Online Sermons

By Scott Phillips

The Answer to a Dark Night

The answer to a dark night is a good light. I think that without dispute, never in the history of mankind has perversity been so prevalent. I am not saying that man is more wicked, because I believe that wickedness and the evil deeds done by men is as old as the flood. However, it is the availability and distribution that

is so widely availability. It is affecting how course our conversations and threshold of things that are acceptable. Our standards of decency is being attacked.

The other day listening to a "conservative" talk radio host, he begins to read a story about, well if I tell what he was talking about I have just committed the act that I am being critical of, but suffice it to say it was very crude. I promptly turned it off, hating that this man had introduced into my mind thoughts that I would be better off without. I purchased a satellite radio a few years ago, to be able to listen to some greater variety in the evening, specifically it was during the invasion of Iraq. However a few months ago I quit listening to these shows, because the subjects they deal with revolve around rape, molestation, pedophelia, murder and just horrible things, they spend hours discussing to the minutia of details that neither I nor my children need to know. They call it news. It caused me to think back of the controversy revolving a recent president and the details shared that every one snickered about, but really, should "real" Christians be this informed? I have come to the opinion that it is defiling our consciences even as great as the worst things Hollywood belches out.

What can we do, when those that claim to represent what we believe, have so lowered the standards of decency that "Christians" and preachers are listening to details that are pornographic in nature?

In fact one of the rising stars, had a "Political Pornography" tour that only more illustrates my point.

It reminds me of this scripture.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Ps 1:1

Most of the radio purveyors and those who consider themselves experts and the talking heads of the day are sitting in the seat of the scornful. We need to not just walk with them, or stand with them, but we must cease to sit with them in our cars in and in our living rooms. We need to see this evil for what it is, it is defiling our minds and our children who sit quietly in the car with us as we drive down the road will be impacted if we are not careful.

Recently, my sons Keaton who is nine and Nate who is six were logging into Neopets.com. We have made off limits pokemon, Harry Potter to name a few things simply on the basis of abstaining from the "appearance of evil". This is a personal choice we have made in our home, while not condemning those who make another choice.  Nate was asking me, "How do I spell neopets?" And I asked him, "what are neopets?" I looked at the page, and on first glance they seem harmless, but asked my wife to check into it. After she came

to a conclusion she discussed with the boys that it would be best not to get into this, they understood and it was no big deal. It is important to me that we don't respond on a whim and forbid everything, but at the same time to do our due diligence as parents.

It is Halloween tonight. Many endeavor to strike a compromise in this area, and I appreciate how difficult it is, when you have small children, you don't won't to be an old curmudgeon. What can we do as parents to strike a consistent level so that our children not only understand but as they get older they will adopt our values as their own and not write us off as being unreasonable and hard?

I think it is found in providing an environment where children know they are loved and cared for. For them to understand that the decisions that are made are not to hurt them or cheat them, but to protect them from the bad things around them.

I don't won't to follow the example of Lot who so entwined his family into the culture that surrounded him, that he lost everything when judgment came. I believe this is the great temptation that all parents face and something we must guard against. What good does it do us to sit in the Gate of our Cities, if our children will

be lost in it's value system?

God Help us to understand that our cities, our culture and our children need to know more than just what is wrong with the world, but what is right about God. To show them the way of light and hope that is found in honest and clean fellowship with each other. To see that the Bible does hold the answers to their lives.

Because no matter how dark the night,

We have a Light of Faith, Hope and Love

That is better and brighter than that old dark night,

In Him, By Him, Through Him,

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 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

Online Ordination

You can order a dizzying array of goods and services over the Internet today. Books, music, computers, dating services, stocks, automobiles — it’s all a click away. Religion is no different than any other aspect of human life in this respect. 

