The Cosmic Citizen

REPRISE: This week's show features author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists, Brian D. McLaren. Brian's groundbreaking books include A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret Message of Jesus, and Everything Must Change. Named by Time magazine as one of America's top twenty-five evangelicals, McLaren has appeared on Nightline and Larry King Live, and has been covered by The Washington Post and the New York Times. Brian will join us to discuss, among other things, his new book: We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation. This book offers everything one needs to explore what a difference an honest, living, growing faith can make in our world today. It also puts tools in your hands to create a life-changing learning community in any home, restaurant, or other welcoming space. The fifty-two (plus a few) weekly readings can each be read aloud in 10-12 minutes, and offer a simple curriculum of insightful reflections and transformative practices, offering a year of rich study, interactive learning, and personal growth. Perfect for congregations, classes, or individual or group study, each reading invites you to: Cultivate an honest, intelligent understanding of the Bible and of Christian faith in 21st century Engage with discussion questions designed to challenge, stimulate, and encourage Re-imagine what it means to live joyfully and responsibly in today's world If you're seeking a fresh way to experience and practice your faith this book will inspire and activate you in your spiritual journey. We hope you'll tune in to enjoy this reprise, a thoughtful and insightful inspiration from one of our favorite guests, Brian D. McLaren.

John Creger is a veteran English teacher and classroom researcher at American High School in Fremont CA. He continually seeks new ways to engage his students more deeply in learning. This stems from his own dissatisfaction with shallow teachings and from his fortuitous discovery of the Urantia Book in his 20s. The book brought him proof of what he had felt all along--this is no shallow universe. With new purpose, John majored in English and graduated with a new mission--to work with teens in the classroom. His writings are published in five languages on three continents. Throughout his career, John has tried to help his students find satisfying connections to the universe within and beyond themselves as they gain skills in reading, writing, thinking, and conversing. He has synthesized a model of Deepened Learning from Urantia Book teachings on education and the human condition. John believes this model explains why all who encounter his Personal Creed Project love it. The project centers on each students’ discovery of values. In honor of the Personal Creed Project, John received the James Moffett Memorial Award for Teacher Research from the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Writing Project, and numerous other awards. His first bookisThe Personal Creed Project and a New Vision of Learning (Heinemann 2004). He has published articles in California English, Urantia Fellowship Herald, and the Journal for the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning. He is considering a second book. The Personal Creed Project is being adapted at schools and colleges across the country and beyond. John hopes to create a network of “Creed sites” to pool insights and best practices in deepened learning. He gathers English teachers online to deepen classroom learning and will serve as a consultant to schools and districts while also teaching.  Email him at: [email protected].

What could have more core meaning and value to us than our primary relationships? This week our guests are Phil and Maude. Phil and Maude Mayes live in Santa Barbara, California, having started in London, England and New York City respectively. Phil is a software engineer, voice over artist and photographer, and Maude works with adults with developmental disabilities. They have been writing and speaking about peaceful relationships for many years. They co-authored the book "Secrets of a Successful Relationship Revealed" and are currently working on a second book, "How Two: Have a Successful Relationship". They are committed to the understanding that conflict is not inevitable, and that relationships can be the inspiration for peace on earth. They teach that core values are essential to good relationships. One of the key concepts they will be touching on is shared core values as the route to peaceful relationships. They also teach that there are two types of core values: universal core values and individual core values. Individual core values are how each person puts these universal values into practice in their daily lives and their relationships. Core values will vary according to each person, reflecting, for example, choices of religion, philosophy, politics and relationship to the environment.  They come from our background, families, communities, and various other elements of the outside world. As we grow, have our own experiences, and come to know ourselves better, these individual core values will align more and more with universal values. Once we can agree on core values, all else is secondary, negotiable, a challenge rather than a problem. This promises to be a wonderful discussion. We hope you will tune in!

