Intense Bible study

At first, UBF was "University Bible Research Society." The second initial of UBF stands for the Bible. UBF had a burning passion to read and study the Bible. Dr. Samuel Lee emphasized the importance of Bible study like this: "A leader must read and study the Bible. We must read the Bible so that the Bible can be useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training us in God's righteousness." Dr. Samuel Lee began UBF in order to revive despairing young students with the Bible. At first we did not know what to do; so we just gathered to read the Bible and pray. Soon we began to follow a systematic approach: Inductive Bible Study.

Missionary Sarah Barry taught us what the attitude of a Bible study leader ought to be: "A Bible study leader must not lose the main point of the Bible: crucifixion and resurrection. The leader must not try to convey his or her own ideas or opinions but have a learning mind and help others to open their hearts toward the word of God by listening to them." (Feb. 5, 1966) Inductive Bible Study is consisted of :

1. Observation. We must let our own pre-conceived ideas go and try to find the exact contents of the Bible passages based on the principles of 5W's and 1H (Who, Whom, What, Where, Why and How).
2. Interpretation. After finding the exact contents of the passage, we must interpret the meaning of the passage, paying close attention to its literary style, progress, emphasis, and the cause and effect relationship of the events in it. For this, we must meditate on the passage and study it deeply. When we find the deep meaning of the passage, we can experience unutterable joy of having a new understanding and insight toward the Bible.
3. Application. After observing and interpreting the passage, we must seek to apply its truth to ourselves, our society, our campus, our generation and the world. We must find the future direction of our lives based on its truth. Through this kind of training, we grew up to be men of deep meditation and inner content and later independent servants of God's word.

Inductive Bible study is neither theoretical nor intellectual; rather, it is practical and confessional. One of the reasons why UBF is full of life and power is this deep and practical approach to Bible studies. Later we published a book, called "Bible study questions" and we began to have testimony sharing meetings in order to share the grace we had received through Bible study.

At the beginning about four to five people gathered on campus and studied the Bible by conversing with one another. The participants enjoyed the Bible study and received much grace from it. At that time I attended the school of engineering at Chun-nam University. There were many concrete buildings on campus. In the fall, cosmos flowers blossomed around the buildings and made the whole campus look red. After classes, students gathered here and there on grass or in the empty classrooms, studied the Bible and went home after receiving much grace from Bible study. I cannot forget these beautiful days. After two years, 30 students participated in Bible study. Through these group Bible studies, we could pioneer Chun-nam University and Chosen University. In 1966 the number of group Bible studies reached to 100. This shows how the work of God grew rapidly.

At that time Bible study at the center had many different formats. Nowadays sheep attend fellowship meetings or Sunday worship service and study the Bible one-to-one once a week. But at that time we gathered everyday for Bible study and prayer meeting, with one of the mature leaders leading the Bible studies. Sometimes Dr. Samuel Lee delivered a series of lectures on John's gospel, Acts or one of the epistles. Other times we had a Bible study report meeting. For example, after reading and understanding Philippians, one of the epistles written by Paul, students wrote their own letters to the Christians in Philippi and shared them with one another. Shepherd Nahk-Seung Lee (now, Daniel Lee: Namsan UBF) won the first place and received the 'Best Writer of UBF' award.

Sunday worship services were held at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Dr. Lee delivered his message titled "Lectures on Christian Ideology." But soon it became purely Bible-centered. During vacations we had summer Bible conferences or sometimes winter conferences. We invited many famous speakers such as Dr. Sangeun Lee, Professor Hyungsuk Kim, Dr. Sahhoon Shin, and Pastor Doosub Um. In 1965 we had a Bible reading summer Bible conference. From morning to afternoon we read the Bible in groups. Some dosed off during Bible reading. But afterwards we raised up student lecturers, and helped them to study the Bible and deliver messages.

As we surveyed, we studied the Bible intensely in various ways. In fact the first staff shepherds of UBF did not receive any formal seminary training. But through various Bible study and training, we could have deep and abundant understanding of the Bible. After these trainings, staff shepherds became independent servants of God's words and produced Daily Bread booklets and messages. Moreover, those who studied the Bible from their college days and struggled to live according to it were changed from men and women of dependent spirit and despair to shepherds, missionaries and spiritual leaders.

Because of this kind of intense Bible study, we could catch the vision of world mission. Whenever we finished studying the gospels, we heard Jesus' world mission command, "Go into the whole world and preach the good news to all creation." We wanted to study the Bible and obey it. Therefore, even though it was impossible for us to obey Jesus' world mission command, we decided to obey it by any means. In the end, world mission became the goal of UBF. We thank and praise God who blessed us to study the Bible and obey it absolutely until we became a kingdom of priests for the whole world.