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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Southern Baptist senator urges end of Columbus Day

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – U.S. Senator James Lankford, a Southern Baptist who previously worked as director of the Falls Creek Youth Camp for Oklahoma Baptists before being elected to Congress, has proposed legislation that would eliminate Columbus Day and replace it with Juneteenth, in recognition of the end of slavery in this country. Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865, when Texas recognized the Emancipation Proclamation issued by the United States in 1862, and that date was celebrated as “Emancipation Day.” Since then Juneteenth has been recognized by a growing number of states as a holiday. Lankford submitted an amendment, along with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to legislation being offered by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Cornyn’s legislation simply would add Juneteenth as a national holiday. Lankford, on the other hand, wants to end Columbus Day and replace it with Juneteenth, calling it “a second Independence Day,” referring to July 4. He said making the swap instead of just adding another federal holiday would save businesses lost revenue and the federal government added costs of about $600 million in paid time off for federal employees. Lankford did not address the impact on … [Read more...]

Chuck Kelley on the state of the SBC (Epilogue)

By Chuck Kelley Optimism is the tendency to expect the best. Pessimism is the tendency to expect the worst. An “optimistic pessimist” is someone who chooses hope in spite of discouragement. In a series of nine blogs, I explored the reality that the Southern Baptist Convention is in the grip of prolonged decline. That decline was first manifested in our evangelism statistics, but as it grew unchecked, decline spread to nearly every statistical category that matters to people concerned about the Great Commission. The chart on the total number of SBC churches and their baptisms over a period of more than one hundred years (see Part 1) and the chart showing key SBC statistics over the past decade (see Part 8) are two of the most unsettling documents I ever presented. The numbers give Southern Baptists no place to hide and no room to wiggle. The knowledge of what happened to Methodism in the aftermath of their failure to heed the similar warnings of W. E. Sangster in 1938 (see Part 9) is a chilling reminder of how very serious this moment is in the Southern Baptist story. Having painted this bleak picture of the SBC present, what do I see in the SBC future? I am an optimistic pessimist. I choose hope! Here is why. The SBC leaders … [Read more...]