The link for downloading an invitation to the ISBC is here:

http://www.solovedconference.org/information.htm#Media

Here is the invitation card text, with my notes in italics…

“The world we live in is full of hatred, conflict and strife.
–Yea..but the world is not so bad. This is meant to depress you a little so you’ll be more amazed when ubf becomes your savior.

What we all need is love, forgiveness and peace.
–really? You know what I need? I need justice and grace and truth.

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
–obligatory bible text insert

John chapters 13-17 are Jesus’ last discourse with his disciples.
–yes but you won’t hear about the critical culmination of this discourse, John 17 because it is being skipped!

He shared with them the foremost desire of his heart: It was love.
–Yea and Jesus also said some words about God getting all glory and authority..oh wait ubf is skipping that part…

Jesus loved his disciples and commanded them to love one another and to create a love community in the world (Jn 13:34). So he sent them into the world with his message of love (Jn 20:21). Since then, Jesus has been transforming the world with God’s love.
–…through ubf right?

Jesus invites you to have a love relationship with God, to be a part of his love community, and to serve the world with God’s love.
–Sure, but this is about ubf inviting you to be part of the ubf community for the rest of your life.

Please join the 2013 International Bible Conference with brothers and sisters from over 90 nations in the worldwide community of love.
–uh..make that just the ubf community because outsiders are not welcome!

Let’s receive God’s love newly and renew Jesus’ vision to transform the world.
–this is code word for “Let’s re-commit to ubf ministry and work harder than lazy wicked Christians!

Let’s learn how to serve the world together with God’s love and vision.
–more code words for “let’s all be ubf missionaries”…but hey guess what? No one needs to attend the conference because you just learned everything that will be taught at the conference. There literally won’t be any new revelation. You just heard the summation of the 4 days.

Thanks to Chris who pointed this out. Sometimes as a former member of UBF I feel like Gandalf trying to warn Saruman.

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/12/06/hobbit-exclusive-clip-gandalf-warns-saruman-of-a-powerful-evil/

The first step to any recovery or healing or moving forward is to face the facts of our reality.

17-18 We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, “I set you up as father of many peoples”? Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!”

19-25 Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.

Romans 4:17-25, The Message

1. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
2. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
3. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
4. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
5. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
6. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
7. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
8. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
9. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
10. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
11. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
12. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
13. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
14. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
15. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
16. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
17. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
18. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
19. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.
20. My family and I are no longer controlled by ubf authority.

July 2012 says 2,141 members?

Just yesterday I blogged about a claim in the “July 2012 UBF Newsletter” that North America UBF had 2,141 Sunday attendants in 2011, up 60 people from 2010, as reported on page 22.

March 2011 says 2,116 members?

But what does page 23 of the “March 2011 UBF Newsletter” say?

http://ubf.org/ubfnewsletters/201103/index.html#/22/

This reports says there were 2,116 Sunday attendants in 2010. The claim is a 38% jump from 1550 members in 2005. My calculator shows that to be a 36.5% jump. Where did the 38% come from?

 
Increase of 25 not 60?

Based on the reports above, from 2010 to 2011, UBF North American Sunday attendance rose only 25 people, not 60. This really doesn’t matter since the growth is really negligible. But my point is this: why the discrepancy? Why can’t UBF “servants of God” just be honest, telling the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”?

A decreasing trend, actually

If we take these numbers at face value, from 2005 to 2010, UBF North America grew about 113 people each year on average. The latest “increase” is only 25 (or 60). Whether you use 25 or 60, both numbers are a far cry from 113. The average growth of UBF membership is slowing rather significantly. This slowing growth trend (which may in fact be a decline) is further evidenced by the drop in offering by nearly half a million (a drop of $465,434 in revenue) from 2008 to 2010 (as reported on the ECFA website).

And none of these numbers accounts for the dozens of leaders who left and hundreds of Bible students who never make it into the counts. The number of people leaving UBF is rather large, but those numbers are supplemented with visiting Korean 2nd gens and new missionaries from Korea coming to the USA or to Canada.

Do we really know?

