The Kingdom Culture

The Kingdom Culture (1)

May 1, 2018

Let's invite John Raucci to come up and share about Madeline's ascension into the spirit world, and his experience with the Seong Hwa. Let's give him a big round of applause everybody.

John Raucci

Thank you very much.  I want to tell a story and I hope everyone is affected by this story the way I was affected by it.  I'm kind of going to start at the end, and then go back a bit.  Many of you know my wife was suffering with cancer for about two years.  Toward the end the cancer became incredibly difficult to live with.  She suffered more than I ever saw anybody suffer in my life.  We prayed every single day for a miracle, and because we visited churches, my wife and I, there were actually eight churches, people from eight churches praying for her.   Including this one.

Including the Family Fed as well.  Eight churches, and we were encouraged so many times never to give up, so that was our prayer, it was for a miracle and we wanted to keep faith that that miracle was going to come.  But her body became so difficult, and on the last day of her life, I prayed, "Heavenly Father, we still want a miracle, but maybe a miracle could mean that if she goes to the spirit world, we can communicate with each other, we won't be separate from each other."  I said, "I'll take that as a miracle."

My wife, she was such a fighter, if anybody saw how weak she was, but she kept trying and trying to live.  And on the last day, she could do nothing but breathe, and I told her, I said, "Madeline, if you need to go to the spiritual world now, you can go, but this is a one-time offer because I'm going to catch up with you, and never let you go again!"  "So if you need to go, you go now."  And I prayed to Heavenly Father that prayer, that if there can't be a physical revival, please let there be a spiritual revival, that we could be in touch with each other.  I prayed in the morning, she'd breathe, you could see she was forcing the breath.  I prayed in the afternoon, forcing the breath. I prayed in the evening, she was forcing the breath, but then my sons, David and Gideon, we noticed that late at night, it was around eleven o'clock, her breath became faint.  And then fainter, and fainter.  We were holding her, the three of us, and she passed away. I'll never forget what that looked like.

When she passed away, my sons got up, and I got up, and we hugged each other, congratulating each other, because we knew we did everything to keep her alive.  And we had no regret. Her body lay in the bed, but one hour after her death her face formed into a smile. I said to my kids, David and Gideon, "is it a smile that I see?" And they looked, and they said, "Yes, she actually smiled."  Everybody remarked about her smile.

She lay there that night, and the next morning, I woke up and right away, around seven o'clock in the morning, I got a call from a church member at Barrytown, that she had an experience with Madeline that night, and she said to me, "Madeline came, and she's so strong, she's so powerful, like the wind, she's just so powerful.  She said, 'I love my spirit, I love what Heavenly Father did to make the spirit world where my spirit can live. I love this spirit.'" And this person was Traudl Byrne, that's her name, and she said, "I didn't just hear the message, my body was shaking, tingling all over, and I felt what Madeline felt, so I'm telling you how free I felt, I felt her feel.   She said, 'Tell my family not to worry, and don't be sad, I'm doing fine.'" [applause]

After that call, I got another call from a cousin of mine, a physical cousin, who lives in Connecticut, she said, "I have to tell you something interesting. A dove came on my porch; it stood for one minute, looking into my window at me.  And then it turned its head, like that, and there was a lavender mark on the head of the dove."  It's my wife's favorite color.  Lavender.

And I got another call, the pastor at Barrytown, he was feeling down, I think because he was sad because of her passing.  He said, "She came to me in the night and caressed my cheek.  It made me feel so good, and I just got up out of the depression."

Then, afterwards, a second generation girl who is a friend of our family, she had a dream about Madeline and Gideon, and they were fooling around with each other and Madeline looked really young, and really good.

The next day, the next morning I got a call from Madeline's sister.  She said, "I had a dream about Madeline.  Madeline was wearing a bright white blouse, a beautiful white blouse, and she was looking out the window at me, and I said, 'Madeline!'  And Madeline just smiled a beautiful smile."

And then that night, Traudl again had another dream, and she said Madeline was so bright, she was in the spirit world with members who had passed away, meeting them, and so happy to meet them.  And then, Sandra Lowen, on the west coast, also had a vision that Madeline was meeting people who had passed away.

