These weekly programs began in July of 2008 and are archived (just take the above link or select a show from the following list); they can be listened to at any time.
The hosts and guests appearing on The Cosmic Citizen program are presenting their own views — there is no official interpretation of the teachings of The Urantia Book. Guests who not part of "the Urantia community" aren't expected to endorse the book or its teachings, and are not required to agree with its precepts or to have any knowledge of its contents.
Cosmic Citizen hosts Paula Thompson and Andre Traversa
Programs without special guests:
• 2008/08/23 — Open mic with Paula and Andre
• 2008/09/27 — Open mic with Paula and Andre
• 2008/10/18 — Open mic with Paula and Andre
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Cosmic Citizen program guests:
• Banton, Pato • Dreier, Steve • Duin, Julia • Garner, Ann • Halvorson, Chris — (500+ downloads 10/08) • Katzen, Halbert |
• Klimesh, Michelle • Labrecque, Diane • Keene-Lund, Sheila • Mullins, Larry • Pearson, Bishop Carlton • Woodward, James — (500+ downloads 7/08) |
Has Christianity deteriorated into a cult following?
Saying there’s no such place as hell has cost one of the most prominent spiritual leaders in the country his job, church and place on Christian radio.
What would make Bishop Carlton Pearson of Tulsa, Okla., who was mentored by Oral Roberts and greeted by presidents at the White House, also proclaim that Jesus isn’t coming back just for Christians — but also Muslims, Jews and atheists?
From the Sunday morning pulpits of most Christian houses of worship, the message is you have to accept Christ to be eligible for heaven. And then there are certain things you have to do, namely adhering to the Ten Commandments.
But Pearson says he had a revelation that changed his ministry while sitting in front of his television, watching displaced African refugees. Then he went back to the Bible he had been teaching from for more than 30 years.
“We can’t conceive a ‘hell-less’ Christianity,” says Pearson, who was recently the subject of a “Dateline NBC” segment chronicling the loss of 5,000 of his 6,000 members, the $50,000-a-Sunday collection plate, and even the church building to foreclosure.
“We have no concept of heaven or God without the counter product. It’s hard for us to believe God just for love or faith. Most of us are motivated by an aversion to hell. It is OK to be who they are. That’s the thing that scares them.”
Pearson is one of the more vocal leaders of the “inclusion ministry” movement, which turns Christianity on its head: God’s not counting mens’ sins or trespasses against them. Not even Hitler’s.... Remainder of article found here.
Bishop Pearson's latest book, "The Gospel of Inclusion," available on Amazon.com, is the focus of this program. For more information, more complete biography, photos, and contact, Carlton Pearson's website is located at www.bishoppearson.com
• 2008/10/25 — Interview with guest Bishop Carlton Pearson, author of "The Gospel of Inclusion."
Julia Duin (pronounced "Deen") is an accomplished writer and journalist who has worked for 5 newspapers, written four books, along with more magazine articles than she can count. Julia doubles as a senior writer for The Washington Times, covering events ranging from inner city ministries in Brooklyn, N.Y. and a church/state conflict in northeastern Alabama to a famous child abuse case in eastern Washington state and the 2005 election of Pope Benedict XVI.
Julia has won several national awards for her religion reporting. She has covered Pope John Paul II, the Lambeth Conference for Anglican Bishops in England, religious persecution in Egypt and Jordan and the millennial celebrations in Israel. She has covered other international events as well, including events in Italy, France, Canada, India, Greece, Spain, Iceland, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Caribbean, which is why she is fluent in French, conversant in Spanish and German and speaks portions of Kurdish, Arabic and Italian.
A native of Baltimore, Julia has been to nearly every state in the union, as her travels started at the age of six weeks when her family moved to Hawaii. She received her bachelor's degree at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., and her master's degree at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, a seminary near Pittsburgh. She began magazine writing in high school, and gained national recognition as a correspondent for evangelical publications such as "Christianity Today" and "Charisma.
