Mobile | Internet society =’s
– Lower Attention Span
– All Information Access on anything at anytime

UBF’S biggest downfall (especially because of the cultural disconnect) has been and always will be it’s inability to relate/connect with those they are trying to “fish”

People at that age are going through the problems of youth.
– sex | Love | Betrayal | Identity | insecurities | substances

No “shepherd” is ever going to start a sentence to a “sheep” with – “I totally understand, I remember in college at my frat…” LOL

The only reason or people that the UBF have success with are the young people who have large issues with neglect, depression, or abandonment. It’s pretty clear to see how the 6 step process can cause someone with these traits to feel appreciated and eventually committed.

On top of that, we live in an age where we can google everything. So if a parent had concerns, they could just google it and show their college kid why their concerns are “validated”

Why do you think the UBF has an obvious “low key” presence on Social Media. The last thing they want is for people to go online and google them lol. And the people that do, would never show up in the first place.

As a whole, the internet now forces accountability on businesses & institutions. Plus, the speed and quantity of sharing that much information has mainly made this a progressive fast moving/evolving generation.

Progressive and evolving are the last words to describe the UBF. They are the complete opposite.

That point alone answers the article’s question…

“Why is this Korean director in Pennsylvania repeatedly considered the expert in campus discipleship among ubf leaders?”

Unfortunately, common Sense & the UBF don’t go hand in hand.

Sharing that you learned from anybody else is somewhat of a faux pas in UBF. Share that you learned and “received grace” or “orientation” from your chapter director or a UBF lecture, and you’re welcome.

This is not to defend anyone, but for 50 years most UBF leaders have primarily focused on only one thing (world campus mission, discipleship training), to the degree that everything else, including death, divorce and depression, etc, becomes relegated to “unimportant,” relatively speaking.

Speaking for myself, I know that I did not know how to be holistic or whole as a Christian. I did not know how to relate to other Christians outside of UBF. I did not know how to relate to Christians who were not “studying the Bible one to one and feeding sheep.” Heck, I did not even know how to relate to my own family members and old friends for way over 2 decades after I became a Christian in Chicago in 1980!

I’m not saying I know what to do now. But I think I realize that the way I was a Christian in the 80s’ and 90s’ was quite weird, unnatural, sectarian and cultish, to put it mildly and nicely.

Don’t you think the two shepherds were behaving exactly the way they were “trained”?

They were trained to be absolute and uncompromising soldiers of Christ who will fight the good fight unto death (2 Tim 4:7), not be involved in civilian affairs (2 Tim 2:3-4) and to let the dead bury the dead (Lk 9:60), but no matter what they were to go feed sheep (Jn 21:15-17) and raise disciples (Mt 28:19) for UBF world campus mission.

Some ubfers can remain in the ministry and slowly work for change. But for hardcore KOPAHN ubfers like myself, the best option is a clean break and mini death/closing of my ministry.

There was a missionary who pioneered his own chapter in the United States and eventually raised two shepherds. Both of these young men married by faith and appeared to be well on their way to becoming “Abrahams of faith” and so on. The ministry appeared to be successful, to about the same degree that Shippensburg UBF is seen to be successful.

But this missionary became very ill and eventually died. On his deathbed, he was surprised that the two shepherds whom he had raised didn’t seem to show much concern. They didn’t seem to care that their “spriritual father” was dying. (I’m sure that, at some level, they did care, but they didn’t know how to express love or provide comfort.) At that point, the missionary began to realize that something in his relationship with these two young men was fundamentally wrong. He had followed the UBF narrative. He had served them and trained them and raised them as “spiritual leaders” and coworkers. But he hadn’t really connected with them as human beings, and whatever bonds of love existed between him and them were superficial. After the missionary died, neither of these young men remained in his ministry.

When a friend who attended the conference told me about the student who was served endlessly and yet left because he felt no love, I asked, “Does Daniel Lee or anyone else even know why the student did not feel loved, even though he was served in countless ways? Did anyone at the conference even ask this question?”

I’ve heard similar accounts countless times over the years. Each time I seriously wondered if the “sacrificial shepherd and missionary” even knew or understood why “the sheep was so unthankful and ran away after we sacrificed so much to serve him.”

Dr. Daniel Lee must have read page 104 of the book he gave the conference on rather quickly:

“A disciple is a Christian, and a Christian is a disciple. As a result of our modern obsession with compartmentalizing, we have acted as if there are two kinds of people in the Church- Christians (the ones who “asked Jesus into their heart”) and disciples (the ones who are more serious, more *disciplined* about their faith). But this isn’t a biblical distinction.”

Even thought it has been 3 entire years since I closed down my ubf chapter, I care deeply about whether the community I gave my entire adult formative years to realizes the things you just expressed.

