God is Love
Our newest book is coming out in a month, entitled “The Year the World Ended.” It is a love story and a story of my life in UBF for 29 years as a Bible student, Shepherd, and Director of UBF near the Northern Kentucky University Campus. It a story of how God led me out of a cage into the glorious freedom of love and grace in Christ. This book is not to bash UBF but to share the true story of how I came to find love and Christ in a deeper way near the Ohio river. If anyone would like a copy, please contact me at kentuckybigbear49 @ yahoo.com. The book is being put together now by our publisher.
I encourage all ex-UBF people to write their stories for the sake of bringing out the truth in all its fullness and hope this book will be a start to promote change and growth in the body of Christ. Let me know if you need help or encouragement to do so. I believe the best way to share the truth is to share your story publicly and prayerfully. There is no perfect ministry or church but every church or ministry should learn from it’s history so that mistakes, abuses, or practices may be changed for the growth and glory of Christ. Dialogue and discussion should be promoted and is very healthy for a church. Ubfriends.org has been a blessing to my family and I am so thankful for those like Brian, Joe, Ben, and others who have made such dialogue possible. It was very helpful in writing this book and the help of Brian who served as a ghost writer and an amazing friend in Christ.
I do not know how God will use this book but I was inspired by God to write it beginning in 2012 until it’s completion. The book will be helpful to any sincere Christian who is seeking the truth. It is a must read for those in UBF or out of UBF if anything to learn how a fellow laborer in the gospel came to know the freedom and love in Christ. As a UBF person, you will understand that what I wrote is from a once insider and a writer of 4 previous books where I have promoted UBF and all it’s practices. This book will shed light on what happens after you take a turn for the worse, where do you go from there, if you lose all the support from the ministry you loved with your life. One thing is for sure, God is the end. God is Love.
Just to clarify, I am getting request for book via email. I don’t know cost of book yet but once I know soon I will respond to your email. Others have already sent us money for book and your boos will be sent as soon as publisher prints them. Thanks for your prayerful support and confident this book will be a great read……..
Thanks for sharing this introduction to your book Andrew. I sincerely hope UBF people will read your book and see the love and grace of God. I hope even more that they will not resort to ad hominem thinking when they read it, trying to find ways to make you the “bad guy”.
Surely you are the “bad guy”, and share responsibility for what happened, as you confess in your book. But if there are indeed “two sides of every story”, I hope that UBF will finally see your side.
I am in the UBF conversation until the Lord directs me otherwise. My first book will be a follow up to yours, but focus on the theology and ideology perspectives, giving answers in a philosophical and psychological sense to explain the reasons why you experienced certain things. You are not alone in this, many hundreds have experienced the “ex-ubf” conundrum, and it is high time someone explained it from a Christain viewpoint. Your book is the perfect backdrop to provide real answers withouth falling into the anti-ubf trap.
I intend to remain in the UBF conversation long-term (so get used to me :) I won’t let this go until the Lord lets go of me. I do this because I forgive UBF people. I do this because of the love of God. I do this because the Spirit compels me to. I do this in hopes of sparking an explosion of redemption, reconciliation and renewal.
I’m not sure how widely this is known, but just about every first generation UBF Korean (and maybe second generation too) has the prayer topic for a united Korea. Well if UBF Koreans have any hope of actually participating in a united Korea, they *must* learn how to reconcile the ubf/ex-ubf divide. How can they expect to unite a country of millions when they can’t unite an organization of a few thousand?
The huge danger in Korean-contextualixed Christianity is the horrible acceptance of division as “normal and godly”. This is a phenomena reported in the South Korean churches, and affects UBF thinking also. Partly this is the fault of bad advice, such as an American fundamentalist who referred to the World Council of Churches as “Satan’s organization”. That needs to change if the divisions are to stop and be healed. Some progress is being made however, such as with the Korean Cardinal who was appointed recently by Pope Francis. But UBF is likely to be left out of such good work as long as they cling to their heritage system ideology.
If UBF Koreans cannot reconcile with the likes of me and bigbear, how can they be part of any re-unification effort in the Korean penninsula?
Koreans may be able to live with a divided penninsula that is technically still at war, but the world cannot, and what is more Christendom cannot stand for it. The world says “no, this is not ok to have NK/SK at war with each other”.
Bk…yes a follow up is so needed..could not address everything in love in only one book…your insight and your support has truly made this book a great read…my wife Cora is so excited about this book because she gave me so much insight in her years under the communist regime for 18 years and is a woman of love…this book is a love story first but in the story let the reader decide as they are led by Holy Spirit to see the truth…thanks again for your patience…you are truly a great friend…
Bigbear, thanks for this article. Let us know as soon as the book comes out.
