Insights from in and around the association

      UBA Voices      

Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Antimetabole

Antimetabole es la transliteración de una palabra griega y consiste en la repetición de palabras en clausulas sucesivas, pero en diferente orden. Por ejemplo: ¿Cómo sería una congregación donde la mitad son creyentes no practicantes y la otra mitad son practicantes no creyentes? Sería una situación que haría llorar a nuestro Señor Jesucristo.

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An antimetabole is a Greek literary device that consists in the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in a different order. For example: Do we have congregations where some are non-practicing believers and others are non-believing practitioners? This would make our Lord Jesus Christ cry.

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Is the Building the Vision?

How many new church plants start to decline after they acquire a permanent building? I recently received this question in an email.  Though I don't have the statistics, I do have stories. These are stories of churches that have slowly started their decline after completing building projects and others that have built and are still thriving today. But what has made the difference?

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

April Prayer Guide

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

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Church Profiles: L.T. Chuong and A Seat at the Table Church

In case you haven't heard, we love churches. We love those who have been partnering with us for many years as well as those who have just joined. To help you better know some of these churches and their leaders, we want to feature them here. Today, we meet L.T. Chuong, pastor of A Seat at the Table Church (ASATT), to hear about his conversion, bi-vocational ministry, and ASATT's vision to be a growing multiethnic and multigenerational church that can reach the unreached of the greater Houston area and beyond.

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Do You Know What Today Is?!

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.

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

What Does "Better Together" Really Look Like?

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:

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Discipling Muslim Background Believers by Abu Da'ud

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.

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Mike Ayers Mike Ayers

Resolving Conflict God's Way

In Matthew 18:15–20, Jesus outlines a very clear and specific way for conflict to be addressed.

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.

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Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Renuevo

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.

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.

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Josh Ellis Josh Ellis

Preparing to Innovate

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?”  

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