Looking back over 2019, we're thankful for the many voices displayed through the blog content this year. We've heard from leadership experts, seasoned pastors, lay leaders, church consultants, counselors, church planters, and more. We've thought through heavy topics, laughed a little, and hopefully grown in our abilities to love and serve the local and global church better.
So, let's take a moment to reminisce with the top 10 articles of the year:
1. 7 Reasons your church needs Senior adults
By: Tony Wolfe
“A thriving senior adult ministry facilitates an atmosphere where older men and women can be intentional about reproducing themselves in the lives of younger church members.”
2. Why unity is important in the church body
By: Tony Wolfe
“Our lack of unity as Christians affects the world’s understanding of the testimony about Jesus Christ.”
3. Lessons Learned From the early church
By: Sally Hinzie
“Heathen opponents of Christians recognized the pure life, devoted love, and amazing courage of early Christians, and it drew them in.”
4. Pastor Appreciation Month—why is it important?
By: Josh Ellis
“Hardly an hour goes by for a minister that something deeply personal and emotionally draining doesn’t happen. So, with the amount of themselves our pastors put into our churches, let's celebrate and support them in the best way we can.”
5. What's all this talk about replanting?
By: Keelan Cook
“Fact is, the replanting conversation is a needed one that rises out of the real world situation concerning churches across North America. While many numbers paint a gloomy portrait concerning North American missions, replanting is perhaps the bright spot in the conversation. Replanting, simply put, is the idea that God may not be done with all of these churches.”
If you'd like to learn more about replanting, There's an excellent opportunity coming this January. UBA is teaming up with NAMB and Texas Baptists to host the Am I a Replanter? Conference here in Houston. Follow the link to find our more!
6. Church Profiles: L.T. Chuong & A Seat at the Table Church
Interview with Marie Burrus
“Lam (aka L.T.) Chuong is the lead pastor of A Seat at the Table Church, a small multi-ethnic church here in Houston. As an Asian-American refugee growing up in a Buddhist family, he never dreamed he would become a Baptist pastor.”
7. Church Profiles: Ben Ellis & Cornerstone Church Ministries
Interview with Marie Burrus
“Ben Ellis describes his call to plant a church as much like the calling to ministry—a push, an urge, an inescapable burn. He's the guy who assured everyone he would never pastor a church—much less plant one. However, one midweek evening when he showed up for his post at Exxon, he suddenly felt a very clear sense that God wanted him to do just that.”
8. Moving Beyond Burnout
By: Trisha Taylor
“Overextended, resentful, and exhausted Christians are at best useless and at worst dangerous to the kingdom of God.”
9. Discipling Muslim Background believers
“Abu Da’ud is a former Muslim raised in a Muslim Majority country. He is the only Christian known on either side of his family and has been a Christian for nearly forty years. He was disowned and disinherited because he followed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He has discipled Muslim Background Believers (MBBs), taught about Muslim ministry at church, led Muslims to the Lord, and started small groups.”
“With these life experiences, Abu Da’ud has been compelled to create a system of Bible studies that can be used with a Muslim seeker or a Muslim background believer.”
Interested in a more in-depth study about Muslims and how to reach them in a meaningful way? We have a 12-week study of Encountering the World (EWI) of Islam starting February 2020.
EWI is designed to help believers connect relationally with the Muslim community and to respectfully explain our hope in Jesus Christ, while not repeating prideful errors of the past. Participants leave the class with a working knowledge of the Islamic faith, how to get involved in reaching out to Muslims, and how to explain their beliefs to Muslims.
10. The Best leadership book you've probably never read
By: Josh Ellis
“The premise of the book is simple: effectively matching mental-models to situations is the key to effective leadership. The key to this book is how it stresses that leaders should be able to identify and utilize multiple mental models rather than relying on a singular perspective for all occasions.”
What a year it has been! Of course, blog content is a very small part of what we do as an association, but we hope that you've been encouraged this year. Here's to another year of advancing the gospel together! See you in 2020.
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