ost folks here in Oklahoma probably don’t have a clue who Doug Baker is. You better get to know him, because come August 1 he will take over the reins of our state association’s paper, the Baptist Messenger. The Messenger announced the selection of their new executive editor this last week in two separate articles. I know of Doug Baker from a series of podcast episodes he produced for the North Carolina Baptists. In each of the episodes Baker interviewed a notable pastor or leader on the current SBC scene; men like Ed Stetzer, Johnny Hunt, Tullian Tchividjian, Nathan Finn, Danny Akin, and J. D. Greear. Baker has a clear, distinctive voice, and he knows how to ask the right questions. Go to the link above and check out the interviews. They are all informative and well worth the listen.
As long as I have been reading it, the Baptist Messenger has been a bit on the—how do you say it nicely—mushy side. You know, squishy theology with a generous helping of moralism/legalism, served on an SBC party-line platter. Hopefully that will change with Baker at the helm. Except for a few years as Huckabee’s speech writer, his credentials sure look impressive. Among the men he identifies as having the greatest influence on his life, four of the top five include David Dockery, Timothy George, Danny Akin, and Mark Dever. Does that make him an eighteen-point Calvinist? Needless to say, Baker admires some mighty respectable men.
It sure sounds like change is in the air here in Oklahoma with the arrival of Doug Baker, and I don’t mean just a technological modernization of the Messenger. I smell the real deal here. Maybe the “young and restless” in Oklahoma will have something worth reading before too long. Maybe we old and restless will have something to read too. Keep your fingers crossed. I mean, God willing.
