SpiritualFamily.Net: Training of Leaders and Teachers

Study Aids by Hara Davis

Paul Kemp Administrator — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 02:02:41 +0000

Self Mastery by Hara Davis

This gives you an idea of the presentation on Self-Mastery that I gave at the European Urantia Conference in Spain in October 2022.

There is great hope

Paul Kemp Administrator — Thu, 11 May 2023 00:56:50 +0000

There is great hope

There is great hope for any church that worships the living God, validates the brotherhood and

sisterhood of all human beings, and dares to remove all creedal pressure from its members.

[UB: 103:5.12]

Our modern churches are

plagued with a culture of uniformity

of beliefs that limit congregations and turn

Sunday mornings the most segregated time of all.

When a member of a social religious group has complied with the requirements of such a group, he or she should be encouraged to enjoy religious liberty in the full expression of their own personal interpretation of the truths of religious belief and the facts of religious experience. The security of a religious group depends on spiritual unity, not on theological uniformity. A religious group should be able to enjoy the liberty of freethinking without having to become “freethinkers.” [UB: 103:5.12]

There have been ruminations

describing the differences between

spiritual unity and religious uniformity.

The greatest hope of modern Christianity is the

recognition of this dichotomous division, and many

progressive churches foster a moderate theology that is

an embracing and tolerating inclusion of human diversity.

This is a highly positive development that may become

a foundation of the acceptance of universal reality.

For indeed, most now believe that this world

is neither flat nor is it the only planet

inhabited by the Children of God.

For we are now the beneficiaries

of the Star Trek generation.

This is a great hope if our

younger generations

take up their call

and boldly go

where so many

have gone before

in their universal service.

The kindom is calling us all to serve.

There is great hope in worship and fellowship.

x004 (May 10, 2023)

By Bruce Jackson

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Paul Kemp Administrator — Wed, 08 May 2019 03:33:38 +0000

Events UAI

Paul Kemp Administrator — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 18:37:47 +0000

Important Notice to anyone considering joining the Group "The Planetary Reserve Corps of Destiny"

Paul Kemp Administrator — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 23:40:28 +0000

You are welcome to join this private group only if you are a sincere seeker after truth.

"The Planetary Reserve Corps of Destiny" describing the human beings who are chosen as protectors of planetary destiny and who become pivotal individuals in the plans which the world administrators are prosecuting is an ongoing and growing reality!

Whether you are a reservist, a candidate for a mission of destiny or a human teacher of truth seeking information on the new revelations, please use this counsel of our Master Teacher as a guidepost for exposing the content of this group to the general public or to any individual.

"In all the business of the kingdom I exhort you to show just judgment and keen wisdom. Present not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample your gems under foot and turn to rend you."

If you cannot agree to make a solemn promise to keep the contents of this Group Private then please, be Honorable enough to decline membership. The counsel of the Master Teacher about showing just judgement and keen wisdom is just as applicable to today's generation as it was in the days of Jesus of Nazareth.

May the Light of Life guide you forward into your destiny!

The Life and Teachings of Jesus from the 5th Epochal Revelations of the Sons of God

Paul Kemp Administrator — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 01:16:15 +0000

The Life and Teachings of Jesus

Some day a reformation in the Christian church may strike deep enough to get back to the unadulterated religious teachings of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

You may preach a religion about Jesus, but, perforce, you must live the religion of Jesus. In the enthusiasm of Pentecost, Peter unintentionally inaugurated a new religion, the religion of the risen and glorified Christ. The Apostle Paul later on transformed this new gospel into Christianity, a religion embodying his own theologic views and portraying his own personal experience with the Jesus of the Damascus road. The gospel of the kingdom is founded on the personal religious experience of the Jesus of Galilee; Christianity is founded almost exclusively on the personal religious experience of the Apostle Paul. Almost the whole of the New Testament is devoted, not to the portrayal of the significant and inspiring religious life of Jesus, but to a discussion of Paul's religious experience and to a portrayal of his personal religious convictions. The only notable exceptions to this statement, aside from certain parts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are the Book of Hebrews and the Epistle of James. Even Peter, in his writing, only once reverted to the personal religious life of his Master. The New Testament is a superb Christian document, but it is only meagerly Jesusonian.

The records contained herein fully disclose the religion Jesus lived and the teachings he gave to this world.