There may be a lot more.  It's only when people tell me that I know about them.  I want to read this last one because it says so much about my wife.  It's a second generation from Westchester, who wrote an email to my son Gideon, it said, "When I read of your mother's death in an email sent by Dr. Panzer, somehow her name stuck with me, Madeline Raucci.  I prayed for her.  I felt sorrow just by knowing her name.  During the course of several days, her spirit was able to lift me up.  I felt like I had a friend.  I felt that Madeline was with me, cheering me on.  I thought to myself, how unusual.  I know that this woman has just passed away, but it seemed that she had no barriers in heaven. That her spirit was free and nothing was holding her down on earth.

So she came to my dresser, she showed me some crazy earrings, [My wife loved jewelry] that someone else from the church had given me, and she told me to lighten up and live life with all the love and joy. That God really loved me, and meant for me to enjoy living. The whole time I kept thinking about her name, Madeline Raucci.  It felt so real to know her name, just like an old friend. Later I found out that she was someone I had never met. I just thought I'd let you know, Gideon, that your mother pulled me out from the depths of a deep sorrow that I was drowning into.  She literally told me, 'God suffered so much, and He still loves, so can you?'  She was so happy to help me." [Applause]

So I just go back a little bit. She had cancer for two years, and you know, there were ups and downs, and there was a lot of prayer, and the prayer really made a difference, I think it extended her life.  But when it came to last December, we were told that the cancer had really invaded her body, her midsection, her abdomen, stomach, kidneys, and it was just encroaching upon everything.  And we still didn't give up, but her physical wellbeing was really brought to a very low level and soon she couldn't walk. She was racked with pain. The nurse at hospice said that, because the cancer had been spreading into her bones and her muscles, that every time she moved, she felt like her bones were breaking. She couldn't get comfortable. Myself and my kids, we'd hear her moaning in the nighttime, and run to her, try to change her position, but it never worked to get her comfortable.  She suffered so much.   But in that time that God gave us, I told her, I kept telling her, "I love you, I love you, I love you." And she couldn't speak so well, but she told me, she said, "I love you too.  But I'm not in love with you."   So when I heard that, I thought, well, what does that mean, you know?  And I said to her, "Something's wrong, right?

So you've got to tell me what's wrong."   And then I said, "Madeline, I have to go to the spiritual world someday too, so you can't let me go and not let me know what's on your mind."  And God gave us the time to speak together, you know?  And basically she said she told me many things over the years and I didn't pay attention to her, you know?  And because she didn't reveal that to me, these kinds of things built up and built up and built up until where she had like an anger, or resentment.  And I felt, "Oh boy, I wish I could have like a 'do-over," you know?  But I was just so sorry.  And I told her that, and I'm glad God gave us that time and then it seems like we smoothed it over, you know?  And I said to her one day, "Madeline, if I see you, like in the city, if I were to see you on the street in the city, I'd grab your hand, take you out on a date, bring you home and then I'd say, 'Would you marry me?'  And she said, "Of course, I'm not stupid." [Laughter, applause]

And then, another time she said, "I love you with all my heart."  So, you know it's a message, I wish I could go back, and just go over everything again with my wife, but you, who still remain alive, husbands and wives, don't take the time for granted.  Use that time really beautifully and really well, it's so much worth it, it's so much worth it.

And now, back one step further. I was matched to her in 1979, and I was the kind of person who had a clear mind on who he wanted to get matched to.  I mean, I wanted somebody like me. [Laughter] Educated, and can speak publicly, can do things quickly and efficiently.  [From the audience, someone asks, "handsome, was on the list?]  Oh no, I didn't say that.  [Laughing]. I went to the matching Friday night; it was Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.  And Friday night I wasn't picked.  Saturday I wasn't picked.  By Sunday, it's a trauma to be sitting in that room.  And all the people I know are getting picked and you know, I'm wondering, "why doesn't he pick me?'  Dr. Pak stood me up, because I was working under him, and he explained about me to Father, that I was a lecturer, and I had leadership positions and this and that, and Father looked at me, smiling, you know the way Father gives that smile.  And then they said, "Do you have any preference?" So I said, "Yes, I want a Japanese."  So then Father looked at me, smiling, you know, and said something to effect of 'It's not for you.'  And I said to him, "Father, I can handle one."  He's smiling at me, just smiling.

