Cheon Seong Gyeong 2256
You must not only be filial toward your parents, but you also need your spouse. Thus, you must form a four-position foundation. This is the absolute Principle. When we understand this, we need to ask what has happened today to the individual, family, and national four-position foundations. The expansion of the family four-position foundation creates the nation, the expansion of the national four-position foundation creates the world, and the expansion of the global four-position foundations is the cosmos. The family is the base.
Education in Jardim will make it so that not even a single Satan will be able to follow you as you go this way. Without going through this education, you would fall away. You would become a family that has lost its nationality. Things might occur even more tragic than going to Bethlehem to register the family and giving birth to the baby Jesus in a stable. You have to receive education at Jardim. (297-187, 1998.11.20)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1366
February 8, 1975 was for me a most unforgettable day until now. I matched the Blessing candidates until just one hour and a half before the ceremony was to take place. Have you ever heard of such a wedding? I was still matching the couples until 8:30 a.m., even though the Blessing Ceremony commenced at ten o’clock in the morning. I stayed up the whole night, but marriage is very important in a person’s life and cannot be a game, so when a match was rejected, I proposed another and then another and so on. (83-226, 1976.2.8)
Offerings and Tithes
- Offerings—Out of a Pure and Devoted Heart
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
People present offerings because they want to be saved and return to God. The offering they give is in place of their bodies. When it is done properly, the three—the person making the offering, the offering, and God—become one. No gap should exist there. (274:199-200, November 3, 1995)
Restoration through indemnity is the guiding principle of our walk of faith. Every act of indemnity requires an offering. The offering serves as a conditional object given in place of ourselves. In other words, the offering is an object external to ourselves, and we are the internal counterpart of the object. We must be united with our offering to advance in our life of faith. (67:113, May 27, 1973)There should be no separation between the offering and the person offering it. They should be united in heart. In other words, when you make an offering, you should give something you love. It will not do to offer something you do not care about. You should regard the sacrificial offering as representing your very blood and flesh. Therefore, you should offer the most valuable thing you own. If you own something very precious, it will make a good offering. (47:285, August 30, 1971)
Instead of offering a lamb, have this conviction: “Like a lamb that obediently goes to the slaughter, I will absolutely obey Thee, O Lord.” Instead of offering a cow, think, “Like a cow that offers its whole self, I will be an absolute sacrifice for Thy will.” Instead of offering a dove with an earnest heart, think, “With this heart I will love Thee absolutely.” (97:289, March 26, 1978)
Suppose you have some precious treasure or property. Would you think it wonderful if God’s order comes to offer all of it for the sake of the world? Do you yearn for the day when you can offer it? People who think like that will be blessed. If you really want to give it, then God will bless you and add to your abundance before that time comes. (308:206, January 5, 1999)
God originally intended that human beings possess all things of creation on the basis of true love. When you can rightly proclaim that you are the inheritors of all things because you embody true love while Satan does not, then Satan cannot accuse you. Therefore, you must love material things more than Satan loves them. Taking back the tithe from the satanic world and offering it to Heaven… is the condition to demonstrate that you are better than Satan in loving humankind, loving the world, and loving God. (128:101, June 5, 1983)
Do you know the story of Ananias and Sapphira in the Bible? After selling their property to offer it to the church, they hid some of the proceeds and donated only half, claiming that it was everything. For this, they were punished. When it comes to making an offering, “everything” means everything. If you hold something back, you will pay a price for it and be punished. You are not permitted to have a lingering attachment to the offering or think of it as your own possession. If you have such an attitude, you should clean it up before the time of judgment arrives. (122:22-23, October 31, 1982)
When you make a donation at church, you should not use money left over after buying something to eat. That money is defiled. God is not present with donations given out of the change you received after buying things at the market. (48:86, September 5, 1971)
I hear that in some Christian churches, those who make large donations are chosen to be elders and deacons. We should not have such motives. We should give our donations in the spirit of giving our lives for the sake of our nation and the world, and [confirm them] by loving our nation and the world. (166:71, May 25, 1987)
Today in Christian churches they circulate baskets for the donation. What would you call this way of collecting donations? Are they beggars? Shall we also receive donations in this fashion? The congregation should make donations in a donation box placed at the entrance door as an expression of sincere gratitude for having offered their utmost devotion and received grace from God. (166:319, June 14, 1987)