The fact is, we really don’t know what number is accurate. It is tough to tell. At least we have published figures to work with. In generations past, very few knew any of these numbers. I remember being told once that UBF had 20,000 members worldwide…How many of these were stuffed animals? How many were visiting Korean 2nd gens (like as in the Toledo UBF numbers)?

As always, the only thing that matters is the perception that UBF is growing, which is “evidence” that God is “blessing” KOPHN.

It is rare to find external comments about UBF. Usually we read only the self-published reports by UBF or the bitter rants of former members. Here are some comments that should be seen as a mirror, reflecting back to UBF people.

First, the viewpoint of  a student being fished on campus:

“I was walking back from the library toward my dorm room this afternoon when a young lady started talking to me about the Bible. It was one of those high-pressure sells, and this girl had a stack of flyers with “Bible Study Appointment’ sign-up on it so that she could take down people’s names, phone #’s, cell phone #’s, emails, and time commitments (!).

Although I believe in reserving judgment till enough information is in, there was no doubt that this was a very bad start. This young lady basically wanted to take complete strangers and sign them up for one-on-one ‘Bible Study Sessions’ without giving almost any information about her group at all. Although I don’t know exactly what this church teaches, its public behavior shows all the signs of being a manipulative group. Someone who is trying to spread ideas openly will follow a method of giving out information about his cause openly. Someone who is trying to bring people under their control will give little or no information about himself or his organization, but will seek, as quickly as possible, time commitments and personal information from intended targets.

That’s not to say the young lady passing out flyers is predatory by nature. More likely she’s part of a group that operates in a manner that is at least somewhat predatory, aggressively indoctrinating new members to do the same.  So let’s review the red flags.  But there is no doubt that trying to take something from strangers, whether money, time, or information;  is always a swindle of some sort unless something like information or a genuine service is given in return.”

http://fontwords.com/2010/04/01/test-the-spirits-united-bible-fellowship-church

Second, the viewpoint of a non-UBF church member:

If you’ve known no other church besides Gracepoint Fellowship Church, you probably don’t even notice the oddity of it.

Why does Gracepoint give out these titles? After I’ve given much thought to it, and from my own experience from having served as “staff,” I’ve come to the conclusion that again, it’s for the sake of Pastor Ed Kang and his wife Kelly having control over the whole church. As I’ve mentioned before, they idolize Excellence, Efficiency, and Efficacy.

To be fair, first of all, this staff thing started from Becky, who appeared to have adopted it from her affiliation with University Bible Fellowship [UBF], which practiced the “Shepherding Movement”.

http://gracepoint-berkeley.blogspot.com/2010/06/staff-titles-and-their-effect-of.html

Third, the viewpoint of a Korean sociology professor:

Since 2008, I have conducted an in-depth case study of the University Bible Fellowship (UBF), supported by the Louisville Institute. It has more than 1,400 missionaries, making it the second-largest missionary-sending organization in South Korea — and about 42 percent of them are working in the United States.

These missionaries are here not just to seek converts in the Korean community. Their primary target: white American college students.

My overriding research question was this: How do Korean missionaries convince Americans, especially young white Americans, to hear the gospel through them and to build diverse congregations with them?

Here’s how one Korean missionary answered that:

“In my effort to not cause cultural alienation to Americans, … I curled my hair, I changed my glasses, practiced my tongue (to make it more amendable to speaking English), wore American-style clothing, … didn’t eat kimchi (a traditional Korean vegetable dish that has a pungent garlic smell), … didn’t teach my children Korean, didn’t speak Korean, … stopped all relationships with Koreans.”

That answer — reflective of the Korean missionaries in the United States evangelizing white Americans — is fascinating because it’s such a sociological aberration.

http://www.faithandleadership.com/content/rebecca-y-kim-acts-sacrifice

Fourth, the viewpoint of a former UBF Bible student:

I just heard a seminar on the faults of the organization. They talked about Confucianism’s influence on them, which I haven’t noticed, but more importantly, they reminded me of things that slipped by me without me even noticing.