Julia likes to ski, hike, bike and play the Celtic harp. She pursued her harp studies at a worldwide gathering for folk harpists in 2001 in Edinburgh and has attended many other harp conferences. She has even won a few blue ribbons in harp competitions.".... (Excerpt from Julia Duin's website.)
Julia's most recent book, "Quitting Church," available on Amazon.com, is the focus of the first hour of this program. For more information, more complete biography, photos, and contact, Julia Duin's website is located at www.juliaduin.com
• 2008/10/11 — Interview with guest Julia Duin, author of "Quitting Church."
• Brief video containing interview of Pato Banton
Pato Banton is a Urantia Book reader who combines award-winning reggae music with UB Ministry.
Known for delivering a message that is food for both mind and soul, some have considered Pato's charismatic performance as live theatre. He mixes music with audience dialog on a range of topics including spiritual freedom and religious commitment while keeping the vibes upbeat and fun! Many have said that the positive outlook generated from the stage has changed their lives forever.
Sometimes Pato invites his fans to join him in a prayer circle after the show, where some have cried while sharing their stories of contemplated suicide, isolation after losing a loved one, struggles with substance abuse or how their personal connection with Pato has given them the strength to "Stay Positive" & "Never Give In."
In the mid-1990s, after six years of chart success and continuous touring, Pato decided to step away from the commercial music business and continue on his path of Positivity. In his home studio, Pato recorded his tenth album “Life is a Miracle”, which gained him a Grammy Nomination and clearly defined his lyrical, musical, and spiritual growth.
In early 2000, Pato decided to take a 7 year break from music to create more opportunities for young people in his local community. His venture was a huge success and became a region wide example of how to engage young people and reduce gang violence in inner city areas. Pato was duly awarded with the BBC’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication and commitment to positive change. In the same year Pato received the Black Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of his contribution to the British Music Industry.
A period of deep reflection and meditation left Pato feeling guided to continue his musical journey. In early 2005 Yahe Boda (a consecrated spiritual teacher and forerunner) invited Pato to do a short tour across America to “Gather the People in Praise.” This led to Pato phasing out his community commitments and with renewed energy to take on the challenge of recording the inspired double album entitled “The Words of Christ.” (a narrated album of Christ’s teachings taken from the Urantia Book).
Although Pato had been away from the live concert circuit for many years, he had a place in the minds and hearts of the masses; his remarkable reputation as being a first rate showman was evidenced in the grand reception to his comeback and the rave reviews from the media and fans alike. After two short tours Pato joined forces with the very popular, Mystic Roots Band (voted top Reggae Band by the Los Angeles Music Awards). In order to participate and open the International Urantia Conference at UCLA in July of 2008, Pato chose to cancel a major performance in London with Beyonce.
In 2009, Pato will embark on a major tour of all 50 states of America and offer his spoken word performances on the college circuit while spreading the good news and uplifting the masses with a message of peace and love. Pato's CDs are available on Amazon.com. For more information, itinerary, more complete biography, photos, and contact, Pato's website is at www.patobanton.com
• 2008/09/20 — Interview with guest Pato Banton
Steve Dreier has studied The Urantia Book for over thirty five years, participated
in numerous conferences, and held a variety of positions in
The Urantia Book Fellowship.
He currently serves as Secretary of The Fellowship.
In the last two decades great progress was made in identifying the so-called “human sources” that various authors of The Urantia Book employed as the basis of their work. The majority of these discoveries come from the pioneering work of Matthew Block. Steve has studied many of these “human sources” and in this program he will share his findings and attempt to answer questions.
• 2008/09/13 — Guest Steve Dreier discusses human sources of The Urantia Book.
Sheila Keene-Lund was born to an English father and a Puerto Rican mother in Vigo, Spain. The family lived in Cuba, England, and Puerto Rico before moving to the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia, where she grew up and eventually married and had three sons.