Everyone — from the largest established churches to the most exotic emergent religions — offers various ministries right over the Internet. But one unique church takes Internet ministry to the most radical extreme. The Universal Life Church will ordain anyone to the ministry for free, for life and with no regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or theological position. And they’ll do it online.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian, Satanist, Kabbalist, Wiccan, atheist, or a creator of your own “homemade” religion. The ULC, from its international headquarters in Modesto, Calif., and its Online Seminary in Elk Grove, CA ., welcomes all.

It’s no joke. ULC ministers have the legal authority to perform weddings and funerals, to start their own congregations, and to take advantage of many of the fringe benefits that priests, rabbis and ministers of other religious organizations enjoy.

The ULC actually pre-dates the cyber-era. This unique denomination was established in 1962 by Kirby J. Hensley, an illiterate former Baptist from North Carolina.

Fed up with the hypocrisy and dogmatism of the mainstream churches, Hensley began ordaining anybody — without question — for free. Full page articles about him in Time (21 Feb. 1969) and Newsweek (5 May 1969) added to his status as the Robin Hood of American religion.

Hensley’s church has spent nearly four decades fighting those who have challenged its legitimacy. Supported by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, however, the ULC has far more victories than defeats under its belt.

The ULC s success has, unfortunately, enticed some unethical individuals to seek ordination. Some have attempted to use their Universal Life Church credentials for such illegal activities as setting up phony tax shelters. But mainstream churches are not immune to such abuses, either.

I think it’s unfair to condemn the ULC as a whole for the misdeeds of a few. In fact, the worldwide community of Universal Life Church ministers and congregations is probably the most diverse and interesting religious body I have ever encountered.

This church includes ministers like Anton de Beer of Universal Life Church of South Africa, whose church is a progressive voice in a country where mainstream religion was once complicit in the horrors of apartheid.

The ULC also includes ministers like Vance Williams of Texas, a committed Christian who lives with lupus and mixed connective tissue disease. The Universal Life Church seems to have opened up a unique ministry opportunity for this disabled man.

This denomination also provides home for Pagans, Wiccans, and other religious minorities who have no home in “mainstream” churches. The Rev. Cristiana Gaudet of the ULC of Putnam, Connecticut offered me the following insight on this aspect of the ULC:

“As a Wiccan/Pagan, our ordinations and initiations are not legal credentials. While it has taken me years to achieve the knowledge I have, I need to be legally recognized as a minister, and therefore need the ULC ordination.”

Other ULC ministers are on the cutting edge of the ongoing fight for First Amendment rights. Consider Charles Oren Anderson, an incarcerated ULC minister at the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Nevada. In 1993, he sued prison director Ron Angelone for the right to lead services.

The ULC even provides a home for college students and others who want to set up their own idiosyncratic or “joke” religions. One of my favorite such churches is “The Church of the Almighty Revealed in Biotechnology,” founded by Ram Samudrala.

Ram is doing research in computational genetics at Stanford University. Since he is a “staunch atheist,” his religion is grounded in computers and science.

The ULC reached a turning point in its colorful history, when founder Hensley died. His passing inspired Wren Walker, of the Wiccan site witchvox.com, to eulogize Bishop Hensley as “a visionary and truly a man ahead of his time.”

I agree with Walker, and I have no doubt that the church that Hensley built will continue to grow and prosper as the new millennium approaches. And who knows, maybe I’ll apply for ordination one of these days. When I do, you’re all invited to join my congregation.

Michael Mazza supports your right to freedom of religion, and hopes that you will be so kind as to return the favor.

By Michael Mazza 

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Ordination with 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 Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Online Sermons

By Rev. Tom Stewart

Be Still and Know

Be still and know that I am God.... - Psalm 46:10

There is a time and place in our walk with God in which He sets us in a place of waiting. It is a place in which all past experiences are of no value. It is a time of such stillness that it can disturb the most faithful if we do not understand that He is the one who has brought us to this place for only a season. It is as if God has placed a wall around us. No new opportunities--simply inactivity.

