Universal Life Church

Online sermons, Sunday school and other interesting readings.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Universal Life Church

By John Naulin
The Religion of God


I've had many people ask me what religion I believe in and dedicate myself to. My answer is "all religions" and here is the explanation of that belief:

No religious person questions the fact that God placed plants and their seeds all around the world, each in the environment where they can grow and flourish. I believe that in this way God placed the seeds of his religion throughout the world, each in a way that the people of that portion of the world could understand and could worship.

I have studied religions ranging from ancient Hopi and Hinduism all the way to the more modern religions of Christianity and the Muslim Faith. They all carry within them many similarities and the same basic truths.

We live in an age where science has become almost a religion unto itself, yet the more science learns about the history of ancient times the more the old religious texts are holding up. Why then are men still killing men over the basic human right to worship as they please? Why does one faith keep trying to win over another and hold that only their belief is the correct one when both people believe basically the same thing?

Unfortunately, the answer to these questions can only be "Money and Power". For centuries religion has been used as a political weapon and force by those benefiting most by the continuation of separatist visions of religion.

I call for the assertion of logic in these times. The belief in God, in any form and by any name is a basic right, a freedom and is always good.

Encourage the belief in God. Foster the belief in Faith, and welcome all mankind into a future of unanimous religious expression!


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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.

 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Universal Life Church

Grapes, a single rose and sugar
By Scott Phillips


Last night after church, my wife informed me, "We have no sugar, so we have no tea." "Will you go by the grocery store and bring some home for me?" With a smile on my face, I look at those around me and say, "You need some sugar? I will bring you home lots of sugar, baby."

So as a dutiful husband, I go to the grocery store and find myself standing in the checkout with lots of sugar, thirty pounds of sugar to demonstrate my point. As I wait, a young man walks up to the line holding only a few items. He sets on the conveyer belt a bag of grapes and holds in his hand a single rose. It is late, so there are only two lanes open and everyone is standing very quietly. I turn and look him in the eye and say with a smile, "That is so sweet." He sheepishly smiles. A few moments go by and he says, "Well, I don't won't you to get the wrong Idea, but my wife is throwing a shower and needed the rose and grapes for that."

Everyone in the vicinity got a good laugh out of that.

My response was, "So I don't have to go home feeling guilty."

On my drive home I reflect on the comfort in the simple things. The things that life demands of us, at times we can miss the romance of routine. To overlook the obvious blessings of our lives, is a common fault.

I walk in the door to my home, and I am greeted with five year old Nate beaming brightly, bouncing up and down and speaking quite loudly, "I want some tea, I want some tea, I want some tea!" You get the idea. I look at Becky as I set the 30 lbs of sugar down, "Here is some sugar baby."

The romance of life is easily missed in the mundane cycle and demand of life. However I don't imagine there is greater romance than the glimmer in the eyes of family and the warmth of home.

Savoring sweet tea and family,

Scott Phillips

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. 
Ordination with the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.
 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Universal Life Church

Beauty and Bands
By Scott Phillips


A Dichotomy of Truth

A Dichotomy is a division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions: "the dichotomy of the one and the many". Many times I share it as the paradox and the principle when speaking of God and his word. Concepts can at times be contrasting, and some would say contradictory, yet each magnifies the other.

We live in a generation who are of the "either Or" mindset. They seem to have difficulty with intellectual complexity of the true and right way to handle concepts of "Even and Also". It would seem people try to pick and choose what it is they believe, when the Lord is wanting us to embrace his whole revelation.

An example of this is John chapter 3. John 3:16 is a favorite
passage by all and many use this scripture as a defining description
toward salvation while overlooking scripture in the same gospel and
even the same chapter, John 3:3 & 5. We must accept both as
markers on this wonderful path of salvation.

What is righteousness? It is something that God gives us. We
cannot be righteous without him giving us his righteousness.
However we do have a responsibility, the responsibility of
sanctification. It is the balance between Righteousness and
holiness. Sadly and often you have those that are legalistic in
their mindset that have trouble with grace and you have the sloppy
agape crowd that reject the concept of restraint and separation.
It is as if many cannot chew gum and walk at the same time.