She completed corporate management and finance training with the London Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and later became Chief Operations Officer of Carib Touring Limited. Moving her family to Fairfield, Iowa, Keene-Lund worked as a Marketing Manager for a local software company before starting her own business and developed a set of twelve standard operation procedure manuals pertaining to all aspects of nursing home and assisted living environments.
While in Fairfield, Sheila started a non-profit organization, the Adopt-a-Grandparent Foundation whose mission was to promote meaningful relationships between the elderly and the youth of the community. She developed a unique program for matching grandparents to youth and documented the system so that it could be introduced in any city. During her two years as Executive Director, she arranged and managed the "adoption" of over 200 elderly citizens in nursing homes and assisted living settings, with over 225 volunteers.
Introduced to Transcendental Meditation practice in 1977, Sheila became a certified teacher in 1980. In Iowa she also became a Server in the St. Gabriel's Liberal Catholic Church of Fairfield and eventually a Deaconess. In that capacity she developed workshops on spiritual care for the living and dying. These programs served to expand the understanding of the dying process and complimented her work as a Hospice volunteer.
Sheila was raised as a Catholic and after two near death experiences at a young age, she began to search for more complete answers about life after death than those provided by Catholic doctrines. She embraced Eastern mysticism at the age of 18 and for over twenty years these blended beliefs co-existed in her spiritual repertoire until she honestly questioned their effect on her life. Sheila found The Urantia Book in 1992 and has devoted much of the last fifteen years to writing Heaven Is Not the Last Stop which reflects her journey to reconcile the differences. It has been a journey of research and reflection, of theoretical and creative insight—putting the Big Picture of Existence together.
Sheila lives with her husband Bart Lund. They divide their time between Florida and California.
• 2008/09/06 — Guest Sheila Keene-Lund discusses her soon-to-be-released book Heaven Is Not the Last Stop.
Larry Mullins was handed a 1955 first printing of The Urantia Book in 1968 by an advertising colleague, Clyde Bedell. Bedell was a member of the original Forum that helped publish the Urantia Papers as a book. Larry is author of
Jesus: God & Man
(1976), the first derivative work to be accepted for publication by Urantia Foundation. He has served the Urantia movement as President of the First Urantia Society of Oklahoma, and eight years as a General Councilor for Urantia Brotherhood. He is a noted public speaker and the author of several books on the Self-Actualization process including
Immature People with Power: How to Handle Them
and most recently:
Get Real.
His newest book, The MetaValues Breakthrough, will be published in late 2008. In reference to writing
A History of the Urantia Papers,
Larry states it is the achievement of a team of 15 dedicated Urantians who agreed to follow truth wherever it led. He adds that he is fortunate that his wife, Joan Batson Mullins, has a remarkable knowledge of the Urantia Papers and so enthusiastically contributed to this project.
Joan and Larry live in St. Augustine, Florida. Larry’s youngest daughter, Michelle, lives in Boulder and is a devoted student of the Urantia Papers. Larry is CEO of UltraSales, Inc., a nationally syndicated advertising and marketing business.
• 2008/08/30 — Discussion of the early history of The Urantia movement with guest Larry Mullins.
• Brief video containing interview of Diane Labrecque
Diane Labrecque was born in Quebec city of French speaking parents and raised as a catholic in a family of 10 children including 5 boys and 5 girls. While living in Toronto at the age of 20, Diane studied Fashion Design at Sheridan College of applied arts and sciences. Upon returning to Montreal, she founded the High Fashion Knit Design Program at LaSalle College and enjoyed a successful 15 year career as a freelance fashion designer, professor and director of the program. While teaching in the fashion field, she avidly studied natural medicine in her spare time and later became a specialist in Natural Health Care.
