February Volume LIV—Issue 2

THE MESSENGER

Ben Brags on the Savior

"Without the wind, a sailboat can only claim the title of organized driftwood."

G. Campbell Morgan metaphorically charged young preachers to "put their

sailboats out into the water, put up the sail, and wait for the wind to blow." Church, when there is no wind, God

does not require faster motors or stronger oarsmen, rather sailboats at the ready filled with sailors who are

desperately praying for the Wind to blow.

What is God speaking into the foundations of your soul these days? Have you heard the whispers of His

tender mercies, and are they new every morning? Has His joy sprung up like a fountain, flowing in abundance in

the midst of your most thirsty deserts? Have the wonders of His goodness propelled your heart to

spontaneously and unashamedly sing a new song? Have you been left speechless and so overwhelmingly

awestruck as to throw yourself facedown before His inexpressible Holy Presence? O God my God, How Great

Thou Art!

To the foundations of this soul, God has said, "NOW!" Now is the time! Thank You Lord for the gentle

breeze, and NOW we sense the great Winds that are already at the horizon!

What I sense is a rising momentum in the "Culture of Association" toward a desperate dependence on

the Wind and a God-filled movement in His supernatural power that transforms to the uttermost. NOW is the

time!

This past Executive Board touched and inspired my soul so much that every church should soon expect

to receive my highlighting of "the minutes." But to me, it wasn't just the quality of resources being designed to

help churches, it was the depth in the Spirit of the leadership and the heartbeat and motives of the speakers.

So watch your mailbox. Notice the repeating themes on the work of the Holy Spirit, dependence on and

obedience to His Spirit, spiritual disciplines with so much emphasis on prayer, absorption of His Word, and

walking in the Spirit.

Revitalization and Renewal come to churches desperately crying out for the work and movement of the

Holy Spirit. By His Spirit we will "prayer walk as a lifestyle" and "look into faces," which is the key to living out

our goal to "Think and Act Like Missionaries" and clearly present the gospel through relationships to every soul

in NE TN within the next five years. The Wind is starting to blow, NOW! Set the sails!

TO YOUR HEALTH

One of the keys to good health is movement. Some refer to this as exercise, but that term

creates anxiety for people who are strangers to the gym or the hiking trail. The very act of

movement is essential to the human body. It instantly burns calories, activates muscle &

ligament, improves metabolism, and engages functions within the body that operate so

much better what physical activity is added to the day.

The beginning of the new year is rife with pledges to exercise and membership fees to the

local fitness center. All of these are good, but the most important factor is that we move! A

consistent, healthy fitness plan is always good. Walking, hiking, running, outdoor sports and

even yoga push the body toward better health. The first step for many sedentary persons to

move toward good health is just to move…period!

Take the stairs rather than the elevator. Park your vehicle fifty or one hundred feet further from the grocery entrance.

Take a walk around your neighborhood after dinner, even if only for ten minutes. If your church has a family life center

or if you live near a park, walking is a great way to keep many muscles operating. As we focus on basic movements and

our desire for good health grows, we can explore new ways to exercise our bodies. But for now…move!

Greg Burton

Disaster Relief Training

Cherokee Heights Baptist Church, Morristown

February 20, 2016

To pre-register contact the Nolachucky Baptist Association at (423) 586-7331

8:00-9:00AM Registration

9:00-12:00PM Introduction to Disaster Relief

9:00-10:30 Shower and Laundry

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:15 Forklift Classroom

10:45-12:15 Damage Assessment

10:45-12:15 Fire/Ash-Out Recovery

10:45-12:15 Chainsaw (Classroom)

12:15-1:00 Lunch- $6/person

Minister and Spouse Retreat

RESCHEDULED

March 3rd-5th

If you are interested in going,

please call HBA at 929-196.

1:00-2:00 Recertification of DR

1:00-4:00 Forklift & Skid-Steer (Hands-On)

1:00-2:30 Flood Recovery

1:00-4:00 Spiritual Prep

1:00-4:00 Mass Feeding

1:00-4:00 Bucket Truck Classroom Train-ing (A & B)

2:30-2:45 Break

Among the Churches

On January 10th,

Bowmantown Baptist

Church ordained Pastor

Michael Faye into the

ministry. From left to right.

