This priestly>nation website is a collection of thoughts, comments and articles that have helped me process my journey of life. For the past several years, I have focused on my recovery from the shepherding ideology I once embraced as a director in the University Bible Fellowship. I have been seeking to find my own narrative of my life and to unbind my mind from the heritage and cultic behavior deeply ingrained in me through more than two decades of UBF training.

If you are looking for my thoughts on my ongoing recovery, you can use the archive search to read through my 300+ articles that generated more than 500 comments. Please also read our 20,000+ comments and hundreds of articles on our blog:

ubfriends (archive)

ubfriends (current blog)

The Blue Book from UBF

*Update 6/1/2016: The entire blue book is available online (in Korean and English) on the new ubf heritage guarding website. Here is the link to download the 50th Anniversary blue book.

I strongly recommend friends and family of anyone in UBF, as well as the 6,000 or so UBF members worldwide, to demand a copy of the 50th Anniversary “blue book”. I have a copy for those who cannot obtain this book. And make sure you get the printed copy and not the public versions, for the last lecture was deceptively changed for public viewing.

In 2011, the 50th Anniversary mission statement from Korea UBF was rejected by Americans in UBF (and possibly others). The main ubf.org website took down the statement, but Korea UBF continues to display the new UBF mission statement, which does not mention Jesus at all.

Taking Back Our Identities

For thousands of former UBF leaders and members, we found our identities had been confiscated, as in a kind of spiritual identity theft. This is the thought reform ideology and methodology of the group’s “theology of sacrifice”. I call this UBFism.

Since leaving in 2011, nearly 40 UBF members have contacted me for help making sense of their UBF commitments. Most have left the group. Some were suicidal. For an organized look at the UBF group and its controversial theology and history, please visit my other site: http://www.restunleashed.org/

The BITE Model of Control

The BITE model from Steve Hassan continues to accurately describe the nature of the UBF chapters quite well.

Check out my interview with Steven

Read Steven’s info page about UBF

Movies and Music

The best way to recover from such an experience, I found, is movies and music…In UBFism, you “marry” the group, bound for life commitment. Leaving feels like getting divorced…my recovery has been assisted by break-up songs…

1. SALVATION
UBF seems to teach their people that salvation and righteousness is by works and can be lost if the Shepherd is disobeyed. Eternal salvation also seems to depend on leadership approval and some are kept in constant doubt of theirs. There even seems to be the thought that no one outside of UBF is saved. How can anyone who knows the Bible believe any of this? Eph. 2:9 says “Not of works last any man should boast.” In John 10:28 Jesus said “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

2. THE GREAT COMMISSION
UBF seems to believe that this is the highest command of God. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love one another. Additionally, the Great Commission also includes water baptism (Matthew 28:19), to which UBF gives little emphasis. How can you obey half of Jesus’s command and thumb your nose at the second part?

3. HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit seems to be given little emphasis and takes second place to UBF leadership commands (human dictates). This leaves no room for the leading of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. For example, Missionary appointments are by the organization and not dependent upon the call of God. How can anyone who knows the Scripture leave out the work of the third person of the Trinity in their life or the lives of their members? You might want to do some Biblical research on just what the role of the Holy Spirit is in our lives.

4. ORDINANCES
Jesus instituted the ordinances of Water Baptism and Communion (The Lord’s Supper). In fact, he commanded them. How can you just ignore Jesus’s commands and neither teach nor practice them except on rare occasion?

5. SHEPHERDING
Shepherding seems to be a fulcrum of UBF teaching. This practice is not taught in Scripture and leads to abuse and excessive leadership control. In fact, the originators of the shepherding movement (not UBF) have renounced it as a mistake and apologized for their part in it? Why would you want to be a part of an organization that is so caught up in this misguided practice?

6. TESTIMONIES
Testimonies are wonderful but what is the reason for asking people to share sins of which “they need to repent?” It is the Holy Spirit’s ministry to convict of sin, not man’s. Repentance is a personal action between ones self and God, not with an added “father confessor.” Why would you want to participant in an activity In which man attempts to usurp the Holy Spirit’s role?