While on a one year sabbatical from teaching in 1990, Diane had deeply transforming spiritual experiences which culminated in her receiving The Urantia Book as a gift in 1991. By the summer of 1993 she was serving as the MC for the International Urantia Conference in Montreal. In the first six months of 1993 she hosted a weekly television program on The Urantia Book that aired across the Province of Quebec. Later that same year she moved to Boulder, Colorado to fellowship with the lively community of UB readers there and although she eventually moved back to Canada, she still considers Boulder a second home. In 1998 she graduated from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition and started practicing as a nutritional consultant using the Quantum Energetic Medicine System. As someone who has actively promoted healthy eating and living, it was only natural that Diane would found her own company http://www.osauna.com/ in 2004. O' Sauna specializes in manufacturing high end infrared saunas to help rid the body of various impurities and promote overall health. Diane often says, "When the human temple is pure and healthy, the indwelling divine spirit can manifest itself in a free flowing harmonious expression."
In 2007, Diane received her DTM degree as a Distinguished Toastmaster. In July of 2008, she served again as MC for the International Urantia Conference IC'08 that was held at UCLA. Diane is an accomplished speaker and leader who devotes herself to a holistic ministry of health and spirituality with a special focus on actualizing the Living Faith of Jesus. She can be contacted for speaking engagements at dianelabrecque@osauna.com
• 2008/08/16 — Discussion of the last paper in the Urantia Book, the "Faith of Jesus" with guest Diane Labrecque.
• Brief video containing interview of Ann Garner
An ordained Christian Minister, Thanks-Giving Square Interfaith Council Member and certified in Whole Brained Technology with pioneer Dr. Ned Hermann, Ann Garner has conducted seminars around the US, is a computer software instructor/ consultant and an English as a Second Language Instructor.
Ann was introduced to The Urantia Book in 1979 by Dr. Lawrence Schkade, Chair of Systems Analysis Dept. at UTA. Over the years she has been a study group facilitator and currently co-hosts (with hubby, Steve) a 3rd Sunday gathering as well as a weekly study group for new readers. She was a member of the Fellowship General Council Member during the 90's and Director of North America Area Coordinators during the same time frame. She traveled around North America doing the Whole Life Expos with Paula Thompson and, of course, an unforgettable evangelist tour of California with Paula and Larry Watkins!
• 2008/08/09 — Part IV of The Urantia Book, "The Life and Teachings of Jesus" with guest Ann Garner
Halbert Katzen if founder of
www.ubthenews.com,
and he provides an excellent grasp of current science and its relation to the revelation.
• 2008/08/02 — Part III of The Urantia Book, "The History of Urantia" with guest Halbert Katzen.
Michelle is the author of a condensed version of The Urantia Book titled
The Story of Everything.
She is a member of the General Council of
The Urantia Book Fellowship
and currently serves as Secretary-General. Michelle has been studying the revelation since 1973.
• 2008/07/26 — Part II of The Urantia Book, "The Local Universe" with guest Michelle Klimesh.
Chris Halvorson has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has worked as a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder since 1987. He discovered The Urantia Book in 1990 and has been a student of its revelation of truth ever since. Starting in 1995, Chris has led a weekly study group that is devoted to expanding readers' understanding of The Urantia Book; these weekly studies are being recorded on video and are available at his New Horizons Study Group site.
• 2008/07/19 — Part I of The Urantia Book, "The Central and Superuniverses" with guest Chris Halvorson.
• 2008/10/04 — Truth, fact, error; etymology; scientific fallacies; Large Hadron Collider; time and space.
James Woodward discovered The Urantia Book in 1973. In the early nineties he began attending study groups and social activities in Southern California, joining
Urantia Association International
in 1993. Following a variety of volunteer assignments in UAI, James was recruited to Chicago in 2000 to join the staff at Urantia Foundation. He served in the Reader Services Department for five years and then accepted the position of Executive Administrator of UAI, serving until July 2008. He is currently a free-lance writer and editor and continues to be active in Urantia outreach and volunteer projects.
• 2008/07/12 — Guest James Woodward provides a general overview of The Urantia Book.
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