UBU MINISTRIES

In this historic speech, Rev. King relates our responsibility to support and aid our fellows to the story of  The Good Samaritan - the Golden Rule. Please, when reading this consider that his references to the suffering, needs, responsibility and power of the negro community apply equally to all the downtrodden in our society regardless of ethnicity. Strong individuals and communities will be committed to the principles outlined in this simple yet direct and powerful story. This, of course, is one of the most mysterious and powerful scriptures in existence.  It encapsulates the entire teachings of  Jesus into one memorable concept.  This appears for Jesus, to be his most basic and critical teaching and purpose - which of course, he also recommends to me and you. Luke 10:25-37    (KJV) 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the...

by Rev. Gregory "Doc" Lowrey It may seem odd that many times the biggest issues for churches seem to be with government. In the United States the two are supposed to be separated. One cannot attempt to exercise control over the other as that would essentially establish a government religion. Both are free to address and attempt to persuade the other, but may not go further. There is a distinction for what seem the majority of churches in the United States that must be noted and that is churches that have bought official government recognition of their (exempt from govt. involvement) status. When churches do apply for and purchase what is called 501.c.3 status, which is the title in the IRS code that addresses tax exempt organizations; as a condition of that recognition (that the IRS declares they do not even need as their exempt status is declared in the Bill of Rights and is a status that is not claimed to be "granted" by govt. , only "officially r...

by Rev. Gregory "Doc" Lowrey Happy Sunday. Today I gave in (got sucked in) to a discussion presented on Linked-In titled: Where Is God? Where Is He Not...?  Many views were presented and it was obvious that the participants had all spent a lot of energy and concern with this issue of "understanding" God and determining if we are collectively God or individuals with our own thoughts and powers of self-determination. If you would like to consider the conversation you can find it here: http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=1437977&type=member&item=115060458&report.success=Tj8fJnK62GOU9jIFdRRZ-uJ21Ua1K69XF6XJ24FUowP1Q6iOAj_JytVeP7141jKoFHbECgNULh4dKgM5922xwphYoiFzZgLoXzigjsFUqQP1Q3npf6B26XPRL7AdKgLX4C92j0PRoWkFbdGXFjkETtPa1WcFKTnOlHbNjC1aqaRlQ6XflzweyASC1h0qQl5flADNabsU-pc (you may have to join the group to read this.  I really know little about Linked-In and rarely participate) My personal contribution to the discussion was this: It se...

by Rev. Gregory "Doc" Lowrey This morning on Meet the Press, the topic of Same-Sex Marriage was discussed. Here is a short report on what was said.  By Ryan Teague Beckwith  May 6, 2012 Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-ranking U.S. official to endorse same-sex marriage this morning. In a wide-ranging interview on “Meet the Press,” Biden said he has no problem with gays and lesbians having marriage rights. “The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties,” Biden said, according to Reuters . Biden did not say whether the White House would take concrete steps to help legalize gay marriage if President Obama wins a second term. Obama has said his views on same-sex marriage are “evolving” and that it is a matter best l...

by Rev. Gregory "Doc" Lowrey (I wanted to post this while I was thinking about it and so this is "from the hip", a first draft.  It may get changes later - please excuse any brain farts) I would like this to be a longer post, but I want to at least get it started and perhaps the simple statement (which I have never seen) of this basic simple but essential fact will be sufficient. Just as Jesus points out "The 'natural' man is an enemy to God", humans are at the most basic level "animals" who put individual needs and wants above concern for others.  This is NORMAL and is the normal, basic foundation from which nearly all people actually operate - a purely animal level where little to no concern is shown for anyone (or anything) who do not show direct advantage to, or are confusingly different than that individual (each of us). What Jesus then asks us, and which every religion or philosophy promoting civilization and especially altr...

By Rev. Doc Lowrey If the "First and Great Commandment" is " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind . " Matthew 22: 37-39 [KJV] there should be a lot of wonder about just what that means and how we accomplish it. Jesus understood this complication and rightly followed with an extrapolation on this command in verse 39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." From this and other similar teachings from Jesus, we understand that this is pretty much the whole of his religion, but we often fail to see how this applies in our various life situations.

 by John Shore (reposted to UBU by Rev. Kita) (John is not a UBU Member, but we like the general thrust of his article presented here.  UBU holds different teachings regarding the nature of God and Jesus and our relationships to them.  We personally consider ourselves disciples of Jesus and are not "Christian" in the commonly understood sense of the term.  Rev. Doc) 1) Too much money. "Wealthy Christian" should be an oxymoron. In Luke 12:33, Jesus says, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor." In Matthew 19:21, he says, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor." In Matthew 6:24, he says, "You cannot serve God and Money." Christians are generally pretty huge on cleaving to the word of God. I just don't see how those particular words could be clearer. (For more on this, see my post " Christians: No Fair Heeding Paul on Gays But Not Jesus on Wealth .") 2) Too confident G...