Universal Life Church

Points to Ponder Universal Life Church Children of the Creator, Children of our Earth Mother: If you wish it so, take a moment to be thankful for all you have been given, all that you have, that which good in the eyes of the Creator. The Lord's day is upon us, ponder that which happened last week, that which you will engage in this week anew. Hours ago some called it Back Friday, that day when the Holiday season begins, at least for the Commercial Retailers. Allow me to share my "Good Morning Sunday", for you, it will not take all that long-promise.   Father grant us, your children Peace because your hour draws near, grant us Peace all of our days here on this Blue marble-we call Earth. Grant us peace as we toil this new week, for we know it is no one who toils longer nor harder than you-Dear Father. We ask that the Spirit of Peace descend upon us, for we ask this for all of your children, Father send your Spirit of Peace, to dwell among the children of Father Adam, and Mother Eve. Dearest Heavenly Father, we recognize it is from you and your will, that Justice and righteousness, can and soon will be among your Children. Humbled, with great prayer and fasting we recognize Peace will only be upon the Children of Man, your children, when we follow your will, your laws. We ask Dearest Father that the Great Spirit of Peace walk complete with our neighbors, our enemies, our families. We are instructed, tested, healed and cured, by your will, we ask that the Spirit of Peace prepare the way-Amen. Some of the kinds of things I am asked to do include: Blessing a Mom in the making, and the new mother, blessing the Litte People-children's' actions/activities/school/play areas/living & sleeping area/the blessing of animals of all kinds/ candles and wreaths-since it is that season/ candles year round/food & beverage and sacred icons at holidays and non holidays/blessing a trip it can be work or recreation or day trips/counseling for the spirit and soul/ anointing of the sick, ill and terminally ill. Sometimes a child or any child of the Creator will ask: Why is this and has this been deemed so important to us? My reply: The loving care for the Soul, the uniting of the family of humanity; because we are given freedoms of belief-for some the belief is ok but not the sacraments; so that we experience the closeness of God; to commune with the Spirits of God to aid in of being alive-to enhance our Faith. So what sort of training or experience is needed beyond faith and belief? Do you ask for specific skill sets, or is it my personal belief system you ask, if it is the latter-we speake of the first-first. What sort of Community Service is it you do or have done in the past- why, they are your brothers' and sisters'. Explore communication techniques and systems for the Care and Feeding of the Soul. Explore systems and techniques that address conflict resolution-so each side is an equal party-do you mean a talking stick. Sometimes this can work, if there is an answer feather as well. Co-equals, all of the time. It fosters understanding and harmony. It helps to understand other peoples religions, we are all children of the Creator-if we can and do accept them as they are, and they as we are-there will be peace, and understanding will follow. Are these essential truths-Yes. Is it true what people say about you, that you talk to the animals', and they to you? I also speake with the clouds, trees, waters, the air, the trees, the rocks. How about a mailbox, it is made of compounds found in or on Earth, if it is organic, it has a voice; it must for it is part of creation. Love thy neighbor is not just Two Legged, it must be all of our neighbors. What about meetings, and conferences or conventions? If it is  of man you seek answers to the ways of man-then seek man. If it is the ways of the Creator, then one must go to Creator, if it is of  the animals-you must go to the animals/tree/or whatever you seek to find answers from. Sounds a bit like not in reality or not normal.  Ok may I ask a question of you-sure. Is the world in which you live in-REAL? Or is of this world? Are you saying this world is not real? I am saying this world is-Of this World. You look a bit confused. Yeah I am, what is it that you spend the most amount of time each day or week or month or year doing? Why? That which you do the most is that which you worship. So church isn't just one day a week thing? No, it is all day-every day, if not then you are worshiping this world-not Creator. So I should quit school and become a Priest? NO, school is not a 24/7 kind of thing. School helps you to understand and fit in with people/society/your brothers' and sisters'. Why can't I be just who I am? You are-but society is part of the solution for some needs you have, other needs are met by God. When you start something, include God; when finish something include God; when doing or going somewhere include God. I don't understand? It is really simple-include God in all that you do; everything you have, do, and keep-it is from God. Then why do we have church? Church is people coming together in unity and peace to worship and learn of