This week on the Cosmic Citizen we will be discussing core values in the context of The Urantia Book's teachings.  One of the core values that emerged from our shows on bullying was the idea of being an upstander rather than a bystander. Being an upstander means valuing courage. Courage is a core value. Truth, beauty and goodness are also three foundational values frequently expounded upon in The Urantia Book and love is at their core. Consider the following: (2:7.12) Truth is coherent, beauty attractive, goodness stabilizing. And when these values of that which is real are co-ordinated in personality experience, the result is a high order of love conditioned by wisdom and qualified by loyalty. Values are the fabric of reality, consider these statements: (5:4.2) Sooner or later, God is destined to be comprehended as the reality of values, the substance of meanings, and the life of truth. (7:1.3) Spiritual values and spirit forces are real. From the viewpoint of personality, spirit is the soul of creation; matter is the shadowy physical body. (100:3.5) Values are not conceptual illusions; they are real, but always they depend on the fact of relationships. Values are always both actual and potential—not what was, but what is and is to be. Our values are, in fact, powerful drivers of how we think and behave. Ultimately we focus on and create what we value. In the next few weeks we will feature guests who will discuss values and how they effect us and our relationships.  Jesus taught that values manifest as fruits of the divine spirit: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace.

An Investigation into The New Testament Bible From 3 perspectives * The Biblical Worldview * The Academic/Scholastic * The Urantia Book.. This living faith of Jesus was more than an intellectual reflection, and it was not a mystic meditation.  Theology may fix, formulate, define, and dogmatize faith, but in the human life of Jesus faith was personal, living, original, spontaneous, and purely spiritual. This faith was not reverence for tradition nor a mere intellectual belief which he held as a sacred creed, but rather a sublime experience and a profound conviction which securely held him. His faith was so real and all-encompassing that it absolutely swept away any spiritual doubts and effectively destroyed every conflicting desire. Nothing was able to tear him away from the spiritual anchorage of this fervent, sublime, and undaunted faith. Even in the face of apparent defeat or in the throes of disappointment and threatening despair, he calmly stood in the divine presence free from fear and fully conscious of spiritual invincibility. Jesus enjoyed the invigorating assurance of the possession of unflinching faith, and in each of life's trying situations he unfailingly exhibited an unquestioning loyalty to the Father's will. And this superb faith was undaunted even by the cruel and crushing threat of an ignominious death. www.godsgumshoe.org On facebook:  Godss Gumshoe Twitter: @godsgumshoe YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/godsgumshoe?feature=mhee Archive of this series at: http://www.urantiabook.org/audio/gods-gumshoe/gg-index.html

Two weeks ago we had Dr. Stephen Finlan as our guest, he spoke on bullying in the churches and about his new book Bullying in the Churches. Last week we featured author Kristen Caven, who co-wrote The Bullying Antidote: Superpower Your Kids for Life  with her mom, Dr. Louise Hart. We talked with qualified experts who have researched and helped thousands of people to deal with bullies, but this week we plan to explore some of what The Urantia Book teaches about bullies and bullying. We'll share stories from Jesus' life concerning his encounters with bullies and other surprising teachings about people who abuse their power. We want to hear your stories about how you've handled being bullied too. What worked?  What didn't work?  We'll have plenty of time for open phone lines. Have you, or someone you love, encountered a bully? We want to hear from you.

An Investigation into The New Testament Bible Whistleblower: From 3 perspectives * The Biblical Worldview * The Academic/Scholastic * The Urantia Book  139:4.13.John was in prison several times and was banished to the Isle of Patmos for a period of four years until another emperor came to power in Rome. Had not John been tactful and sagacious, he would undoubtedly have been killed as was his more outspoken brother James. As the years passed, John, together with James the Lord's brother, learned to practice wise conciliation when they appeared before the civil magistrates. They found that a "soft answer turns away wrath." They also learned to represent the church as a "spiritual brotherhood devoted to the social service of mankind" rather than as "the kingdom of heaven." They taught loving service rather than ruling power—kingdom and king. 139:4.14.When in temporary exile on Patmos, John wrote the Book of Revelation, which you now have in greatly abridged and distorted form. This Book of Revelation contains the surviving fragments of a great revelation, large portions of which were lost, other portions of which were removed, subsequent to John's writing. It is preserved in only fragmentary and adulterated form. www.godsgumshoe.org On facebook:  Godss Gumshoe Twitter: @godsgumshoe YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/godsgumshoe?feature=mhee Archive of this series at: http://www.urantiabook.org/audio/gods-gumshoe/gg-index.html

