Religion means

According to Wikipedia, religion should have the meaning of reconnect.

Link

Personal Messiah?

When I was young, I saw many members who thought of True Parents as their personal Messiah. Some people said that they walked this path to save their families. If you joined the church with such minds, can you say that you resemble God? Did God suffer until now in order to save just the Unification Church? Is that how Parents think? No. God has been suffering to fulfill His will. What is that will? It is for all humanity to establish God's family. Is that not right? That is why Father gave Blessings and created these foundations. That is why God established True Family first. However, did we know such content or did we forget it? This is the same as a blind person walking the wrong way still thinking that he is going the right way.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Fukuoka Church Visit, December 11, 2004

Contradictory phrase: self-centered love

What kind of love is free sex? Is it not self-centered love? It is love that only thinks about the self without thinking about how it influences others, is it not? Such love has no relationship with God. If the powerful people in the secular world were to use their power centering on themselves, they would have no relationship to God at all.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Fukuoka Church Visit, December 11, 2004

It should be natural

Would a father who carries out his role as a father centered on true love say to his children, "I am the father, so respect me!"? No, he would not. If the children feel that their father really loves them, they would naturally want to be more filial to their father. It is the same. Instead of saying, "Since I am the man, you as a woman have to follow me! You have to serve me!" If the husband lives for the sake of his wife, his wife would naturally stand in the position of object and would want to attend her husband.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Fukuoka Church Visit, December 11, 2004

Would you have han?

It is not something you do because you have to and have no other choice. Are you doing it because someone held a gun to your back and forced you, "You have to do this"? No. You are doing it on your own because you want to do it. Therefore, to become an owner, you have to work for God's will. Would you have han (sorrow and grief) if you walked the public course with such a mindset? Would that course be tough? It will not be difficult. Why not? Because you have the heart of wanting to live for the sake of others. You have to live centering on true love. You have to become owners of the Culture of Heart. You have to understand that well.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Fukuoka Church Visit, December 11, 2004

Stand firm

When we were at Mapo Church, two ladies, two guests came in, came into the church because they saw the sign "Family Movement Center" and they thought maybe, "Oh! OK maybe we can learn about how to improve our family life or whatever. This might be a government sponsored organization or whatever." They came in and found out that it was the Unification Church! And then they immediately left. They left!

Why did they leave? See, by not being upfront about who we were, they felt deceived, that we're using some kind of ploy to get them into the church. We're not proud; we're hiding who we are. We're not sharing who we are upfront, we're not saying, "I am from the Unification Church and this is what we believe and I'm proud of it." We're not saying that. We're hiding behind a veil. And so what happened? These people just walked out. They said, "Ooh! I feel deceived. I don't want to get into this."

-- Hyung Jin Moon, January 3, 2009 , HQ Church, Chungpadong, Seoul Korea.

Purpose of living for the greater purpose

Let's think for a moment from a point of view that goes beyond narrow sectarian and religious interests. If the Korean people could undergo a change in character according to the philosophy that I advocate and could begin to live lives dedicated to others, what effect would this have on the future of the nation? Would unification of North and South Korea be a difficult task under such circumstances? And if all the people of the world could accept this philosophy, would not this guarantee a prosperous and peaceful world? My philosophy of "living for the greater purpose" is not meant to bring about the development of the Unification Church for its own sake, God and the world do not exist for the sake of the church. It is the church that must live in service to God and the world. Even now, I continue to seek the way of service, and my plan is to dedicate my entire life to this path.

-- True Father, February 1, 1990 at Chamshil Fencing Gymnasium, Korea

God's divinity

Throughout Christian history they taught that you cannot understand and know God's divinity. God's divinity in essence is something which is unknowable by man because man cannot fathom and understand that scope of divinity. But what True Father teaches us is quite different. This is why our theology is so revolutionary. True Father actually teaches what God's divinity is! He tells us very clearly the divinity of God; that God's divinity is true love. He defines it for us. And not only does he define God's divinity, he defines also what true love is. He defines that true love is love that can bring even Satan to voluntary subjugation. And this is revolutionary! It is powerful! The reason why it is so revolutionary and powerful is this: If we as human beings, as man and woman, can understand the divinity of God, understand what the divinity is and how it is defined and achieved, then we stand in the position to directly inherit God's divinity.

This is the blessing which Jesus Christ was not able to give to all the people of the world when he came, because he went to the cross. But this revelation and understanding of God's divinity is the message he was empowered to do (spread) at that time, if he had continued to live his life and fulfilled his role as the True Parent of humanity and formed the True Family.

-- Kook Jin Moon, Nov 29th, 2008, HQ Church, Chungpadong, Seoul Korea

Same conclusion

One of the biggest criticisms I made is that we have become way too institutionalized and we lost focus of our goal. And in the process, we lost the understanding of God. We have to be goal-focused again. What are we living for? Why did you join the Unification Church? Why do you believe in True Parents? What is a Blessed Family? You should think about these questions. If you rethink about them and pray, you will come to a conclusion by yourself that: "I have to create the Culture of Heart." You will feel that.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

Take or give

Did you first join the Unification Church to receive something or to establish God's will? Then did you forget about that motivation now? Did you come to forget that now that your age has become 40, 50, and 60? Is that how weak your faith is? Is it that shallow?