During these times, God is calling us aside to fashion something new in us. It is God's isolation chamber designed to call us to deeper roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, especially for a task-driven workplace believer. Our human nature cries out, "You must do something," while God is saying, "Be still and know that I am God." You know the signs that you have been brought into His chamber when He has removed many things from your life and you can't seem to change anything. Perhaps you are unemployed. Perhaps you are laid up with an illness.

Most religious people live a very planned and orchestrated life where they know almost everything that will happen. But for people in whom God is performing a deeper work, He brings them into a time of quietness that seems almost eerie. They cannot say what God is doing. They just know that He is doing a work that cannot be explained to themselves or to others.

Has God brought you to a place of being still? Be still and know that He really is God. When this happens, the chamber will open soon after.

Shalom,

SGT T.D. Stewart

Chaplains Asst.

MechInfantry/ANG

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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

Online Sermons

Sometimes we have to judge
By Rev. Erik Strunk

"First take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Luke 6:42

Some people stand for what is known as "laissez faire," that is, let people do as they please. In support of this stance they quote the words of Jesus: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned" (Luke 6:37).

In words preceding the above, Jesus urges us to be merciful because our heavenly Father is that way. Further, He warns against self-righteousness, against having 20/20 vision with regard to someone else's faults but being blind to our own. Such people spot a "speck of dust" or a splinter in their brothers' and sisters' eyes when having a "plank" in their own. On the basis of this context, some say we ought never judge and condemn anyone, not even when moral wrongs are involved.

This cannot be what Jesus meant, for elsewhere He stated, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault"

(Matthew 18:15).

Whenever Christians do this, they are not expressing arbitrary, personal judgments but are applying the prior judgments of God.

The latter are the standard by which we live.

What kind of judging or condemning is Jesus forbidding? It is a judging that is loveless, without mercy, and is prompted by self-righteousness.

Our Lord does not want us to presume to lay down moral principles, or a set of do's and don'ts, of our own making that exceed or fall short of what the Word of God says. The attempt to add to the Word of God was illustrated by the Pharisees, who added more than 600 laws of their own to the moral law of God. This is legalism.

Yes, there may come times when it is our Christian calling to point out to those near and dear to us that what they are saying and doing is wrong in the light of the Word of God. The intent is to be constructive and positive--as Jesus said--to "win" or "gain" the brother or sister, to be spiritually helpful to one for whom Christ died.

PRAYER: Lord Give, give me the attitude toward, and the right concern for, my brothers and sisters in the faith who err.

Amen.

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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

Online Sermons

By Rev. Tom Stewart

God Bless America

We've all heard the phrase, "God bless America!" of course, but exactly

what does that mean?

There was a time when its meaning was as clear and it was true in our

country. Everyone knows the first stanza of our beloved "Star Spangled Banner," but you may not be as familiar with the final verse. For a believer, it is powerful both from a patriotic and Christian point of

view:

“Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand, Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

When Francis Scott Key wrote that masterpiece as he watched America win the climactic battle of the War of 1812, there was no doubt in his mind that so long as "God is our trust" we could not lose. He was right. Shortly before the end of another important war, another musician composed the song from which we all know so well. Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America" in 1918 while hundreds of thousands of American Soldiers were slugging away in the bloody trench warfare of World War I France. Embroiled in such a

titanic struggle, many Americans realized that honoring the name and power of Almighty God made perfect sense in a perfectly evil world. Though I certainly wasn't alive in 1918, history tells us that for many people

in America back then, the words to that song reflected the truth in their lives.

Since the tragic events of 9/11 the phrase, "God bless America!" has been shouted by Americans of all kinds. This year many Major League baseball teams chose to sing "God Bless America!" during their seventh inning

stretch instead of the traditional, "Take me out to the Ballpark." It seems that in times of war people still instinctively look to the name of God for deliverance. But I wonder, do the words of that song reflect the truth in our lives today, and if they doesn't does it really matter? I think any Christian would say that it does matter, but might be at a loss to explain why. The Bible as it always does "provides the explanation. I wanted to share with you another little known Bible story from the Old Testament.

