Category: Conference

Next up in our spotlight of UCA Conference Partners: Allegiance to the King. With the simple goal of being faithful followers of our King, and of building a community, A2K has spread its efforts far and wide.

Their Christian Virtual Fellowship has connected people across the globe. I’ve heard it described as “more meaningful and encouraging than the in-person fellowships I have attended.” This is a testimony to their humble approach and how they model servant leadership.

The teaching portions from their virtual fellowships are regularly posted online so that others may benefit. This also serves as an introduction for new people who are unsure of who they are, or perhaps have never tried a virtual fellowship before. Check out their website to peruse the hundreds of videos they have published on topics from Christian living, teachings on our God and his Messiah, and on the Kingdom of God.

I had the joy of interviewing Kenny Willenburg in the UCA podcast, 17. Fellowship Effectively Less Frequently. He has been a regular part of their efforts. Each year they host a 20’s and 30’s conference as an outreach to younger unitarian Christians from across affiliations. I had the joy of attending this year. Their loving spirit and welcoming hospitality was palpable. I am convinced this event is a model of what we can do around the world to connect each other.

Allegiance to the King is actively working with and encouraging others around the globe, including an amazing work taking place in the Philippines. I am excited to one day soon have an interview about this effort and the amazing things God is doing in that country.

An abundance of thanks for A2K’s participation as a sponsor in this conference. We are honored to work side-by-side with them as we reach the world for the truth of our one God and his precious lamb, our King.

A syndicate is “a group of people who work together and help each other in order to achieve a particular aim.”  For the Integrity Syndicate, a group of bible-believing, truth-seeking Christians founded by bible-student Theophilus Josiah, the aim is “the restoration of first-century apostolic Christianity”—a project grounded directly in the truth about the one God, his human son, and God’s message and expectations for humanity.

The IntegritySyndicate.com website covers topics beyond unitarian theology and analyzes the fundamentals of Christian belief via dozens of articles and recommended resources.  The site also features a family of twenty-six interconnected web portals created and curated with apologetics in mind and dedicated to specific issues of Christian theology.  These include TrueUnitarian.com (The Foundations of Biblical Unitarianism), ApostlesDoctrine.net (Apostles doctrine of repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit), WayOfChrist.faith (a new social site) and many more.  Fifteen of these sites are dedicated to unitarian Christian issues, including UnderstandingLogos.com, BiblicalAgency.com, IamStatements.com, and TrinityDelusion.net. For a full list of sites, see https://integritysyndicate.com/about-us/.

One of the things I appreciate about the Integrity Syndicate’s main site is its wide variety of articles on unitarian topics (found here), and storehouse of links to recommended unitarian books and other terrific resources.  The host of helpful articles feature in-depth investigations and explanations on such hotly-debated and important issues as the Logos, the Evolution of the Doctrine of the Trinity, the Preexistence of Christ, the I Am Statements of Jesus, Biblical Agency, and much more.  Students of the ongoing controversy between unitarian, trinitarian, and modalistic theologies will no doubt find such resources valuable in their quests for the truth.  Likewise, unitarian Christians interested in apologetics will find their quivers full of fresh arrows for their debates.

Many thanks to Integrity Syndicate for not only their ongoing efforts to spread the message of unitarian Christian theology, but for sponsoring the upcoming UCA Conference in Nashville.  Looking forward to the great things to come through our partnership, and to more excellent work on the web!

Continuing our spotlight of UCA Conference Partners, next up is Living Hope International Ministries (LHIM), headquartered in Latham, New York, USA!

LHIM is a biblical unitarian network of churches and home fellowships dedicated to making disciples of all nations.  The organization does this by providing educational resources (sermons, classes, articles, books) and fostering community through events (Family Camp, Teen Camp, Kingdom Fest) and local fellowship (in the home and/or online). 

The ministry is firmly grounded in a commitment to promoting biblical monotheism and the kingdom gospel far and wide, as well as promoting holistic Christian living.  Their terrific website (https://lhim.org/) features a virtual treasure trove of biblical teachings and other resources in book, article/tract, video, and podcast formats.  Especially helpful are the Living Hope Webcasts (live-streamed church services), Weekly Bible Teachings, and free online classes on a variety of biblical topics.  Recently, LHIM has also published an insightful book by unitarian Christian author Jeff Deuble.

One of the things I’ve greatly appreciated about LHIM is its commitment to providing resources across a wide variety of mediums.  There is something for everyone here, and in any format you prefer.  In our multimedia society, it is important that we not only provide people with the content they need but in the formats they prefer and in the places they expect.  LHIM’s multi-platform/multi-medium approach ensures the gospel goes far and wide, and theirs is clearly a model to follow for other ministries looking to effectively engage. 

Speaking of wide distribution, another thing I’ve admired about LHIM is its commitment to its global outreach initiative.  LHIM has made significant progress in spreading the gospel and supporting ministries on the African continent.  In the Congo, LHIM directly supports local ministers and coordinates a child education program, funding over 100 children to attend school.

You can sign up here for LHIM ministry email updates (https://lhim.org/email-updates/).  You won’t want to miss out on the weekly content updates, event announcements, and the significant work that LHIM is doing for the gospel every day.

If you’d like to meet some of the wonderful folks behind LHIM, including Pastor Sean Finnegan, stop by their booth at the UCA Conference—an event which they have generously sponsored.

Thank you to Living Hope International Ministries for partnering with the UCA in our mutual mission to share the message of the One God and support believers!

I first encountered Spirit and Truth via their content-rich, long-running website biblicalunitarian.com. I returned to this often as I wrestled with disentangling my understanding of Scripture from distorting later traditions. And as far as I know, they coined and/or popularized the term “biblical unitarian,” a helpful and more accurate replacement for the moldly oldy “Socinian.”

Nowadays they are up to a lot more, including online fellowships, Jerry Wierwille’s Words of Wisdom podcast, teaching videos on the Bible and Christian living by John Schoenheit, and devotional blog posts by Rene Duggan and others.

You’ll be able to meet John and Jerry at the Conference; be sure to stop by the Spirit and Truth table to find out more about what they’re doing and how it can benefit you.

Finally, I must mention their amazing, ongoing REV project – an unabashedly unitarian translation and commentary. (Yeah, with phone apps too!) I leave you with their translation of John 8:58 and a sample of their very helpful and accurate comments on that much-misunderstood verse.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am the one.”

Comments: “I am the one.” Many Trinitarians argue that this verse states that when Jesus said “I am” that he was claiming to be God, (i.e., Yahweh, the God who revealed Himself to Moses in the Old Testament). But saying “I am” does not mean a person is claiming to be God. The Greek that is translated as “I am” is egō eime (ἐγὼ εἰμί), and it was a common Greek way for a person to identify themself. For example, only ten verses after Jesus said, egō eime (“I am”) in John 8:58, the man who had been born blind identified himself by saying exactly what Jesus said; egō eime (“I am;” John 9:9). Thus, Jesus and the man born blind both identified themselves by saying egō eime (“I am”), only ten verses apart. . . . Jesus said egō eime (“I am”), in a large number of places, but it is usually translated “I am he,” “It is I,” or “I am the one,” which are good translations . . . Examples of Jesus using egō eime include: John 13:19; 18:5, 6 and 18:8; Jesus identifying himself to the apostles on the boat: Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50; and John 6:20; and Jesus identifying himself to the Jews, saying egō eime, translated “I am the one I claim to be” (NIV84, John 8:24 and 8:28.). All these places where Jesus says egō eime but it is not translated “I am” shows that the translators understand that just saying egō eime does not mean the person is claiming to be God.

. . . It is also important to notice that many people misread John 8:58 and think it says Jesus saw Abraham. We must read the Bible carefully because it says no such thing. It does not say Jesus saw Abraham, it says Abraham saw the Day of Christ. A careful reading of the context of the verse shows that Jesus was speaking of “existing” in God’s foreknowledge. John 8:56 says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad.” This verse says that Abraham “saw” the day of Christ (the day of Christ is usually considered by theologians to be the day when Christ conquers the earth and sets up his kingdom—and it is still future). That would fit with what the book of Hebrews says about Abraham: “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). The Bible says Abraham “saw” a city that is still future. In what sense could Abraham have seen something that was future? Abraham “saw” the day of Christ because God told him it was coming, and Abraham “saw” it by faith. Although Abraham saw the day of Christ by faith, that day existed in the mind of God long before Abraham. Thus, in the context of God’s plan existing from the beginning, Christ certainly was “before” Abraham. Christ was the plan of God for man’s redemption long before Abraham lived.

Jesus did not claim to be God in John 8:58. In very strong terms, however, he claimed to be the Messiah, the one whose day Abraham saw by faith. Jesus said that before Abraham was, “I am the one,” meaning, even before Abraham existed, Jesus was foretold to be the promised Messiah. Jesus gave the Jews many opportunities to see and believe that he was in fact the Messiah of God, but they were blind to that fact, and crucified him.