ANZURA Conference New Zealand 2014

Celebrating God’s Gifts – An Exploration of Creative Living

3 to 6 October 2014

Long Bay, Auckland

New Zealand

 

ANZURA_NZ Conf broch covWe invite you to join us at this year’s ANZURA conference to celebrate together all of God’s gifts to us, and to explore how, individually and together, we may live our lives on Urantia more creatively.

It is hoped that this ANZURA conference will provide opportunities to:

  •   Rejoice in the spiritual riches bestowed upon us
  •   Share our unique attributes in an outpouring of    creativity
  •   Discover talents we didn’t know we had
  •   Learn new ways of leading people to the Father

The conference programme will include a mixture of presentations, study groups, workshops and creative activities.  One part of the conference will allow participants the space to bring forward for exploration and discussion the ideas related to the theme that are dearest to their hearts.

About the conference theme:

“As the days pass by, every true believer becomes more skilful in alluring his fellows into the love of eternal truth.  Are you more resourceful in revealing goodness to humanity than you were yesterday? Are you a better righteousness recommender this year than you were last year?  Are you becoming increasingly artistic in your technique of leading hungry souls into the spiritual kingdom?” (The Urantia Book Paper 156 p. 1740)

This conference will provide an exciting opportunity for New Zealand readers to welcome our friends/brothers and sisters around the world to our fair shores to join with us in expressing our deep gratitude for the gifts that the Father has bestowed upon us, and discovering together new ways of living a creative religious life.

The Venue:

Vaughan Park Retreat and Conference Centre, Long Bay is 44 km from Auckland Airport. Long Bay is at the south end of Long Bay Beach in the East Coast Bays.  It is in a tranquil setting, consisting of a number of lodges and meeting rooms, and a beautiful chapel with stunning views of the beach and the Waitemata Harbour.

Long Bay Regional Park is a sheltered beach with a children’s playing area, which includes a miniature railway. In addition to the beach, significant parts of the park are available for quiet walks and meditative strolls.  There are also coastal walks along the cliff top.

NZ Conf Centre

For further information contact: anzura@urantia-anzura.org

Read Presentations

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President’s Reports – Arena 2013

By Kathleen Swadling, Sydney on

2013 Autumn – President’s Report

Kathleen Swadling

Welcome to the first edition of the Arena for 2013. I hope you all had a happy and safe Christmas and New Year season and that you are now ready and refreshed to tackle the many challenges that will no doubt confront us in this next turn around the sun.As you will find out later in the newsletter, plans are well under for our two major study events; the first one being the International Study Day being held in multiple homes across the world over the weekend of 25th May, and the second one being the annual Urantia Book readers’ conference to be held in Canberra 4th to 7th October. We hope you can find the time and means to make it along to these two stimulating study activities.

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New Zealand Corner – 2013

By Marion Steward, Auckland, New Zealand on

2013 Autumn –   New Zealand Corner

 

Tuesday 5th March is Census Day here in New Zealand. Usually we have one every 5 years, but 2 years ago, just before the scheduled date, the major earth-quake in Christchurch threw the whole country into disarray, and it was clearly impossible to count people who were missing or who had fled the city to other parts of the country as internal refugees, and equally impossible to count the number of rooms in houses that had completely collapsed. It has taken 2 years for the situation to quieten down enough to try again.

Thinking about our census reminded me of that other census, the Roman one of 4BC that caused Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem to be counted, and thus to give birth to our Local Universe Creator in that town. In a far more positive way than the Christchurch earthquake, this birth also caused a major upheaval in the world, and is continuing to do so.

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Tribute to Ken Glasziou

By Neil Francey, Queensland on

Ken Glasziou, one of our great Urantia friends, recently passed away at the grand age of 90. He is survived by his wife Betty, children, and grandchildren.

