{"id":3079,"date":"2017-07-24T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T05:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ubfriends.net\/?p=3079"},"modified":"2018-01-15T13:59:21","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T18:59:21","slug":"long-beachladowney-ubf-chapter-an-open-letter-from-a-former-ubf-missionary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/long-beachladowney-ubf-chapter-an-open-letter-from-a-former-ubf-missionary\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach\/LA\/Downey UBF chapter– An Open Letter from an ex-UBF missionary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An open letter was sent to Downey UBF chapter and the rest of the UBF congregation by Rebekah Kim on July 13, 2011 that talks about UBF for what it really is behind close doors. [This letter was provided by a former member of the chapter]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here is the English version\/translation of the letter:<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 2:27-34:
\n“27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, \u201cThus says the LORD: \u2018Did I not
\nclearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh\u2019s
\nhouse? 28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon
\nMy altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the
\nhouse of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you
\nkick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and
\nhonor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of
\nIsrael My people?\u2019 30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: \u2018I said indeed that your
\nhouse and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.\u2019 But now the LORD
\nsays: \u2018Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me
\nshall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and
\nthe arm of your father\u2019s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And
\nyou will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for
\nIsrael. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men
\nwhom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And
\nall the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 Now this shall be
\na sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day
\nthey shall die, both of them.”<\/p>\n

This passage is the prophecy about God\u2019s judgment message for Eli\u2019s household.
\nThrough this judgment message, it can clearly be seen that Eli\u2019s dying was not by
\naccident, but by God\u2019s judgment. If he followed God\u2019s will and repented absolutely he
\nwouldn\u2019t have died like that and he would\u2019ve been able to serve God\u2019s will.
\nGod wants to reveal that the upcoming tsunami and earthquake in LA are not by accident
\nbut by God\u2019s judgment through this message I am writing to you. An earthquake and big
\ntsunami is coming to LA. The intensity of this earthquake will be strong like Japan\u2019s and
\nthe tsunami will come 60 miles (96,5Km) inland, which is 10 times bigger than Japan\u2019s. In
\n1994, there was an earthquake in LA with the place of origin underneath a building where
\npornographic movies were made. Through this, God showed that it wasn\u2019t just a natural
\nphenomenon, but God\u2019s judgment so that He could help people to repent. It seemed that
\nAmericans were aware of it in the beginning, but as time goes by they forgot about God
\nand ran wild.<\/p>\n

Again, God wants to do His work through an earthquake and tsunami in America that\u2019s 10
\ntimes stronger than Japan\u2019s tsunami was. Recently, there was an earthquake in the town
\ncalled Christchurch, New Zealand, one month before Japan\u2019s earthquake. This shows
\nthat Japan\u2019s earthquake and tsunami were not just by accident, but by God\u2019s will.
\nActually, the upcoming earthquake in LA was prophesied by servants of God over 20
\nyears ago, and they said that it would happen after Japan\u2019s earthquake. They also
\nprophesied that there would be nuclear explosions in Japan. At that time, people
\nassumed this prophecy might be fulfilled by North Korea shooting a nuclear bomb to
\nJapan. However, God accomplished these prophesies by nuclear explosions through
\nJapan\u2019s earthquake being near a nuclear power plant. The earthquake occurred in Japan
\non March 11, 2011. The servants of God prophesied that there will be 6 months of grace
\nperiod from Japan\u2019s earthquake to the great earthquake in LA. Nobody knows the exact
\ndate, but interestingly, 6 months after March 11 is September 11, the date of the 911
\nattacks. And there was an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand on July 5 again. This
\nshows the upcoming earthquake in LA is also not just a natural phenomenon but God\u2019s
\njudgment.<\/p>\n

Here specifically, we should think about the problems in UBF.<\/p>\n

First, the testimony writing and sharing that UBF values the most, spiritually became so
\ncorrupted that God cannot accept it anymore as a repentance offering. Our testimonies
\nshould be a sincere offering of repentance. We used to write testimonies to confess our
\nsins to God and people. We struggled hard to accept the word of God and obey it through
\nour testimonies. But how are our testimonies these days?<\/p>\n