Anyway, he's walking up and down, there were maybe a couple hundred people left at that time, up and down, and Madeline walks into the room.  He goes up to her and he says, "Are you Japanese?" [laughter]   And she says, "No, Father." But she had this warm feeling when she came there, and I guess he was looking for a Japanese, I don't know.  Anyway, he comes back to her, stands her up, gives her a real good look over, you know?  Moves me to her, looking at the both of us, smiling, didn't have a care in the world.  I looked at her and I thought to myself, 'Not her.'  And then I could see right away, she's very slow, very deliberate; you know I just got the feeling 'not her.'  Anyway, he said, okay, both of you, go talk.  So I bowed, she bowed, but in my heart, I was thinking, 'there's got to be a way to get out of this.' [Laughter]

So, we went upstairs, she was sitting down in front of me, her head was going back and forth, just back and forth, and, like something was wrong.  So I said to her, "Do you know me?"  And she said, "Yes, I do."  And then I said, "What's wrong?"   And once I asked that question, something told me deep down inside, 'you're not going to get out of this.'  Because I wanted to tell her, you know, I wanted a Japanese, and make her feel bad for me, and make her say, "Ok, you can go."  Something like that.  So that she was the one who ended it, you know, I didn't want to go against Father.  Anyway, her head is going back and forth, going back and forth.  She said to me, "Four months ago, I had a dream.  That I was unbuckling her blouse, and she grabbed my hand, you know, and it's all in the dream.  And I said to her, "No!  I'm your husband."  And she said, "Then, I must be your wife."   Four months before.  Four thousand people Father's matching, and he picks the one that has that kind of dream about me. [Applause]

That day I felt strong enough to stand up to Father, but I couldn't stand up to that dream and Father together.   So she said to me, "The day after I had the dream, you walked into 43rd Street, the headquarters, and I gave you a "hello."  It was quite a big hello.  Hiiiiiii!   As if we were old friends and hadn't seen each other in a long time, you know?   And I said, "Hi."  And I just walked on, I wondered, "what's the big hello about, you know?"  And she felt my ignoring her at that time, so she told me, "When you did that, I forgot about the dream.  It just left my mind."  But now, here Father matched us together.   So I couldn't say anything but, "Yes, I accept."  We went down to Father, he's smiling.  He didn't know what was going on, but he was smiling.  Then later he heard the story, and I think he loved that story because it was used many times at conferences, you know when they were talking about the matching.  And I think, when I think back on that, if it was left to me, I would have run away, you know?  Father saved my life, he gave me the best wife anybody could ever have.  And I love her so much.  And grew to love her, so if we talk about Messiah, yeah, he saved me in so many ways.

I want to show everybody this because we brought it to the Seong Hwa. This is Hyung Jin Nim's calligraphy.  "Person of Faith and Courage." And one thing, I never knew, because my wife is a very small woman, she was always small.  She was born premature.  How strong she was.  And how faithful and how courageous she was.  But when we worked on keeping her alive, myself and my sons, it was a hard job because her body was failing.  So at one point she stopped eating, and stopped drinking. And we knew it would only be a couple of days for her to live. And ministers came over our house and they prayed for her, and she started to drink again. It wasn't easy for her because she was weak, and so to swallow was difficult.  One time I asked her, "How are you doing with this?" And she said to me, "I want to please you. I want to make you happy."   She forced herself, in a way, to drink, you know?  And the hospice, they were like, shocked.  They were shocked that she was alive as long as she was.

She had a tumor in her side, and the tumor drained out, and was gone, and cancer started to eat away at her side.  So she literally had a hole in her side, and if you looked in that whole, you'd see her internal organs.  Her intestines, her abdomen, abdominal organs.  I looked in it once, I couldn't do it again.  My kids saw it, right?  Before she died, even a month and a half, one of the hospice nurses called me and said, "I hope she dies tonight.  She's suffering so much.  I hope she just dies in her sleep."

So myself and my sons, we felt these ambivalent feelings, but we thought, we can't deny her if she's able to drink and we don't know if a miracle is around the corner. So we did our best to work with her. And she fought, she really fought.  She tried to drink, and we gave her protein drinks, and she kept drinking them and drinking them. And she stayed alive so much longer than everybody expected. One of the hospice nurses told me, he said, "I'm stunned.  I'm stunned."  You know, she did her best to stay alive.  So a person of faith and courage.  She is that person. And power. So when I heard the first testimony in the morning, that she is so strong and so powerful, I said to myself, that's so true, nobody would know how strong and how powerful she was except myself and my sons, you know, who worked with her.