In reading through the good book, the following scripture ministered
to me.

"And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the
flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and
the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock." Zec 11:7

A flock of sheep sold to the butcher marked for slaughter caught the
eye of the great shepherd. He rescued them and chose two of his
favorite staves of salvation. The rod of righteousness and the Rod
of sanctification.

The New Testament is full of principles given in which Christians
are to be distinctive and different from the world that surrounds
them. The way they dress, conduct business and the fellowship is
covered in the Apostolic Epistles.

In this age of information, this either or deception is running
rampant. Men of long standing are losing their minds, or it would
seem to be the case as they reject one concept and embrace another
when both are to be concepts that run in conjunction with the other.

His Righteousness is to be guarded by us. We are his vessel, so
therefore we must guard his Holy Deposit. However in this
"enlightened" age of the simple, understanding these Biblical
Principles cause us individually and as a group make conclusions
based in our desire to do what pleases him. Without a doubt the way
things have been presented has been off base in the past by some.
That does not however take away the validity or virtue in the
concepts and things they loved and bled for. From my own personal
journey and the experience it has brought me, I am thankful for the
Beauty of Grace and the Bands of Sanctification. One without the
other is wasted.

If you lack joy, many times it springs from a breach in your spirit.
"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness,
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

If you have no joy, it is because you lack peace. If you lack
peace, there is a breach in the righteousness of God. God gives us
righteousness; we guard it in our consecration and pursuit of him.

The good shepherd is calling us all to a renewed level of joy and
consecration. Joy springs from consecration.

Kept by Beauty and Bands!


*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. 
Ordination with the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.
 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Friday, April 22, 2005

Universal Life Church

A short sermon
By H Britain

As with all mediocre sermons this begins with a Yawn! Look back and see if they are following you or pushing you ahead as a shield. If Creator is nothing else , Creator is absolute. Don't let those who listen to "your" voice, prod you to over-zelousness in "Presenting".

If you want the Moon to hear you, whisper to the cricket. If you want to share wisdom, listen to what you told the cricket, first, Then repeat only that which bounces back from the moon.

Teaching is not Preaching louder and with more hands in the air. It IS more Air in between the preaching.Let the minds of those listening to it digest it. Force feeding caviar still makes them sick of it.Teach like touching a porcupine, quietly with the grain of the quills. Stir their souls, not their anger.

Things that may stifle a new MINISTER.

Creator's will is FREE to absorb , Is yours ?



Hope ~ to those who need it cannot be "used" to bolster the coffers or fill seats.

Keep the humility on when the lights go out and the curtain closes.

Respect~live it give it, the only Commandment.


*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.

 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Universal Life Church

Solomon is Calling, Part 3...The Pope dies, the World unites.

I am ever mindful of how desperately I need God-given wisdom, like Solomon received, as I watch and try to understand what is going on in this world. The passing of the Pope with the mind-boggling attention he has received and the election of Joseph Ratzinger just being the latest events that need to be understood. For the kingdoms of this world now have a new Pope to help guide them toward a unity in diversity that will finally bring peace on Earth.. His chosen name is Benedict XVI, which means...the blessed one.

As with my previous letters, I want to focus on another prophetic sign that points to the return of Jesus Christ in the flesh to this planet. The Pope's death has highlighted this sign more clearly than ever before. The sign is....the great "falling away" from the true gospel within the ranks of Christendom around the world, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12. This departure from the truth, which got its traction with the lies of Augustine and Constantine in the fourth century, has picked up tremendous speed with John Paul II. Let me make it very clear and simple....the passing of the Pope and all the swelling words of praise coming from all the world is a road you don't want to travel. Its end is destruction and eternal death in Hell, Philippians 3:17-21. I say this because in the Lord I love all people, and want them to go to Heaven and not Hell. It is not "hate speech" to compassionately tell someone you love they are racing down a road that leads to eternal death.

As I said in my last Solomon letter, none of us possess Godly wisdom in and of ourselves. For we all suffer from the fallen sin nature that Adam and Eve received from the satanic serpent in the Garden of Eden, and if left alone, can only produce the wisdom of fools. However, by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells all that have a personal, one on one relationship with the Lord. Then, and only then, can we accurately see or comprehend what is happening around this demon controlled political-religious world, which the Apostle John and Daniel refer to as Babylon or the final phase of the Roman Empire.