7. DATING
Dating seems to be looked upon as sin and members are highly discouraged from having any romantic relationships. Why would you want to promote this since it’s not Biblical (read Song of Solomon and the book of Ruth)? Additionally, God made young men and women to be attracted to each other. Why would you want to take something beautiful that God made and condemn it?

8.ARRANGED MARRIAGES
Without getting into details, this is utter nonsense. We live in America, not some other country that still practices arranged marriages. Isaac and Rebekah’s arranged marriage was a special circumstance and has nothing to do with God’s direction for today. How could anyone support such a nonsensical practice that is far from Biblical?

9. DICTATORIAL TACTICS/ DOMINATION OF TIME
There’s a lot that could be said about how UBF uses guilt, authoritarianism and compulsion to control the lives of their members and gradually takes more and more of their time until UBF is the only thing that’s important. How can you sanction using these practices on young people that are trying to get an education and prepare for the future? Do you think God is pleased with this?

10. NEGLECT OF FAMILY DUTIES
UBF has a history of pressing their married members to the point where they neglect their children. There are documented cases of local authorities being notified of parental neglect by UBF parents. How could you be a part of an organization that would so dominate their members as to push them to such non-Christian actions? Do you think God is pleased with this?

11. INTERACTION WITH OTHER CHURCHES
The Bible teaches that His family should not isolate themselves from other Christians yet UBF tries to avoid contact and cooperation with other churches or ministries. You might ask yourself “is there something they are afraid of?” Do you really believe that UBFers are the only ones going to heaven?

12. EXIT STRATEGY
Just one question here: How could you feel good about being a part of an organization that uses threats, fear and intimidation to keep members from leaving. This isn’t exactly the approach the Bible teaches.

13. FINANCIALS
There seems to have been no supervision or control over finances in the past so members didn’t know anything about how much money the organization had or how it used it. How could anyone be expected to support an organization that is so secretive and is not accountable to the people that contribute? Again, not what the Bible teaches.

14. THE BLUE BOOK
Do you have a “blue book” from the 50th Anniversary Missionary/Shepherd Seminar in Korea? If so, are you comfortable with what it says and what’s going to be expected of you over the next 50 years?

An invitation to a 1 hour Bible study on campus equates to full obedience to the ideology in this Blue Book.

It was rather shocking to read the blue book lectures because it codifies some of the things former members have been saying for more than 30 years.

I’ve written extensively on the content of this Blue Book. Here are my blog posts about this book:

The UBF blue book

Oh and just make sure you ask for the $10.00 paperback version. It contains a very important lecture that was changed for the public to see online, filtering out some statements that UBF leaders believe but don’t want you to see.

NOTE: Here is my series of over 30 articles explaining this further: “50th Anniversary book” (i.e. Blue Book).

I think that these statistics reveal what people want to know about UBF and how many people are interested in finding out more information about UBF.

From September 14, 2011 to September 14, 2012…per Google Analytics.

Visitor Stats

• 10,685 visits from 4,227 people
• 2.97 average pages read per visit
• 5 minutes 52 seconds average time spent here
• Visits were from 85 different countries
• 61% of visitors were returning visitors

Top 10 Countries

1. United States
2. Hong Kong
3. Russia
4. Ukraine
5. Canada
6. Germany
7. United Kingdom
8. South Korea
9. Netherlands
10. India

Google Searches with over 6 minutes reading time

An Honorable Mention

On page 22 of the UBF Newsletter, the closing of chapters is mentioned. Detroit UBF is listed as closed because of my resignation. However, why mention me? What about the other house churches who closed? What about mentioning the mass exodus of leaders from around the world? Those things won’t be mentioned of course. I am thankful that at least some facts are making their way into UBF history. However, there is a long way to go toward being truthful about reality. The latest newsletter is proof to me that UBF leaders continue to live in a “kingdom of priests and holy nation” fantasy land of perceived glory while ignoring reconciliation with real people.

