Dear Family,

True Parents are setting the foundation for the expansion of the Kingdom of God on earth. (Cheon Il Guk). We must be confident in True Parents' power and courage to fulfill the Will of God. Our central goal is to secure the Fatherland as one nation for God and America is precious and central to this path. Therefore, we must protect and seek to bring this nation under God's blessing and guidance.

War is not the hope of mankind or the complete solution for a lasting peace. Yet war has come upon us. Since that is the course that America has taken, we must pray that God will guide her into successful reconciliation after the war. Please pray that God will guide our President and our nation. We must pray for the future reconciliation of all.

What is the path to peace that we as Blessed Central Families are called to pursue? Father's direction is that our first step toward peace must be repentance. When we see family breakdown, hostility and suspicion between religions and races, and rampant immorality, we realize that God's blessing cannot flow freely to America unless we turn this country back to God. The recent advertisement sponsored by IIFWP and FFWPU in the Washington Times expressed Father's thought on the path we must follow. (It is now posted on our familyfed.org we bsite.) It reads, "To help resolve the current emergency in the world, we wish to repent deeply before the Lord - the King of love and peace - and be forgiving and forbearing toward one another so that we may build a world of peace." This proclamation has been affirmed by the Saints of heaven and Father is asking us to affirm this on earth.

It is important that we understand America's central role at this time. On the foundation of the Coronation Ceremony for God's Kingship Father launched his life-risking 50-state tour. On that tour Father proclaimed that Christianity as the central religion and America as the elder son nation both carry the title of the "Second Israel." With this understanding Christianity is to be unified as one Body of Christ. Jesus prayed for such in John 17:21 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." Therefore Christians, when taught Jesus words, feel in their hearts that this is the desire of God. This unity must be nurtured until it becomes a substantial foundation for reconciling all peoples, and for guiding the external leaders of the Second Israel - just as the prophets guided the kings in the Old Testament. This is the work of the American Clergy Leadership Conference working directly upon the inspiration of True Parents.

The current effort to educate 12,000 clergy is central to the American providence at this time. It is not only bringing unity to the body of Christ but is also the preparation for the Second Israel to move beyond the old age into the new. Jesus said we can't put new wine into "old" wineskins. With this "new" understanding of scripture the clergy are streaming through the gates. (We had space for 150 clergy at the Ocean City workshop and over 250 came!)

At the Washington Times 20th Anniversary Father proclaimed, "You will remember that Jesus said to those who arrested him in the Garden of Gethsemane, "... this is your hour-when darkness reigns." (Luke 22:53b NIV) You need to know that the cross was the place where the nation that God had prepared for four thousand years was lost, the place where the religious faith of Israel was lost, and the place where the followers of John the Baptist, the twelve disciples, the thief on the left, and everything else was lost.

You need to know that Christianity was not there on the cross. When did Christianity begin? Jesus resurrected after three days and spent forty days meeting the disciples he had lost, who had turned against him. The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, and you need to know that it was only then that Christianity began. Christians for the past two thousand years have believed in Christianity without knowing that it came into existence not by the principle of the cross, but by the principle of the resurrection. If you realize this fact, then you must repent."

We are building a movement to end the era of the cross and focus on the resurrection. With this message the National ACLC team such as Archbishop G. Augustus Stallings, Rev. Jesse Edwards and many others are cutting a new path in history, a path not unlike that of Martin Luther. Under the inspiration of God's words in the Bible as decoded by Father's words and the Divine Principle, many of the clergy now have pledged that they will take down their crosses on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday each will trade his cross for a crown as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Then Father has asked that this "resurrected body" go to Jerusalem and have a conference in which the second Israel, having repented and removed the barriers between itself, and the first Israel will humbly ask them to lift up Jesus as the Lord that Israel was to receive. With this condition the failure of the chosen people 2000 years ago will be restored. Upon that basis we must embrace and love the Islamic world more than ever before.

Through this path the conditions will be set to neutralize the seemingly endless strife between Islam, Christianity and the Jewish people. This path does not only deal with those on earth but is rooted in the path of those in heaven. We see that, without a doubt, Jesus is with us - that's what the clergy feel. Also, the prophet Muhammad is with us as well as all the saints.

Father is directing us now to reach out to Christianity and beyond to the leaders of all faiths of the world to ensure that the current conflict doesn't polarize into irreversible religious enmity. He is asking the Family Federation and all related organizations to join with ACLC Christian leaders and Ambassadors for Peace to aggressively embrace and strengthen our bonds of love and heart between all religious people, races and nations, and particularly between the Christian and Muslim worlds. This is a crucial moment in history. The world's religions must come under the love of our True Parents, therefore the work of IIFWP and the ACLC is in a critical role to prevent total polarization and world strife.

