Metaphysical Healing

          Master of Metaphysical Healing

          From the introduction phase of metaphysical healing to the ending lesson of this course has been knowledgeable to me. I will begin by saying that learning the techniques that go hand in hand and the step by step of the physical works before studying the esoteric physiology, have given me an extended insight of what and how metaphysical healing came about and how it is interpreted.

          With that in mind I enjoyed every single lesson, the human energy fields which teaches about the chakras and how the aura is an extension of the physical body was absolutely something extremely new and interesting. Getting ready and learning to use the universal energy field and experimenting in with my self was a new experience and enjoyed every minute of it. Learning of other healing methods allowed me to understand why different culture does what they do.

          In all truthfulness there is no lesson in this course that was boring per say or of no interest. Once more I will reiterate that learning the power of energy to heal is an out of the ordinary process that should be learned by every one. I wanted to investigate the techniques for my self and for my own breath of knowledge. I have been healed before by my mother-in-law that have the gift of energy healing with out the proper training or literature. That is more the reason why I was brought to the website which lead me to start the course my self.

          With this course, I must say that I have been educated that in this matchless world that we are in, that illness of countless people lies in the emotional mental field. Metaphysical healing has brought to my attention that we can give attention to illness beyond just the physical symptoms. That the cure is in the hand of the healer beside medical field lays the valuable and unrestricted universe with the energy for all of us to have.

          I am obligated to say that all that is needed is taught in this course; however there is always space for us human being to increase our awareness a bit more than we think.

I have experienced that with self healing motivation one can come out of any illness. Particularly if one has sufficient faith in the energy of the universe which can freely be provided us all without limitation.

Best wishes and May the positive energy of the universe be with you.

 Rev. Rose Palaez

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have multiple classes in Christianity, Wicca, Religious Philosophy, three courses in Metaphysics. a course in Buddhism, a re-vamped course on Shamanism, and much more.

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

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

Unvarnished Gospels

"The Unvarnished Gospels"

Mark A. Weinstein

 

One of the primary and most prominent things as a theological student that I have come to learn is that people interpret the Bible to meet their needs.  This is not to say that they purposely distort gospel for personal benefits, but it can rather be likened to wearing goggles underwater.  What I mean is this; while sight does remain when donning the goggles and going underwater, the vision is cloudy.  So too are people's perceptions when it comes to understanding the true intent of the Bible.  Because we as humans carry with us a large amount of baggage, we often see situations through a fog.  This fog works on everything we see, hear, and learn, and only in its context do we take in new information.  Hence, the word interpret comes into play.  Four letter words are wrong and should never be used in public that is my thought exactly when I hear the word interpret in conjunction with the Bible.

            People will do one of several things to "interpret" the Bible to fit their needs.  First, they simply pick out a word or two that meets their situation, and use it as a foundation for their actions.  Nothing wrong with this mind you, except that the truth is often times lost when this is done.  Secondly, they put off the meaning that they do extract from the text as simply being outdated, or caused by a language barrier.  Again, to each his own, but to play off changing the intent of scripture to an inability to truly comprehend the intended Truth is simply laziness.  If you don't understand the intent, study and learn.  Finally, we have those who profess that only portions of the text are really God spoken, with some simply being the thoughts, wishes, and direction of the author (not God but the actual writer).  To these I say, "Which brick do you take from a foundation and hope to maintain the integrity of the building?"  How can we decide which of God's words to remove from the Bible and still insure that we have kept its intent?  In the end Christ himself told us that we are either with Him or against Him, nothing in between.

            To that end, I make my segue to the text at hand.  The Unvarnished Gospels (UVG) addresses these aforementioned conditions in a way that I have not seen before.  Many translations of the Bible go a long way in helping one understand the true intent, but this book takes it one step further.  When reading this text there is no difficulty in understanding, a need to dig deep for jewels of content, or struggle to understand outdated contexts.  One can simply sit down, enjoy the content, and truly gain an understanding of the Word of God and He intended.  I am thankful to have read this book and will undoubtedly use this text for reference far into the future.  There were many instances during the reading of this book that I might say was an "AHAA" moment; I will mention just a few.

