Your Name Shall No Longer Be Called Jacob, But Israel

Interview with Barbara Fuller, Candidate for the Jefferson County, WV Board of Education-May 10, 2022

Interview with Andrea Elliot, Candidate for the Jefferson County WV Board of Education-May 10, 2022

See Stacey’s Rheama (was missing yesterd) here.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2188

If your mother and father are disloyal to God’s will, then you should counsel them. “Mother, Father, why are you acting in this way? The way of God’s will is such and such, and God’s will is like this, so why are you acting the way you are? You should be going out like this – what are you up to? What are you doing fighting every day?” You have to try to persuade them. This is the right thing to do. It’s a big problem if your mother and father go the wrong way. (100-153, 1978.10.9)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 964

You should complete the blessing of 160 or 180 families. Those who fail to do so will be left out. The time has passed when you can assert that you are a 36 couple, or whatever you may be. Since the age of equalization has come, the issue now is who will be the first to enter with the accomplishment of those numbers. In the Unification Church you benefit if you have many people in your clan. (286-247, 1997.8.11)

Testing

2. Trials Are to Prove that We Belong to God

And verily We shall try you until We know those of you who really strive and are steadfast, and until We test your record.
    Qur’an 47.31

Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
For thy steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to thee.
    Psalm 26.2-3

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If You Make Excuses for Yourself, Satan Will Overpower You

Interview with Barbara Fuller, Candidate for the Jefferson County, WV Board of Education-May 10, 2022

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1739

Originally, had they not fallen, Eve would have become God’s wife and Adam His body. Through the lovemaking of Adam as God’s body and Eve as God’s body, the union of God and humankind, of heaven and earth, should have taken place. This union of God and of man and woman, plus and minus, should have come about, giving way to new life and new lineage through love settled vertically and horizontally. (196-233, 1990.1.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1472

The life we are leading on earth is not for our own sake. We are living for the sake of God’s love. For that purpose, we are in a continuous state of action and existence. How splendid that is! Those who lead such a life can never be brought to ruin. Hardships, tears and misery would not make us miserable, bitter, or sad because we would be enduring them all for the love of God. You should understand this principle. (67-159, 1973.6.1)

Testing

  1. Satan Tests People of Faith

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Due to the Human Fall, Satan tramples upon human beings and dominates the whole earth. To turn this situation around, we need to employ the principle of indemnity. Since Satan treated human beings with contempt, human beings should win Satan’s respect and deference. They should do this by themselves, without the help of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or God. Whatever sinful condition Satan presents them with, they should be able to overcome it. Only then can human beings become God’s victorious sons and daughters. 
    On your path you will encounter many trials from Satan. Especially if you become open to communicate with the spirit world, you will face many trials. If you fail Satan’s tests, Satan will accuse you, saying, “You are not qualified,” and block your way. (3:210, November 1, 1957)

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Everyone on the Path of Faith Will Be Tested

Interview with Andrea Elliot, Candidate for the Jefferson County WV Board of Education-May 10, 2022

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1726

If that is the case, when Adam’s and Eve’s bodies as well as their minds unite, would or would not that which is at the bottom of their bodies unite too? What would that be? Would God unite with them or not? Where would He unite with them? Since He created the organs for love, where would He come to unite with human beings? Where would that place be? It would be the place of love. (194-64, 1989.10.15)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 703

Would it be all right for this substantial fruit of six thousand years to fall without ripening, like a fruit dropping from its tree? Should the fruit, worrying that the wind might blow, say, “Oh no, it looks like I might fall. If the wind blows a bit more, I am going to fall. Father, don’t shake me, just let me be still.” There may be some people here who are like that. On the other hand, there are members saying, “Even if you take an ax and shake the branches as you please, my branches will never fall until they have been cut.” To which group do you belong? (46-154, 1971.8.13)

World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Testing

EVERYONE ON THE PATH OF FAITH WILL BE TESTED. Scripture records that the great people of faith were tested many times. Abraham endured ten trials of faith. Satan tested Job with loss of family and property. Muhammad had to overcome many obstacles as he struggled to proclaim the message to the idolators of Mecca. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and tested again on the way to the cross. Hindu and Buddhist saints as well faced life-and-death trials, and with absolute faith overcame them.
Overcoming tests gives us strength and toughness of character. Testing also accompanies grace, either before or afterwards, to qualify us to receive the grace and retain it.
Father Moon explains the reason why people of faith encounter testing by referring to the Book of Job’s account of the bargaining between Satan and God. Since human beings fell away from oneness with God, God accedes to Satan, “the Accuser,” the right to test human beings in order to prove whether they are indeed worthy of returning to God’s realm. Satan ruthlessly looks for any hint of selfishness that would disqualify them and give him a claim over them. Only the most faithful and selfless people can pass his tests. Sometimes a test requires us to deal with an inconceivable situation. The famous Qur’anic passage of Moses and al-Khidr, the “Green Man,” presents a trial where Moses must believe in things entirely contrary to common sense; but he cannot. In the Hindu Ramayana, Sita the wife of Rama proves her fidelity by jumping into a blazing pyre, and in a Buddhist sutra a seeker throws himself off a cliff to certain death; both pass the test and are unharmed. And how inconceivable was it to Abraham that God would ask him to sacrifice his son? We include accounts of several of the tests in Father Moon’s life.

