Category: New Testament

The Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Forbearance, Self-Control

WV Elections 2020

We have added interviews for:

Michael Folk-Republican for Governor
Barbara Fuller for Board of Education-Jefferson County WV
Tricia Jackson-Republican for County Commissioner-Harpers Ferry District
Steve Harris-Republican for Sheriff-Jefferson County WV
See all Candidate Interviews

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Ezekiel 33

13 Suppose I promise good people that they will live, then later they start sinning and believe they will be saved by the good they did in the past. These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins. Their good deeds will be forgotten.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2

Truth and Universal Law

Moral Law

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The way of prosperity is to follow God’s law. The reason is simple: God protects and helps anyone who follows God’s law because He wants to see His purpose of creation fulfilled. Hence, if we observe God’s law we will prosper. If we oppose God’s law and follows Satan’s law instead, we will perish, for God will strike us. (103:275, March 11, 1979)

How do we describe a person who lives in accordance with the law? Do we say he is arrogant? No, we say he or she is as an honest person. The Korean word for honesty (jeongjik) is composed of two Chinese characters, 正 meaning “right” and 直 meaning “straight.” The law establishes what is straight. With the law we separate good from evil and distinguish between right and wrong. (37:112, December 23, 1970)

This is a meter ruler. You cannot arbitrarily make your own meter different from the standard length. You have to measure distance according to the standard of the original meter. In other words, you should measure your words and deeds according to the original standard. (51:80, November 11, 1971)

The law of the universe, which upholds the welfare of the whole, is a proper standard of judgment. All human beings come before its court, and at the trial each is judged according to its statutes. What sort of people will be justified before the law of the universe? They are men and women who willingly sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the whole. On the other hand, those who dislike sacrifice, who pursue their individual interests and even take advantage of others, will be found guilty. Do you understand? So what kind of people are good people? They are people who work for the sake of others. What kind of acts are good acts? Surely, they are acts of self-sacrifice and service to benefit others. From this point of view, are today’s young people who live lives of self-indulgence good people or bad people? They are bad people, without a doubt. The law of the universe applies not only to human beings, but to the all beings in the material world. For instance, the cells of the eye cannot act as though everything in the body exists only for the eye. If the eye were to say to its owner, “Submit to me. If you as a human being, employ me for your sake, I, your eye, will rebel against you!” that kind of attitude would lead to its destruction. Rather, the cells of the eye exist for the benefit of the entire body. The eye should think, “Although my cells are precious, serving my owner is the public purpose, so I will follow the law of the universe.”
That which is public has greater value. This can be affirmed in every instance. Since we know this principle, we cannot complain. (105:93, September 30, 1979)

We Exist as Women and Men Because of Love

WV Elections 2020: We elect three Supreme Court of Appeals justices on June 9th, plus many other primary and final (no primary) elected officials. See the interviews and articles here: https://www.visionroot.org/wv-elections-2020-candidate-interviews/ .

1 Timothy 3

6 They must not be new followers of the Lord. If they are, they might become proud and be doomed along with the devil. 7 Finally, they must be well-respected by people who are not followers. Then they won’t be trapped and disgraced by the devil.

8 Church officers[d] should be serious. They must not be liars, heavy drinkers, or greedy for money. 9 And they must have a clear conscience and hold firmly to what God has shown us about our faith. 10 They must first prove themselves. Then if no one has anything against them, they can serve as officers.

11 Women[e] must also be serious. They must not gossip or be heavy drinkers, and they must be faithful in everything they do.

12 Church officers must be faithful in marriage.[f] They must be in full control of their children and everyone else in their home. 13 Those who serve well as officers will earn a good reputation and will be highly respected for their faith in Christ Jesus.

Job 42

13 In addition to seven sons, Job had three daughters, 14 whose names were Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren Happuch. 15 They were the most beautiful women in that part of the world, and Job gave them shares of his property, along with their brothers.

16 Job lived for another one hundred forty years—long enough to see his great-grandchildren have children of their own— 17 and when he finally died, he was very old.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2

Truth and Universal Law

Eternal Truth

3. The Law of Love

Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and
Mother of the universe, including man.
Science and Health, p. 256 (Christian Science)

Love is the great law that rules this mighty and
heavenly cycle, the unique power that binds
together the diverse elements of this material
world, and the supreme magnetic force that
directs the movements of the spheres in the
celestial realms. Love reveals with unfailing and
limitless power the mysteries latent in the uni-
verse. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned
body of mankind, the establisher of true civili-
zation in this mortal world, and the shedder of
imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race
and nation.
‘Abdu’l Bahá (Bahá’i Faith)