God. So it isn't the building? No it is not, that is a building-not Church. People say you protect animals, is this true. Yes, and I give toys to shelters for animals, and food treats for the shelters of animals of all sorts. Is that why you have so many bird feeders and bird baths? When man takes lands that were once the home of animals, man must give back to these same animals. The bird baths are really not so much for cleansing, are they are playgrounds for the birds to play in. When the shelter animals are in cages they need stimulation to fight off boredom and separation from their Pet Parents. Pet Parents? When you adopt any animals and make it part of your family, they are dependent upon you for all of their needs. Like a baby? Exactly. I also donate blankets,  bath and beach towels to the shelters. It provides not only warmth, but acts as a snuggle buddy. What about when people or animals die? There are rituals and rites, and for some, ceremonies that take care of this. Why is saying good-bye so hard to do? Saying good-bye to any loved one is always hard. Think of it like this-their spirit has learned all they needed to know to move on. They now or soon will again, be in the Light of Creator. This is where they came from, and came down here to learn and grow. They did, so now they are home again. But it really is hard to still be here. It is part of what you need to learn and grow. Appreciate life and all the gifts of Creator, learn and grow. Then why am I so sad. To learn! Thank you for this opportunity and service>lb p.s.: Now and then make room for a used Golf umbrella, and a couple blankets. I go to St. Vincent de Paul Society Thrift store and Goodwill thrift stores to find these and other items. I donate them to one of the many Animals shelters nearby. Golf umbrella make wonderful tents for the invalid and critter babies to get some air, out in the exercise area. No exercise area is bad news, probably a "Kill Shelter" or a farm for "Testing Subjects", this latter I associate with intense animal cruelty. The "Kill Shelters" put the animal down within a few days if not placed into new homes. ******************************* 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 , is free,  and lasts for life, so use 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

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Biblical Interpretation One of our ministers found this on the internet and wanted to pass it along. I found this looking around the internet and figured I would forward it to you to pass on to the up and coming Christian theologians. A lot of good information to use as a reference I thought. Colin. 8 rules of biblical interpretation. "And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation." [2 Peter 1:19,20 NAS] We can't have a "sure word" about the meaning of Scripture (or anything else) unless we have a sure method to interpret the words. The following eight rules are the center of all grammatical interpretation. They have been accepted and used by scholars from Socrates to the present. While my hope is that they will be used to "rightly divide the word of truth" of the Holy Bible, they are equally applicable to legal, historical, and other such language. Since the Bible teaches that God is not the author of confusion [1 Cor. 14:33], how can the many disagreements today between Christians and the proliferation of the cults be explained since all, or nearly all, claim to use the Bible as the basis of their doctrines? Nearly all false doctrines taught today by Christians and cultists alike can be traced to the distortion of the meaning of Biblical words. These eight rules are prayerfully offered in the hope that they may help many come to the truth of what God says in His Word. The Rev. Guy Duty said in his book Divorce & Remarriage: "When two interpretations are claimed for a Scripture, the construction most in agreement with all the facts of the case should be adopted. When all the facts of an interpretation are in agreement they sound together in harmony, like notes in a chord. Biblical interpretation is more than knowing a set of rules, but it cannot be done without the rules. So, learn the rules, and rightly apply them...." (Divorce & Remarriage, Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1967) Here are the eight rules: 1) The rule of DEFINITION: What does the word mean? Any study of Scripture must begin with a study of words. Define your terms and then keep to the terms defined. The interpreter should conscientiously abide by the plain meaning of the words. This quite often may require using a Hebrew/English or Greek/English lexicon in order to make sure that the sense of the English translation is understood. A couple of good examples of this are the Greek words "allos" and "heteros". Both are usually translated as "another" in English - yet "allos" literally means "another of the same type" and "heteros" means "another of a different type." 2) The rule of USAGE: It must be remembered that the Old Testament was written originally by, to and for Jews. The words and idioms must have been intelligible to them - just as the words of Christ when talking to them must have been. The majority of the New Testament likewise was written in a milieu of Greco-Roman (and to a lesser extent Jewish) culture and it is important to not impose our modern usage into our interpretation. It is not worth much to interpret a great many phrases and histories if one's interpretations are shaded by pre-conceived notions and cultural biases, thereby rendering an inaccurate and ineffectual lesson. 