My favorite preacher, without question, is Dr. Fred Craddock; now 85 and retired as the Bandy Distinguished Professor of Preaching and New Testament at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

He was discouraged from becoming a preacher because he was short, had a soft voice, and didn’t “bring the thunder.”  He once said, “No one wants to listen to pulpit bullies, behaving as though they had walked all around God and taken pictures.”

Instead, he brought the Bible to life with winsome, honest, down to earth stories out of his own personal experiences; all the while serving as an astute theologian and Biblical scholar.

He brings you into the story so that you yourself can hear God’s voice and word for your personal journey.  In the end, his stories lead you closer to God and to your own needed responses.