It comes from I Samuel 4 and concerns the story of the people of Israel going to battle against the unquestioned enemies of God, the Philistines. Conceptually speaking, I think most everyone would agree that God would take the side of His chosen people Israel over the avowed enemies of God in any fight. The Philistines were an openly idolatrous people, were vicious,paganistic, and open scorners of Almighty God. So obviously, God would support Israel against the Philistines. But read the following verses from

Chapter 4:

(1) Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to

meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer while the Philistines

camped in Aphek. (2) The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel.

When the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. (3) When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, " Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies." (4) So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. (5) As the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. (6) When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?"

Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. (7)  The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp."

And they said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.(8)

"Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. (9) "Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight." (10) So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. (11) And the ark of God was taken.

The people had been defeated in verse 2, and the first thing they did in verse 3 was ask why God defeated them. Their immediate presumption is that without God, they could not lose, and since they lost, something must be amiss. Good proposition, but what did they do about it? It would seem reasonable for them to maybe do a little self-examination to see if something in their lives was out of place, or if there was any sin in their lives that needed to be confessed before God. Unfortunately, that's not what happened at all. Instead, without even taking a full breath, they immediately sought the symbols of God “the Ark! They thought that the symbol of God could defeat their foes. Notice what the verse says, "(v.3) .. that it (they said "it" not "God") may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies." They did not want to find out if maybe God didn't support them because they might need to change, they wanted the symbol to deliver them from their enemies “while they changed nothing in themselves!  But in verse 5 they were pumped! They were cheering just like the Houston Astro fans were cheering Monday night when the first two Cardinal batters struck out in the 9th inning. It literally shook the ground.

I found it interesting that even the Philistines were afraid when they heard why the people were cheering. In verse 8 they recognized "even as pagans "that the name of God was reason to fear, because they knew what God had done to his enemies in the past. But ultimately they reasoned that, well, at least be men and fight: better to die than be slaves. So here comes the Israeli army, bursting with confidence, going against an enemy that is afraid, carrying before it the very ark of the Covenant of Yahweh God, knowing they can't lose "and they are routed from the field of battle, crushed beyond recognition.

They thought that since God had been with them in the past, and that their forefathers had trusted in God and marched with the ark in the lead “and had always been victorious – then if they just hold to the same traditions, they'll be successful, too. But God is a jealous God. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," says the Lord. If anyone thinks that the mere vestiges of God, the symbols, have any power, they will be in for a very bitter disappointment. God demands that He not only be obeyed, but that He Himself be acknowledged and worshiped. Israel didn't worship God, but only the images of God, while at the same time being disobedient and self-centered. In a sense, they were using the ark of God as an idol!

So when I see so many in our country quickly popping off with "God Bless America!" while giving no real deference to the Holiness of God, I worry. I ask you this week, therefore, to focus on your personal obedience to God and make certain that He is a reality in your life, and not just a popular phrase.

I thank God for you all, and am honored to be counted among your number. May God receive glory because of what you do.

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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

Online Sermons

The Treasure of God Knowledge
By Scott Phillips

There lays within the grasp of each one of us a power that is beyond my ability to explain. Peter said it this way, "Grace and peace be Multiplied to you through the knowledge of God our Savior Jesus Christ!" It is through, because of, by way of this Holy Knowledge that the unspeakable blessings of Grace and Peace are endowed into our lives.

We have heard it said, that Knowledge is Power. Through Academic Knowledge we can read write and solve mathematical equations.

Through Scientific knowledge we can make a Hypothesis, perform experiments and from them draw conclusions.

Through Medical Knowledge we can diagnose, treat and cure maladies, sickness and even diseases.

We must understand there are areas of the human experience that scientific knowledge, Medical Knowledge; Academic Knowledge is unable to solve or understand.

These areas that are more real and piercing to the human experience can only be dealt with by what I will call the Knowledge of God and this knowledge provides us Grace and Peace.

The scripture states that at times, God winked at ignorance.

