Now ordination is free, simple, and easy! At Universal Life Church you too can become a minister without ever opening a Bible or having a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you alone determine “what is right.”
Don’t believe it’s that easy? Check out their Become Ordained page here. Trust me, it will only take a second.
But that’s not all, if you want to confess your sins you can do it here electronically. Don’t worry, though, if you’re still too proud to humble yourself before a holy God to repent, then all you have to do is type an “X” in the box (seriously) and that’s good enough to be forgiven of your sins. The “X” will indicate that you “thought” about those past mistakes and that is sufficient. Isn’t e-confession great?
From the homepage of Universal Life Church:
Every person has the natural right (and the responsibility) to peacefully determine what is right. We are advocates of religious freedom.
The Universal Life Church wants you to pursue your spiritual beliefs without interference from any outside agency, including government or church authority.
You may become a legally ordained minister for life, without cost, and without question of faith.
Christ Alone Wyoming 
“Universal” in the name of a “church” puts up all sorts of red flags. What ever happened to John 14:6 being preached in today’s churches?
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This isn’t really a Christian site – it’s more like a Unitarian or the “United University Church” that you will find on college campuses across the country. They don’t call themselves Christian at least.
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No, we’re not all Christians in the ULC. I’m an ordained minister with the ULC, and we welcome every religion there is.
Seeing that many paths lead to God, we celebrate diversity.
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I guess I’ll be the first to say this to you Norbert… don’t worry I speak for everybody. There is only one path to God.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 4:16
That’s all that needs to be said.
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Norbert,
Yes, “many paths lead to God.” Question is, when you get to the end of your path, and you stand before God, will you have to make a U-turn and go the other way?
“I shall say to them in that day, ‘Depart! I never knew you!'”–Matthew 7:23
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Thanks for your answers. It’s interesting that each of you uses the bible to “prove” his point.
As you may (or may not) understand, there are MORE religions than only Christianity. And even Christian denominations are split over who goes to “heaven”, and who does not.
But all Christians read the same book. So, how come that there are so many contradicting Christian denominations?
Which proves only one thing: That there are as many interpretations of the bible as there are churches out there, and all of them claim they have the “truth”.
We at ULC are tolerant, and we follow the ideal of Jesus’ love: agape love. We respect every human being, be they a bible-believing Christian, a UFO disciple, a Buddhist, an Atheist, a Gnostic, a Satanist, whatever. We are all God’s children, and God loves us so much that he has given us free will.
Please note that none of us is happy when a member is abusive in any kind of way. Still, a human being is our brother.
Aloha
Norbert
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So did Jesus lie in John 14:6? He is NOT the only way to the Father?
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Grant,
Yes, we do use the Bible to “prove our point.” It is the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of Almighty God. The one true, living God. Just because imperfect men argue over what it means does not make it less perfect.
Besides, I would rather put my trust in His perfect Word than trust the ever-changing whims of fallen, sinful man. But, then again, most people don’t like to hear the truth. That’s why there are so many religions. Man is trying to “find his own way” to God. Well, these people will find Him one day. But they won’t like what He has to tell them.
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Norbert,
I am afraid since you and God disagree, we must take God’s side on the equation and not that of a mere human.
You state that we are all God’s children regardless of religion. Wrong again! Jesus Christ Himself stated to “good, moral, fine upstanding religious people” that they were of their father, the devil (satan, Lucifer, angel of light, the evil one).
Only those birthed into the family of God are His children, while the rest belong to their father, the devil! Again, as has already been mentioned, God the Son stated that He alone was the way to heaven.
As for loving us so much – Jesus again said that for those who do not believe the WRATH of God already abides on them! As for the love of God, John 3:16 says nothing of “free will” but does say that the love of God gave His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life!
God loved us when we were unloveable and lost in the depravity of our sinful natures. Then setting His love upon us, He sent Jesus Christ to become our Sinbearer so that we would not have to suffer the penalty of a holy, righteous God.
When your ways do not line up with God’s, the end result is Christ-less eternity. That is not something I enjoy saying for I grieve that many are trapped in the lies of the evil one and end up believing that all roads lead to God or that we are all “brothers.”
