Chairman Jung Myung Seok, who established Christian Gospel Mission (CGM), started to spread the gospel in June of 1978. Currently, there are about 200,000 members in 400 churches throughout the nation (Korea) and 50 overseas nations. Even though it’s only been a short period of time—27 years—they have been actively engaged in ministry and have powerfully branched out throughout the nation and also abroad.
▲ The Sixth Global Peace United Cultural Convention
Spreading only God’s truth to the Earth
Within 27 short years of ministry, CGM has become a worldwide organization with 200,000 members from 400 churches throughout the nation and 50 overseas nations. A staff of CGM shared their secret to success: to remember that religion is not a theory but a lifestyle.
He also mentioned a distinct characteristic of CGM, “We have a goal: By actualizing God’s perfect truth and His Will of love, let’s make our world into a world of peace. And, with that goal, we have a theory of lifestyle and action: Instead of considering Heaven as a Utopia in a very faraway place that we go to only after we die, we can actualize it, God’s ideal world, here on this Earth. Based on that theory, we are carrying out religious activities.”
A small circle that is drawn with limited knowledge cannot reach a big circle that is drawn with vast knowledge. Furthermore, we cannot even begin to imagine what is beyond the small circle of the limited knowledge. In order to reach the big circle, where God’s ideal world unfolds in reality, CGM Chairman Jung read the Bible from cover to cover about 2,000 times, and he said that during the 30-year process of an extreme life of prayer and through the vast Word of Biblical truth, he realized the truth of God that completely unites religion and ideology.
The foundation of the new interpretation of the Bible - The 30 Principles
Since the Bible is the Word of God, it is beyond our comprehension. Unless God enlightens human beings, we cannot understand it through our own efforts or study. Chairman Jung advocates the foundation of the new interpretation of the Bible, The 30 Principles, which targets mainly young people or college students; CGM is evangelizing with the creed, “Take action upon the Bible and make it your lifestyle.”
One of the 30 Principles, “the Seven Steps of the Law,” explains that all the existing worlds are created strictly and absolutely according to the laws, and emphasizes that these worlds cannot be sustained if they don’t adhere to the laws. It says, “There is a law called the vein of ore in the mineral kingdom, there is a law called physiology in the biosystem, there is a law called physics in the physical world, there is a law called geography in the earth system, there is a law called principle in the system of the universe, there is a law called psychology in the world of human beings, and there is a law called the truth between God and human beings, whereby if people don’t adhere to that law, they will be unable to exist.
In particular, if the law of truth that exists between man and God is violated, the relationship between human spirits and God will break. Since human beings lost the truth, they ended up living in chaos, and because they didn’t know what the truth was, they came to ignore the law and weren’t afraid of God’s law and customs. Therefore, true freedom comes when human beings become one with the Original Being of truth. All mankind can become one with each other within the absolute truth.”
The staff member said, “CGM is an organization that takes action on the Word only out of love for God and because we want to resemble His nature. In addition, we consider culture and art as a gift from God to His beloved ones, so we put a lot of effort into culture and art activities as an expression of thanksgiving to God. Also, each member develops their talents according to their individuality and gives glory to God in various ways.”
Taking action on love and peace everywhere in the world
In 1978 when Chairman Jung started his ministry in Seoul, he bore the first fruit of lives in 1980. From that point on, CGM established Korean College Students MS Ministry in 1982, registered the Presbyterian-Methodist Order in 1983, founded a Presbyterian Methodist organization in 1986, and appointed Chairman Jung as the director. In 1989, it was restructured as the World Youth College Students MS Union, and in 1996, it was re-organized and run as the International Christian Union.
In October 1999, with the theme, “The ministry that prays, the ministry that becomes one through the truth, and the ministry that has advanced to the world,” it was reconstructed as Christian Gospel Mission, which has been operating until now. They have 400 churches in 22 regional districts throughout the nation and have branched out to 50 foreign nations with a total of 200,000 members worldwide. They are expanding their religious influence as a worldwide ministry.
The founder, Chairman Jung, has been particularly supportive of loving lives and the peace of mankind, not only amongst next-door neighbors but also amongst various nations, beyond global ideologies and religions, with the mentality upon which he had founded CGM: “With love alone, peace will come.” In addition, he received great reviews for developing a cultural movement towards a healthy mind and body, as well as for fostering the appropriate guidelines for proper youth development and the healthy family model, while advocating household peace.
CGM sets building God’s Kingdom as its goal and has the vision and new challenge of sharing this with the world. To establish the new era, where the whole world will become one, CGM is embarking on a mission to raise and dispatch many missionaries to foreign countries, and through that, take the lead in not only in faith, but also in actualizing the world of peace by spreading the beautiful side of Korea throughout the world.
In the past, Korea learned Christianity from the West, but now, conversely, CGM is accelerating to spread the new Word and God’s plan to the developed western countries.