Doug Baker has written an important blog post for Patheos titled “Adultery Nation.” This is one of the critical issues facing our churches and the wider culture today. With almost every passing month, I learn of another Christian (and often a fellow minister) who has either engaged in adultery or is the victim of adultery. Families are being destroyed, ministries are being forfeited, and trust is being shattered.
As Doug hauntingly notes,
Adultery is the enemy of … [Read More]
Between the Times contributor Nathan Finn has teamed up with Oklahoma Baptist Messenger editor Doug Baker in a new editorial titled The State(s) of our Convention. They appreciate state conventions, are troubled by what they think is an “adversarial posture” on the part of some Southern Baptists toward state conventions, and argue for a “core set of ministry priorities” that should guide state conventions in the future. You should read the editorial.
Administrator’s note: Doug Baker of The Baptist Messenger has written an important editorial that we found full of informative and surprising statistics. With all the talk about who or what comprises the majority of Southern Baptists, it seems Baker’s editorial, titled “In Search of the SBC Majority,” demonstrates that there is more than one answer to that question. Southern Baptists continue to be an interesting people who are full of surprises. We are thankful that Doug has … [Read More]
Doug Baker of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger has released a vidcast interview with Ronnie Floyd, chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. We are grateful that Dr. Floyd is offered the opportunity to respond to some hard questions and contribute to the discussion in our Convention about the GCRTF’s proposals. Thanks to Doug Baker and the folks at the Baptist Messenger for making this substantive interview available. We hope it garners wide attention among Southern Baptists … [Read More]
A couple of weeks ago, Doug Baker of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger conducted a podcast interview with Union University President and GCR Task Force member David Dockery. The transcript of that interview is now available online. Dr. Dockery provides some of the most balanced thoughts that we’ve heard related to SBC history in general and the GCR movement in particular. We would urge our readers to listen to the podcast and/or read the transcript.
In the most recent Messenger Insight Podcast, Baptist Messenger editor Doug Baker talks with BtT contributor Alvin Reid about his new Evangelism Handbook, what it means to be missional, contextualization, and the future of the SBC’s North American and international mission efforts. They also discuss the recent numerical decline in the SBC, a historical reality that is denied by some observers. You can listen to the podcast at the Messenger Insight website.
In addition to the previously mentioned podcasts, Doug Baker of the Baptist Messenger is conducting short vidcast interviews with Southern Baptist pastors, thinkers, and other leaders. One of the first vidcasts is with our own Nathan Finn, who along with Alvin Reid was in Oklahoma last weekend for a conference. The topics discussed include the Conservative Resurgence, the GCR, competing visions among Southern Baptists, the Cooperative Program, and ethnic diversity in the SBC. The vidcast, which … [Read More]
Doug Baker has written a very insightful editorial about what’s at stake for Southern Baptists in the current debates about the GCR and related issues:
“Were the moderates right?” The sheer posing of such a question sent a collective gasp across Alumni Chapel. During a recent panel discussion when Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler, Jr., uttered these words in a place where moderates once dominated one of the world’s largest seminaries, it was not as … [Read More]
One of the more helpful ministries that the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina used to provide was podcast interviews with various Southern Baptist pastors, denominational servants, and other leaders. (In the interest of full disclosure, me and my fellow BtT contributors were periodic contributors to those podcasts, which are still available at this website.) I’m pleased that Doug Baker will be doing similar podcasts now that he is working with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. The … [Read More]
I have long been interested in the role that state Baptist papers have played in our denomination’s history. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to present a conference paper titled “Baptist State Papers: One Source of Piety Among 19th Century Baptists in the South.” I have also written a couple of short articles for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina on Thomas Meredith, the founding editor of the Biblical Recorder (see here … [Read More]
