Author: Richard Urban

Our Conviction Must Not be Centered on Ourselves

Watch the latest Richard Urban show with Jamal Johnson Part 2-Your Spouse is the Greatest Gift: https://youtu.be/More_XXZkB8.

2 Chronicles 20

15 Then Jahaziel said:

Your Majesty and everyone from Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord says that you don’t need to be afraid or let this powerful army discourage you. God will fight on your side! 16 So here’s what you must do. Tomorrow the enemy armies will march through the desert around the town of Jeruel. March down and meet them at the town of Ziz as they come up the valley. 17 You won’t even have to fight. Just take your positions and watch the Lord rescue you from your enemy. Don’t be afraid. Just do as you’re told. And as you march out tomorrow, the Lord will be there with you.

Psalm 19

Let my words and my thoughts
    be pleasing to you, Lord,
    because you are my mighty rock[a]
    and my protector.

Inside God’s Stadium

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
August 9, 1959

1 Corinthians 9: 14-27

We are to run this race. Since we have to go, how should we run? We need to make certain preparations before we enter the stadium. What kind of preparations? We need to make internal preparations and external preparations. Internally, we should have some conviction that we are running toward a certain purpose. We are to run the course according to the commands we receive. If we run into a hurdle in our race course, we should have the conviction to jump over it. We need to make internal preparations so that we can run toward the right purpose based on our conviction.

In other words, by training our minds and bodies, we need to cultivate the determination that we will not fall down before we reach the final destination and that we will not lose to anyone but will stand as the final victors. We need to have such a strong conviction that even if our bodies were to run into some obstacles as we are racing toward our destination, we should be able to push that aside and continue on our race.

Many people are living on the earth today. Yet how many of them are ready to stand firm as a racer and start running toward the certain destination? If we cannot deny that we are under the control of this trend in history, based on both our words and the reality we face, we should then ask ourselves whether or not we have prepared ourselves properly as racers who can run towards the destination with aspirations to victory. You have not made the preparations yet.

Human beings are born to belong in a certain field or sphere. Those who do not have a position and circumstance where they can dwell are pitiful. Those who do not have the clear idea that they are on a certain course running toward a certain purpose are pitiful. Most of us are like that.

What we need here is the time to make the internal and external preparations to train our minds and bodies with determination and purposefulness that we may triumph in the battle against many enemies. If there is anyone here who has not had such a moment, he should examine himself closely.

What kind of internal preparation do we need to make? It must not be preparation for your own individual sake. Isn’t this so? Suppose there is a marathon athlete who represents a nation. When he runs the race, if he has the conviction that he should glorify his people and his nation before the world rather than to obtain glory for himself, he will be able to overcome all difficulties. However, if he is running only for the sake of his own glory and personal ends, he will easily give up the moment he runs into tribulations.

Our conviction must not be centered on ourselves. We should have conviction for the sake of the people, for the sake of the world, and for the sake of Heaven and earth. If the runner is certain that he will determine the final victory of the universe, even if he were to collapse, he would have the strength to get up and continue running. If he runs for his own sake, the moment he encounters a difficulty that exceeds any difficulty he has otherwise experienced, he will collapse. When the difficulty exceeds the self- centered desire he has, he will be defeated.

This is the reason we need to train our minds and bodies to the conviction that we are running for the purpose and mission of Heaven and earth. People live for the sake of God and goodness, but thoughtlessly. Goodness is transcending the restricted environment. Goodness is not limited. Goodness exists beyond the boundaries of limits and constraints. Therefore, people live for such purposes without clear understanding or deep thought.

The Number of People Who Will Receive Awards Is Limited

Watch the latest Richard Urban show with Jamal Johnson Part 2-Your Spouse is the Greatest Gift: https://youtu.be/More_XXZkB8.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1972

The earth consists of land and ocean.
We see that the ocean has played a
motherly role, beginning with the birth
of the simplest forms of life. The ocean
symbolizes femininity because it nur-
tures and embraces life, while land can
be said to symbolize masculinity. For
this reason, the island nations located
in the ocean are countries that represent
the woman, and the peninsular nations
adjacent to the continental nations are
countries that represent the man. The
people of peninsular nations in par-
ticular have a toughness and intrepid-
ness that come from a life of preparing
against enemies, both from the conti-
nent and the sea. Furthermore, owing to
their pioneering, adventurous and pro-
gressive disposition, the people of pen-
insular nations brought forth a brilliant
culture and disseminated it to the world.
(279-208, 1996.8.20)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1473

