The Associational Advisor

  National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 14-21. In the POBA, Second Baptist and Offerman Baptist are both dropoff locations.    Dropoff times below: Offerman Baptist  (7225 E Hwy 84, Offerman) November 14-17: 6-8 PM Second Baptist  (301 Tomberlin Road, Waycross) Nov 14, 16, 18: 10:00 AM—12:00 PM Nov 15, 17: 5:00—7:00 PM Nov 19: 9:00-11:00 AM Nov 20: 2:00—4:00 PM Nov 21: 7:00—9:00 AM  

  February 23, 2023 First Baptist Waycross 5:00—8:15 PM Register or more info:   https://events.idonate.com/cfc23-waycross Is your church finance team following best practices? Come to the Church Financial Conference to discover a wealth of critical financial matters that will affect your church. Breakout Sessions include: Creative Tools for Fueling Your Mission, Reporting Revenue Above Reproach, Budgeting to Build the Kingdom, Don’t Let Your Pastor Labor in Vain. Tickets are  $20, which includes admissions, a conference packet, dinner, and more.    

  The  Piedmont Okefenokee Baptist Association  (POBA) is partnering with  Coastal Rivers Baptist Association  (CRBA) to collect Christmas Backpacks. The backpacks will be distributed in Polk County, TN through the  Polk County Baptist Association.     POBA's goal is to collect 300 Christmas Backpacks. The link to the guidelines for packing is listed below. Also, the link to the  Christmas story  that is to be included in each backpack is listed below. We look forward to cooperating with sister churches to share the Christmas story, encourage children and youth, and meet needs in Appalachia.   POBA Goal :  300 backpacks Deadline   for dropoff at POBA:   November 2,  2022   How to pack a Christmas Backpack:  https://gabaptist.egnyte.com/dl/6RxA6E2m8C The Christmas Story  (to be included in each backpack):  https://gabaptist.egnyte.com/dl/ZvfHWyoW9Z   NOTE : IF you decide to include a Bible, please only include  KJV Bibles . For additional information here is a link to

  The churches of the POBA now have access to all the content of The Spark Conference archives. The Spark Conference is a total church equipping conference aimed at training church leaders across nearly every ministry in the life of a church. There are over 40 breakout sessions on everything from children’s ministry, to leadership, to church security. Every church leader in your church is welcome to create their own personal login at no cost to them. To create your login, simply navigate to the login setup page here: https://www.thesparkconference.com/2022-vault1661956357142/0b74ca47262 For ease of entry back into the vault later, bookmark this page: http://www.thesparkconference.com/2022vault .  

  Verse 1 Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature, O Thou of God and man the Son; Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor, Thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown. Verse 2 Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands, Robed in the blooming garb of spring; Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, Who makes the woeful heart to sing. Verse 3 Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight And all the twinkling, starry host; Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer, Than all the angels heaven can boast. Verse 4 Beautiful Savior, Lord of all the nations, Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and forevermore be Thine!   I learned this hymn as a child, believe it or not in Vacation Bible School.   No one is absolutely certain where this hymn originated.   There are at least two accounts of its origin. One account is that It was a song sung by the Crusaders as they travelled to Jerusalem during the Crusades.   In this account the hymn

  Pleasant Hill Baptist Church will have the Jason Lovins Band in concert on Friday, November 4 at 7:00 PM.  The concert is free, a love offering will be received.  Pleasant Hill Baptist Church is located at 1871 Tyre Bridge Road in Patterson.  

  Camp Pinckney Baptist Church will have Lauren Talley in concert on Friday, November 4 at 7:00 PM.  The concert is free, a love offering will be received.  Camp Pinckney Baptist Church is located at 72 Camp Pinckney Drive in Folkston.  

I have ministered to the churches of POBA for thirteen years. I have observed a pattern that must discontinue.   Good intentioned church leaders, seeking someone to fill the pulpit shortly after the pastor has left, pursues what  seems  best at the time, pursues that which does not trouble a person for long, seeks a guy who can “be here Sunday”, turns to a "pastor" that is a friend, an  acquaintance, "a guy I know", or co-worker that's a "good guy” and is invited to fill the pulpit "until we sort through the loss of our previous pastor" but is not who the church is, that is, he is not Southern Baptist. This  decision to simply "fill the pulpit" without considering the great and severe consequences must not continue.  Doctrine matters. The man that fills the pulpit and his doctrine, whether once, for a season, or is the next  pastor, matters. This decision affects the church -the members- and the investment made by the current, all pr