Let Us Become the True Owners of Cheon Il Guk

Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, the Continental Chair of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU North America), spoke at the Las Vegas Family Church on Sunday, December 14, 2014. He gave the following holiday message.

Today I want to talk about the motto that True Mother declared not only for this year of 2014 but for every year until 2020: “Let us become the true owners of Cheon Il Guk who practice true love in resemblance to our Creator, the Heavenly Parent!”

All Christians, whether they believe it’s the true date or not, celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25, but that date was decided by the Council of Nicaea, which took place hundreds of years after Jesus lived.

True Mother pointed out that Mary, the mother of Jesus, really had received God’s message that she would bear the Son of God. True Mother called the Christian pastors to return to Las Vegas, where, she said: “I would like to educate these Christian pastors in how to understand God, understand the mission of Jesus, and understand True Parents.” I am expecting that a very bold message will come from True Mother. When True Father came to America in 1971, he focused on Christianity and the Christian leadership because this country’s background was based on the spirit of Christianity.

Based on the motto that True Mother gave for this year, I decided to have this title, “Let Us Become the True Owner of Cheon Il Guk.” At the beginning of this year when True Mother gave this motto, she shared four points:

First: In our daily life, don’t talk or act without thinking of our Heavenly Parent.

Second: Let us testify to True Parents, which means witnessing.

Third: Let us be responsible in our mission.

And the fourth point is about having a revolutionary life. Let us all become be more creative.

When I study True Mother’s messages, I feel that these four points have been engraved on my heart. I would like to explain what kind of mindset or what kind of inspiration True Mother is trying to impart to each of us.

What is God’s purpose? From the first chapter of the Divine Principle, “The Principle of Creation,” we know that our Heavenly Parent’s purpose of creation was very simple. Let us build God’s Kingdom, which we call Cheon Il Guk, on earth and in heaven. Let us become one. Let us build one house in which all people come under the heart of the Heavenly Parent and the Messiah. This is the purpose of God’s creation.

What is the purpose of America? The Founding Fathers came here for religious freedom and to build a country centering on the Heavenly Parent. Their final goal was to build a country for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, which we call Cheon Il Guk.

What is the purpose of Christianity? True Father said the purpose of the 2,000-year history of Christianity is to become one with the True Parents. Thus, the purpose of Christianity and the purpose of the Unification Church are one single purpose: testifying to True Parents, testifying to the Second Coming of the Messiah.

This is the reason that True Mother wanted to have a Christmas party in Las Vegas. I was a little shocked. Then, she mentioned that inviting pastors is the first priority.

True Mother has a very clear message. We call this time the Era of God’s Kingship. Without “parentship”, we cannot have God’s Kingship. Without “elder sonship”, there is no parentship. There is no kingship without parentship.

Unless America, in the elder son’s position, lays a foundation, True Parents cannot proclaim Foundation Day, the coming era of Cheon Il Guk. This is the reason that God sent True Father to America, and True Father, True Mother and the True Family laid a foundation over 40 years. True Parents came to America, first, in order to save Christianity; second, to educate pastors about God’s Will and awaken Christianity; and third, to make this country a new nation under God.

When True Father proclaimed, “Let us overcome communism,” it was not because he was anti-communist but because he opposed atheism. True Father knew that atheism was not part of God’s founding America. True Father’s priority was to let the American people know that God is with us.

Recently during Hoon Dok Hwe (scripture reading), I was inspired to think about the Israelites’ position as God’s chosen people and their difficulties in uniting with God’s Will. True Father told us that if we don’t believe in ourselves as people who have received the Holy Marriage Blessing, it will cause a lot of problems. Before True Mother came to Las Vegas this time, she invited some Japanese elders to a luncheon. She thanked them for their great dedication, but then she told them to always be thankful for having received the Holy Marriage Blessing, because in that position they were very precious before God and before True Parents.

This means, as I mentioned earlier, that we should live all the time, 24 hours every day, as if God is with us. We should try to find God’s way, not “my” way. True Parents are trying to save this country based on teaching family values, and also through the young people’s movement. True Parents are also re-awakening Christianity and educating them for the sake of God’s purpose. Even though Jesus’s public ministry lasted only three years, Christianity could move the Roman Empire. It took 400 years of suffering and sacrifice, but finally the Christians overcame the persecution and found their nation in the Roman Empire.

Originally God told True Father to come to America for three years—not 35 years, not 40 years. True Father testified later that these three years were equivalent to Jesus’s three years dealing with the Roman Empire. True Father had this kind of spirit. His thinking was: “Three years are my time in this country; I must awaken this country and move it in the right direction.” This was True Father’s and True Mother’s commitment.