A long term student of the book, Ken was known internationally for his contribution to revelatory thought. He was a scientist by profession and brought his critical thinking to the realm of religion. He was a keen churchgoer, enjoyed singing in the choir, and loved his horses. As a young man he was a valiant fighter in foreign lands for his country.

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Canberra 2013 – Conference Report

By Kathleen Swadling on

The main highlight since the last Arena was the annual ANZURA Urantia Book Readers’ Conference, which was held in Canberra 4-7 October and was a great success.

The theme was centred on the Spirit of Truth which naturally lent to some thoughtful and inspiring exchanges. Excellent presentations were given by Julian McGarry, Esther Beaton and Nigel Nunn.

Open panel discussions were held where many could express heartfelt thoughts and experiences relating to the Spirit of Truth in their lives.

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Eternal Isle of Paradise

By George Park, USA on

This is a work of over 17 individual papers dealing with revealed cosmology as in The Urantia Book.

Revelation affords a common meeting ground for the discoveries of both science and religion and makes possible the human attempt logically to correlate these separate but interdependent domains of thought into a well-balanced philosophy of scientific stability and religious certainty. 103:7.9

With the guidance given by the celestial teachers who authored The Urantia Book,

…it is just as possible to find the personal presence of God at the center of all things as to find distant cities on your own planet. 11:1.3

We no longer need be disoriented in the vastness of space. We can find the home of the Universal Father on the Eternal Isle of Paradise.

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The Spirit of Truth is a Moving River

By Esther Beaton, NSW Central Coast on

Presented at Canberra Conference 2013

Esther Beaton presented and shared ‘life changing’ experiences alongside some of her own photos of nature.

Here a few excerpts:

What is the Spirit of Truth? What re the implications of it? How to apply it in everyday life?

The Urantia Book describes:

“This spirit was bestowed for the purpose of qualifying believers more effectively to preach the gospel of the kingdom….”  [Paper 194:3.5, page 2063.3].

I’m not an apostle or nun or missionary. How do I spread the gospel in my everyday life? It is the “spirit” locked within our own selves – our own unique selves- which presses the button to make something “ring” as TRUE! It’s a bell that goes off saying “yes!” Before we had this spiritual device planted within us, how did we know when something was true or not? We relied on someone, in a higher position and with more experience to tell us it was so. We relied on authority. What they said was true and right. We believed that the majority consensus was the truth.

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Study Groups – Why are they so Important?

By Kathleen Swadling, Sydney, presented at Conference in Canberra on

As the years go by, and after having been attending study groups on a consistent basis for around 33 years now, I’ve come to understand the wisdom of the advice given by the Revelators to the early leaders of the Urantia movement back in 1955 where they advised them to form “thousands of study groups”.  Many of you are familiar with the Publication Mandate, but for the benefit of some of you who are not here’s an important extract from that document where the revelators are purported to have said by way of advice to the early leaders:

“We regard The Urantia Book as a feature of the progressive evolution of human society. It is not germane to the spectacular episodes of epochal revolution, even though it may apparently be timed to appear in the wake of one such revolution in human society. The book belongs to the era immediately to follow the conclusion of the present ideological struggle. That will be the day when men will be willing to seek truth and righteousness. When the chaos of the present confusion has passed, it will be more readily possible to formulate the cosmos of a new and improved era of human relationships. And it is for this better order of affairs on earth that the book has been made ready.

“But the publication of the book has not been postponed to that (possibly) somewhat remote date. An early publication of the book has been provided so that it may be in hand for the training of leaders and teachers. Its presence is also required to engage the attention of persons of means who may be thus led to provide funds for translations into other languages…

“(You) must learn to possess (your) souls in patience. (You) are in association with a revelation of truth which is a part of the natural evolution of religion on this world. Over-rapid growth would be suicidal. The book is being given to those who are ready for it long before the day of its worldwide mission. Thousands of study groups must be brought into existence and the book must be translated into many tongues. Thus will the book be in readiness when the battle for man’s liberty is finally won and the world is once more made safe for the religion of Jesus and the freedom of mankind.”