Early Urantia Movement History Reconsidered

David Kantor — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 01:51:16 +0000

Early Urantia Movement History Reconsidered

I recently came across two rather disturbing but very interesting, well-written books that shed light on the early years of the Urantia movement. These are “The Religious Crisis of the 1960s” by Hugh McLeod, and “The Origins, Nature, and Significance of the Jesus Movement” by Kevin John Smith.

Both books focus on religious and cultural transformations taking place in America, Europe, and Australia between 1957 and the late 1970s.

This was a period of time during which millions of people turned out to hear Billy Graham preach. The Second Vatican Council was held in Rome between 1962 and 1965 as church leadership struggled to find ways of adapting teaching and practice to be more relevant. Major academic efforts were under way to try and discover Jesus separate from the dogma and tradition which had grown up around him. The greatest expansion in higher education in American history took place during this time. The sexual revolution, new theological explorations, political radicalization in the anti-war movement, social radicalization in the civil rights movement, and a changing economic climate all contributed to a period of profound social change.

The experimentation with and embrace of eastern religions was an unprecedented event in American religious history which, combined with growing religious pluralism, contributed to the beginning of the decline of the church as an important social institution. Religious activism on college campuses was at an all-time high in the late 1950s and by the 1960s Campus Crusade for Christ was a major player in universities across America.

Religious books as a proportion of all books sold peaked in 1958.

The theological writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Francis Schaeffer’s work at the L’Abri community in Switzerland attempted to bring fresh intellectual insights and contexts to Christianity. From June 12 to June 17, 1972 more than 100,000 high school and college students gathered together in Dallas at Explo '72 where Campus Crusade offered a training program in personal evangelism for young people.

The Jesus movement subsequently developed into an influential undertaking which, along with the rapid growth of charismatic Protestantism, changed approaches to worship, teaching, and belief across the board in both Protestant and Catholic churches as well as spreading a revitalized Christian message into Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The youthful leaders of the Jesus movement are now ministers and administrators in the trans-denominational urban mega-churches that dot the American religious landscape.

And during this period of time Urantia leaders were suing readers who were attempting to bring the Urantia Book into the conversation, trying to prevent readers from distributing books, advocating a no-publicity go-slow policy—during this period of time which religious scholars now consider to have been the most significant period of readjustment of religious and spiritual values in American history.

McLeod and Smith's books amount to nothing less than a damning indictment of early Urantia movement leaders who failed to embrace the opportunities of their time, failed to appreciate the degree to which the revelators held back publication of the book so that it would coincide with this period of post-war social and religious readjustment.

These same leaders (may their souls rest in peace) then proceeded to establish policies based on second-hand fragments of apocryphal notes rather than on the robust and aggressive evangelistic imperative with which the revelation itself challenges its readers. In the process an unprecedented opportunity to bring a saving revelation to the world was lost; a world which was fully mobilized (and probably prepared by the seraphim) to seek new religious and spiritual insights.

Competent, experienced leaders with financial means and wide-spread connections in media, anxious to get the revelation out to the world such as Clyde Bedell, Harold Sherman, and Sek Seklemian were marginalized and ostracized. Even Dr. Sadler was reprimanded and restrained in his efforts to make the revelation relevant to Christianity. Mediocrity came to dominate. And a reluctance to fully engage the world still remains today in the administrative hideaways of Urantia institutions. Future generations will not look kindly on the 'leadership' of the early years of this revelation, its hagiographic preoccupation with the forum and the contact commissioners, and the lost opportunities of a lifetime.

Inform yourself by spending some time with Smith and McLeod and become more familiar with the sociological and cultural aspects of our undertaking--especially if you're a young reader envisioning a lifetime of serving the revelation. Question everything. Refuse to perpetuate fear and mediocrity.

It’s not too late to re-evaluate the world views of our institutions and redirect them to more productive ends--all Urantia is waiting.

