Tag: home church

To Rule Over People, One Must Humble Oneself Before Them

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2076

    We started in 1978, so this is now the fourteenth year. This work has been going on for fourteen years. If all of you had only done this work with a desperate heart! How great it would have been! If that had happened, then everything would be connected through the tong ban breakthrough activities, centering on the Unification Church. Centering on the Unification Church foundation, we organized everything down to the village, so that we could breakthrough at the tong ban level. Centering on the men, we held conferences in the dong (districts), tong and ban (local communities and home neighborhoods). We passed out Divine Principle books and a book called “The Hope of the World” in my name, to all the 120,000 neighborhood leaders. Maybe even some of you that are here today also received these books. Despite the fact that all this was done, the men still all failed their responsibility. They were relaxed and thought this was just some kind of game. Therefore, because the men failed their responsibility, the women must accomplish it. Whatever happens, they must do this.
    The women must not just be worried about the livelihood of their own homes. Please notice that I’ve mobilized women centering on the Women’s Federation. Is this mobilization due to the power of human beings? In the beginning, when I first said that I would have an initiation conference for the Asian Women’s Federation of World Peace (AWFWP), everyone’s eyes went like this, and our own Unification Church members put up opposition saying women can’t do anything and that AWFWP women can’t do anything. But then True Mother stepped forward and the opposition subsided. Seeing the atmosphere, the members couldn’t oppose it any further. Therefore, I declared the arrival of the era of women. I made this declaration because the time was ripe to do so. Wait and see if the age of women comes now or not. (233-111, 1992.7.31)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1502

What was God’s ideal for the first human ancestors? It was for man and woman to come together in union to form an ideal family. The center of an ideal family would be neither the man nor the woman. A family is a unit connected to each other by the bond of parent to child and the bond of a husband and wife, all centered on God’s love. Therefore, we can conclude that God’s will is to perfect a family centering on His love. (Blessed Family – 301)

Society

Government for the People

 

THE WELFARE OF ITS CITIZENS SHOULD BE THE CHIEF CONCERN of government. The scriptures affirm that a ruler should put the people’s needs ahead of his own. This is signified by his titles: the prophets of Israel called their rulers “shepherds,” Jesus called rulers of the Kingdom “servants,” and Chinese tradition regarded the emperor as “the father and mother of the people.”
A leader can show consideration to his followers by personal kindness, forgiving their mistakes, and believing the best about them even when he knows they are likely to fall short. He can demonstrate solidarity with their difficulties by forgoing the pomp and ostentation of high office and living simply as one of the people. Moreover, scriptures encourage benevolent government policies, including reducing taxes in times of economic recession, investing in the people to create jobs, empowering them to have ownership over their work, and providing for the welfare of the poor and destitute. (See also Chapter 20: Economic Justice)
The precepts of governance that make for a benevolent rule are universal, which is why scriptures written in ancient times, when all governments were monarchies, remain relevant today. Nevertheless, this section also includes some texts on democracy, because in modern times a government “of the people and by the people” has proven to be the surest way to have a government “for the people.” Yet democracy has also produced its share of monstrosities; the French Revolution is but one example. More than just free elections and a representative government, the animating spirit behind democracy can make all the difference between the blessings of liberty and totalitarian terror. Hence in the Western experience, democracies built upon Christian values have done better than those based on materialism. Yet even American democracy with its emphasis on individual freedom is deficient in many ways, according to Father Moon. A better underpinning for democracy, he declares, is the spirit of true love.

