Southern Baptists In Decline

Ed Stetzer has a depressing article that every Southern Baptist should read. In, The End of The Beginning?, Stetzer comments on LifeWay's recenlty released numbers that show SBC baptisms declining for the third year in a row. It's time that we wake up to reality, we need to face the facts. Just being Southern Baptist does not get anyone saved. We have a responsibility--get that A RESPONSIBILITY--to carry the gospel next door, as well as around the world.

Where does this begin? In the local church. We all have a responsibility to reach the lost because Christ said so, not to pad our numbers as a denomination. It should matter to us that the lost are continuing to remain so and we are doing basically nothing about it. As the population of our country has exploded, we have plateaued. It's time to get busy focusing on the majors...evangelism and the sovereignty of God (to borrow a J.I. Packer title).