About the Author

12th Session of the workshop "Leadership and Teaching According to the Urantia Book" December 2nd

Paul Kemp Administrator — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 04:52:20 +0000

Urantia Association International Workshop

Dear friends, readers, and students of The Urantia Book,

This is a reminder that the 12th Session of the Workshop “Leadership and Teaching According to The Urantia Book” is happening next Saturday, December 2nd, starting at 12:00 pm EDT USA (10:00 am Arizona, 11:00 am Central Time USA, 11:00 am Guatemala, 12:00 pm/noon Florida, USA, 2:00 pm Uruguay, 3:00 pm Brazil, 12:00 pm Lima, 5:00 pm Ireland, 6:00 pm Paris, WorldTimeZones Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Stockholm, Vienna). Link to the virtual Zoom room: https://zoom.us/j/727832733

The 12th and 13th sessions will be presented by Guy Perron on the theme: The Inner Life
Going inward, upward, onward, outward

The world is filled with hungry souls who famish in the very presence of the bread of life; men die searching for the very God who lives within them. [1766.4; 159:3.8]

On Saturday December 2nd , we will cover the “inward-upward” segment and on the 9th, we will cover the “onward – outward” segment, more to come on the second part next week.
The Inner Life, segment 1, December 2nd 2017

Going inward and upward

It could be quite challenging for us human beings, humble ascending mortals, to grasp and truly understand what the purpose of an inner life is. Much of our life has to do with what is happening on the outside.
So what is an inner life? Do I really need an inner life? Why should I spend precious time developing my inner life?

Personality is inherently creative, but it thus functions only in the inner life of the individual. [1220.4; 111:4.5] It is only the inner life that is truly creative.[ 111:4.3]

When we are able to stop the outer activities and progressively cultivate silence and stillness, we can connect with other types of activities, the inner ones which allow us to enter within and find that inner space where our Divine Presence, our Beloved Thought Adjuster abides. In that space, we can develop with our Thought Adjuster this inner life from which a new reality can emerge, our soul. In that space, our soul can be nurtured and grow. When we regularly repeat the practice of these inner activities, we can perceive and feel more and more that we are truly the mother, the nurturer of our soul.

In our inner garden, we can cultivate higher fruits, the fruits of the Spirit that we manifest without in loving service. This is the way to the highest happiness.

The highest happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding. [100:4.3]

Do we want to experience and live this highest happiness? Do we want to feel in this inner space, this inner peace, this dynamic peace that surpasses all understanding? Yes? Most definitely? So let's begin and let's deepen our understanding of the inner life together in the union of our souls by sharing on how to go inward and upward.

Urantia Book Brochure Dave Kantor

Paul Kemp Administrator — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 03:55:48 +0000

Urantia Book Brochure

Friends;

Here is a link to the promo brochure I have created for readers looking for something to introduce their Ministers and other Christian clergy to the Urantia Book. It is a tri-fold brochure printed on 100# stock.

It is constructed around current topics of conversation in progressive Christian circles. Send me your mailing address if you would like a couple. Contact me if you want a quantity and we'll talk price. Let's step out of the movements New Age incubator and challenge the real world!

Click on the download link (below) or (above) to download the Art Work to your computer. Check in the download folder where you get downloads.

Cheers

Dave Kantor

www.urantia-book-films.org download link File Name: intro-brochure-1.pdf

Website www.urantia-book-films.org

Online Workshops ● Study Plan

Paul Kemp Administrator — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 17:05:33 +0000

Urantia Association International Workshops

Online workshops for students of The Urantia Book about “Teaching & Leadership According to The Urantia Book.”
Time: 12:00 pm EDT USA (11:00 am Central Time USA, 1:00 pm Uruguay, 11 am Lima, 5:00 pm Ireland, 6 pm Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Stockholm, Vienna)

Link to the virtual Zoom room: https://zoom.us/j/727832733

We are told in The Urantia Book that religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings… who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of man. [Paper 195:9.4, page 2082.9] In these workshops, we will study the guiding principles that help us fulfill this instruction.

Objectives of the online Workshops:

• Analyze and understand the instructions of the Publication Mandate. Determine which aspects of The Urantia Book’s teachings are related to the Mandate’s instructions.

• Study and understand The Urantia Book’s teachings with the goal of becoming a more effective leader and teacher of the Urantia revelation.

• Study and understand The Urantia Book’s teachings about the integration of our spiritual and intellectual development—true human progress.

• Study and understand the meanings and methods of the spirit of religion as portrayed in The Urantia Book.

• Apply the teachings of unfailing, loving and effective service to all the humanity.

• Foster friendship and collaboration among students and servants of the revelation.