[tmtranscripts] S.E. Idaho transcript 8-16-02

[Bill Kelly]

SE Idaho Teaching Mission
August 16, 2002

Prayer by unknown being (Bob S): Children of eternity, hear these words
from your elder brother.  Let us be at prayer.

O most high and holy Trinity, Whose universe of universe we inhabit, we
reach out to You in love, in faith, in hope, in trust, knowing that You are
our Creator, our Guide, our Benefactor.  Be with us now as we open our
minds and hearts to the words which have been prepared for our edification.
 And may the love which guides the universe guide our minds in this
process.  So be it.  Amen.

Paul the Apostle (Bill): Grace, mercy and peace from God, our Father, and
the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am again with you, my friends.  I am Saul of
Tarsus, otherwise known as Paul.  (Greetings from group.)  

Many are the days which have passed since I have left this planet in the
natural process of death and resurrection.  And yet, as is true of my
brothers and sisters in the original company of Apostles, our interest has
not waned in the slightest for the progress of the Gospel.  In fact our
excitement mounts as we see the transformation of the 4th Epochal
Revelation as it is enshrined, enlivened and expanded in the 5th Epochal
Revelation, not confined to the words of a book, however, but upon the
pages of your lives.  

When I was still a mortal on this planet I was gifted with visions of the
advanced stages of Light and Life which, according to my thought forms,
were visions of heaven.  Now, of course, I realize that I was privileged to
understand just a little more than what I had previously understood about
the future of the human race so that I would not become despondent and
discouraged during my long imprisonment.  

In some ways, my friends, although several thousand years have come between
us, we are contemporaries.  You are close to me as were Titus, Timothy and
the other disciples who chose to accompany me on my travels.  You are close
to me because you also live in a world of great uncertainty and turmoil
where it is easy to lose faith in the ultimate triumph of the purposes of
God in history.  I have been allowed to speak to you tonight to help to
solidify the connection between us, and also to verify the reality of your
perception of this time in your lives, that it is like the excitement of
New Testament days.  Yes, my friends, it is the same outpouring of the
Spirit which we experienced at Pentecost that once again has come afresh
into your lives as a result of this new epochal revelation.  We are
literally walking in the footsteps of our Master as though his departure
was yesterday.  He is every bit as much present with you as he ever was
with me or the other Apostles: Peter, James, John, Nathaniel, Simon and so
forth.  

You are not required to represent Christianity for that was my job; was
more or less Peter and my creation.  Whether or not you relate to a
so-called Christian context is not the center of your job.  All this you
know very well.  So our comradeship is not in an institutional church
called Christian.  Our comradeship is that we are called Apostles of our
Sovereign Lord, Jesus the Christ, the same one who is Christ Michael of
Nebadon.

There were many days in which I was weak, very weak.  These times are not
openly explained in my letters to the churches for when I took in hand pen
to write I was filled with the Spirit.   So while my writing was not
inspired and should not have been canonized as infallible truth,
nevertheless I was able to be so up-lifted at those times that you do not
usually sense the many other times when I was under the gun, discouraged,
depressed, and self-doubting.  

But those times never took me down all the way.  I was not out at the count
of 9 –10.  I was on my feet before the count reached 4.  So have you
displayed the same courage and resilience in your walk in the footsteps of
our Master.  

We are still in the twilight zone before the dawn of the first stage of
Light and Life.  We are still mostly engrossed with shadows, and darkness
still grips the minds of most people.  As long as the worship of
materialism continues those shadows hold forth; but you, as I was, are the
light in darkness.  Your ability has been to get up at the count of 4, 3,
2, whatever, instead of staying on the mat paralyzed until the very last
number comes up.  Your ability to respond early and more quickly to your
failures, your discouragements, and your depressions show that the light
within you is penetrating throughout your body and minds to the outer
world, to those people who see you in intimacy.

Do not take the term apostle personally.  I personally had to defend myself
against those who said I was fraudulent, not worthy of the name apostle for
I had been the leader, or one of the leaders, of the movement to destroy
the Jesus Brotherhood.  But I was commissioned by none other than our Lord
and Master Himself, even as you were.  In the pledge of allegiance that
your repeated last week, your reaffirmed that apostle status.  

