just mind-boggling! They hadn't even met this person yet. In fact, as I eventually found out as I continued to watch this movie, they never do actually meet her. All it took was listening to two of her devoted followers spewing forth their twisted doctrines of devils and their damnable heresies, and listening as they shared quotes from one of her many books -- that is to say, from a volume of "The Word Appears in the Flesh" -- and these house church members were hooked on Eastern Lightning's deceptive lies. Just like that! No more resistance! Why do I use such strong terminology in describing the doctrines of the Church of the Almighty God? Consider the following verses:

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and DOCTRINES OF DEVILS; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"


"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"


"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."


What happened to the caution and Spiritual Discernment which this Chinese house church had displayed earlier in the movie? It had just gone out the window! They didn't even bother to ask "Precisely who is this Almighty God? When and where can we meet him? What proof has he offered to show that he truly is who he has claimed to be?" My friend, if you were to find yourself in such a position, wouldn't you want to ask such questions before committing yourself to such a person, or to their organization? Sadly, many folks do not do this, and that is precisely why so many people -- both young and old -- become trapped in cults.

As I said, the creators of this film had to depict them as dumb, gullible sheep in order to promote their misguided beliefs, and advance their agenda in the movie. After all, if these once-careful church members in the film could be convinced that they were wrong about Christ's Return, then it could also potentially sow seeds of doubt in the hearts of some of the movie's viewers, and likewise convince them that they were wrong as well. As I said, there is no doubt in my mind that this is precisely what Eastern Lightning hoped to accomplish when they made this movie. It certainly worked on my neighbor!

Up until this point in the movie, aside from attacking the Chinese Communist Party, the movie's creators also strongly attack the leaders of organized religion, which I refer to as churchianity. To be honest, the Eastern Lightning cult does state a number of things regarding organized religion in this movie which even I agree with, and which I have also written about over the years. You will find a considerable number of articles on the Bill's Bible Basics website where I delve into this very issue. But there is a very important point to be made here, and that is the following.

While the Church of Almighty God cult strongly and viciously attacks organized religion/churchianity in their movie, and rightfully points out some of its flaws and errors, in my view, it should really not matter all that much, because our faith is not based on the physical church system with all of its different denominations and divisive doctrines which pit one denomination against another. Our faith is based solely on God's Word, and the promises of God's Word. Thus, if the churches were to for some reason disappear tomorrow, such an occurrence really shouldn't have any effect on us; unless, of course, we happen to be trapped within that false religious system, as so many Christians are.

As Jesus said to the woman of Samaria in John chapter four, our Heavenly Father desires that we worship Him in spirit and in truth, without the need for any kind of temple or church building. In fact, the Lord even told that woman that the time would come when the temple in Jerusalem would cease to exist, just as He told the Apostles the same thing in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and elsewhere. Consider the following verses which verify these points:

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, THE HOUR COMETH, WHEN YE SHALL NEITHER IN THIS MOUNTAIN, NOR YET AT JERUSALEM, WORSHIP THE FATHER. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."


"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."


"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."


"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?"


"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;"


"And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?"


"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?"


"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?"


"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these."


"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof."


So as I said earlier, the Church of Almighty God is justified in pointing out the errors, sins and misguided doctrines of organized religion, and they are indeed many. In fact, I was just reminded of something which the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian brethren. Consider the following Bible verse:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."


In the above verse, the word "rudiments" is derived from the ancient Koine Greek word "stoicheion". This word refers to elements, principles or precepts. Thus, the Apostle Paul is referring to the traditions, principles and practices of the world. Well, sad to say, and as many of us already know, the modern church has indeed embraced and been overcome by, many of the rudiments of the world, so that in many cases, it is difficult to tell the difference between the two. However, to name just a few of their many sins, consider the following: same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian bishops, pastors, priests and ministers, modern hard rock music, materialism and greed, marital infidelity, pedophilia, drunkenness, improper dress code, and the sad list goes on. So it is easy to point one's finger at organized religion.

But concerning the Eastern Lightning cult, the question which we need to ask ourselves is why they are attacking the church leaders in this movie, and where they are going with it. What is their motivation for doing this? The simple answer is the following: They have to tear down one -- meaning the church system -- in order to build up the other -- meaning Eastern Lightning, a.k.a. the Church of Almighty God. They have to criticize, discredit, and tear down the church system with its sometimes-misguided leaders, so that they can seemingly legitimize their own cult and its wayward teachings. That is what motivates them. To reiterate, the primary goal of this movie is to validate the Church of Almighty God, and to try to justify its devilish doctrines, which are contrary to longstanding Christian beliefs. This movie is in essence waging a verbal war against anything that opposes their cult.

As I mentioned earlier, in the movie they likewise attacked specific beliefs which are widely embraced by many modern Christians. In particular, they very strongly attacked -- and in fact outright condemned -- the widespread belief that Jesus would suddenly appear in the clouds of heaven, without secretly appearing to His followers for a time in the flesh first. This is a point they harped on over and over again during the first half of the movie.

