Book Review: Rest Unleashed
I feel it necessary to explain my relationship with Mr. Brian Karcher and how I became a close friend of a man whom I’ve never met. My pastor frequently asks me how I know so many people within UBF when I have not attended conferences or have been introduced, and the answer is the same: the Internet. This is where my story with Brian begins. One day last September I searched the Wikipedia page for the contact information on the UBF chapter in Brazil. I found accusations of UBF being a cult. I was stunned. A quick Google search led me to Brian’s blog priestly>nation. I realized I could never read anyone’s thoughts, but all the concrete evidence- no dating, marriage by faith, etc. were visible through my roommate. In some cruel sense of irony, my roommate has led me farther from UBF than anything Brian has ever said. With regards to UBF, I decided to would wait it out. I would see if these words of Mr. Karcher proved true. But that’s a topic for another time. This is my relationship to UBF’s most infamous detractor.
But this is supposed to be a book review of Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives. The first half of his book is a retelling of the story of Esau and his rediscovery of the gospel that had been presented in the light of mission. I was a little surprised to find a Catholic dismiss St. Thomas Aquinas division of old testament law, but besides that nothing truly surprised me about Brian’s discovery. It is the same gospel I have always known. I guess I was more surprised that this had to be a revelation. I know I have been given a lot in the way of correct teaching, but this passage of his book made me realize how blessed I have been with a correct view of the gospel. I thought it was amazing that someone could read the whole bible and miss fundamental beliefs of our Lord’s message such as grace, glory, salvation, and peace.
The second part of the book was the author’s life testimony. When I first read claims from the author about UBF I spoke with John Lee, the pastor from Springfield. John Lee said the Brian had a bad experience pioneering Detroit. I could feel that John lee truly felt sorry for the situation. He said “He was trying to pioneer Detroit, Michael. He felt like he wasn’t receiving any support. I cannot imagine trying to pioneer Detroit.” Brian’s life testimony seemed to confirm this. I realized that Brian had always felt something was off or wrong, but he dismissed it. Eventually God shocked him to this truth. The thing he was missing was a loving, graceful Christ- free from legalism. Sometimes the only way God can reach someone is through pain. But it is for the better.
The part I enjoyed most about the book was how God led him to his wife though a very intricate plot. I won’t spoil the story but it deserves to be told (and dare I say- replicated) again and again. I know Brian felt like what happened was unfair to his wife, and he would know better than I would. But I found the story amusing and I took pleasure in seeing how he got around the system.
I encourage everyone to buy and read Brian’s book. It contains much more than I have mentioned. I recently spoke to a UBF missionary from Chicago who said that Brian was good for UBF because he “keeps us honest”. I doubt this is the official UBF position. As a concluding remark, both books I have read by former UBF members tell a similar story. They speak of a person who had UBF coming to them at a low point in their life- just when they needed purpose. In both cases UBF provided them with a purpose, but there is a season for everything and eventually the UBF season ended. Just like this review now ends.
Forests, thanks for your review. I love your conclusion: “Brian was good for UBF because he “keeps us (UBF) honest”. I doubt this is the official UBF position. As a concluding remark, both books I have read by former UBF members tell a similar story. They speak of a person who had UBF coming to them at a low point in their life – just when they needed purpose. In both cases UBF provided them with a purpose, but there is a season for everything and eventually the UBF season ended.”
It is interesting that I never knew Brian during the 24 years when he was in UBF, but only met with him in person and chatted with him for hours after his UBF season ended. He is a lovely, gentle, godly man. I am sad when people who do not make any effort to know him say negative things about him simply because he shares honestly about his experiences in UBF which resonate with many others who do not share publicly.
“Brian keeps us honest”? Truly, that is one if the weirdest things I ever heard. In what sense have the organization and its leaders been honest?
What I mean is this: I’ve seen no evidence that the organization has wrestled or is wrestling with its history of authoritarian abuse, nor with any of the numerous problems that Brian and others have raised on this website. If there is evidence, will someone please tell me where? That comment “Brian keeps us honest” sounds delusional.