Actually the confession that leads to repentance is somewhat different than the testimony
\nthat we write these days. We have to throw away our sinful desires in order to repent. The
\ntrue confession that leads to repentance comes from the strong will to cut off our sinful
\ndesires. Many people believe that once we confess our sins, in other words, once we
\nreveal our sins in our testimony, then all our sins will be forgiven. But as our conscience
\nknows, we cannot consider that as true repentance.<\/p>\n

Although our Bible students wouldn\u2019t be able to discern what true repentance is in their
\ntestimonies, the leaders should have discerned it and helped them to get a right
\nrepentance. In fact, the UBF leaders don\u2019t have the spirituality to discern it.<\/strong> So as long as the students continue to write their testimonies, the leaders regard them as their
\nrepentance and clap for them. The problem is that if they keep writing testimonies in this
\nway, they deceive themselves that they really repented and this deceiving would make
\nthem lose their conscience. If they lose their conscience, they cannot get the true
\nrepentance even though they eagerly want to. It is because our conscience is the only
\nplace where the spirit is dwelling, so if we lose our conscience, there is no spiritual hope
\nto get there. I cannot deny that in UBF there are a lot of souls who already lost their
\nconscience.<\/p>\n

When you see my message, some of you might think that I have been influenced by
\nPastor Seung Woo Byun. It is true that I have read almost all of his books, but I am not
\nsaying this by the influence of him. I already had the truth that he is proclaiming in my
\nheart before I knew him. So I could give different teachings to my Bible students than
\nUBF Bible teachers did. It was very absolute, and it was something that no other Bible
\nteachers taught in UBF. So there was one missionary who came to America following me.
\nShe confessed that the reason she followed me was that she knew I was the one who
\ncould lead her to the right way, spiritually discerning her. Many other Bible teachers
\nrecognized her based on her religious activity and devotion, but I was the only one who
\nregarded her as the one who wasn\u2019t born again yet and kept praying for her for that
\nmatter.<\/p>\n

However, she was totally changed after marriage. From the process of getting married,
\nwe were in conflict with each other spiritually. In short, the man who was supposed to get
\nmarried to her was not spiritual, and he was full of fleshly desire. But he got a lot of
\nrecognition from people in UBF and served the work a lot.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, he was a deformed person spiritually, raised up by UBF. I don\u2019t want
\nto reveal everything that he did as a deformed person in this message. But I cannot deny
\nthat there are a lot of deformed people in UBF. I wanted her to help and serve him with
\nthe truth so he could be a real spiritual man, but she didn\u2019t like it and rebelled against me.
\nI could not but cut the relationship with her and I had to let her go her own way for one
\nand a half years. During that time, she had to visit Korea for a visa matter, and she
\nbought Pastor Byun\u2019s book by chance. She figured out that what he was saying in the
\nbook was exactly the same as what I had taught her for more than 10 years. So she
\ncould recognize my teaching was right and it wasn\u2019t just my unique idea.<\/p>\n

What I have been teaching uniquely was:<\/p>\n

First, salvation is not only being forgiven but being free from sin.
\nFor example, a lot of UBF 2nd gens in America live worldly lives, but they have a high
\nlevel of knowledge about the way of salvation through 1:1 bible studies, so they could
\neven teach others about it. Therefore, they believe that they can be saved for sure with
\nthis knowledge, even though they live worldly lives.
\nBut I do not believe they could be saved in this way. Salvation is not like that. Salvation is
\nbeing free from sins and turning away from sin. I realized this through spiritual
\nexperience.<\/p>\n

