MattC asked why do new believers need to be trained to hunger for God’s word? Well, doesn’t the trinity mean Father, Son and the Holy Bible? A believer, even new one, already knows the Father and the Son, right? What then is left?

Why do you need to recommit to mission when the GD visits? Because the GD can cast out the demons of laziness, disobedience and rebellious spirits and can re-enforce the empire.

About the JNU ubf’s recent anniversary report, the remembrance of those coworkers who are not with them now and the prayer for them to serve campus soul saving ministry wherever they are is totally heart warming. The question of recommitting seem to emerge, doesn’t it?

This kind of “all” is perplexing to me, and even more so now that I have been open about my concerns.

See this report from an american campus director: When one of his Bible students invited his friend to join Bible study, the director writes, “I focused on training them to be hungry for the words of God. Some began to show their genuine appetites for spiritual food. We acknowledged that Jesus is indeed the bread of life. We were also blessed to be part of various events. To highlight one, Dr. Abraham Kim and Sarah Kim visited us; they had fellowship with our students. This led us to recommit ourselves to world ‘campus’ mission.”

So apparently:
A shepherd must train believers to hunger for God’s word
When we receive this training, we can really testify that Jesus is the bread of life
When people visit, especially people of authority, it moves people to recommit to serving campus mission.

Why do new believers need to be trained to hunger? Does a baby need to be trained to hunger for milk? I understand that it needs to be encouraged but the way of describing it is ridiculous.

And why do you need to recommit to mission when the GD visits? Did you fail to keep your commitment? Tell me more?

/opendoor
/getoffthebus

The new things that happened this time:

– one of the echelon voters was jailed/detained and could not vote
– this sparked more rounds of voting (something I think has never happened before)
– the choice of 2 general director candidates was then presented to over 90 people to vote
– one candidate (IK) was hard-line, go back to the SLee style
– the other candidate (ATK) was less hard-line, more reform friendly
– the 90 people voting seem to be made up of reform-minded people or at lest didn’t want to return to pure SLee ways.

The result? Things stay the same at ubf. They now have a chance to keep face, modify their public connections and keep promoting the harmful KOPAHN shepherding theology with no motivation to address the abuses.

This is why I am not in favor of reforming ubf. ubf needs to be shutdown, like SVM.

Anyway, ubf seems to be going the way of CMI (the campus mission group formed by ex-ubfers in 2001). CMI has at least one child ministry, such as the Young Timothy Christian fellowship in Columbus Ohio. Young Timothy Fellowhsip is located 7 minutes from Columbus UBF.

Is there really any difference? Sure, YTC looks a lot more Christian than ubf. But do they teach the same shepherding theology?

http://www.columbusytcf.com

Some, like Mexico ubf, face the challenge of leaders going to jail and police investigations.

Some, like New York ubf, face the challenge of covering up sexual abuse.

Some, like Chicago ubf, face the challenge of creating more and more committees and departmental bureaucracy so that reports of abuse can continue to be swept under the rug.

Others, like Toledo ubf, face the challenge of paying for an expensive building now that over half the leaders left.

Most ubf chapters face the challenge of how to pretend to be a Christian ministry and hide their cultic methodology in light of increased visibility to the public.

“a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason”

ubf people make many false promises… “you will be a world class leader! you will be most blessed!” but the cost is too high and the promise of such goodness never materializes. ubf training does not make you a world class leader, it makes you a cult-enabler. ubf bible study does not make you blessed, it makes you weird, conceited, and self-absorbed.

demagogue: a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.

synonyms: rabble-rouser, agitator, political agitator, soapbox orator, firebrand, fomenter, provocateur “he was drawn into a circle of campus demagogues”

But West Loop is specifically mentioned as one of the chapters that grew the most.

Also the mention of “grandparents and toddlers praying for campus students” is interesting because it seems that when many of the 2nd gen toddlers become campus students themselves they leave “the church committed to campus mission”!