In the words of the great lifted Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Some comments I had to write down as I was reading the lecture.

1. Lack of responsibility: The lack of / declining growth for the college ministry is blamed on “post-modernism.” Is there really not any fault on UBF’s part? If post-modernism really is the problem, then UBF ought to take responsibility for not having adjusted to help students who are “post-modern”. That’s a big “if.” Why condemn post-modernism in the first place? Why is it wrong to be post-modern? Should we be just “modern”? Was Jesus “modern”? Did his disciples not have any ideological conflicts with his teachings? Jesus found his generation to be adulterous and wicked (in asking for signs and wonders). Why can UBF not admit that it has failed to adjust to its target audience? Why must UBF be the standard by which all should conform to? Of course, the answer given is that UBF’s ways are biblical. But shouldn’t there at least be a question in regards to this? I’ve heard of the problem of post-modernism at so many staff conferences. Are we completely outside of our times and its influence?

2. Pride and Victimization: The lack of responsibility for UBF’s effectiveness further shows me both pride and victimization. UBF is proud about what she has done for 50 years, and is also a victim: of the times, of other ministries, of students with bad attitudes and many questions, and so on. Instead of giving thoughtful answers or dialogue with the many good questions Daniel Lee brings up throughout the lecture, he goes back to pride and victimizing. The book is referenced only to show how UBF is either right or has been wronged.

Another hint of pride: UBF could have made “ordinary Christians” but instead chose to make disciples. What the heck is an ordinary Christian? Actually, I do know what he is implying here. But what are the fruits, these “trained spiritual leaders”? For the most part, I continue to see the same people leading and the same people being led. He refers to students as potentially “world leaders.” This is also disingenuous to me because those students who do remain are taught to sacrifice everything for the sake of their mission. How many world leaders were “raised” in UBF? How does becoming a world leader fit into the UBF long-term disciples’ life? Rather, students give up the pursuit for leadership in the world. So what is UBF doing by focusing on future world leaders without encouraging them to be world leaders? (I will admit that in my chapter, our previous director often encouraged me and another American brother to pray to become president of the United States).

Back to “ordinary Christians,” who are we to judge others like this? Based on my limited knowledge of one of the “small” ministries mentioned as a good example, I would not call it a good example at all. At least there should be some kind of audit or explanation or disclosure of what is exemplary beyond numbers. But my guess is that the only audits done are on the numbers of 1:1’s and Sunday Worship attendees while the same controlling UBF practices continue behind the scenes.

I think we ought to take responsibility by listening to the criticisms from students and from each other. Justifying our actions and yet creating a new slogan imply that not much of anything is going to change or has changed. Explore the criticism. It doesn’t mean that the critique is correct, but it might be. Anyway it should be acknowledged that that student sincerely did not feel love was present there.

3. Regarding the mindset of students: They are post-modern, hedonistic and “thoughtless,” yet the campus “is a place for discussing thoughts and finding out what to believe.” Students are taking all of the blame. They are both thoughtless, and discussing thoughts, believes and are on the way to being world leaders at the campuses. They also like to be entertained. What the heck is wrong with having fun and being entertained?

4. Regarding continuing the campus ministry because that is how God worked in “my” life and “your” life. To this my question is, “So what?” Just because God worked in your life in this way doesn’t mean that you have to keep doing this kind of evangelising or that others have to have God work in their lives in the same way. Again, the focus is turned away from the target audience and understanding them or their situation, etc. Daniel Lee seems very confused. At the beginning he said that there are questions about what UBF is and should do now. Yet he said that God gave him a clear meaning and purpose in a way that others would resonate with that, say Amen, and agree that it is also clear for them (that is, that the calling they had when they were students still applies today to be 1:1 campus shepherds and produce such forever). Why is unreasonable to think that your ministry direction can change? Why do UBF people have such questions about their meaning and purpose yet their meaning and purpose are very clear?

5. Regarding the use of the name UNIVERSITY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP: Daniel Lee said that God changed Abraham’s name and Jesus changed Peter’s name. Isn’t it fair game then for UBF’s name to change? Is not, why? My point is that the name was not questioned but used from the beginning to justify to keep on doing the same things. Maybe UBF should not change its name or practices. Maybe it should. Is it wrong to explore this question? The lecture already admits that others are questioning it.

Why didn’t that student feel the love?

Perhaps because it wasn’t love.

“Now there is a spiritual selfishness which even poisons the good act of giving to another. Spiritual goods are greater than the material, and it is possible for me to love selfishly in the very act of depriving myself of material things for the benefit of another. If my gift is intended to bind him to me, to put him under an obligation, to exercise a kind of hidden moral tyranny over his soul, then in loving him I am really loving myself. And this is a greater and more insidious selfishness, since it traffics not in flesh and blood but in other persons’ souls.”

– Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island

Yes, Chris, I believe that something is happening, even from among those who are still in UBF. I believe the public forum and the social media is helping more and more UBFers to become more bold and vocal about issues and problems that were simply ignored, dismissed and swept under the carpet in the past.

But now it seems that Jesus might be fulfilling his promise in Lk 12:3!

Of couse this is not true, she even was general director of UBF for some years. And she knows that pretty well, so she is lying. She knows very well how much she is adored in the UBF world, with the official titles of “Mother” and “Reverend” and status as co-founder and missionary to Korea. She obviously enjoys this adoration very much, never told people to not call her “Mother” (so much about obeying the Bible). She knows very well that she has big influence, that she is the single most respected person in the UBF world, but she doesn’t dare to make this step because she wants to keep things like they are, and keep her self-delusion of UBF and her role in UBF. She should admit that instead of resorting to lies.

On a more positive note, I want to say that I really liked what various people commented here in the last days. I wished I could press a big like button for you all.

Her response was “I have no authority to do anything about the problems.” I told her that was not true, her influence could nearly instantly and profoundly transform ubf ministry worldwide.

Her silence and continued defense of ubf heritage is like a plug in the bathtub holding the water in. One honest, public letter from SB could spark redemption and reconciliation at the ubf ministry worldwide. Now that would be glory to God.

Can anyone articulate this any better than C.S. Lewis in his chapter The Great Sin in Mere Christianity?: https://www.facebook.com/ben.toh.9/posts/10152569166894490?notif_t=like

I wished it was like that, but M. Barry was and is first in keeping and protecting the UBF heritage and abusing the Bible with these pre-conceived ideas. UBF leaders claim a lot of nice-sounding things, and people tend to believe it, but compare what they say and preach with what they really do. Mr. Samuel Lee even claimed that he invented “inductive” Bible study, i.e. to read things only out of the text, but not into the text. Just take any of these profound-sounding statements by UBF leaders, make a simple reality check and find that more often than not the exact opposite of what the claim is the case.

To really do what M. Sarry claimes requires an open mind which sadly she never seemed to possess. As she admitted herself, she simply deleted any email coming from reformers without even reading it. This shows how close-minded and frozen in her UBF delusion she was and still is. I have zero respect of her, no matter how old she is, and how much people believe her to be “wise” and “humble”, because she tolerated all the spiritual abuse plus things like misappropriation of money and even forced abortions and helped covering them up, and then even helped in ousting and defaming those who tried to point out such grievances. What she absolutely needs is somebody close to her who calls her out for doing these things so that she can come out of her self-righteous delusion and repent before she dies. Since many see her as a role model, maybe that would also help others repent and change something in UBF.

Here is my experience. My encounters with people who intentionally claim to be Christian has been what you express; a sub-par experience that is easily superseded by beer buddy fellowship.

But those who have a clear self-identity as Christ-followers have shown me exceeding love, care, attention, helpfulness and honesty. I found such a thing at your own WL church.

The difference is just what I tried to articulate in my article, Why I am not a Christian. My main point is that we should have the mindset that we are following Christ, not that we are becoming Christ (regardless of whether that is true or not). Basically, those who realize the value of this statement act very differently from those who don’t know what I’m talking about: I am me. You are you. I am not you. You are not me. I am not Christ. Christ is not me. You are not Christ. Christ is not you.

We ought to move onward to more maturity, namely an epic surrender to grace, an epic search for goodness and an epic vision of glory. Too many Christians can’t move away from the supervision of the Law out of fear. But isn’t that fear part of what Christ dissolved on the cross?

So, I wrote, “After becoming a Christian, we know we should love (God, others, enemies). Yet–if we are honest enough to admit it–instead of loving others we are upset, even by Christians who attend the same church. Two Christians attending the same church for three decades won’t look at each other or talk to each other, apart from shallow superficial meaningless pleasantries and platitudes.”

These questions are very good. I wonder if such questions will ever be asked at a ubf staff conference?

Are you easily hurt and offended by others?
> My skin is very thick. But still words of others sting. Having thick skin just means the sting doesn’t last very long. I’ve learned to seek out criticism so that I can learn about my blind spots.

Just how fragile is your ego?
> My ego is very strong :) My forehead is like flint…

What’s wrong with Christians?
> Well that’s a vague question. I’m not sure what you are asking here?

Is your heart radically changed by the grace of God?
> Yes! My epic fight against sin turned into an epic surrender to God’s grace. Now I’m embarking on an epic search for goodness and developing an epic vision of glory.