  1. Satan Tests People of Faith

Now there was a day when the sons of God18 came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “Whence have you come?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand.” So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

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God, You Can Say to Me ‘I Do Not Know You’

The recordings of the Peaceful Families; Peaceful World workshop are now available:
You can view the recordings for free at https://www.visionroot.org/workshop-recordings/
Day 1: Abstinence-centered curriculum training,
Day 2: Unification Principle Study 
Day 3: Strengthening Families and Communities Forum

Interview with Andrea Elliot, Candidate for the Jefferson County WV Board of Education-May 10, 2022

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1908

The enterprise for the future will be the leisure industry. The age of technological industry is an age where people do not work, due to automated technology. Such a time will come. Even now, it is that way. A machine works once the person pushes a button. There will come a time when only three or four machines can produce, day and night, all the products in a factory where thousands of people used to work. Then what kind of industries will grow? It would be such things as the entertainment and fashion industries, both of which fall under the broader category of the industry of leisure. (191-73, 1989.6.24)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1240

The Blessing opens the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where only families with children enter. (12-266, 1963.5.25)

Arguing with God

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When Moses faced the truth that the Israelites had fallen away, he did not immediately chastise them; instead, he appealed to God, blaming himself and his inadequacy. He went again up Mount Sinai and fasted for 40 days. He prayed, “Father, why can’t these people enter the Promised Land even when they see it before their eyes? Who is responsible for that? It is my responsibility.” He appealed to God to take him as an offering and turn aside from destroying his people. (1:144, July 1, 1956)

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Far Be It From You to Slay the Righteous With the Wicked

The recordings of the Peaceful Families; Peaceful World workshop are now available:
You can view the recordings for free at https://www.visionroot.org/workshop-recordings/
Day 1: Abstinence-centered curriculum training,
Day 2: Unification Principle Study 
Day 3: Strengthening Families and Communities Forum

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2104

In your family you are told, “Be a child of filial piety!” What does this mean? It means to practice true love. Then, what does it mean to say, “Be an heir” or “Be a patriot”? It is saying that we should inherit the nation. What does it mean to say, “Be a saint?” It means that we should love the world; if we do, we will inherit the world. We will be the owner of the world. If we say, “Be a holy son and daughter” and “Be God’s son”… what does that mean? It is saying that we should participate in God’s love and receive the right to inherit the entire universe. Based on the traditional way to inherit all these things, God has been preparing the foundation to develop this logical stage in the fallen world of humanity. From this we can draw the conclusion that the purpose of religion or the path of spiritual attainment is possible. On what basis? On the basis of love. (142-337, 1986.3.14)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 782

    In general, people throughout history, when focusing on the eternal nature of life, have tended to think not only in terms of ten or a hundred years, but of thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of billions of years. Yet when a person dies, it’s the same as when an animal dies; what use are the remains? Nowadays, even people who do not believe in God say, “Ah, I have to leave behind an honorable legacy,” but what use is it to leave that behind?
    Even if one became a patriot for America and was honored with a monument, that monument would be destroyed totally if America perished. Only the American people would know of you. It would not mean much to leave your name behind. Even if you accomplished that, as the ages of history rise and fall, a good name can be treated like a bad one. All rulers will die in less than a hundred years, and nations perish within several hundred or a few thousand years. What would you do if there were someone who would neither die nor perish for eternity? If there were such a person, you would want to bring your name and your legacy to him and leave it all behind with him. Have you ever thought about that? (103-16, 1979.1.28)

Arguing with God

SINCE WE CAN EXPERIENCE GOD AS A REAL PERSON, who loves and cares for human beings as His children, it is not enough to respond only with simple devotion and blind faith. Having questions we cannot answer, struggling by ourselves and making no headway, we stop and demand that God give us the answer. With our feet firmly planted we take a stand, questioning the way things are and arguing that they can be better. The prophets and sages who disputed with God were neither doubters nor atheists, nor were they complainers of little faith. Rather, they dared to stand up and confront God, motivated by a burning desire for deeper insight into Gods’ truth and the experience of His Presence.
Abraham argued with God; he challenged God to be merciful on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses pleaded with God; he took the blame upon himself for the Israelites’ apostasy when they made the golden calf. Muhammad argued with God to reduce the number of obligatory prayers from fifty down to five. Job argued with God because conventional wisdom said that his suffering must be the just punishment for his sins, yet he knew himself to be innocent. The Talmudic sages argued with God to uphold the value of human free will.
In all these encounters, the prophets and sages of old showed the way to relate to God while upholding their personal integrity. They argued based upon righteousness and deeply held beliefs. They stood before God with a clean conscience and took their life in their hands to challenge the conventional doctrines, because they knew that God transcended the limited human teachings about Him.

The Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you still destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
    Genesis 19.20-25

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