Originally Posted by Exupcer
Wow. I am shocked beyond words. It has been ages since being a part of the UPC and I very much just left in peace. My theology is not in line with the UPC at all, so I do not stop by here to throw any stones but just to stop and see after all these years how things are going. And what a shock.
Tulsa...a split...letters blasting the split..and at last something that will rock the UPC to its core..or so it seems. What is going on?
As I recall..during my time in the UPC...the men who are a part of the Tulsa group were known as great men of God, revival leaders, hero's of Apostolic doctrine, who made no bones about what they believed. Agree or disagree...these were known voices for what is called 'Apostolic' revival.
As I read the letters sent out from the UPC officials from Haney on down, I was shocked. It is clear that a nerve has been struck. I read as men declared it not of God and that these men were causing disunity to 'the body.' and there I see the problem.
The UPC is not the body of Christ. Neither is the new group. From an Apostolic standpoint the BODY of Christ is ALL who are born again of the water and the spirit. This has never been limited to a man made group. The oranization was to be a tool in the hand of the body...not the body.
Here is the question.....these men who are now in Tulsa are simply doing what they always said they would do. Endorse TV evangelism, and they said they were out. No bones. No new development. It was always clear and known. TV evangelism was endorsed. They left. So what else is new?
It is clear that the UPC is at a cross roads. It is also true that the men who left and are leaving are men of prayer, men of apostolic revival, and men who believe in holiness as the old upc old timers defined it. Now those left in the UPC must decide what they will do. The truth is...in time...the issue of hair will also go by the wayside...the issue of make up will go by the way side...the issue of having to speak in tongues to be saved will go by the wayside...because many, many, many, many men in the upc have been questioning those issues for years. They kept quite because of the presence of the old timers in their midst. So in a great sense what is happening is of God.
Those who are leaving are following their heart. They are being true to what they believe. They are no more contentious now than they were when they were upc. I do not agree with the theology of either group...but as an outsider...it is clear to see they are following their heart by leaving the UPC as much as the FOUNDERS of the UPC were following their heart when they LEFT the Assembly of God! The men who left the Assembly of God did not want to leave. They were FORCED out by the acceptance of the Trinity as a must doctrine. They had no choice. They were cursed by the Assembly and told that they would fail. The UPC is the result of people who followed their heart,,,right or wrong. The same thing with the new Tulsa group. These men could not stay UPC because what they believed...do not preach on TV...was changed. They did not change. The organization changed. So what?
The UPC now has the change to show love, inclusion, acceptance, and pray richest blessings on the Tulsa group...because they are simply seeking to be old time revival Pentecostal. Does the UPC support that ONLY if it is UPC?
Now the UPC will continue its journey of expansion into a more progressive type of movement. This is not bad either.
Why the fuss? To read these posts and to see the fight...only reminds me of why myself and thousands of others left in the first place. Oh for the return of the love that the Spirit was supposed to bring.
EX-UPCer
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