So why are study groups so important?  Well, from my experience the study group environment has been a valuable training ground where we are presented with opportunities to enhance our study of the book’s teachings at a comfortable evolutionary pace.  It provides a two-way street where we can be students and teachers at the same time. There is much to learn from other students of the book, and there is much we can teach our fellows as we share experiences and understandings.  By asking questions and sharing ideas and interpretations about what we’re reading in the casual, friendly non-threatening atmosphere of a study group, we can quietly grow together as a circle of friends in a little family of God.  The study group provides a special and unique opportunity to talk the language (or jargon) of The Urantia Book with others.  All this is really beneficial to our spiritual growth.

Another great benefit of the study group is that you get opportunities to find different ways of articulating your understanding of the book and its teachings.  You get to rehearse and experiment with different ways of talking about it.  You can hone your teaching skills as you gain a deeper understanding of the book as a result of sharing and socialising the teachings with other students.  We could all benefit by learning how best to share the teachings of this revelation with our fellows in ways that are wise and effective.  We can learn from Jesus how he did it; by studying his methods we can learn the art of attraction and avoid the common mistake of allowing our zeal to bamboozle our non-reader fellows with alien concepts that they can’t possibly relate to.

I’m sure many of you here, like my husband Trevor and I have struggled with trying to figure out how we can best serve our fellow man in the dissemination of this revelation.  Over the years we’ve spent many AGMs, conference presentations and workshops, strategic planning meetings, and casual conversations with one another about the various things we can do to help things along. We’ve established library placement programs, we’ve attended book fairs and expos, we’ve given books away to friends and acquaintances, we’ve given presentations at various institutions and public places, we’ve created and promoted study aids and secondary works, we’ve written articles and attended conferences, and we’ve promoted the idea of hosting and attending study groups.  We hope and pray that our efforts with all of the above have helped in some way to enhance an awareness of the book in our communities.  But in my opinion nothing is more effective than the individual’s possession of spiritual fragrance – the fruits of the spirit we bear as we become more spiritually real.  This obviously affects the way we conduct our lives and treat our fellow man which has the power to leave a lasting impression.  And that only comes about by our own inner life soul growth.  Spirit lead individuals have far more impact in impressing upon others the value of spiritual realities by the way they live their lives and treat others, than by an ability to give away hundreds of books.

In addition to our involvement in the many worthwhile projects and programs we undertake to spread the book, let’s stop and ponder the wisdom of the revelators when they told us that “Thousands of study groups must be brought into existence”.  Participation in a study can enhance all aspects of our journey with this amazing gift of the fifth epochal revelation.  Let’s see what we can do add to the number and quality of study groups in our regions.

The Spirit of Truth, “This is the Way!”

By Julian McGarry, TAS on

Presentation at Conference in Canberra, October 2013

The Spirit of Truth is one of the key protagonists in the most amazing love story ever told. He is the spirit of a Creator Son, poured out on the mortal inhabitants of a world belonging to his local universe at the conclusion of a bestowal mission.
This “spirit friend”, this “new teacher”, will always guide us in the ways of righteousness; when we are confused, doubting, or fearful, he will  point us in the right direction, saying: “This is the way!”

 

These are the words of a Mighty Messenger stationed temporarily on Urantia:

Having started out on the way of life everlasting, having accepted the assignment and received your orders to advance, do not fear the dangers of human forgetfulness and mortal inconstancy, do not be troubled with doubts of failure or by perplexing confusion, do not falter and question your status and standing…for in every dark hour, at every crossroad in the forward struggle, the Spirit of Truth will always speak, saying  ‘’This is the way’’. [Paper 34:7.8, page 383.2]

As mere mortals on this planet, haven’t we all experienced these human frailties? So then what does it mean when it says the Spirit of Truth will always speak, saying “This is the way”? How do we personally experience that guidance? Is it something that we experience automatically, or must we do something to access it? These are some of the questions I would like to consider in this article. But firstly, let us briefly explore the relationship between the Spirit of Truth and the other two spirit endowments that together bring about the reality of our son-ship with God.

