By reclaiming the the biblical understanding of brothers and sisters in Christ, the church can be a picture of healthy community in a relationally confused world.
What was once the fledgling project of a local Christian radio station has now become a ministry project that has impacted children and families in nearly every corner of the world.
Being a leader can be hard. Leaders have to model the way for others to follow, inspire a shared vision, challenge processes, enable others to act, and care for those they lead. Being a leader is also hard because you have to live in two times simultaneously. Leading means being present with people in the now, while also thinking further down the road.
"More divided than ever." It's a cringe-worthy phrase I hear way more often than I'd like lately—because it seems to be true. Though our culture increasingly rejects labels, it's also become a place where loyalty to one group means a complete rejection of and distance from those outside that group. But is it possible to challenge someone's position while keeping a larger sense of unity? How can leveraging our differences make us better?
Over 20 years ago, Lynette Francois had the vision to be a blessing over houses and lands spread out across the world. At the time, she wasn't really sure what that meant or even where to start. Over the years, however, God brought the right situations and the right people to work together to impact Haiti. Now, Make It Matter Inc is demonstrating God's love by building durable and safe homes for those in need.
I was recently archiving some files and came across some info from 2005. That year, Hurricane Rita followed Hurricane Katrina by just a month to the day and devastated New Orleans. Many of our UBA churches—large and small—were heavily involved in helping those who had fled New Orleans. We’re deeply thankful for the action of churches when disaster strikes and proud of a legacy of innovative collaboration in our association. Join us as we reminisce and celebrate some ways we've been better together.
In an age where we're easily divided into camps, churches must fight to remember our common purpose. We must make an effort to be counter-cultural, not only in what we believe but also in the way we live it out. At UBA, we're proud to have several examples of churches doing innovative collaboration, pooling resources, and working together to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are just a few of those stories:
In a dramatic scene of the 1987 movie The Untouchables, Jim Malone presses Eliot Ness on what he is willing to do to finally catch Al Capone. Though I'm certainly not advocating for illegal activity as Malone was, I think it's a great picture of what we need to innovate and reach gospel saturation in and beyond our city.
If your way isn’t working where you are, are you prepared to learn a new way? As leaders, we need to be asking ourselves and allowing trusted people in our lives to ask us the same question: “What are you prepared to do?”
