2012 July 15 Rev Michael Jenkins LLM

Sunday Service from America

The Historic Path We Walk as We Seek To Live the Truth
Rev. Michael Jenkins

July 15, 2012

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Please be seated. I want to thank Sonic Cult and Joe for their great work to develop our music and praise, and also Kennedy and Alexis, our professional singers, who are bringing such a great spirit. Let’s give them a hand.

First, I want to thank God and True Parents, and especially our national president and senior pastor, Rev. In Jin Moon, for allowing me to be with you this morning. And I want to say hello to all the brothers and sisters in all 50 states and around the world: all our Unification family. Praise the Lord! Also I want to say a special hello to the American Clergy Leadership Conference leaders and volunteers throughout the nation. Thanks for your support and work for the clergy.

I want to say a word of thanks from my heart to Rev. In Jin Moon and her family for leading us at this time. Jin Sung Park is devoting himself 24 hours a day, serving and teaching our brothers and sisters, old and young alike, about True Parents and True Children. I’ve learned so much from him, and I pray that we can really support Rev. In Jin Moon and her family and realize that they’ve given everything to come to the front line with us. So, “Thank you, Rev. In Jin Moon and Jin Sung Park!”

Also I want to thank their eldest son, Preston. He is so kind when I relate with him. He helps me a lot to come close, and also Rexton took leadership in CARP. It’s amazing. Let’s give him a hand. Ariana teaches us ballroom dancing and the Principles of Creation. My wife and I love ballroom dancing. We’re still learning, but it’s really a joy. It’s bringing joy to all of our generations. Ariana also has taken a central role in our media and public communications, and has changed our relationship with the media. We are now having very good—and better and better—communications with the media.

Recently The Learning Channel (TLC) was going to air a beautiful documentary on our Blessing, but they had the title “Getting Married to the Moonies.” So thanks to Ariana’s efforts to strengthen the media and outreach in communications, Doug Burton and others communicated with TLC. At first, they got back and said, “Well, we’re just going to keep that title. That’s what we want to do, and it sells. It’s a juicy title.”

But then we got the clergy together. And when we go together and we start to communicate, they start to realize the Unificationists are not alone; we have incredible allies throughout every community and every faith tradition. So when TLC saw beautiful letters coming from Dr. Rouse, who is the chairman of Operation Push for New York and a great United Methodist pastor, and others, saying, “You can’t discriminate against these people of faith; do not denigrate them; they have to be called properly as Unificationists, and don’t belittle them,” that got their interest.

And then when we told them we had 15 pastors who were ready to come to their Discovery-TLC headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, that really got their attention—they felt the love of God. And without our even going to their office—now, this never happened before—without our even going to the office, they changed the title to “Reverend Moon’s Mass Marriage,” with respect, and it’s a great documentary. So thank you, Ariana, thank you, Jin Sung Park and all of our True Children and True Family.

“Called by Jesus”

I have more to say about that, but I’d like to give some personal testimony. Rev. In Jin Moon would like us to give a little testimony about our background. When I joined the church, I was in dental school. I was going to be a dentist. I wanted to save teeth—and get rich. But I prayed one night that I wouldn’t miss the Second Coming, and the next morning I met a German young lady who was a member of the church. She was very odd-looking, actually. She was very pretty, but she had buttons all over with Father’s picture. She stopped me as I was going to the bank at Ohio State University and she said, “Do you believe in God?” And I said, “Yes, but I’m only interested in the Second Coming.” And she said, “He’s here. He’s here now.” So that got my attention.

She took me inside, and I heard some lectures. It was a nice lecture room with about 50 chairs. I was the only guest. But they said, “It’s always full but it’s not full today.” Anyway, the lecturer, Rev. Ken Sudo, came out and gave me my first lectures, and it was a beautiful experience. I joined right after that. My family had a very hard time with it because they wanted me to be a dentist, and I was happy with life. But God called me in a different direction.

When I came home to my family to explain what I was doing, my father brought a Christian minister over, and we went over the Bible for about four hours. Then this minister named Rev. George Tashup got up and said to my father, “Bill, you’ve got to let him go. He’s called by Jesus.” So my father gave me a blessing and then I went and joined the church. That was a great step in my life. I’m so grateful for God and True Parents.

“God Will Respond”

I have always found this to be my experience: If you ask God, God will respond. I was in the workshops in Barrytown in 1975 when Father was opening the Unification Theological Seminary. Everybody who was a college graduate was asked to apply, so I applied. Then I saw the list of those who got accepted; my name wasn’t on the list. That was okay, but I didn’t know what it meant. Then when I looked at the list I saw that, “Oh, these are very serious men and women of God.” And I thought, “I really am curious why my name is not on the list.”

So I went to the dean and said, “What happened?” And he said, “Father didn’t even see your application because you just said, ‘If it’s the will of God,’ you’ll go to the seminary. We needed somebody who really wanted to go. So then I decided, “Well, gosh, if Father didn’t even see my application, how can God’s will be done?”