1. Servant Leadership

In the happiness of his subjects lies a king’s happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases him he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good.
    Kautilya, Artha-shastra 1.19 (Hinduism) Continue reading “To Rule Over People, One Must Humble Oneself Before Them”

If My People Humble Themselves and Repent, I Will Hear

Join us for this important National School Board Leadership Council Summit

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2046

What is it that we should do now, centering on the Citizen Federation? The only thing left is to do is the breakthrough at the tong and ban level. We are making a structure in order to do this breakthrough movement. We are organizing structures for the centralized areas, provinces, counties, and townships. Everything moves centering on the township. If you look from the viewpoint of the tong and ban, then the structure of the nation is like a big circle. The structure of the province is the next circle, and next is the structure of the county. The next circle is the structure of the township. Viewed centered on ban, then the tong is the next circle. Restoration goes forward from the restoration of the individual to the restoration of the family, the tribe, the people, the nation, and the restoration of the world. In the same way, when we look at the way things are structured, we see that every nation has its national organization similar to the Citizens’ Federation. There are provincial organizations, and then organizations of the county, township, village, local community and neighborhood (Tong-ban). This is the structure of the current national organizations of Korea. Then what does a local neighborhood (ban) represent? Of course it represents the local community, but it has two purposes. The direct purpose is for itself, and then the whole purpose is for the nation. When the tong and ban local neighborhoods and communities unify, it will lead to the unification of the nation. It has the same organizational structure as that of the human body. (171-299, 1988.1.2)

Richard: This is the formula to save America, literally. There needs to be a movement of Home Church (Tong-ban breakthrough) activities throughout the nation in every neighborhood. When that expands, the nation will be restored.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1311

    The nation of Korea represents the world, and so we need to transcend all the tribes in this nation. In doing so, I am not putting the Moon tribe before others. I should open the gates through which all tribes in this nation, regardless of surname, can come in contact with God freely.
    The mass holy weddings of the Unification Church are not performed to solve the marriage problems of independent individuals. The Blessed Families must eliminate everything that is in conflict with heaven, and which has been inherited from the numerous ancestors, races and nations of past history. In order to do so, they must be a united group, one that will take up the burden of their mission in the present era that we are living in. The 36 Couples must unite into one team, and the 430 Couples must come together and form a team. You must understand that the couples blessed in the holy wedding ceremony made their entrance as the resurrected central couples, indemnifying the failures of all previous couples in history.
   That is why the holy wedding ceremonies of the Unification Church hold such meaning. Based on the 430 Couples, the world could be connected, and through this, the Unification Church could broadly expand into the realm of a global citizenry. Do you understand? It is not just the Korean people alone. The fact that I connected the 430 Couples to the 43 Couples on the foundation of the family on the world level signifies the birth of a new race transcending ethnicity and nationality. That is how I see it. (100-171, 1978.10.14)
Richard:  All married couples need to be Blessed and to do Home Church (Tong-Ban) activities (see the reading above).  Per the reading below, we all need to repent for the sings of our nation, expecially for the grievous sexual immorality plus the self-centered lifestyles of many.

Repentance

2. Repentance for National Sins

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
    2 Chronicles 7.14 Continue reading “If My People Humble Themselves and Repent, I Will Hear”

We Have to Find the Way to Restore God’s Original Standard

Happy True God’s Day! Please enjoy the special reading below from True God’s Day, 1988.

God’s Day Morning Speech

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
January 1, 1988
Seoul, Korea


Father and Mother at the World Mission Center on Children’s Day 1987

There are four major Holy Days in the Unification Church — Parents’ Day, Children’s Day, the Day of All Things, and God’s Day. If it hadn’t been for the fall, these days would never have existed. But because mankind lost the original standard, there needs to be a process for mankind to find that lost standard and substantiate it. First of all, there must be a Parents’ Day, which signifies the appearance of the True Parents, the representatives of all mankind, on the earth. Secondly, a foundation is necessary for the True Children to become one with the parents. This is Children’s Day. Based upon the unity of the parents and the children, there must be a Day of All Things.

The Kingdom of Heaven comes about only upon the basis of the parents, the children, and all things uniting into one, centered on the love of God. No single Holy Day alone can open the Kingdom of Heaven. The love of God can reach all men both on earth and in heaven only after absolute unity is realized among these three significant days. This is the very foundation that makes possible the restoration of the lawful standard by which mankind is entitled to heaven.