When I joined the organization, I went meekly along with the flow, so I never experienced the physical abuse I’ve heard about coming from the UBF. I guess abuse was part of the “training” to be UBF “shepherds.” Also, being socially maladroit, I also missed out on their “arranged marriages.”

http://akktri.livejournal.com/254869.html

The definition of coercion from Merriam-Webster is this:

1: to restrain or dominate by force
2: to compel to an act or choice
3: to achieve by force or threat

Should people be coerced into a holy life?

The Bible says no.

8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 2 Timothy 1:8-11

The Bible says the opposite: We are not to push people into holiness. We are to “pull” or draw people into God, attracting them like a magnet. We are to have a “winsomeness” that makes people want to know more about the joy and hope we have found. We are called by God through His grace to a holy life. Jesus said “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32)

The first Christians lifted up Jesus and drew people in. They did not attempt to coerce a multiplication of believers. Instead, they lifted up Jesus and allowed the Spirit of God to add believers to their number. This is how they obeyed Jesus’ world mission command (Matthew 28:18-20).

41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:41-47

The Pharisees did the opposite (Matthew 23:1-39). Jesus rebuked them severely because they coerced people into obeying God’s laws. They pushed people to be holy and loaded their minds and souls with demands for conformance.

How can people be coerced into a set of ideals?

Isolation and separation from social life is a key tactic:

Once a person is away from longstanding emotional support and thus reality checks, it is fairly easy to set a stage for brainwashing. Spiritually abusive groups work to isolate individuals from friends and family, whether directly, by requiring the individuals to forsake friends and family for the sake of the “Kingdom” (group membership), or indirectly, by preaching the necessity to demonstrate one’s love for God by “hating” one’s father, mother, family, friends.

Abusive groups are not outward-looking, but inward-looking, insisting that members find all comfort and support and a replacement family within the group. Cut off from friends, relatives, previous relationships, abusive groups surround the recruits and hammer rigid ideologies into their consciousnesses, saturating their senses with specific doctrines and requirements of the group.

Isolated from everyone but those within the group, recruits become dependent upon group members and leaders and find it difficult if not impossible to offer resistance to group teachings. They become self-interested and hyper-vigilant, very fearful should they incur the disapproval of the group, which now offers the only support available to them which has group approval.

Warning signs:

The seed of extremism exists wherever a group demands all the free time of a member, insisting he be in church every time the doors are open and calling him to account if he isn’t, is critical or disapproving of involvements with friends and family outside the group, encourages secrecy by asking that members not share what they have seen or heard in meetings or about church affairs with outsiders, is openly, publicly, and repeatedly critical of other churches or groups (especially if the group claims to be the only one which speaks for God), is critical when members attend conferences, workshops or services at other churches, checks up on members in any way, i.e., to determine that the reason they gave for missing a meeting was valid, or makes attendance at all church functions mandatory for participating in church ministry or enjoying other benefits of church fellowship.

Once a member stops interacting openly with others, the group’s influence is all that matters. He is bombarded with group values and information and there is no one outside the group with whom to share thoughts or who will offer reinforcement or affirmation if the member disagrees with or doubts the values of the group. The process of isolation and the self-doubt it creates allow the group and its leaders to gain power over the members. Leaders may criticize major and minor flaws of members, sometimes publically, or remind them of present or past sins. They may call members names, insult them or ignore them, or practice a combination of ignoring members at some times and receiving them warmly at others, thus maintaining a position of power (i.e., the leaders call the shots.)

The sense of humiliation makes members feel they deserve the poor treatment they are receiving and may cause them to allow themselves to be subjected to any and all indignities out of gratefulness that one as unworthy as they feel is allowed to participate in the group at all. When leaders treat the member well occasionally, they accept any and all crumbs gratefully. Eventually, awareness of how dependent they are on the group and gratitude for the smallest attention contributes to an increasing sense of shame and degradation on the part of the members, who begin to abuse themselves with “litanies of self-blame,” i.e., “No matter what they do to me, I deserve it, as sinful and wretched as I am. I deserve no better. I have no rights but to go to hell. I should be grateful for everything I receive, even punishment.” (source)

My friend was the logical choice to become the new director. However, even he was viewed as a threat to the power Korean missionaries had. The longstanding burdens he and his wife bore suddenly exploded and they left. Even to this day, they want nothing to do with UBF and don’t even want to discuss UBF in any way (and I don’t blame them).