In addition to these efforts in education, Father is asking us to build bridges between religious youth through the upcoming Interreligious Sports Peace Festival from May 21-25 in Korea. It will be a world Olympics for all people of the Christian, Moslem and Jewish faiths as well as all the world religions. Through friendly competition of religious youth we will foster unity and understanding between the youth of the world's religions. America has been asked to send 150 athletes. We can work with our Christian clergy, Moslem leaders or Ambassadors for Peace to identify and sponsor young people from their organizations to participate in this special opportunity.

Father is also emphasizing that the blessing movement is the central point through which world peace can be achieved. Last year the four interreligious blessings that True Parents conducted in America brought an unprecedented agreement and understanding that God's clearest expression of love is to be found in marriage and family. The blessings also fostered an acknowledgement from Christian, Moslem and Jewish leaders that Father and Mother Moon were chosen to bring the blessing of God to the family, and that a covenant of blessed marriage, covered with the prayers of all religious leaders, secures not only the family but binds all religions and nations together as one under God. His direction is that the Blessing ultimately is the path to peace. We must continue to expand the blessing to all religious leaders and through them to their followers.

Father is asking that every Christian leader bless 12 couples from the leaders of their congregation and community and then bless 12 pastors from among their colleagues. To be stable Father would like to see 120 couples blessed in each church. This also applies to the Imams, the Rabbis and all religious leaders - Father is asking them to bless their followers so that the curse in the Garden of Eden will be broken.

To foster peace Father is calling for interreligious blessing between people of different faiths. In the September 14th blessing in New York last year one Moslem leader, who is the brother of an African President, asked for and received True Parents' blessing on his marriage with his Christian fiancé. Thus blessing revolution is occurring not only in Christianity but is expanding throughout many major Moslem countries. One major Moslem country is planning for the blessing of 100,000 leader couples in conjunction with the upcoming May blessing in Korea at the World Culture and Sports festival. This phenomenon is happening in all 185 countries. This is the day of the Lord.

Now many Christian leaders are joining us to boldly lift up True Parents.

Upon the completion of our DP seminar for clergy in Ocean City, MD over 1,000 clergy in the U.S. have received a four day intensive Divine Principle lecture. The vast majority totally receive the Principle as the "New Wine" that Jesus promised. Brothers and sisters, a holy revolution is now occurring. Do not worry, but be absolute in your faith, for this is the Day of The Lord. Now we will expand this through one day convocations in all 50 states reaching 12,000 clergy.

The ACLC clergy are embracing Father's inspiration that the era of the cross and the way of shedding blood must now be replaced with an era of life and resurrection based on True Love, True Life and True Lineage through the blessing of marriage. Just before he passed, Rev. Dr. E.V. Hill, viewed by mainstream conservative Christian leaders as one of their own, taped a show on Trinity Broadcasting Network. According to one of Dr. Hill's key members who watched the show, when asked why he was working with Rev. Moon, Dr. Hill said, "You might be surprised, but Rev. Moon knows the Holy Ghost better than most Christian leaders!" He went on to make it clear that Jesus is with the movement of Father Moon and as he said at the December 7th Blessing in Washington, D.C. "God is using Rev. Moon to save the family."

We never dreamed that the ministers currently attending the Divine Principle seminars would agree to take down their church crosses, yet the many have confirmed that they feel that it is right because the cross was not the original symbol for Christianity. For many the cross is an important symbol but not essential. Yet the value of the cross is that Jesus turned it into victory. Many pastors have shared that the real essence is that Jesus "gave" his life as a willing sacrifice while forgiving and loving his enemies - the enemies of God.

The clergy in great part agree that the essential meaning of atonement is tied to Jesus' sacrifice, love and most importantly his resurrection. His blood was shed as a condition of sacrifice to save mankind. The cross did not bring the victory, Jesus did. It was how he overcame the cross that allows God's spirit to bring victory through the cross. Therefore we should bear the cross instead of displaying it. The ultimate victory was that Jesus was not stopped by his death. His resurrection conquered death. It says that during his crucifixion that "And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst." (Luke 23:45), meaning that the veil between the spirit world and the physical world was opened and that Jesus would be able to go freely back and forth.

The victory of Jesus was that unlike Moses and all Biblical figures before him, he resurrected and has remained the "active" central figure of Christianity from the heavenly realm. From the day of Pentecost on through a simple prayer offered by a believer, Jesus could be called upon for guidance and direction and thus a "Living Lord" led Christianity until today. Jesus speaks to and guides the heart of the individual believer directly. The resurrection brought victory of life over death, so that Satan's attack only multiplied God's power while creating the Second Israel. America is the inheritor of this spirit and victory. Therefore, whether we bring forth the true spirit of Jesus' love is crucial in determining whether God will bless or curse the Second Israel of America.

