UBU MINISTRIES

by Rev. Doc I wrote a close friend today that the pain he endures, that seems so overwhelming now, will likely later be recalled as a relative bump in the road along his greater life path. It made me think about how often I am asked what our church is about and I talk about how some people just don't feel a good fit with the orthodoxy, dogma and ritual of organized religion but they still seek spiritual development and a sense of community of like-mindedness, and that is where they find their attraction to our ministry. It seems that most often it is people who have a bumpy path in life who are attracted to our services and seek to form social and spiritual bonds with us. The vast majority of people, of course - are more comfortable in the mutual dead ends they have accepted as their waiting for death existences. To us they are huddled masses of fear clogging the darkest corners of life. Unfortunately, these are our public majority and bureaucracy - an overwhelming av

Painting: The Golden Rule by Norman Rockwell The Golden Rule is a Universal Foundational Belief expressed in nearly all religions. Christianity So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 Confucianism Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state. Analects 15:23 Buddhism Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. Udana-Varga 5:18 Hinduism This is the sum of duty; do not do to others what you would not have them do unto you. Mahabharata 5:1517 Islam No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. Sunnah Judaism What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. Talmud, Shabbat 31a

A while back I received this in an email: Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of

The independent Utah branch of UBU Ministries had a change in CEO May 1st, 2010 as Rev. Gregory Lowrey resigned his board membership. The position of Pastor for Utah and CEO of UBU Ministries - Utah has been filled by Rev. Steven Bosh who has served as Associate Pastor since August 2009. Several additional board positions have been re-posted. Welcome Rev. Steve and Rev. Jeri Bosh as members of the board. We have great confidence in your dedication to the principles of integrity and purpose that we are founded on. Congratulations also to UBU - Utah on being voted #1 by Utah County in the People's Choice Awards for both tattooing and piercing. Our ongoing cases of infringement of our 1st Amendment Rights by various departments of Utah State, County and Municipal Government continues. We won all the (frivolous) criminal cases with relative ease - excepting debilitating stress, near financial ruin and months lost and other damage to our mission here. We are still working

 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