Sorry for being so nit picky! I actually find this rather funny.

http://www.ubf.org/sites/default/files/file-attachment/ubf_newsletter-directors_conf-15-1_0.pdf

and on p. 31 there is a report by the UBF History Committee.

The writing is superb. I especially enjoyed this paragraph:

Our church is unique in many ways. One of them is that the whole church is committed to campus mission. Even some grandparents and toddlers pray for campus students. On the other hand, as the number grows and the demagogue changes, especially in the Chicago chapter, each chapter faces many challenges in carrying out the campus mission…

Yes, the demagogue changes, but the demagoguery goes on.

one to make website for history of America pioneering,

one to explain deep meaning of America pioneering to next generation, and

oops no American here to check English

Either 1 faithful PhD servant who prays 10,000 times prayer until a boil comes out on his butt OR 10,000 wicked and lazy servants who each pray 1 times prayer.

Answer the following.

“How many PhDs does it take to guard the ubf heritage?”

My point: the work of God is not seen only in building up something good; we can see the divine in tearing down something bad.

Ps I did email the person listed there and sent in my summary of the 4 reform attempts (1976, 1989, 2001, 2011). No response… yet…. Maybe I will submit the summary again after the 5th reform in 2019…

Sorry if this sounds really bad, but I do love the guys (even if the sentiment may not be reciprocated) because Jesus first loved me, and because I was and may still be like that in ways that I’m not aware of.

Ben, why don’t you send them your articles on how West Loop began?

http://www.ubfriends.org/2013/05/03/telling-the-truth-how-west-loop-ubf-began/

http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/12/15/west-loop-ubf-2008-2014/

Email your reports to Dr.CK, using the subject header “Safeguard this.”

Ben, are you going on March 6? Please go and then share your impressions.

It’s embarrassing for anyone to share this and say with a deep sense of pride, “This is my church!”

I think I’m getting PTRD – post traumatic reading disorder.

Brian, you are probably the only reader of that website. Because you posted a link here on UBFriends, it will get more traffic today than it ever has and maybe ever will.

ubf heritage guarding website 2015

“As time passes, we face new challenges in passing our heritage to next generation. For example, some do not view the testimony as effective and useful as before. What is worse, some view it as a means to oppress their life and suppress their critical and creative thoughts. It is quite the opposite to its original intention – to nurture their spiritual life, shape their thought world godly, and lead them to enjoy true freedom in Christ. In resolving unwanted conflicts, some prefer to use the word “reflection” to restore the original purpose and spur its practice. So it is worthwhile to have open discussion on its purpose and method.

We have accumulated wonderful heritage. But making it useful and effective in our ministry requires sometimes fresh thought and critical review. We would like to collect materials related our heritage and share them through our web site so that they are useful in guarding our heritage.”

Can anyone else feel the self-aggrandized glory? Oh I think I might faint at such glory…

March 6 2015 self-glorification and self-commendation ceremony scheduled at ubf headquarters

Maybe the FOUR REFORM movements will be mentioned? Not a chance.

Yes, it happens on that level, but also on the level of missionaries themselves. Our chapter was dominated by the director, he made all the decisions. All the missionaries were pretty passive and only tried to follow his directions and struggle with UBF’s requirement that they need to learn a foreign langauge, earn money on their own in a foreign country, give away tithe from that money, take part in all the UBF activities and raise disciples at the same time. Because all this pressure was on them, they had no incentive to suggest anything new or engage in anything outside the mandatory standard schedule. They all acted only reactive, not proactive, and they all looked tired and burned out only 1 or 2 years after they arrived. In the meetings, they only talked when they needed to, in order to give account about their 1:1 studies or what they learned from the Sunday message. Particularly the female missionaries never said anything. They were particularly reluctant to share personal or controversial opinions, and in group Bible study mostly resorted to quoting the respective Bible verse or UBF phraseology. After I left, I asked with a Korean senior missionary why he never spoke up when our director did certain obviously bad things. His response was: “I am not in the position to do that.” So when even the most senior missionary, who was already married with 3 children, did not feel entitled to speak, what can you expect from younger missionaries?