            One thing that many struggle with is whether Christ came to judge, be judged, or save.  Yes, is the final answer.  Many times in my choice of translations, the KJV, it is difficult to decipher Christ's words due to the language it is written in and with.  The UVG takes away that barrier and in plain, understandable, and infallible, language tells us that Christ came not to judge, but to be judged, yet He will be that by which others will be compared.  We must come to Christ or spend an eternity in Hell, end of point.  There is no argument against this point when read in the plain text put forth here.  Christ came to give us eternal salvation and only through his death and resurrection can that be a possibility. 

            A second point that is often argued is that of eating the Bread of Life.  Some argue that this is symbolic and open to all; others that this is actual and therefore one must be righteous do partake.  This is the first text that I know of that explains Christ's words in a way that makes it indisputable.  Symbolically we take of the sacraments in honoring all that Christ gave for us and in professing our commitment to Him and His ways.  Of course we cannot be righteous prior to accepting, or many times after taking, the Body of Christ, that is exactly the idea.  If we were righteous then there would be no need for Christ to have given His life and suffered in death for us.  Only because this book is so well written can one put to rest this age-old argument. 

            There are so many more things that come to light as one reads this book, more than I can remember.  What I will do is keep this book handy as I prepare my sermons so that this vivid and clear perspective is always available to shed some Light on whatever subject I choose to explore.  I applaud you for a well written book and class; one that I would recommend to others should I be asked.    

           

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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 Universal Life Church, 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

Paganism Course

 The first thing to understand about my religion is that it focuses on the worship of and belief in the Gods and their place in the cosmos in relation to us. Every one of us is a potential God. Consider yourself God Larva; your body a temple or battlefield. The Gods are our Teachers and the narratives about them, a lesson to be learned. As with the Gods, what you do in this life echoes in eternity, if you do nothing the memory of you will fade; if you do great noteworthy deeds the memory of you will live for all time.

My belief centers on my ancestors' Gods, the Gods of the Cruithne the indigenous peoples of Western Europe before the Romans invaded the land. I being by nature a skeptical person have researched and pondered the controversy of the old ways for quite some time. I found the answer to the controversy, for myself at least.

            The methods and mechanisms of the Gods are done. What is left is for us. What I mean by the previous statement is that the future of our creed is left up to us. The Gods may lend help to us but it is best for us to develop our own strengths and find a cure for our own weaknesses. The Gods and your Family may lend aid, but it is you who ultimately need to evolve.

            In respect and reverence for the Gods, we honor the holidays and festivals apportioned to them so they will not forget our existence. Every God has his or her own holidays, the ceremonies and rites of which have been written down for centuries in the mythological cycles. The holidays are based on some action of the God the holiday honors. These actions are presented in the narratives detailing the Gods' time on this world. Every clan and culture of the Cruithne had its own Oral Tradition, but the generalizations in all those traditions are so similar as to be from one larger Celtic culture. For instance, the tales of the deeds of the Gods I tell my children are slightly different from the written versions popularized, but the outcome is the same. I have come to realize the importance of written language and urge anyone if they have an oral tradition to write it down, even publish it, to save your culture.

The pattern of ceremony and festivals honoring the Gods follow the wheel of the year, every holiday in its season and every God honored in his or her holiday.  Blessings are given by the Gods on special occasions and life changing events via the Priesthood. Geases and Divinations are also relayed through the Gods via the priesthood. A Gease is a Taboo that is given to an individual, and should be given at about age thirteen. This builds character, during youngsters' truly formative years.

The religion also gives respect and proper attention to what is known as "The Seventh Son of The Seventh Son" That is to say that any child or person who bares special physical and paranormal gifts in this world, although they may be a lay person, shall be mentored by the priesthood, to channel and hone those special qualities and to lend the schooling of the priesthood to the subject. Therefore a person with these special qualities would always be versed in the ways of the priesthood and carries the office of a priest but may choose a non priestly life. Many Cruithne Demi-Gods have grown in this way, CuChullian for example was reared for his special qualities by Scartchach the warrior priestess.  

        The Priesthood was known to the Celts in history as Druids, as it is in our priesthood. The priest must be versed in the Oral tradition, Law keeping and judgments, Medicinal studies (herbal and First aid (tribal) Horticulture, Zoology, Metaphysics, Astrology and preside over marriages, blessings, birthings, holiday ceremony, sacred ritual and sacrifice, as well as maintain the sites held to be holy and sacred. Weather or not a given Priest is a magic (magick) practitioner is a personal choice and His or her school of Magic (magick) should not affect the function as a priest, although belief in "Magic" in the Religion is very common.  