How great is the value of human-
kind? They are the only beings that God
would long for over tens of thousands
of years, leaning on his walking stick.
According to my observations, this fact
happens to be the basis for the creation
of the universe. Since God and human
beings related to each other as inter-
nal and external, vertical and horizon-
tal perspectives about the world of love
could be established. Both vertical and
horizontal views on the world of love can
come into existence once upper-lower
and left-right relationships are formed.
God can come to reside in the center
of them all. That place, which can bind
them all into one at the deepest core of
the heart, is the central place of the verti-
cal and horizontal. If they are not bound
into one, the standard of the vertical and
horizontal cannot develop into the ideal
form of love. The existence of the vertical
form alone does not guarantee the exis-
tence of the horizontal form. Therefore,
you should understand that God had no
other choice but to create human beings
in this form. (48-224, 1971.9.19)

Inside God’s Stadium

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
August 9, 1959

1 Corinthians 9: 14-27

In a stadium, they may hold a one-hundred-meter race, a five-thousand-meter race, a ten-thousand-meter race, or a marathon. What kind of race would you be responsible for as racers who have entered the race tracks of God, who is guiding the providence of restoration? How can you find a place in the history of the universe? This is a crucial question. Even if there are differences in your values and character, God certainly wishes ardently that you will fulfill your responsibility in the event that you are responsible for in the race, and that you will establish the standard God wants. Since you have entered the race tracks, you should give all your heart and soul to the race. We should understand which event of the race we are to accomplish through our life and finally stand before Heaven.

Although God has guided the providence for six thousand years, when you look at the entire course, there are still some events in God’s overall race that have not been completed yet. The competition is still going on. The race will go on today and tomorrow. When the entire race comes to an end, God will give awards in each event to all humanity, all the people who ran in the race in the past and all those who will have raced by the day of the conclusion. When is the day the awards are given out? If we use Christian terminology, it is the judgment day. The judgment day is the day the awards will be given out. If we use the terminology used frequently in our era, it may also be referred to as the Last Days.

The important question is whether or not you will have established the victorious standard so that you can receive an award in an event. This is an issue that you will have to deeply reflect upon. There are many ways of racing. Although you are supposed to enter the stadium and race on the marked course, there will be many who disregard the race course. There may be those who run on the marked course but who collapse in the middle of the race. There will be those who run until the finish line but will not be able to receive awards. The number of people who will receive awards is limited. We have to understand this.

Although God guided the providence for six thousand years. He could not give an award even to one racer. For this reason, spirits in Heaven and people on the earth all wish for the day God can appear before humanity and give awards to the many racers who ran in each event of the race. This is the Last Days. You should understand this.

How Will Heaven Train Us and Guide Us in Our Race

Tomorrow, September 1, 2019, is the 80th Anniversary of the beginning of World War II with the invasion of Poland simultaneously by Germany from the west and Russia from the east. My father, Tadeusz Urban who is now 94 years old, and was then 14, was in the path of the invading Russians in Lviv, Poland (now Ukraine). Watch a video chronicling his extraordinary journey: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aj5ekHDYOaCigjosnwVYE4WpwXdA?e=oOqIzd.

Revelation 22

6 Then I was told:

These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord God controls the spirits of his prophets, and he is the one who sent his angel to show his servants what must happen right away. 7 Remember, I am coming soon! God will bless everyone who pays attention to the message of this book.

7 “Look! I’m coming soon. Favored is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy contained in this scroll.”

Ezra 1

7 King Cyrus gave back the things that Nebuchadnezzar[c] had taken from the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem and had put in the temple of his own gods. 8 Cyrus placed Mithredath, his chief treasurer, in charge of these things. Mithredath counted them and gave a list to Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah. 9-10 Included among them were: 30 large gold dishes; 1,000 large silver dishes; 29 other dishes;[d] 30 gold bowls; 410 silver bowls; and 1,000 other articles.