Of course, they had to condemn this popular belief in order to supposedly justify and validate their own teachings which promote the idea that Jesus would return secretly FIRST, and only LATER make a very public appearance in the clouds of heaven, where every eye would see Him. To emphasize their belief in a secret return in a body of human flesh, in the movie, they repeatedly pointed to the New Testament verses which speak of Jesus returning as a thief in the night. In this way, they are convinced that they have proven without a doubt that their leader, Yang Xiangbin/Almighty God, is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Personally, I am not convinced that Jesus was referring to an actual secret return as this dangerous cult -- and some other Christians -- have interpreted the thief-in-the-night verses. My view is that just as Jesus used the Genesis Flood as an example to demonstrate how quickly and unexpectedly His Return would be, I believe that the thief-in-the-night verses are to be understood in the very same manner. Stated another way, one never knows when a thief might strike. It could occur quickly and unexpectedly if one is not paying attention and watching for the signs. So again, I do not believe that Jesus was talking about returning secretly and revealing Himself to a small, select group of Believers who have heard His voice, as the Eastern Lightning cult claims in this movie.

At any rate, by the middle of this very deceptive movie, in addition to the previous points, the representatives of the Church of Almighty God who are speaking to the house church members, also make the following points very clear as well. This is in large part accomplished by reading actual quotes from the writings of their spiritual leader, Yang Xiangbin, who they refer to as Almighty God:

1. People -- meaning Bible-believing Christians who reject the belief that Jesus secretly returned in 1991 in the flesh body of a young Chinese woman named Yang Xiangbin, who is also known to her followers as Almighty God -- are going to suffer everlasting destruction, and will go down to hell to be punished after they see Jesus -- meaning the false Jesus of Eastern Lightning belief -- make his public appearance when he descends in the clouds of heaven. This is plainly stated in the movie.

2. The Eastern Lightning representatives in the film plainly refer to people who reject their false Jesus' secret return in the flesh, as Pharisees, antichrists, foolish virgins, the progeny of hell, unbelievers and degenerates. They use every single one of these words and phrases. They likewise accuse such people of being stubborn and arrogant. In other words, the cult members strongly condemn anyone who does not embrace their misguided doctrines concerning their leader, Almighty God. Their very self-righteous attitude reminds me a lot of the Jehovah's Witnesses, who also believe they are doctrinally right about everything. As you may know, the JWs barely let a person get a word in, because they are so full of themselves and their wayward doctrines.

3. Although they don't name her by name, or even reveal to the house church members that she is a woman, the Eastern Lightning members say that their leader, Yang Xiangbin -- or Almighty God -- is the actual embodiment of the Spirit of Truth of which Jesus spoke in John 16:13; and thus, Xiangbin is Incarnate God, meaning God in the flesh. To refresh your memory, that verse states the following:

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."


As I have stated several times now, Eastern Lightning quotes a lot of verses in this film, but in just about every single case, they twist and pervert the real meaning of the verses, so that they conform to their misguided beliefs regarding Yang Xiangbin, their spiritual leader. Please remember what the Apostle Peter wrote regarding such practices in the following two verses:

"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [twist, pervert], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."


4. In the movie, the Church of Almighty God members falsely claim that the reason why the arrival of their leader, Yang Xiangbin -- or Almighty God -- and the work of Almighty God is not mentioned in the Bible, is because Almighty God just recently arrived on the Earth, and just recently begun doing his work. As such, there can be no record in the Bible. They falsely claim that all of the events which are found in the Bible were written after-the-fact. In other words, God would do something, and then it would be recorded afterwards.

This is obviously an absolute lie which can rather easily be exposed and refuted by the simple, well-known fact that the Old Testament is filled with literally hundreds of Messianic prophecies which clearly describe the birth, life, ministry, persecution, betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ hundreds and thousands of years BEFORE those events actually occurred. Thus, if this false christ is who they say she is, shouldn't the Bible speak of her as well? Yet it is completely silent regarding the matter . . . unless one purposely twists and perverts the meaning of certain verses, as the Church of Almighty God does repeatedly and continually throughout their movie.

At this point, let me mention that in this movie -- "Break the Spell: Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ" -- as well as in their other online content, these modern Chinese deceivers use a very confrontational approach, which I have seen used by other people before. Sadly, including by some Christians as well. In other words, they ask some questions, not truly seeking answers from their audience, but rather to use the questions as dares, and to basically challenge folks to disagree with them. In short, their attitude is one of superiority, and their goal is actually to make people feel like they are ignorant and stupid if they don't already know these things, or if they dare to disagree with the Church of Almighty God's teachings. It really amounts to a subtle form of intimidation.

While Jesus describes His Return as something which occurs quickly and unexpectedly for those people who have not discerned the signs of the times, just as lightning quickly flashes across the sky, there is a much darker side to this whole issue regarding lightning, which the members of this cult don't even dare to mention in their movie. I believe that it is this darker side which reveals the true nature, and the true spiritual force, which is behind the Eastern Lightning cult, also known as the Church of Almighty God. Consider the following set of verses. If you aren't already familiar with them, you may possibly find them shocking:

"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan AS LIGHTNING fall from heaven."


"HOW ART THOU FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, O LUCIFER, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."


"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. AND THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT, THAT OLD SERPENT, CALLED THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."


While I do not believe that this Chinese woman is actually Satan in the flesh, nevertheless, just going by the absurd claims she has made, I am convinced that she, her husband, and their millions of followers are seriously deceived by the Devil and his minions. Not only are they personally deceived, but in the process of being deceived, they are also deceiving others, who they try to bring into their misguided cult. Sadly, this now includes my neighbor and friend who has swallowed their lies hook, line and sinker. Please consider the following verse:

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."


Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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