Second, getting saved once is not permanent. In other words, those who have been
\nsaved could be deserted by God because of un-repented sins.
\nI realized this through the Bible. The Bible tells us this truth, that the believers, disciples,
\nand even the apostle Paul could be deserted by God. So I taught a narrow way in the
\nmatter of salvation and kept teaching Bible students to choose the narrow way in order to
\nbe saved. That\u2019s why my Bible students had to struggle to choose either the narrow way
\nthat I was teaching or the broad way that UBF was teaching.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned above, I want to say that the way of salvation that UBF is teaching is
\ndifferent from the Bible. We study the book of John\u2019s gospel thoroughly in UBF. In chapter 8 of John\u2019s gospel, it says about being free from sins. So we believe that when we hold to the word of God, we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free. Then how come there are a lot of members who don\u2019t get this freedom in their practical lives in UBF? I know that a lot of people are struggling with this matter. And almost all of them give up struggling and end\u00a0up getting a false confidence that we can get this freedom only by faith, not in their practical lives.<\/p>\n

Then why didn\u2019t we get this freedom like the Bible says even though we studied the Bible
\nand taught it so diligently? It is simple. It is because the one we have taught and learned
\nisn\u2019t the perfect truth. About this, Pastor Byun pointed out four topics.
\nI think UBF is better than local churches in two topics among the four. So God had been
\nable to use UBF very preciously.<\/p>\n

Of the four, I am going to explain the two good things first and then the two bad things
\nafter that.
\n(1) UBF emphasized repentance and faith while local churches emphasized only faith in
\norder to be saved. This was our great inheritance of UBF, and through an absolute
\nmethod of writing testimonies we had made an effort to repent. However, we lost the spirit
\nof this, and nowadays we are confused whether the writing of a testimony is the method
\nof repentance or the method of false confession and false comfort.
\n(2) The faith that leads to salvation is not the level of believing Jesus as their Savior but
\nfollowing Jesus as their King and Lord. With this truth, we had helped people to be
\ndisciples, shepherds, and missionaries, not just to be believers. That was because we
\nknew that Jesus is not merely our Savior but our King and Lord.<\/p>\n

However, this part was so diluted.
\nMany 2nd gens don\u2019t know who Jesus is, even though they believe they do.<\/strong>
\nWhen UBF Bible teachers teach their Bible students, they put on them the relative
\nstandard not the absolute one. Also, they put value only on coming to the meetings and
\nremaining in the UBF ministry. They don\u2019t teach them the fact that they have to accept
\nJesus not only as their Savior but their King and Lord in order to be saved. But isn\u2019t it
\nbiblical for the Bible teachers to teach the souls the way of salvation with accepting Jesus
\nas their King and Lord?<\/p>\n

(3) Theory about being born again. We have taught that being forgiven is directly
\nconnected with salvation. This is a wrong concept. We couldn\u2019t be free from sins
\npractically because of this. Churches have emphasized only on justification between
\njustification and rebirth to get salvation. But John Stott said, \u201cSalvation and being forgiven
\nare not synonyms.\u201d As mentioned above, salvation comes from being free from sins.
\nBeing free from sins means not to commit sins habitually. Jonathan Edwards said, \u201cif we
\nare ruled over by sins thinking that we are saved, that is the evidence that we are not
\nborn again.\u201d Also, John Stott said, \u201cNew birth gives new life. Children of God cannot live
\nwith sins. They might commit sin from time to time, but they cannot live with it continually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenneth Hagin said, \u201cBorn again people have the external proof that comes from the right
\nway of life automatically.\u201d
\nNow, we need to think about whether we taught and proclaimed to Bible students about
\nsalvation in this way or we regarded them as born again people as long as they wrote a
\ntestimony based on the cross message in a conference and came to the meetings.
\nEven though it is right that we should bear souls\u2019 sins that come from weakness, it is a
\ndifferent issue for us to help souls: 1) to repent of their sins, knowing the seriousness of
\ntheir sin. And 2) to just accept and help them as if they are still secure in their salvation
\nregardless of their sins.<\/p>\n