There is that hierarchical barrier between natives and Koreans in UBF, but there is another barrier between the rank-and-file Korean missionaries and Korean directors. Not only the natives are handicapped, made passive and dependent by the UBF system, but also the Korean missionaries.

Charles, I wrote about this over 4 years ago: http://westloop-church.blogspot.com/2010/12/paul-indigenization-policy-acts-142223.html

In LA UBF, there was a particularly dominant and charismatic missionary. Many of the “growing” disciples in the chapter were in his fellowship. In 2004 he went out to setup his own chapter. I wouldn’t call the disciples “sickly dependent slaves,” but there was definitely a noticeable air of freedom and growth even shortly after his leaving which they all testify to as well. Within a year I met him and he asked me how the disciples were doing. I told him honestly that they were doing very well, showing personal responsibility and growth, and that his leaving was one of the best things he could have done for them because he oversight was too strong–and many of the disciples had already married and had children. He wasn’t pleased with that response and continued to ask about their 1:1 numbers. My point is that I have witnessed the same kind of freedom and growth. I’ve mentioned in another post, that those who were most active and reliable in the chapter were those who were not under a direct shepherd’s control and influence. But these losses of control were not planned, they were more circumstantial and not accepted into practice.

As much as UBF leaders teach faith and trusting in God, with all the training, guilt and sacrifice expected of disciples, there is a lack of entrusting disciples to God for their growth and for their lives. UBF often teaches to not be “calculating,” but the potential of disciples are too often calculated in ways that actually detrimental to their growth. I like Paul and Barnabas’s example in Acts 14:23.

I concur. We ought to be able to publicly see what the responses were. No other commentary is needed; just the words.

I gradually realized this sickness of “gathering all authority into a man’s hands” after Samuel Lee died in 2002. Since then I’ve decided NOT TO BE THE MAN (not that I ever was, but only imagined it in my own wild fantasy!).

Then I began to realize and notice something amazing happening. People, even young so-called “untrained” adults stop acting like sickly dependent slaves. They take initiative. They become fearless, bold and courageous. They take risks. They are not afraid to make mistakes. Our West Loop UBF church atmosphere and gatherings during the week gradually changed. It is now increasingly lively, spirited and full of joy and laughter, even while having Bible study and discussing very serious topics of our humanity’s fallenness and brokenness.

Yes, Joe, I echo c and look forward in anticipation to you sharing your report on Roland Allan’s book.

At staff conferences I would see men in their 30’s and 40’s who had such difficulty participating in them. One man was removed from leading a group Bible study minutes before the study was to start by his director’s whim. He “wasn’t mature enough to lead it.” There was apparent anxiety and constant permission asking.

I’m reminded of what Roland Allen wrote back in 1912:

If the first converts are taught to depend on the missionary, if all work, evangelistic, educational, social is concentrated in his hands, the infant community learns to rest passively on the man from whom they receive their first insight into the Gospel. Their faith having no sphere for its growth and development lies dormant. A tradition very rapidly grows up that nothing can be done without the authority and guidance of the missionary, the people wait for him to move, and, the longer they do so, the more incapable they become of any independent action. Thus the leader is confirmed in the habit of gathering all authority into his own hands, and of despising the powers of his people, until he makes their inactivity an excuse for denying their capacity. The fatal mistake has been made of teaching the converts to rely upon the wrong source of strength. Instead of seeking it in the working of the Holy Spirit in themselves, they seek it in the missionary. They put him in the place of Christ, they depend upon him.

(from chapter 8 of Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?)

About three years ago, I wrote a report on Roland Allen’s book and sent it to about a dozen UBF leaders. Their responses were interesting, to say the least. Perhaps sometime I will share my report and those responses (with authors’ names removed) on this website.

I have to apologize to Joe again. Two days ago I was again given credit for what Joe did when I heard that some leader or Bible teacher had told someone else that “Dr. Ben started a UBF hate website!”

Wow! I don’t know why I keep getting honored for something I did not do and had no idea of until many months after UBFriends started.