However, the winking has stopped and God no longer allows ignorance to be an excuse. In the information age, for those who truly want to know God, can find him through honest seeking and righteous hunger.

Remember this, Ignorance is not bliss, but Blindness

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 KJV

But Knowledge, the Knowledge of God is miraculous when you embrace it, learn it, love it and live it.

It is LIFE abundant.

Look at Eden

Eden was bliss, in that there they lived in innocence. They only knew,

The sounds of birds in the morning, The sweet taste of an orange,

The kind words of fellowship, The warm embrace of God's presence. In

that all they knew, saw and experienced was Good and of God.

But with the transgression, came knowledge.

And the fearful dividends of this forbidden knowledge has been paying interest to every succeeding generation of humanity. They learned among many things in those first few moments,

Knowledge of isolation,

knowing shame,

knowing nakedness,

What they wish they had never known.

From that day, until this, Adams sons and Eve's daughters have lived

with the stigma of darkness created by forbidden knowledge.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil opened a dark envelope in

another reality.

The soon learned

The sounds of weeping,

The taste of bitterness

The harsh words of hurt

Living without God.

In this new experience of life finally came death.

To this day, we live within a realm removed from simple innocence

and great and gross darkness covers the earth.

My aim today is to hold this candle of penetrating light. To be a

wick wrapped in the word of God, and the flame is the Spirit of the

Most High that confirms the truth. If we all could be wrapped and

embraced by the Knowledge of God and be ignited with his Spirit.

This Light cannot be quenched, but has the power to drive away the

darkness of ignorance and spiritual wickedness.

The truth of what we believe is validated by the power we see around

us. We preach and teach about healing, but the truth of it is

seen in the simple and marvelous miracles in our life we testify

about.

A candle that drives out the darkness from this world.

Today when a child is born, they hear as much truth as they do

deception. Traditions, that makes the word of God of no effect.

There are traditions that suck the life and power of what should be

life changing and becomes the very ties and lies that bind instead

of liberate and empower.

It is my desire to lose every tradition that hinders the work of God

in my life. Tradition can only be defeated by truth.

It is possible to reach a point in our life where the power of God becomes second nature.

Innocence was lost because of forbidden knowledge through disobedience.

We can return to that place of innocence through knowledge unto obedience.

We lost innocence because of knowledge, we regain that place of peace through knowledge.

When we stumble, through knowledge we know, We can get up. When we sin, we know we can confess and be clean. When we feel insignificant, we know we are a part of his body, building and bride and being a part of something so majestic and marvelous, no matter how insignificant is more than the greatest position this world can offer.

When we feel lonely, we can persevere in the knowing, the knowledge we are never alone, but are embraced by his invisible presence, watched over by an angelic host and kept by the swirling sparkling sword that is his word.

When we feel unworthy, we can recall we have been purchased with his precious blood.

We know because of the New Birth, we are a New creation, old things are passed away.

We know it is his Spirit that is in us and by His Spirit we can do all things, endure all things, over come all things, defeat and be victorious over all things, by and through his Mighty Anointing.

When we feel unclean, we know were and are made righteous by him and are indwelt by HIS Holy Spirit.

Knowledge of God and his precious promises poises us to enter into a dimension of dominion and victory.

Rekindle in me the flame of faith that ignites the word into a living Reality. In this reality, the power of God becomes second nature.

I then know, the switch turns the light on. The button sparks the flame. The thermostat ignites the furnace. The kindling begins a fire.

Oh God, Teach us, Lead us, Help us to recapture what was lost.

Help us to ask those things concerning your will. Help us to walk in the way you have created. To do, to go, to be.

In Him, By Him, Through Him,

Scott Phillips

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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, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Become ordained for free and for life

Universal Life Church

You can become an ordained minister right now online by going to the Universal Life Church website. All it takes is to fill out a simple form, and you can be taken into a world where you will be a legal minister for life, for free, and without stepping foot into seminary school. All you have to do to become a minister online is head to the online website for Universal Life Church, fill out a very simple form, and you are on your way to performing marriages, officiating funerals, and ministering the gospel according to your soul’s devices. If you have made the decision to become an ordained minister online, the website is http://www.ulcseminary.org, where you can do a lot more than take up the cloth.

