Posted on 06/13/2008 5:58:05 AM PDT by daniel1212
Baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention have fallen to a 20-year low, a trend that is setting off alarm bells in America's largest evangelical denomination.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The number of Americans who do not attend church has increased 92% since 1991 http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=163
Christianity in America has suffered a loss of 9.7 percentage points in 11 years -- about 0.9 percentage points per year. If this trend continues, then by about the year 2042, non-Christians will outnumber the Christians in the U.S. Diana Eck, A New Religious America: How a 'Christian Country' Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation, 2001). http://www.letusreason.org/Current30.htm
Religiously, 1 percent of evangelical Christians, 16 percent of “non-evangelical born-again Christians” (as if there is such a thing) and 24 percent of the “Christian” population as a whole (25% of Catholics, 20% of Protestants) were unchurched, while. 61 percent of adults who are associated with a faith outside Christianity had not attended any kind of religious service over the past 6 months http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070320/26418_Study%3A_U.S._Unchurched_Population_Nears_100_Million.htm
More stats at http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.html#Sec2
The reason why is because public schools and their NEA overlords have brainwashed (read: poisoned) two generations of kids with secular humanist and moral relativist ideologies.
Baptist ping
Unless God intervenes, this nation is on a path where it will become decidedly secular within 25 years just like Europe. The Lord’s work is across time AND geography and it appears that He is now expanding His kingdom in places other than the Western world. Of course, those who welcome a godless society are going to be rudely awakened when all they’ve done is pave the path for Islam. God isn’t mocked.
If baptism is just a symbol, why should they be so worried?
There’s still a lot of Baptists out there. However, they’re in “Bible” churches, not Baptist churches. The actions of the SBC has really turned a lot of people off. Baptist churches used to be a loose confederation for missions, with each church pretty much setting their own beliefs, so long as they didn’t get extreme (snake handling, etc). Now, the SBC is setting “beliefs”, which really ticks off people who just want to worship as they see fit.
“Of course, those who welcome a godless society are going to be rudely awakened when all they’ve done is pave the path for Islam. God isn’t mocked.”
True. As history testifies, Islam largely displaces institutionalized Christianity.
Because symbols represent the reality behind them, and to do so hypocritically can result in death ( 1 Cor. 11:20-34).
Baptism itself is a command, as it is a manifestation of confessional faith, which is the only kind of faith that saves. (Rom 10:10) “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” True baptism, as an expression of contrite repentant faith, can be a “sinners prayer” in body language (Act 2:38), and an expression of saving faith (Act 10:43-47; 15:7-9).
I teach high school Sunday School and I see and trend of parents coming to church and the kids staying home sleeping in because they were up late the night before. I know it sounds authoritarian but parents who let their teen-aged kids stay home while they themselves come to church are dropping the ball and sending a message that God and Jesus are a convenience to be merged in with the rest of your cellphone, XBox, and hanging out schedule.
Most of the blame lies on fathers who are to be the priests of the home. Kids model what they see and are allowed to do. Raise them right and they will walk the right path when they mature ( paraphrase ) rings so true.
BINGO!
“parents who let their teen-aged kids stay home while they themselves come to church are dropping the ball and sending a message that God and Jesus are a convenience to be merged in with the rest of your cellphone, XBox, and hanging out schedule.”
The test of the church in any age is to work to transform culture via the gospel to become more Christ like, as we strive for such ourselves, rather than becoming like the culture. The persecuted early church, once liberated, took on much of the form and used much of the means of the Empire in which it was founded, to the dishonor of the name of Christ. So are we today.
“Raise them right and they will walk the right path when they mature ( paraphrase ) rings so true.”
I agree completely.
Setting beliefs? The SBC has always believed in believer’s baptism by immersion.
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