Why is there division in the church?
> In my observation and reading of Scripture and in much prayer time spent listening for the promptings of the Spirit, the answer is that the church is divided because of the Law. The Law will never unite Christians. Only the Spirit can. Until we realize that striving to obey the Law, either partially or fully, is a cursed way of life according to the bible, we will continue to divide and separate. Who can agree on what parts of the Law we are to follow? Who can agree on what kind of behavior is holy? The answer lies in the gospel Jesus preached which is to live by the Spirit and the law of love.

I tangentially addressed this “artificially created need for a leader’s approval” in my sermon yesterday: http://westloop-church.org/index.php/messages/new-testament/8-1-corinthians/371-f-is-for-forgetfulness based on 1 Cor 4:3-4.

This thought got cut off when I type it… Affirmation is “emotional support or encouragement”. I certainly do need affirmation in general :) But I no longer need affirmation in regard to my belief system.

My epic surrender to grace taught me that it is very important for me to work out my personal belief system AND that it is equally important for me not to impose my belief system on other people.

We will all end our lives with flawed and incomplete theology. The deeper question is will we live our lives expressing love, caring for the marginalized and working for justice?

“The incident with the Lutz book is a prime example of the difference between exegesis and eisegesis.”

My first comment is that we all have to recognize our default eisegesis. No one can escape eisegesis. That is why we must continually make a real effort for exegesis, not just with the Holy Scripture, but with writings of other people as well. It is very easy and human nature to read something searching for affirmation of our own ideas.

That’s what ubf was for me in a nutshell: one giant journey searching for affirmation. Now that I have surrendered to grace, submitted to the Holy Spirit and welcomed input from many kinds of people, I no longer need affirmation.

It was so wonderful and life-giving to embark on personal bible studies of Hebrews, Job, and Romans, as well as a personal bible study on grace. These became the foundation of my belief system, which I label as a lambhearted lion expression of outlaw theology.

Never again will I see the world or my self or my friends or my family through the lens of ubf KOPAHN theology.

As for campus ministry, I spoke with my friend who is support raising to go as a full time missionary to India. He will be on college campuses in Mumbai. He said college is a time where people choose to give up their faith or keep it for the rest of their lives. He said furthermore campus ministry is important because by ministering to a college which draws people from many different places when they leave they go out to many places, fulfilling Mat 28:19. In India for example he disciples a young woman who had never even heard the name Jesus. She was able to take Jesus and the gospel back with her to her remote village.

There is a book that speaks to this on a deeper level, “The 5 Love Languages“. Words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time and physical touch can all be expressions of love. But they are not love in and of themselves. And just because some ubf shepherds do such things, does not mean they are so loving.

Different people need to receive different kinds of love expressions at different times in their lives, and most people seem to have a built-in need for certain kinds of expressions of love. We can’t just express what we think is love the same way all the time to all people.

Particularly serving is not love when it is done with ulterior motives (like increasing your ministry and honor and offering money or binding people to you and make them believe they “owe” you). That’s more like self-serving.

I’m SO glad I can see through such crap so easily now. No more guilt trips about abandoning my mission! But thank God for my 6 stage ubf training because now I can rule the world… from my folding chair that is…and with my most precious Konglish…

I say this because when I read Robert Coleman’s Master Plan of Evangelism a few decades ago, that is exactly what I thought! “We’re already doing what Coleman wrote.” Everyone that I shared this with more or less agreed in one way or another.

The difference between a few decades ago and now is the jarring discordance of many indigenous leaders—who were once regarded as promising and committed “leadership material”—having left the ministry already, usually with varying degrees of frustration, anger and disgruntlement.

Daniel Lee’s report says: “There is great work of God going on in places like El Camino, UIC, Lincoln Park, and many other small campuses.” I’m not going to question the veracity of the statement. But I do wonder if this is a comfort for UBFers at large (“there is great work of God going on”), or a wake up call to seriously examine in depth what we are doing (only these few campuses after 50 years!).

Usually after half a century of doing something or one thing–campus mission–you get better at it.

I would ask Steve the following:

1. How do you see families fitting in with college ministry?

2. How can we respect college students who are adults who can think for themselves while doing college ministry?

3. What qualities would you expect to see in a world class communicator and leader among college students?

Steve is a friend who lives here in central Pennsylvania and has preached in our church. One of my sons attends his campus fellowship group (Elements). When I told Steve that ubf staff were being required to read his book, he was surprised. Steve has some good ideas about campus ministry, he knows something about ubf, and on the whole ubf is NOT doing the kinds of things that he envisions. Perhaps in the future I will do an interview with him and post it here on UBFriends.