To become an ordained minister online through the Universal Life Church of Modesto, California, you first should look into the laws of your state to see if any online ordainment is legal. After all, most people choose to become an ordained minister online so that they can officiate as a minister. Every state law varies slightly on who can perform a marriage ceremony. Some states, like Indiana, have more relaxed rules on marriage stating that any ordained minister can perform a marriage ceremony.

After you have made the decision to become an ordained minister online, you must complete an online form and submit it. Afterward, you must wait for your review by the staff of ULC to be completed, and then they email you with the status of your ordination within a few days. When you become an ordained minister online, you are not ordained by a computer or by the website; a live person ordains you. Once you are ordained on the ULC website, you are ordained for life.

By Scott Baker

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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

 

Online Sermons

The Spark of Life

By Scott Phillips

What can you say to the things of life and circumstance? What can be said to those times when words are weak to describe the feeling that is deep within your soul? When a child is born, there is no way to communicate the joy of looking into the eyes of a new human soul? The same sort of mystery when you stand in the company of the sorrowful as a loved one has passed from this world.

When you look into your children's eyes and the closed lids of the breathless, both leave you speechless in wonder and awe. Life in its essence when it arrives and departs you can sense the unseen reality of eternity.

I wonder what it was like for those simple shepherds to behold the face of the Christ child. And then to consider the feeling of the soldier who's spear pierced the side of this same human flesh and to behold the revelation as one stared at this same wrapping of life, when life had left it dead and without the spark.

The greatest wonder of all is to consider when Mary turned and beheld he that was dead, alive. When the disciples looked in wonder at the risen Christ. When Thomas looked at the hands and gazed into that chasm in his side.

When life had been lost, to see it recaptured in he who was dead but was yet alive, vibrant with an even deeper dimension of life, the spark of life had become a flaming inferno of eternal reality.

In a short period of thirty three years, life began and ended in the humanity of a single man. However and thankfully, in a short seventy two hour period life returned never to leave again. When life returned, it would never leave and this miracle of recaptured life, would ignite a hope of humanity to propel people into the ends

of the world with a zeal for this man who recaptured life from death.

To consider my life, the life of my children and those I love. To consider that life is like a whisp of wind that blows across the fields of our life, there is hope to recapture what has been lost.  Life in a moment will ignite into an eternal day. That is the hope we have when we gaze upon the departed. That as we see their eyelids closed, in another world and another day, they are opening their eyes in a kingdom that shall never end.

Living today and knowing that Hope is just beyond my last breath,

In Him, By Him, Through Him,

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 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

Online Sermons

By Scott Phillips

In Him By Him Through Him

Manifestation follows Preparation

I can see it. Standing there in his striking appearance, standing there by the Jordan, like a reed shaken in the wind, he stood there proclaiming truth, the coming of truth. As his faith reached toward heaven and his spirit seemed as it were a flaming fire, truth was proclaimed in the ears of those that were there. A day of decision had arrived for some, a day that destiny would claim another soul to participate in the grand plan. Some walked away wondering why so much fuss, others wondering what the big deal was, but some were impacted to the greatest degree. Can you not see this wild-eyed preacher in the wilderness as he proclaimed, "REPENT, for the Kingdom of God is at Hand!"

This voice crying in the wilderness is repeated over and over across

the world in pulpits, parking lots and places of commerce even

today. The ministry of preparation is still an important task that

must be done. There is a great call of repentance much like it was

in the Days of John the Baptist, a call that can be heard in the

hearts and minds of all. A draw and call for all to repent, to the

saint to repent for their lack of concern and urgency and to the

preacher to renew his commitment and concern for the responsibility

that has been committed into his hands. Repent!