Interestingly, it’s the first time I ever heard the phrase “UBF hate website.”

Because of a private discussion yesterday I feel the need to say this publicly:

To all ubf leaders — If you want to shut down ubfriends, then you must fight me. I own this domain and I will NOT shut this down. I am prepared for any and all situations including legal action. If you want to end the criticism then come here and talk to us, listen to your own members and take action that is honest, open and sincere.

I have to also commend on Korean missionary who did just that this week–he sent me a sincere apology that faced the facts. I accept such a thing and commend him highly for it.

https://books.google.com/books?id=qvAQAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA195&lpg=PA195&dq=poor+naked++heathen&source=bl&ots=Y0Q80KMx74&sig=mfFqgyYFatHrbNijt0a5F32xhQA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=clHbVJSECs_egwSi9oLICA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=poor%20naked%20%20heathen&f=false

They could say it so much better in the old days.

One church leader put it like this to me this – “How else would American sheep know where to go to school, what to study, what classes to take, where to live, who to marry if not for our Missionaries” (https://carlosmdiaz.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/ptcs-a-church-in-darkness/)

https://carlosmdiaz.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/ptcs-a-church-in-darkness/

http://www.thelifedesired.com/2015/02/09/where-weve-been-a-church-timeline/

50th ubf anniversary blue book

Here is my review of the Terrible Times lecture: review of Terrible Times lecture

It appears they have a copy stored here:
http://old2.ubf.org/world

“I find it interesting that half of the time was used to educate youngsters about the UBF heritage, and the other half was designed to cast UBF as the true heir of the western Protestant missionary movement. – See more at: http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/05/10/new-ubf-heritage-guarding-website/#comment-14528

I find that report to be utterly disgusting, supremely revolting and unbearably infuriating.

Here is a quote:

” On arrival, they watched a video on Mother Barry’s letters which showed vividly how the UBF movement began. After that, they visited the UBF history museum, where they learned how God had worked through UBF and the nature of God’s vision and will for them. Then they moved to a missionary cemetery for the southern part of Korea. After having dinner prepared by Kwangju shepherdesses, they shared their three-page life testimonies. (Several 2nd gens at Kwangju center joined this meeting.) Through life testimonies, they thanked God for their parents’ love and sacrifices. At the same time, they confessed their sin problems and renewed Jesus’ love of forgiveness. Through sharing life testimonies, they deepened their love relationship with each other and prayed for each other.”

source

Are we talking about a Nazi concentration camp? Or a North Korean indoctrination boot camp? WTF?!?

There is NO WAY on God’s green earth that I would EVER put my children through such a manipulative exercise!

“(1) To purchase some land in upstate New York to be used as a cemetery for ubf missionaries, so that future generations could learn of their heroic sacrifice. (2) To chronicle the stories of all first generation ubf missionaries and place them in a museum in Korea, so that future generations could learn of their heroic sacrifice. He was totally serious.”

Indeed he was serious. Here is a quote from the “Collective” section of the ubf website I linked to above in my article:

“In 2011 Korean UBF asked many missionaries to share their life testimonies. Many contributed. Some wrote for those who had passed away. This is the collection of the beautiful stories of about 300 missionaries, which was published after the 50th anniversary of UBF. Some are written in Korean and the others, in English.”

To quote your words Joe, hell no.

Speaking of graveyards and museums, death is something we all need to consider.

So consider this: many of us former hardcore ubfers disassociated ourselves and our families from our hometown church and parental families. Where, then, will I be buried? becomes an important question.

If you don’t create a will for you and your family, ubf could bury you. Do you really want your tombstone to say “Mother of Faith” or “Shepherd X” or “Father of faith”?

Make no mistake: The ubf senior leadership is hell-bent on writing their own glorious history, ensuring the well-being of the 1st generation Koreans and establishing their own children (2nd gens) as the new leadership.

All of which is somewhat laughable given ubf’s microscopic 53 year history. It is true, however. Christian evangelism is merely a front or cover up for this behind-the-scenes Korean network of self-preservation.