I have written many times that Babylon/Rome consists of three components....political, economic, religious. And it has two "seats" of power. America is Babylon the Great, the nation which leads the political and military component of Satan's Kingdom. The final President will sit in the seat of the Antichrist/Beast. The Papacy is the seat of the False Prophet of the Great Harlot, who steers and guides all religious aspects of Babylon/Rome. The final Pope will be the one who establishes the Mark of the Beast, which compels all people to worship the President as the Messiah, after he is assassinated and then miraculously brought back to life, Revelation 13, 17. The world-wide attention now given to the Papacy is convincing evidence that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is at the door. The funeral itself, attended by most world leaders, reflects what John saw in his vision concerning the Papacy's power among the nations....with whom the kings of the Earth committed fornication..., Revelation 17:2.

There is nothing more evil and sinister that to "participate" in the doctrines of demons that keep people on the road to Hell. This will enrage many who read this, but I must say it...all the office holders of the Papacy, including John Paul II, are responsible for all their followers who died while on that road. All of the Popes were told the truth about salvation in Jesus Christ and deliberately rejected it. Men who deny and twist the truth are not given entry into Heaven! And unless they repented at the end of their journey they all joined their blind followers in Hell. For the Papacy represents a false gospel, another Jesus, just as Paul warned first century believers in the true Lord Jesus Christ, Galatians 1:6-10, 2 Corinthians 11. Paul loved the false teachers of his day as people in need of genuine salvation, and cried out to them to change their ways, but said of those men who refused correction....let him be accursed, Galatians 1:8. Sounds pretty clear and heavy does it not?

Again, I beg you to study the scriptures for yourself and compare them to the distortions in the Catholic catechism book. For instance, the idolatrous sacramental system used by the clergy to control the laity (Nicolaitans), and the biblically forbidden prayers to and communication with the dead, especially to the precious mother of Jesus, Mary, are just two of the delusions that will keep people out of Heaven, Revelation 2:6, 20-25, Jeremiah 7:18, 44:19, 1 John 2:1, 1 Timothy 2:5, Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, 27, Deuteronomy 18:10-14, 1 Chronicles 10:13. In these false doctrines, a personal relationship directly with the "only" mediator and advocate between God the Father and men, the Lord Jesus Christ, is replaced by a system of man-made religious traditions. What's even more appalling, the Catholic clergymen assure their flocks that the laity's acts of participation in the sacraments and their prayers to Mary for her intercession and mediation to Jesus...is their direct relationship with the Lord. There is no clearer example and fulfillment of what Paul warned Timothy concerning the last days of Christendom...having a "form" of godliness, but "denying the power" thereof: from such turn away, 2 Timothy 3:5. This is the counterfeit gospel of the Great Harlot, a different Jesus than the one the Holy Spirit reveals in the scriptures.

Today it would be difficult to find one person in America who has not watched the endless praising of the late Pope, and who has not heard how certain everyone seems to be that the Pope's soul is now with God in Heaven. Below I have included a sampling of comments from those who were interviewed or who have written things concerning the Pope and Catholicism:
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George Bush said:

"Laura and I join people across the Earth in mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II. The Catholic Church has lost its shepherd, the world has lost a champion of human freedom, and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home. Pope John Paul II left the throne of St. Peter in the same way he ascended to it -- as a witness to the dignity of human life......"
Pat Robertson said:

"I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward. John Paul II has been the most beloved religious leader of our age – far surpassing in popular admiration the leader of any faith. He has been a man of great warmth, profound understanding, deep spirituality, and indefatigable vigor.....I pray for the Cardinals of the Catholic Church that they might have God-given wisdom in selecting the successor to this great man. Their task will not be easy, but with God all things are possible."

Rick Warren said:

[Warren is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, and all his senior staff sign on to the SBC's doctrines, such as the literal and infallible Bible and exclusion of women as senior pastors. Yet Warren's pastor-training programs welcome Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women.]

"I'm not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won't try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?" he asks, citing as his model Billy Graham, "a statesman for Christ ministering across barriers."