Today the words this friend spoke to me suddenly came back to my mind. So I’m documenting them in this blog so that I don’t forget. Here are some words he spoke in the years before and during the time when his family was leaving UBF:

When I went to Detroit, knowing that my request for a pioneering committee had been denied, he formed a prayer team. He prayed for me to find one “Timothy” and one “Lydia” in Detroit. He prayed for me to have a “forehead of flint”, based on Ezekiel 3:8-10 “8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”

When I visited Toledo and attended one of the last leader’s Bible studies my friend attended, he said to a Korean missionary “God help you if you turn against someone like Brian Karcher.”

My leaving UBF is for friends like this. To seek to restore lost relationships and strive for the greater unity in the body of Christ, rather than quickly make peace with one or two UBF people and move on in silence.

The documents describing the three reform movements are posted in an earlier entry. UBF started in 1961. The three “R-Group” movements were in 1976, 1989 and 2000. So the attempts to reform UBF have lasted 35 years.

Recently I came to know that my leaving UBF was part of a rather large exodus of members and long-time (10+ years) leaders around the world. In the past, the reform attempts were led by Korean missionaries, many of whom formed a new ministry called CMI (Campus Mission International).

The movement in 2011 is lead by “natives” (Americans, Indians, Russians, etc.). Very few Koreans are involved this time.

Today I declare that this 2011 movement is the “Independence Movement of 2011”. We are the “I-Group” people. We are not rebellious. We are not poisonous. We are no longer interested in reform. We are tired of waiting for even a drop of change.

We are people who have decided to leave UBF for the sake of freedom. We tried to agree-to-disagree and to humbly reform things from the inside. But we have concluded that this is not possible, given the current structure of UBF, the absolute power and authority given to Korean directors, the stubborn rejection of open, honest discussion by UBF elders and the refusal of UBF elders to even acknowledge any kind of problem.

Therefore, we declare our separation from UBF in order to submit to the Holy Spirit, to obey Scripture’s teachings, to find our Gifts and put them to use in our Lord’s service, to seek the unity Apostle Paul spoke of, to let the things built by man to fall to the ground and to pursue the things of God with a passionate love for grace, truth, faith, hope and love for our King Jesus, our High Priest, in whom is all authority and power.

The primary reason (in my opinion) for controversial and often bi-polar opinions about UBF is the undocumented UBF belief system. The public statement of faith for UBF is in line with Christianity. There is much organized effort to promote UBF as a Christian church. Yet, actions speak volumes about what UBF leaders really believe.

Today I am posting a list of undocumented doctrines UBF teaches by the actions of its leaders. If one was to read through the hundreds of UBF messages posted publicly, you might be able to discern these teachings. Having lived and breathed UBF for 24 years, I will save you the trouble. It is extremely rare to find any of these documented. Raising questions about these teachings is very problematic for a UBF member. Or, God forbid, if someone suggests a different way to go about putting these teachings into practice, it is tantamount to “spiritual suicide”, if you are a member of UBF. Fortunately, I no longer carry that burden.

Here is my list so that I don’t forget. I am also posting this list as a personal act of repentance. I not only believed these teachings, I promoted them absolutely for many years as a leader in UBF.

I will add to this as I recall various things. And I will use this to expound on each teaching. By posting this list, I am not implying that these teachings are good or bad (not yet). I am also not explaining how these differ from Scripture’s teachings (not today anyway).

1. Class system: sheep, shepherds, native leaders, Korean leaders

2. Directorship hierarchy: the idea of a tree structure of benevolent dictators.

3. Marriage by faith: Willingness to let a leader choose your future spouse.

4. Pioneering: Sending out one or more families to campuses around the world to setup a chapter of the organization, often without any valid support.