So I wrote Father a long letter and said, “I need to go.” I didn’t know why and then I said, “I’m going to fast until I hear the word from you, Father.” So I started fasting. The first day I felt so inspired, you know, “I’m doing God’s will.” The second day I felt so hungry, so I kept checking in the office every couple of hours: “Did you hear anything yet?” I’m not such a great hero, so on the third day I got too hungry, and I ate. And I felt a little bad afterward because right after I ate, the word came that I could go to the class. Through this experience, I always felt a personal relationship with Father. It was very special from that time on.

From Enemy to Family

Then when it came to the Blessing, Father encouraged us to have international marriages, so I volunteered to be blessed internationally. I did ask for a wife from Japan, and Father pushed us all forward. He called on all of us. Many of you were there. That was in the 1979 matching, and then I met my wife Reiko, Reiko-san. And it was great. We met and we both had pretty much decided from that moment. The first thing she said to me, she looked at my card and she said, “You’re a Scorpio, and so am I.” And I thought, “That’s an interesting first conversation for our Holy Blessing.” But, yes, Scorpios are known to be a little strong and strong-minded, and when you put two of them together, they sting each other a lot. But it works out in the end.

So, I’m really grateful to my family and my children, who have been very sincere about following God, True Parents, and True Children. I’m very grateful for them. Also I’m so grateful for our daughter-in-law, Irion. Our son, Miken, and Irion have a son. His name is Liam. There’s nothing like having family. Family is just great, young people. As Rev. In Jin Moon is raising the young people of our movement, raising me and everybody else, family is really where the greatest joy of God is.

One morning recently, we had our grandchild over for the night, and grandchildren really work in mysterious ways because it was 5:00 a.m. and there was no indication whatsoever that we were getting up for Hoon Dok Hae. We weren’t moving. I heard the alarm, and it kept ringing. But then the grandchild jumped in the bed. He was jumping on us, and he said, “Come on guys, let’s go.” He’s two years old. “Come on guys, let’s go.” Well, we had to get up. So that’s a beautiful experience. I’m very grateful.

But the Blessing doesn’t come easily because Father asked us to go internationally and see if we can embrace our enemy. I never thought of Japanese as my enemy because the culture we grew up in, in our generation, was long after World War II. So on the day of the matching, right afterwards, I went out to the corner on 34th and 8th Avenue. We didn’t have cell phones then. We had pay phones. From the pay phone I called my father and mother and told them, “I’m getting married.” They said, “Great, that’s great, son. What’s her name?” “Reiko Sakata.”

Then I heard this long pause. My father was in the PT boats of the U.S. Navy in World War II in the Philippines, so he fought at that time. He paused, and then suddenly goes, “Sakata? Sakata?! That’s Japanese! That’s the enemy, Son!”

Later he told me he really believed that it was a scheme. Because they were defeated in World War II and he always thinks Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans are all the same, he said, “They’re like the Chinese, Son. They plan for thousands of years what they’re going to do, so when they couldn’t beat us in World War II, they decided to send their daughters over and get our sons.” That’s what he believed.

But fortunately he was changed through the grandchildren, my sons and daughters, Reiko’s sons and daughters, and also through Reiko herself; she never got upset or angry at them. When I first brought her home, it was a very unpleasant, very painful situation when he picked us up at the airport. This was years ago before we even had started our family. We were driving home and Reiko was in the back seat. I’m in the front seat, and he’s giving the tour of Dayton, Ohio, telling her, “This is the National Cash Register Company.” Then he started yelling.

Reiko understood English, but you can imagine how she was so shy and scared about how to respond. So my father said, “Mike, she’s not speaking. She’s not speaking.” And then he started getting stronger and stronger. Looking back at the situation, I understand what was happening. It was similar to what happens sometimes when we take ministers to Namdaemun in Seoul and the Korean merchants don’t understand English. The merchants will just work with a little calculator and show you the price, but sometimes our visitors from America have a tendency to think that even though the people don’t understand English, if you yell at them in English, they’ll understand better. Or you speak loudly. So that’s what was happening with my father. He was speaking louder and louder and louder. It was very painful.

But God works in mysterious ways. Later we found out that when my father was an orphan, one of his most painful experiences was tied to a visit by his relatives during the Depression, when they brought him a little toy horn to play. As soon as the relatives left, the caretakers took it because no child could have any gifts because they’d all start fighting over it. That was one of his most painful memories.

So one Christmas all our children got together and bought him a little toy horn, and he cried that day. That horn is still sitting by his chair. That was very beautiful because that changed the atmosphere. So now my father tells others in our family, “You should get a Japanese wife. They are really great.” So God bless True Parents.

The Truth Revealed

Today I’d like to talk about the historic path we walk. True Father met Jesus in prayer on Easter Sunday. I’d like to take a look at Father’s autobiography. It will be on the screen and I’d like to read for you an excerpt from Father’s autobiography.

Early Easter morning, after I’d spent the entire night in prayer, Jesus appeared before me. He appeared in an instant, like a gust of wind, and said to me, “God is in great sorrow because of the pain of humankind. You must take on a special mission on earth having to do with heaven’s work.” That day I saw clearly the sorrowful face of Jesus. I heard his voice clearly. Jesus spoke clearly about the work I would have to do. His words were extraordinary, having to do with saving humanity from its suffering and bringing joy to God.