3) The rule of CONTEXT: The meaning must be gathered from the context. Every word you read must be understood in the light of the words that come before and after it. Many passages will not be understood at all, or understood incorrectly, without the help afforded by the context. A good example of this is the Mormon practice of using 1 Cor. 8:5b: "...for there be gods many and lords many..." as a "proof text" of their doctrine of polytheism. However, a simple reading of the whole verse in the context of the whole chapter (e.g. where Paul calls these gods "so-called"), plainly demonstrates that Paul is not teaching polytheism. 4) The rule of HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The interpreter must have some awareness of the life and society of the times in which the Scripture was written. The spiritual principle will be timeless but often can't be properly appreciated without some knowledge of the background. If the interpreter can have in his mind what the writer had in his mind when he wrote - without adding any excess baggage from the interpreter's own culture or society - then the true thought of the Scripture can be captured resulting in an accurate interpretation. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Our only interest in the past is for the light it throws upon the present." 5) The rule of LOGIC: Interpretation is merely logical reasoning. When interpreting Scripture, the use of reason is everywhere to be assumed. Does the interpretation make sense? The Bible was given to us in the form of human language and therefore appeals to human reason - it invites investigation. It is to be interpreted as we would any other volume: applying the laws of language and grammatical analysis. As Bernard Ramm said: "What is the control we use to weed out false theological speculation? Certainly the control is logic and evidence... interpreters who have not had the sharpening experience of logic...may have improper notions of implication and evidence. Too frequently such a person uses a basis of appeal that is a notorious violation of the laws of logic and evidence." (Protestant Biblical Interpretation, Boston: W. A. Wilde, 1956) 6) The rule of PRECEDENT: We must not violate the known usage of a word and invent another for which there is no precedent. Just as a judge's chief occupation is the study of previous cases, so must the interpreter use precedents in order to determine whether they really support an alleged doctrine. Consider the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12 who were called "noble" because they searched the Scriptures to determine if what Paul taught them was true. 7) The rule of UNITY: The parts of Scripture being interpreted must be construed with reference to the significance of the whole. An interpretation must be consistent with the rest of Scripture. An excellent example of this is the doctrine of the Trinity. No single passage teaches it, but it is consistent with the teaching of the whole of Scripture (e.g. the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are referred to individually as God; yet the Scriptures elsewhere teach there is only one God). 8) The rule of INFERENCE: An inference is a fact reasonably implied from another fact. It is a logical consequence. It derives a conclusion from a given fact or premise. It is the deduction of one proposition from another proposition. Such inferential facts or propositions are sufficiently binding when their truth is established by competent and satisfactory evidence. Competent evidence means such evidence as the nature of the thing to be proved admits. Satisfactory evidence means that amount of proof which would ordinarily satisfy an unprejudiced mind beyond a reasonable doubt. Jesus used this rule when he proved the resurrection of the dead to the unbelieving Sadducees in Matt. 22:23-33. Learning these eight rules and properly applying them will help keep any interpreter from making errors and will hopefully alleviate many of the disagreements unfortunately present in Christianity today. However, these eight principles are no substitute for the Holy Spirit which will, if you let Him, guide you in the truth [John 14:26]. If you receive Christ into your heart, God will give you the Holy Spirit freely as a gift [Acts 2:38]. I urge you, if you have not already done so, to examine the claims and the work of Jesus Christ and to receive Him as your Savior. This paper will close with some words from King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, excepting our Lord Jesus Christ: "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a proverb, and the interpretation." [Prov. 1:5,6] ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church.