Oh, man, I thought that was an actual, published ubf.org article until the last page. The picture looked authentic as well. :)

This speaks to why the great experiement called America has in fact succeeded for many generations. America is an idea that has a small circle of essentials, not meant to create harmony but to allow unity.

I would extend/expand this further by saying that 1st Gen Natives–such as yourself and countless others in countless nations–were and still are subject to 1st Gen Koreans, even when a 1st Gen Native is officially instated as the leader.

Under such a paradigm and system, no Native leader will ever be regarded as a leader with their own independent autonomy.

This may help to understand why I am like I am. Of course many other factors are involved, but the time and place we are born does impact us. For example, knowing that many Korean missionaries were born in the war-ravaged generations helps me to understand their infatuation with soldiers and fighting spirit. And it helps me to reject their ideas of sacrifice because many of those ideas are not helpful or healthy in today’s world or must be applied differently to someone in X Generation or the Millennial generation.

Here are some things I learned about Generation X that really apply to me, being born in 1969:

“The age range from Generation X as of 2014 is 33 to 53 (my broadest definition). In 2011, the first Gen-Xer turned 50 years old and the youngest turned 30. We are currently the “sandwich generation” in America. We are caring for aging parents and raising more than 50 percent of the nation’s children under 18.”
source

Like many X generation people I am: adrift, apathetic, cynical, entrepreneurial, educated, empathetic to ethnic diversity, am individualistic, have a casual disdain for everything especially authority, am technologically astute, flexible, seek out work-life balance, and had a rather unprotected childhood.

Here is a song from a popular X Generation band, Night Ranger:

X Generation

So here again we see something about UBFism that is harmful. UBFism ignores the social generational discoveries and applies its own generation identities: 1st Gen Koreans, 2nd Gen Koreans and Natives.

“May the people of Denmark stop building Legoland and start building the kingdom of God through one-to-one Bible study!”

And when he gives his LT, he’d better be wearing this, because this is how they dress in Denmark.

http://costummer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/halloween__elite-viking-warrior-costume.jpg

“Søren Kierkegaard was known for his boyish good looks and his substantial contribution to existential philosophy. Yet it was his love and devotion to Jesus Christ that defined his existence so well. In fact he was the most despised philosopher of his generation, very willing to be a “fool for Christ”.” (source)

The core problem of UBFism is that the ideology gives you a new identity. Look at what they just did to Soren! He was just a good looking boy who thought too much. You can just hear the UBFism life testimony title:

FROM A BOYISH YOUNG MAN TO A FOOL FOR CHRIST

One Word: From a good looking boy to a foolish shepherd!

I’m sure there are contexts where encouraging the “leap of faith” can be very helpful. Faith is a commitment that goes beyond rational thought. But faith is not irrational. A healthy faith embraces clear thinking, it doesn’t replace it.

As I read that report from Montreal UBF, I was stunned. Well, not really. That kind of populist, anti-intellectual, let’s-stay-ignorant-and-be-proud-of-it characterization of faith has been rampant in UBF for as long as I can remember.

This is so ironic, and on so many levels. Think about it. A UBF chapter holds an event where shepherds are told to expand their minds by reading an actual philosopher. And their take-away message from Kierkegaard is, “All this thinkin’ and book learnin’ is nuthin’ but mumbo-jumbo. Let’s go back to our usual pure-uncomplicated–Bible-alone schtick and talk to university students at the level of middle schoolers, and when our peers ridicule us, let’s be proud that we have become fools for Christ and are getting persecuted for our faith!”

Against my better judgment, I am posting this report from the Central Pennsylvania Summer Bible Conference. Enjoy!

I can’t say much about Kierkegarrd, all I know is what I read from that comic book. He was a pretty controversial guy, people didn’t know if he was Christian or not according to Wikipedia. But in an attempt to answer your question, he would be very different if he was under the UBF system. UBF doesn’t necessarily encourage writing or philosophy. Kierkegaard probably would have been too busy with campus ministry and conf prep. But he was so eccentric, he wouldn’t have stayed in UBF.

Reading that article about the symposium on Kierkegaard is surreal. How did you find it? It s as if people can read anything and make it say what they want to say. That’s the danger of hermeneutics.

It funny to imagine what would happen if Kierkegaard showed up at UBF. Would he be recognized as a great Christian thinker? Or would he have been called a proud and useless intellectual who needed humbleness training to learn simple faith by putting away his books and focusing on inductive Bible study?

Would Kierkegaard have been allowed to become Kierkegaard if he had remained in UBF? If the answer is no, then something here doesn’t add up.

“Only in subjectivity is there decision, to seek objectivity is to be in error.”

And here’s comic book about Kierkegaard.
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/kierkegaard-beginners.pdf

Fight song

A former member recommended this to us and I agree it is healing and helpful.

“Keep asking questions.”

Yes! +1 million. Keep asking. Don’t settle for contradictory answers. Keep asking especially about the gospel of Jesus!

I hope you will read some of our books:

I Choose: Subtlety in Cults (former Canadian ubf shepherdess)

Some of my books. I am the former Detroit ubf chapter director and a former Toledo ubf fellowship leader, having spent 24 years at ubf. If you contact me, I will send all of my books to you for free:

Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives

Identity Snatchers: Exposing a Korean Bible Cult (currently in editing mode, to be published this Fall)

@Hertoa- Please continue to visit your family! One Pastor said when talking about ministry, “Rule number 1: Love God. Rule number 2: Love your family. And ministry will fall in place.” I’ve known too many Pastor and missionary kids put on the altar for their parents’ ministries. As if ministry and family were mutually exclusive.Keep asking questions. 1 Thess 5:21

As a fairly new shepherd in a UBF chapter, I have already had a good deal of challenges working through the ministry. I cannot deny that all of the members are very dedicated, spirit-filled and God loving people who have a heart for “sheep”. I am only beginning to see, however, that at times we can lose sight of Jesus and pursue the comfort and assurance of dogma.

What you said about church activities resonates with me strongly. Though I love the heart and the commitment of the fellowship, I see that attending activities (absolutely) is a sign of spirituality, whereas choosing another activity is a sign of human desire and weakness. I see the guilt and coercion many are placed under because of this. For one young woman, a new member and a single mother, she had feelings of conviction for spending too much time caring for her baby rather than serving God by coming to meetings and fishing. This stood out to me as strange–though the others were impressed by her faith–since scripture emphasizes the massive importance of providing for and protecting your family and raising children well.

It has been the same for me. I study a rather long distance from where I was born. The UBF ministry emphasizes the singularity of our mission and our dedication to Christ can be measured by our commitment to remain in the “Promised Land”. In my case, returning to visit my family is a subject of subtle guilt and spiritual conviction. Making the decision to pursue my mission by faith has come with the promise that God would bless and protect my family if I entrust them to Him. On the other hand, I see how the increased strain I put on them by refusing to see them has caused great pain, especially to my mother, and perhaps spiritual damage as well. When I visit them, they are inspired at the work the Holy Spirit has done in my life and we share Bible studies, go to church regularly and talk about the Lord. God has worked greatly in their lives through this. I cannot deny the good work that He has done through my time with family. Yet, there is also the fear that by leaving my church fellowship and returning home I am compromising in God’s direction for my life.

I do not hold to the idea that keeping Sunday worship service is an obligation of Sabbath observation. I do hold that it is a personal decision of faith that we can make to love and honor God. Still, when the idea of missing a worship service–or another meeting, for that matter–crosses my mind, the guilt returns. My shepherdess encourages me to look at the faith of others who never return home to visit family, who have given up jobs and internships to come to worship service–I do not see these things as futile, they are clearly great works of faith. Right? But at the same time, it leads me into a sense of guilt about what I see as my spiritual duty to care for my family as well as God’s mission. “Give up Ishmael…”, but what about “Honor you father and mother”?

You are right that our position can be determined by our practice. What if I make a decision by faith to do something questionable in the eyes of UBF tradition? Have I dishonored God by disrespecting my ministry and refusing to hear the insights of my spiritual elders?

I pray that God would teach me His ways. As for finding this blog, I am extremely grateful. I have not yet had the opportunity to teach many students on my campus long enough to call them into the UBF ministry, but now my top prayer topic is that God would temper my Bible studies so that I do not use tactics of guilt, coercion and shaming. May His Holy Spirit guide me.

Thank you all, and God bless.

A comment was made maybe about 10 years ago–just before WL started in 2008–that “Dr. Ben does not study the Bible, but only reads book.” This comment was made because I quoted from Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Church, instead of rehashing the UBF manuscript when I shared my testimony. Ever since then, this statement has taken on a vibrant life of its own, and seemingly continues to spread.

So, sorry West Loopers that NONE of you “do Bible study,” or “study the Bible!”