My initial response was, “I can’t do this. How can I do this? Why would you even give me a mission of such paramount importance?” I was truly afraid. I wanted somehow to avoid this mission and I clung to the hem of his clothing and wept inconsolably. My encounter with Jesus changed my life completely. His sorrowful expression was etched into my heart as if it had been branded there. I could not think of anything else.

From that day on I immersed myself completely in the word of God. On those days when my prayers and dedications connected to heaven, Jesus appeared to me without fail and conveyed special messages. If I was earnest in my desire to know something, Jesus would appear with a gentle expression and give me answers of truth. His words were always on the mark and they struck deep into my bosom like sharp arrows. These were not mere words. They were revelations about the creation of the universe that opened the door to a new world.

Isn’t that beautiful?

So our heritage, our history, comes from True Parents and God. We look at our history and we understand Father had that encounter with Jesus, and in that encounter he inherited the mantle or the mission of Jesus. He got the anointing of Jesus and of God. Also what’s beautiful there, Father says, “When my prayers and dedication connected to heaven.” Father is so humble. He didn’t say, “Every time I prayed Jesus appeared,” or “Every time I made effort, I got an answer.” No. It was like, “Wow, when my prayers and dedication connected to heaven, then Jesus would appear.”

And for years Jesus appeared and guided Father into the secret hidden meaning, the deeper meaning, of the Scriptures—the parables and symbols. In John 16:12, Jesus says, “I have yet many things to share with you but you can’t bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” Jesus promised the day would come when all truth would be made clear.

He said in John 16:25, “I have spoken to you in parables, but the time cometh when I no longer will speak to you in parables and symbols but I shall show you plainly of the father.” When that revelation started to flow to Father Moon, that was the time when everything was being made clear. The truth was now being revealed, and the parables and the symbols of the Bible can now be understood. That’s why the clergy are coming close to us and now the secrets of the Scriptures are being unfolded so we can really enter the time of the return of Christ, but also bring the whole world with us into the kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

God Answers to Prayer

Then let’s look at one of the teachings of Father based on the Scripture. I’d like to call up Matthew 22:36–40, and we’ll read from the screen. “‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’”

Father taught us so clearly that the first condition we always have to make is to love God, the Foundation of Faith. And the second condition we have to make is to love our neighbor, love our brothers and sisters. Those two conditions are more than just words and commandments. The essence of the Principle is love: Love God and love all brothers and sisters, all races and all religions.

So that’s quite an experience, to love God, to show God your love, to actually connect with God. Many times we search. Like Rev. In Jin Moon says, “The first-generation had to find God.” We had to find God. How do you find God? You ask God. If you ask God, God will respond. Just like I asked God, “God, don’t let me miss the Second Coming,” and the next day a German member appeared.

Now I’ve asked God many things, and usually I don’t get the answer that fast, but I’ve asked God different things. Brothers and sisters, especially our young people, if you ask God sincerely—just like Father kept praying to God until his prayers and dedication connected to heaven—then God will respond. And once God responds to you, it’s quite an experience when you know it’s an answer to prayer.

When I asked God to not let me miss the Second Coming and a young lady was standing on the street telling me he’s already here, nobody knew I prayed. Nobody knew I said any prayer. That’s why I knew they weren’t trying to fit in with my story or something. I prayed another prayer that night before I met our beautiful church, our Unification Church, and that second prayer I offered is the one that really got me into trouble. I said, “God, if you need me, you can count on me.” Oh, wow.

God works in mysterious ways because after I met Reverend Sudo and started hearing the presentations, I felt it was something very special, but I was going to dental school. I had exams that weekend, Friday and Monday. I had biochemistry. I had all these things going on. I was happy. I wasn’t looking to change everything. I was just looking to meet the Lord and be connected. But then suddenly they said, “You have to come to a workshop this weekend.” I said, “I can’t go to the workshop. I’ve got exams on Friday and Monday. This is impossible.”

And then Reverend Sudo, out of nowhere, slaps me on the knee and says, “Well, God needs you. Can he count on you?” So watch what you pray for. But that touched me, and that’s why I could come forward.

The Foundation of Faith and the Foundation of Substance

So we have the Foundation of Faith: Love God. Jesus taught, love God and love your neighbor. The Foundation of Substance that Father teaches is the same: Love your neighbor, love brothers and sisters, love each other. That is not a restorational principle. It’s the principle of creation. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were to fulfill the Foundation of Faith. They were to love God, and they were to take his word, his commandment, and believe and obey it. And in loving and obeying his commandment they would perfect their love; they would perfect themselves; and when the time came in which they were mature, then they would receive God’s blessing and build a beautiful family.

The Foundation of Substance was part of that obedience of the commandment, “Don’t eat the fruit,” which meant “Don’t share love prematurely.” Adam and Eve first were to bring the Foundation of Substance between their mind and body, with the mind believing God, God’s commandment. But you’ve got to live it. The Foundation of Substance means that you have to substantially live the truth. When the truth is lived, it comes alive. Truth just as truth has power, but when it’s lived, it really comes alive.

That’s why we find that many historic teachers and preachers, when they’re really living the truth, can plant that seed deeply. That’s why Rev. In Jin Moon can plant the seed. If you’re living the truth, then you have a different power when you speak the truth. That’s why Father’s words will never perish. They’ll never go away. They’re going to continue to rise. That’s why when Father proclaimed that the Berlin Wall was going to fall down and communism will fall—even though when he said that word, nobody believed it—suddenly a couple of years later it fell down. That’s because he’s living the word, and he is the word. Amen.