Stephen Charnock said in his book, \u201cSeek for the rebirth. Rebirth is as important as
\njustification. Therefore, you have to seek it with a sincere heart just like you do to be
\nforgiven. You have to eagerly want your nature to be changed. You need both rebirth and
\njustification. Those who don\u2019t believe they can get the practical righteousness in their soul
\nand spirit cannot get the righteousness that comes from Jesus by faith. \u2026 Two things
\nhappened after the fall: our status was changed and our nature was changed as well.
\nThat\u2019s why both our status and nature must be recovered.\u201d
\nAlso John Ryle said in his book, \u201cWe always have to remember the fact that there are two
\nthings Jesus did to save the sinners. He washes away our sins with His blood and
\nforgives us without a cost. This is justification. And He makes us perfect new creations by
\ngiving us the Holy Spirit practically within our soul and spirit. This is rebirth.\u201d
\nStephen Chanock said, \u201cWhen we consider God\u2019s honor, can we expect that God will
\nforgive a person who commits sin continually and habitually by his will? Even in the world, if people commit sin, they have to turn from it in order to be forgiven\u2026 Therefore without being a new creation, we cannot expect to be saved and we cannot find any proof that he was credited to be righteous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise, many people dealt with the justification and rebirth matter correctly, but we,
\nUBF leaders, cannot deny that we have given the credit of rebirth to those who accepted
\njustification only. There are some people who get the rebirth (change of their nature)
\nwhen they accepted justification in UBF. But many people become shepherds and
\nmissionaries without experiencing a change of their deep natural desires.
\nJustification and rebirth are really different and you can only be saved when you get both
\nof them. Also, when we don\u2019t know this truth, we cannot get real freedom from sins.<\/p>\n

(4) Getting saved once is not permanent. In other words, God could desert those who
\nhave been saved, but still have un-repented sins. UBF is ignorant about this truth. So
\neven though they didn\u2019t get rid of all their sins and even committed habitual sins, they
\nhave false confidence that they could still go to heaven because at one time they met
\nJesus.<\/p>\n

David Pawson said in his book \u201conce saved, always saved?\u201d that \u201cOur thought is
\noccupied with the concept of \u2018eternal security\u2019. It\u2019s not a surprise that people think of
\nbeing saved as being secure in general. However, it is necessary to restudy this concept
\neven though it is common in the churches\u2026 I am going to add two things that I observed.
\nI discovered two important things after debating about this matter with many Christians
\nover the past few years.<\/p>\n

First, almost all of them who believe the concept \u2018once saved always saved\u2019 get that
\nconcept from others teaching. They didn\u2019t realize it by themselves but by hearing others
\nopinion. Basically, they were influenced by theological interpretation based on a few
\nverses rather than reading and studying the Bible by themselves. In other words, they
\nalready had a predetermined idea about it, so it would be hard for them to find out the
\ntruth on their own from the Bible.<\/p>\n

When I asked my fellow preachers why they preach like that, no one told me that it was in
\nthe Bible. Every one without exception told me, \u201cI belong to Calvinism.\u201d It shows that they
\nhave been influenced by Calvin\u2019s theological teaching rather than the Bible itself.
\nSecond, those who studied the Bible depending only on the Holy Spirit had concluded
\nthat people have to keep their salvation in order to go to heaven. Because of this, they
\ntrembled at the fact that they wouldn\u2019t keep their sincere attitude toward the new
\ncovenant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise, we cannot feel secure with the fact that we are shepherds and missionaries.
\nPaul always had a trembling heart for his own salvation. Then how can we feel secure
\neven though a great servant of God like Paul wasn\u2019t like that?
\nI saw the death of late missionary Isaac Shin in Czech Republic.<\/strong> He had liver cancer and had been treated by the help of shepherd James Surh [John (Chun) Baik’s bible teacher (shepherd)] at Kyung Hee University Medical Center. But there was no more hope for him, so Pastor Mark Yang led him to Busan to get urine therapy as the last method to be healed.<\/p>\n

But Pharmacist Yong Tae Kim, the representative of the urine therapy in Korea, said that
\nmissionary Isaac Shin couldn\u2019t be healed by it and that he was almost on his death bed,
\nso he recommended him to go to the hospital right away. Pastor Mark Yang had to go
\nback to Seoul because he had a busy schedule there, so he asked us to take care of
\nmissionary Isaac Shin.
\nNo one thought he would die the day after missionary Mark Yang left. When he entered
\nthe hospital, he couldn\u2019t even sit or lay down because his body pain was so severe.<\/p>\n

