Global Change Teachings for the New Millennium

Presented by Niánn Emerson Chase

to members and guests of Global Community Communications Church at a World-Wide Sunday Service

(Also available in the book,Global Change Teachings for the New Millennium, Series Three)

I have been recently reading about the benefits of a stream or river periodically flooding. Flooding clears out the debris that has built up on the riverbanks and in the riverbeds, thus having much cleaner water after the flood. During the flood, the water is very dirty and churned up, but afterwards, because the river bottoms and the beds have been cleaned out, the water itself is much cleaner. The fast powerful waters tear out old dead growth so that new plants have room to come up. As the flood waters slow down, new nutrient-rich soil is deposited that enhances the new growth of these plants. I read last week in the local newspaper that according to a scientist who studies riparian areas and the rivers and streams that are a part of those areas, that the Verde River is in better shape than it has been for many years before and since the last flood in 1995. He stated that the flood in ’95 had long-term benefits for the Verde River.

The natural world has its cycles, and so do we human beings, for we are a part of that natural world. The outer natural world parallels the rhythms and cycles of the inner life of personality. We too as individuals and as groups have our times of plenty, our times of drought, our times of floods, our times of life and of death. We have our times of prosperity and our times of poverty. We have times of still waters and times of angry churning floodwaters. We have our seasons of joy, of sorrow, of ease, of hardship, of the mundane, of new experience. We travel the deserts, the plains, the plateaus, the seasides, and the mountains. We experience the storms and the lulls. We have in our lives the tormenting tornadoes, the light refreshing breezes, and the meditative stillness.

Mandated Ministers in Divine Administration

Throughout the years, many of us individuals have felt the flood of demands that have resulted in us making many shifts, inner as well as outer, to upstep our lives and our ministry. As a group, a community, and as a family, we have certainly felt the stress and pressure of merely living on a fallen planet. Amidst this flood of the demands of life, we have already experienced the benefits of the many shifts and changes that we have made to improve ourselves and our lives. Most of us get excited about the challenges that come our way, for we see these difficult situations as opportunities to grow in our ministry to others. Those who are mandated in Divine Administration are ordained as ministers. Of course you are ministers at varying degrees depending upon your mandate level, your soul age, and your experiences in this life. I encourage all of you members of this community to study the criteria for the mandate levels. Even though you may not yet be mandated in Divine Administration, that is your destiny, and it should be your goal. Look at the motives as to why you want to be mandated. Is it because it’s cool, or it’s going to give you some kind of personal power, or it’s prestigious? Or are you motivated to become mandated because it means that you are going to be in higher service to other human beings? At this moment in time and space, you non-mandated people are considered to be ministers-in-training.

Every single one of you in this room who loves God so much need to see yourself as a minister for God. Think about what that means for you? Earlier Rafeel was praying about this, how we could be better ministers in our place of work, whether it’s working in the garden, whether it’s working in the legal office, whether it’s working in Planetary Family Services, whether it’s cooking a beautiful meal. No matter what level of mandate we have, or do not have, we are in continual training as ministers, and this training will continue throughout eternity. Paladin the finaliter has told us he is still in training. All of us need much growth and improvement, especially as ministers in the service of God. We need to always remember that there are many ways to minister on the three universe levels of reality—material, mindal, and spiritual.

Besides our continual individual soul growth—ascension—one of our main goals in implementing Divine Administration is to disseminate the teachings of the Fifth Epochal Revelation and the Continuing Fifth Epochal Revelation found in The URANTIA Book and The Cosmic Family volumes. Each of us here daily experience the marvel and the miracle of the epochal revelation as it manifests in every level of our daily lives. It’s not just a book or books that we read or intellectualize about. We are excited about the practicality of this revelation, as well as enjoying the inner joy of intellectual stimulation and spiritual enhancement. This revelation is so rich, and we feel “rich” no matter the thickness or the thinness of our pocketbooks, or the depth or shallowness of our bank accounts, for we are rich in non-materialistic ways. All of material reality shifts and fluctuates with the cycles of time, but the richness of God’s presence in our lives and the manifestation of the revelatory truths within each one of us and within the synergy of the cosmic family is stable, steady, and lasting throughout eternity. It is of eternal value.

