A Message on Tribal Messiahship

In early November, Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Continental Director of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU North America) visited the Las Vegas Family Church and Los Angeles Family Church where he shared a few words of wisdom with the gathered congregations. He spoke about True Mother’s instruction on Tribal Messiahship and its relevance within the Unification community. Read Dr. Kim’s full messages below:

Las Vegas

On Friday, November 7, Unificationists gathered at the Las Vegas Family Church to discuss and share methods of growing the church community. There Dr. Kim gave a detailed speech on the following topics:

• A reminder of True Mother’s goal for each person to witness to 430 couples and guide them to receive the Holy Marriage Blessing
• An invitation to the two-week witnessing workshop in Las Vegas on December 21, 2014 – January 1, 2015, which will unite young Unificationists from Japan, Korea and America in outreach activities
• An analysis of the recent midterm elections and True Father’s vision to get America to stand up for the sake of God
• A call to remember and revive True Father’s strong desire to save this nation
• A deeper understanding of what it means to be a Tribal Messiah and how to be mindful of a broader mission
• A recap of Brunch at the Garden on November 1, 2014 in East Garden, where over 100 Unificationists ages 18-40 gathered to share questions, concerns and ideas

Read the full message here

Los Angeles

On November 9, Dr. Kim gave the Sunday Sermon at the Los Angeles Family Church. He gave the following message on taking action to bring about change in America.

Take Action and Create Change in America

This is the second time I have come to Los Angeles this year. Even at my home church in Chicago, I have only been to one Sunday service. However, whenever I come to Los Angeles, I feel like I know everyone! Even if we don’t stop and speak personally, everyone has a smile on their face. This is a wonderful community we have here is Los Angeles. Thank you.

Can We Change America?

Do you feel this community is changing in a good way? Yes, let’s give a big hand for our effort. Many people want change. People wanted to change the government so at the recent mid-term elections, they voted for Republicans. I don’t know how this can bring about change. Seven years ago President Obama’s catchphrase was “We Can Change.” But after seven years, do you feel any change? Compared to 30 years ago, our country of America, a country blessed by God, is going downhill. Thirty years ago this country was very popular, a first-class country and Democratic world that everybody sought. Everybody looked up to and liked America.

Early this year I went to Uruguay with Sun Jin Moon, our Director General of FFWPU International, and her husband for a small Universal Peace Federation (UPF) conference. I met a former president of Uruguay and he testified about the greatness of America’s independence. In South America the small nations really admired and supported the American independence movement. South America today is really strong, but they are struggling because America is struggling.

Taking Action

I just came back from Korea two weeks ago, where there was an International Leaderships Conference as well as an International Tribal Messiahship rally. We had 20,000 people from Korea, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines and discussed how we can fulfill True Father’s last will of tribal messiahship. How can we practice tribal messiahship in our daily life? This is our priority today. We need to think about that and prepare for it. True Parents already shared about what to do and how to do it. We are only missing one thing: action. Action is the most critical area even if we understand everything. We understand the Divine Principle, the Bible and other Scripture, but we are forgetting to follow this with action. That’s why we couldn’t understand how meaningful True Parents’ message is.

This morning I’d like to briefly share about how can we get to what we call Cheon Il Guk, God’s Kingdom. True Father, True Mother and all families around world have been working towards it. How can we get there together? Change is not easy. It’s very hard to change our habits and our church activities. Even though True Parents are really looking for the next generation in leadership, first generation Unificationists are leading our movement around the world. How can we change this to have more young Unificationists in leadership? This is our main mission today.

When we study American religious history, we see that 240 years ago our founding fathers committed to finding a God-centered nation, a life or death search. When True Father came to America in 1965, he came with the same desire in the same life or death situation. He not only came to share about God’s message but had a clear determination and commitment about acting on it. In 1984 when he testified before the Senate committee in Washington, D.C., he said, “God sent me to America to save this country.”

Within three years, True Father really brought this country back to God’s side. This is True Father’s commitment. Think about Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. He went through a public course for only three years. What was his message? Love your enemy. When True Father came to America in 1965, he committed his first three years bringing this country to God and he blessed this land traveling for 43 days and establishing Holy Grounds in 55 cities across the nation. This was his commitment. When he came back to America again in 1971 with True Mother, he asked how he could awaken this country to become a God-centered nation. He said it was struggling, losing and communists were attacking this country. Within three years he really wanted to make change happen.

Then from 1972-1973, True Father went on a speaking tour, first in eight cities, then 21 cities, and later on 32 cities and a 50-state speaking tour. These messages were given to awaken this country and address the responsibility of Christianity and the Christian people. This was True Father’s core message. Do you know how many times True Father and True Mother gave public speeches? Since 1972 and until two years ago before True Father’s Seonghwa (Ascension), they gave 367 public speeches around America. And that is just America! They didn’t only go to big cities, but small cities too. This is heart of True Parents: to awaken the people of America, awaken the government and bring everyone back to God’s side. When True Father met President Eisenhower, he talked with him for over 40 minutes on the importance of changing America.