Norbert, TODAY is the day of salvation – God’s way, and NOT man’s!
Following the truth of Scripture,
The Desert Pastor
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I give up.
Makes no sense arguing with folks who are not even willing to think outside their Christian box.
I’m no Christian, and reading (again) this intolerant stuff you say makes me sick to my stomach. Hundreds of millions of people on this wonderful earth have other faiths — and, according to you, they’re all wrong. Pshaw. It can’t get any more intolerant, can it?
I don’t need to prove anything. You have your truth (a book that was edited over and over and over again, by mortals — and I don’t want to hear that nice explanation any more that it was inspired by god), and other people have other truths.
Who are you to think you know what God does, and what he thinks? It’s not all in your book, gentlemen. You define God the way you want to have him — and I flat-out reject this (Eastern Orthodox Christianity, by the way, does not define God, either).
I do not believe in the bible. I believe in God, and I help people (no, I don’t expect thank-you-notes for helping). I try to be a better person every day.
Everything else does not matter to me.
NOT AT ALL.
May God bless you.
Aloha.
Norbert
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Norbert,
Let’s do this Todd and Ray style: Are you a good person?
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Define “good”, then I can answer.
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Tis a shame that the God of the Bible is so intolerant! Shame Jesus Christ was such a fraud! Can’t have it both ways after all, now can we? Either He is Who He said He was, or He was a big, giant, fake lying fraud!
Actually, I love thinking outside of my “Christian” box. That is the problem with every human being. Due to our sinful natures, we “LIKE” to think outside of that box because it strokes our human ego!
The biggest problem though comes when people want to say, “God made man in His own image, and now man has returned the favour!”
Norbert, I would be remiss if I did not tell you this, the Bible says that even the devils/demons believe in God AND THEY TREMBLE! You say you believe in god, but not the Bible, can’t help but note that the true and living God is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit and His Word.
What god is it you actually believe in? I hope he/she/it has a wonderful plan for this present life for you for sadly this will be the only life in which you will be able to enjoy your god. One day the biggest double cross in history will take place when the devil will be forced to admit in front of all of creation that “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
By the way, helping people is good. But when the Pharisee and the tax collector/sinner stood to pray in the temple, Jesus said that it was the sinner who went to his house justified. The Pharisee left still swathed in the cloaks of his own self-importance, his own self-piety, his own self-religious experiences, and still headed for a Christ-less eternity.
Norbert, I do not attempt through this to belittle you personally, but to show you the futility of believing in a system where anything and everything goes and is supposed to be acceptable to a holy and righteous God.
Sadly, EVERY religion in the world that focuses on man IS VERY WRONG, and is a step-child of the pride that caused Lucifer to fall from heaven and take a third of the angels with him. Pride says I can reach God my own way, and when I get there I will be recognized as my own god.
Believing in the Only Way,
The Desert Pastor
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Let’s look at God’s list of rules that determine whether or not you are a good person. For the sake of brevity, we’ll go through just a few of them, one at a time:
– “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 ESV)
Have you ever committed adultery? Have you had sexual relations outside of marriage? Have you ever looked upon a woman with lust? Jesus said “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27)
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Ahhh, this is the way this show is going…
oh, I have never had sexual relations outside my marriage.
But I have looked upon a woman with lust, and more than once.
But let’s make this sad story short: I assume that, after this nice morality quiz is over, you will haven proven that I am, according to your rules (NOT God’s, NOT God’s, my friends, those are your rules), not a good person.
It’s pointless arguing with bible-believers, it’s simply pointless. You didn’t even comment on this sentence: “Hundreds of millions of people on this wonderful earth have other faiths — and, according to you, they’re all wrong.”
With due respect, I’d like to hear your opinion on this sentence.