Brian, you made an interesting point about reconciliation. The gospel is all about reconciliation. The mission of the church should be all about reconciliation. Yet it’s striking how often UBF leaders speak in terms of mastery, fighting and conquest. They seem to live in a perpetual state of war. A few days ago, a mission report on the ubf website began:
“At the 2013 Spring conference which was held in May, we newly accepted God who called us as great warriors of God.”
And then I received an email announcement of a leaders’ retreat that said:
“We pray that we may be spiritual generals who can fight a good fight of faith against the unbelieving and hedonistic trend of our generation.”
This kind of language never used to bother me. I used to think how awesome it was to be a leader in such a a badass ministry, fighting for truth as one of the hypercommitted elites. Now it just makes me sad to see mission work being advanced in ways that resemble Pax Romana instead of Pax Christi.
Joe..the gospel is all about reconciliation…it is appealing to young people to join a ministry that in some ways promotes division in the body of Christ and a badass ministry…trouble young men and women are looking for identity and belonging…Christ was humble and loved all people including the family unit..like you..Pax Christi should be the way…always saw you as a great family man..
Joe,
Such “fighting” language continues to be the downfall of UBF, and is a problem in some parts of Christendom as well.
Some of them seem to want to build a “Nimrod ministry”, hunting down “sinners” and “killing” them for “God’s glory”. They forget that the “warrior” or “fighting” verses have nothing to do with actual fighting, but with the “good fight”. Often to fight for Jesus meansto “stand on the promises” and to “surrender to grace” and to “bow at the cross”.
They forget warnings such as Psalm 33:16-17.
Our pastor last Sunday shared some insight into the word “advance”, as in “advance the gospel” as we kicked off a Philippians study series. So in Philippians 1:12-14, the “advance” is indeed a military term. But it has nothing to do with fighting. To advance something in this concept is to “remove the barriers” and “clear the way”. It has much to do with reconciliation and nothing to do with fighting a war.
I look forward to reading your book, bigbear.
Yes, Joe, the militant language and imagery of the Bible surely has a place in the lives of Christians, especially in overcoming the deceptive and deceitful schemes of the evil one, such as in Eph 6:10-17.
But as sinners, using and emoting such militant language excessively (in contrast to the Bible), would invariably translate to us treating other people in such militant and militaristic ways. We have sadly referred to others as Satan, demon, demon-possessed, demonic, etc, whom we must defeat, shun, subdue, avoid, humiliate, shame, caricature, marginalize, etc.
I think Christians who demean and demonize others do not realize that this is not how God, Jesus or the Spirit is. Jesus’ primary and ultimate attitude toward such “demon-possessed Satans” was to love them and die for them, forgive them and give them hope.
Hey Ben..you are a beacon of hope for UBF in the sense that you question everything in love..I have been following everything but for a while could not get on the website unless I was on my phone..the log in did not work on my computer..but thanks to BK he solved another problem..I think the militant language is good if you are trying to learn Eph 6:10-17….but a ministry must be balanced like a family unit…unbalanced spiritual leaders will eventually be destructive to families and even the church…it is important that Jesus loved the worst of sinners and even the demon possessed…He served them…the theme of the Bible is Love..but it is difficult to love so we make the theme something else..like works or boot camp mentality…we are in a war for souls and this is conquered in love…Jesus loved…not name calling or devaluing others
“God who called us as great warriors of God.”
Funny how my “God” always agrees with me :/
So this demonstrates as always for the past 50 years, UBF is living in the “1960 war-torn Korea” and “out to defeat the world”.
BK…I agree that UBF is living in the “1960 war-torn Korea” the anguish toward South Korea is taken to the USA and all places…how about love..love for families and people…and for the body of Christ…the Bible was written way before UBF existed…the Catholic Church has been around for thousands of years and many other ministries…love the brotherhood of believers..build up the church…
Andrew,
“…how about love…”
Great question! When I was in UBF I was told that my shepherd loves me. The pastor himself told me that he loved me. IF I was loved, then how come every time I came out of the pastor’s office, I felt humiliated, ashamed, fearful, disappointed, lost, angry, …???? I am working on an article to be published here on UBFriends! What kind of love is this? Is mistreating someone loving them? Is “silent training” loving? Is humiliating someone, loving? UBF does not want to associate with other churches. My pastor told me the reason why I’m lost and confused is because I didn’t listen to him and listened to other pastors. I came into his office excited about a “spiritual project” I took on. I was going to research about all sorts of biblical topics, e.g. heaven, hell, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, relationships, marriage, etc…, and this is what he said, “You keep reading those, that’s why you are confused! Just have faith!” LOL The answer to all my questions and concerns were, “Have Faith”, “Deny Yourself”, “Just obey”,…Since I’ve been out of UBF, I have experienced God’s grace and mercy more and more. I don’t even know how I stayed in such a ministry for over a decade. When I spoke to a counselor at Grace Community, LOL, he was shocked and speechless as I shared my experience. UBF’s answer to the concerns raised on this site is to password protect their “Ministry Resources”! HUH? “SORRY YOU CANNOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT US!” We are just way too cool!