We are now struggling, internally and externally. This government is also in crisis, but we don’t have any answers. Do Republicans have the answers? Do Democrat have answers? Where can we get the answers? The only answer should and must come from God and the Messiah. Last week I was in Washington, D.C. and met Tom McDevitt, the chairman of the Washington Times, and Michael Jenkins. We discussed that even though Republicans won over this nation, they cannot drive this nation toward God’s direction.

Two years ago when we celebrated Foundation Day, many people were looking for remarkable external change. But we didn’t see it. We have to make it ourselves. When we unite, we can make it. We can find the way to go and we know very clearly what kind of kingdom it will be.

The early Christians who lived during the Roman Empire had to go through 390 years of persecution until they were free to teach about Jesus Christ. It took 390 years after Jesus’ death. Do you want to wait until 400 years after True Father ascended to spirit world to be recognized as heavenly soldiers? In 400 years how many generations were struggling to be recognized by the government and the people? True Father said that America is the outcome of the 2,000 years after Jesus’ crucifixion. Not Europe, not the world, but America. True Father came to the United States to save this country through saving Christianity because this country was founded with that spirit. We all understand very clearly about the principle by which this nation America was founded. This is the reason why True Father and True Mother are trying to go into the Roman Empire and the worldwide Providence of Restoration, just as Jesus had.

In 1974, the speech that True Father gave at Madison Square Garden was about awakening Christianity. Then in 1976 True Father spoke at Yankee Stadium, saying that he had come to save this country in the position of a doctor and of a firefighter. On September 18, 1976, True Father spoke at the Washington Monument, telling the audience that his mission was to awaken America and that God had asked him to bring the American young people back to God’s side.

If you think about these three public rallies of True Father and his messages, you might ask, “Why did True Parents spend 40 years in the United States and not in other countries, such as Japan or Korea?” True Father often said that God’s chosen nation is America. The United States must be on the front line and in the position of forefathers leading Korea, Japan and the rest of the world. Americans don’t want to copy or follow others; we want to lead other peoples and nations.

This is the spirit that God cultivated in the United States for the last 240 years. True Father and True Mother came on that foundation, and for another 40 years they cultivated that kind of culture. America, you are the chosen nation; please lead the world for the sake of God. Please remember, we are very clear on what to do and how to do it. We can also learn many lessons from True Parents’ messages and Scripture on this.

Lessons from History

God blessed Israel. The Israelites went through a lot of suffering for 400 years. Moses, the Israelites’ greatest leader, took 600,000 families marching forward into Canaan, the land that God had blessed for them. Whenever they failed to make a condition, they had to wander another 40 years, and another 40 years. At last even Moses himself could not enter God’s blessed land. Joshua and Caleb inherited the mission to lead the Israelites to cross the sea and arrive at Canaan, based on the direction of our Heavenly Parent.

Though they all arrived in the land of Canaan that God had blessed, their land was occupied by some other tribes. They had to kill them, down to the last person, in order to build a new land and a new culture there. The younger Israelites, after entering Canaan, had to unite with God’s directions as given by Joshua and Caleb. But these younger Israelites, instead of listening to their leaders, Joshua and Caleb, worshiped the Canaan tribe’s god, whose name was Baal. Instead of God, who had blessed them and prepared this land, the Israelites were worshiping Baal.

This was a big problem. How could they worship the other god instead of God who loved them and who practiced kingship for the sake of Israel? Joshua and Caleb were over 80 by then. The younger generations hadn’t experienced multiple 40 years wilderness courss. They didn’t know how much God had protected them, how God had led them to Canaan.

Joshua urgently called all the tribal leaders and urged them, “We are in danger now. Everyone, we must awake and worship God. Not Baal.”

I really feel like that is our situation today. We are in an urgent situation. But we are very blessed, because we have True Mother, who is really investing for the sake of the coming generations. The owner of Cheon Il Guk is not God. The owners of Cheon Il Guk are me, you, and our Unificationist families. We are the owners of God’s Kingdom. This is a great teaching by True Father and True Mother.

The younger Israelites, even though they heard the urgent call, didn’t listen to Joshua. They went their own way. So the settlement of Canaan was not successful. God moved forward, discarding this providential era and started a new era. We can learn some lessons here.

First, they didn’t listen to God’s direction. Instead of worshiping God, they worshiped Baal. And they couldn’t spread their culture to the Canaanites. Last, but not least, they lacked education. The first generation of Israelites should have told the younger Israelites, “This is our God, who protected us over the past 120 years during the wilderness course.” They should have tried to implant the spirit of God in their community and families. They didn’t know God was for the Israelites. We can apply this to our current situation. It’s very clear. Because we have True Parents, we can overcome all of these things. Let’s give True Parents a big hand, in heaven and on earth.