About five years ago, I was having a friendly conversation with the previous GD. He told me that his “top priorities” for ubf were: (1) To purchase some land in upstate New York to be used as a cemetery for ubf missionaries, so that future generations could learn of their heroic sacrifice. (2) To chronicle the stories of all first generation ubf missionaries and place them in a museum in Korea, so that future generations could learn of their heroic sacrifice.

He was totally serious.

That report also implies that those children didn’t know that their parents loved them until the visits to cemeteries and museums–which are not directly related to their parents’ missionary lives as much as I can tell. It’s seemingly deceptive by projecting a love and sacrifice onto their parents’ missionary lives as being in such solemn environments adds to the emotion.

Also, I have never been comfortable with the children being called 2nd generation “missionaries.” I have not heard other ministries refer to their children as missionaries (in any capacity) unless the children actually served as missionaries. I have heard children of missionaries simply call themselves that, children of missionaries. Identifying the children as such has led to numerous issues, such as pressures on children, favoritism, despotism, etc. Anyway, I think it’s unfair to force that identity on them. I don’t know what God’s work in the lives of my children will be and I can’t (and don’t want to) assume that it’s to be the next in a line of UBF missionaries. I also hope that my children would realize my love for them without having to visit someone else’s grave.

It further speaks of a separatist attitude, despite the attempts in the education camp to legitimize the missionary work / ways of UBF by trying to graft them onto the history of other missionary work. What are UBF a 1st / 2nd generation of, really? UBF is certainly not the first to send missionaries or is the first ministry whose missionaries have children.

It reminds me of a recent trip to Washington DC, where I got to tour the national mall. I wondered how my children will respond to seeing the memorials later in their lives. Numerous relatives of mine served in the military. It did help me to appreciate their service in new ways. But this Korea education seems strange to me. It seems unbalanced for many reasons. I wonder if / how much missionary education is done on the history of the country these children now live in? What has God been doing (outside UBF) in those countries before their 1st generation parents went to pioneer there? Why should most of the worldwide education continue to be brought back to Korea to learn of what God did in Korea?

http://ubf.org/content/2014-2nd-gen-education-camp-korea

I find it interesting that half of the time was used to educate youngsters about the UBF heritage, and the other half was designed to cast UBF as the true heir of the western Protestant missionary movement.

“Indeed, one could argue ubf does not even have a heritage yet. The heritage has not actually taken root” – See more at: http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/05/10/new-ubf-heritage-guarding-website/#comment-13721

I agree. If UBF had a significant, recognizable, attractive record of accomplishment, it wouldn’t need anyone to work so hard to define its heritage and get people to carry it on.

“I think it’s good to get out into the public so at least people can read the words from the top leadership regarding the ministry and make a decision on their own.”

You raise so many good points, like this one: “So, I don’t know that what they wrote can even qualify as a heritage, but only a wish to become the heritage of UBF?”

Indeed, one could argue ubf does not even have a heritage yet. The heritage has not actually taken root because so many people leave in “the Rooting, stage 2” of their 6 stage training. Many are “birthed” in stage 1, but people don’t like to be rooted, especially now that the arranged marriage process is now publicly discussed. I’m glad that now all 6 stages of ubf training are visible for everyone to see.

Charles, your words above, about a wish, remind me of Bonheoffer, which also speaks volumes about our definition of church. This is the best description I can find of what has been happening to ubf repeatedly the past 50+ years. The leaders continually bring in non-Christian ideals into the Christian community:

“Those who want more than what Christ has established between us do not want Christian community. They are looking for some extraordinary experiences of community that were denied them elsewhere. Such people are bringing confused and tainted desires into the Christian community.

Precisely at this point Christian community is most often threatened from the very outset by the greatest danger, the danger of internal poisoning, the danger of confusing Christian community with some wishful image of pious community, the danger of blending the devout heart’s natural desire for community with the spiritual reality of Christian community. It is essential for Christian community that two things become clear right from the beginning. First, Christian community is not an ideal, but a divine reality; second, Christian community is a spiritual [pneumatische] and not a psychic [psychische] reality.”

Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Page 35 | Loc. 765-73

After living the UBF heritage, defending the UBF heritage and examining the UBF heritage for the past 26 years (since 1987), I have concluded that anyone who adheres to this ideological system will eventually build a cult. I left UBF because I wholeheartedly rejected the UBF 12 point heritage system. I find this system to be so severely flawed and full of contradictions that any sensible human being ought to reject the UBF heritage because full implementation of the heritage can only lead to severe misuse of authority, improper ennoblement of power and abuses of many kinds. Every Christian ought to reject the UBF 12 point heritage system as heresy that undermines the gospel of Jesus Christ by enslaving people to ideologies and behaviors that become extreme entanglements and hindrances to personal freedom and human well-being.

I left UBF ministry, resigning on July 4th 2011, because the UBF 12 point heritage has caused massive division among Christian brothers and sisters of many nations for over 50 years, tearing at the very sinews of the Body of Christ. I left in order to save my wife from such entrapment and to spare my children from ever knowing such burdens. And finally, I left in order to preserve my sanity, to restore broken relationships with numerous relatives and friends, and so that I could begin my long road of recovery as I follow Jesus Christ my Lord through the promptings and leading of the Holy Spirit who speaks through the Holy Scriptures. All praise, glory, honor, power and authority belong solely to our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is found all supremacy, necessity and sufficiency for a full, hopeful, joyful and amazing life.

http://www.ubfriends.org/2011/02/02/questions-for-the-next-general-director/

In particular, question 14:

“14. As UBF approaches the 50 year mark, our attention has been turned to raising the next generation of leaders. Many have been talking about how to pass on the heritage, legacy and vision of UBF to the next generation. The term “pass on” suggests that the legacy is already fully understood, and the task is merely to educate, train and inspire the next generation with that legacy. Is it reasonable for one generation to decide what the direction and vision of the next generation ought to be? When, how and by whom should the direction of any given generation be decided?”

My answer to that question is: No. It is not reasonable for one generation to decide what they are to pass on to the next. It is the job of the next generation to evaluate what they have been taught and to set their own direction.

So I still disagree with everything about this website. But I guess I have made a mistake in assuming since it is of no consequence it is not to be challenged. I was mistaken.

The question is, when they so firmly believe in unity and the idea of one ministry under one God, why did then UBF separate from the Presbyterian church and cut all relations with them and dismissed all the good rules and regulations for election of elders, church discipline that had been established there? If UBF choses the 2nd path suggested by Ian, how can this be reconciled with the idea of displaying “unity” of all Christians under one God? I remember how the reformers of 2001 wanted unity and appealed to staying united. But they were expelled for questioning the UBF heritage against their wish. These UBF directors should stop pretending to search unity based on one God, but admit that they only want unity under one UBF heritage.

In principle, confession and repentance is nothing bad in itself, and even indespensable for Christian life, but it becomes bad because when it is executed public, mandatory, repetitive, scheduled, under group pressure, when people’s conscience becomes twisted so that they feel guilty for things which they don’t need to feel guilty about, while becoming insensible to the real problems the church should feel guilty about, and when the confession of guilt and repentance happens in a hierarchical setting where it is only required and demanded bottom-up, but never top-down. As I said, our chapter director always attended and monitored what everyone said, but never shared his own sogam. That’s why it turned out to be an instrument of mind control. My chapter director was well aware of that. But he believed it was good to use manipulation and mind control when it was “for a good purpose”. For him, and many other UBF leaders I met, the end always justified the means. And since creating numerous obedient UBF members was by definition considered a good goal, since UBF by definition was God’s work, all means to achieve this goal were considered good, including mind control.