Continue reading “We Have to Find the Way to Restore God’s Original Standard”

The Biblical Verse about Predestination Does Not Mention Human Responsibility

Listen to the Richard Urban Show #68:

The Family Rooted In Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 6-with Jamal Johnson

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2032

When you do your Home Church work, do you receive opposition? Even if someone says, “I don’t need you. I don’t need you,” you still visit them often. Even when they tell you not to come, you grab a broom and sweep their yard or garden. If it snows, you shovel the snow. You do everything. If rainwater stagnates in their gutters, you clean out their gutters. If the man of the house voices his discontentment saying, “Hey you! I said I don’t like it! Why do you keep doing these things?” and if he tries to fight against you, the people of the village will fight for you, saying to him, “What is wrong with you?” That kind of thing has happened many times. Isn’t this an amazing war strategy? Those types of things happen, right? Why is that? (105-191, 1979.10.21)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1385

When I proclaimed that three years after blessing the 30,000 Couples, I would bless 360,000 Couples, not one person believed that I could actually accomplish this. Not one person believed in me. So was it accomplished or not? There is no one in this world except me who would take on such a mission. Who on earth except me would take on such a daunting challenge? Not even a whole nation would presume to take responsibility for such a task. It was truly a record-breaking event. We climbed to the top, treading on the families in the satanic world. Now that we have successfully blessed the 360,000 Couples, accomplishing the growth stage, we can climb to the top, stepping on the nations of the satanic world. Now all that is left for us to accomplish is the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. That would mean the beginning of the era of absolute authority. We are entering the era of God’s absolute authority over marriage. (275-282, 1996.1.1)

Predestination

1. God’s Absolute Predestination

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When God looks at a person, He sees the person’s past, He penetrates his present mind, and based on these He foresees his future. (100:93, October 8, 1978)
 
Do you think that I was born to fulfill a certain purpose, which predetermined the way I grew up and what I have become? Or am I the product of my circumstances and the sum total of the things that happened to me as I went about my life? My life was predestined before I was born. Therefore even the features of my face14 were predestined… I am not the man I am today because of things that happened to me in the course my life. I am the man whom I was predestined to become. I grew up holding on to the Principle; I did not go my own way unconnected to the Principle. (161:159, February 1, 1987)
 
God, being omniscient, foreknows who has the qualifications necessary to become a central figure in the providence of restoration. God predestines those whom He foreknows; then He calls upon them to fulfill the purpose of His providence. Calling the person is God’s responsibility, but that alone does not entitle the person to be justified before God and be given glory. Only when the person completes his responsibility after being called by God is he justified and then glorified. God’s predestination concerning an individual’s glorification is thus contingent upon the completion of his portion of responsibility. Because the biblical verse does not mention the human portion of responsibility, people may misinterpret it to mean that all affairs are determined solely by God’s absolute predestination. (Exposition of the Divine Principle,Predestination 4)
 
It is written that God loved Jacob and hated Esau even when they were still inside their mother’s womb and had not done anything good or evil. God favored one and disfavored the other and told Rebecca that “the elder will serve the younger.” (Romans 9.10-13) What was the reason for this favoritism? God favored one over the other in order to set up a certain course in the Providence of Restoration.
    God gave Isaac twin sons, Esau and Jacob, with the intention of having them stand in the positions of Cain and Abel. They were to make the conditions of indemnity necessary for accomplishing His Will to recover the birthright of the elder brother, which was lost when Cain killed Abel in Adam’s family. God intended to realize this Will by having Jacob (in the position of Abel) win over his elder brother Esau (in the position of Cain). Since Esau was in the position of Cain, he was “hated” by God. Since Jacob was in the position of Abel, he could receive God’s love.
    Nevertheless, whether God would in the end favor or disfavor them depended on whether or not they completed their given portions of responsibility. In fact, because Esau obediently submitted to Jacob, he was able to rise above his previous condition of being hated by God and receive the blessing of God’s love equal to Jacob’s. Conversely, even though Jacob was initially in the position to receive God’s favor, he would have ceased to receive it had he failed in his responsibility. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Predestination 4)
 
 
 