If we have ever been able to see the culmination of events that

places us at a distinct vantage point in which to view Bible

Prophecy, we are there right now. That being the case, we need to

prepare as never before, because the Kingdom of God in the greatest

reality ever to be known is at hand. As the New Jerusalem draws

closer, the Kingdom of God that is established in the hearts of the

Church, we are seeing a coming together of God's plan as seen in the

heavens begin to be seen in greater clarity here on earth.

Unprecedented Revival and Harvest has, is and will be taking place

in the next few days, weeks, months and if the Lord tarries years.

Let us heed the message of John the Baptist, make straight paths to

walk in. If there ever was an hour for prayer it is now. If there

ever was a time for labour, it is Now. If there ever was a place

that needs to see the grace and power of God demonstrated is right

where you are.

God never has gone where there was no preparation. He has always had

someone that went and prepared the people and the City before his

work was seen. Always you will find preparation before the work of

God. If you won't to be apart of the coming manifestation, you

better get busy preparing the way, or he may not stop in your

family, Church, and City.

Prepare ye the Way of the Lord! Repent and Call everyone who you

have influence over to do the same. Lift up your voice, spare not,

for the Night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore

shake off the works of darkness and put on the Armour of light!

The principle is preparation precedes manifestation. That being the

case, Calling all Saints, Ministers, Evangelist, Pastors, Prepare ye

the way, because an unprecedented manifestation of Gods' spirit is

being poured out on all flesh, from all areas of life, every culture

and every denomination.

Manifestation follows Preparation!

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every

valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought

low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways

shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

In Him, By Him, Through Him,

Scott Phillips

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

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

Becoming a minister

Bio for Universal Life Church

My whole life has been interwoven with the art of healing.  Over 45 years in the comprehensive medical field and now in alternative “energy” medicine as a practitioner and instructor.

Even as a youngster, I would pretend I was a nurse or teacher and dream of working with the sick and the dis-ease process of the body.  My religious background was mixed.  My Roman Catholic grandfather and my Methodist grandmother were very much an influence in my young years.  I married my childhood sweetheart Fred and had two great boys, Fred and Todd.  His career consisted of many corporate transfers resulting in the tasting of many churches and different theological beliefs.  But I always found God wherever I moved.  I learned later, God has always been in my heart and soul and knew me even before I was born.  My healing gifts were given to me and it was my soul’s journey to find my earthly path to use them.

God combined my love for healing and my love for God’s hurting children and gave me a Healing Ministry which I choose to call “Touch of Healing”.  It is the practice of using our hands and heart to do hands-on-healing for family, friends, animals and clients.  It is the same method Jesus used over 2000 years ago.  When I discovered I could get my Bachelor Degree in Energy Medicine, I completed it in Oct. 2007 at age 66. 

I also have a great love for the Native Americans and visit the Navaho and Hopi reservations whenever I can.  We share a love for ceremony and ritual to honor the Great Creator.  To pray the prayers of gratitude for harmony and balance of mother earth and to heal the people and animals who walk the earth.

God’s sense of humor is wonderful.  When I set up my practice, I was told that in Texas we could not “touch” anyone unless we were a massage therapist, a medical professional, or a minister.  I had my degree as a medical professional, but I thought, “I better cover myself against malpractice and become a minister”.  I applied to ULC.  The day…. The very day… that I received my accreditation as a minister…. I had three new clients call.  Guess what?  They all had “spiritual issues” and wanted to see me.  I really had to laugh.  It was as though God said… you got the paper honey, now you will have to step up to the plate and work for it.  I can feel the big smile on God’s face.

I marvel at the framed ULC certification hanging in my office.  How did this all happen?

My dreams as a young child have been fulfilled; I am a missionary for the Lord, and also get to do what I love most.  A Healing practitioner and teacher in Houston, Texas.  What a joy it is to tell my story and to tell how much God loves his children.  Yep, we are God’s kids and Abba loves us.

Rev. Patricia Fleury

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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  and wedding 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