A Time of Transition

On page 22 of the UBF newsletter, 2011 is identified as a year of “growth and changes”, a “time of transition”. Really… I thought 2011 was a year of exodus of leaders around the world, mass confusion as various chapters imploded and exploded, such as Toledo, Hong Kong and India. 2011 was the year of the 4th reform attempt. 2011 was (2012 continues to be) a year of public repentance by myself and by others. I thought 2011 was a year of “terrible times” where people like myself became poison to “knock down the faith of others”…

Growth…barely

Much is touted in the UBF newsletter about growth. But the growth is “just barely”. The growth in numbers in North America is so small that it could just be a statistical anomaly. UBF ministry in 2011 in all of North America was 2,141 (again on page 22 of the UBF Newsletter). The article reports that this number is an increase of 60 from 2010 (33 from USA and 27 from Canada). Surprisingly the fact that the number of chapters decreased from 109 to 106 is included. I would not be too impressed with the 100+ number of chapters. Most of these are merely a husband and wife and a few friends; more of a cell group than an actual “church chapter”.

There are times when I think UBF wants me to go insane! Why? UBF published TWO versions of this last lecture, one online for the public and one in book form for directors (not all directors by the way…).

Here is the private (published/book) version:

2011ubfBlueBook-LastLecture

Here is the public (online) version:

http://ubf.org/content/50th-ubf-anniversary-seminar-closing-message-sh-david-kim

I’ll buy lunch (and even a round of drinks) for anyone who posts the differences… (hint #1, look at part 1). This lecture is one example of why I claim that UBF leadership is steeped in deception. They cover up sin and wrongdoings while making every effort to create a good public image. They display anger, narcissism and hatred in private, but show flattery, honor and charisma to the public.

Here is a presentation from 2005 regarding the teaching of “business mission” by some high-level UBF missionaries:

UBF Business Mission

UBF has already created some businesses and front-groups, especially in Europe.

Bible Study front-groups

Seed at Penn State:
http://seed.pennstateubf.org/

Seed at NYU:
http://www.nyuseed.com/

Seed at University of Waterloo:
http://seedsofwaterloo.blogspot.com/

Narrow Gate at University of Toledo:
http://www.utchristians.com/index.php/resources/biblestudymaterials/cat_view/14-narrow-gate-resources

UBF Club at York University:
http://www.yorkubf.org/XE/Forum/3162

“EMPNG” – Empowering The Next Generation:
http://www.empoweringubfnewgen.org/

Medical Mission:
http://www.ubfmedicalmission.com/

ABC Bible Study Group:
https://sites.google.com/site/bonnubfabcbibelkreis/

Businesses:

Honors Review: Princeton Branch (New Jersey ties)
http://princetonhonors.com/en/?page_id=72

“5L2F” – 5 Loaves & 2 Fish Orchestra (New Jersey/Germany ties):
http://newjerseyubf.org/fiveloavestwofish

CO-WORLD GmbH: Ximeta Technology partner (defunct?; Germany ties)
http://www.coworldcs.com/en/products/sd_dualdrive.php Note: CO-WORLD stands for “conquer the world” per the UBF Business Mission document link above.

FIAA GmbH (precursor to Nest41?; New Jersey and Bonn/Germany ties)
http://www.linkedin.com/company/fiaa-gmbh
http://www.fiaagames.com/

Nest41 GmbH (successor of CO-WORLD GmbH?; Germany ties)
http://www.nest41.com/company_1.php
Note: The “41” is curiously similar to the Business Mission prayer topic to raise 100,000 UBF missionaries by 2041.

UBF employs a business-like, B.I.T.E model of ministry which has become a religious machine intended to produce super-apostles to lead the world. UBF activities are geared toward behavior control, information control, thought control and emotional control.