               

               Although my religion may contain Wiccans in its midst, the religion itself is not Wiccanism. This is Paleo-Paganism.

               "The Carnyx sounded upon the felling of Nuada, and it stirred Lugh from his Domain in the underworld and mounting his steed; out he strode to aid of the Tuatha De Dannan. To the East the Fomorians' felt the Sun sear the flesh on there backs and it was as the first rising of the sun for those who dwelt in the darkness and the first blessed dawn for those who defended against them."   

Rev. Russell L Lamerson.

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for Free, for Life, right now, use the Free Online Ordination, button -- Click the link!

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  As an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've enjoyed watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Christian Studies

Unvarnished Gospels

End Of Course Essay

Rev. Nick Federspiel

God's Country Fellowship Church

The course is a good chapter review of the Four Gospels and valuable to people not well acquainted with them; to others it provides an interesting point of view.

First, I must say that the Andy Gaus' The Unvarnished Gospels translation is a bit "unique" to be polite, but there are so many translations these days.  I reference the KVJ and the NKJV and when I want to speed read I use the Today's English Version of the Good News Bible.  At first I did not think I would use the Gaus version in the future, but on reflecting perhaps it is good Sermon food.  I especially will never forget the paraphrase "canon-lawyers" which in the GNV is "teachers of the law."  It is indeed these canon-lawyers that failed to understand the long term consequences of their own actions – as many lawyers also fail at today.

Secondly, the course identifies some of the inconsistencies and reporting details and styles between the four Gospels such as in lesson 6: "Also, in this book, Jesus carries his own cross, where in the book of Luke, someone else carries it for him."  Indeed in the other three books Simon at some point carries the cross (i.e. Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26).  These apparent inconsistencies together with several others in the Holy Bible some inflate as errors that today's canon lawyers use to discredit the Bible.  In my view such trivia is irrelevant to His message yet in a way suggests that the stories are true indeed.  What if all four gospels, all books of the Bible, read alike?  Would you believe them as independently authored from witnesses to wars, miracles, and one crisis after another?  I would not.  I would conclude all four gospels were all the same as suggested by the "Q" book theory – another "missing book" assumed to be the four gospels reference text.  There is nothing like a shelf of missing books to argue over the Bible, if one is prone to such; as in my view that is a waste of intellectual time otherwise better spent.  The point is the message.  And the message to the irate and foolish fanatical Pharisees of the future is: "What goes around indeed comes around – just wait it out."

One gospel message few pause to reflect upon is, I think, that the fanatic Pharisees were fools of the highest order.  They did about the only thing they could that would create the genesis of Christianity.  Assumed to be well acquainted with the old writings, which Josephus states were indeed in the temple, one would think common sense would have restrained them from compliance with the prophets.  They did not believe, as the Apostles even doubted, that such a thing as a resurrection could be or indeed was (Matthew 28:17, Mark 16:14 GNV).  Such doubt does not give much support to the concept that the brave disciples (sic), who coward at being associated with Christ (Matthew 26:74), later challenged the Roman guards for a dead body to steal away in the night or concocted an exceptional act of flawless deception as suggested in the Bloodline of the Holy Grail. 

The lessons of history suggest that a whipping, banishment or exile and just about anything else the canon-lawyers could have impressed upon Pilate, now suddenly a friend with Herod (Luke23:12), would have ended for all of history any thought of the man Jesus, the "Christ," being the Messiah of the Torah.  Instead the canon-lawyers helped Pilate initiate his and Herod's demise along with three centuries of political turmoil for Rome resulting in Rome decreeing Christianity. 

The Unvarnished Gospel page 66 says:  " … can we remember how the fraud said while alive, "I will RISE up after three days."  So order (Pilate) the grave to be guarded until the third day so the students (of Jesus the fraud) don't come and steal him …..Pilate said to them "YOU have custody… so they went their way and stationed a guard around the grave and marked the stone with a sign IN CUSTODY."  What is missing from most analysis of the four gospels is: what were they thinking!  BUT thank God for those canon-lawyers!  Amen.  