Rev. Willie Lunsford, Pastor

at Southside Baptist Church,

Sandy Faye, and

Rev. Michael Faye, Pastor at

Telford Baptist Church.

On January 10th, New Salem Baptist Church

ordained three new deacons. From left to right.

Pastor Craig Ponder, David Long, Ronnie Snapp,

Gary King, and Ben Proffitt, Director of Missions.

First Baptist Church, Erwin has appointed

Dylan Holly as their youth pastor. Mountain View Baptist

Church, 4005 Bristol

Highway, Johnson City, is

excited and blessed to

welcome their new

Children’s Pastor, Josh

Edens.

Greenwood Baptist Church is currently looking for a

part time Youth/Associate Pastor. Send resumes to:

Greenwood Baptist Church

PO Box 4593

Johnson City, TN 37602.

Clark Street Baptist Church is searching for a Part

Time Youth Director. Send resumes to:

Clark Street Baptist Church

Attn: Youth Director Search

200 Clark Street

Johnson City, TN 37604

Clark Street Baptist Church has thirty-two 10 1/2 ft.

oak pews available. If interested call church office

at 926-5622 or email clarkstreetbc@gmail.com.

ETSU BCM is looking for sponsors for a 5K run that

will be held in April. They are looking for breakfast

donations, sponsors, and volunteers. If you are

interested in helping, please contact Charlotte

Murphy at murphyca@goldmail.etsu.edu.

HBA Bible Drill What is better than children hiding God’s

word in their hearts?

Associational Bible Drill

Tuesday, April 12th

Southwestern Baptist Church

Johnson City

Make plans now to attend and encourage the

Children and Youth Drillers

If you have questions about Bible Drill, please contact:

Anna Huggins: 423-743-4741

Susan Schiwitz: 423-794-8182

"WAR ROOM: The Battle for Prayer"

Associational Training for Church Leaders

Host: Cherry Grove BC, Jonesborough

Feb 23, 6:30 Movie, then Week #1 Bible study to follow.

# 2-8 Bible studies, every Tues. 6:30, March 1 thru April 19

Experience & Practice yourself, then teach your church.

To reserve a workbook, you must pre-register.

Call either Holston at 929-1196 or Cherry Grove at 753-2033

$10 workbooks can be purchased at the door.

Author and Producer, Stephen Kendrick wrote, "Many in our generation have lost sight of the

power of prayer. We don't pray. Prayer is hard work. It's easier to go out and attempt to fix things

ourselves than to pray. Because prayer requires us to be still, quiet, humble, dependent, and honest

before a sovereign and holy God, prayer becomes our last resort. But prayer is so misunderstood and

underutilized."

What would happen if YOUR CHURCH really began to pray again? What if believers got right with

the Lord and began to seek His face again? Does God really mean 2 Chron. 7:14? What WILL happen

WHEN God raises up an army of prayer warriors in our generation?

Regeneration Conference April 8th-10th

New Victory Baptist Church

527 Conklin Drive

Jonesborough, TN 37659

The Regeneration Conference longs to stir others toward

responding with their lives for the glory of Jesus Christ.

This two day conference is birthed out of the burden of

Titus 3:5. “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own

mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.” In our day, it seems we go

to great lengths to achieve or earn goodness. The life cycle is based on performance alongside

chasing the desires within our heart. Ultimately at the end of the chase we are left unsatisfied and

empty. Then we read from the word of God “He saved us!” Found in the middle of our exhaustion, in

the midst of the chaos, religion, tradition, and the work of ministry we hear “He saved us!” What a

remarkable truth! This news shatters performance, shatters the system, and destructs the life cycle

we are in. These days are set aside to stir the heart that we may see the glory of God and rest

therein. For when an unregenerate people see the glory of God, transformation follows!

We are asking all churches, all people groups, to go get all wanderers, to go get the faithful, to go

get all sinners, as we come together to proclaim King Jesus!

For questions or more information, please contact Tyler Dalton at (423) 736-9929 or

tylerdalton3@gmail.com

Promo video: http://youtu.be/xR3BVcoBUr4

Visit: regenerationconference.org

Did something great happen at church today? Did God move? Has God answered your

prayers? Is your soul overwhelmed because God blessed you? WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT!!