Joe, perhaps she means honest in the sense that everyone in UBF long term knows what they are getting themselves into because Brian tells them in explicit terms. I remember when I first read his post on Marriage by faith my pastor outright denied its existence. He said “We do not arrange. Only God.” after about 10 minutes of me pushing him he finally said “I prefer to call it marriage in Jesus.” He then instructed me not to share this article with anyone.
http://www.ubfriends.org/2012/06/20/marriage-by-faith-should-no-dating-be-a-church-policy/
It is an eventuality that people in UBF eventually have to address the topics Brian writes about. Even if that means your family reads his blog. If not your family your friends and if not your friends then students you attempt to fish. Brian’s mere existence keeps UBF honest because his ideas cannot be hidden, cannot be denied. I emailed Mark V concerning Brian earlier this year. I said that a pastor cannot simply tell a student to “ignore” the claims of Brian because westerners don’t ignore information like that. They especially see through appeal to authority and ad hominum arguments because of the internet.
Did Mark V ever respond? In my experience, he never does. At best, he might say, “I’ll get back to you,” and never does.
He said
“Hi, Mike,
I’m pretty busy traveling until 1/13. Let’s talk then. Praying for you.
Mark”
I never heard back.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for a response.
Brian book was refreshing to me and his life is an encouragement..he speaks openly and his book speaks the truth….I can relate to him and feel honored to know him….I like UBFriends because I truly enjoy his posts…he shoild write many books
“I thought it was amazing that someone could read the whole bible and miss fundamental beliefs of our Lord’s message such as grace, glory, salvation, and peace.”
This is because all of the Bible terms are subtly redefined and twisted when you read the Bible with your UBF campus mission glasses on. It’s just as amazing how people can read passages as Mt 23 and still build the church as a hierarchical system. Remember that even Martin Luther needed much time and was already an ordained priest until he finally understood what the gospel was all about.
Also, as Ben already mentioned, Bible passages like Galatians (and some other epistles) are never studied in UBF. I can also testify that in all of my 10 UBF years, in my chapter we never studied Gal or Cor even once (execpt 1Cor 15 which was covered every year). I remember how a young student told my Korean shepherd “wow, Galatians is really interesting”, to which she replied, “but it is very difficult to understand”. In reality, it’s not difficult, it’s just incompatible with Confucianism and UBFism.
1 Corinthians chapter 7 was also “very difficult to understand” as well. I remember after my pastor kept pushing the marriage topic, and then announced to me that he was praying for me to start a house church one day out of the blue I took BK’s advice to tell him I was praying to be celibate. He laughed and said “But you need a godly woman”. When I mentioned 1 Corinthians chapter 7 he said “If it is your gift” but then noticed he kept talking about marriage EVERY single bible study until I chose 1 Cor 7:32 for my key verse for the new year. Then he backed off, until I told him I might be planning to teach ESL in South Korea in the 2014-2015 school year. Then he said he would introduce me to someone. He dropped it when I got accepted to graduate school and told him that he would never introduce me to anyone ever under any circumstance.
Love your key verse Forests!
And yet your keyverse also invokes PTSD-like reactions in my mind… One of the biggest contradictions and hypocrisies in ubf is the demand for arranged marriage and then after marriage the demand to live like a single college student.
That contradiction is why I rigged the MbF process, which is what ends up happening. ubf heritage becomes a game, a game you are already playing quite well. You end up creating pockets of safety to protect yourself.
btw, here is my article “How to survive marriage-by-faith“.
Chris is right. We studied only certain passages, with a massive emphasis on Genesis and the OT. The reason I read all 33,000+ bible verses over the course of 20+ years is because of my own passion for the bible.
Here’s another, perhaps primary, reason to explain how someone could study the bible and not understand the gospel: UBF enforces mandatory question sheets (well except those rebellious chapters like Philippines or WestLoop :) Those question sheets guide the “study” to be an indoctrination lesson rather than actual study.
Here’s another way to beat the system of UBF: use my friend Steve’s question sheets: free bible study help!
Steve was my common life roommate back in the ’80s. Of course he left ubf with much trauma like most of my friends, but guess what he did after leaving ubf? For the past decade he has been creating ubf-style question sheets AND answers!
So all you ubf bible students just have to download Steve’s answers and you’re done! In fact that is really the gist of my “study” for most of my time in ubf. I became VERY familiar with the bible text, but only learned the ubf ideologies through the question sheet conditioning.
I don’t normally say ubf is evil, but if there is anything evil in ubf, it is these question sheets. Study those sheets and you’ll understand the teachings of UBFism, which is a sort of Christianized Confucianism.
