Feature Ministry Headline

God Rules the World, the Universe

By Rev. Pat

You know, when Jesus was born he was worshiped by many mostly in secret.  Something wonderful, a great counselor was foretold in the Old Testament by many prophets, in fact, it was about the Prince of Peace that would be born.

There were those though, who did not think this was a great idea and as a result worked to get rid of what they called a trouble maker in later life.  It appeared as though he was one that would be rejected from birth because of those afraid of being replaced in their high positions by this baby that was spoken of so highly.

They thought of him at birth as a Messiah.  He was the promise of the visible manifestation of a Christ, one who would "save" the Hebrews.

It was only after he left that the people realized that he must have been the Messiah, exactly that for which he was born.  Even the Disciples did not realize who he really was and that is still going on today.

Each of us has a purpose and it would show knowledge, understanding and even a sure fire wisdom if we respected every person because he/she is created in the image of Our Father and after His likeness.

In our present class study of The Wisdom and Power in Divine Love and Insight, we are learning that we make certain demands that actually come from our subconscious mind.  These demands were programmed long ago and are the reason that we are experiencing woes, anguishes and sadness mixed with occasional joy.  Yet, we continue many times accepting the way we do things when we know that what we are doing will never bring eternal happiness.

If you have ever watched the movie Ben Hur, you will see what the Romans had decided to do to this now adult Jesus, the adult Messiah.  What caused the Romans to march into Judea and the Tribune who grew up there in that beautiful, little Jewish town want to hurt, harm and use his boyhood friend Ben Hur so he could rise to power?  From the story, it was a selfishness of the little ego to rise in the eyes of the Emperor to great power.  If he conquered this little Jewish town, he could have any post he wanted, which could lead to Rome.

This Tribune believed he was a conqueror and gave no thought about God, for Rome was his god.

If the Tribune had only realized that the "little ego" always leads us into great trouble, he would have considered doing what was for the "highest good of all concerned".  Such an action would have raised him to his greater Good, but he had no idea what he was really doing to himself and to his best friend, Ben Hur.

Let us remember that we are in this world together.  What we do has an affect on others.  What we do is best if it is always for good.  If we really want to know if what we are doing is good for all concerned, try asking if we would like to experience what we are doing to others? 

We are to allow our love to flow over everything and within everything.  When that love flows, it causes us to respect the other person as well as ourselves. 

Our Father is in charge of this Universe even though He has given each individual dominion and authority over their own life, but remember Our Father did not give authority and dominion to run the Universe or the world to man.  We are the caretakers.  We are to take care of it and there is a great difference between taking care of the Earth and running the Earth.

Think about this little Prince of peace, this little one born so that he could teach us how to  come closer to Our Father, know Him/Her and embrace a life of joy.  He is our example.  Open the heart this season and allow Divine Love to be born in you.  It will make all the difference in your personal world.

The "Ship of Glory"

By Rev. Pat Ogletree

Life is so curious that we do not really appreciate it until something happens that causes us to wonder, "Where did that come from and what does it mean?"

It probably seems incorrect to say that life is curious because that would mean that life is questioning, probing, inquisitive or inquiring into something, when actually it is ourselves that may be the curious one.   There are other synonyms for life and they are a living being, a person, and an individual.  If is also a synonym for God as we know that God is Life present everywhere.

Thus, something one morning when writing the "Truth of You" affirmations, this phrase, "Ship of Glory" came into mind and continued with the affirmation and it really took me for a turn.  What does this mean?  I listened attentively for the voice to tell me what else to do.  Well, it is a book entitled, "Ship of Glory."

Dr. Holmes would read, study, then pray and meditate on a subject he was planning to present for his Sunday Morning Messages.  He would then say he could hardly wait to see what he was going to say.

He never used notes.  He simply stood before a table and talked.   He was such a wonderful mystic. 

At any rate, research into the meaning of "glory" had to be done and then the word "ship".  Nothing could be taken for granted that academic knowledge was already in place.

You and I know that we move upon the waters of our mind over the sea of life and the vessel is thought.  We move toward the splendor, the magnificence, the beauty of Our Father's creation.  Just writing about it and hearing the thoughts bring such joy and it is hoped that a rich brilliance majestically flows within you as you read this.

There are two things that we have to be ever mindful of when we read anyone's work and that is jealousy and envy.  Forgive me for bringing this into the writing, but this is important because it can creep into mind and unless you are aware and alert of what can happen, you will never realize that it is happening, particularly if you have had these ideas in the past.

To the person who reads and enjoys reading, has a purpose for the information.  Thus the two negatives will never arise, for that individual is simply gaining speed to board the "Ship of Glory" for a splendid journey on the sea of life.