Jacob Did Not Give Up

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2034

If you ask what kind of church Home Churches should be in the future, the answer would be that your Home Churches should become tribal churches. Our goal is not the Home Church, but is to develop toward the tribal church. If you combine the tribal churches, then all the Kim and Park tribes will naturally form a race. If the Kims, Parks, and Moons all make a good foundation to restore the tribe, it will naturally develop into a nation. That will happen. From the church of a tribe to a church of one people, to a national church, to a global church, to a universal church: this is how things are connected. (141-221, 1986.2.22

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1257

If Adam and Eve had not fallen and become mature, they would have achieved perfection not just on the individual but the universal level. Moreover, an original family centered on the love of God would have been initiated. If a clan, tribe, a people, nation and world had stemmed from this family, the world would have become a great community of one extended family attending God.

Jacob

3. Jacob Wrestles with an Angel

And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” “Jacob.” “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Tell me, I pray, your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh.
    Genesis 32.24-31

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When the angel appeared, Jacob knew he was a messenger from God. He asked the angel, “Do you come to hinder me or to bless me?” The angel answered, “I have come to bless you.” Jacob then asked, “If you came to bless me, then why don’t you simply give me the blessing?” The angel answered, “I cannot give it to you freely, because your portion of responsibility still remains.”
    In other words, the angel would not bless Jacob unless he fought with desperate effort. When the angel presented that condition, Jacob wrestled with determination, “Alright, it is fine with me. Even if you break my arm I will not let you defeat me. Even if you strike me with a sword or cut my head off, I will not let go of you.” How long do you think Jacob wrestled? It was all through the night.
    Both God and Satan were watching that scene. Jacob was desperate, knowing that this was the final showdown. Hence, even when the angel struck him in his hip and his thigh, he did not release the angel from his grasp. He thought, “If I die, I die. Even if we both die, I will not let go of you.” It was nerve-wracking for God to watch Jacob in that battle. Since the angel was fighting on behalf of Satan, God did not want Jacob to give up, but He could not say anything to Jacob. Imagine how anxious God must have been to watch each moment ticking during the battle between the two?
    Jacob did not give up even to the last moment. He would not let go of the angel no matter how desperately the angel tried to shake him off. At that point, God publicly acknowledged Jacob’s victory, and the angel, as Satan’s representative, had to acknowledge it as well. Hence, he blessed Jacob with the name “Israel.” At that moment, all the hosts of heaven shouted for joy. They deeply exhaled, now that anxiety over the outcome was relieved.
    Jacob’s love for God, that enabled him to hold onto God’s neck, shedding tears for Him for twenty years, far surpassed God’s relationship with Adam and Eve before the Fall. Therefore, he could receive the name “Israel.” (20:229-30, June 9, 1968)

If Jacob had not been so well trained in Haran under the servitude of Laban, he would not have been able to defeat the angel at the ford of Jabbok. Jacob knew that those 21 years of bitter struggle were all for this moment. He knew that what happened this night would determine victory or defeat. That is what enabled him to persevere until the end and win. The strength cultivated during his 21-year course also enabled him to subjugate Esau. Then, he could be reunited with his parents. (67:126, May 27, 1973)

The Human Fall occurred when an angel, Lucifer, subjugated human beings; therefore, in restoration humans must subjugate an angel. For this reason God sent the angel and let him attack Jacob. Once Jacob defeated the angel, it would open the door to defeating Esau, the substantial being of the archangel who was under the control of the spiritual Satan…
    What was the meaning of Jacob’s victory over the angel? It was a spiritual victory over the entire angelic world. From that time on Jacob was assisted not only by God but also by the angelic world wherever he went. Most importantly, Satan could no longer spiritually control Esau, so when Esau confronted Jacob the next day, he was bound to submit to his younger brother. (92:285, April 18, 1977)

Why did the angel strike the hollow of Jacob’s thigh? The human fall was caused by the misuse of the lower parts; therefore, the blow to the sinful part of the body was an act of restitution by the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Once that restitution was complete, the angel was free to bless Jacob. (55:113, April 1, 1972)