The Life of 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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Christian Studies

"So don't worry, saying, 'What will we drink? What will be wear?' The pagans ask for all these things, but your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Ask first for the kingdom of God and His justice, and these other things will be delivered to you. So don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow can worry about itself. Each day's evil is enough for the day. (Matthew 6:31)

How many times a week, or even a day, do I think "How am I going to…", or "But what if…", or "But what about…"? What am I doing when I'm busy worrying? You can see that the dictionary says that I'm "tormenting myself". Taking the dictionary a bit further, I see that "torment" in this context means "extreme mental anguish and distress".

Why in the world would I WANT to cause myself all this extreme mental distress? God tells me in His Word that HE is in control, that HE is aware of everything I'm facing, and that HE will take care of EVERYTHING. I'm not supposed to worry about ANYTHING, because God cares, and He promises to help me.

A story I'm reminded of was when Jesus was traveling, and a woman named Martha asked Him into their home. Mary, her sister, sat at His feet, and listened to what He had to say, but Martha was all upset about the work she needed to do while He was there. She finally asked Him "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me."

His answer was so simple, so plain, and so unavoidably true. He said "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41,42 NLT)

There is ONLY ONE THING that I need to concern myself with in my life, and that is my current relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. If I'm committed to Him, then I am REQUIRED TO surrender my worries, and allow Him to do His job of taking care of me.

Compared to "extreme mental anguish", I'd rather Let Go of my worries, and Let God take care of my needs. I need to be talking to Him constantly about things, and thanking Him for His answers, and this is the ONLY way I can have peace and release from all of my concerns. Living in a trusting relationship with God can ONLY bring happiness, peace and contentment.

Pastor/Teacher Michael Eric Brown

The Four Gospels Course by ULC Seminary

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Christian Studies

Dr. of Christian Studies by Rev. Kirk Haas "I came to set the earth on fire, and what do I wish? That it were already ablaze! I have a bath to be bathed, and how can I rest easy till that is carried out? Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, I came to bring division: from now on there will be five in one house split three against two or two against three. Father will be turned against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother."     - Luke Chapter 12, The Unvarnished Gospels, translated by Andy Gaus This was the passage that moved me most. It disturbed me most. I stopped when I read "peace on earth", and asked 'isn't this what I have believed, that Jesus was peace loving?' I began to look at it from a different angle than that of the Christian driven trust in God. I began to question if there was a motivation of Jesus that is underneath what the religious 'powers that be' wanted us to believe. I stepped away from the purity of the message and looked at it as an historian. This had a profound change in how I read the four gospels. It was no longer written verification of what I believed. It had now become historic recollection of what might have been. What if Jesus knew that his people needed a leader to stand up to the Jewish and Roman political/religious powers, and motivated them to turn away from the elders and live their lives in a new, rebellious religious way? What if Jesus orchestrated his martyrdom to create an end to the, what had become, hypocritical religious dogma? Jesus' knowledge of the Holy Scriptures was beyond compare. Even today, elaborate hoaxes have been put on the public with full success. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I am now more curious than before. I am more open to look at it from a different point of view. I started rereading the gospels to look for other examples. What I found is not important. What is important is that I looked. I questioned what I believed. Isn't that what Jesus meant by bringing division? Questioning the existing practice, questioning the practices of our fathers that had gone away from what God taught? In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we have four different views of Jesus and his thirty some years on this earth. We have many translations that differ slightly or seriously, and one thing remains true through all of this, there was no scribe writing Jesus' words down. We have only recollections, years after the fact. We have what may be the truth, the Book of Thomas, and it was denied inclusion into the Bible? Was it because Jesus was a Gnostic? "Don't think I came to cast peace across the land. I didn't come to cast peace, I came to wield a sword…. and to make a man's servants his enemies."     -Matthew Chapter 10 I deeply enjoyed this course, however after this course I have more questions than comfort. My belief has not been shaken, but it has been stirred. Rev. Kirk Haas ******************************************** 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.  Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Christian History

Dr. of Christian History Final Essay

By Rev. Patricia Buben

According to the course, Judaism gave us the most perfect system of moral philosophy in existence.  The Jews saw sin as a violation coming from an impure heart that resulted in external sinful actions. Salvation was viewed as being only from God, and not in human ethical works or subjective mystery cults.