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My rules? My rules would state that there is nothing wrong with looking at women lustfully; phrases like “I’m not hurting anyone” and “I’m not actually cheating on my wife, I’m just looking” come to mind. Unfortunately for me and all of fallen humanity, these ARE God’s rules. Before delivering them to Moses, He stated “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2) Sounds like
If you’d like, I would be happy to comment on that sentence. However, I cannot do it without citing extensively from the Bible which you so clearly disdain. If you’ll allow me that, then I’ll be happy to give you my thoughts. Apart from the Bible, I have none. Like the Apostle Paul, “…it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20)
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If you need a book to answer the most humane question imaginable, then I am clearly not interested.
This was my last visit on this blog.
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I sincerely appreciate the chance to share the smallest amount of Gospel truth with you matausch. Sadly, I expected this outcome.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
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To all who remain,
To be called a Bible-believer is something I can only pray happens more and more. The Word of God contains all that we need, and it’s truly amazing how He reveals Himself to us through it.
Grace and peace to all of you, Goodnight!
Jason
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Dear Jason:
Good job!
Woe to you when all men speak well of you. (Luke 6:26)
Those who not only own a Bible but actually read it, believe it, and live their lives in accordance to its commands will never have to fear this.
I leave DefCon readers with this question:
If someone accused you of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Solus Christos!
– The Pilgrim
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Jason,
It was worth the try, but alas, the foolish think in their heart that they can contrive a god of their own making. Eternity will reveal billions who left this earth thinking they were headed for the presence of God only to learn that He will cast them from His holy presence because their sin requires that He do so. Stand fast in the faith, and let God be your reward.
Because of Grace,
The Desert Pastor
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Norbert,
I can’t help but wonder something: what was your intention in commenting here? You (obviously) read the contents of this site, you knew what we are about. Were you trying to change our minds? Were you trying to show us how much better you are because you “celebrate diversity?” Is this your way of being able to say you’ve been “persecuted?” Do you think we’ve never had someone come here and try to tell us the Bible is “a bunch of stories?” And aren’t you being a bit “intolerant” of our religion? Or are you entitled to that belief because you are so much better than us?
Also, you are correct in saying that “millions of people have different faiths.” The Muslims who flew the jetliners into the WTC and Pentagon had a religion. Jim Jones had a religion. David Koresh had a religion. Those committing the atrocities in Darfur have a religion. Are these people going to Heaven? If not, why not? What makes you think your religion is better than theirs? For that matter, who decides whose “religion” is better than another’s? You have already shown that you can be just as judgmental as you claim we are being. Yet one day you will be judged by God. His judgment is final.
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Norbert,
I can’t help but wonder what your intention was in commenting here. You obviously read the content of this site, you knew what we were about. Did you think you were going to change our minds? Or does it make you feel good to be able to look down your nose from your lofty perch on us poor, deluded Christians? You say that you “celebrate diversity” and yet you have shown that you can be just as judgmental as you claim that we are. And aren’t you being a bit “intolerant” of our religion?
Since you want an answer to your question, “Hundreds of millions of people on this wonderful earth have other faiths — and, according to you, they’re all wrong,” I’ll give it to you. Yes, they are wrong. Sorry, that’s not just my opinion. That’s truth. I wonder what you think about the religion of those men who flew jet planes into the WTC and the Pentagon. Or what you think about the religion of Jim Jones. Or the religion of David Koresh. Or the religion of those committing murder in Darfur. Or the religion of those who force little girls into temple prostitution. Or the religion of the Taliban. Or the religion of Molech, who required people to sacrifice their children to him. Or the religion of Heaven’s Gate, that led to mass suicide. Are these religions OK with you? And if not, why not? Do you think your religion is better than anybody else’s? Who decides what religions are OK and which ones aren’t?
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(here again, so I broke my oath… oh my, “weak the human flesh is”, said Yoda. 😉 )
Fourpointer, I’d like to answer your questions.
1) I didn’t want to change anyone’s minds. I just stumbled over this blog entry about the ULC, and read a pretty biased view. All I wanted to do is clarify a couple of things, like what the ULC is all about. By the way, we have many bible-believing Christians in the ULC. Just take an open-minded look at our forum: http://forum.ulc.net
2) Believe me, I don’t look down on anyone. I have the utmost respect for any religion. But this does not mean that I remain quiet when something bothers me. I thought (and still think) that your opinion about our church is biased, and that none of you has had real contact with it yet. So, you’re writing about something you don’t even know.