By the way, first time I hear about Shinchonji. Just read they are also active in Germany.

forests, do recognize that the tactics implemented during the course of a typical academic year almost always go back to the routine that was put in place by SL. If I am about to make broad generalizations I am sorry, but I must. Koreans love benchmarking “effective” and “successfully” proven methods and approaches. Therefore, the UBF Koreans benchmark and romanticize the heritage points laid down by SL. All the time that you have groups like Shinchonji growing in Korea UBF can position itself among distinct Christian groups. If I am pushed I will take photos of the posters that are now displayed in UBF Korea chapters. It is not a UBF poster, rather, it is a poster from the Christian broadcasters. The message: that Shinchonji members get out (or stay out; not welcome in this church).

forests, I have been to the history museum which was established just late last year – early this year. The heritage is very relevant and when Chris speaks up he is doing readers a favour. It is ugly and messy I would agree. However, if Chris was to keep quiet and live his life without looking back to his time in UBF the younger readers would never be able to confirm suspicions that they might already have.

The only thing that was not as strict to my knowledge were standard testimonies (and yes the meetings are more boring than watching paint dry). I know it was always appreciated if you followed a three step format following the model you described Chris. But, I never witnessed or experienced mandatory writing in that way. Yes, I experienced the passage summary and the confession, but the making of promises through guilt was a voluntary action. I am sure it has been the measurement for spiritual insights and maturity however.

Just because many leaders have stopped referring to he who must not be named does not mean that they have deemed him unsuccessful as a benchmark. It also most certainly does not undermine their loyalty to him when they visit his grave and scatter food during their prayers. The way I see it (even if I am wrong) – SL is dead and to directly speak of him to younger students is not always enticing or relevant. It is history, interesting, but kept in heritage and posterity. If the younger people could meet him it could have more meaning. Don’t kid me that leaders have stopped enticing young people with all the “famous” people they can meet – if they are good and grow like the seed planted on good soil.

All I can see from forests is maybe SL and the heritage don’t seem to impress you at all. But, be aware that senior leaders will always give honour and they will always benchmark his tactics as the most effective to establish a thriving community among UBF. The same thing has happened where I used to be and where I am now. Back to basics means back to the heritage.

But those who went through the school of Samuel Lee are still the general and national directors defining the way UBF operates. They implement things the way they have learned it in that era, calling it the “UBF heritage”, and most people put up with it, either because they don’t care about the past, or because they believe the heritage was really so glorious and worth adopting and continuing as the UBF history tries to make them believe.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

In my time of UBF, these sogams had very much to do with confession. My chapter director told people that sogams had to have 3 mandatory parts: 1) “Retrospective” (a confession how bad you lived in the past week, particularly in view of the promises you made in last weeks part 3), 2) Personal response to the weekly lecture and it’s core message as presented by the chapter director, and 3) “Outlook”, promising which things you wanted to do in the next week based on part 2). The promise was usually to go and invite more sheep for Bible study, and the retrospective was usually that you failed to do so. As you can imagine, this created a “hamster wheel” pattern of feelings of guilt, confessions, and promises to do better. We all somehow felt guilty all the time. An interesting exception was the chapter director himself. He never shared his sogam, and always seemed to be the only one without blame who knew how to live before God.

I can testify that an important part of our weekly sogams was confession. There was both personal confession (to your 1:1 shepherd) and public confession (in the sogam meetings). Both types of confessions were relayed to the chapter director. Even when sheep told their 1:1 teachers their private struggles confidentially, the director insisted in sharing their problems, pointing out he was their superior shepherd and needed to know everything to provide the best help.

Our chapter was not even the most hardcore. There was one infamous chapter where the director create a kind of personal cult around himself. Several ex members told me that an important part of their sogams was an expression of praise and personal thankfulness towards the “servant of God missionary Dr. P C” and his “birth-giving pain” of training to transform you and other stubborn sheep into the image of God. If not enough thankfulness was shown, you needed to rewrite your testimony.

Used in the way as I experienced it, testimony writing and sharing was clearly an instrument of mind control. Maybe it’s different now in your chapter, but when we are talking about UBF “heritage” you should know what it originally was and why we long time former members don’t see it as something positive.