So Adam and Eve were to live that word. For the Foundation of Substance, they were bringing mind and body together. But also what else were they to do to make the Foundation of Substance? They were to be one together as the subject partner pair, and they were to bring all the creation into harmony. They were to love all the creation. All the creation was to come under their dominion—the mosquitoes, the seas, the fish, everything. Most importantly, the angels were to come under their dominion.

The angels were to come under their dominion of love, and that’s where the problem came. Lucifer came up with his own self-centered idea, but Lucifer wasn’t given the commandment, was he? Adam and Eve were given the commandment. So Lucifer had his own selfish ideas, but he was immature. He was not a mature angel. The creation cannot become perfected without humankind. So think about that.

That’s why it says in Romans 8:19, “The creation groans in travail, having been subjected to futility.” It is groaning, waiting for the revealing of the children of God, the liberation of the children of God. Why? Because when God’s true sons and daughters come alive, as they are now, and God starts to dwell with men and women again, then the creation will be liberated and will be used properly. We’ll use atomic power for love, giving energy and power to all of our world and not using it to hurt others.

Foundation of Faith and Foundation of Substance: These were the two principles. And what’s interesting is the teaching of Jesus that on these two laws, love God and love people, hang all the law and the prophets. Isn’t that amazing? Everything in the Bible revolves around those two principles. That’s why you find every single story in the Bible has a story of someone making an offering of a foundation of faith, loving God; and then a foundation of substance, loving a brother or sister.

Abel and Cain. Abel made an offering. Abel and Cain didn’t love each other. Abel didn’t love Cain properly and Cain left his proper role. God told Cain in the Bible, “If you do well, you’ll be accepted. If you don’t do well, sin is couching at your door. But your holy assignment, Cain, is to rule over him.” It says that in the Bible. “You’re to rule over him.” “Sin is couching at the door. His desire is for you but you must rule over him.”

Cain had a holy assignment. He wasn’t bad. He had a holy assignment to checkmate the rumors and the bad news that Lucifer was trying to spread around. But instead Cain didn’t listen to God. And he didn’t keep his role. But also what made it worse, right after that they went and had a conversation? In the Bible we see that Abel and Cain talked and the next thing, Cain killed Abel. Now I’m going to ask you a question. “Do you think they had a good talk?” No. It wasn’t a good talk. So Abel didn’t love.

“Love Is the Key”

Father’s teaching is always the commandments: Love God and love others. Love. Love is the power. Love is the key. It’s the whole essence of everything in the Bible. The successful story in the Bible is when Jacob loved Esau. That’s the most beautiful story. Jacob gave everything he had for Esau and bowed to the ground seven times for his brother. Then they reconciled and they wept. He gave everything that he had gotten from 21 years of difficulty in Haran, and when he gave it all to Esau, his brother, who wanted to kill him, like Cain wanted to kill Abel. What happened? They wept.

And then Jacob was very humble. He didn’t walk in boastfully, saying, “I’m proud, and I’ve got the blessing.” He actually walked in before Esau, saying, “Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God.” That was a most beautiful moment. And then they reconciled and came together. And then there was no family story any more in the Bible. Every family centers on Jacob’s family because that family completed family restoration.

Then Jacob and Esau united, but Jacob had 12 sons, and from those came the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus came from the fourth son of Jacob, named Judah. So then Jesus came and we see the Foundation of Faith and Substance all over again. John the Baptist was supposed to make a foundation of faith and trust God. And then he also was supposed to be in a position to embrace the Israelites and bring them to unite with Jesus.

The Unfulfilled Mission of John the Baptist

In another way, when we look at it, John was the older cousin of Jesus, wasn’t he? And Jesus’ mother, Mary, was the cousin of Elizabeth, John’s mother. When Mary and Elizabeth came together, Elizabeth said, “Behold, Mary, you are the mother of my Lord,” and the baby John jumped in her womb. He was six months along. And then Mary stayed with Zechariah and the seed came from heaven and Jesus was conceived. We know how that seed came from heaven. God doesn’t only work through the spirit. There has to be a physical body to plant that seed, so you put two and two together, and you understand that Zechariah had a very special role in God’s providence.

Zechariah’s family was to protect Jesus because Zechariah had authority. He had the authority in Israel to keep the Pharisees on the right track. Zechariah was well respected. Then when John the Baptist came up, he, too, was a powerful man of God. He could tell the Pharisees that they were a bunch of snakes. When he heard Jesus’ words, and when God spoke to him saying, “This is the Son of God, my Son with whom I am well pleased,” John knew who Jesus was. It was clear. He testified to Jesus. But the problem finally was with John himself—he didn’t stay with Jesus. He kept doing his own thing.

He went back to baptizing, got involved with Herod’s house, and ended up losing his head over it. His head was cut off because he left Jesus. If you leave, thinking you’re going to go do God’s work and not stay with the Messiah, you’re going to end up not understanding the Messiah because the messiah is not stationary. The messiah is always moving forward, giving new words and new understandings. There’s new advancement. Therefore, even though John knew who he was at that moment, because he left and didn’t stay around—he didn’t do Hoon Dok Hae with Jesus—he lost his way.