When he came to the United States in December 1971, right away True Father started a seven-city tour, entitled “Christianity in Crisis,” to awaken Christianity. It started in New York at the Lincoln Center. At that time there was a series of three speeches given over three nights, and the audience had to buy tickets. Not being satisfied with just seven cities, next True Father planned a 21-city speaking tour of the United States, again starting from New York in Carnegie Hall. After the 21-city speaking tour, right away he started planning a 32-city Day of Hope tour. Already within three years, he was planning, “This is my time in which I must make a foundation for the sake of this country, America.”

This was like Jesus’s three-year course. Many of us are here today because of that three-year foundation. Beginning with Madison Square Garden in New York, True Father started the 32-city speaking tour of the United States.

How old is the United States? In 1976 the United States was 200 years old. But from True Father’s point of view, America was 2,000 years old, because to him American history represents Christian history.

We must understand True Parents’ providence for this country. Who, then, is the greatest hope for America? The answer is very clear: True Parents. They are the greatest hope for America.

I came to understand True Father’s focus on Christianity while I was working in Chicago. That was the first time I understood about True Father’s will for this country. Many people don’t understand this. One time, when True Parents were in Hawaii, while I was reporting to True Father about Chicago, in his excitement True Father missed Pledge service and Hoon Dok Hwe. True Father instructed me to spread this spirit to all 50 states.

True Mother said earlier this year that as people who have received the Holy Marriage Blessing from True Parents, our responsibility is to testify to True Parents. True Parents are the hope of America. This is God’s Will, whether people understand or like it—or don’t.

This is our responsibility and our mission. Think about Scripture, Luke 17:31: Don’t look around! The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Don’t look back, don’t look around.

Where shall we look for my Cheon Il Guk, my Kingdom? True Parents already shared with us about Cheon Il Guk, similar to when Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. That’s why True Mother mentioned here in Las Vegas how important it is for us to understand how blessed we are because we are of God’s family tree. So Cheon Il Guk is within me. To believe and follow True Parents is the best way.

What we need today is action. True Parents have already prepared everything, but we are missing action.

Recently I visited the home of a Unificationist living in Wisconsin, where I met his 85-year-old grandmother. I learned many things from her. She was watching an American football game and was a passionate Green Bay Packers fan. I’m a Chicago Bears fan. The Bears are often beaten by the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay is a city of just 200,000 people. Their team is owned by the citizens of Green Bay, not by one individual or family. The whole city, therefore, is passionate about the Green Bay Packers. This is unique in the history of the National Football League. Because it is owned by the citizens of Green Bay, they love this team and give it their full support. To get ownership, each shareholder pays $250. This grandmother owns this team, not just because of the money but also with spirit and love. There’s a waiting time of up to 30 years to get tickets to watch the team play. Their sense of ownership toward the team taught me a big lesson.

However, our relationship with God and True Parents is a blood relationship, not just a shareholder relationship, so we are very blessed. I have been sharing this story of that lady over the last few weeks. If you have ownership, you will have passion to do witnessing. Think about it: If you own a house, you will clean everything because you have ownership.

Another story I would like to share with you concerns an article I read in Time magazine about a young American, Peter Kassig. He was 26 years old and went to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, serving in the military for three years. Afterward he went to Indiana State University to study, but he always was remembering how the people in those countries were suffering. As a result, he decided to go to Syria as a civilian volunteer delivering food and medicine to women and children. Last November he was killed by an Islamic militant group. What changed his life was that he had a passion and was ready to risk his life.

These two stories are very different, but I was very inspired by these two persons’ heart and love.

You may have heard about True Mother inviting Korean church elders to the Peace Museum at Cheongpyeong to have a Thanksgiving dinner according to the American tradition. True Mother thanked them for their hard work and passion, despite many difficult circumstances. She told them that their lives of sacrifice are priceless and that they have the greatest value. Without a sense of ownership we cannot have passion. Those Korean elders couldn’t have gone through that kind of suffering without a sense of ownership.

True Parents are the ones who went through this suffering more than anyone else. Without True Parents living this life for the sake of God’s Will, they could not have taken charge of the providence in America.

I wish that with this passion we can fulfill the Tribal Messiah mission. Over the last two years True Mother has made many changes. She is driving us very strongly toward the finish line of Vision 2020. Centering on the church, we need to unite and practice True Parents’ way of life. We need to share the teachings of True Parents and multiply our membership.

So let us become true owners with this kind of passion. We own this church, we own Vision 2020, we own Cheon Il Guk.

Thank you, and God bless you.