Sen. Josh Hawley delivers SBTS McCall Lecture
By Travis Hearne/SBTS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – U.S. Senator Josh Hawley delivered the 2026 Duke K. McCall Leadership Lecture at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, charging the seminary community to lead the nation toward spiritual revival by engaging its deepest moral and cultural crises.
Drawing from 2 Samuel 24, in which the Lord commands King David to “go up” to the threshing floor of Araunah and raise an altar in the midst of a national plague, Hawley argued that American Christians face a similar moment of reckoning.
“What the United States needs above all as we approach our 250th birthday is revival,” Hawley said. “Not just good laws, not just good people in public life – above all, revival.”
Hawley framed his message around three imperatives from the text: to “go up,” to “raise up an altar,” and to “lay down” one’s life before the Lord.
‘Go up’: The Church must not stay silent
Hawley challenged what he called the world’s long-standing demand that the church remain within its walls, arguing that decades of pressure to exclude religious reasoning from public life misrepresent the nation’s founding.
“The world tells the church to stay put,” he said.
Instead of neutrality towards politics and culture, Hawley insisted that Christians are called to engage every corner of public life.
Hawley cited Abraham Kuyper’s declaration that “there is not one square inch over all creation over which Christ Jesus is not Lord.”
‘Raise up an altar’: Claiming ground for Christ
Drawing a parallel between Abraham’s altar-building across Canaan and the church’s present calling, Hawley identified four crises where Christians must plant their witness.
On abortion, he noted that despite celebrating the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, a brief he co-signed in the Senate, abortions in America have since risen, driven largely by chemical abortifacients available by mail. He announced Senate legislation to ban the abortion drug, urging Christians to remain committed to a culture of life.
On the family, Hawley warned against gender ideology’s assault on the biblical understanding of manhood and womanhood, drawing on his experience questioning Senate witnesses who refused to affirm basic biological realities.
“We need to be bold in saying there are two genders, male and female,” he said. “We must raise up an altar of truth over the families and children of this nation.”
On men, Hawley cited alarming trends in male depression, suicide, workforce withdrawal, and declining marriage rates, calling the church to offer a biblical vision of masculinity against both the culture’s denigration of manhood and the distorted models of the “manosphere.”
On economics, he argued that a culture of life requires what he called “a Christian economy,” one where families can flourish without both spouses working exhausting hours.
“We need a country where a man can support himself and his family by the work of his hands,” he said. “That ought to be our north star as believers.”
NOBTS Caskey Center conference gathers hundreds of pastors
By Timothy Cockes/NOBTS
NEW ORLEANS – The Caskey Center at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary hosted its annual pastors’ conference April 17-18 featuring guest speakers Roc Collins and Rick Burgess.
More than 240 pastors and pastors’ wives gathered at the conference for a time of encouragement, equipping and challenging.
Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, welcomed the group of pastors to campus.
“We absolutely love having you here on our campus,” Dew said.
“Hopefully this weekend will encourage you in your ministry. I know you all may have a lot of various dispositions walking into an event like this.
“For some of you, life and ministry are going wonderfully. For some of you, you feel in between. Things are going all right. And then there are some of you that come into this weekend and really need to hear from the Lord. You really need rest and encouragement. However you are coming into this, we want you to know you are welcomed and loved.”
Dew reminded the pastors of the importance of their task.
“Dear friends, there is nothing more important than the work that you do as ministers of the Gospel,” Dew said. “There is quite literally nothing else this world can offer broken, hurt and lost people.
“You stand in the gap faithfully every week preaching the Gospel, counseling people, encouraging people, and just being salt and light in your community. It matters deeply to your church, and it matters deeply to the Kingdom of God. Thank you for being here and for what you do.”
Burgess, known for his career as co-host of the long-running “Rick & Bubba” radio show, began the first plenary session with a message out of Acts.
He explained one reason the Rick and Bubba show ended in 2024 was the two felt as though they were thinking more about past memories of the show than plans for the future of the show.
Burgess encouraged and challenged pastors not to fall into the same temptation.
“Are you resting on what you did in the past, or are you seeking God for what He wants you to do next?” Burgess said.
“Retirement is not a concept in the Bible. God may move you from one platform or vocation to another, but we don’t just phone it in. My challenge for you would be to ask God what that next thing He you would have you to do might be.”
Roc Collins, special assistant to the executive director for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, preached out of Jeremiah and exhorted the pastors to persevere in their calling.
“As ministers of the Gospel, we have a call,” Collins said. “Jeremiah was faithful to what God told him to do.
“We will not always get pats on the back, and we will not experience popularity or accolades from our culture for fulfilling our calling. But if you’re proclaiming the Word of God and you’re seeing people come to know Jesus and you are discipling them, just keep persevering and keep going.”
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