11 Altogether, there were 5,400 gold and silver dishes, bowls, and other articles. Sheshbazzar took them with him when he and the others returned to Jerusalem from Babylonia.

Christian teacher Lance Wallnau has likened President Trump to Cyrus:
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/march/lance-wallnau-weighs-in-on-gods-chaos-candidate-now-americas-president .

Inside God’s Stadium

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
August 9, 1959

1 Corinthians 9: 14-27

It is written in I Corinthians 9:24: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” Centering on these words, I would like to speak to you briefly upon the topic “Inside God’s Stadium.”

As it was for the many saints in history, the people in the present era are dashing toward some unknown purpose in their lives. Although that purpose may not be clearly defined, their way of life has unfolded in various ways based upon it. The experience and form of the people and history have unfolded in various forms. All of these outcomes are not unrelated. We have to understand that there is some relationship which underpins their experience in this world, and that they are moving toward a certain purpose. If their actions and experiences are not rooted in such a relationship and purpose, then there is no way to establish the existence of God or any such being.

If God exists, He would surely try to forge a relationship with fallen humanity. For this reason, it cannot be denied that we who are moving toward a certain purpose are living inside the sphere of this relationship.

We know that we could not forge a relationship of goodness with God due to the Fall. Rather, we entered into a relationship of evil with Satan. Still, God does not want to abandon us, but is trying to restore us. We know that God and humanity have been walking an incredibly difficult course in order to restore humanity.

History is headed toward the one time when this purpose can be fulfilled. For this reason, you should understand that you are racers who are sprinting toward the purpose based on the standard of your conscience and your daily lives. All those who ever lived have stood on the race tracks of God’s providence of restoration.

God has been leading His providence concerning fallen people in various ways. God has been influencing them in various ways according to the differences between the people, differences between their prevailing ideologies and cultures. In the process, God has been fighting on humanity’s side to destroy evil until the moment His purpose is accomplished, the moment the race comes to an end.

If we accept that every person stands in the position of a racer, we are faced with the question of what we must do. If we understand how much God has suffered to raise up each one of us, and that we are obliged to stand inside the stadium and run with all our strength, how will Heaven train us and guide us in our race? How will each of us persevere through the tribulations of the race until we reach the destination? This is an important question that every one of us must resolve.

Among the saints and sages of the past, there must have been people who were in charge of one aspect of the whole and who set a certain standard before they died. In other words, these saints and sages did not complete the entire providence of Heaven or the entire race up to the end. Rather, they must have been in charge of various parts of the race and brought them to a conclusion. We should understand that this is how the race is being carried on even now. God made this stadium of restoration. We should understand that we have the inescapable responsibility to risk our lives in the race throughout our entire lifetimes.

Today there are many thoughts and teachings. In the religious world, there are many denominations and sects. Thoughts, philosophies and religions have taken various forms depending upon the uniqueness of the people they were established for. Such thoughts and religions should have developed into an ideology and religion which contains the entire content of God’s providence. Yet they failed to achieve that. All merely remained as thoughts and religions which were narrowly applicable to one nation or one era. We have to understand clearly that they were no more than parts of God’s race; the religions and ideologies were responsible for only partial missions.

This Master is Constraining Our Every Action

Watch the lastest Richard Urban show:
with Jamal Johnson Part 1: Sex Done Right: https://youtu.be/Ow24ljUYRVo

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1824

I have no concerns wherever I trav-
el. I can go anywhere by myself, without
any worries. If the fishing is no good, I
can make it good. But to have that kind
of confidence, you have to have a lot of
experience. In the future, when interest
begins to focus on the ocean, those who
don’t have any interest in the ocean will
fall behind those who do and lose out
completely. (146-251, 1986.7.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1499

What would be inside a package of
love? When you unwrap the package of
love after reaching the homeland, an ide-
al husband or ideal wife would come out.
Moreover, that package would contain a
pouch filled with blessings from which
would spring out an ideal family. Out of
that pouch would come the highest level
of restoration. Consequently, the indi-
vidual, family, tribe, race, nation and
world would all be at this highest level.
If everyone were in such a state, no one
would be above or below anyone else.
Therefore the brothers and sisters as well
as the family itself would be restored. In
order to lay such a foundation for unity,
a package of love, like a treasure chest, is
required. (19-295, 1968.3.10)

Inside God’s Stadium

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
August 9, 1959

1 Corinthians 9: 14-27

14 In the same way, the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message.

15 But I have never used these privileges of mine, and I am not writing this because I want to start now. I would rather die than have someone rob me of the right to take pride in this. 16 I don’t have any reason to brag about preaching the good news. Preaching is something God told me to do, and if I don’t do it, I am doomed. 17 If I preach because I want to, I will be paid. But even if I don’t want to, it is still something God has sent me to do. 18 What pay am I given? It is the chance to preach the good news free of charge and not to use the privileges that are mine because I am a preacher.

