It's been one whole year since Josh Ellis stepped in as UBA's executive director. But has everyone forgotten? It's ok. We work for our churches, anyways.

Enjoy this fun spoof of The Office, and see if you can spot us repping your church's merch.

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:

Reaching out to Muslims who may be seeking Christ and discipling Muslim-background believers can be a unique challenge. One resource we've found particularly helpful is Abu Da’ud's 5-book series on Discipling Muslim Background Believers. From his own experience coming to faith in Christ and reaching out to other Muslims, Da’ud discusses common misconceptions about Christians, answers questions Muslims often have, provides a structure for discipling new believers, and creates specific study resources for those who are helping Muslim-background believers grow in their faith.

In Matthew 18:15–20, Jesus outlines a very clear and specific way for conflict to be addressed. This is based upon that fact that relationships between people are very important to God. Especially as leaders, we should have the maturity to follow Christ's powerful wisdom in this area. So, here are four steps involved in Jesus’s reconciliation process.

De todas las historias de la bíblica, una de mis favoritas es la visión de los huesos secos en el capítulo 37 del libro de Ezequiel. Dios lleva al profeta a un valle que según los primeros versos estaba “lleno de huesos” y “secos en gran manera.” Entonces Dios le hace una pregunta muy extraña al profeta: “vivirán esos huesos?” A lo que el profeta contestó, “solo tú, Señor lo sabes.” Dios quiere y puede darle vida a su iglesia. Nosotros deseamos ayudarle.

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Of all the stories in the Bible, one of my favorites is the vision of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. God takes the prophet to a valley that was "full of bones" and "dried up in a great way" according to the first verses. Then, God asks a very strange question to the prophet: "Will those bones live?" To which the prophet replied, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know." God is willing and able to give new life to your church, and we want to help you, as well.

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?”  

Every month, we feature people, events, and ministries we want our people to pray for. So, join us as we pray to and praise God for what He's done, because we're always better together.

#UBAPraysTogether

The church is getting some tragically and disturbingly well-deserved bad press these days. I do not excuse the bad actions of any who are a part of the church. We are all responsible for being light and salt in our world, and the church must take care to provide a safe and secure environment.

However, when my adult daughter and I have conversations about the state of the church, I remind her of her grandma, a powerful example of a loving life. Even in the midst of bad publicity we've brought upon ourselves, the church is still filled with good people quietly doing good things. That's worth taking a moment to remember.

How do we move past church-depleting systems to become robust and healthy sending churches?

Have you ever thought of art as a form of outreach? If we do it right, art can bring glory to God and display his greatness to mankind in a way that causes people to follow him. That sounds a lot like outreach to me! I recently wrote an article encouraging leaders to value art in ministry, but what about the creatives in our midst?

Artists can serve to aid in evangelism, discipleship, and the edification of others in the church, as well. So, how can we get started? Here are a few suggestions for the artists (and wannabes) among us.