Phil2Five: “Have Faith” is indeed a loaded phrase in UBF. It actually means “have faith in the UBF heritage” and “have faith that if you doing things the way your UBF leader wants, then you’re doing it right”. You also see how the word “faith” is loaded when it’s used in the compositions “gospel faith” or “marriage by faith”. The latter means to have faith that God revealed his will about marriage to your leader, not to you directly. The former means “if you do things the UBF ways, even if it’s stupid, boring and sucks the life out of you, you will be righteous and have eternal life if you stubbornly persevere”.
This loading of words is very problematic. Everybody wants to “have faith”, right? So a “marriage by faith” looks like the best way of marriage. Using such words also means that if you don’t want to marry when and whom your leader dictates, then you have no faith.
The “UBF system” has many elements that all work together to make it so manipulative and dangerous. One of them is loaded language. So one of the things a reformed/redeemed UBF must do first is not only dissolve the shepherd/sheep bounds, but also “sanitize” the language. Many Biblical words such as “shepherd”, “faith”, “calling”, “fruit”, “self denial” have a twisted meaning in UBF that serves to manipulate people and causes them to reinforce UBF mindset when reading the Bible, instead of understanding the real meaning of the Bible.
So your “spiritual project” looks like a good idea. Maybe you intuitively wanted to clear these things up and understand what these terms really mean in the Bible. But UBF leaders don’t want you to have a clear understanding and do research on your own. They want you to associate the terms in the Bible with the UBF interpretation only.
Here are a few things God started to show me prior to departing from UBF…
1. UBF’s authoritarian leadership
2. UBF’s incorrect interpretation of Scripture
3. UBF’s incorrect view of worship through music
4. UBF’s incorrect view of relationship/marriage
5. UBF’s incorrect view of ex-members
6. UBF’s incorrect view of Bible study/ meeting/ conference
7. UBF’s incorrect view of discipleship
8. UBF’s incorrect view of family
9. UBF’s incorrect view of message/ messenger
10. UBF’s incorrect view of almost everything
Do people ever wonder why ‘sheep’ don’t stay in UBF? Think about why I left based on what I just shared. All these issues I will address in the first article I’m working on…
I look forward to your article Phil2Five. I think your point #10 is spot on. As you rightly point out, we are not talking about some minor differences of opinion or cultural differences, but major paradigms of thought that are harmful to basic human rights and dignity.
God is sending people my way ever since putting this book on this website…there are many who want answers…just watched the movie, the book thief, with my wife…the Nazi wanted to get rid of all books so that the people would only believe in the Nazi ideology…the communist did the same…book are dangerous because they wake people up…thank God for books..I pray this book will wake up many in His grace…God is always at work…please feel free to email me of any questions or concerns..I am on facebook as well…
Phil 2 five….you hit it right on the head…no love but abuse and submission to their system….UBF uses Bible study…to make you captive to their wacko system like a communist regime…I hope you read my book coming out….it is written in love but exposes the truth so that the whole world can see…….UBF does not know how to love…..THE YEAR THE WORLD ENDED IS THE FIRST OF MANY TO FOLLOW……US WHO BEEN IN THE SYSTEM MUST SPEAK IN LOVE BUT SHARE OUR STORIES
Thank you Andrew,
I’ll def. read your book brother! :)
If you are new on this website or new in UBF or been in UBF a long time..you owe it to yourself to really question what is really going on…I was in UBF 29 years and did not know much about the leadership only knew that I met Christ in the ministry and for a long time that was all that mattered…but meeting Christ is just the beginning…to grow in a healthy way you need a good healthy ministry to grow in where there is openness and accountability and no prejudice against the body of Christ…you owe it to yourself to read “The Year The World Ended” It is a love story and it leaves the reader to decide the truth…read it prayerfully. It might just save you from years of hell or make you understand what God’s love is in relationship to ministry and family…
I have found that the Ohio river was a great teacher to me of God’s love..it became my church and reminded me of the unconditional grace of Jesus and the birds how God provides for each of us in our troubles…losing everything freed me to meet God in a deeper way and understand more deeply the flawed system that I lived under for 29 years…my story is real and painful but so real that you will discover the amazing freedom in God’s love…I urge you to read it..as I lived in my blue MPV van by the Ohio river and lost everything…my wife, children, house, and even ministry..I found the love of God and freedom…
I began writing this book as I lived near the Ohio river..I prayed and made a journal of all the details and my amazing discoveries…don’t miss reading this book…I learned more at the Ohio river than all the 29 years of preaching the gospel in a flawed and unloving system…Christ came to free us not to enslave us with rules and religion..He wants to know us personally
I would like to buy a copy of the book. Do I just mail you a check?