Now, my friends, as I said the last time I spoke to you, you know much more
than I knew.  You have a much larger perspective.  As the song goes, "Turn
your eyes upon Jesus.  Look  full in his wonderful face.  And the things of
earth will go strangely dim in the light of his marvelous grace."  The idea
is, don't be distracted by those who go off here, who go off there, who
walk in the steps of evil and follow in the pathways of pride, who, like
Lucifer, trust their own thinking and their own understanding instead of
deferring to the wisdom of God's guidance.  Rather keep your eyes on Him
Who was and is the complete guide, the way-shower, and the strengthener,
Whose yoke is light and Whose burden is easy when you let Him be the guide.

In conclusion, then, I wanted to touch base with you again because I truly
do feel we are companions, that our times are similar, as I refer back to
my time in history, and that we are fellow apostles whose task is to
represent Him who represented his Father, the First Source and Center of
all things and beings.  Yes, my friends, welcome to the Jesus Brotherhood,
for that is what it is, the Kingdom of Heaven within you.  And this Jesus
brotherhood is part of the universal brotherhood of all faith sons and
daughters of the living God, as well as divine personalities who draw
directly their heritage from the Paradise Trinity.  

I am still within the Local System of course, but even so this universe is
so amazing in its breadth and depth that you really still have no idea of
what is in store for you.   My words of long ago are even more true today,
"Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man
the things that God has prepared for his sons and daughters, they that love
him."  

I look forward to seeing you in morontia form soon.  [Laughter.]  I am not
predicting your immediate demise, however, [more laughter] but in the space
of eternity it is but a moment and we shall be face to face.  In the
meantime be assured that your brothers and sisters that preceded you are
completely interested in this Correcting Time project, this 5th Epochal
Revelation.  Be at peace.  Always be thankful.  Never give up hope.  I am
Paul, your brother.  Good night.  (Group: good night.)

Daniel (Bill): I am Daniel.  Good evening, my friends.  (Group: good
evening.)  You are all very thoughtful this evening having made connection
once again with one of your common heroes of the Christian heritage.  And
perhaps you are thoughtful for personal reasons.  But Paul is our featured
speaker this evening, and therefor my role tonight will be to be the
chairperson for any questions or comments that you wish to make.  So I open
the floor now for your participation.

LaReen: Good evening, Daniel.  I don't know, I speak for only myself, but
when I am compared to an Apostle like Paul, it just doesn't ring true.  I
just can't go there.

Daniel (Bill): Understood.  Your name will probably not be on the pages of
a sacred book.  [Laughter.]  You will probably not have the legacy of
accomplishment in terms of dramatic, public work, that Paul has.  Let me
see if I can help you with your skepticism and self-doubt.  (Pause.)   

First of all, the Apostles were distinguished from the disciples by our
Master because in addition to dedication to following the teachings of
Jesus, they accepted the responsibilities of sharing the Good News with
everyone that they could effectively interact with.  They assumed the role
of teacher as well as student.  And they assumed a third role, and that was
that they spoke in the name of another person—not on their own authority.
They spoke as representatives, as ambassadors, for Christ Michael.  

The original Apostles were all Jews.  In Judaism the number 12 was very
significant, representing the whole of Judaism, the 12 tribes of Israel/
Judah.  Jesus chose 12 Apostles and limited it to that number because of
the symbolism of 12.  Once the Jesus brotherhood expanded beyond the Jews
to include the Greeks, later the Romans, and beyond that the entire world,
the role of apostle was assumed by thousands of people without the title
formally given.  In the case of Paul, he was given the title and replaced
Judas in the 12, in spite of their selection of another; but that was just
a symbolic beginning.  Now in this 5th Epochal Revelation we begin again to
bring to the world the teachings of Jesus as they are fleshed out in part 4
of the Urantia Book, for this generation did not actually have the
opportunity to hear the man speak.  And because his Gospel is now
world-wide, presentation is not limited to the symbolism of the 12 of
Judaism.  The number of apostles is unlimited as long as one is willing to
be a learner, a teacher and an ambassador.  Do not compare yourself,
therefor, to someone else.  Only ask yourself if you sincerely fulfill
those 3 requirements; and I believe I can say very certainly you do.  Has
this helped you, LaReen?

LaReen: Yes, you have really helped me, as usual.  Thank you, Daniel.