Kim Clement said: [prophesying as though the Lord was speaking]

"This day I have received a servant. This day you call him a Pope. This day I call him my son. This day you said a Pope has died. This day I say a servant has won. And some would say, What about the gatekeeper of this nation? What about him? He prays, and he took the mantle of Ronald Reagan so that this nation may experience great revival. Great breakthrough....great, great, great, great breakthrough.....And in the White House you have a prophet, a man that shall call into being things that are not existing yet. Why? Because he is not just a President. He is a shepherd and a prophet that shall deal with the Eastern powers. He shall deal with the Eastern gods, and Babylon the Great shall fall. Babylon the Great shall fall, shall fall, shall fall."

Saint Peter said:

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies....many shall follow their pernicious ways...and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you...knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his [Jesus] coming."

Saint Paul said:

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.....This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud....despisers of those that are good....lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, from such turn away....For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables....I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

Saint John said:

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns.....and all the world wondered after the beast....And I beheld another beast coming up out of the Earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon....Come here, I will show unto thee the judgment of the Great Harlot that sitteth upon many waters. With whom the Kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.....And I saw the beast and the kings of the Earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet.....these both were cast alive into a Lake of Fire burning with brimstone. And I saw an angel come down....and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit....that he should deceive the nations no more......"

Jesus Christ said:

"Verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God....hereafter ye shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man....Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come....be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh....Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves....Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord. Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And I will profess unto them, I never knew you , depart from me, you that work iniquity....Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ, and the time draweth near. Go ye not therefore after them....and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many....He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

--------------------

Can you imagine how Peter and John would react to the comments of President Bush and Kim Clement? Why is it when John Paul II ascended to what Catholics call the throne of St. Peter in Rome, he ends up being heralded as a great man of God? Has Christendom forgotten the Catholic's own legend, that when Peter ascended into Rome he ended up upon an ugly upside down cross from which he was crucified? Have Rome and one billion plus people been converted to Jesus, as some would have us to believe? Has Satan been chained in the pit with his demonic army to deceive the nations no more? No, Rome has not been truly converted and Satan is still running loose with all of his lies and deception, including the lie that the Papacy is the office which Peter first started. You should know that if Peter went to Rome today preaching the true gospel, the religious pagans in the Vatican would again want him dead. Think about that for a moment. What do you really believe? Who on the list above do you find yourself agreeing with...George, Pat, Rick, Kim, or Peter, Paul, John, Jesus? Do you agree with the grand delusions of Kim Clement that the Pope and President are two of God's greatest generals or gatekeepers, or John who describes them as the Beasts of Babylon? Was it really God who was speaking to you through Kim? Does it matter and do you care?

How can anyone say they love the God of Israel and all men for whom Jesus shed his blood, including the Pope, and not tell them the truth about the lies that are condemning them? This is not the love of God, but the fear and pride of man masquerading as and pretending to be the love of God. This superficial, shallow love that refuses to stand and contend for the truth of Jesus Christ, reflects how men would rather have the favor of other men, than the God of Israel, Galatians 1:10. This attitude is carnal at best, and as Paul said...to be carnally minded is death, Romans 8:6.

Jesus warns over and over again not to be deceived as the last days draw near. His warning is being ignored by most in Christendom, most likely because they have not truly been born again. Remember, as Paul said above, it is possible to have an outward verbal form of Godliness and yet not be born again. Much of what we are seeing displayed by Evangelicals who say the Pope was a man of God, proves they have not yet understood the power and truth of God in their own hearts. For a man who knows Jesus personally is one who has received the Spirit of God through true repentance of sin and faith in Jesus and his precious blood. If his salvation is genuine he also knows the Holy Spirit is giving him a desire for truth, and a desire to understand what the old religious sin nature consists of, so that he can avoid the practice of sin by the Spirit's power and the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. A true believer, because he loves the Lord with all of his heart, does not want to ever be deceived again, nor does he want anyone else to be either.

Watching this world-wide exaltation of the Papacy and how quickly it happened is stunning. It amazes me how fast information travels form one nation to another. This is a sign of the last days all by itself, for Daniel said of the time of the end....knowledge shall be increased, and many shall run to and fro, Daniel 12:4.