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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 Universal Life Church, 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

Spirit Quest

The Spirit Quest Discourse is an excellent course for either beginners or those who are more advanced. I found this course an excellent refresher course, with new insights that I had not thought of before. I can not say that it taught me a lot as much of the information within the course I had already learned through other courses of study, through reading and surprisingly some things I just knew. One of the main things I liked about this course and that is all lessons, is your assignment of the week. It is one thing to learn or read each topic but another to apply what you learn, I found each weeks homework assignment to be very helpful in incorporating many of your suggested exercises into my human journey. Many of these "homework" assignments I have found helpful in my personal dealings and in my work as a spiritual counselor and instructor. I have used some of your techniques while working with some of my students and with those that I am counseling, and they found them helpful as well. Spirit-Quest is definitely an extensive course that I will be constantly referencing as I have learned over the course of my years of study and throughout my own journey that often times we read things one time and find things we need to know, read it later and new things appear. The lessons I found extremely helpful are: Forgiveness Protection Rose Tools For Getting Unstuck Part 1 and 2 Creating Your Own Reality Pt 1 and 2 All in all the course was extremely well written, easy to understand and with the assignments each week one could begin to apply each lesson into their own life's journey. Rev. Joyce Chandler *******************************   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 Universal Life Church, 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

Shamanism

I want to thank the ULC for offering the Shamanism course, I have learned very much from this course. Although I wasn't active on the forum I did read questions sent in by other students. One had questioned if the course was worth the price, for me it was. I have bought a few books on Shamanism but none of them had the information that was in this course. I especially liked lesson 6 on Animism and that there is life in everything, while I enjoy hiking in the woods I now find myself spending more time just sitting in the woods and observing everything. I now believe that there is life in everything if you just become aware of it. Lesson 9 also made me aware of animal spirits, before when leaving my house I would see the squirrels running around in my yard. But after reading lesson 9 I now believe that the squirrel maybe my animal totem. I watch, feed, and talk to them everyday. After reading lesson 13 and 14 on the Shamanic Journey I attempted this several times without success. I do use a drumming session but find my mind still wonders. Will continue to try and journey. For anyone interested in learning more about shamanism I do recommend this course, again I apologize for not being active on the forum but all the questions that were sent in was still valuable information for me. I hope that all of you taking the course stay on the path as a shamanic practitioner, we all can make a difference. Thanks again ULC. Best Wishes to all, Rick Rev. Rick Fisher ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for Free, for Life, right now, use the Free Online Ordination, button -- Click the link! As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  As an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've enjoyed watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Christian Studies

Dr. of Christian Studies – The Four Gospels from the ULC Seminary

By Rev. Judith Lictenberger

  "Whoever prefers father or mother over me is not worthy of me and whoever prefers son or daughter over me is not worthy of me..." from  THE GOOD WORD ACCORDING TO MATTHEW/ THE UNVARNISHED GOSPELS , Matthew 10.   In comparison, and it is just the translation not the concept that changes: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me..." from the King James Version, Matthew 10: 37.    You can almost feel the atmosphere change..It doesn't matter which one of the many denominations of Christianity- in my search for a spiritual home, I've been to them all!

These words from Matthew 10 elicit the same reaction: confusion, dismay and "I wish they would have picked something different..."   "He that loveth his father and his mother more than me is not worthy of me."  Well maybe. There are all kind of parents in this world. It is my opinion that each must be worthy of respect before honor even enters the picture. Thank God that the world has changed in that respect and people, little ones and big ones, have become a little more discerning. 

Jesus, raised on the 10 Commandments with Mary as His Mom and God as His Dad. ? Think about it, Jesus, there's no way out about this one!  "He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Now, Jesus is talking about your KIDS and we are thinking about how to interpret a disturbing utterance.  Let's look at Jesus' time. From a disciple's point of view- some were fathers, I am sure. Some were husbands. Jesus asked difficult sacrifices from these men. They had to leave their families and journey into many unwelcome places. Sure, He performed miracles which were a little scarey and asked them to accept Him as the Saviour prophesized to come from the lineage of David.

He asked them to believe that He was the son of God. These men had not known Him for an overly long period of time even when it was time for Him to make the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus also sounded a little crazy and He never told you anything in a straight forward manner. These "parables" were difficult to grasp. A few of the disciples would probably rather be fishing with their kids- for FISH! 

