Bible Reading from Acts 2: 1-13

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in their own language. And they were all amazed and marveled saying one to another Behold are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue where in we were born? Parthians and Medes, and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea and Cappadocia in Pontus and Asia, Phyrgia and Pamphylia in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes. Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues and wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed and were in doubt saying one to another. What means this? Another mocking said, these men are full of wine."

We are called to know the truth and it will set us free. True freedom requires responsibility. We are all called to understand our faith so much that we can teach it to others. My testimony is that when we submerge ourselves into the Word, study it consistently, strive to understand it and then apply it, your life changes more to God. (Unfortunately, the opposite applies as well.)

This passage in Acts clearly states about:

To be in one accord and united
Prayer and Study draws the Mighty Wind of the Holy Spirit
Speak to others, witness and do good works
Wonderful and miraculous things will occur through you
There will always be some doubters!

We must know our faith. Over the years, my understanding of my faith has given me:

Understanding of Heavenly Father
A personal relationship with Heavenly Father
Power, conviction and determination
Blessings

St. John 1: 1-5 states: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …In Him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not." 1:7 The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe."

Yet, as we know not all receive the light in 1:11 "He came unto this own and his own received him not." Are we to make the same mistake or avoid this mistake? The light is for all. We need the light in a dark room of life.

St. John 8:31 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

Our Faith to a certain degree is very simple:

To love God with all our hearts and mind
To love your neighbor as your self

To love God is to do His will isn't it? To comfort God is to do what He wishes for us to do. To love our neighbor is to love not only Christians but non Christians as well isn't it?

Our book of study is called the Divine Principle. It was taught this summer by our youth at South Park. It is taught in our seminars. It is based on the Old and New Testament. It is Biblically based. It is divided into sections including: The Principle of Creation, The Fall of Man, The Life of Jesus, The Principles of Restoration, The Last Days and the Second Coming. My challenge to all members of our church is to take time and study and come to understand the teachings of our church. As for me, it has blessed me incredibly in so many miraculous ways.

Our Faith is also very challenging and strongly calls on us to take personal responsibility. This basic tenant I have not seen as strong in other churches:

To remain abstinent until marriage
To Seek out His will and do it!

On September 28th, Father Moon, our founder of the Family Church, will be speaking in Seattle, Washington. He is on a 100 city tour with 12 cities in America. Whether you may have the chance to go and hear him directly or read his speech later, I truly believe this is a clear way to understand our church's teachings.

For me, these teachings changed my life. I have experienced a profound and deep relationship with Lord Jesus through these teachings. I have experiences the Love of God hundreds of times and seen Him working convincingly through our church. I have grown spiritually through these teachings. I have been able to put my life into proper actions in hundreds of ways through these teachings. This is my testimony.

This will be another way for you to study, question and learn more of our faith. I have looked far and near for such understanding of the Scriptures found in the Holy Bible. As for me, I discovered them here in the teachings of our church. I seek to deepen this knowledge as I invite you to do the same.

Last Sunday's 9-11 program on the Courthouse Lawn this year was a great success. We had over 300 people participate. Can you imagine all that went on behind the scenes? It took God's guidance and support. I found my faith deepening by helping put this program together, conducting the program and hearing testimonies from many people after wards. So many said the felt blessed by this event. This is a real sign how God was working.

As for me, many times when I am studying, I gain incredible insights for my daily life. I contribute a great deal of my success as in this event to insights and inspirations gained during early morning study.

When applied they were keys for guidance and wisdom.

Study together as a family. As our family has studied each day together, I felt the power of the Holy Spirit. Young men and women waking up at 5 a.m. each morning before school and spending some time with their parents in study itself is so inspiring to me. Yet, the conversations and discussions, even when especially I who is a really sleepy head in the morning, were inspiring and uplifting. Studying the truth gives us freedom. As my youth testified that they feel they do better in school because they take time to study the Word in the morning. (It is good to note, if it is not easy to do usually it is good for you.)

Sharing our faith with others this past week has proven to me that being a witness gives us the Holy Spirit as we read in Acts today.

Through TV interviews, giving our church literature to others in the past weeks, attending a funeral, having even my customers seeing us through the media and telling me how inspired they are convicts in my heart that sharing the Word (in action, word and deed) is very powerful and life giving.

Have you been reading this text book, True Family and World Peace? It is a text book I recommended for all to read as a church. My family and I have read it for the past two weeks in the early morning. One speech each day is what we read. It has inspired me greatly. Do you think I need inspiration? Do you think I need to be inspired to work on such events like the 9-11 program we did? Yes is my answer!

Father Moon explains what is the mission of the Family Church, "I will say that it is a place where God's true love is present. It is the place where we want our mind and body to unite in true love. It is the place where we want to form ideal marriages with absolute unity between husband and wife. We are carrying out the mission that God has given us, by means of an ideology that can make all people into inseparable brothers and sisters."
True Family and World Peace p. 83

We need to be wise. When we witness we need to use our wisdom as what to share and how much to share. This topic of wisdom reminds me of the interview Barbara Walters of 20/20 did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that the women customarily walked 5 paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters's vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom. Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked "Why do you now seem happy with the old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?" The women looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes and without hesitation, said, "Land mines!" moral of the story: Behind every man is a smart woman.

In the end, your faith should be one to motivate you to change. Your understanding of the Word should then be put into practice. We see this through out the Bible that faith without works is dead. Are we dead in spirit or our we alive in the Spirit?

To conclude on this point, I wish to share this poem with you:

Butt-prints in the Sand:

One night, I had a wondrous dream,
one set of footprints there was seen,
the footprints of my precious Lord,
but mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
and I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
"Those prints are large and round and neat,
but, Lord, they are too big for feet."

"My child, "He said in somber tones.
For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
but you refused and made me wait.

You disobeyed, you would not grow,
the walk of faith you wouldn't know.
So I got tired and fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt,

because in life, there comes a time,
when one must fight, and one must climb,
when one must rise and take a stand,
or leave their butt prints in the sand.

Let us all discover more deeply our faith. Let us study and seek it out in counsel with the church elders. Let us then put this into practice. Let have the heart of a true educator. This will set not only us free but others as well. By doing this, we truly will be salts of the earth, people feeling the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit working with and through us.

Have a Great Week ahead!