By Brett Younger Melanie was — depending on who you talked to — sharing the love of Christ or trying to cause trouble. Forty-five years later I like to think it was both. Nixon was president, gas was 36 cents…
Confessions of a seminary professor
By Brett Younger A seminary faculty posted a photo on Facebook with the caption, “Our faculty and all of the books they have written.” The faculty is made up of superb scholars who have authored a huge stack of books,…
Libby Allen’s bucket list
By Brett Younger Someone in the housing office — not Libby, someone not as competent as Libby — loses my paperwork. I arrive as a new student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1983 and a young woman who, given…
A tribute to Dean Alan Culpepper: The man and the myth
By Brett Younger For four years at the Mercer Preaching Consultation, Alan Culpepper and I have led a discussion on each year’s Advent texts. The first year I compared us to Simon and Garfunkel. The dean responded that it was…
Leaving Fred Craddock’s funeral, yearning just to be Christian
By Brett Younger I was early to Fred Craddock’s funeral. Cherry Log Christian Church is less than two hours from Atlanta, but a trip to Appalachia seems farther so I gave myself way too much time. I had been told…
Leaving Fred Craddock’s funeral, yearning just to be Christian
I was early to Fred Craddock’s funeral. Cherry Log Christian Church is less than two hours from Atlanta, but a trip to Appalachia seems farther so I gave myself way too much time. I had been told to eat at…
Six words to describe a life: Saints don’t know they are saints
By Brett Younger As a child of deaf parents, she was the one who made the phone call when the refrigerator stopped working. Bennie went to bed knowing she was the one who would hear if something happened during the…
Your world is too small
By Brett Younger Less than 10 percent of the world’s population speaks English as their primary language. Less than 5 percent of the world lives in the United States. Less than 2 percent of the world is Baptist. Less than…
Let’s keep Herod in Christmas
By Brett Younger Twenty-eight Christmases ago I was the new pastor of Central Baptist Church in Paoli, Ind. I decided to have the church’s first ever Christmas Eve candlelight communion service. I wanted everything to be perfect. Snow fell that…