That which lets now the dark (yin), now the
light (yang) appear is Tao.
As continuer, it is good. As completer, it is the
essence.
The kind man discovers it and calls it benevo-
lence (jen).
The wise man discovers it and calls it wisdom.
The people use it day by day and are not aware
of it, for the way of the superior man is rare.
It manifests itself as benevolence but conceals
its workings.
It gives life to all things, without sharing the
anxieties of the holy sage.
Its glorious power, its great field of action, are
of all things the most sublime.
It possesses everything in complete abundance:
this is its great field of action.
It renews everything daily: this is its glorious
power.
I Ching, Great Treatise 1.5 (Confucianism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The universe is created centering on love and the principles of love. It dances to that rhythm, not to the rhythm of the individual. (131:124, April 22, 1984)

The omniscient and omnipotent God, who has no need for gold or knowledge, the God who has everything—what was it He yearned for that He would create human beings? What was the fundamental motivation for the act of creation? It was not power, it was not knowledge, and it was not wealth. What God lacked was a foundation for love. Even God cannot bring about love by Himself. Thus, the motivation for the creation of the heavens and the earth was love. (149:149, November 21, 1986)

The creation of the universe began with love. Love preexisted the creation. If the idea of love did not exist, then there would have been no purpose to the principle of male and female. The mineral kingdom consists of positive and negative ions—like male and female. The world of insects consists of male and female. The animal world consists of male and female. Human beings, likewise, are men and women. Before the principle of male and female, there was the idea of love, that things made male and female would become one through love. If the idea of love didn’t exist, this universe pervaded by the duality of male and female would not have arisen. Which came first: male and female physical beings or the emotion and idea of love? This is the old philosophical problem of Realism vs. Idealism… We should know that the idea of love came first. Women are not born for their own sake. Men are not born for their own sake. They both exist for the sake of love. For this reason, the chief concern of both men and women is love. (218:339-40, August 22, 1991)

The created world contains subject and object partners, and for this reason there are men and women and male and female creatures. The subject-object relationship is found in flowers with stamen and pistil, in molecules with positive and negative ions, and in atoms with protons and electrons. Everything exists in a pair system. Nothing else but love fulfills the value and carries on the history of existing beings. Through love men and women procreate. Other beings—insects, plants, and minerals—also love according to their kind. Why is everything in a pair system? Why are there always subject and object partners? The reason is love. Which came first, love or subject and object partners? Does love exist because there are women and men, or do we exist as women and men because of love? Which is it? We exist as women and men because of love. (227:268, February 14, 1992)

Without God’s investment of love, the cosmos could not have come into being. The law of the cosmos is that the subject partner lives for the sake of the object partner. However, in the fallen world, the subject does not live for the sake of the object; instead, the subject misuses the object for his own sake. That is why the world is destined to decline. Religions must teach the heavenly principle that you are happy only when your counterpart is happy. (271:70, August 21, 1995)

Absolute Truth Is Indestructible

View or listen to the podcast of the latest Richard Urban Show: Will the Boston Tea Party Happen This Memorial Day Weekend?
WV Elections 2020: We have a candidate interview for Doug Six-Republican Candidate for governor posted, with more interviews coming this week: https://www.visionroot.org/wv-elections-2020-candidate-interviews/ .

Romans 4

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Ezekiel 20

5 Tell them that long ago I, the Lord God, chose Israel to be my own. I appeared to their ancestors in Egypt and made a solemn promise that I would be their God and the God of their descendants. 6 I swore that I would rescue them from Egypt and lead them to a land I had already chosen. This land was rich with milk and honey and was the most splendid land of all. 7 I told them to get rid of their disgusting idols and not to sin by worshiping the gods of Egypt. I reminded them that I was the Lord their God, 8 but they still rebelled against me. They refused to listen and kept on worshiping their idols and foreign gods.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2

Truth and Universal Law

Eternal Truth

2. Truth Is Absolute

From the bosom of the sacred Word He
brought forth the world.
On high, below, He abides in His own laws.
Atharva Veda 4.1.3 (Hinduism)

There is no changing the words of God; that is
the mighty triumph.
Qur’an 10.64

Righteousness and justice are the foundations
of thy throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before thee.
Psalm 89.14

Truth is victorious, never untruth.
Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life,
Reached by sages who are free from self-will.
Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6 (Hinduism)

By Divine Law are all forms manifested;
Inexpressible is the Law.
By Divine Law are beings created;
By Law are some exalted.