We live on a fallen planet that is now going through the adjudication of Gabriel of Salvington vs Lucifer. Every human being and every society must experience the cleansing floods of that adjudication process. Those floods not only bring the turmoil of evaluating our lives, our choices, and our values, they bring the clarification, the cleansing, and the healing of the epochal revelation. As ministers of this epochal revelation, we first must embrace its teachings intellectually and then take the teachings into our hearts and live them daily, allowing the beauty and power of those truths to permeate every corner of our being—every cell, every molecule, every atom, every ultimaton, every aon, and every zion.

What we have all experienced is an excitement and a love for what we know and live. We want to share our experience and this revelation with others, and of course this is what we are meant to do. But we all have experienced deep disappointment when we get disinterest or ridicule, or anger or hostility from those we attempt to share this revelation with. We can’t understand why someone wouldn’t grab onto this intellectual and spiritual goldmine that is found in The URANTIA Book and The Cosmic Family volumes. Why aren’t the strife-torn and confused masses flocking to the mining fields of this revelation? We certainly aren’t experiencing any gold rush that Alaska or California did during those days of discovering gold.

The First URANTIA Book Readers’ Disappointments

I came across some comments on the website of the organization, Urantia Book Fellowship. I am grateful that this site had made available these comments from a meeting that Bill Sadler, who is the son of Dr. William Sadler, made about three years after the publication of The URANTIA Book, which was published in 1995. These comments were probably made around 1958, and he is speaking to a group of URANTIA Book readers who had been involved in studying the revelations for several years, even many years before the book was published. They were part of the recently formed Urantia Brotherhood, whose function was to disseminate those teachings. Like us, they felt that they had come across a gold mine and had experienced much joy, growth, stimulation, and fulfillment as a result of studying this revelation. And like us, they felt the call to be ministers for God and share this revelation with others, in fact, with the world. And like us they experienced great disappointment. Bill Sadler said, “Some of us are terribly concerned because we have put forth so much effort and have seen so much disinterest. And by hook or quirk, we are unable to get new readers.”

I’d like to read some of Bill Sadler’s words that were spoken over forty years ago to that group of people.

I keep holding to that parable of the sower. That’s why Jesus told it. I think to comfort folks like us who go forth hopefully sowing seed only to discover that the results vary, because of circumstances largely beyond our control. And if you don’t think I haven’t been parent to many disappointments, you are just flat crazy. I have tried real hard. And I have learned to try in different ways. This whole story I have tried to write, represents another approach. The previous ones didn’t work, so let’s try this one….

I think our prime purpose in life should be the service of God. This is the true end, and everything leading to that is a means to that end. The URANTIA Book is not an end. It is a means to the end. And the end is God. We should be interested in doing anything we can do to make God more real to men [and women] and to introduce them to God if we can. This to me is our prime objective in life. The URANTIA Book I consider to be the most valuable tool in achieving this objective….

If we put our whole lives in the larger perspective and if we say we are primarily engaged in the attempted service of God to our fellow men and women, and this is our supreme goal, this is the true end…. Our primary objective is the service of God. Our secondary objective is the propagation of The URANTIA Book…

You see, this attempt at service makes an adventure out of any life, because it adds to life the condiments, the salt and pepper and spice of spirituality, or attempted spirituality. And when you look at anybody as a potential brother [or sister], life is a perpetual adventure then. And you never know what’s going to happen five minutes from now, or what you may be involved in. You are alert, it produces an attitude which changes your conduct. I think the attitude of the attempted service of God is important to our function in life. We are planning to serve God and the mere presence of that plan in our minds is apt to make it more possible to serve God….

The difference between a suspect and a prospect is the feeling of need. Jesus didn’t confuse the two. Coming down from the Swiss lakes, he wasted no sales talk on a suspect, and Ganid got after him as you’ll recall. In case of doubt, I’d sow the seeds. I always sow seeds if I doubt, and if I feel there is a chance. But since I am going to gamble and take long chances, I must be prepared to be disappointed a fairly heavy percentage of the time. But I would rather be disappointed many times than miss one seed sowing. How can you escape that paradox? If you are going to take long chances you must expect frequent losses….