John was absolutely sure he was doing God’s will. But he ended up dying in a situation in which his last word to Jesus, his last message, was, “Are you the one who should come or should we look for somebody else?” That’s sad, isn’t it? This is the one whom God prepared. If John had stood up with Jesus, all of Israel would have followed. But because John didn’t stand up, then Jesus couldn’t make his family.

“Betrayed into the Hands of Sinners”

There was one other chance for Jesus to make the family, to complete restoration. Jesus did restore Adam, and all of this restoration is re-creation, or just going back to the Principle of Creation. Adam and Eve were to love God, love creation, and bring oneness, vertically and horizontally. Jesus completely fulfilled vertically his Adam’s role. But now he had to be supported. And the second chance for that was at Gethsemane. Remember the three disciples who were praying? Jesus asked them to stay awake and pray with him, but they couldn’t stay awake. He prayed, “God, let this cup pass.”

The cup that was to pass was the cross. It was death on the cross. Why would Jesus pray, “Let this cup pass?” Because Jesus was not supposed to take the cup of the cross. He was not supposed to die. He was supposed to create a true family, to marry and to create the heavenly kingdom through the blessed central family. But unfortunately, John had gone his own way, and also the three disciples slept in Gethsemane. Jesus came back after he prayed, “God, let this cup pass from me,” and they were sleeping. Then he said, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

And he said, “Stay awake!” He didn’t ask them, “Please help me out.” He gave them a command: “Stay awake!” And he prayed again, “Father, if it’s your will that I go this way, thy will be done. Not my will, but thy will.” Then he came back, and for the third time he found them asleep again.

Then he proclaimed, “Behold, the Son of Man is now”—at that moment—“betrayed into the hands of sinners.” Why? If you read Father’s words, you get even more insight into the Principle because Father’s words expand on the deeper meaning of the Principle and the Bible. Why was it a betrayal? Why at that moment was Jesus betrayed into the hands of sinners? Because those three disciples in Gethsemane represented the three archangels. And when those three archangels couldn’t stand with Jesus then there was no protection, there was no foundation to support him, and therefore he had to recreate the foundation.

That’s why history comes full circle now when True Parents arrive. Father in his autobiography testifies that Jesus gave him the words over 10 years. But then Father had to live it, prove it, and realize it—and True Parents then walked this path of restoring everything that was lost for the last 6,000 years. But it’s important to know that Father never leaves anything behind.

The restoration course was done by True Parents. We’re now in the settlement course. We’re now in a new age, but what about that restoration course? If we understand these restoration principles, we can understand how Father is working because nothing happens by chance. Everything is either restoration or settlement. Those two principles are working at all times.

Loving Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung

When Father proclaimed that communism would fall down, he didn’t proclaim that just because he had a prayer. He set the condition to love the central figure of the evil kingdom of the communist empire. First he went to Mikhail Gorbachev. That was an impossible situation—to set up a meeting for Father with Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the president of the Soviet Union. That time, brothers and sisters – you younger people can study it in history – was an amazing time because the Soviet Union was gobbling up countries, left and right. America was in turmoil. Nobody believed the Soviet Union was going to lose power and collapse. When Father proclaimed that years before, nobody believed it.

But Father knew he was going to set the condition of loving and embracing the enemy. So, in fact, through the proper conditions, Father was able to meet President Gorbachev. And the most amazing thing is, on Christmas Day of all days, in the year 1990 Gorbachev stood up and announced the dissolution of the Soviet empire. I thought he picked a nice day to do that—on Christmas Day, when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Through love then you take the power away from the kingdoms of the evil world.

Then Father went to meet Kim Il Sung, and the same kind of thing was being played out. It was impossible. It was much, much more dangerous. It was absolutely impossible. But Father went and embraced him; Father was courageous in that moment when he went there. The first thing Father shared with the representatives before he knew if he could meet Kim Il Sung was, “You have to tell your leader that he’s got to stop teaching this false teaching, because God exists.”

Now imagine, Father goes into the North Korea, which is such a completely closed empire that no country can affect anything going on inside there. Nobody could protect True Parents. But True Parents were there, and Father courageously cried out, “You have to teach that God exists.” So the representative there said, “You’re not going to meet the Great Leader. Forget it.” And everybody who was with Father and Mother thought, “We may be executed. This may be our course if we can’t reconcile, if we can’t win Kim Il Sung.”

Because of Father’s courage, when Kim Il Sung heard Father’s message, Kim Il Sung said, “I want to meet this man who would come into my house, when I have all power over his physical life, and he would tell me I’m wrong.” That’s courage.

Brothers and Sisters, when you speak the truth courageously, you may suffer, but God’s kingdom will advance greatly. Speak the truth because Father showed that example time and again. So the Foundation of Substance is a deep thing that Father practices. It’s not just a theory. Love God, and love your neighbor.

Signing the Jerusalem Declaration

Then Father sent the ministers over to Israel after they had taken down the cross. The whole idea was that the ministers were the younger brothers. Christianity is the younger brother to Judaism. So Father directed us to go to Israel, embrace the rabbis, and ask them to sign the Jerusalem Declaration that said they were sorry for not having loved Jesus.