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Truth and Sonship

By Verner Verass, Canberra - presented at the Conference in Canberra on

We are in that wonderful time of transition, from confusion to clarity, from error to truth. We are but the first generation of hundreds to come that have been privileged to get a glimpse of eternal truth as presented in The Urantia Book.

The truth will set everyone free, however such liberty of enhanced awareness of the dignity of sonship carries with it responsibilites. We have asked the collective questions over the ages…who are we? Where are we going? Let us courageously and with sincerity embrace the answers so recently received (1955). There lives within each person who honestly seeks, the Spirit of Truth, and that spirit leads each man and woman unerringly to all truth. We have the capacity for truth recognition built into us…trust it. In this complex time of confusion it is the one dependable confirmation of what is really true.
The challenge we, each unique and individuated personal truth in the shape of a mortal son of the Universal Father, has, is to co-operate…OBEY.

Your personal experiential truth is destined to find a place of harmony with the universal eternal truth accepted by everyone else. That’s why the fundamental truth which has been presented repeatedly to the whole planet ever since it was registered as a mortal inhabited world over 1 million years ago, finally needs to be accepted. God is verifiable in human experience and is a loving creator and upholder of the universe we inhabit. In God we live breathe and have our being. The creator of personality is personally contactable. This commonly accepted truth is the same simple message Jesus delivered over 2,000 years ago and yet has not registered as fully as intended. Our planet is quivering on the brink of finally accepting that God is our Father and we are his children. Science has vanquished superstition to allow maximum receptivity of what is really true, the “kingdom within.”
Between God an man there are no intermediaries, spirit is turned up to full volume, an uninterrupted spirit, to light, to fire-up, the living personal experience of every sincere truth seeker.Look at this online band of fire-starters, all united in our love of the Father. The more I love the Father the more I love my brother, this is an inevitable consequence.

Michael is our Sovereign Creator Son, he loves this place where he lived out his final mortal bestowal experience as Jesus of Nazareth, he is our father/brother who we are destined to meet personally, for all who go to the Father, go by him. This is Michael’s world and he has already triumphed, it’s time for us to stand with him in confidence of that truth.

As mortals, we are only passing through and our time here in this initial life experience is short, a blink of God’s eye. Realistically, there are limits to what one generation can achieve, the best is some loyal steps to lay a foundation that can be built upon. Through the normal constrains of patient methodical, living experience to the exhaustion of potentials, it will take longer than our lifetime to see the truth of one religion established in every nation, however, it is already being established in the souls of every truth seeking mortal alive today. As the individual within the family, so the society. If the family is good, the society is likewise good. Every unique person is having their own individual experience of exposure to the same truth which has been poured out to all mankind. The identical spirit influence— full force of seven, welling up from within (I refer you to the effectiveness of spirit as an agency to progress a planet).
With the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, we have the last of the spirit endowment designed in the aid of the ascending search for God—seven spirits of the advancing worlds. We are now beneficiaries of all seven higher spirit influences.

 

In a way, mankind is subject to the double influence of the sevenfold appeal of the universe spirit influences. The early evolutionary races of mortals are subject to the progressive contact of the seven adjutant mind-spirits of the local universe Mother Spirit. As man progresses upward in the scale of intelligence and spiritual perception, there eventually come to hover over him and dwell within him the seven higher spirit influences. and these seven spirits of the advancing worlds are:

  1. The bestowed spirit of the Universal Father—the Thought Adjusters.
  2. The spirit presence of the Eternal Son—the spirit gravity of the universe of universes and the certain channel of all spirit communion.
  3. The spirit presence of the Infinite Spirit—the universal spirit-mind of all creation, the spiritual source of the intellectual kinship of all progressive intelligences.
  4. The spirit of the Universal Father and the Creator Son— the Spirit of Truth, generally regarded as the spirit of the Universe Son. 
  5. The spirit of the Infinite Spirit and the Universe Mother Spirit — the Holy Spirit, generally regarded as the spirit of the Universe Spirit.
  6. The mind-spirit of the Universe Mother Spirit — the seven adjutant mind-spirits of the local universe.
  7. The spirit of the Father, Sons, and Spirits — the newname spirit of the ascending mortals of the realms after the fusion of the mortal spirit-born soul with the Paradise Thought Adjuster and after the subsequent attainment of the divinity and glorification of the status of the Paradise Corps of the Finality. And so did the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth bring to the world and its peoples the last of the spirit endowment designed to aid in the ascending search for God. [Paper 194:2.12–20, page 2062:1–9] emphasis added

The reality of any proposition can only be realised if it is thoroughly socialised. By co-operative sharing of individually discovered truth we progress.

…The social consciousness is not inalienable like the Godconsciousness; it is a cultural development and is dependent on knowledge, symbols, and the contributions of the constitutive endowments of man — science, morality, and religion. And these cosmic gifts, socialized, constitute civilization. [Paper 16:9.4, page 195:10] emphasis added >>

We know knowledge is only possessed by sharing…coopertion.

…Knowledge is possessed only by sharing; it is safeguarded by wisdom and socialized by love. [Paper 48:7.28, page 557:12] emphasis added

Responding to the Spirit of Truth requires alignment of personal aspirations with divine leading, our will with God’s will—ambition is dangerous till socialized.

…Ambition is dangerous until it is fully socialized. You have not truly acquired any virtue until your acts make you worthy of it. [Paper 48:7.19, page 557:3] emphasis added

With your Though Adjuster you have a perfect guide with the Spirit of Truth you have the capacity to know truth and do good…love your fellows. Love is simply the desire  to do good to others…true.

Love is the desire to do good to others. [Paper 56:10.21, page 648:4]

This, along with the knowledge that sharing is Godlike, are fundamental truths that confirm sonship with the Father and consequent fraternal brotherhood within the universe family. While “it does not yet appear what you shall be,” even now “you are the faith sons of God”

Here are five reasons to be sure.

  1. You are entitled to believe in the reality of your sonship, thereby your reality is confirmed.
  2. Elder brother Michael/Jesus has same Father as you do.
  3. Spirit of Son has been freely given to you, spirit which draws you to his presence and thereby, the presence of your Father, his Father.
  4. Your Father has given you personality that he can individually recognise you.
  5. You are directly related to the Father of all sons of God he’s traversed space and time from his eternal abode to be with you already.

All evolutionary worlds of mortal habitation harbor these faith sons of God, sons of grace and mercy, mortal beings belonging to the divine family and accordingly called the sons of God. Urantia mortals are entitled to regard themselves as being the sons of God because:

  1. You are sons of spiritual promise, faith sons; you have accepted the status of sonship. You believe in the reality of your sonship, and thus does your sonship with God become eternally real.
  2. A Creator Son of God became one of you; he is your elder brother in fact; and if in spirit you become truly related brothers of Christ, the victorious Michael, then in spirit must you also be sons of that Father which you have in common—even the Universal Father of all.
  3. You are sons because the spirit of a Son has been poured out upon you, has been freely and certainly bestowed upon all Urantia races. This spirit ever draws you toward the divine Son, who is its source, and toward the Paradise Father, who is the source of that divine Son.
  4. Of his divine free-willness, the Universal Father has given you your creature personalities. You have been endowed with a measure of that divine spontaneity of freewill action which God shares with all who may become his sons.
  5. There dwells within you a fragment of the Universal Father, and you are thus directly related to the divine Father of all the Sons of God. [Paper 40:6.3–8, page 448:2–7] emphasis added.