Now let me give you a larger picture. I don’t think we are alone, and I don’t think this book is dependent on merely human resources. However, I don’t believe that superhuman agencies have any basis to work on if human beings are not first diligent. There is no use telling the twins [Andon and Fonta] “northward” until they have entertained the concept of fleeing, otherwise the word “northward” has no meaning, does it? I have undoubted faith that the associates of the authors of these papers who are charged with a superhuman supervision of planetary affairs are well aware of this book, of our problems, of our efforts, of our frustrations, and our bad judgments, and our good judgments. Of our good wisdom and of our lack of wisdom. And I’m quite sure that they will in a most intelligent way take advantage of all of our human efforts. They are not without their resources. I don’t believe they can cause so much as they can coordinate. But if we give them nothing to coordinate they won’t have much to do will they? Now I don’t think faith is a substitute for good judgment and wisdom in our actions. But if we use the best judgment, the best wisdom, the most common sense diligence that we are capable of using. If we keep this in perspective,..if we remember that God is more important than The URANTIA Book or the Urantia Brotherhood, than I think we will be useful servants….

I don’t think we are alone in this project. I have got a lot of faith in our friends. But I think the first moves are ours. We got to give them some grist to work on. We have got to get seeds out there that they can perhaps maneuver….

There is a lot of good counsel in those words of Bill Sadler’s for us ministers in Divine Administration.

Jesus, THE Example of a Minister

We do have Jesus as the example of living His ministry. He was the Avatar, the minister, the teacher that we have as an inspiration and a guide. Thank God for the section of The URANTIA Book that gives us that life and those teachings. What made Jesus so noble and great as a minister for others? On page 1670 of The URANTIA Book we are told that He understood the minds of people. He knew also what was in the hearts of individuals. He was able to relate to each person as an individual. He didn’t stereotype people, He looked at them as unique individuals. He was able to know their mental, emotional, and spiritual states and minister to those individual needs. He also had an understanding of human nature in general and what human beings universally share. And of course He had a tremendous love and compassion for persons and built self-respect in those that He ministered to.

In His instructions for teachers and believers that is found on pages 1765 to 1767 of The URANTIA Book, Jesus said about Himself,

…Tell my children that I am not only tender of their feelings and patient with their frailties, but that I am also ruthless with sin and intolerant of iniquity. I am indeed meek and humble in the presence of my Father, but I am equally and relentlessly inexorable where there is deliberate evildoing and sinful rebellion against the will of my Father in heaven.

Sounds like a spiritual warrior doesn’t He? In other words, He ministered in the Father, the Son, and the Mother circuitry, depending upon the individuals and the situation. Sometimes He was comforting and nurturing, and sometimes He was confronting and stern.In talking to His apostles and evangelists, Jesus said,

…You should remember that in body and mind—emotionally—[people] react individually. The only uniform thing about [individuals] is the indwelling spirit. Only through, and by appeal to, this spirit can [hu]mankind ever attain unity and brother[sister]hood. (ibid., 1672:06)

In other words, you must speak to each person’s higher self, the self that is in tune with the fragment of the Father. Jesus appealed to each person’s better self while understanding their lower natures. He was not an enabler of the lower nature, feeding into people’s fears, resentments, stupidities, and erroneous addictive attitudes. He was an inspirer and an encourager of nobility and ethical thinking and acting. He said, “Make your appeals directly to the divine spirit that dwells within the minds of [people]” (ibid., 1765:04).”Jesus was a teacher who taught as the occasion served; He was not [usually] a systematic teacher. Jesus taught not so much from the law as from life, by parables.” (ibid.,1672:04) He used common daily situations to bring in a higher perspective.

The URANTIA Book tells us on page 1672 that Jesus was patient “in dealing with backward and troublesome inquirers.”

…He inspired hope and confidence in the hearts of all who came under His ministry. Only those who had not met Him feared Him, and He was hated only by those who regarded Him as a champion of that truth which was destined to overthrow the evil and error which they had determined to hold in their hearts at all costs.