Fortunately, the Christian leaders are accepting the Divine Principle in substantial numbers. We are absolutely humbled by this change in history. It is clear to all of us involved in the teaching and preaching that the spirit world behind the Christian leaders has changed. There is now a hunger to understand more about the Bible through the Divine Principle. Therefore we must know our identity clearly. The direction of America is firmly resting on the direction of its religious heritage. We must foster that heritage and rekindle the "founding spirit" of this nation. We realize that the Christian movement centering on Father is not yet where it needs to be, but we see the promised land before us. The day is coming very soon when those who lift up the Lord will also gain the authority to guide the "Kings" of the second Israel.

Father is setting the conditions that will untangle world conflict, but as always it is occurring in ways that most cannot see or understand. Let us be reminded of how few if any thought that the crucifixion and mysterious resurrection of Jesus would have any bearing whatsoever on the "solid" 2000 year history of Israel. Yet 70 short years after his death and resurrection, that very Israel was totally scattered to the four winds. Let us remember how Communism seemed to have global invincibility in Korea, Vietnam and in many other countries, and yet Father set conditions through his own course and the worldwide teaching of Godism that confronted and destroyed the ideological power of Marxism-Leninism. Then the impossible came to pass as reality. As Father predicted, after 70 years of unrestricted power and hegemony, the Berlin Wall as well as the whole global Soviet communist empire collapsed. Father is now setting the conditions, enormous conditions with his own physical body to directly prevent the current conflict from spreading to a world conflict. Ultimately this will cause the 38th parallel to crumble. Father has been paying physical indemnity in the last 14 days to protect America and the World. As sons and daughters of filial piety we must also put our lives on the line at this time to secure our path to final victory.

Father's central goal now is to unify the Fatherland and to give God a sovereign nation so that, as in the time of Israel, He will have a nation and a secure foundation from which to expand the Cheon Il Guk (Kingdom of God on earth). America is essential for this unification. Therefore the conflicts in the world must be addressed by America. It is inevitable. How we address these crises will determine whether or not God can continue to bless this nation.

Again, Father is setting the conditions for the Second Israel to fulfill. For America to play the key role in the unification of North and South, we went to Korea. Through our unity with True Parents we could receive the Cheon Il Guk Blessing and participate in the Lord's Coronation. Then we could go to every hamlet in Korea and proclaim True Parents and the way of peaceful Unification of North and South. In a climate of anti-Americanism in some sectors of the nation our Blessed Central Families went out from Korea, Japan , America and many nations of the world and showed unity and love. This internally reversed the negative atmosphere toward America on the community level and laid the foundation for a Family movement to rise that will lead the North and the South through peaceful unification.

Father has asked all to plant into their hometowns into Korea and yet in America he is asking the American blessed Central families to stay here to focus on Christianity. Therefore our work with the Christian leaders is now at a critical stage. The Second Israel is now called upon to make a sacrifice of old tradition to usher in the Kingdom. Under God's guidance, the Second Israel is being asked to shed the old traditions like Jesus said we have to have get rid of the "old" wineskins to receive the "new" wine that God has prepared. The new wine has to do with all churches removing their denominational walls and then as a "body" of Christ removing the symbol of the failure of the chosen people, the cross.

By sacrificing itself, the Second Israel comes into to an "essential" position of faith where it is holding on to the essence or spirit of Jesus and not to a symbol. Therefore to fulfill, we as blessed central families together with the blessed Christian leaders must take the cross down as a symbol and instead walk the "way of the cross" in sacrifice to heal the division of the sons of Abraham.

Father is preparing a renewed "Second Israel" in this way. We are confident that this "resurrected" body of the Second Israel, having sacrificed itself to remove the barriers to winning our elder brother, the First Israel's heart, will travel to Jerusalem to humbly ask the first Israel to embrace Jesus as the Lord that God sent to them. Only a small number is needed to fulfill this condition, but it must be fulfilled.

This condition will allow for a transformation of the culture of war that now exists in the Middle East. On this basis the Moslem family can be liberated from their pain, and massive reconciliation will occur. Then with this victory, Father is asking the Second Israel to go to Korea to restore what Christianity in Korea failed to do 57 years ago - to lift up the Lord of the Second Advent. Then we will see the 38th parallel crumble before our eyes.

Therefore, beloved Blessed Central Families, this is the time to sacrifice, to respond to and follow the call of the Lord. Let us fulfill our destiny and bring reconciliation to all.

This is the Day of the Coming of The Lord.

Thanks America.

MWJ

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home