I really want to thank everyone for your prayer and support.  Hyung Jin Nim, Yeonah Nim, I really want to think everyone for that.  I'm so comforted that my wife is active, you know, and I'm so happy to hear reports about her.  I know that she is still here, you know, I really want to be with her, but I know some day that's going to happen. Just one thing I left out, I probably should say. Two weeks before she passed away, she was saying how much she loved people in the Red Hook community. She was on her bed, and she was going over the names.  "I love this person. I love that person. I love this person. I love that person." Mentioning their name. And what I said at the Seong Hwa was that she so much loved Hyung Jin Nim and Yeonah Nim and the providence.

And we prayed every day for this, but she never stopped loving all the Family Fed people. She never stopped loving them, she loved them more. I think everybody knew that, you know? She was just that kind of person, she just loved people. The pastor at the seminary, he was there, we all thought she was going to pass away that night.  He pulled me aside, he said, "This is the number of the funeral home."  He said, "You've got to call them."  I said, "I'm not calling anybody until I have to, because I'm not going to say she's going to die, I'm not second guessing God, I don't know what going to happen.  We're going to fight until the end."

And then she said for me to come in the room and shut the door. And then she told me it was very difficult for her to speak.  She said, "And you.  You have to take showers more often." [Laughter] "And you have to change your clothes more often.  And don't go walking around like this [hunched over].  You have to keep your shoulders up, like that." You can imagine what I said, right?  "Absolutely, absolutely, I'm so sorry I've been doing that kind of thing. Absolutely, I understand everything you say.

I mean, it's those tidbits that I guess I'll remember for the rest of my life.  At the end of the Seong Hwa, what I told everyone there was that this kind of person is a bridge.  She could bring everybody together.  She's a person of peace.  Richard Panzer and Miho came to visit her.

Michael Balcomb and his wife, Fumiko, came to visit her, you know? What could bring those sides together? And her family, I said at the Seong Hwa, they were always fighting with each other, but they all loved her. And in my family, when there was fighting going on, she held onto all the sides.

She could be a bridge; she could be a beautiful bridge because she knew in her mind what was right.  This place is right, it's the right place, but in her heart she had room for everyone.  I think that's her legacy.  If you hear anything from her, please let me know. Thank you very much.

Hyung Jin Nim

You know Father said that in the Last Days, the last organization will be 'young yonsei heopae", that's the headquarters of the unity of the spiritual and physical worlds.  So we're living in that time.  She's now more powerful!  You'd better watch out, John!  Let's give the whole Raucci family a big round of applause.  Thank you so much for sharing that, John.  Thank you guys.

Let's get to the Word.

If you brought your bibles today, we're going to Matthew 19. Boy, we've got some things to look at here. Let's look at the kingdom culture. There are two main stories where Jesus is talking about the Kingdom.  So let's go with the first one, and it's up here, and this will remind you, you'll know this story. 

Let's read together.

"1 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; 2 And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. 3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?" 8 He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commiteth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.  10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.

11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. 13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray; and the disciples rebuked them, 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

This is a very mysterious kingdom parable, isn't it?  Because they are coming to Jesus, let's look at this.  Now they're coming to Jesus and they're asking these questions about divorce and adultery and etc.  Jesus goes back, he says, have ye not read, and of course we know he's talking about when you read, it's the Torah, it's the Old Testament, right?  He says, God which made them at the beginning, made them male and female.  Now it's very interesting, when we talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the Gospel, right?  We've established that over many, many weeks.

When we talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, it's important that we look at these parables and teachings that Jesus is giving about the Kingdom, at the national level.  It is a tendency of Christian interpretation to look at the parables on the individual level.  Does that make sense?  But Jesus is not talking about the individual, he's actually talking about a Kingdom, which is a nation.  It's a national level, does that make sense?  So what we've been doing the last couple of sermons, we've been looking at, the studies we've been doing, we've been looking at the parables of Jesus, right?  Whether it’s the parable of the sower of the seed, whether it be the parable of the yeast, or be the parable of the nets, whatever it is.  We're looking at those in the context of the Kingdom, or the national level.  Does that make sense?  Does that help kind of contextualize what we've been doing?

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