The Bible says in Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” and according to

Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of praise is “to commend the worth of.” God is so worthy of

all our praise! We miss out on an even bigger blessing when we don’t Praise the Lord. We want

to change all of that and give you the opportunity to share what God is doing in your church, at

work, at home, in the grocery store, or wherever it might be. Tell us how God has blessed you.

Share with us His many blessing that He has poured out on you. Praise Him for His amazing

grace and undeserved mercy. Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him! There are different ways that

you can share just how good God has been to you.

You can send us an email at hba@holstonbaptists.org or send us a two minute video

clip that we may post on our Facebook page and share with everyone of how God is blessing

you! We would love to fill a whole page in The Messenger on churches praising the Lord! The

opportunity is yours, give God all the glory, honor, and praise!

“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!”

~Deuteronomy 32:3

disaster relief in 2015 We were very busy this year with the HBA Clean Machine. The truck and trailer are ready for

callouts at anytime the need arises. We have gotten several donations for the service that it

supplies, which we are very thankful for. We’ve received donations for a $500 generator, that

we needed when we did not have power.

Scheduling of the unit started in April for RAM at the Bristol Speedway for three days.

There were 100 showers and 2 loads of laundry done.

We went to Crossville, TN after the ice storm came through. The power lines were down everywhere. After pulling the shower

unit down there, it couldn’t be used due to frozen pipes and shower heads. We were staged at a center that had 250 displaced

folks there. We worked on it for two days and then made the decision to leave and come home for repairs.

In May we went to Damascus for Appalachian Trail Fest. For four days we did 50 loads of laundry and had 450 showers. We set

up chairs for hikers and got the chance to talk to several of them and share the gospel with them. We started to have

problems with the showers, they were running cold water and the gas water heater had flames shooting out.

NAMB asked for the unit to come to Crossover State Convention in Columbus, Ohio in June. We had five people to go and take

care of it. We had 193 loads of laundry and 997 showers.

Lafollette First Baptist Church used the unit for missions of teams working in the area. Altogether they had 225 showers and 14

load of laundry. After leaving there, the unit was dropped off at Marsh Petroleum to repair the heater. After telling them what

was going on and the threat of fire loss, the factory sent a new one to replace it and it didn’t cost a thing.

Went to Elizabethton First Baptist Church for a mission team working in the area. Altogether we had 380 showers while we

were there.

Went to Sunnyside Baptist Church for a mission team doing repairs on a church after some storm damages. There we had 300

showers.

Repairs were done to trailer to replace plastic pipe and shower heads so that they will not freeze.

The total number of showers was 3290 showers and 540 loads of laundry for 2015. Praise the Lord!

All the work with replacing the pipe, fittings, and shower head was done by Everett Willis, and Randy Burke. Our other driver was

Tony Broyles. We hope for the future that more volunteers will step up and want to serve.

The Haven of Rest is looking for two born-again, responsible male adults to work in the

Men’s Mission Ministry.

Monday thru Friday from 4 pm to 10 pm, and the other from Friday 9:30 PM until Monday

morning 7:00 AM (Weekend sleeps on site – total hours approximately 30 work hours;

time for morning church service attendance)

Responsible to the Associate Director and/or Ministry Assistant. Responsible for male

intake, discipline, record keeping, reporting, drug and/or alcohol testing, biblical devotions and principles, safety and

security of the premises.

The Haven of Rest is looking for one born-again, responsible male adult to work the Recycle Warehouse.

Forklift experience and baling experience a plus. Must have patience, organizational ability, communication skills.

Safety Awareness Required. Will oversee a couple of volunteers most days.

Hours are typically 8-5.

February

1 Minister’s Fellowship, 10:00

4 Ministry Group Leaders, 12:00

6 Bible Drill Meeting, HBA, 10:30

8 Student Conference Deadline

14 Valentine’s Day

16 VBS State Clinic, Morristown

18 Youth Minister’s Fellowship, Heritage, 11:30 & 6:00

WPRO, 12:00

23 War Room, Prayer Study, Cherry Grove, 6:30 (every Tuesday through April 19th)

March

3-5 Minister & Spouse Retreat

7 Minister’s Fellowship, 10:00

13 Daylight Savings Time

14 Student Conference Pre-Meeting, Heritage Youth Room, 6:30

17 WPRO, 12:00

18-20 Student Conference

20 Palm Sunday

21 HBA CLOSED

25 GOOD FRIDAY, CLOSED

27 EASTER

Calendar