Virginia: Daniel, Paul quoted a part of the Bible that I was familiar with,
and that is "And it is not entered into the hearts of men what is prepared
for (them)," and he said I think "It was God's sons and daughters or
brothers and sisters," and I thought "Oh yes".  But then he added, "for
those who love God."  I was disappointed because there's a lot of people on
this planet that would never say they love God; yet I am hoping and
planning on seeing them again because I know God has prepared a place for
them too with more insight so they can make a wise decision.

Daniel (Bill): I will let Paul answer.

Virginia: I was hoping he'd left.  [Laughter.]

Paul (Bill): My dear sister, I have not left, and I beg your pardon if you
find my words offensive, [more laughter] because they were not intended
that way.  (Virginia agrees)  I was quoting myself, and expanding the
meaning of those that love God beyond the traditional, limiting parameters
of Christianity to include everyone who are sons and daughters.   You know
well enough that those who do not love God and choose to not love God, but
love themselves instead and go along with their prideful arrogance, that
they do not participate, indeed cannot participate, in the things that God
has prepared.  It is not a limitation of love on God's part.  It is their
choice to not love the One who is the Source of all Love.  Does this
clarify it for you, my friend?

Virginia: Yes, Paul, but my concern is that so many times our definition of
God on this planet has been so varied, so unreal and untrue that people can
believe that it's God they are angry with or dislike.  Really, it is the
definition of God that has been given to them; so I am hoping that these
people who say such things will be given more insight—the possibility of a
wiser choice.

Paul (Bill): Well, your hope is satisfied, my dear.  There is no question
that the righteous judgement of all people will be effected, and those whom
you have described with limited ideas about God, totally wrong ideas about
God, but have not made that whole-soul rejection without the possibility of
recantation, those people who have not made a final decision to reject God
after they know enough to do it intelligently, they will be given further
opportunity.  It is not fair for someone to make a decision that has
eternal significance, based upon partial information.  Therefor, it is not
permitted.  Total information necessary for the momentous decision of the
ascension career is always there for each individual.  Have I made myself
clear?

Virginia: Yes, Paul, thank you very much.

Paul (Bill): Never doubt the fairness of the universe in spite of the
unfairness of your planetary existence.  The contrast is indescribable
between the fairness of the universe and the distorted and unjust status of
your Urantian mortals.

Virginia: Thank you, Paul, I am looking forward to that.

Paul (Bill): You're welcome.  I now return you to Daniel.

Daniel (Bill): Well, my friends, any other comments or questions, on Paul's
comments or anything else that you wish?

Ken: I was just like to say "thank you" to Paul for his comparison of the
apostleship of those days and the apostleship of today.  The words in the
letters that he wrote as a mortal here showed love.  His words tonight
showed love also.  Thank you, Paul, for coming and talking to us.

Paul (Bill): I was very honored to again be a guest speaker at your group.
So, thank you, Ken, for your hospitality.

Ken: The door is always open, my friend.

Paul (Bill): Yes, on your part that is true.  But there is organization,
and many are the ones that wish to claim some time in your presence.  Are
you aware of that?

Ken: Yes, I am.

Paul (Bill): Very well, I will depart.  Daniel once again will host.  Thank
you all once again for your generosity, and be aware that I love you all.
Good night.

(long silence)

Daniel (Bill): Let us stand to conclude our meeting.  

Minearsia (Bill): I am Minearsia, your Instructor in Residence.  Let us pray.

We thank You, O God, our most loving Father, Mother and Creator, that Your
universe reflects You in relationship and equality.  I thank You that we
have the joy and great pleasure of companionship across universe orders of
sonship, across diversity of cultures and planet of origin, across all
other diversities that tend to reduce our awareness of unity.  I thank You
for these young ones who are stalwart ambassadors for Michael at this time
in history on this planet of His nativity.  I thank you for them because it
is an honor to be their instructor, to be associated with them.  

And so I also wish their well-being, their success in the struggle of life,
and their faith ever flaming higher, a bright fire of hope, love, and
assurance which will shine forth to all who see them.  Go with them, each
one, this evening as they go their separate ways; and if they get beaten by
the blows of life help them to rise before the count reaches 10 and
continue the good fight of faith.  In the name of Michael may our
intentions, our thoughts, and our prayers be acceptable.  Amen.