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

The standard

My standard is that first, they become public-minded; in other words, they live for something besides themselves. That is my standard. The greatness of that individual really depends on how much he is willing to live for the sake of others. There are those who can only live for the sake of their families, there are those who can only live for the sake of their tribes, there are those who can only live for the sake of their nations, there are those who can only live for the sake of the world. That is not my standard. My standard is those who are willing to live for the sake of God and the fulfillment of His dream. If those people have that dream and goal, then they are going to commit their whole lives, their whole purposes, their whole beings to fulfillment of that dream and goal.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

Get rid of self

What always worries me is the reason why they follow me. I worry that they are following me for their own sake. If you really want to attend God and want to fulfill God's will, should you do this work for yourself or should you get rid of yourself? My biggest worry is that some might think, "Now Hyun Jin Nim is working in place of True Father, and he will take bigger responsibilities in the Unification Church and..." as they follow me. No matter how much I tell them, "I am not working because of position or status," "We must create the culture of true love," or "For you to become an exemplary leader especially in front of me and the Unification Church, and in front of the CARP kids and the younger brothers and sisters, you have to set up this tradition more completely than anybody else," I am still worried.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

As natural as

Ultimately, I would have to become a member of God's family for God to look at my family and think, "our family." Through what can I become close to God? It is through the heart. If we had been living for the sake of others, the love of living for the sake of others would be as natural as eating and sleeping. (As Hyun Jin Nim clasps his hands together) Thus we would become this close with God.

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

Public mindset

When I asked them, "Why did you join the Unification Church?" if their answer has been, "Because I wanted to be saved," or "Because I wanted to be the first one to serve the Messiah," without public mindset, I always chastise them. So what does it mean that you say you are a Blessed Central Family and you are serving God's providence, yet the purpose in which you are motivated to do this is for yourself? Then how do you resemble God? How do you resemble True Parents? How are you at an alignment in the direction and the impulse in which God's providence has been moved?

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

"church"

Are we simply just working for our "church"? Is that what True Parents' legacy is?

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

God's will is not to build His religion

Did God send Jesus for the sake of religion? Did God send Jesus to establish Christianity? God sent Jesus to accomplish His will. However, did Jesus fulfill all of God's will and complete the responsibilities given by God when he died on the cross? In other words, did Jesus have han (sorrow and grief) inside him when he left or not? [He had han in him.]

-- Hyun Jin Moon, Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004

No distinction

I have met a lot of people, and I came to know one thing: no matter which country people are from, they are all the same -- their hearts are the same. Why? It is because we have to be God's sons and daughters. When the outside world sees people, it categorizes them as Korean, Japanese, Chinese, American, etc., right? But how about God? Does God think the same way? Do you think God says, "You are Korean" or "You are Japanese" when He looks at people? Or would God think, "You have to become my son" and "You have to become my daughter"? God does not even know the distinction between Korean, Japanese, American people.

-- Hyun Jin Moon at Yeongnam (Southeastern Korea) Region Rally, November 25, 2004.

How much do we worry?

This is taken from a testimony from someone who had a spiritual experience where she was in the crowd at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Then I asked him how he felt at that very moment, when he was being nailed to the cross. The answer came back, an answer that I would never ever think about. He said, ‘I was worried for Heavenly Father’.

We don't need to be Messiah or Christ to worry for Heavenly Father.

Link

Leaders set new records

From the speech "Perfection and Gratitude" given by True Father on October 3, 1976 in Belvedere, New York, in the first paragraph of the section titled "A leader can only be approved by heaven if he pushes himself the hardest".

Would you prefer to listen to the word of God, even before my word? My hope is that you will reach out to God. My desire is for you to sincerely want to fulfill some direct instruction from God that even I cannot do.

I believe True Father doesn't want us to be limited. Not only about our own limitations, but also not be limited by his. We are being encouraged to do things that even he cannot do.

Link

God's gift in us

In a sermon by Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, "... a gift is not something that is ours, it is something that we are given. ... It is not because of who we are, it is because of whose we are, right? We may not deserve it, but may be we have a very special gift, and that gift can bring joy, it can bring happiness, may be it can bring encouragement, may be it can bring a sense of fullness to somebody’s life."

John F. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

In the same light, "Ask not what the world can do for you - ask what you can do for the world." Seek within us what gifts and assets that we are given, and use it for the benefits of others.

Are we as ignorant as the Jews at Jesus' time?

Kook Jin Nim spoke on 25 Feb 2007:

"The kingdom of heaven is a world without the Cain and Abel concept.

The problem is not the outside world (satanic world). We are the problem as we don't grasp God and True Parents' concept. Outside people respect our church but do not join our movement. Why? Because our movement is immature. We miss the essence of Divine Principle - just like the Jewish people missed the essence of their teaching."

