In 1999, Pastor Jung Myung Seok traveled to Europe to fulfill the Will through culture exchange and spreading the gospel of this time period. At that time, he made his initial visit to Duomo Cathedral, a world famous church in Milano, Italy.

Milano Duomo Cathedral is a huge cathedral church, standing 157m tall and 92m wide. When he saw it firsthand, the sight was even more majestic, beautiful, and mysterious than he had thought. The exterior wall and roof of the cathedral looked like frost pillars. Pastor Jung looked at the Duomo Cathedral and came to know clearly that this was also God’s design and His work of art.

While looking at the beautiful, awe-inspiring, majestic, and wondrous Duomo Cathedral, Wolmyeongdong Natural Temple came to his mind. If only he could carry the Wolmyeongdong Natural Temple around, he would like to show it to others while traveling.

In the Wolmyeongdong Natural Temple, there are huge and majestic rocks that render this temple to be larger than any other church in the world. It is a place where people who love God gather like the clouds, a place where tens of thousands of people attend and offer service. It consists of mountains and water, a grass lawn and flowers, a medicinal spring, a soccer field inside the temple, hiking paths, Gazebos, and a lake.

While looking at the Duomo Cathedral, thoughts of every part of Wolmyeongdong came flooding into his mind: the magnificence and beauty of Wolmyeongdong Natural Temple where the air, mountains, and water were clean and pure.

Pastor Jung was especially surprised by how the rocks were sculpted precisely and placed mysteriously on the Duomo Cathedral. He spoke to Jesus in his heart, confessing that Duomo Cathedral is the true definition of artwork.

He kept asking Jesus, How did people in the past sculpt those rigid solid rocks in detail and put them up when they didn’t have a crane at that time? How did they lift those sharp and huge pieces of rocks up to the roof?

However, there was no reply or realizations in his heart.

Pastor Jung walked up to the top of the cathedral roof and examined it closely. It was even bigger and more majestic than looking at it from below. At that time, one section was covered with plastic curtains, as one of the interior rocks was being repaired. To see how they had been repairing it, he peeked inside, but there was no one working, as it was a lunch break. When he looked closely, he was shocked by how the construction workers were repairing the rooftop.

Other tourists besides Pastor Jung saw it too, and the mysterious charm of how the rocks were erected like frost pillars completely vanished.

The reason was that the interior was built with red bricks, and they simply placed sculpted rocks on top of the bricks. Pastor Jung thought they had sculpted big rocks and erected them even inside. That is why he thought it was really majestic and mysterious, but in actuality, they were just gluing them onto the brick walls for an exterior illusion.

In comparison, most of the rocks at Wolmyeongdong are 70 to 80 ton full-sized boulders. There are also pine trees that are 100 to 200 years old and Wolmyeongdong is surrounded by green pastured hills.

Pastor Jung still perceives cathedrals, which are God’s greatest artwork, as being good, nonetheless. However, he thinks that the people who believe in God, realize, and follow Him are even better than those cathedrals.

Even if it is a great place, having great pine trees, great water, great rocks, and great mountains, if there aren’t people praising God and giving glory of love to God there, it would be a meaningless place, even if it were beautiful, majestic, and wondrous.

- From the Sunday Message by Pastor Jung Myung Seok on April 27, 2008-

 1999년 정명석 목사는 이 시대 복음을 전하며 

 문화 교류를 하며 뜻을 펴기 위해 유럽에 갔었습니다. 

 그때 세계적인 성전, 이탈리아 밀라노에 있는  

 두오모 성당을 처음으로 가보게 되었습니다. 

 밀라노 두오모 성당은 높이 157m, 너비 92m의 

 거대한 성당입니다. 

 눈으로 직접 보니 생각보다 웅장하고 아름답고 

 신비했습니다. 

 성당 외각 벽과 지붕은 마치 서릿발 같았습니다. 

 정명석 목사는 두오모 성당을 보고 

 역시 하나님의 구상이고 작품임을 확실하게 알았습니다.

 아름답고 멋있고 웅장하고 신비한 두오모 성전을 보면서 

 월명동 자연성전이 생각났습니다.

 그리고 월명동 자연성전을 가지고 다닐 수만 있다면, 

 가지고 다니며 사람들에게 보여주고 싶었습니다. 

 월명동 자연성전에는 세계 그 어떤 성전보다 더 크고 

 웅장한 돌들이 있고, 산과 물, 잔디밭과 꽃, 약수 샘, 

 성전 안의 축구장, 등산 길, 팔각정, 호수, 

 구름같이 모여드는 하나님을 사랑하는 사람들, 

 수만 명씩 예배드리고 앉을 수 있는 곳이 있습니다. 

 정명석 목사는 두오모 성당을 보면서 

 그런 월명동의 곳곳이 생각나며 공기 좋고 산 좋고 

 물 좋은 월명동 자연성전의 웅장함과 아름다움이 

 더더욱 생각났습니다. 

 정명석 목사는 특히 두오모 성당에 조각되어져 있는 

 돌이 칼날같이 조각하여 세워져 있는 신비함에 

 참으로 놀랐습니다. 

 속으로 예수님께 두오모 성당이야 말로 

 정말 예술이라고 말하며 

 ‘크레인도 없었던 시대에 어찌 저리 단단한 돌을 

 세밀히 깎아다 세울 수가 있었을까요? 

 어떻게 저 뾰족하고 큰 조각들을 지붕까지 올렸을까요?’

 하며 계속 물었습니다. 

 그러나 대답도 없었고, 마음에 깨달음도 없었습니다. 

 정명석 목사는 성당 꼭대기 지붕으로 올라가 

 가까이에서 보았는데 아래에서 볼 때보다 더 크고 

 웅장했습니다. 

 마침 그때 사람들이 조각 하나를 보수하느라 막을 쳐놓고 

 그 속에서 작업을 하고 있었습니다.

 어떻게 하는지 틈을 벌리고 보니, 때마침 일하는 자들이 

 점심식사를 하러 가고 아무도 없었습니다. 

 안을 들여다보았는데 어떻게 하는지 보고 알고 놀랐습니다. 

 정명석 목사뿐만 아니라 관광객들도 그것을 보고 

 서릿발같이 세운 조각들의 신비가 다 사라져버렸습니다. 

 이유는 속은 빨간 벽돌로 쌓고, 겉만 돌을 깎아서 

 그 위에 붙이고 있었습니다. 

 정명석 목사는 속까지 통돌로 깎아다 세운 것으로 

 생각했었기 때문에 참으로 웅장하고 신비하다고 

 생각하였는데 겉만 붙이는 것이었습니다. 

 그에 비해 월명동에 있는 돌은 70-80톤의 완전한 

 통돌들이 많습니다. 

 100년 200년 된 소나무들도 있고, 푸른 동산이 

 둘러싸여 있습니다. 

 하지만 정명석 목사는 하나님의 대작품인 성전들도 좋지만, 

 하나님을 믿고 깨닫고 따르는 사람들이 성전보다 더 좋다고 

 생각합니다.

 아무리 정자 좋고 솔도 좋고 물도 좋고 돌도 산도

 좋아도 그곳에서 하나님을 찬양하고 사랑영광 돌리는 

 사람들이 없다면 아무리 아름답고 웅장하고 신비한 장소도 

 아무 의미가 없기 때문입니다.

 - 2008년 4월 27일 정명석 목사님의 주일말씀 中 -