19 I am not anyone’s slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible. 20 When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. 21 And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. 22 When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can. 23 I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings.

24 You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! 25 Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever. 26 I don’t run without a goal. And I don’t box by beating my fists in the air. 27 I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won’t lose out after telling the good news to others.

Prayer

Father, Your sons and daughters have gathered here today. Many flocks of sheep have come to uphold the unfinished providential will and receive Your words of command. We have come before You as some of these people. Father, please have compassion on us as we stand or sit here.

If we have some individual concepts or ideas centered on our own selves, please remove them all. Our fate is to be created again and we have not yet alleviated the grief of the Fall. Hence, even if we possess something which we can proudly present to Heaven, it has no value as an ideal before the Father.

No matter how much we try to come up with excuses before Heaven and assert our own difficulties, we know that none of that can compare with the infinite goodness and toil of the Father.

We have learned that we did not become what we are based on our own efforts alone. We are not just ourselves. Please allow this to be an hour when we can long for our original selves and fathom our original hearts; an hour when we can bow our heads before our original Lord.

We know deep in our hearts that there is an absolute master of the entire universe. When we understand that this master is constraining our every action, please let us feel that this relationship has a clear purpose and that our fate is to live through an environment of being constrained by this purpose.

We yearn for the glorious presence of the Father and have come before the Father’s knees. Yet those who gathered here do not know where their heart is directed or where their heart is guiding them. Please guide them to the direction where their original selves can rejoice with Heaven. Even though we may be shameful and unworthy, please allow us to look upon You in this hour with a longing heart and to bow our heads before You. If we still feel embarrassed and extend our shameful hands out toward You and call out to You, please promise us that You will hold those hands.

We want to bow while clinging to the Father’s heart. We want to enter into a relationship with You. There is nothing else we want. No matter how glittering the treasures of Heaven may be, no matter what kind of glory may be found there, we do not want it. All we want is the promise that we can remain connected to the Father’s heart and live together with You. Hoping that such things can be the signs of glory which we can take pride in for eternity, we have prostrated ourselves before You. Even if we are unworthy in some ways, please forgive us. Father, we sincerely wish that You will cultivate our hearts as You desire and secure an inseparable parent-child relationship with us.

Although many people are calling for You, they do not understand the Father’s situation or heart. We do not want to become like them. Among us there are those who are like Your sons, those who are like Your adopted sons, and those who are Your true sons. We have no desire to be Your sons or adopted sons. We want to be Your direct children, the children who have inherited Your flesh and blood, who can live with the Father for eternity and never fade away from Your heart. We want to possess an undeniable eternal relationship of flesh and blood with You.

We know that to become these kinds of sons and daughters we must feel that the anguish the Father has suffered is our own anguish; the sorrow the Father feels is our own sorrow; the grief the Father feels is our own grief; the responsibilities that the Father has to fulfill are our own responsibilities. Please guide us to become this kind of children.

Father, I stand here, yet what words should I convey? Even though we may want to become the Father’s sons and daughters, if we cannot sense that You are now trying to help us experience Your heart as our own reality and that You desire to build a relationship with us, no matter how profound the words I convey, our relationship with You can never be completed. Hence, please let this be an hour when we can become connected to the Father’s heart; otherwise, we can never penetrate through the Father’s heart or have the experience of clinging to the Father’s body.

Please let the speaker’s heart be in harmony with the Father’s heart. Let the hearts of the listeners reflect the heart of the Father so that our moments of give and take may be an hour of glory. We know that You are driving us down this path for a certain purpose. This path is our ultimate fate, which we cannot avoid. Please let our determinations and actions become conditions of glory. Please allow us to be offered to the Father as sacrifices. Please raise us up as sacrifices who can be offered to the Father. Please do not let Satan find room to invade during this hour. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.

