Iesha Ways

Brooklyn, New York, USA

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In Defense of Jeong Myeong-seok (정명석)

Jeong Myeong-seok (정명석), pronounced jong myong-sock (officially Romanized until 1999 as Chŏng Myŏng-sŏk and after 2000 as Jeong Myeong-seok) is the controversial leader of a new religious movement generally known as Providence (religion).  His Korean name is not 중뮹석, as the old Romanization of his name, Jung Myung Seok, would suggest, but 정명석.   His Western name is Joshua Jeong, or, using the incorrect Romanization, Joshua Jung.  He is also known as Seon Saeng Nim (선생님), the Korean word for teacher, as R for Rabbi, the Hebrew word for teacher, or as Pastor Joshua. 

My Testimony

In April 2002, I learned the Christ-centered 30 principles of Jeong Myeong-seok.

Although you may have heard a lot of things from a lot of different people, it’s not as complicated as it may seem. It all boils down to one thing, love.

Do I truly love Jesus?

If so, do I strive daily to live like Jesus?

Am I putting forth every effort to forgive and love my brothers and sisters and live harmoniously with everyone –like Jesus did?

Have I given up, or live indifferent to, or simply forgotten about Jesus’ 2nd coming? Or am I filling up my soul with prayer, repentance, praise and the Word on a daily basis to prepare for Jesus’ return?

I was religious all of my life. As a young child, my mom gave me a few books while she was studying with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, so by the time I was 12 I knew almost all of the popular Bible stories –yet without reading the Bible. I also went to the neighborhood Baptist Church with my aunt or sometimes with my granny. When I was 14, out of pure curiosity I started exploring the Mormon Church, got baptized and stayed there for seven years. After that I attended a few Catholic and Lutheran Churches.

So you see, being religious wasn’t the issue. The real issue was love. Although I had learned so much from each and every church I ever attended, I never learned how to live my life loving Jesus absolutely until I learned Jung Myeong Seok’s 30 principles, simply said: Strive daily to put the Words of Jesus Christ into action, live conversing with God and Jesus constantly, (not just once or twice a day) involve God and Jesus in every aspect of my life fully and completely. Until then, I never thought deeply about Jesus, like “what would make Jesus happy?” or “is Jesus happy with the way I’m living?”

Can you believe it? In all my 20-something years of “being religious” I never gave deep consideration to what Jesus thought of me! How could I claim that I loved Jesus, aspire to take on the name of Christ, and yet at the same time, live my life however I wanted to, completely oblivious of what Jesus says in the Bible? Or continue to live indifferent to God and Jesus’ feelings? Or continuously fight, bicker, slander, gossip and be envious and jealous of my brothers, sisters and family? Or allow myself to become completely saturated with a greedy lust for pure physicality, never sincerely repenting before God, and with utter disregard for my soul?

Anyone who truly loves God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, could never be content to live such a way. Despite all of my religious endeavors, I wasn’t completely happy with how I was living before, and since I didn’t live a life of conversing with God and Jesus beyond Sundays, saying grace, and special occasions, I still followed the wrong path many times in my life.

Through Jung Myeong Seok’s principles I realized deeply that the Bible is truly living and active. It has clear purpose and direction for how I should live my life before God today! I simply need to do my part of seeking to understand the depth of the Bible, desire its wisdom, and be willing to follow the Bible’s words absolutely -without hesitations, conditions, exceptions or excuses. Never before have I loved God, The Holy Spirit and Jesus as much as I do now. That love alone inspires me, and allows me to hope for the miraculous changes God will create in my life everyday if I put God and Jesus’ Words into action, and follow the soft guidance of The Holy Spirit!

God bless you & thank you for reading!

Iesha T. Ways

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