5. Covering: Willingness to cover all sins and not expose things that bother your conscience.

6. Loyalty to leaders: Willingness to obey and follow leaders above all other authority.

7. Separation: Willingness to be separated from friends, family and the world in order to join God’s true children.

8. Appeasement: Letting someone who speaks up have a task to do to keep them busy.

9. Propoganda: Speaking only positive things about leaders and the organization.

10. Duplicity: Willingness to ignore facts and adhere to double-standards, double-meanings and secret language.

11. Vertical communication: the idea that group discussion and communication methods (such as email) are bad.

Evasion of facts

Double-talk

Baghdad Brian

Treated differently

Salt in wounds

Not thinking

Not shocked

Original Links:

http://www.voy.com/60734/8688.html
http://www.voy.com/60734/8658.html
http://www.voy.com/60734/8660.html
http://www.voy.com/60734/8509.html
http://www.voy.com/60734/8119.html
http://www.voy.com/60734/7341.html

On his web page Karcher says:

“By reading some of the criticims of UBF, it would appear that they would have me denounce UBF and join the bandwagon of criticism.”

No, you should demand a Biblical response from UBF leadership to confess and repent.

“They paint a dark picture, as if UBF is a corrupt, unethical or evil organization with malicious intent.”

Stick to the specifics. What things has UBF done and would should the response be? The worst thing is not the abortions, beatings, or misuse of money or the fact that UBF has really hurt many people. The worst thing is the refusal to acknowledge even a little bit that it has done anything wrong or that it is willing to correct anything, or that many people deserve an apology and to be told, “It’s not you, it was UBF!” UBF deeply hurt me by violating the trust I had in it to respond in a Biblical way to the abuse I an others encountered. That hurt still hurts because I loved doing what I was doing with the people I was doing it with. Besides leaving, the only option was to do what you and others have been doing that is to deny the reality of those who were hurt and abused. Thus it continues. Nothing has been resolved.

“What should I say? Should I deny all that I’ve known and investigated and experienced to be true and in accordance with Scripture? Should I deny the genuine work of God that I’ve witnessed firsthand for so many years? Should I suddenly “open my eyes” and start interpretting the words and actions of people in UBF as if they had malicious, hidden, selfish motives? Should I suddenly feel all alone and as if all of UBF is against me, secretly out to destroy me? ”

You should demand that UBF answer the allegations against it, confess, repent, make a constitution to deal with abuse, and also face those who were hurt or left UBF because of these incidents and tell them, “We are sorry, we were wrong, please forgive me.”

Should I be shocked at the events mentioned? Should I leave UBF because it is banned by some religious organizations? Should I be angry that UBF is not part of a human organization like the NAE (which by the way has its own problems)? I think not!

YES! YOU SHOULD BE SHOCKED!

If UBF does not repent, then yes, you should leave it. Rather than blaming the NAE, which UBF boasted about for so long, you should ask, “What did UBF do to deserve being expelled?”

(source)

But my eyes were opened recently to see that I had hurt others. I had been treated quite differently from others, probably because I became one of UBF’s biggest fans.

From a historical perspective, UBF missionaries from South Korea first came to America in the late 1970’s. Almost immediately, cult-watching groups picked up on UBF’s practices. For many years, I became one of the primary defenders of UBF against such accusations of being a cult. Through my attempts to defend UBF on Wikipedia and various other websites, I came to realize that I could not defend UBF against the cult accusations. It is a fact that the basically sound UBF statement of faith has been negated by cult-like practices. People who study in UBF eventually find out just how much control the group wants over their lives, including who and when to marry, where to work, where to go to school, what kind of degree to have, and all the while demanding absolute attendance at daily meetings. These things are not known to those who initially join the group, and the control is instituted a little at a time over many years.

I will leave it up to others to decide whether UBF is a cult or not. But as a former Director in UBF, I can clearly say that the authoritarian, obedience-driven and honor-desiring actions of UBF leaders has created an unhealthy environment for spiritual, mental and even physical growth. I will certainly not defend UBF as a Christian organization any longer.