In those instructions for teachers and believers, we can determine key points in Jesus’ counsel and advice on ministering to others. First and foremost was His emphasis on respecting yourself and others. Never destroy the self-respect of another person. Always, He said, respect the personality of persons. We who study The URANTIA Book know in a much broader way what “personality” is. In honoring self-respect in others, Jesus advised never to use dio (evil) power in promoting your cause. He said,

…Never should a righteous cause be promoted by force; spiritual victories can be won only by spiritual power. This injunction against the employment of material influences refers to psychic force as well as to physical force. Overpowering arguments and mental superiority are not to be employed to coerce men and women into the kingdom. (ibid., 1765:04)

Using overpowering arguments and mental superiority is an example of employment of psychic force.

…[A person’s] mind is not to be crushed by the mere weight of logic or overawed by shrewd eloquence. Take care that you do not wound the self-respect of timid and fearful souls. Do not indulge in sarcasm at the expense of my simple-minded brethren. Be not cynical with my fear-ridden children.

I think that “fast thinkers” have to be very careful in this area, for, at times, they can have an impatience in dealing with others who may not see things the way they do. Bright people must work at being patient with those who seem to be slow at ‘getting it’. Those fast-thinking and “intelligent” people who are also prideful can be sarcastic in their impatience and lack of compassion. Those who arrogantly think they “have it” in their mindal understanding of something tend to continually argue to prove that they are correct. And many of them are good arguers and debaters. But using their intellectual prowess and their ability to “yap” to coerce someone to understand or see something is not necessarily always the correct method, especially with those who are humble and are sincerely seeking God’s truth and will.Another example of incorrectly using psychic force is appealing to people’s lower emotions. Jesus said,

…While emotion as a factor in human decisions cannot be wholly eliminated, it should not be directly appealed to in the teachings of those who would advance the cause of the kingdom. Do not appeal to fear, pity, or mere sentiment. Never be guilty of such unworthy tactics.

In discussing appealing to the higher self, the spirit of God within each person, Jesus said,

…Sometime the children of the kingdom will realize that strong feelings of emotion are not equivalent to the leadings of the divine spirit. To be strongly and strangely impressed to do something or to go to a certain place, does not necessarily mean that such impulses are the leadings of the indwelling spirit.

He went on to say,

…Teach all believers to avoid leaning upon the insecure props of false sympathy. You cannot develop strong characters out of the indulgence of self-pity; honestly endeavor to avoid the deceptive influence of mere fellowship in misery.

When people come together merely to sit on the “pity pot” and “boo-hoo” together without encouraging problem-solving and healing, then they will not change; they will continue to feel victimized and just get worse in their helplessness and resentments. Those who encourage this by operating from misplaced compassion (if they are sincerely trying to minister) are only enabling others to stay in their dis-ease.Jesus goes on to say:

…Extend sympathy to the brave and courageous while you withhold overmuch pity from those cowardly souls who only halfheartedly stand up before the trials of living. Offer not consolation to those who lie down before their troubles without a struggle. Sympathize not with your fellows merely that they may sympathize with you in return.

There is a bumper sticker that I occasionally see on a car, and I’ve seen it for several years now and I just love it. It simply says, “No Sniveling”. We call inappropriate pity and sympathy “misplaced compassion”. Many feel obligated to sympathize with people who are sniveling when maybe the true way to minister to them is to confront them or just walk away from them, refusing to enable them in their self-pity and cowardliness.As ministers in Divine Administration, we should have a balance in praising and rebuking others. Jesus said, “Make not the mistake of only condemning the wrongs in the lives of your pupils, [those you minister to]; remember also to accord generous recognition for the most praiseworthy things in their lives”. Flattery is false; beware of that which is so prevalent among insincere people. One of the marks of true religious living is being able to acknowledge spiritual growth in others and to honor those others for their growth and healing.

There is a lot more advice that Jesus gives to His apostles and believers in this section about being a true minister. I encourage all of you to read that section three in The URANTIA Book called, “Instruction for Teachers and Believers”, on pages 1765-1767. As you study this, jot down the meaningful ideas that come up for you personally that apply to you and how you see yourself as a servant of God.

Thank you very much.
August 6, 2000