By Divine Law are beings marked with nobility
or ignominy;
By the Law are they visited with bliss or bale.
On some by His Law falls grace;
Others by His Law are whirled around in cycles
of births and deaths.
All by the Law are governed,
None is exempt.
Says Nanak, Should man realize the power of
the Law,
He would certainly disclaim his ego.
Japuji 2, M.1, p. 1 (Sikhism)

Absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestruc-
tible, it is eternal. Being eternal, it is self-exis-
tent. Being self-existent, it is infinite. Being infi-
nite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and deep, it
is transcendental and intelligent. It is because it
is vast and deep that it contains all existence. It
is because it is transcendental and intelligent that
it embraces all existence. It is because it is infinite
and eternal that it perfects all existence.
Doctrine of the Mean 26 (Confucianism)

What is meant by an eternally-abiding reality?
The ancient road of reality has been here all
the time, like gold, silver, or pearl preserved in
the mine. The Dharmadhatu (Absolute Truth)
abides forever, whether the Tathagata appears
in the world or not. As the Tathagata eternally
abides, so does the Reason of all things. Reality
forever abides, reality keeps its order, like the
roads in an ancient city.
For instance, a man who is walking in a
forest and discovering an ancient city with
its orderly streets may enter into the city, and
having entered into it, he may have a rest,
conduct himself like a citizen, and enjoy all
the pleasures accruing therefrom. What do you
think? Did this man make the road along which
he enters into the city, and the various things in
the city? [No.]
Just so, what has been realized by myself
and the other Tathagatas is this Reality, this
eternally-abiding reality, the self-regulating
reality, the Suchness of things, the Realness of
things, the truth itself.
Lankavatara Sutra 61 (Buddhism)

Our Father Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices. Interviews with Charles Robert Sheedy-Republican for Governor, William J. R. Keplinger-Democrat for Commissioner of Agriculture and Jody Murphy-Democrat for Governor were added on May 20, 2020.

2 Timothy 4

6 Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. 7 I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. 8 So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.

Richard: We need to speak the truth, no matter what. View my series on The Great Fraud: The COVID-19 Agenda at my blog. You can also search for the Richard Urban Show on you favorite podcast player.

Psalm 68

Our Lord and our God,
    Bashan is a mighty mountain
    covered with peaks.
16 Why is it jealous of Zion,
    the mountain you chose
    as your home forever?

17 When you, Lord God, appeared
    to your people[c] at Sinai,
    you came with thousands
    of mighty chariots.
18 When you climbed
    the high mountain,
    you took prisoners with you
    and were given gifts.
Your enemies didn’t want you
to live there,
    but they gave you gifts.

19 We praise you, Lord God!
You treat us with kindness
    day after day,
    and you rescue us.
20 You always protect us
    and save us from death.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

Heavenly Father and Mother

The Absolute Being relates to human beings as parent to child. The Jewish and Christian scriptures call God our Heavenly Father; in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha is called “Father of the World.” In some traditions the Absolute Being is also identified as the Divine Mother. Even religions that customarily employ patriarchal imagery for God also describe a motherly aspect: God as Nurturer, Fount of compassion and Sustainer. “There is something in the nature of God that corresponds to our maleness and our femaleness,” remarks Bishop Desmond Tutu. God’s fatherhood and motherhood may be identified with heaven and earth, cooperating to create and nurture all living things.
God’s parental role is not limited to the act of creation; it is an enduring affective relationship of the heart. Love reveals God’s parental aspect better than anything. Even Islam, which avoids describing God as a divine father, in light of its strong rejection of polytheism in which gods physically procreate, includes traditions that describe God’s love by analogy to a father’s love for his son.
Love is central to Father Moon’s teaching about the parenthood of God: “The relationship of the Father and His children is the foundation of the universe.” Elaborating, he teaches that we can and should establish a genuinely filial relationship to God, attending Him and sharing His heart. God, for His part, is ever searching for children who can meet Him in that intimate embrace.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name.
Matthew 6.9

You men are all my children,
And I am your Father.
For age upon age, you
Have been scorched by multitudinous woes,
And I have saved you all.
Lotus Sutra 3 (Buddhism)

The Great Principle, the Divine, is my womb;
I cast the seed into it;
There is the origin of all creatures.
Whatever forms originate in any wombs
The real womb is the Divine, the Great
Principle.
I am the Father that gives the seed.
Bhagavad-Gita 14.4 (Hinduism)

Thou art Father, Mother, Friend, Brother.
With Thee as succorer in all places, what fear
have I?
Adi Granth, Majh M.5, p. 103 (Sikhism)

For God, people of the whole world are all my
children. All of you equally must understand
that I am your Parent.
The daily concern of the Parent is single-
heartedly how best I can advance arrangements
to save all of you.
Ofudesaki 4.79; 14.35 (Tenrikyo)