“e UBF website has helped to create unity for the entire UBF ministry in the world, as we are one body under one God with one vision for world mission and of one accord in prayer. Moreover, the UBF web is the record of what God has done, the record of God’s work and God’s history. They give great spiritual lessons, encouragement, direction and vision. Many people and chapters find thanksgiving topics and prayer topics through the UBF web. Many chapters find prayer topics for Sunday and for early morning prayer meeting. Many of God’s servants open up and check the UBF website as the first thing every day.”

It’s just so glorious and wonderful… all those reports of what ubf people– I mean God– has done.

Joe, if I hadn’t lived the KOPHN fantasy for so long and saw so many others also living the KOPHN fantasy, I wouldn’t believe it could happen. But it did. ubf hq takes this stuff very seriously.

Here are some more choice quotes. Like I said before, my job is easy; all I have to do is quote ubf’s own material.

–admitting they are not a Christian church:
“This site, however, is not intended to cover everything on Christian heritage. Rather we address the heritage that characterizes us distinctly from other churches or shapes our main activities as we function as part of the body of Jesus Christ.”

–looking for reducing criticism instead of seeking excellence:
“Mark Yang took it upon his shoulder and spent many months on writing the history. Jose Ahn visited Korea and spent time with him during his writing. Even after such toils and labors, Mark Yang confessed, “I do not expect it to be the master piece. I will be happy if there is less criticism on my writing than I am ready for.” Despite his humble statement, we now have the history of the chapters in Seoul, Korea, especially in early stage.”

–seeking constant self-praise and self-glorification:
“We believe that it is a good practice for any chapter with members more than twenty to hold an anniversary every score”

–admitting delusions of grandeur:
“The story of each chapter will be unique while it retains something common as part of the UBF church. The chapter history will be a building block for a regional, national, continental and world history.”

–seeking contributions; so I submitted my contribution today. Will they post it? Not on your life.
“We look for contribution. Our site is in its infancy and we look for materials that are relevant to this site. If you are interested in submitting an article, please do so. We will review and post it accordingly.”

Right, healthy churches do not practice it very much.

However, totalist regimes like North Korea practice it a lot (source):

“But it is another weekly function that seems to constitute the true core of North Korea’s organizational life – the so-called “self- and mutual criticism sessions”. In most cases, such sessions are usually held on a weekly basis. During a criticism session, every member of an organization – in other words, every adult North Korean – is supposed to deliver something akin to public penitence and confession. He or she must admit some improper acts that he or she committed in the previous week. Serious deviations are seldom admitted and discussed; people usually limit themselves to relatively trivial matters like, say, being a few minutes late for a job or not taking proper care when cleaning the shop floor. … In most cases, these sessions are essentially performances where people admit the sins they know to be relatively minor and hence harmless.”

To me this sounds a lot like what we did in UBF.

Honestly, you surely all experienced yourself how effective such sessions are in creating streamlined, uniform people who all think and write in the same way, repeating what they heard in the weekly lecture or repeating the style of others in the group. Whenever new “sheep” joined our group, I loved to hear their testimonies, since they were fresh and honest. But it needed only a few weeks or months until they assimilated and wrote the same boring stuff. What I hated most in these testimony meetings was the endless repetition. Every testimony was very much like the others.

The way UBF exercises testimony writing and sharing is definitly harmful. It creates clones, it stiffles creativity and individuality and critical thinking. It’s also detrimental to the physical health of the attendants who need to sit on folding chairs for endless hours every week, most of them people who are sitting already too much in their day job or study anyway.

For those who don’t know what that means, here is an excerpt from Samuel Lee’s Christmas letter from the years 2000:

“Each week we held a shepherds’ meeting. We listened to a Bible message, wrote Bible study reports-testimonies-and shared them. We also wrote Daily Bread freely. Each semester there was a Shepherds’ conference. At that time, there were too many shepherds for me to check all of their Daily Bread notes, so I collected their notebooks and weighed them. The shepherd whose notebook weighed the most got a prize and the one whose notebook weighed the least was punished.”

“We may not always know what is right or wrong.”

source