While students may enjoy the wonderful fellowship UBF offers initially, spiritual life often becomes stagnated after graduation. I observed this stagnation repeatedly as over 100 of my friends (counting husbands, wives and children), left UBF ministry over the past 20 years.

Here is a good summary of the current situation of UBF ministry in America (and around the world outside of South Korea) from a cult-watching group:

* Note: I was one of those who sent in emails defending UBF to this cult-watching group.

This entry on University Bible Fellowship (UBF) — as shown below the blue line — is in need of updating. Doing so is on our lengthy to-do list, and we do not know when we get around to it.

That said, the primary update of note is that on March 18, 2008, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) voted to re-admit the UBF as a member.

Since early May, 2008, we have received emails from a number of UBF members pointing out this fact. Some also point to a handful of endorsements the UBF has received, as well as to its membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Most of the emails make clear that membership in the NAE — and, to a lesser extend, in the ECFA — is seen as a stamp of approval for the UBF.

We do take such memberships into consideration, but they do not weigh heavily in our evaluations of groups. Many organizations are ill-equipped to deal with issues surrounding high-demand organizations and cult-like groups. They tend to base their determinations almost entirely on whether or not a movement’s Statement of Faith passes their standard of orthodoxy.

Unfortunately, often a group’s Statement of Faith does not quite describe what it actually teaches in word and/or in practice. In other words, a church, movement or organization can have a Statement of Faith that is theologically sound — and yet teach doctrines ranging from aberrant to heretical and/or engage in practices that are sociologically and/or spiritually abusive.

Therefore when it comes to University Bible Fellowship, our concerns regarding the organization have not been diminished as a result of the movement’s re-acceptance by the NAE.

In fact, we consider UBF’s authoritarian, high-demand nature to be evidence of a faulty understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ — and of the Bible’s teachings regarding disciples of Jesus.

We do not accept the notion that much of the University Bible Fellowship’s cult-like ideas regarding authority, submission, obedience and discipline can simply be explained by the group’s Korean influences. It is not Korean culture that should influence a Christian’s walk with Jesus. Rather, it should be the other way around.

In short, we have seen nothing that suggests University Bible Fellowship’s teachings and practices should not — at the very least — be cause of concern for Christians. In our opinion, the UBF is an unhealthy organization whose teachings and practices provide a breeding ground for spiritual elitism and abuse.

Theologically, we consider the University Bible Fellowship to be at best an aberrant movement. In Christian theology, aberrant means, “Off-center or in error in some important way, such that the doctrine or practice should be rejected and those who accept it held to be sinning, even though they may very well be Christian.”

Our advice to Christians is not to get involved with the University Bible Fellowship.

(source)

The Altar Boys: “I question it”.

It is because good men of faith like Joe S. and Ben T. have been speaking up for years about various changes, only to have their words fall on deaf ears. It is because men of faith not part of UBF have spoken up only to receive silence when their words became too real. It is because as of 2011, UBF remains listed on the lists of several cult-watching groups, groups where Christians pray that the authoritarian and cult-like practices of UBF don’t take a wrong turn and become even more distant from Christian churches.

I say these words because of what was done to people like Nick T. and Joe C. and to defend the honor of James and Rebekah B. Kim. I say these words remembering the hundreds of R-group people who wanted reform only to be labelled as rebels. I say these words remembering dozens of people who spoke up with a differing opinion only to be cast aside as if they were lepers. I say these words for all those who signed the petition in 2003 to revoke UBF’s status in the NAE. I say these words in hope that change will come and none of the totalitarian practices I witnessed firsthand will ever be practiced again on American soil and not in any other country.

I say these words with every bit of passion and fervor that the American founding fathers spoke as they declared our independence and drafted the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing our freedom: I am not in UBF.

In order to renew my understanding of the U.S. Constitution, I will be starting a new blogging series about various related topics and the document itself. I still believe this document is of great importance to humanity.

Some quotes about the Constitution:

“A constitution embodies the fundamental principles of a government. Our constitution, adopted by the sovereign power, is amendable by that power only. To the constitution all laws, executive actions, and, judicial decisions must conform, as it is the creator of the powers exercised by the departments of government.”