That doesn’t sound like a big deal, does it? But I know that for many of the brothers and sisters who worked on that, it was a big deal—because for the rabbis, it’s a deep thing. We know that out of that whole separation between the younger brother and the elder brother, so many breakdowns occurred, and Jews were persecuted throughout history. They fear the cross. They fear Christians. They fear they’re going to be betrayed. So asking them to come into a primarily Christian gathering and sign a document, the Jerusalem Declaration, was not simple.

But the Christians had made the condition of taking down the cross, proclaiming that Jesus wasn’t supposed to die, but his victory was the resurrection. So on that basis the Jews were interested. That’s the reason they met us. We had 120 Christians and 120 Jewish folks, and they came. The only reason they met us is because the Christians took down the cross. That’s Father’s wisdom. If we hadn’t taken down the cross, they wouldn’t have met us. We would have been just another do-gooder Christian group that wants to come and say they love everybody. But these were Christian ministers who took down the cross from their churches, and the rabbis were curious: “What can this be?”

So then we went there, and Bishop Stallings was the one who gave the testimony. He repented first as a Christian that we haven’t loved our Jewish family properly over the last 2,000 years. We allowed much suffering to come to them because we didn’t do our job as Christians to protect them. And that moved Rabbi Bar-Dea to sign the Jerusalem Declaration. But he asked for one thing. He said, “I’ll sign if my brother, Sheik Manasrah, will sign.” And we saw right before our eyes what Father told us: “When Jews and Christians come together, the Muslims will come, too.” We saw it. Suddenly Sheik Manasrah from Nazareth just walked up and signed. That’s the Foundation of Substance. It was done by True Parents. It was amazing.

Marching in God’s Direction

So now we’re marching to Foundation Day, January 13, 2013—that’s the lunar calendar January 13th. The solar calendar date, I believe, is February 22. That’s the day Father calls D-Day. That’s really the essential realization of the Kingdom of God on Earth. What does that mean?

Let’s look at that quickly as we go to our conclusion. We’re in a 12-year period of Cheon Il Guk. We’re in the twelfth year of preparing for the Kingdom of God on Earth. In that first year of Cheon Il Guk, what did Father do? He had the coronation for God. Father actually organized the coronation for God. Nobody in history had ever crowned God king of all kings. It was a beautiful ceremony; all of us came together from all races and religions, and Father and Mother crowned God as the king of all kings.

And then as we went on through each year of Cheon Il Guk, amazing things happened. On May 5, 2004, Father suddenly proclaimed that this was the day after the coming of heaven. May 5, 2004, was the turning point. Suddenly, somehow, through the unity of True Parents, the perfection of their love had come to a place where they could step into the Kingdom of Heaven, and True Children could walk with them as True Family. And we’re walking with them, too, only by condition. Father and Mother, from God’s point of view, have entered the Kingdom of Heaven. That day is when things really started to turn in God’s direction.

“God Will Dwell with Us Forever”

When we heard the proclamation that, “The Kingdom of Heaven is going to be revealed on May 5, 2004,” it may have seemed like other times when Father made proclamations but we didn’t see anything different. In fact, it seemed like things got harder. But actually from God’s point of view, True Parents became more secure, more complete as the dwelling of God, as the temple of God. Then Father established Cheon Jeong Gung, the dwelling place of God. That was based on three generations of True Family: True Parents, True Children and True Grandchildren and their blessings. Because those three-generational blessings could occur in early 2006, when there was a world tour, then Father could open and dedicate on June 13, 2006, Cheon Jeong Gung, the heavenly palace.

The heavenly palace is not an average palace, believe me, because Father said from that day on God permanently will dwell on earth forever. God will never leave the earth ever again.

Where does God dwell? He dwells in True Parents permanently. When God dwelled in Jesus, he could live there all the time, full time. But when God dwelled in Isaiah or the prophets, yes, he could come in, give an inspiring word, but then Isaiah would have a funny thought and then God would have to leave. If your temple’s not clean, God can’t stay there. So the only time God could actually permanently dwell on earth before was with Jesus.

If we think about God, we think, “God can see everything.” Actually, it’s only through the physical temple that he can really experience things. Let me ask you, “Would you rather go to Hawaii or see a video? Which is better?” You’ve got to go there and feel the surf with your body. Your body is the instrument through which you really experience truth and love.

Therefore, God couldn’t even experience the waves of the ocean or the smell of a spring breeze before Jesus because there was no one he could safely live in. And then Jesus had to go the way of the cross. Therefore, God had to withdraw. He could give revelation and inspiration only through people who were really following God.

But then True Parents came, and when True Parents completed the process to become the dwelling place and the living temple of God, that was unbelievable. That’s why everything opens up because God can now truly dwell permanently on the earth. God will dwell with us forever. That’s the meaning of the Cheon Jeong Gung. The essential part is also that True Children are now coming into the position of perfect inheritance, where they also must become the true and perfect temples of God.

The Roles of the True Children

That’s why in August 2008, Father appointed Rev. In Jin Moon as the chairman of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in America. That was something unexpected. We didn’t understand what Father was doing. Then later, in March, Father appointed her president and CEO of the Unification Church of America, and absolutely from that moment on Rev. In Jin Moon has walked that path. Think about that. It’s almost four years since she was appointed chairman. Three years have gone by already successfully since she was appointed president.