These seminar presentations have the look and feel of a classroom-style lesson. Could these be the foundation for the textbooks to be used in the new private schools: UBF K-12 curriculum, UBF University (as mentioned on  page 150 of the “blue book”)?

Here is a summary of teachings from Lecture 101:

1. The success of UBF comes from a great strategy (slide 6).

2. The UBF lifestyle is an endless cycle of work (slide 8).

3. UBF fishing is done in order to keep the UBF workforce young and dynamic (slide 15).

4. One purpose of UBF fishing is to reproduce 2 UBF people, derived from a woman’s average number of children (slide 17).

5. Another purpose of UBF fishing is to hand down the UBF ministry to children of UBF people (slide 18).

6. The odds are against UBF fishing being fruitful (slide 40).

7. UBF fishing is intended to make a good impression and break down emotional defenses (slide 47).

8. UBF fishing is an exercise in ruling situations (slide 52).

I will leave it up to my readers to see what UBF officially teaches in these lessons. Such things make me sick, and I never would have believed all this was official teaching, except that I lived UBF for many years.

I’ll just leave it to this picture from one of the UBF presentations. I think this says it all…

And this slide makes it clear that UBF really, really, really wants to raise super-apostles:

And what does this teach? If this is serious, it is bad. If it is a joke, it’s even worse:

And yes, UBF is attempting to follow a pyramid-scheme model of making disciples:

Screen-captures of the presentations:

ubf-lecture101

ubf-lecture102

ubf-lecture103

Official UBF links:

2010 Leadership Forum Presentations

Seminar 101: Introduction to Outreach and Fishing

Seminar 102: Hardcore Contents of 1:1 Bible Study

Seminar 103: Discipleship Explored

Bonn UBF Public Presentations

This part is comprised of five lectures. There is a lot of mention of various UBF works and activities in these lectures, and how much of a blessing those works are. If you have been in UBF a few years, you’ve heard all those lines. So I’ll just share the conclusion of each lecture, which captures the essense of what each person is conveying.

1. The Spirit of Campus Ministry by Elisha Kim (pages 40-43)

“Campus disciple-making is our main goal and purpose… we need to help students find current methods and strategies for disciple-making. We also need to raise professionals and specialists for the next generation.”

2. Discipleship and the House Church by Moses Yoon (pages 44-48)

“The UBF declaration shows well this sense of leadership: ‘One, I am a soldier of my Lord Jesus Christ. I will correctly handle the word of truth and build a Christian outlook. One, I am a soldier of my Lord Jesus Christ. I will participate in the sufferings of Christ for Bible Korea and world mission (2 Timothy 3:3,15).’ Leaders were raised based on this word.”

“We all desire a revival in our ministry. The answer to revival does not lie in group movements… May we walk the road of discipleship, unwaivering in our faith. When we do so God will raise disicples of Jesus just as he has done in our ministry before.”

Ok time out again. So this part was supposed to be about “house church”? There is a small section on “house church” but there is no explanation of what a “house church” is. Just that some leaders formed house churches with other leaders. Clearly UBF values “soldiers” who live as if they were not married. Clearly UBF ignores children in families, for are not children part of a house church? But children are not mentioned here.

3. One-to-one Bible study by Nehemiah Kim (pages 49-54)

“The motto of the world is ‘Faster and more for less.’ But people cannot be mass produced…Besides the labor of love, the grace of God is absolutely necessary for the transformation of souls. May God use our 1:1 ministries to raise influential leaders for Christ and his kingdom.”

4. Daily Bread by Moses Noh (pages 55-59)

“Writing Daily Bread is an important way that many UBF leaders practive living by the word of God on a daily basis, 365 days a year.”

This lecture describes many benefits of doing Daily Bread 365 days a year. It has no conclusion, but ends with explaining four steps of how to write good Daily Bread, which is very similar to what is published on the front cover of every Daily Bread booklet. So the message here is simply: Do Daily Bread 365 days a year.

5. The Purpose and Principles of “Sogam” Writing by John Park (pages 60-64)

“‘Sogam’ (i.e. reflective understanding on particular passages of the Bible) or “testimony writing” began in 1973 in UBF.”

“Testimony writing and sharing is a great way to experience God’s grace and truth in our lives. This is also quite useful in raising up college students as disciples of Jesus… God has used testimony practices in UBF to honor Christ and advance his kingdom in Korea and around the world.”

True. But leaders in UBF have used testimony writing to enslave and burden young people around the world.

When I realized that over a fifth of the blue book is devoted to just introducing UBF, I realized that the blue book is a snapshot of my 24 years in UBF. Over the course of 24 years, UBF ideology was presented to me in almost the same manner as the blue book presents it. 22% of 24 years is about 5 years. That’s about how much time was spent “introducing” UBF to me, which corresponds to the time I spent in college. That is the way UBF disciples students: spend the college years in orientation and introduction. Then the challenges begin, after graduation.

Back to the book itself. The introduction is divided into two lectures:

1. spirit, ministry, vision by Heon-Il Jeong (pages 31-32)
2. A Biblically based Spirit by Elisha Ahn (pages 33-39)

First of all, even as a director in UBF and after 24 years in the ministry, I have no idea who Jeong and Ahn are. Who are they? Why are they introducing the blue book lectures? I have no clue. Secondly, why is “spirit” intentionally not capitalized in the title of the first introduction lecture?

1. spirit, ministry, vision by Heon-Il Jeong (pages 31-32)

“The word “spirit” refers to a fundamental concept, philosophy or idea. A “spirit” is not a concrete object, but a reaction; a strength that occurs within and among people. A “ministry” is spirit in visible form. Thus, it could be said that a ministry is the visible manifestation of an invisible spirit.”

“A “vision” is future circumstances foreseen, but based on reality. Thus, spirit, ministry, and vision cannot be viewed separately from each other.  There cannot be a ministry without a spirit, and a ministry’s spirit cannot exist without a ministry. A ministry can be shaped by its spirit, and at times, a ministry may create its own spirit. Here, a vision is the search for a better future based on the self-examination and reflection of a ministry and a spirit.”

Time out!!! Anybody confused? Are we supposed to be talking about the ministry from Jesus Christ? Is this Christianity? Could Apostle Paul please come back from the after-life and refute this? Ok hold on for the ride on page 32…

“We cannot reflect on our spirit and ministry without reflecting on Dr. Samuel Lee, the founder of UBF. This is because the spirit and ministry of UBF is closely connected to Lee.”

What a minute.. I thought a “spirit” is invisible? So how can a “spirit” be closely connected with a man? And since when was UBF founded by Samuel Lee alone? What about Sarah Barry? Why has she been written out as a founder?!?

“The spirit of UBF is, in short, “Living according to God’s word.”… “”We have organized UBF Spirit, Ministry, Vision into six parts:  Introduction, Campus Ministry for Discipleship, World Mission and Self-supporting Missionaries, the Power and Influence of a Believing Community, a Pioneering and Independent Spirit, and finally, To the Ends of the Earth: North Korea and beyond.”

Notice how “Introduction” is a “part”. Orientation and introduction are key concepts to understand in UBF. Those are normally “fed” to young students over the course of their college days, so they are “prepared” for the “greater” teachings.

2. A Biblically based Spirit by Elisha Ahn (pages 33-39)

This introduction lecture is based on John 8:31-32: ” 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'”

“UBF was first called University Bible Research Group. But since obeying the word of God was more important than researching it, the name changed to University Bible Fellowship.”

Time out!! So obedience is more important than researching? That explains the “accept absolutely” attitude displayed by UBF shepherds. Rarely is a student given enough time to properly think about a Bible passage for themselves. “Study” in UBF is redefined as “accept” and “trust and obey”. Thinking critically is highly discouraged, and now it is documented de-facto.

Based on that premise, the next several pages introduce how the Bible has become an idol in UBF. Let’s jump to the last paragraph on page 39:

“Therefore, we need to build a message research institute and establish it as a key ministry in UBF. At the same time, we need to raise specialists that can continue to develop the tradition of our inductive Bible studies through more research and study.”

Wow. Obedience is more important (supposedly) than research. But the conclusion of this lecture is: raise research specialists! What this means is (as I always suspected), UBF intends to let students just “accept and obey” the “tradition and research” of the Bible specialists.

This is quite sad to me. Koreans in UBF seem to have stolen the ministry away from what Sarah Barry had hoped. Clearly UBF is at a “fork in the road”. Does UBF choose the spirit of Lee or the heed the sound advice of Barry?

As I begin to read the book, I am quickly confused. The title is “spirit, ministry, vision”. The word “spirit” is intentionally made lowercase. Why would this be? The Blue Book is about “spirit”. This is clearly not the Holy Spirit, but some other spirit. I’m not sure what spirit the book is referring to, but I want to find out.

The teaching is also about “ministry” and “vision”, which doesn’t seem so confusing.  So I would expect to find teachings in this book related to what UBF ministry is about and what vision UBF has for the future. This is a good thing. Finally, after 24 years, I have found a book that documents what UBF is all about!

As I open this book, inside the front cover,  I am presented with an opening statement, followed by a rough outline of the six parts of the book. Some of the words are boldly highlighted in all CAPS and blue coloring:

THE SPIRIT OF UBF is, in short, “LIVING ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD.”

Having been a leader in UBF, I think that accurately sums up everything you need to know about UBF. In UBF, you will answer questions about God’s word, pray God’s word, write testimonies about God’s word, share God’s word, preach God’s word, talk about God’s word, sacrifice for God’s word, make banners about God’s word, accept God’s word and most supremely: teach God’s word.

I begin my review of the UBF Blue Book with the last lecture, which is entitled: “Shepherd-Missionary Seminar 2011 Closing Message: Terrible Times and the Bible”. The lecture has 2 Timthy 3:1-17 as its Bible passage. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the key verse of the lecture.

Part 1: “Have nothing to do with them” (verses 1-9). 

In Part 1, the lecture begins with an overview of the text, mentioning verse 1, verses 2-5a. The lecture leads us to think there is a crisis facing Timothy, known as terrible times. Then a declaration is made:

“This is the picture of the crisis that our church community confronts today. Nowadays, people love themselves and money. They love pleasure more than God. The waves of sin flow into the church community and infect our souls.”

The following quotes from Part 1 summarize what the author is communicating:

• “Co-workers who were once great in their faith fall into the temptations of sin. Some become tempters to knock down the faith of others. Those who once stood firm on the gospel faith and were once a good influence for their faith are rather influenced by sin and the value system of the world.”
• “Many are losing their identity as a royal priesthood and a holy nation.”
• “Paul strongly urges Timothy to “having nothing to do with them”.
• “But the women are never able to acknowledge the truth even though they are always learning.”
• “They are not the ones who serve God with sincere faith, but those who live hypocritical and superficial lives before people.”
• “Their folly will be clear to everyone.”
• “Paul clearly warns Timothy to turn away from them.”

Part 2: “Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of” (10-17).

Part 1 was only two pages long. Part 2 is eight pages long. Much time is spent in Part 2 declaring how some chapters in UBF have failed to continue in what they have learned. The application of verses 10-17 begins with the words

“I believe that this is also what God says to us. We are living in a world which changes rapidly.”

The author acknowledges that UBF is having difficulty serving the new generation of young people, who are very different from the young people UBF encountered in the 1960’s and 1970’s:

“We encounter difficulties and limits in serving the new generation who follow the popular trend of life infected with sin and go with the mainstream of sin. For this reason, we began to wonder if we should look for alternatives and changes different from what we had in the past.”

The author then goes on to rebuke chapters in UBF:

“Some chapters tried to implement the spiritual movement, giving up raising disciples through one-to-one Bible study because it was so difficult. Other chapters tried to live a religious life without the burdens of sharing Daily Bread and writing testimonies. There were also some chapters that tried to attract the attention of the young through singspiration, rather than focusing on profound Bible studies or testimony training.”

The author then simply concludes that the UBF activities are the “best ways to raise disciples” and “nobody can deny” that such ways are the best ways.

Then we have the ultimate teaching, the heart of what the author seems to want to declare:

“If the spirit that worked in the UBF ministry for the past 50 years came from human efforts or ideas, we don’t need to continue in them. Those that come from human thoughts and ideas are limited and will change or disappear someday in the future. However, the spirit that worked in the UBF ministry for the past 50 years didn’t come from the ideas of Dr. Samuel Lee or Mother Barry. It was not a typical UBF spirit, but the eternal truth of God’s words.”

This is a new teaching. When I came to UBF in 1987, everyone was clear: UBF spirit came from Sarah Barry and Samuel Lee. Now UBF spirit came from God? The thinking that UBF is the “best ways” and the “truth of God’s words” was always an unspoken rule that I thought people didn’t really believe. But the teaching is now described clearly in this Blue Book lecture.

The “Terrible Times” lecture continues with expounding on the 2 Timothy verses. And then the lecture concludes with a brief summary of the last 50 years of UBF history, weaving 2 Timothy verses into the stories of Samuel Lee and other UBF missionaries.

The lecture concludes with the following statements:

“We will bear much fruit in season. I earnestly pray that we may give our whole heart to love the word of God so that we can be filled with the breath of God all the time and become men of God who can breathe his Spirit to move hearts. May we be able to serve the great and heart-moving work of God in our own mission fields.”

From this  conclusion it is easy to see the UBF teaching here:

• Be ambitious and work hard (but is there room for God to work?)
• Love the word of God (but what about loving people?)
• Be filled with the breathe of God (but what about being filled with the Holy Spirit?)
• Become men of God (but what about the women of God?)
• Be men of God who breathe his Spirit to move hearts (but isn’t God in control of that?)
• Serve the work of God in our own mission fields (but doesn’t God own all the earth?)
• Have nothing to do with former UBF members (but shouldn’t we love others?)

From this lecture it is clear the Korean UBF leaders think UBF is facing a crisis. It is clear that the crisis is co-workers  leaving  the ministry and UBF chapters not following the UBF ways as they had in the past.

Is this lecture a proper, Godly, Biblical response to the crisis?

Today I open a new chapter in this ongoing blog, with the purpose of sharing what God has put on my heart and mind regarding His priestly nation. In this blogging project, I will be examining the Bible’s teaching about God’s chosen people and comparing the Bible’s teachings with what UBF teaches in their Blue Book. It is clear to me that God’s purpose is indeed to raise up a priestly nation (Exodus 19:5-6, 1 Peter 2:9). I want to find out how God’s purpose compares to what UBF teaches, examining the Blue Book lectures in light of Scripture.

The questions on my mind today are these:

• What does God want His chosen people to do?
• Did God ever become angry with His chosen people?
• What messages did God give to His prophets to declare to His chosen people?

For example, there is a lecture entitled “Independent Mindset”, which explains some reasons why UBF kept separated from mainline churches (and apparently will continue to do so). That lecture also documents the creation of a “culture of mature actions”, which includes actions such as “marriage by faith”. The “mature actions” are not defined, just documented partially.

Back to my original reason for today’s post: more quotes from the concluding lecture of this book. As I read this lecture several times, I just could not believe what I was reading. I had heard the criticisms against UBF for many years. But I always dismissed one of the biggest criticisms: replacing grace with works in regard to salvation. I thought, even up to yesterday, that this criticism had no basis. Well, we can now judge for ourselves whether this criticism has any merit.

“From the 1990s, we made every effort to find better ways and alternatives to serve this generation.”

Every effort? I was there. I saw no effort, other than a few appeasing actions, such as allowing some modern songs instead of demanding only hymn songs at Sunday worship service.

“However, we have not found alternatives better than one-to-one Bible study, Daily Bread, testimony writing, a life giving spirit with five loaves and two fish, a pioneering spirit, a community spirit, and a self-supporting spirit that we have had from the beginning of UBF history. Nobody can deny that those works are the best ways to raise disciples and missionaries who can preach the gospel.”

Nobody can deny this? So the mass exodus in various major chapters around the world this year is because these “best ways” worked so well? Oh wait, they are the people mentioned in part 1 of this lecture: “Co-workers who were once great in their faith fall into the temptations of sin. Some became tempters to knock down the faith of others.”

The lecture goes on to bind the works of UBF to God’s work. Then, after tying these “best ways” to “the eternal truth of God’s words”, we have this rather amazing statement:

“When we continue to stand firm on the truth of the Bible without being swayed in this changing generation, what great hope and blessing will be given to us through the Bible? First, the holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation. Look at verse 15 “…and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Wisdom for salvation!”

Do you see the binding going on? Surely, the Scriptures do make us wise for salvation. But how does UBF say we should find such wisdom? It is through the “best ways” described above. According to UBF, we are to be bound to their “best ways” because the “best ways” are bound to the Holy Scriptures. And in fact, there is no alternative since UBF leaders have not found anything better. Well, in one Bible study at my new church, I found something better: the grace of God.

To make this plain and simple, and to remove all the Christianized wordings: UBF teaches salvation by works. The blue book is proof.

And in case you missed it, all the attendants in Korea at the celebration took a vow to commit themselves to this work.

So now we have an official, codified blue book of the UBF belief system. It describes things like creating a UBF University, empowering Korean children and how wonderful and necessary it is to do various UBF activities. The concluding message from the Korean director made me extremely troubled and inspires me to pray all the more for anyone propagating the UBF machine.

The passage of this final message is 2 Timothy 3:1-17 and titled “Terrible times and the Bible”. Part one is entitled “Have nothing to do with them” (1-9). Part two is entitled “Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of” (10-17).

So what is so troubling about this message? The message begins by paraphrasing these verses:

“1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God– 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

Here are some quotes based on these verses:

“This is the picture of the crisis that our church community confronts today.”

“Many are losing their identity as a royal priesthood and a holy nation.”

Then the message continues by emphasizing verse 14:

“14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

A few more quotes:

“However, the spirit that worked in the UBF ministry for the past 50 years didn’t come from the ideas of Dr. Samuel Lee or Mother Barry. It was not a typical UBF spirit, but the eternal truth of God’s words.”

“Therefore, we should continue in the truth that we learned and stand firmly on it. Those who do not continue in the truth will lose the power of godliness and will join in the sinful trend of the world.”

News flash to the world: If you are not doing UBF activities (i.e. the life-giving spirit, a humble mind, one-to-one Bible study, writing testimonies and sending out lay missionaries, otherwise known as the “eternal truth of God’s words”), then you do not have the power of godliness and you are a sinner following the ways of the world.

The message goes on with several more pages of examples from UBF history of those who kept the “eternal truth of God’s words”.

Clearly I made the right choice to get my family away from this group. This new blue book from UBF is a perfect example of binding people’s consciences to a set of ideas from the Bible. For 24 years, I always heard how thankful people were to Samuel Lee and Sarah Barry for the spiritual practices they had developed in UBF.

Now, 50 years after Lee and Barry began a good work, we are supposed to believe that those practices are not from Lee and Barry, but from God as his “eternal words of truth”? The blue book is nothing more than a tool to bind UBF activity to the word and work of God. However, the world created by God is not “UBF holy nation people” and “anti-UBF sinners”. The world and the people in it belong to God.

I for one will not submit to UBF authority nor do any UBF activity.