It was so miserable. He had to wander around on the bed and on the floor and
\neverywhere. It was like he was in hell. In him, I couldn\u2019t even find the concept of heaven.
\nHe kept asking me to call the doctor. They gave him painkillers but it didn\u2019t work at all.
\nThat night, missionary Hannah Shin, his wife, suggested him to put hope in heaven to\u00a0<\/strong>prepare for his death, but missionary Isaac Shin glared fiercely at her saying \u201cYou mean I\u00a0<\/strong>am going to die? Am I going to die?!\u201d He bursted in anger at her even though he was\u00a0<\/strong>dying with severe pain. There was no heaven in him at all. He couldn\u2019t confront his death\u00a0<\/strong>in that situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When my father passed away, he showed a quite different attitude toward his death as a
\nbeliever. He also had liver cancer and had been in the hospital for almost one month.
\nDuring one month, he was in great pain so he couldn\u2019t even move well, but he always
\nprayed in tongue and praised God with hymn songs. On the day he died, he knew he
\nwould die so he left the hospital and went home with my mother. Right before he died, he
\ntold my mother to help him sit straight and he prayed in tongue loudly and praised God
\nwith hymn songs. Then he said, \u201cnow it is finished, let me lay down.\u201d Then he went to
\nheaven very peacefully.<\/p>\n

I was shocked at missionary Isaac Shin\u2019s death, which had nothing to do with Jesus and\u00a0<\/strong>heaven practically because I knew how my father died. How can a missionary\u2019s death be\u00a0<\/strong>just like an unbeliever\u2019s? I cannot say this is only his story, this is our UBF\u2019s story.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear UBF staff shepherds, missionaries, and shepherds,<\/p>\n

The reason I am writing you this is not because I want to, but because the voice of the\u00a0<\/strong>Holy Spirit compelled me to.<\/strong> The Holy Spirit told me about the specific book, chapter, and verses to give this message to you. Jesus says He wants this message to be a sign (1 Sam 2:34) to you like the man of God did in the period of Eli\u2019s. Namely, nobody should say that LA UBF members are martyred in a tsunami and earthquake.
\nTwo sons of Eli went to war carrying the Ark of the Covenant. (1 Sam 4:4) The reason
\nthey went there was to serve the work of God as the priests. Yet they died at the same
\ntime in the war, and Eli also died because of this. If there was no message of God, people
\nwould think that they died in the middle of serving God\u2019s work. Also people would feel
\nsorry for Eli\u2019s death because he died with the news of his sons\u2019 death while they were
\nserving God. However, God raised up the man of God to give the punishment message to them and it could be a sign that their death is not by accident but by God\u2019s will and the result of their
\nwrong doing.<\/p>\n

34 \u201cNow this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and
\nPhinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

God told me to give the same sign to all [current] UBF members. So I want to spread this sign widely. We must repent all our sins and wrong doings in front of this message. UBF
\nmembers who live however they like and think they are safe because they were once
\nsaved, and those who go to the wide way that has nothing to do with the Bible, even
\nthose that teach and study the Bible, you need to listen to the judgment message and to
\nrepent. This message is the warning message not only for LA UBF members, but for all\u00a0<\/strong>UBF members.<\/strong> God is warning of an earthquake and tsunami in LA to the servants of God who listen to His voice. When General Titus conquered Jerusalem in the first Century, do you think all the believers died? No! Those who were awake and listened to the voice of God at that time heard the warning of God and left Jerusalem in advance.
\nBut those who denied the world of listening to the voice of God and lived their lives
\nfoolishly even gathered at the temple in Jerusalem and died miserably. Do not say that LA\u00a0<\/strong>UBF members are martyred when a tsunami and earthquake come in LA. They are not\u00a0<\/strong>martyred, but they were punished by God for not heeding the warning of God\u2019s judgment.<\/strong>
\nI pray that the voice of the Holy Spirit to the churches in this message may be testifying to
\nyou powerfully.<\/p>\n

P.S. Those who believe this message, please leave the city as soon as possible and\u00a0<\/strong>move at least to Arizona.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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