It is not surprising that most in Christendom are making their way back under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. Even the billion plus Catholics are becoming more zealous in their false doctrines. Today, when confronted with the truth by the faithful remnant still holding to the true gospel, they "fall" deeper into their delusions, as they see how great the Pope was in the world's eyes. Many of them are becoming quite irritated at anyone who would suggest the Pope was teaching falsehoods about Jesus. His death and the incredible idolatry of this "man" around the world on TV, is paving the way for the bonding of the "final" Pope with the "final" President, the two Beasts of Revelation 13, who will bring peace to Jerusalem. John said above that the entire world would "wonder" after them! Listen my friends, this is not a forced worship, but a spontaneous explosion of support and admiration. It is in full swing on Fox News as I write this letter. This is the plan of the dragon, the very serpent that deceived a "perfect and pure" Adam and Eve. How much more then do we, who are peppered with "imperfections and impurities", need the power of the Holy Spirit to show us all truth?

Our Lord Jesus Christ is returning in wrath and judgment upon this world system led by the two Beasts of Revelation, which ironically begins with his permitting the President and Pope to channel all of their demonic power and influence to establishing peace in the Middle East. Israel will fall under the spell of these men because their leaders reject the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Please read on my web site the last two articles, "The Wise Man" and "Moved with Compassion", for more details concerning all the signs of the times.

Until the day the Lord Jesus Christ comes for his remnant, we are to speak the truth in love and honest compassion to all the lost souls in this world, always remembering that before Jesus created a new pure heart within us by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit and his shed blood, we also walked daily in the powerful delusions of this demonic world system. We should also remember that as followers of the Lord Jesus our new hearts are still engaged in a major battle in our minds with the remnants of our sin nature that yet reside in our unsaved bodies. As I have said before many times, our sin nature thrives on political-religious pride, love of self and carnal pleasures, and the love of money, and sadly, it is this sin nature which dominates in Christendom today. The pride of patriotism, the love of money taught by the prosperity prophets, the acceptance of the sacramental system, the prayers to the dead, and the psycho-babble of the purpose driven life and possibility thinking movements prove this to be true!

Knowing this about our body's sin nature, we long for Jesus to come when he then will change our sinful bodies into the likeness of his glorified immortal body, Philippians 3:17-21. The writers of the New Testament were all filled with this desire. Those people who do not have this desire and long for his return, are still blinded by the deceitfulness of sin in their hearts. They have yet to be saved. It is imperative that you understand that all of us were created as three-part beings....spirit (heart), soul (mind), and body (flesh). The sin nature rules in all three parts. The Lord Jesus Christ saves us from the inside out by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit and his cleansing blood sacrifice for sin. Salvation begins with the creation of a new heart, thoroughly cleansed of the sin nature, the very moment we are born again of the Spirit....it continues by the Holy Spirit's renewing of our mind in truth day by day....and salvation concludes with the resurrection of our bodies when Jesus returns. It is that simple!

Even though our new hearts or spirits are pure and free from sin, the sins of our mind and body we are to confess in Godly sorrow that leads to repentance and renewal, 2 Corinthians 7:8-12, Romans 6-8, Galatians 5:16-26. Don't listen to those who teach Christians that once we have been born again, we no longer have to ask God for forgiveness, or even tell him how sorry we are. These teachers are wolves in sheepskin suits, who will come up with any excuse to ease the conviction of their sins, rather than just plain old brokenness before a holy and righteous God. If they refuse to do this with the sins of their minds and bodies, I wonder if they really confessed and repented when they say they were born again?

Finally, we who know these truths are to be filled with love and compassion for all people, including our worst enemies. We are to cry out to people that our Lord is coming to rule this Earth, and the only way for them to be part of this coming Kingdom is to understand and confess his first coming to shed his precious blood for our sins. God the Father wants to free us from the power of the sin nature that sends us all to Hell. Make that decision in your heart right now!

Your eternal friend. Jack
Babylon the Great is Falling
http://www.babylonthegreatisfalling.net


*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.
Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.

