Perdue, Cox, Horton challenge Georgia Baptists to keep Christ at center of evangelism By HENRY DURAND, The Christian Index Tuesday, November 10, 2026 WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Nearly 400 pastors, church leaders, and members gathered Monday at Second Baptist Church for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Evangelism Conference, where speakers urged churches to keep the gospel at the center of their ministries and take it into their communities. The conference was held in conjunction with the 204th Georgia Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. Before the afternoon preaching sessions, pastors and church leaders took part in breakout and training sessions covering personal evangelism, evangelism in small churches, discipleship, reaching students and young adults, social media, community outreach, worship, women’s ministry, and developing an evangelistic culture in the local church. During the men’s Lunch & Learn, Joel Southerland, lead pastor of Peavine Baptist Church in Rock Spring, outlined systems his church uses to support evangelism and baptisms and showed how churches of different sizes can adapt them. Catherine Jackson, director of women’s ministry at First Redeemer Church in Cumming, led the women’s Lunch & Learn. The session equipped women to share the gospel in everyday life and encouraged women’s ministry leaders to help women live on mission at home, in the church, and in their communities. Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director Thomas Hammond welcomed attendees and thanked pastors for bringing staff members and ministry leaders with them to the GBMB’s third Evangelism Conference of the year. Perdue: ‘Nothing but the blood’ Brad Marchman of the Mission Board’s evangelism team introduced the first speaker, Jim Perdue, pastor of Second Baptist. He took the opportunity to highlight the Board’s Gameplan for Evangelism, a resource developed to help churches build a culture of evangelism and equip members to become witnesses in their communities. Perdue opened the afternoon preaching from Hebrews 10 with a message titled “Nothing but the Blood.” Perdue drew the title from Robert Lowry’s hymn and its familiar questions: “What can wash away my sin?” and “What can make me whole again?” “Our greatest problem is not poverty, injustice, war, or violence,” Perdue said. “It is not a lack of education. Our greatest problem is sin. And there is nothing in this world that can wash away our sin. Only the blood of Jesus.” But Perdue said the work of the blood of Christ doesn’t end with forgiveness. “Not only does the blood of Jesus Christ wash away our sins, but the blood of Jesus Christ makes us whole again,” he explained.  “There’s a difference between being pardoned and being made holy and righteous.” Perdue closed by turning the message to evangelism. “When it comes to the gospel, when it comes to evangelism, when it comes to the Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference, there is no hope, there is no power, there is no truth, apart from the precious blood of Jesus Christ,” he said. Cox: Building a thriving church Frank Cox, who recently marked 46 years as senior pastor at North Metro Baptist Church in Hoschton, followed Perdue with a message from Revelation 3 and Christ’s words to the church at Sardis. Cox said churches can have a reputation for being alive while lacking spiritual life. He described three kinds of churches — dead, complacent, and alive and thriving. He said a thriving church first must settle the question of ownership. “Who owns the church?” he asked. Churches begin moving toward decline, he said, when members forget that the church belongs to Christ and begin treating it as though it exists primarily for those already inside. Cox pointed to Jesus’ words in Matthew 16: “I will build My church.” He described an incident during his pastorate when a member told him, “We are a church governed by the people and not by God.” Cox responded by saying, “As long as I'm the pastor, we're gonna be governed by God.” He continued, “I have settled the issue: it’s Jesus who owns the church. And we should only do what the head of the church tells us to do.” His second principle was the authority of Scripture. “An alive, thriving church has one authority for their lives, and that is the Word of God,” Cox said. Cox said churches must also remain committed to the assignment Christ gave them. “I believe for every church in Georgia, God desires for you to reach your community,” he said. Near the end of his message, Cox returned to the problem Perdue had addressed earlier. “Jim’s right, we have a problem in this world,” Cox said. “It’s called sin. But we have the answer to that, and it’s Jesus Christ.” Horton: ‘Preach the cross’ D.J. Horton, senior pastor of Church at The Mill in Spartanburg, S.C., closed the preaching session with a message from Galatians 6. Horton began by asking what really counts in ministry. “We count buildings, we count baptisms, we count new guests, we count budgets, we count staff members, we count members who come and members who go,” he said. “Unfortunately, though, if we lose sight of what really counts, even ministry with the best of intentions can lose its focus.” Horton contrasted outward conformity with the inward transformation that comes through Christ. “If we’re not careful, as a body of believers, we can find ourselves, even with the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed of our doctrine, beginning to push evangelism toward behavioral modification,” he warned. He also urged churches not to separate evangelism from discipleship. Drawing on the importance of safely handling a loaded firearm, Horton warned pastors to take seriously how they communicate the gospel. “When God gives you the gospel, it’s loaded,” he said. “The way in which you handle communicating the gospel can be life-giving or damning.” He later urged pastors, “Preach it carefully, preach it clearly, preach it convictionally, preach it consistently, continually preach the cross.” Horton returned at the end of the message to Galatians 6:15, where Paul writes that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, “but a new creation.” “He doesn’t say water baptism,” Horton said. “He doesn’t say church expansion. He doesn’t say discipleship strategy. He doesn’t say theological training. He says, this is what matters. ... That somebody who was dead in their sin has been made new. That’s what matters.” “If you want to reach your community, start with your congregation and preach the cross,” Horton said. “Don’t preach behavioral modification. Don’t preach roughing off the rough edges. Don’t preach cleaning up your language or just breaking bad habits.” “Stop making up good advice and give them God’s Word. Open the Book up from Genesis to Revelation. Read it line by line and take them to the cross.” --- PHOTOS --- File: 20261110-000946-849-Jim 2.jpg Caption: Jim Perdue, pastor of Second Baptist, delivers his message at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000942-397-Frank 6.jpg Caption: Frank Cox, senior pastor at North Metro Baptist Church in Hoschton, delivers his message at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000940-b09-DJ 6.jpg Caption: D.J. Horton, senior pastor of Church at The Mill in Spartanburg, S.C., delivers his message at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000948-30f-Thomas 1.jpg Caption: Executive Director Thomas Hammond welcomes attendees at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000936-f9d-Barb signs worship.jpg Caption: Deaf interpreter Barb Coffan signs during worship at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000944-d4e-Jim 1.jpg Caption: Jim Perdue, pastor of Second Baptist, delivers his message at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000941-1ca-Frank 3.jpg Caption: Frank Cox, senior pastor at North Metro Baptist Church in Hoschton, delivers his message at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261110-000938-45a-DJ 3.jpg Caption: D.J. Horton, senior pastor of Church at The Mill in Spartanburg, S.C., delivers his message at the GBMB's Evangelism Conference, held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention's 204th Annual Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand)