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Date Posted: 05:23:17 11/25/04 Thu
Author: Mike K.
Subject: Your thoughts
In reply to: A Christian Man 's message, "I have been meaning to write" on 23:43:53 11/24/04 Wed

Dear UBF member.

I can sympathize with your viewpoint.
I, too, have been in the UBF for a few years, I bore the title of "shepherd", I saw there were errors in the UBF practice and I would pray for and and do my best to bring a change to these things.
I still do pray that UBF leaders may repent of their sins,
I still do pray that UBF may become Christ-centered instead of taking ANYTHING else as their center,
I still do pray that UBF may be a glory in the sight of Christ.

Please note that I do believe that there are quite a number of genuine, sincere Christian believers inside the UBF which are totally unaware of the problems of that organization. All I would ask of them: why don't they care to be informed about what organization they "cowork" with?

Even though I'm an active poster on this site and I also actively make sure people are aware of which kind of an organization the UBF is. This is not an act of hatred, but understand it as love, in the short-term, I might cause UBF to "lose their face" in the public, but if they are willing to repent of their wrongs and turn to the Lord, then their profit is unto eternal life.

You share about the UBF activities you participated in, well, many of us here did. Some probably put all their heart, time and money into these activities, having no life outside of UBF - those people did jump over the cliff, and nobody warned them, they were even called "great spiritual leaders" for their behaviour, encouraging them to jump even further.

I am sure that there have been people who have been hurt by some (not all) members of the ministry. I personally ask your forgiveness on their behalf.

This is a noble deed, and I would gladly accept this offer of forgiveness, if it were representative of the people you're trying to represent.
You know, the Lord Jesus shed His blood on the Cross to ask the Father God for forgiveness of our sins. And the Father has to accept it - but there is one precondition, namely: we must repent of our sins also. "No forgiveness without repentance", this is the law in the Bible. If I can see true repentance, as a Christian, I will hold no grudge, but embrace. But you will, unfortunately, not be able to successfully mediate between those who willfully sinned in order to cause me to embrace them - they need to take that step themselves.
Again, this is not a personal sentiment against anyone, but my sincere desire that they repent and may not suffer loss before the eternal judgment seat of Christ. I'm sure my perspective is not merely my own, but that of many on this site (though not all).

I believe though that there are many redeeming qualities within this ministry, such as emphasis on Bible study, and world mission.

Please, do not take offense, but there is only ONE redeeming quality in this universe, the Cross of Christ. I do not see it applied in UBF so often. Much rather, I see them taking pride in their "mission" and activity, if those things could redeem anything, there would be no need for Christ's death, and you can already see, a Christian ministry MUST take Christ as their center, not their mission, because if Christ is not the focus, then they are doing something against the will and economy of God.
And you can clearly see that the focus in UBF is primarily that which you named "redeeming qualities" - while I say: forget it, it's nice that they do it but it doesn't help. It's the wrong focus.

I also must say that I am a man who thinks outside of the box, if some leaders within the ministry are hard hearted, then it is up to YOU to search your own hearts and forgive them.

I hope you are aware that this is not the truth. "You have forsaken the Lord, so I have forsaken you", so spoke the prophet Samuel to king Saul. The Lord Jesus, while not hating the Pharisees, would also not extend His redemption towards those who rejected them.

Again, if you would apply the same measuring stick you are trying to apply to us towards the Lord, then God wouldn't have needed to send Christ through this excruciatingly painful death and into resurrection. If God were forced to search his own heart and simply forgive - then the Gospel were a worthless message.
Please note that the intrinsic message of the Gospel is, in short: "Repent, and be regenerated unto eternal life". No repentance, no regeneration.

You have to see that we are applying the same measuring stick towards UBF leaders as Christ applies to all mankind - and I don't want to be "more righteous than God" by forgiving people whom God has not extended forgiveness.
Sorry.

The Lord Jesus said that we must love our enemies, so if you have hatred in your hearts you need to realize that that is sin.

Again, please be aware that "hating someone" and "challenging someone to repent" is not the same thing, if it were so, God would so hate the world that He gave us His only Son...

I plan on attending a Theological Seminary (probably Moody) hopefully next Fall, because I really feel God's call on my life to preach the Word of God (I will go no matter what any one says).

You should be aware that from the time I attended a Bible college til the time I left UBF, less than 2 months had passed because I learned that so much of what the Bible really teaches is ignored, belittled and even excused by UBF, their hierarchic organization stands in stark contrast to what you will learn in a Bible college, and that is what ultimately caused me to part paths with UBF.
In my case it was not a grudge, but the fact that UBF and the Bible cannot truly be reconciled if you take the Bible as the measure towards which everything has to be oriented.

My sincere hope is that someday RSQUBF and UBF can come to reconciliation and healing in the name of Jesus.

Please be aware that this site is about
a) making people aware of the spiritual abuse in UBF
b) helping those who suffered spiritual abuse to find healing.

For true healing to take place, the wound must first be closed, but whenever we hear some UBF'er like Karcher or jaysee30something coming around boasting how great UBF is and how we are sinning by not unconditinally forgiving those who insist on continuing their abuse, the wounds are reopened.

I cannot speak for others, but I myself might even come back to the UBF in order to help them become a healthy Christian ministry, if I would see repentance on part of the leaders. In the past 4 years, all I saw was pride and coverups.

I have tried my best to start a tiny bit of that process because I personally know many great people in the ministry who want peace between us.

You probably fall into the category of sincere Christians who are merely members of the system of UBF.

May Jesus give you Grace as well because I have seen some things on this web site that have been written out of wicked hatred. I have one question. Do you put the UBF missionaries that are in places like Saudi Arabia and UAE in the same category as ones in Chicago?

Well, there are people who write out of hatred, and while I do not agree with this, I can understand it. I would ask you to also understand it. Some people have lost their future (by sacrificing their studies to the UBF) or their family (by going through a UBF-instigated divorce) for a vain ideology, so these people are bitter. And this bitterness is furthered by people who just say "So what if we did it? As a Christian, you should just forgive us and get on with it".
Bring a bit of sympathy. Sympathy was one of the virtues which the Lord Jesus brought to the abused and rejected, so it would befit someone who wants to be a "missionary" of "shepherd".

And no, we don't bag-in-the-bunch anyone. But we certainly do categorize. If a "missionary" in Saudi Arabia would act like Samuel Lee (praying for Hindus to eat cow is about as intolerant as praying for Musim women to run around unveiled) and consecutively were ripping veils off women on the street - I wouldn't twitch at the idea of seeing them kicked out of the country in an hour's worth.
Christian mission is based on accepting others unconditionally, not on forcing your ideology on them - but that's what I have seen from many UBF "missionaries" worldwide, because that is what UBF is all about.

Please note that any person all over the world who takes upon themselves the label "UBF member" is not only a member of the positive aspects of UBF, but of all of UBF, which certainly does include the negative aspects as well.

I asked initially, and I would leave you with this question:

"Why do you willfully share in the sins of others?"

In Christ,
Mike K.

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Replies:

Re: Your thoughts -- A Christian Man, 11:11:25 11/25/04 Thu
- Hmm.. -- Mike K., 12:10:17 11/25/04 Thu
- Re: Your thoughts -- Joe, 12:43:18 11/25/04 Thu
- Answers -- Chris, 13:03:57 11/25/04 Thu