 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Universal Life Church

By Petros Evdokas
Annual Lunacy

Last night, at a gathering of friends I gave a short presentation about the Lunar New Year. It was partly an invitation to tune in with the collective sense of where the largest mass of humanity is at, right now, in this sacred moment, and a sharing of what moves and inspires me as a person. It's a time to tune in with awareness of ancestral knowledge, and with a harmony to the movements and metaphysical presence of the heavenly bodies. Here's a few more of the things I tried to express last night, perhaps not very successfully.

The calendar which is currently known as the "Chinese" calendar is actually the same calendar which underlies all of the ancient civilizations, traditions, and cultures on earth. It's the only system known to be in harmony with both the Lunar and the Solar cycles. From the astronomical observatories of Chaco Canyon in the native american southwest high desert, to the palaces of Rome and the riverbanks in Egypt, the monoliths at Pachna- Cyprus, to the shamanic plains of Siberia and aboriginal realities of the dreamtime in Australia, it's been that same calendar keeping track of how we move through the creation, weaving lines around sister Moon and brother Sun.

When corporate capitalism and the authoritarian state have been overthrown, when peoples' individual and communal creative capacities have been liberated in a rebalancing of the equation labour = love = play, when the church and the state have been transcended and re-instituted as one Congregation in harmony with higher laws within which the Secular and the Sacramental will be at peace, only then, will a truly global civilization be able to emerge: the Lunar/Solar calendar will be its navigation tool providing an experiential context for humanity to experience ourselves as we spin along the helixes of the galaxy as a single conscious organism, riding the temporal vectors of the Cosmos together.

Best wishes to all for the "Lunatic" New Year.
Embraces,
Petros
*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.

 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Monday, April 18, 2005

Universal Life Church

The See Will Spring

The flowers are blooming, the grass is growing, the foliage of the trees is filling the once barren limbs. It is interesting that the calendar deliniates the beginning of spring, summer, fall and winter, however we don't really appreciate it until the evidence is in full bloom.

"And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is
brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Mark 4:26-29

The greatest challenge for us is to understand how God's purpose
brings to pass those things we have sown. However in retrospect,
as we live for God we can see that truly his pattern works. If you
plant it in faith, water it in hope, you will rejoice with it
thanksgiving.

"The sower soweth the word." Mark 4:14

Today, I sow these words.

"but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward."
Prov 11:18

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Ps 126:5-6

"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." Hosea 10:12

"And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." James 3:18

The seed of the Word will spring forth from the Ground.


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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.

 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Universal Life Church

A Connection to a Constant

Change. It is apart of the human experience. From our first moments outside of the warm womb of momma, we are confronted with the bright lights and cold environment of change. We learn how to handle it in different ways, but the discomfort it thrust upon our lives is still just as real. As we grow older we can look back at various times and think, "Awe, now those were the days...", choosing to ignore other items easy to see when they were the present that caused those living then to say, "Awe, now those back there were the days."

It occurred to me that there is only one constant in this world of
experience and that is the God we serve. His word stands forever
and his essence, purpose and plan remain intact. I remember that
feeling the first time the Spirit of the Lord first touched my heart
as a child. Now as a grown man, as I seek and search for the mind
of God and what he wants me to do, it is that same Spirit I find
connection to. What comfort it is to feel connected to great a God
and know that he is constant.

People change, churches change, organizations change, fashion and
even some absolutes for people change, but God is still the same
God. We find ourselves dealing with the same questions, asked by
different people using different words that challenge our mental,
emotional and spiritual capacities. We are pressed into that place
of pressing for God to speak to us.

The reality that came to me in a moment of honest reaching is this
revelation, "God does not change." The very same God that created
a perfect habitation for Adam and Eve, is the same God that I find
interacting in my own life. The same God that chided Abraham for
his unbelief, is the same God that chides you and I when we wonder
how God is going to pull off his plans.

It is hard to communicate in words a feeling. This evening in
prayer, I felt such a rushing revelation that brought comfort to me
to remember again, God and all that he is, is still what he always
has been. The Word he has stated, is the same Word that is
established and ordained to be fulfilled. His wisdom is right.
His principles are right. His Word is right. We will never get
smart enough, strong enough, rich enough or connected enough to
accomplish what only he can do. His word brings us wisdom, wealth
and favor, but these things will never substitute the ever pressing
need for His Spirit to be the undercurrent of power in our lives.