Life in those times was hard enough but at least, in a normal family, your children looked up to you.  I've never been a Dad but I could not imagine that good fathers just leave their families unless it's to find work. Traveling with Jesus must have seemed irresponsible. If you were able to make a visit home, you arrived there empty-handed. Your wife may have been angry and your children may have been sad. Was it worth it? No one knows for sure.   Let's leave that ancient world for now.

We find ourselves sitting in church. We hear this scripture being read and remember that there are three like-minded  ideas presented in the book of Matthew. Loving God more than your own off-spring?  Let's be more specific who "we" are sitting in that crowded church pew. You are a Mom and you are a brand new Christian, trying very hard to live your life as God instructed. You want to be a good example for your daughter.. You're  all that she has... Now you're thinking: "Well, that's just great! My daughter was so sick when she was born that it's a miracle that she started school this year. She was so tiny and so strong. I thank God every day that she can walk and talk and that she forgot her show and tell on Friday. I love her more than my own life! Now I can't even get to Heaven . Didn't Mary love Jesus that much? I just don't understand."   

The lady sitting next to you is shifting around uncomfortably (yeh, it bothered her too), looking for something in her pocketbook. (Probably a weapon...C'mon Lady, we're gonna take that Pastor out! Only kidding.)  Wait! It's a hard question but I refuse to believe that God who saved my little girl and gave me a new outlook , who loved ALL His children meant that to follow Him, I have to leave everything behind, especially my beautiful little miracle child. I haven't learned enough about the Bible yet to say it with authority but maybe Jesus wanted us to trust Him in everything, to let Him make a plan for our lives, to let God be the GOOD parent and comfort us in this evil, confusing world.  

Uh oh! The Sunday School teacher is bringing my little girl down the aisle to me. She's crying uncontrollably.  "What's wrong, honey?"  The teacher smiles. "It's O.K. First day in Bible class. Another kid hid the crayons. She just misses her Mom."  I hug her and the lady next to me pulls a tissue from the "suspicious" handbag.    Something to think about.    

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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 Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

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

Shamanism

Shamanic Studies ULC Seminary My experience reading the work about Shamanism was interesting. I felt that it covered the history of shamanism well and allowed the students to peer inside the different cultural aspects of Shamanism around the world. I was particularly intrigued by the in expansive information on the many different cultures that have been represented in reading 18. I am very moved by the inclusiveness of all of the ancient civilizations that are a major part of our current civilizations pondering about the beginning of time, beings from other worlds, Mayans, Egyptians, Babylonians, Mesopotamia's contributions and so much more. There is one thing that I have noticed in many readings and studies is that many ethic cultures are discussed in dissociative terms with very little compassion, empathy or respect.  These bodies of work by Bishop Pat, I felt to some degree sought to dispel that. More so, I would have liked to read more about the Asian cultures contribution and mainly African contributions, although Egypt was covered it was limited at best. More effort in my opinion should be placed on the very cradle of civilizations contribution to these predicted world events and in just our very rights to existence. Once we are truly balanced in our perception, our finding, researching and sharing of information on a truly collective level then and only then will be able to truly see how we are all cosmically connected and significant. I enjoyed the course! Tai` Dozier *******************************   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 Universal Life Church, 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

Spirituality

Michael S Barth

Doctor of Spirituality Final Essay

            Working on this course was really fascinating to me.  I really enjoyed the time working on it and learned quite a bit.  Before taking this class, I had never heard of the course or book called A Course in Miracles.  While taking this class, I ended up buying the book/course at a bookstore to read and even signed up for the newsletter from Foundation for Inner Peace.

            This course is about prayer which is a tool that I realize now that I need to utilize more often to communicate with my Heavenly Father.  I realize now that through prayer, I can be one with my Father.  When I was a kid, I would attend church and I was told to pray.  I did not pray much as a kid because I felt that God was not listen or not answering my prayers.  I would also gripe at God about all the problems that my family or I were having and would tell God what should be done or what I wanted.  This course really got rid of that view which had been diminishing over the years.

            Over the years, I always had thought that God was a completely separate entity but learned in this course that God is in each and every one of us and that God is waiting for us to come back to him.  The section on free will also really changed how I viewed free will.  I had always thought that I would be happy in whatever choices I made but that turned out to be wrong.  I stopped going to church and did things my own way.  I ended up in a lot of pain.  This is when I realized that things would be a lot better if I did them God's way.