Send 20 or 30 for two to share with friend:
Michael Martin
412 Lehmer st
Covington, KY 41011
This will cover shipping…those who all ready sent money you will get book soon…
Pray for the country of Romania…this book also tells the love story of how God led me to my wife in Romania and new son…how God is faithful no matter where you end up….
Found out that our book is getting closer to becoming a reality and so thankful to God for allowing me to write this 5th book in His love and grace…God inspired me to write this book when I lived in my blue MPV van by the Ohio river…homeless, thrown out of my own house and family, and no where to turn but to the Ohio river and to God…I promise you that this book is painful at times to read but liberating because it is truly the best book God has laid on my heart to write in His grace…even many in UBF have endorsed this book…my prayer is that God’s love story may speak to those who have ears to listen and eyes to see in His grace…the reader is left to decide God’s hand…I prayed to share the story as God revealed to me in the events…
Praying much to get this book to the far corners of the earth to reveal God’s love
I have been reading many things on this website pro and con ubf and many other interesting topics…still see no end to the spiritual abuse in ubf…still did not get a response to the many letters I sent to Cinti UBf…..still no recognition of the wrongs done in the ministry…silence speaks volumes…..I pray that this love story may reach the highest mountain and be heard for the sake of the body of Christ….it needs to be heard let those who have ears to hear….hear…..God is Love
those who left UBF and those still there…please encourage your friends to get our book….it will not disappoint and will be a great blessing to you….”The Year the World Ended” will leave you thanking God for His Love and will shed some light on the truth….please get it and read it…..Phil 2 five thanks for your coming forward and cant wait to read your article
Dear friends on this website,
If you want a book, please send your 20 for one or 30 for two now this covers shipping fee…those who send money will get a copy of the first batch of books right off the printer…if you wait to long you will have to wait for next batch printed…again send check, money order, or cash to:
Michael Martin
412 Lehmer street
covington, KY 41011
again thanks…
This morning, the print edition of the New York Times had an amazing front-page photo of Orthodox Christians in Kiev silently witnessing to the gospel by standing in the gap between demonstrators and police. The picture alone is worth many thousands of words.
The article concludes with one of the best lines I have ever heard. Some demonstrators are at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They want global economic leaders to get serious about abusive government practices in the Ukraine. They are carrying signs that say:
Thank you for your deep concern; now do something.
Joe…amazing article..yes, concerns are not enough, we must do something..our book is one step in getting a much needed message out but is just the beginning….my wife is from Romania and very familiar with that part of the world…I pray to visit Romania and bring the gospel to them as my wife and I are serving a very healthy ministry near us in Kentucky..tomorrow we will be speaking at all three of their services about the life of Jesus…
GOOD News. Book is now completed. WAITING FOR FIRST PRINT..
If want copy send 15.95 now we wave the shipping cost for those who send now…
Michael martin
412 Lehmer st
Covington ky 41011
Thanks for all your prayers..local tv stations and radio and newspaper imterviews will follow…
God is love
.
Yesterday, went to visit publisher with my wife Cora, the publisher read our book and quoted, “Andrew, your life is a miracle.” He is convinced this book will shake up many in the religious world. I believe this book had to be written and is truly inspired by God’s love. As the church preaches the gospel, the inside of the church is full of decay, families are neglected, and the good news is not being preached to the poor. Lord, we need a renewal and a change in God’s house.
It was an honor to work with you on this book, bigbear. We all have much learning and growing to do, but your story simply must be part of the reconciliation and healing among the ubf community.
Understand bigbear’s book, see his perspective, and you’ll understand the 4 reform movements and see the reality of ubf’s 50 years much more clearly.
bigbear’s perspective does not invalidate anyone’s perspective. But if we don’t stop to listen to his perspective, and the perspective of his former wife/family and current wife/family, we miss much.
We are excited that our book, “The Year the World Ended” is out. You can now get a copy with a few days just email us with at kentuckybigbear49@yahoo.com to purchase a copy for 15.95..we will pay the shipping in the USA…