Solomon had it all, Wisdom, wealth and Favor, but he lost sight of
what Got him there. Israel as a Nation, with peace in the land,
living in houses they did not build, eating fruit from trees they
did not plant and drinking water from wells they did not dig, lost
connection to the very source of the blessing and in turn lost it all.

He is the Root. The root of everything we desire is going to flow
from the virtue in the root. We must get connected into this flow
of eternity, where things are steady and steadfast. We adjust,
manuevar, calibrate, realign, however down below the surface is that
life giving flow that is Everlastingly Eternally Unchanging.

Jesus is that Anchor, both Sure and Steadfast.

I have a fresh appreciation to the connection that is Christ.

It's good to be connected.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. 
Ordination with the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.
 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Universal Life Church

By Glen Howard
When It's Time to Change


Greetings Loved ones and Praise the Lord!

To day I would like to speak to you all about change and when it is time to change what you are doing that is leading you away from God.

Do you ever wake up and all of a sudden have an erie, strange feeling come about you? Do you feel like things just are not right?
Sometimes we have the feeling of emptiness, loneliness, like God has taken a mini vacation from our life. Humm.. Why do you think this feeling is with in you, bouncing around like an aimless rubber ball?

Maybe because you are bouncing around your day to day life like an aimless out of control soul.

People, The Lord has a place in your soul and when you go off about your day to day life and leave Him sitting on the bench, He then lets you know that you have discarded His presence. He gives you an Empty feeling of desolate, lonely, hopelessness. (not necessarily in that order) but you get the picture. God wants to be Number 1 in your life and if He is not, Man, you will know it! Our soul is made up of one room shared by just 2 spirits yours, and Gods, when you lock the door to your soul and forget to tell the Lord where the key is located, then you have in a sense, shut Him out our your hearts house.

This is when you know its time to change.

Its time to rethink about what your priorities are. Its time to think about why things are not right deep with in and why your happiness has taken the last train out to nowheresville. Its time to Change! Folks, Change is ever occurring, It happens all the time and it happens sometimes when we don’t even know its happening. Change is OK, Its good at times, but when it comes to living for the Lord and allowing Him to live with in your heart, DON’T CHANGE!! Let Him in and have His proper place in your heart. Don’t, change your relationship with God to suit your lifestyle, don’t change the relationship that you and Him share that is so precious and true, don’t change what you know is good and just in your life, Don’t change the way you take time to serve God, don’t change that special communication that you and He share together, don’t change your mind and allow satin to make his change from the outside to your inside!

Good people, DO change things that allow you to stray from Jesus, DO change your armor from lightweight to heavy to withstand the devils attacks on you and your faith, DO change anything that gets between you and God and His will for your life!! Ohh, and do change your underclothes once and a while! Seriously Folks, please change your thinking from what you want for yourself to what He wants for you that is very right for you. Change, it can be low keyed or it can be a dramatic undertaking, whatever the case let God in on it and let Him do the changing, if it needs changing.

Please keep God in your heart and allow him to bless you every day of your life as He wants to make you happy and allow you to change things that are good for you. The change that you should make is the change from sin to salvation and anything else that changes, God will help you change right along with it if it is right for you.

Let God change your life today! Ask Him for His love and allow the Holy Spirit to live with in you and guide you and As I talked about in the beginning of this message, you will not wake up and feel like something bad has "changed" in your life and you feel so alone and don’t quite know why.

May God be with you all! Give the Lord a Big AMEN! Lets go eat!

Prayer.
Dear Lord, Thank you for your NEVER Changing love for us all, thank you for the grace you give to us everyday. We know that sometimes we get off track and think that we know what is best for our lives but it is with your guidance and direction that we are happy and on the right road, the road leading to directly to heaven and to be with you for ever more! We love you and trust your hand the mighty hand that leads us to righteousness, we lay everything before you that concerns us and we believe that your work in our life will manifest all that is right and good; and when it is time to change we will let you show us how and tell us when. We pray all this in your Son Jesus’ Holy name, AMEN!

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.

 
The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.
 
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar