Pastor Buddy's Blog

A Journey Out of the UPC
By Lawrence “Buddy” Martin

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I care deeply for my Pentecostal kinsmen. It is not my desire to cast a bad reflection on any person of the Pentecostal faith. My earnest hope is simply that my testimony will encourage others to take a closer look at how the United Pentecostal Church misrepresents the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My family roots are in Louisiana. My mother was born into a Oneness Pentecostal family in 1920. (Several years before the United Pentecostal church formed in 1945.)

After mom married at age 15, she left the world of the Pentecostal. Mom and dad moved to Portsmouth, Virginia during World War II, where they worked in the Naval ship yards to support the war effort. (I was one month old when we moved.) Later mom and dad divorced, and she moved to California where some of her siblings had located. (My mom was from a family of twelve children.)

Mom always carried in her heart both a love and a concern for the things of the Lord. She wanted me to know the Lord, but not in the way of Pentecostalism. (Many people do not care for the emotional drives that Pentecostalism is noted for.)

My earliest childhood memory is of my mom teaching me to pray, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” In this childlike way she taught me to call upon the Lord. Some years later I would come to fully experience Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.

But for some reason that childhood prayer has always held a special place in my heart. Even as a child I could sense the goodness of the Lord in those moments of prayer. Years later I came to realize that my mother had taught me a Davidic type prayer.

David said,

“You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.” (Psa 4:7-8 NASB)

Somehow I wish every parent would teach their small ones the ‘Now I lay me down to sleep’ prayer.

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My formative years

Several of my mother’s siblings had also left Pentecostalism. (Seven of the twelve.)

I was too young to remember Virginia. All my earlier childhood memories are of California. We moved back to Louisiana in 1949.

I had my first encounter with Pentecostalism in 1949. I was nine years old. (I am 70 now.) It was mysterious and strange. People were falling out, and shouting, and dancing. The preaching and singing were filled with passion. Pentecostalism was an awesome world to me.

The emotionalism was captivating. It did not dawn on me until years later just how many of these dancers and shouters would take their leave from Pentecostalism and be later found in more traditional churches. I think this was due to the emotional burn out such as my mother experienced.

Anyway, during the next ten years my exposure to religion would alternate between the United Pentecostal Church and the Church of God – Anderson. But like many young people my interest in religion began to lessen over time. I enlisted in the Navy at age 18, and served from 1959 to 1963. (Age 18 to 22.)

The short side of things is that after I got out of the Navy, I relocated to Colorado, where I was to meet my beautiful wife to be. My wife’s father was a UPC pastor. I married into Pentecostalism. (Of course the Lord is always in the details.)

In 1964 I began to pursue a call to the ministry. For the next seven years I would fill various roles in the United Pentecostal ministry including that of pastor and as an evangelist.

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The crisis moment that set the stage.

It was in 1971. Betty and I had pastored a UPC Church and afterwards went into full-time evangelic ministry. We then decided to move to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to establish a UPC home mission work. Much of what would change my thinking about Pentecostalism would begin there.

And so Betty and me, with our two sons, Nathan and Andre, made our venture to New Mexico. It would begin in Los Alamos.

There we became acquainted with some non-Pentecostal believers. While they did not attend any of our services, I could not help but notice how these non-Pentecostals were so different. There was something in their spiritual demeanor that stirred my heart. They had such a peacefulness in their walk with the Lord. Little did I know that these believers were carrying the signs of a composed walk of righteousness.

Isaiah said,

“And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.” (Isa 32:17 NASB)

The Lord was going to use these believers to put me on my knees.

Where were we missing it?

The more I studied the Scriptures the more I began to realize that the gospel we Pentecostals were preaching was not in accord with what the apostles preached. The doctrine that speaking in tongues was the Biblical evidence of salvation was never taught by Jesus, nor was it taught by any apostle, nor by the early Christians, nor was it ever taught in the history of the Church. It is Pentecostalism short and simple.

But it gets even scarier. Eventually I came to realize that there is a cursed placed on anyone who preaches a gospel contrary to what the apostles actually preached. (Paul explained what the apostles preached in Romans 10:8-13. Compare Galatians 1:8,9.)

Please take time to read this entry: http://buddymartin.net/blog/salvation/

Why had I not seen this before?

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My spiritual eyes were opened.

I soon realized that the true gospel message of salvation is based entirely upon faith in Jesus Christ. Out of the cross came a life exchange. Jesus exchanged lives with us. He took our place and in turn gave us His standing with heaven.

Troubled in spirit, Betty and I and our two sons left the mission work and evangelized for a short time. Our last revival saw twenty-five people baptized. As the altars filled, my heart was breaking. Seekers were begging God to save them. It wasn’t as though you could kneel by a seeker and explain how true salvation works. The seekers had largely been brought up under the influence of Pentecostal teachings.

In God’s guidance and care, the next three years found us in a local congregation. It was a UPC church, but the pastor was a gentle and compassionate man. (We only make one step at a time.) August 1971 through August 1974 was our season of healings. I preached out from the local church but my major need was to get my belief system fully in accord with God’s word.

An interesting thing happened. The church we were attending had just gone through a split. The pastor asked me to help him rebuild. When I told him that I did not believe a person had to speak in tongues to be saved, he surprised me. He said that when the UPC first formed, many of the ministers of one of the forming groups believed the way that I believe, that a person did not have to speak in tongues to be saved. This belief eventually disappeared under the stricter, ‘you-must-speak-in-tongues-to-be-saved’, teaching of the other forming group. We agreed to disagree. I worked with this godly man for three years.

[Note: I encourage any UPC person to secure the book, 'Christianity Without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism,' by Thomas A. Fudge. It is an eye opener for those who do not understand the real history of the UPC.]

http://www.christianchallenge.org/bookstore/index.html -

I formally left the UPC in 1974. [In heart in 1971]

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Further back in time.

I think it is important to share how I actually came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It was 1963. I had just gotten out of the Navy. A cousin kept insisting that I go to church with her. So I did. It was in church that I first saw my wife to be. In short order I fell in love with this beautiful Pentecostal girl. We married that same year. (That was 46 plus years ago.)

Not many months afterwards I found myself in the world of the Pentecostal altar. Revival after revival saw me in the altar. The longer this went on the more discouraged I became. One Sunday afternoon I am sitting in our living room with my Bible in my hands, reading from the book of John. When I came to John 14. I saw that the questions being asked of Jesus were my very own questions. The Holy Spirit was reaching deep into my heart. It were as though I was right there with the disciples.

When Philip asked the Lord to show them the Father, it was that very moment that Jesus spoke into my heart. He said,

“Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Buddy? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, ‘Shew us the Father?’ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me…” (John 14:9,10 kjv)

Jesus spoke my name. I was so aware of the divine presence. My childhood prayer of, ‘Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep’, had become a reality. Tears flowed down my cheeks onto my open Bible. I now knew that Jesus was the very Lord that I prayed to as a child. That very same consciousness of the Lord that I felt as a child was now manifested in my heart.

It was at that very moment that I came to believe in Jesus Christ with all my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. That was the very moment I was birthed into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.

I have carried the testimony of Jesus in my heart ever since that day. (Rom8:15-17) Jesus made Himself real to me. I loved Him then. I love Him now. It remains my constant desire to only do those things that He gives me to do, whether it is teaching, preaching or anything else that pertains to life. (John 10:4,5,14,27-29)

Paul said it this way:

For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” (Rom 10:10-11 NASB)

This accords with what God said through the prophet Ezekiel:

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you…” (Eze36:26,27 nasb)

And this from the prophet Jeremiah:

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days … They will not teach again, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them … for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer31:33,34)

But there was a problem. I knew that Jesus was Lord and I believed and trusted in Him. Yet I still under the influence of the Pentecostal altar.

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Concerning the Pentecostal altar.

This is the sad side of Pentecostalism. The UPC has such a stress on having to speak in tongues to be saved that an altar service can appear to be a total frenzy. (At least to an outsider.)

It is not uncommon to hear seekers crying and begging God to save them. You can hear people shouting, “Just say, ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, over and over, real fast.’” Or, “Say ‘hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah over and over real fast.’“ Some are saying, “Turn loose!” Still others are saying, “Hang on!” The person in the altar is being drawn into a highly emotionally charged atmosphere.

Sometimes a circle will form around the seeker. He finds himself being moved around. His eyes are often tightly closed. The very moment the seeker makes any sound that seems not to be English, someone will shout, “He’s got it! He’s got it! He’s got the Holy Ghost!“ In turn he gives in to all his emotions. He is relieved! The battle is over. But is it really?

The seeker is often told something like this; “Tomorrow morning when you wake up, the devil is going to tell you that you did not get anything. You just tell him that he is a liar.” This is just another part of the Pentecostal pattern. (Been there. Done that. Done it all. Been in the circle and one of those forming the circle.)

Why do they need tell the seeker this? The reason is because the next morning the emotions will have subsided. The questions will begin.

Where is the excitement? Where is the joy? Why am I having such doubts? It was so real last night. Why is it not real now? Was I really saved?

This isn’t something the devil is telling him. These doubts are coming from within him. The new Pentecostal has entered into a religious world where doubt and fear will pretty much the norm. This person will now have to learn to live on these emotional pushes.

The point is why would you even need to tell a person who has actually received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that the next morning they’ll wake up feeling like nothing has happened. Salvation is not an emotional work up. It is a heart-exchange.

When the Holy Spirit enters the heart of a believing one, the Spirit will be there tomorrow, and the next tomorrow, and the next tomorrow. This is called the testimony of the Spirit. Every true believer carries this testimony in his heart for his entire life.

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Why so many Pentecostals struggle.

When you are brought up in a religious system such as the UPC, you don’t know anything else. Everything a Oneness Pentecostal person is taught revolves around a single Scripture, where Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38 KJV. Of course they often tack on the end, ”…with the evidence of speaking in tongues.”)

Many Pentecostals are surprised to find that the statement, ‘with the evidence of speaking in tongues’ is not part of Acts 2:38. It is not to be found anywhere in the Bible. And this is what distorts the gospel message that they preach.

Caught in a net.

I need to point out that those who leave the UPC often enter a time of culture shock. The greater world of Christianity is unlike anything they are use to. Oneness Pentecostalism is a sub-culture with its own distinctive control factors, where fear itself is the primary control factor. Fear of leaving the UPC is deeply ingrained in them. Fear of losing their salvation is instilled.

As a young preacher, I use to say to my wife,

“Honey, I feel like I’m caught in a net and I don’t know what it is.”

Yes, I truly loved the Lord with all my heart. What I did not know was that the net was the misguided teachings of the UPC. No one can experience their true freedom in Christ while laboring under misguided doctrines.

Here is something to think about. According to statistics the Pentecostals have the highest rate of divorce, and the highest rate of emotional and mental disturbances of any Protestant group.

A few years back I did research on issues of mental health to better educate myself for the purpose of pastoral ministry. I came across some research that had been conducted concerning mental patients in California. It stated that the largest religious groups of patients in mental institutions in California were from a Pentecostal background.

In picking up my research again I came across a major study by K. G. Meador and others. It was reported in ‘Hospital and Community Psychiatry,’ a monthly journal of the American Psychiatric Association. Having researched several thousand cases, Meador concluded that there was a greater rate of depression in Pentecostals than in any other religious affiliation. Here is the quote:

“[The] rate of major depression in Pentecostals was three times greater than for any other affiliations.”

[Note: The term Pentecostal is a broad term and takes in far more than the United Pentecostal Church. Pentecostalism includes a great many groupings.]

Let me mention one other item that is important. The ones who generally suffer the most under the UPC yoke are the women. The rules largely apply to them. Without naming all that is required of the women, let me simply say that much of what the UPC calls ‘standards’ have little and often no real Bible base. Paul speaks of these rules as self-made religion.

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Are you struggling

I can simply tell you that the Lord knows exactly where you are. He knows what you need to hear. He knows what your next step needs to be. God has a plan for your life. Don’t be afraid to trust Him with all the details. He will show you what to do at the proper time.

If any of this fits your world and you need someone to talk to on a personal basis, feel free to contact me by email: Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org. Our web site is: http://www.christianchallenge.org/.

Christian Challenge also has a support group for people with a Oneness Pentecostal background who may be questioning certain UPC doctrines. Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DepartingUPC/

The following web sites are provided by former United Pentecostal ministers or by a former adherent to Pentecostalism.

Lois Gibson, former UPC minister: http://www.spiritualabuse.org/issues.html

Bernie Gillespie, former UPC minister. http://inchristalone.org/

Thomas A. Fudge. former UPC minister. [Christianity Without the Cross]: http://thomasfudge.com/index.html

Jenni Baier [Recovering Pentecostal]: http://www.renewed.net/

Josh Spears: http://www.whyileft.org/

Talking Pentecostalism http://talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com/

The Lord bless you,

Buddy