True Parents Came on a Great Foundation

Earlier I mentioned the early Christians during the Roman Empire. They persevered through persecution, and finally the Roman Empire recognized Christianity. First, all the disciples of Jesus were very clear about Jesus: “My teacher Jesus is the Messiah, the savior of this land and the world.” They had absolute faith in that belief. They didn’t have money, they didn’t have manpower; only a few disciples had that kind of commitment: Jesus is the Messiah, our savior. And they multiplied and expanded that foundation and had many great experiences with Jesus even when he has ascended to the spirit world.

Yesterday one man testified about his wife, who is in the spirit world. He had never had any dreams or spiritual experiences with his wife since she ascended, but a few days ago, his wife appeared to him and she looked like she did when she was alive.

We need God and True Parents in the spirit world and on earth. And then we need to really live a pure life. This was the lifestyle of the early Christians under the Roman Empire. They were like a family to each other. They were one blood lineage, one family under Jesus. They really bonded together and they overcame 400 years of severe persecution.

True Parents came on a great foundation. God blessed America more than any other country. Think about the Japanese; they are the hardest-working Unificationists in the world. Actually when the Japanese come to Las Vegas and the New York Holy Ground, where True Parents spent 40 years, they are crying and crying. Japanese Unificationists come to Las Vegas twice every month; they are the most hard-working Unificationists in the world. Let’s give the Japanese a big hand.

The Unification Church was first founded in Korea in 1954. But when you study the Cheon Seong Gyeong, Pyeong Hwa Gyeong and Cham Bumo Gyeong scriptures, you can see that True Father said God told him to go to America even before he founded the Unification Church in 1954. I was shocked when I read this. Even though True Father had no foundation, God had already prepared this land, America.

We have a great foundation here in the United States. God implanted our portion of responsibility, and we must multiply and reap the fruit from True Parents’ foundation. We have the New Yorker, the Manhattan Center, and Belvedere and East Garden, such precious land. No one has that kind of foundation, not even Korea. I was in Japan in October celebrating the 55th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Unification Church. One department director was saying, “In Las Vegas we are building the International Peace Education Center. All the funds for the construction have been coming from Japan.” This department director suggested that the donors’ names be engraved on the walls of the peace center, and he gave me a USB flash drive with the donors’ names. I asked him how many persons’ names were there. I expected 1,000 or 2,000. He said 30,000 Japanese Unificationists had made a donation for the Las Vegas Providence. Internally I was crying, thinking, “This is the heart of Japan.” We cannot claim that Americans and the American church own this. So please, support this project.

True Mother will be coming to Las Vegas in early December and bringing many young Unificationists from Japan and Korea. Around 300 Unificationist-born young people will come from Korea, Japan and the United States. In addition, some Unificationist-born young professionals will come, even those who are far away from the church. True Parents really want to embrace them. They want to hear their story and tell them about God’s story. This is the motivation with which True Mother is calling them. Also True Mother wants to have a Christmas party on Sunday, December 21. This is the beautiful heart of a mother embracing her children.

It is very clear what we need to do from now on. Yes, we are the owners of Cheon Il Guk, so we must inherit True Parents’ legacy with absolute faith in Heavenly Parents like the early Christians of 2,000 years ago. We must fulfill our portion of responsibility as Unificationists who have received the Holy Marriage Blessing and we must encourage one another to fulfill our tribal messiahship responsibilities.

Without building the kingdom based on the foundation of the family, we cannot fulfill completely the ideal of Cheon Il Guk. First we must build our shim jung culture (the culture of heart), our Unification culture, centering on True Parents and True Parents’ family.

So please let us support True Parents’ messages and True Mother. I was amazed to see how much True Mother’s spirit has become like True Father’s spirit. When True Father left Las Vegas for the last time, he grabbed my hand and he scolded me: “You have to do this. Why couldn’t you do it? You must do it!” Then a few months later, I got the news that True Father was in a hospital in Seoul. I went there and saw True Father lying in a bed with six machines supporting his life functions. Now we have True Mother. We must pray for our True Mother. She is working very strongly for the sake of True Parents and for the sake of Heavenly Parents.

I was very surprised to hear recently that True Mother had changed the Cheongpyeong system. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the details. Also, the last time I met True Mother, she told me, “Please tell the Unificationists to be strong and clear about their faith, not like the Israelites who mistakenly worshiped the other god Baal instead of God.” We cannot step here and here; we have to walk straight ahead, centering on True Parents. Let us move forward.

True Mother said this time: “Don’t be afraid of testifying to True Parents, the Messiah and Savior.” All the answers must come from God. Otherwise this country, this world, will have no hope.

I’m always very impressed about how, in the past two years, True Mother has laid the foundation for the coming generations. We have great hope. I have hope. Yes, there are some problems here and there. However, I have great hope, because we have True Parents. Because we have ideals and messages how we can make Cheon Il Guk, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth that humanity has been awaiting for 6,000 years. We shouldn’t miss Vision 2020.

Thank you, Los Angeles family members, and God bless you. Thank you.