“As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from the womb and long gestation of progressive history, so the American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” (W. E. Gladstone’s famous remark about the Constitution)

“The term ‘rigid’ is used to describe the U.S. Constitution, in opposition to “flexible”, because the provisions are in a written document which cannot be legally changed with the same ease and in the same manner as ordinary laws. The British Constitution, which is unwritten, can, on the other hand, be changed overnight by act of Parliament.”

“The book which had the greatest influence upon the members of the Constitutional Convention was Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws, which first appeared in 1748. The great French philosopher had, however, in turn borrowed much of his doctrine from the Englishman John Locke, with whose writings various members of the Convention were also familiar.”

Why didn’t I tell anyone? I didn’t reveal this at the time because I wasn’t strong enough at the time. Leaving a structured ministry like UBF is not easy. In fact, leaving is often very traumatic and full of political drama tantamount to the Godfather! At the time I had a stone of bitterness and malice in my heart. I was alone in Detroit, Michigan with no job, three young children and a financial situation near bankruptcy. I nearly shipwrecked my faith.

At a critical moment in 2003, a good friend of mine told me how he could see the stone of bitterness in me. His prayer for me moved me to overcome this stone. In fact, God melted it. I then made a new decision: to build a life for me and my family apart from UBF. For 8 years now, I have done just that. I have remained connected to UBF by attending 3 or 4 conferences or meetings per year. But I was attending those conferences, not as a member, but as an observer. I had decided to remain connected to UBF, obeying in every way in order to appear as a member. This turned out to be rather easy. UBF leaders value obedience so highly that I just needed to obey. I wasn’t held accountable for anything else. So I was free to build a new life.

In 2003 I also began ferociously defending UBF ministry on the internet. Why? I was looking for a reason to stay. I was also looking for justification for the 16 years I had spent committed to UBF. I had seen problems and issues, but why had I stayed so faithful? I desperately looked for an answer.

After a few years, I found that I could no longer defend UBF as an organization. Why should I need to defend it anyway? If what has been built is built by and for God, it will remain and be used by God. In 2009 I decided to read two open letters to UBF from two good friends and spiritual mentors I had known in the late 80’s. They recounted an event that I had particpated in. I realized I had sinned and hurt their family terribly by helping to pack their belongings into a truck to “help” them (My Confession).

As I built my life without UBF programs and practices, without the UBF heritage, my eyes began to see. I began to see the pattern of families leaving with wounds and sores. During college years, UBF was so good, so helpful and so wonderful. But some chapters of UBF seemed to be built as wounding machines, chewing up good Christian men and women after graduating from college, and spitting them out like fodder. I saw this happen to at least 13 families the past 21 years. I couldn’t let this happen again when I heard of the same patterns occurring yet again in 2011.

Some have asked me if I am leaving UBF. My answer is: No, I am not. I left in 2003.

I actually didn’t understand the movie fully until I read the front tagline after watching it: Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

Here is the trailer, which unlike other trailers, doesn’t give anything away: Good, the movie

What? People are taking pilgrimages to the right-hand man of Adolph Hitler? In 2011? The local church there had ruled to honor the wishes of Hess in his will. So they buried Hess in a grave in a Bavarian town, where his family had a holiday home. The church valued honor and acted according to respect of a dead man.

“The local Lutheran church which supervises the cemetery gave its permission for the burial at the time, ruling that the wishes of the deceased could not be ignored, the Suddeutsche Zeitung reports.

But they and local people have since become concerned by the number of far-right groups visiting the grave. Each year on the anniversary of his death, neo-Nazis have attempted to staged a march to the cemetery, saluting the grave, with its epitaph “I dared” and laying floral wreaths.”

We in America would think it so blessedly obvious that a Nazi grave is not something to be saluted, not something worthy of any kind of honor. Yet year after year, Nazi supporters still staged marches to this man’s grave and honored him with wreaths! So in the end, the church there decided to exhume Hess’ body and destroy it.

Sometimes the obvious church action (honor, respect) is not the obvious course of action (destroy the grave) that is in line with truth.