Cheon Seong Gyeong 2153
The Unification Church has worked to disseminate this tradition throughout the world through the international mass weddings. The fact that black, white, and yellow people are able to come together as brothers and sisters transcending ethnicity, race, and skin color to form loving couples is among the most significant factors in building the global village that accomplishes God’s will. Today, through this, humankind is beginning to recover the lost original relationships among brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and parents and children, in order to ultimately liberate God, who has been in the depths of sorrow ever since He lost His children. Only then will the path to true happiness be opened.
Until now, democracy has advocated human freedom and liberation. In contrast, we must advocate God’s freedom and liberation. When this issue is resolved, human liberation and the recovery of human freedom will follow automatically
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1241
God’s Blessing is absolutely public in nature. It is not just for an individual, family, nation, or even the world. God’s Blessing is for the whole universe. (15-67, 1965. 2.13)
Offerings and Tithes
2. Tithes
All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
Leviticus 27.30
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee.”
Genesis 28.20-22All the tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. A man shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
Leviticus 27.32-33
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How are we robbing thee?” In your tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.
Malachi 3.8-10
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?” says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. “You say, ‘How have we despised thy name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. And you say, ‘How have we polluted it?’ By thinking that the Lord’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that no evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil? Present that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor?… Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”
Malachi 1.6-11
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
By offering a tithe from your possessions, it is as if you offered all that you have. Although you do not offer everything, offering one tenth with all of your heart and mind has the value of the whole. By offering one part, the other nine parts also come to be considered holy.
The person who tithes will never perish. As days go by, his storeroom will fill with more material blessings. (31:240, June 4, 1970)
You should give a tithe of everything you possess, even a tithe of your time. (150:219, April 15, 1961)
Just as you pay taxes to your nation, you should pay tithes to Heaven. (150:219, April 15, 1961)
Tithing applies in every aspect of life. Even in school, one of ten classrooms should be used for less fortunate children to give them classes free of charge. (166:319)
Whenever you raise funds from others, add something of your own; then your offering will be acceptable to God. Do not set aside a portion of the proceeds for yourself; instead, add a tithe from your own possessions. If you earned nine, add one-tenth to make it ten and offer it; then the offering will be accepted. To scrape up the money you can sell your clothes, your watch or even your schoolbooks. Since you and your family are a central family collecting money from the community, nation and world to offer to God, you need to set the example by collecting money from your own possessions. (116:145, December 27, 1981)
When you tithe, your offering should be the first and the purest thing, which you have invested with your most sincere heart and mind. Suppose you are going to offer one of your sons. Would you offer a son whom you dislike or who is hopeless? That son is not qualified to be an offering. Rather, you should offer your best son, the one whom you love most. Why? The offering represents your very self. (48:85, September 5, 1971)
Offering a fixed portion of your income for the maintenance of the church sounds extremely good, but I think it is extremely bad. Making an offering to God should the first priority in life, before thinking of your life or your possessions. By thinking that it is enough to offer only a small percentage of your income, you are cultivating the habit of putting your life first and putting God second. If you put God in second place, eventually He will end up in last place. (96:101, January 2, 1978)