Our Father, it is thy universe, it is thy will,
Let us be at peace, let the souls of the people
be cool.
Thou art our Father; remove all evil from our
path.
Nuer Prayer (African Traditional Religions)
Heaven and Earth are the father and mother of
the ten thousand things.
People are the sensibility of the ten thousand
things.
Book of History 5.1.1: The Great Declaration
(Confucianism)

What man of you, if his son asks him for bread,
will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will
give him a serpent? If you, then, who are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in
heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7.10-11

Once a man came to the Messenger with his
son. The Messenger embraced they boy and
said, “Do you have mercy upon him?” The father
said, “Yes.” Then the Messenger replied, “Allah
is more merciful upon him than you.”
Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)
Do you thus requite the lord ,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?…
He found him in a desert land,
in the howling waste of the wilderness;
He encircled him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
Spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
The lord alone did lead him,
and there was no foreign god with him.
Deuteronomy 32.6-12

All ye under heaven! Regard heaven as your
father, earth as your mother, and all things as
your brothers and sisters.
Oracle of the Kami of Atsuta (Shinto)
Mother Earth, have pity on us and give us food
to eat!
Father Sun, bless all our children and may our
paths be straight!
Blackfoot Prayer (Native American Religions)
That breast of Thine which is inexhaustible,
health-giving,
by which thou nursest all that is noble,
containing treasure, bearing wealth, bestowed
freely;
lay that bare, O Divine Mother, for our
nurture.
Rig Veda 1.164.49 (Hinduism)

As one whom his mother comforts,
so will I comfort you;
You shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66.13
O Mother of Imupa, advocate for the whole
world!
What a remarkable Mother I have!
O Mother, a pillar, a refuge!
O Mother, to whom all prostrate in greeting
Before one enters her habitation!
I am justly proud of my Mother.
O Mother who arrives,
Who arrives majestic and offers water to all!
Yoruba Prayer (African Traditional Religions)

From His Mind Was Born the Moon, and From His Eye the Sun

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices. A new interview with Richie Robb (for US Senate) was added on May 18th.

John 6

26 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles,[g] but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 Don’t work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

28 “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

29 Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”
Richard: Here we see clearly that Jesus wanted the (Jewish) people to believe in him, not crucify him. See The Messiah: His Advent and the Purpose of His Coming

Pslam 81

81 Be happy and shout to God
    who makes us strong!
    Shout praises to the God
    of Jacob.
2 Sing as you play tambourines
    and the lovely sounding
    stringed instruments.
3 Sound the trumpets and start
    the New Moon Festival.[b]
    We must also celebrate
    when the moon is full.
4 This is the law in Israel,
    and it was given to us
    by the God of Jacob.
5 The descendants of Joseph
    were told to obey it,
    when God led them out
    from the land of Egypt.

In a language unknown to me,
    I heard someone say:
6 “I lifted the burden
    from your shoulder
    and took the heavy basket
    from your hands.
7 When you were in trouble,
    I rescued you,
    and from the thunderclouds,
    I answered your prayers.
    Later I tested you
    at Meribah Spring.[c]

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

3. The Work of Creation Required Love and Sacrifice

The spirit of the valley never dies.
It is called the subtle and profound female.
The gate of the subtle and profound female
Is the root of heaven and earth.
It is continuous, and seems to be always existing.
Use it and you will never wear it out.
Tao Te Ching 6 (Taoism)

At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was its wrapping? Where? In whose
protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?

There was no death then, nor yet
deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own
impulse.
Other than that was nothing else at all.

Darkness was there, all wrapped around by
darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate. Then
that which was hidden by the void, that One,
emerging,
stirring, through the power of ardor (tapas),
came to be.

In the beginning Love arose,
which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with
wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in
Nonbeing.

A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.
Rig Veda 10.129 (Hinduism)

When with the Supreme Being as the offering
the gods performed a sacrifice,
spring was the molten butter, summer
the fuel, and autumn the oblation.

On the grass they besprinkled him,
the Sacrificed Supreme Being, the first born.
With him the gods sacrificed,
and those Sadhyas and the sages.

From that sacrifice, fully offered,
was gathered mixed milk and butter.
And the birds of the air arose,
the forest animals and the domestic.
From that sacrifice, fully offered,

the Rig and the Saman Vedas were born,
the Chandas [Atharva Veda] was born of that,
and from that were born the Yajur Vedas.

From that were born horses, and the
animals with two rows of teeth;
yea, kine were born of that, and
of that were born the goat and the sheep…

From his mind was born the moon, and
from his eye the sun. From his mouth
were Indra and Agni born,
and Vayu (wind) was born from his breath.

From his navel came the mid-air,
from his head the sky was fashioned,
from his feet the earth, and from his ear
the quarters. Thus they formed the worlds. 35
Rig Veda 10.90.6-10, 13-14 (Hinduism)