Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Graven Image Of Soriano

















Often when you engage in discussion with members of Soriano's CGI (Church of God International), they reveal (consciously and unconsciously) unbiblical doctrines like the ones presented in this blog. When you delve deeper, they are not shy in presenting Biblical reference which more often than not, do not have relevance to the doctrine they preach. It just so happens that a word or two can be found in such verses, that they use it to try and substantiate their claims. It's not hard to recognize the shallow nature in which they interpret scripture. This is mainly because their fundamentals are shaky, so everything built upon it is easily toppled.

When you refute their falsehood, be prepared to receive all manner of degrading words, cussing, and ridicule. They will no longer see you as a potential new member, but a threat. Of the numerous encounters I've had with Soriano's followers (I say Soriano's followers because they don't follow what the Bible says, just what Soriano says) I've been called everything from 'stupid' to 'demon', but that's okay. Words don't hurt anyway. It only emboldens me to try and pierce through the armor of lies Soriano has clad on them. The members' eyes are obviously blinded from the fact that they don't even bother investigating obvious flaws in Soriano's argument simply because they consider him above everyone else.

"Soriano is sent", is what you'd often hear as retort. "Soriano is the only sensible teacher", and "Only the sent should interpret scripture". If that is not a spiritual death wish, I don't know what is. The followers are brainwashed of the Biblical fact that reading and studying scripture is not exclusive to the leader of the group. Nowhere in the Bible is it said that reading scripture is for those sent alone. On the contrary, the Bible is very clear that we should all read and study God's words to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

- God's word is our spiritual food, because we cannot live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4);
- We can use it to answer ANY QUESTION we have about life, and we are guaranteed that the answers within are without error (2 Timothy 3:16);
- We can depend on it simply because God does not change. What holds true then is true now, and will still be true in the future no matter how advanced we get (Ecclesiastes 1:9, Malachi 3:6);
- God's word helps us identify false teachings. There so many of these damnable heresies that the word of God helps us identify them. We learn to discern between the good and evil, the true and false;
- Further, the word of God equips us to do battle for the faith. To uphold what is true, God-breathed, and holy (2 Timothy 3:17; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).
With the Bible openly talking like this, why is it that Soriano's followers not recognize the truth that study of scripture is for all?

There is no other answer other than "Because Soriano says so". Here lies the danger of idolatry. We know that idolatry is not limited to the worship of graven images. It comes in different forms that without the discernment scripture provides, we cannot readily identify them. In a nutshell though, idolatry happens when we replace God as the center of our lives. Anything that has a greater pull at our hearts than God has is idolatry. And there is none other than Soriano who has the greatest pull in these people's hearts. He has them catering to his every whim. So why not make them attend his concert? Or why not make them boycott a TV station? They'll follow him, so WHY NOT?  

Submission to Soriano's opinion is a form of idolatry. How they raise his words with authority is scary. The "what he says is so" attitude replaces the authority of God's word. The cultic control Soriano has over his subjects is not something to be taken lightly. They see it as defiance to go against what Soriano has said. They blindly follow Soriano to their destruction. They are convinced that they have NO RIGHT to interpret scripture because they are not "sent". That is a blatant lie of Soriano! They content themselves with what Soriano feeds them. Picking up the Bible and reading from it merely becomes lip service. They don't chew and digest God's words, they let Soriano do all the chewing! This is why they remain spiritually hungry.

They are also convinced that Soriano is sent of God, where in fact, no church ever sent him, not even his old church. He had to break away and create his own church. THEN install himself as "sent". How could he be sent then? Can you see the similarities with Satan's ambitions? And lastly, which could be the most bizarre of all, is that they are convinced Soriano himself is a god. They acknowledge Soriano introducing himself as a god. And as followers, who are they to defy a god?

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Please include them in your prayers. May God open their eyes to the truth that is before them. That they may see and understand that they are committing idolatry, and that the folly of following someone who is no more saved than they are will lead them to fall.

8 comments:

  1. thank you for this, this is very helpful...three days ago i was about to be confronted by their church worker because i am not attending their service, they even wanted to come to our house. That led me to speak the truth. I told them that attending the church could not save us, only Jesus. As to what I have learned from the church where i was originally came from and rooted, I know where I stand, it just happened my spouse is their member. My spouse is brainwashed but my sister who love God so much told me to show him what a real Christian is and that could save him from this false church.

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    1. Let's try to think of this, God established his church, Christ is the head and we are the body. That's biblical and I will not add anything to that. What I want to analyze is this, if this church he had established is not part of need to be saved, what's the point of establishing it? How can we deny the power of joining a church but in times of our personal need we submit ourselves to a certain church (Baptism, marriage, burial etc.) I don't think these things came in your life and do it by yourself. God has a church and we are the body, now its our role to look for it especially to us who had heard different teachings. How can we be a part of this church? just by saying Christ is my personal savior and redeemer?

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  2. You are right there my friend, ONLY Jesus saves. No church nor deed can guarantee salvation except Christ. God speaks plainly to us through the Bible. It is God's very own words that we read. It is He who speaks to us. We don't need agents of the Enemy to get in between and cloud things up.

    God bless you my friend. To God be the glory entire.

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    1. That's what bothers me. We claim that Only Jesus saves but we don't look or want to be in the church he's leading. We say only Jesus saves but we keep on passing judgement to each other. My understanding is accepting salvation means accepting his teachings, and accepting his teachings makes you a member of his church, we don't consult our bible interpretations to other people but believe in our own understanding and judge those who have different interpretations with ours. To all people out there, I urge you to read this blog, but don't stop there...try to listen to other groups/religions (catholics, Iglesia ni Cristo and even MCGI) for you to decide. We just cannot read something today and conclude this is the right and true one!

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  3. ANONYMOUS
    What Eli Soriano say is fact and biblical he speaks of fundamentals of truths, if you just broaden your mind and not to depend on what teaching you have known for a long time you may say he is right, yes your right "JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION",But remember FAITH without ACTION is DEAD.

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    1. It is funny how Soriano's followers tell people to "broaden their minds" when they themselves "limit their understanding" with Soriano's lies.

      Faith without action is fruitless faith, yes... but that's not the point of the post.

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    2. I THINK IT WAS YOU WHO NEEDS A COMPLETE BROADENING OF YOUR HEART AND MIND. FOR SORIANO TO SAY THAT =NOAH'S FLOOD IS NOT GLOBAL AND IS A FACT AND BIBLICAL IS RIDICULOUS. TO SAY THAT DEATH CAME FIRST BEFORE SIN , LIKE WHAT SORIANO IS SAYING IS A LIE....IT RUNS CONTRARY TO THE WORDS OF GOD!!! THE BIBLE CLEARLY WARNS EVERY PREACHER NOT TO GO BEYOND WHAT IS WRITTEN...... ALL THE HIGH MOUNTAINS UNDER THE ENTIRE HEAVEN WAS SUBMERGED IN WATER 20 FT. HIGH. SO, WAS THE FLOOD GLOBAL OR LOCAL?? ONCE YOU EAT OF THE FRUITS OF THE FORBIDDEN TREE, YOU WILL SURELY DIE....SO WHERE'S DEATH BEFORE ADAM SINNED?? BUT SORIANO KEEPS ON INSISTING HIS OPINION HUH!!

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    3. IGLESIA SODOMISTA KASI SI SODOMO SORIANO KAYA ANG ARAL AY KALIWA'T KANAN DIN!!

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