---------------------
This is something to reflect upon. Are we "unificationist" getting too big-headed as we assured ourselves of our own salvation? Or are we suppose to alleviate the burden of our TP by growing up and start contributing in a substantial way? Well, it has been mentioned that once everyone can feel (really feel) the heart of God and TP, peace will come and the Kingdom instantaneously completed. Hence do we really understand God's heart? If not, how do we go about it?

Keeping up to the mark

During a recent HDH time, an elder Mrs. Park gave a testimony. In it, she mentioned "I left him [her church minister] realizing that I had nothing more to learn from this minister."

As a minister, teacher, leader or parent, and etc. we need to keep up to the mark so as to accomplish tasks that these roles are expected to fulfill. This is very basic in the commercial world. Although it might not be so ruthless in ministry and family contexts than in the commercial world, the expectation, especially self-expectation should rightfully be there. Otherwise, the congregation, students, subordinates, or children might be stuck in a stagnant state, because not many people are as lucky as Mrs. Park to have found another better path.

Conveying blessings

According to CIG Family Pledge number 6 (see below), we are to convey Heaven's blessing to our community. Thus, does that mean we need to actively grab/win/snatch as much blessing as possible so that we can convey them to others? I don't think so. When we actively do good and position ourselves to convey blessings, Heaven's blessing will be conveyed through us to others around us.

"6. As the owner of Cheon Il Gook, our family pledges to embody God and True Parents; we will perfect a family which moves heavenly fortune and conveys Heaven's blessing to our community, by centering on true love."

Who will be the Next US President?

The next President will play a big role in god's providence, as the term will lead all the way to 2012-2013. It's interesting that the Democratic Party's candidates include a woman (Mrs Clinton, wife of the infamous former US President), and a Black (Mr Obama).

I see a classic fight between "Good and Evil" here, Obama is more the "Abel" type relatively speaking. Clinton is more politically connected, more $$$, more experience but alas her moral character / motivation is questionable.

Obama started as an underdog, but has surprised everyone with his showing so far.

US is voting today (Super Tuesday) to select the respective candidate from each party. As with any Good vs Evil type of fight, it has been a very very close match between Clinton and Obama.

Results will be out tonight.. and my bet is on Obama.

CARP Core Values

CARP Core Values

1. Living for the Greater Good

I. Aligns oneself with the vision, values and goals.
II. Invests in people who increase our value.
III. Multiplies value: Taking creative action to increase the value.
IV. Shares best practices across the organization.

2. Ownership

I. Responsibility: Trusted to make a personal commitment to stated and expected goals.
II. Accountability: Answerable for the execution and outcomes of stated and expected goals.
III. Initiative: Exhibits leadership by being proactive and solving problems.
IV. Strive: Passion and conviction to execute one’s stated and expected goals.
V. Execute

3. Teamwork

I. Mentors: Personally guiding the growth and development of others.
II. Open-mindedness: Gives and receives feedback and new ideas constructively.
III. Respect: Recognize the merit that others bring.
IV. Energize: Inspiring passion and commitment in others.

4. Dreams Big

I. Conviction
II. Aspires to challenge one’s limitations
III. Results Oriented
IV. Expertise-Driven

Become a model

I wish to share my thoughts on speeches rather than just copy and paste, but this few paragraphs are very clear and parallel to my own thoughts. So, I just pasted it here:

"Everyone here has parents and teachers, and you also have the leader of your nation. Correct? These are things everyone undeniably needs. However, when compared to the true standard, there are many different levels of parents. What do you think? To what extent have you, yourself, become True Parents? In the same way, if a person is a professor at an Ivy League university such as Harvard, Yale or Columbia in the United States, or Oxford and Cambridge in England, does this mean that he or she can be called a True Teacher? Similarly, there are different types of leadership in a nation compared to the true standard of leadership. Even if someone is the president of a superpower such as the United States, does this mean he or she is a True President?

In fact, today in the family, children do not trust parents. Between spouses, there is no complete trust. Brothers and sisters also don't trust each other fully. Furthermore, students do not trust the teachers in the schools, and the people do not trust the leaders of their nation.

So the problem is, how can we attain the true standard of even one of these three most important positions of parents, teacher and leader?

When I say you should become True Parents, True Teacher or True Leader, what do you think is the highest standard or central model for those three positions? That is God. God is the True Parent among parents, True Teacher among teachers, and True King among kings. God is the Eternal True Parent, Eternal True Teacher, Eternal True Leader and King. If we are children of God, we need to become True Parents first, just like God. We should also follow the way of the True Teacher, just like God. And we need to follow the way of the True Leader, just like God. This is the idea of the three primary positions. The ultimate model is God."

PS: See glossary on the use of the word "true"

Link

Offering the Glory

Some thoughts after watching Hyung Jin Nim's Sermon, Offering the Glory, on 22 Dec 2007.

When we have, we feel at ease to give.

When we find uncomfortable to give, it implies that we don't have, or we do have but feel we don't.

Have faith therefore is to believe that we have because Heavenly Father loves us. Then, we will naturally feel at ease to give to others, to live for the betterment of the whole, to offer glory to others.

Link