Because of the location of Rome, at Christianity's birth and in the first three centuries of its existence, conditions were more favorable for the spread of the Christian gospel throughout the Mediterranean world than at any other time in previous eras. Of all the religions and cults practiced in the Roman Empire at the time of Christ's birth, only Judaism and Christianity have been able to successfully survive the changing course of world history and still be a major influence today.

The life, death and resurrection of Christ began the era of Christianity.  Unlike other traditions, Christ cannot be separated from Christianity.  Christ did not leave a structure—just the apostles and the Holy Spirit from which the apostles were instructed.  The entirety of the church structure came from the apostles with the Holy Spirit working through them and continues to this day.

The members of the original Christian church were Jewish.  It wasn't until the apostle Paul went out to "all corners of the earth" that the Gentiles were invited to hear the gospel message.  This work is still not complete and is the continuing goal of the Christian church.  Although there was splintering of the church, it forced the creation of a canon, organizing the content of the doctrine and eliminating heresies created by those who wanted to wield authority.  All of these challenges served to strengthen, not weaken, the church.

Over the years, many errors entered into the church as a result of pagan influence, scholarly debates and other doctrines brought into the church by St. Augustine and others.  The Protestant Reformation was an attempt at bringing the church back to the purity of salvation by grace through faith alone.

It is interesting that the dogmas and doctrines that have further "defined" Christianity were mainly a result of specific people's interpretations (personal opinions).  I always thought they were inspired by God, like the Bible.  This course gave a great overview of the historical events of Christianity giving timelines and putting everything into sequence—including how doctrines were formed, and who was involved in making these decisions.  It's interesting because these doctrines have always been communicated as fact, not the result of consensus or opinion of the church fathers.

Putting all of this information into the right context can be a challenge because of differing opinions and rhetoric.  This course was very objective in its presentation and outlined the facts.  Therefore, one gets a good sense of how Christianity developed and why it is still viable today.

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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.

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Four gospels

Four gospels Essay by Rev. Sue Bellworthy

There are challenging and deep parts of all four gospels which all benefit from frequent re reading, revealing small and new gems on each occasion. Like many I prefer the gospel of John for it flows easily and has the most beautiful sound. The course does not touch on the beginning verses "in the beginning was the word………" which is surely one of the most moving passages. 

John records many of the miracles of Jesus. Here we have the famous conversion of water into wine. It would almost seem in this passage that Jesus is "pushed" into this first miracle by His mother who recognised His potential by virtue of His birth and was encouraging Him to begin . Maybe she had received a divine message to this effect. Regardless, at this wedding we see the famous change of water into wine that is reported to be so sweet and flavoursome that the guests wondered why it was kept till last. The water to wine is also a metaphor. It may stand for the conversion of something ordinary into something special – the conversion of a non-believer to a believer perhaps, or a form of enlightenment. It may also link to the communion – converting plain water to the blood of Christ, perhaps also showing that we may receive Christ in all things. The lesson suggests that this miracle shows us the wine within the water, the pure heart hidden within everyone. 

It is interesting how many possible meanings can be drawn from this apparently simple act. Key to all is the uncovering of the true spirit. We are all like that water. Through the power of the word we may become as the wine. I find it interesting too that the miracle implies that there is a divine spark within us all – something that is actually stated later in the gospel. This is a pagan belief and has, in many respects, been "edited out" by the orthodox church. However it is a valid concept. We were made of God and therefore must contain His essence. Spiritual growth is finding and contacting that essence within as well as without. This miracle teaches us this.

This gospel is full of such deep and powerful truths and they are presented in such a beautiful way that they stay in the mind where they may be pondered slowly allowing the true meaning to emerge by the grace of God.

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

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.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar