High Noon Spirit Comes to the Windy City

Contributed by Rev. Hiro Sagisaka, pastor of Chicago Family Church

The Chicago Family Church invited Andrew Love, a leading member of the Pure Mind Online team, to our “Sexual Integrity Weekend” of May 20 and 21, 2017.

This was initiated by a few young members who had participated in the High Noon Summit in Las Vegas last month. All of them had had a great, enlightening experience there, but they wanted to hear a more Divine Principle-centered explanation about the problem of pornography and gain a more practical viewpoint toward it.

Using their opinions and suggestions, our Young Adult Ministry, Blessed Family Department and local pastor came together to make a plan for Pastor Love’s visit to Chicago.

After he arrived on Saturday, Andrew met with 20 young adults. He facilitated a session titled “Creating Healthy Habits before the Blessing,” in which he reminded us that the habits that we practice every day impact our immediate and future relationships.

Pornography was addressed from the understanding that this is a habit that impedes an individual’s conscience and connection to true love. For many of the young adults, it was the first time they had ever heard this issue being spoken of openly in our movement. It was a moment of allowing the light of True Parents to shine on all things we deal with, coming from the challenges faced growing up in a fallen culture and not yet perfect families. It was a healing experience, and many young adults expressed appreciation for the content. The session ended in a question-and-answer session with Andrew.

During our worship service on Sunday morning, Andrew gave a preview of his “Sexual Integrity” presentation and asked our congregation to join the afternoon meeting, when he promised to give a deeper presentation on the topic. He stated that we need to deal with this deep-rooted problem within today’s society, but he truly believes that we can find a solution. Also he clarified that our biggest problem is that our hearts are disconnected from each other. When we fully connect with each other, God’s power will work among us and the shadows will disappear. At that time, everything will be under our control. Andrew gave us the excitement and hope for liberation from those evil forces.

Reflections

“Andrew holds a clear vision to spread this principled concept of “sexual integrity.” But most importantly, Andrew gave us the means to turn back this tide of sin, not only in our own lives but also in the lives of those around us!”

“I’m so grateful for this kind of initiative event inside our church, because this has been an issue that many families (my family too) are dealing with. Also, we cannot do this by ourselves, but when all the community comes together, brothers and sisters who are really into the issue and looking for alternatives and solutions, then I think we can create a healthy, more heavenly community. So I’m so grateful. It’s such a great blessing from God.” 

“Our original desire is to love, which came from God, but it has been misused and this problem has resulted. So Andrew’s speech was so beautiful because it clarifies our original desire and how to use it correctly.”