The idea is, if you want to board the starboard side of the "Ship of Glory" you have to be pure in thought, mind and spirit.  This will make you seaworthy to meet any conditions while at sea.

We sometimes meet squalls that come up in our life that appears to us sudden and we wonder what caused this to happen to us since we have done everything possible to be pure in thought, mind and spirit.

If you are knowledgeable about the Bible, you will recall that Abraham was faithful to 'His' God with the unknown name.  He followed God's calling and did what God asked him to do.  Yes, he questioned God for the purpose, because he had come from a family who worshipped many gods and now he was following 'One' God and there were so many questions that needed answers.

He was tested and passed the test.  Know that Our Father never asks us to do anything that would hurt or harm another, because Jesus the Christ (I like to call him Yeshua, his Aramaic name) came and fulfilled the 600 plus laws that the Hebrews followed into two laws - Love, yes love, the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy soul and the second is liken unto it.  Love thy neighbor as thyself.

If those two laws are followed, in fact, obeyed, there is nothing that anyone would do to harm another or themselves.

We cannot understand Jesus until we understand Moses and we cannot understand the New Testament until we understand the Old Testament.  Our Father is about unifying the spirit, the soul and the body, but we appear to be about separating the spirit from the soul and the soul from the body.

Ministry Headline

As the year begins to end, this is a wonderful time to think how you plan to live the New Year and the plans for living.  The church is a wonderful place to begin.

Perhaps you are among the many who feel that a Church is not a Church unless there is a building and even then some have an idea of how that building should look, how big and who should run it.

I pray that this comes out the way it was given to me upon awakening on the morning of November 4, 2010.

When I saw this, there were Angels singing, I opened my eyes and the room was filled with a glorious number of Angels.  I knew then we were doing what Our Father wanted.

If you think when Jesus (known during the time of the Disciples as Yeshua) said, "Upon this rock I will build my church," that he was speaking of a physical building then a great misunderstanding has been made.

Metaphysically a church means the "spiritual consciousness of a group of people," interpretation taken from "The Hidden Mystery of the Bible by Jack Addington.

To say a church is not a church unless there is a big cathedral is like saying a baby is not born unless he/she is born in a hospital or God is not Real, because we cannot see Him.

What Jesus was saying that he would build his church upon was the knowledge of Truth and not on Peter, an individual.  Can you imagine a big cathedral sitting on Peter's shoulders or on his back or on his head?  We have this all incorrect today, because we take things so very literally.  We know you know it is easier to see things literally than to seek out the Divine Wisdom of Truth.

During the time of Christ and even today, many different kinds of small church services or small discussion group services are held right in a home.  In Acts 20:20 it states that Paul taught from house to house.  Jesus taught on the hillside and on mountains.  The Disciples taught while in prison.

So, you think that excuses offerings and tithing?  Not so, Jesus had a Treasurer (Judas) and if he was not collecting money, for what reason did he need a Treasurer?  When Jesus healed the leper, listen to what he told him:  And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. (Matthew 8:4 KJV)  This is the way it reads in the "Find" Bible by The American Bible Society, copyright 2006.  Jesus put his hand on the man and said, "I want to!  Now you are well."  At once the man's leprosy disappeared.  Jesus told him, "Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show the priest that you are well.  Then take a gift to the temple just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.)

We are to understand also, that when Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven to Peter, he was giving Peter the power to understand the inner teaching, for Heaven concerns the inner and Earth as connected to the outer.  Understand that the rocky ground that Jesus was speaking of is knowledge, but not inner Truth.

Jesus never ascribed to any of the Disciples to build a building for a church, nor did he tell Peter to be the leader of the church, nor that a church is a line of Popes.  Jesus was teaching the "inner Truth" of each individual about the Christ in us to the Disciples, but they were concerned about all the troubles the Jewish people had with the Egyptians in past years, the Sadducees in their present time and Tiberius Caesar, the Romans. 

They wanted a King that would "save" the Jews and set the "Jews" at his right hand of an outer kingdom and this had nothing to do with what Jesus was teaching them.

How many times do we do the same thing with the different Ministers, Pastors and Priests that teach about Religion or Heaven?  Do we look to the Minister who has the biggest building?  If so, we are looking to and at an erroneous idea. 

Do we think those who teach about Truth and its place inside you is poppycock, foolish or nonsense?  Think again.  We Truth teachers are trying to awaken you to Truth and to teach you to have a faith in a Power greater than you and to trust It--really trust It.

We encourage you today to open your mind, your heart and your very spirit to Truth, to Our Father and He will send the teacher that will lead you to Him whether the teaching takes place in a home, a temple or a tent.

May you experience the joy of worshiping with us every First and Third Sunday at 10:00 A.M. 

Telephone for location: 203-595-8308