Paul changed the questions for our John study. He started making them himself since I was observing a question that was seeking a certain answer, I would say “The answer they want is this. But this is not really relevant to this passage.” I started studying Romans in Novemeber with my roommate in addition to the usual study with Paul. He was taking the questions from Sarah Berry. I remember being exceptionally challenging to the questions from Romans 4. The question wanted me to say that when Abraham became a “father of many nations” he was speaking of world mission. I cited Gal 3:16 against this, saying that he became a father of many nations in the sense that his offspring Christ would justify the people of all nations (Gal 3:26). I said that although world mission is apart of the gospel this passage had nothing to do with it. I think that many students who do not have a good grasp on the bible hear something that is biblical, but they do not see that the message in the text isn’t actually talking about that. It is very subtle, because you don’t “disagree” with world mission, you just disagree that the apostle Paul is talking about world mission in his explanation of Abraham’s justification.
Forests, Not wishing to “steal Brian’s thunder,” but I wrote the No Dating article: http://www.ubfriends.org/2012/06/20/marriage-by-faith-should-no-dating-be-a-church-policy/
I wrote it in Nov 2010 and hesitated publishing it for the longest time. Finally, I thought, “what the heck,” and published it in June 2012.
I know that Brian and others can and have expressed their sad, negative and very unfortunate, even wounding, “MBF” experiences, that are scattered throughout this website. In contrast, my MBF was generally if not entirely positive. Next to accepting Christ, it was the happiest day of my life and still is.
Sorry Ben sometimes you two write similar things. I first read about MBF on Brian’s blog Priestly>nation, but found your article when I googled the term “Marriage by faith”. I figured it was better to show him your article than one entitled “How to Survive Marriage By Faith”.
Forests, someone astute (or maybe just observant) once commented to me that the frustrating thing about UBF Bible study, sermons and questions is that no matter what text, verse, passage, or book of the Bible that is being studied or preached on, the POINT is virtually always the SAME:
“Live a life of mission for world campus mission by being a 1:1 Bible teacher and good shepherd!” or some variation of it.
I realized this back in the ’90s: “Live a life of mission for world campus mission by being a 1:1 Bible teacher and good shepherd!”
I played the “bible study preparation game” well. In fact, my shepherd showed me tricks on how to escape the dreaded weekly rebuke about no one preparing bible study materials.
I could play the question sheet game well which afforded me time to do my own studies. I began throwing myself into my own personal reading of Scripture right from the start of ubf. I could answer the ubf questions instantly with no preparation because almost any answer would suffice if it fell into the party line of loyalty, obedience and discipline or if you used one of the 12 heritage slogans in your answer.
Forests,
I’m glad you posted this review, thanks. Here are my reactions.
“In some cruel sense of irony, my roommate has led me farther from UBF than anything Brian has ever said.”
> Exactly. I knew right away when I resigned as chapter director in 2011 that I would not have to make up anything. All I need to do is to make ubf’s own materials available to the public. Students in ubf are not “little one’s” who need “protection”. They are adults like you who can make their own decisions and investigate things for themselves, as you have done.
“This is my relationship to UBF’s most infamous detractor.”
> Ha! I love this name the most of all my internet names :) In 2005 when I was Mr. UBF-defender, I earned the nickname “Tom Cruise of ubf“. I love the movie A Few Good Men so perhaps that nickname is true.
“I was a little surprised to find a Catholic dismiss St. Thomas Aquinas division of old testament law, but besides that nothing truly surprised me about Brian’s discovery. It is the same gospel I have always known.”
> Yes well I never said I was a good Catholic :) There really is no label to capture who I am and no denomination of Christendom that would fully embrace me. I am just a man outside the gates.
“I cannot imagine trying to pioneer Detroit”
> Detroit was not the problem. I love Detroit. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
“Sometimes the only way God can reach someone is through pain. But it is for the better.”
> Indeed. and Amen.
Brian…finished reading your first book at work..loved it…my once shepherd in UBF requested copy…sent him one in california…he told me he would write the same things…his wife is Korean but she pushed him to leave UBF…we are all saying the same things such as abuse, no love for people, no healthy dialogue with other churches, closed group, family destroyer, bad theology, control, manipulation, no freedom to date, marriages are not based on love, and the lists goes on…lookvforward tovreading all your books…Big Bear
Shameless plug…
“Rest Unleashed” and “Goodness Found” are both free Kindle editions for today only!
“Unexpected Christianity: The Penguin Narratives” is published!
Amazon links