If there’s one goal . . . it’s to dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It’s not.  —President Barack Obama at the first-ever White House Conference on Bullying Prevention, 2011 Cosmic Citizen continues from last week's show on Bullying, with inspirational speaker, author, activist. researcher Kristen Caven - Co-Author (along with her mother Dr. Louise Hart) of The Bullying Antidote.  Kristen lives in Oakland CA, with her family, where she writes blog: the Zorgos Reader, & Life in the Fast Brain, a popular blog about ADHD, for ADDitude Magazine and is also PTSA president at a large Oakland high school.  We look forward to exploring the ideas and the ripple effects turning to waves as groups of parents to learn the principals outlined in this MUST READ, amazing book.  Hazelden Publishing asked Dr. Hart to write a book on bullying, which she agreed to as long as Kristen could co-author. They researched all the best knowledge on the problem of bullying and wove it together in The Bullying Antidote, which presents this societal 'human rights' problem that can be solved by parents & teachers who are willing to create more positive environments. Her mother, Dr. Louise Hart, is an acclaimed international speaker and author of The Winning Family, On the Wings of Self-Esteem, as well. Their blog shares the best current thinking on bullying issues. Check out links at: www.zorgos.wordpress.com, www.kristencaven.com and www.drlouisehart.com for books ordering and more contact information.

An Investigation into The New Testament Bible Whistleblower: From 3 perspectives * The Biblical Worldview * The Academic/Scholastic * The Urantia Book  139:4.13.John was in prison several times and was banished to the Isle of Patmos for a period of four years until another emperor came to power in Rome. Had not John been tactful and sagacious, he would undoubtedly have been killed as was his more outspoken brother James. As the years passed, John, together with James the Lord's brother, learned to practice wise conciliation when they appeared before the civil magistrates. They found that a "soft answer turns away wrath." They also learned to represent the church as a "spiritual brotherhood devoted to the social service of mankind" rather than as "the kingdom of heaven." They taught loving service rather than ruling power—kingdom and king. 139:4.14.When in temporary exile on Patmos, John wrote the Book of Revelation, which you now have in greatly abridged and distorted form. This Book of Revelation contains the surviving fragments of a great revelation, large portions of which were lost, other portions of which were removed, subsequent to John's writing. It is preserved in only fragmentary and adulterated form. www.godsgumshoe.org On facebook:  Godss Gumshoe Twitter: @godsgumshoe YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/godsgumshoe?feature=mhee Archive of this series at: http://www.urantiabook.org/audio/gods-gumshoe/gg-index.html

Do bullies have free rein in our churches? Who are the bullies? What is scapegoating? Is it possible to practice the mercy and forgiveness demanded by Gospel ethics while also protecting people from emotional and professional damage? These are some of the questions that Dr. Stephen Finlan will seek to answer this week on the Cosmic Citizen. We'll be looking for an ethic of behavior that is both spiritually valid and psychologically wise. In his book, Stephen seeks responses to bullying that are both “wise” and “harmless” (Matt 10:16), that do not leave people helpless against the cruelty of church bullies. Bullying has become a major concern in schools and workplaces, but the church sometimes lags behind the secular workplace in its ethics. Stephen Finlan was the pastor at Mathewson Street United Methodist Church in Providence, Rhode Island, for three years. He is now with the United Church of Christ. Dr. Finlan is the author of Problems with Atonement (2005) and e Family Metaphor in Jesus’ Teaching (2013), and the coeditor of eosis: Deication in Christian eology, Vol. 1 (2006). He taught at seminaries and universities from 1998 through 2011. Stephen taught theology and general Humanities at universities and seminaries for 13 years. He is interested in preaching the gospel and in discovering the transforming power of the Spirit. He holds a Ph.D. in Pauline Theology from University of Durham, and has been writing about Jesus, Paul, atonement, and theosis for many years. He has strongly held views on these subjects, but welcomes lively and varied debate from those who have other views. This show is being recorded on 7/1/2015 to be played at our regular time on 7/11/2015. We hope you can listen in.