We Should Long for the Kingdom of Heaven While we are in a Sad Situation

Watch the lastest Richard Urban show:
with Jamal Johnson Part 1: Sex Done Right:https://youtu.be/Ow24ljUYRVo

1 John 1

2 The one who gives life appeared! We saw it happen, and we are witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you about this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us.

Joel 3

Crowds fill Decision Valley.
The judgment day of the Lord
    will soon be here—
15 no light from the sun or moon,
    and stars no longer shine.
16 From the heart of Jerusalem
the Lord roars like a lion,
    shaking the earth and sky.
But the Lord is a fortress,
a place of safety
    for his people Israel.

The True Sons and Daughters of Heavenly Father Who Will Remain in the Last Days

Rev Sun Myung Moon
July 26, 1959

Romans 8: 12-27

You members of the Unification Church are pitiful people. However, if you can hear the voices which Jesus or God heard during the two thousand and the six thousand years, you should be grateful. If you shed tears before the people, and if your heart aches when you behold humanity, you should be grateful. If your eyes overflow with tears in looking at humanity and you are lost in thought as to how to solve humanity’s problems, you should be grateful. If you do not have enough to eat, and even when you do your throat is blocked by grief, you are truly blessed. Even when you have a difficult personal situation yet choose to remain quiet, you are truly blessed. Do you feel indignant that you cannot engage in a fierce battle with Satan even if you have hands that can take him on in a fight? Be grateful. Do you have a sorrowful heart which is patiently waiting for the one day, even if you can make brave steps forward before the expanding forces of Satan? Be grateful.

God is not found in a faraway place. When you think that God is far away, He is near you. When you feel that He is close to you, He is far away. For those who boasted that Heaven stood close to them, God was actually far away. Those who were sorry that they were far away from God did not know that God was standing next to them.

Do not grieve that your suffering is intensifying; do not mourn that you are faced with persecution. You should be able to say, “Please allow me to shoulder the sorrow that afflicts the Father’s heart. Please let me shoulder the anguish that pierces the Father’s heart. If I were ever to be falsely accused by Satan or be wronged by him, please allow me to take this by myself and pay indemnity for all the sorrows and pains of history.” If there are sons and daughters who can call out to the Father like this and struggle with all their strength and with tearful hearts, the Father will grab them. He will do so without fail.

We do not seek glory. If there is any glory, it belongs to the Father. Sorrow and pain are all that belong to us. We should prepare our minds to digest these sorrows and pains as sources of life. You should feel embarrassed and unworthy when God says, “My child” and embraces you. Then, on the day of judgment, the day that a proclamation will be made before the sad and painful history, God’s hands will seek you out even as you kneel down, unable to raise your head.

We should long for the Kingdom of Heaven while we are in a sad situation and living a painful life. We should comfort the sorrowful Lord in mournful history, comfort the Lord of suffering in painful history. If there is someone who praises God and comforts Him even as he himself suffers sorrow and pain, no one can defeat that person. This is our standard. This is the path that the members of the Unification movement should walk.

We do not need many people. We do not need great multitudes. We need people who can say, “Father, I am not the only one suffering. Humanity is suffering all over the world. How many countless people are more miserable than I,” even in grief and pain. We need people who can then strive to shoulder humanity’s grief as their own responsibility. This was the path Jesus walked.

Heaven has sought true sons and daughters. When you call out “Father” while you are holding the Father’s hands and say, “His hands are similar to mine,” or while you are looking at the Father you say, “His situation is similar to mine; His heartaches and worries are similar to what I suffered in the past,” your words will eliminate all the misfortunes of history and become the decisive condition for happiness. We the members of the Unification movement, Christians, and all faithful people in the world and in Heaven should understand this.

I do not know your circumstances or your states of mind, but if you feel something deep in your heart right now, that feeling is not false. If you feel, “That is true; that is how it should be,” then you should make a determination for your life based on that. You should fight based on that and fall down clinging to it. Those who do so will be qualified to become true sons and daughters of the Father who wants to embrace you in the day of judgment.