            This course really changed my view on God too.  A little piece of me always believed in God and I always feared God, but realize now that God is all encompassing and is all love.  Growing up, I was taught that if I did something wrong or bad God was going to condemn me and judge me to an eternity in Hell but realize that this is not what God is since God is all love.

            I also was taught about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with less emphasis put on the resurrection.  After taking this course, I realize that the lesson was the resurrection of Jesus Christ because he was one with his Heavenly Father.  I have felt a lot better since taking this course which clarified a lot of misperceptions that I had held about Jesus Christ.

            The material mentioned above is just a little of what I learned from this course.  This course has also been very helpful to me.  I have suffered from mental/emotional disorders for the last 10 years.  This course has given me hope by teaching me about miracles and prayer.  Since the start of this course, I have had fewer symptoms because I have been able to take things from this course and apply them to real life.  The biggest change that this course got me to do is to listen to God and let God into my life.  I am currently reading the course/book that this course is based on.  By taking this course first, I am understanding the course/book a lot better and getting a lot out of it.

            This course is easy to follow and presented very well.  The instructor does a wonderful job in this course.  I loved all of the lessons and the prayer visualizations that came with it.  I would definitely recommend that people take this course.

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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

St. Paul

Michael S. Barth

The Life of Saint Paul Final Essay

       After going through this course about the Life of Saint Paul, I am truly amazed at what he had to put up with when he was spreading the news about the Life of Jesus Christ.  I had no idea about the amount of geography that Paul had to cover in that day and it is amazing that Paul covered it with the transportation that was available in that day.  I was also amazed that Paul had been a Pharisees before spreading the news of Jesus.  I would have never guessed that he persecuted the early Church before helping go out and help it spread.

            I also did not know before taking this class that Paul, his Roman name, was used after his conversion and that he was called by his Jewish name of Saul.  This had caused me confusion in the past but now understand the Bible better with the clarification of his name.  I also did not know that he was a member of the Benjamin Tribe and that he had a sister and son.  I found Paul's early life very intriguing with Paul being raised in Tarsus and being a student of Gamaliel.

            I found his conversion very intriguing too.  I had not known before that he converted after seeing and talking to Jesus Christ while Paul was on the way to Damascus to persecute the early Church there.  I also learned that he was left blind and was astonished.  It surprised me to learn that he was greeted in Damascus with the salutation of Brother.  I learned that it was here in Damascus that Paul developed his approach to teaching the Gospel by entering the first Jewish synagogue.

            I am glad that Paul started teaching the Gospel to the Gentiles because if Paul had not, I do not think I would be a Christian now-a-days.  Also, I am glad that Paul put his effort into spreading the Gospel because Christianity might not be the religion it is today and may have never spread.  Paul's missionary journey's were just amazing to me like doing all that walking and sailing that Paul did to reach his destinations.  I am glad that Paul did not give up either especially after being beaten, jailed, or left for dead.  It goes to show how courageous Paul was and how Paul was dedicated to spreading the Gospel.  I do not think I would have that strength to continue even if Jesus Christ was by my side.

            I am glad that Paul's Letters are still in existence, even if they are copies now-a-days.  I think his epistles go to show what early believers went through.  The temptation the early believers put up with was amazing even if they did fall to temptation.  I am glad to see that Paul kept encouraging the early believers to stick to the path of Jesus Christ and not to give into the devil.

            Paul's trip was incredible to me because of the hardship on the ship and on the island.  I am glad that the centurion, Julius, treated Paul kindly.  I also find that Paul's poisonous viper bite is not fatal and this shows to me that God does exist and that God did not let the poison kill Paul.  It was hard for me to learn about how Paul died in Rome.  I think that Paul showed his faith in God by going to Rome and not running away from his trial and punishment.

     I think that taking this course was a great experience for me.  I liked the study questions that were at the end of the lessons.  The study questions were really helpful to me in figuring out what was important to learn.  The questions also helped me concentrate on the lesson(s) involved.  This course was very worthwhile because I learned a lot about Paul that I never knew before and this course straightened some confusion out that I had about Paul.  I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to know about the Life of Saint Paul.

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