Dr. Richard Young

In the spring of 1980 I became a follower of Jesus Christ at the First Baptist Church of Hugo, Oklahoma.  After graduating Hugo High School in 1983 I attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas where I graduated with a BA in Accounting in 1987.  Having a degree but no job I went back home to Oklahoma and began working with my parents in their four restaurants.  It was during this time of my life when I truly began seeking the Lord more than I ever had.  I knew He had a plan for me but I was unsure what it was.

I distinctly remember a Thursday evening in December of 1987 sitting at my parent’s kitchen table.  I was the only one at home – miserable, searching, praying, wanting to know His plan for my future.  As I cried out to God in prayer I remember saying to Him that I would do whatever He wanted me to do.  As I made myself available to do whatever He called me to do, He spoke to my heart and said “I want you to serve Me in full-time Christian ministry.”  Amazed at what I was hearing I could only respond with one answer and that was “Yes!”  Immediately the burden I had been carrying lifted and I knew I was going in the direction He had intended for me.

Since that moment in my parent’s home God has led me on an incredible spiritual journey.  That journey has given me the privilege of pastoring some great Southern Baptist Churches and also includes the privilege of graduating from two great Southern Baptist Seminaries.  I received my Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, TX in 1992 and my Doctorate of Ministry from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO in 2004.

Though my spiritual journey has allowed me to have these important experiences there is one aspect of my journey that far exceeds them all, that is being a husband and father.  God has blessed me immeasurably with the precious gifts of my wife Amy and our two sons, Richard Jr. and Jordan.  My family, without a doubt, is the most beautiful gift God has given me next to His Son Jesus Christ.

My spiritual journey continues today as I trust and follow the Lord wherever He may lead.  Over the years God’s guidance through Scripture has been crucial to my journey and one verse in particular has been a source of comfort, challenge and hope and that is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”