What does it mean to stand in those kinds of providential roles? Believe me, everything possible comes at central figures to try to move them into a situation where they can’t fulfill. But I have seen how Father is trusting Rev. In Jin Moon more and more, and Father is absolutely standing behind True Children. Because where else are True Parents going to go? They have to expand through True Children. Because that’s the true lineage of God. That’s the lineage that directly receives True Parents’ seed and element. And then we’re grafted in. But the second-generation is not grafted in. You’re born into it. That’s why for you to relate with True Children is a very different kind of relationship.

That’s why on January 15, 2009, Father reordered heaven. He also did another coronation of God, and he anointed Rev. Hyung Jin Moon as the inheritor of Father’s role. Father conducted the ceremony three times: January 15th in Korea, January 31th in Seoul, and then in America all on the same day, two times on the same day. So then Rev. Hyung Jin Moon took on this incredible position with his wife Yeon Ah Moon to really, truly grow into being the temple of God. And each one of the True Children is walking that path.

Who are True Children? Jin Sung Park has taught us a lot that helps. But actually who are True Children? I don’t understand many things; I can share that honestly. But I can tell you this. Do you think it would be easy to relate with Jesus? Nobody understood Jesus. His family didn’t understand him. It was very difficult to understand heaven’s representative.

True Children are born into a status that’s even greater than Jesus’ position and substance because they are inheritors of True Parents’ victory and also they come from the True Family. They’re already standing on the foundation of True Parents’ absolute victory on every level. So then, if you really understand, you should relate to True Children knowing that their position, their spirit, and their real essence are greater than what Jesus had when he walked the earth.

So we shouldn’t relate casually. We shouldn’t relate like, “Well, I think I know, Jesus, what you should be doing. Why are you doing this, Jesus? Don’t talk that way in the Sermon on the Mount.” That’s why when True Children are expanding this foundation, Father is going into settlement. That’s why this is absolutely the Kingdom of God on Earth.

I want to share with you from my heart. I will give my life, my fortune and my sacred honor to support Rev. In Jin Moon all the way to Cheon Il Guk. I’ll give my life and fortune and sacred honor to support Kook Jin Moon, to support Rev. Hyung Jin Moon. They need us to be properly in our hearts ready to sacrifice everything. Why? Because this is the path of the Principle. This is the proper order of Heaven. This is what Father is expecting of us: to stand as a true family together, united as one; to stand as one blessed family movement to march into Cheon Il Guk.

Are you ready? I absolutely see the Kingdom coming, without question. Father has asked us to make the Foundation of Faith. How do we make the Foundation of Faith? We’re actually doing the Foundation of Faith in creation and we’re supposed to take in the word daily through Hoon Dok Hae. We have to read Father’s words. We have to study Father’s words and receive the words of True Children, receive God’s words, and strengthen our spirit. By taking in the word of God, you strengthen your spirit. You change.

Ephesians 5:26 says, “When you take in God’s word, it washes you.” So we are cleansed, Ephesians says, by the washing of the water of God’s word. We’re washed by God’s word, taking in the word daily. Father doesHoon Dok Hae so much; it’s unbelievable. The word is so precious. That’s why Father gave us the Original Substance of Divine Principle.

Loving Others More Than Yourself

What’s going to happen on D-Day? True Parents are going to have the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. True Parents are going to have the marriage of God. Why? Because the masculine and feminine absolute embodiment of God has been fulfilled and now when True Parents come together in marriage, it’s going to be the actual sanctification of God’s own marriage. When True Parents come together in true love is the first time in history God could share love between his own masculine and feminine portions. Absolute sexual morality is the meaning of coming together in true love.

How do we come together? With love for one another. We have to come together with no one pulling too much on one side or the other. The man cannot be demanding all the time that “I want love.” And the woman or the bride has to be sensitive to the man. But how do we come together in the middle? The only way to do that is if we’re more worried about how our spouse feels than about how we feel.

Father’s telling us that through that course we become perfected. Actual sexual love is the most beautiful completion of the unity and the actual manifestation of God because when we come together as one, perfectly in the center as True Parents do, God comes and dwells with us in the most precious moment. God’s presence is stronger when there’s a union between his masculine and feminine than at any other time. We’re working on it.

Sometimes it’s not easy because men are seed-sowers. Men are always ready, most of the time. Father said not too long ago that because it’s an urgent situation, we should make love only 13 times a day. Because it’s urgent, we should cut back! But that’s how God feels. We should be making love all the time. I like that idea.

But actually it doesn’t really mean what it seems to say. We take things so literally. I’m sure there are a lot of men who showed up after that speech and said, “Hey, Father said.” It doesn’t work that way. You can’t use the law to win your spouse; you have to use love. Love is greater than the Principle. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. That’s Ephesians 5. So the secret to winning your wife is you have to love her more than yourself. You have to love her and give yourself for her.

Husbands, sometimes it’s not easy because you’re excited, you’re ready. Something happens when you jump in bed. I don’t know what happens. I can be so tired that I can hardly make it to the bed. I crawl into bed and then suddenly, boom, my eyes go open, and I’m ready for the Principle of Creation. And many husbands know that experience.

