It looks like Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, GA is going to be nominated to be the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor Tom Ascol asks some interesting questions at his blog today: 1) “What kind of person would make a good president of the SBC?” 2) “Secondly, what kind of process is there–or should there be–for a person to be nominated for president?” and 2) “Thirdly, is it good to have more than one conservative candidate nominated for president of the SBC?” and 4) “Finally, given that the season for mentioning names for candidates for the SBC presidency is now officially open, who are some folks you think would make good candidates and why?”

Click on the comments section to Ascol’s blog and you’ll notice a number of interested parties are suggesting Pastor Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC (no stranger to Third Avenue) would make an excellent president of the SBC. I certainly agree. If you have been keeping tabs on his new blog, Together for the Gospel, where he writes with Al Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, and Lig Duncan, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by and praise God for his (and their) commitment to evangelism and the local church.

In any event, this is interesting, surprising, and–in my opinion–hopeful chatter.