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Re: Is the grass truly greener....on the other sid
I left the UPC in 1983 and I do believe the grass is definitely "greener on the other side". The UPC and old time Oneness Pentecostalism in general is a closed religious culture where many of the traditions and practices are just that, traditions and practices, not biblical.
I also believe that many UPC preachers erroneously teach that trinitarians believe in three gods and are polytheistic. That is as untrue as trinitarians who say that Oneness people are "Jesus Only", that they deny the role of the Father and Holy Spirit.
That is not to say that there are not a lot of great people in the UPC and like. I have many relatives and friends still there. I call them my Brothers in the Lord without hesitation and a few of them even call me the same!
Also I would like to point out that in many cases leaving the UPC does not happen as you describe "Boom" a sudden change. Since I was a small child I had questioned the lack of logic and consistency in the extra biblical standards but of course only to myself because any questioning of what was taught or preached was "rebellion" and rebellions was "as the sin of witchcraft". So if you questioned a preacher you were evil. UPC folks aren't big on that whole Berean thing! I just decided as an adult that I no longer wanted to be a part of a religious sect that covered the truth of salvation up in so many extra biblical yokes. Including strange dress codes that are not biblical and put unneccessary burdens on particularlly women.
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"I think some people love spiritual bondage just the way some people love physical bondage. It makes them feel secure. In the end though it is not healthy for the one who is lost over it or the one who is lives under the oppression even if by their own choice"
Titus2woman on AFF
"We did not wear uniforms. The lady workers dressed in the current fashions of the day, ...silks...satins...jewels or whatever they happened to possess. They were very smartly turned out, so that they made an impressive appearance on the streets where a large part of our work was conducted in the early years.
"It was not until long after, when former Holiness preachers had become part of us, that strict plainness of dress began to be taught.
"Although Entire Sanctification was preached at the beginning of the Movement, it was from a Wesleyan viewpoint, and had in it very little of the later Holiness Movement characteristics. Nothing was ever said about apparel, for everyone was so taken up with the Lord that mode of dress seemingly never occurred to any of us."
Quote from Ethel Goss (widow of 1st UPC Gen Supt. Howard Goss) book "The Winds of God"
Last edited by CC1; 03-15-2011 at 11:57 PM.
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