But our wives have worked all day. They have cooked the meals, cleaned up, done everything, and then two words come back sometimes. “I’m tired.” Husbands, love your wives. You have to be sensitive. That’s absolute sexual morality. It means, in other words, you come to the place where you’re not pulling on one another just to have your own way. That’s the Kingdom of God.

Becoming Perfect Temples of God

So on D-Day what’s happening? D-Day is when the Kingdom of God is coming. The realization of the kingdom of God is coming on the earth. That’s the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. That’s why we’re all going to be re-blessed on January 13, 2013. We’re all going to prepare ourselves now through the OSDP, through the Principle, and through Rev. In Jin Moon’s sermons—through the word of God. We’re going to prepare ourselves to become perfect temples of God, aren’t we?

The Kingdom of Heaven doesn’t come with signs to be observed. It’s not external. It’s internal. The Kingdom of Heaven is when we really are the dwelling place of God. Just think if all of a sudden you had God in you 24-7, every word you spoke was God’s word, every thought you had was God’s thought. How beautiful that would be!

That’s why Father has asked us to make the Foundation of Substance. How are we supposed to make the Foundation of Substance as we’re settling into the Kingdom? How do we make the Foundation of Substance? Our international president has asked us to bring 12 spiritual children to Lovin’ Life Minisries. Why do we bring 12? It’s not just to multiply numbers. It’s so we all grow.

That’s why Jesus had to have 12. He had to have 12 because, through that, he could grow. When you can bring 12, you can love all the different representations of humanity. So everybody should find 12 that they can bring closer to God. And, young people, as you’re training, you can do that, too. Bring friends and brothers and sisters. When you bring them in and they become connected to God, you grow by loving them.

“Become Jesus”

The clergy were asked to do the same thing. Father gave a speech right after the 172 went to Korea, and it was so beautiful. Father suddenly said, “You have to become Jesus.” And then next he said, “You have to have 12 come to the OSDP.” Father wasn’t just looking for external numbers. Father wanted them to really become Jesus. He said, if President Obama became Jesus, America would turn and in three months you’d see incredible spiritual phenomena, change for good fortune for America. Then within three years America’s economic and war problems would all be solved.

That’s why “become Jesus” means not to become Jesus who died on the cross. It means to become one with God, one with True Parents. That’s why Father said that the ministers have to bring 12. And they’ve been struggling to bring 12. It’s not easy. Mrs. Rev. Tanya Edwards and Bishop Edwards have been bringing all their relatives. It was so amazing the other day because they brought her mother and they brought members of their church. Bishop Stallings has been bringing members of his church. The ministers are all out there, bringing members.

I saw what happened when Bishop Sykes got Father’s words, and he was scared. He was scared to bring people to the OSDP. But suddenly he said, “Well, Father said to do it.” So he decided, “I’m going to risk it.” He was afraid to bring his members to the OSDP because “They might get negative. They might be scared there’s too much truth here. I don’t think I want to bring them.”

But he brought his people, and they had a great experience, and then they multiplied to 28. Now that church is really a Lovin’ Life-, a Unification movement church. It really is. It’s a family church of God because everybody’s blessed, and they’re really coming along. Amen. It’s exciting.

Rev. Tanya Edwards has many Christian ancestors who are very famous, and some are coming. Then suddenly her brother came to the OSDP and he was really kicking and fighting. He’s a pastor. Then Mrs. Edwards came to me the other day and said, “I was just like my brother.” She laughed.

So it takes time. It takes time and love to bring your 12. As we bring them forward, though, another thing comes out from the OSDP. As we’re getting the clergy to come, we’re also getting brothers and sisters to come. Then Father gave us a goal of 13,000. Twelve thousand was the original; that’s 12 disciples, right? Then he added one for Jesus, 13. So 13,000 have to come. Six thousand have completed now.

The Youth, the Elders and the Clergy

An amazing thing happened when these clergy started coming forward. We realized that we could not do it just with the clergy. It has to be done with our brothers and sisters together. When the clergy come to the conference and they see our elder Unificationists who are so experienced in the Principle and so wise in understanding the new wine of the truth, then they can talk to our elders, they can get guidance, and they become very stable.

What inspired them the most at the OSDP was seeing our young people, seeing the young people there going through the sessions with them. Then I realized, this is amazing. Our first-generation, we need leaven; we need the yeast for the bread. The yeast for us is our second-generation. They’re like the yeast. Wow. When the young people come in then our bread has power to expand. I think the first-generation, we’re like bread without yeast. Without the young people we won’t expand, but with the young people we can expand.

What I also saw is that our Unification family, first- and second-generation, is like the yeast for the ministers, the yeast for Christianity. Christianity can’t grow without us. It can’t even expand into the Kingdom now. They know it, too. They can feel it. Look at the testimonies of our second-generation when they came to these conferences.

This experience with the ACLC and the OSDP changed me a lot more than the experiences I’ve had in any other workshop. Seeing the ministers had a bigger impact on me than I could imagine. More specifically, the importance of Jesus’ foundation sunk into me for the first time and why Father’s so strong about reaching Christianity. As a second-generation in the Unific

God Bless You!