3) All I wanted to do is talk with you about the tenets of the ULC. But I encountered refusal and was answered that the only truth was the bible, screw the rest, so to speak. I was christened Catholic, and I still hold dear many teachings of the bible (like, for example the ten commandments, and Jesus). But I also recognize that there are other cultures and other religions. I know your religion is your truth, but honestly, I couldn’t believe your dismissal of everything else. Maybe you could say I’m intolerant against intolerance.
4) You say that the rest of the world (a large, a big, a HUGE rest, I might add) is wrong, and that this is not only your opinion, it’s the “truth”. Then, you mention the bastards of 9/11, Jim Jones, David Koresh, and others — and imply that this is what other religions are all about!
You fail to mention that hundreds of millions of people who are no Christians are peaceful and just, exactly like most Christians. There are millions and millions of peaceful muslims on earth. There are millions and millions of peaceful Buddhists on earth. Millions and millions of Hindus.
But you pick out some of them, the scum of society, to make your point. Those people have twisted their religions, have forgotten the universal truth that lies beneath it: love.
You could do the same with Christians. How many modern-time tyrannts were Christians? A lot of them. The majority of child abusers in Western countries are Christian.
Does this prove anything? No, of course not.
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mataush,
Would you define “good” and “evil” for me based on your understanding of the meanings of these terms as used in their normal, everyday, conversational sense?
Please understand that this exercise isn’t anything akin to an intellectual trap, I’m trying to pin down definitions that arise from one’s perspective; your perspective to be precise. Though not an attempt to lead you on, I can think of a couple of examples that may help you understand where I’m going with this line of questioning:
“God is good.”
“Hitler was evil.”
Maybe you would agree with the statements above or maybe you wouldn’t, again they’re only examples.
What I’m trying to understand is – based on your worldview and/or epistemic presuppositions – what your working definitions of the terms “good” and “evil” are; either as used in the examples provided above or in any manner you may find more illustrative.
In Christ,
CD
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Norbert,
Sorry about not getting back to you and for the double post. When I originally posted it, it did not show up for a couple days, so I thought it was lost in cyberspace somewhere.
When you said that the opinions of ULC presented here were “biased” you were very correct. We are a group of people who believe that God spoke the words we find in the Bible to man so that we may know Him, and may know how to follow Him and how to please Him.
We also find in the Bible the very truth that one can observe by watching two children argue over a toy–that we are born as fallen, sinful creatures who only care about pleasing ourselves and fulfilling the depraved lusts of our sinful flesh. That we cannot know the truth, and we would not want to know the truth, if we were not so led by the Holy Spirit of God to do so.
Your “church” is accepting of all “faiths” whether they love YHVH our God or whether they would just as soon spit in His face. However, I guarantee you that when those who deny Him stand will stand before Him, He will not be so hospitable. This is why we warn people about groups like yours, who preach a sort of “all roads lead to Hevaen” type mantra, when we know from God’s Word that is not true.
As far as my inclusion of people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, et al in my list of people who followed their own truth–the reason I did that was not so much to paint all other religions with a broad brush, but to show you just how dangerous it is when we, as sinful creatures, look to other humans as a barometer for “truth.” And who are we to say that their religion is not right? They are using the same standard as every other false religion–the thoughts and ideas of sinful, fallen man.
Each of those people I mentioned sought the “truth” from a place other than the Lord Jesus Christ. His claim to truth was exclusive–” I AM the Way, THE TRUTH, and The Life.” Not that He had the only truth–HE IS the only truth.
I would agree that there are many peaceful Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, etc. But these are people who have a goodness that will not do them any good when they stand before God. So by telling them that their religion will lead to their eternal salvation, you are actually sending them down a road to their destruction.
I hope I have clarified our position. I hope it will emlighten you to the truth.
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Dear Fourpoiter:
You are right. And this is the same tolerant “church” who ordained Kathy Griffin who openly mocked our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during an awards ceremony (video here).
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