I am so excited to announce that the long search to fill the position of Associate Director / Chief of Staff is finally complete. Now, a vote from the messengers of the Association is the final step before the hire can commence. Regardless of whether your church is Qualified and Cooperating (the Active status church which may seat messengers), I invite you to attend a Special Called Business Meeting on Tuesday, December 17 at 10:00 am at the UBA offices to meet the candidate, Kevin Abbott. 

Happy Thanksgiving from UBA! When we survey the many ways God is on the move in our association, we have a lot to be thankful for.

Consider whether you agree with the following two statements: “Churches need to innovate in order to reach their God-given potential.” “Conflict in a church is a sign that we’re doing something wrong.” Many church and ministry leaders would affirm both of these statements. Even if they don’t verbally agree, their behavior indicates they do. They will talk about starting new programs in order to be more effective. And they will be surprised and disappointed when they encounter resistance or conflict. 

¿Alguna vez ha sentido el mover del Espíritu a hablar con alguien que usted no conoce? Estos son momentos llenos de posibilidades en el caminar espiritual de esa persona hacia Cristo. Esos momentos donde la persona puede dar pasos para acercarse a una relación personal con Jesús. Algunas de esas conversaciones serán superficiales, otras serán más profundas.

“Adulting” is hard sometimes. The messy work of leading and being responsible for others may have you wanting to run and hide. But God's Word gives us good reason and encouragement to press forward.

There are two spheres of existence: being and doing. "Being" concerns who we are. "Doing" concerns the roles we play and the things we do in them. While the things we do in life can certainly enhance or detract from our sense of self, they should never define it. In other words, if we receive our identity in what we do (roles, titles, positions, jobs, functions) we set ourselves up for great disappointment.

Many people have told me, “I would love to go to Russia with you, but I do not think I can be useful.” My friend and Russian teammate, Erika Brunson, has an answer to that, “Can you show up?” So often, our ministry is a ministry of presence.  Here's what I mean.

Loving Houston's Marilyn Lee talks with UBA's Executive Director, Dr. Josh Ellis about UBA churches and the impact a church-school partnership can have on the community. For those of you who'd heard the interview with Tom Billings, you know that UBA played a huge role in starting Loving Houston, and now we hear a bit of Josh's vision for the churches of UBA as they go and make disciples of all nations.

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.

Teams are going to fail. That failure can be devastating, disheartening, or frightening. It is also inevitable. If you are committed to innovation and take on God-sized tasks, you are sometimes going to fail in a particular initiative. As painful as it may be, the failure in itself is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. God’s purposes will not be ultimately thwarted. What you learn from that failure is what is important. Here are some important considerations.