Mike Fabarez

DR. MIKE FABAREZ is the founding pastor of Compass Bible Church and the president of Compass Bible Institute, both located in Aliso Viejo, California. Pastor Mike is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Talbot School of Theology, and Westminster Theological Seminary in California. Mike is heard on hundreds of stations on the Focal Point radio program. He has authored several books, including 10 Mistakes People Make About Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife; Raising Men Not Boys; Lifelines for Tough Times; and Preaching That Changes Lives. Mike and his wife, Carlynn, are parents of three grown children, two sons and one daughter, and have four young grandchildren.

Ray Rhodes Jr.

RAY RHODES, JR. serves as founding pastor of Grace Community Church of Dawsonville, GA and as president of Nourished in the Word Ministries. He has served four congregations over three decades of pastoral ministry and for fifteen years, he has led Nourished in the Word. Ray has published several books and holds theological degrees from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.). He is married to Lori and they are blessed with six daughters and four grandchildren. Ray has long been a Spurgeon enthusiast, and his doctoral thesis focused on the marriage and spirituality of Charles and Susannah Spurgeon.

A. J. Swoboda

DR. A. J. SWOBODA is a professor, author, and pastor of Theophilus Church in Portland, Oregon. He teaches biblical studies, theology, and church history at George Fox Evangelical Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, among others. Previously he served as a campus pastor at the University of Oregon. He is the author of A Glorious Dark: Finding Hope in the Tension Between Belief and Experience, Messy: God Likes it That Way, and The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith, and coauthor of Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology.

Micah Fries

MICAH FRIES is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. Micah is married to Tracy and they have two daughters, Grace and Kessed, and a son, Haddon. Prior to serving at Brainerd, he worked for LifeWay Christian Resources, served as a Senior Pastor in Missouri, as an international church planter in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and as a Youth Director in Dothan, AL. He holds a Master of Divinity, a Bachelor of Arts, and is currently a Ph.D. student, studying North American Missiology. He is the author of a commentary on Haggai and Zephaniah in the Christ-Centered Commentary Series. Micah, along with Dr. Keith Whitfield, contributed and co-edited Islam and North America.

Joshua Sherif

JOSHUA SHERIF was born in Egypt to a Muslim family and immigrated to the United States, where he later came to faith in Jesus. For the past decade, he has planted and pastored in Albany Park, Chicago, IL, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country. His congregation represents more than thirty nationalities, speaking twenty languages. Josh has enjoyed his years equipping and coaching other missionaries and pastors around the world. His story was featured in Love Costs Everything, a documentary produced by CIY and Voice of the Martyrs, concerning Christian persecution.

Chris Rappazini

CHRIS RAPPAZINI is a Professor of Leadership at Anderson University, SC, and a professional speaker and leadership life coach. Eleven years prior to his role at Anderson University, he was a Professor of Pastoral Studies and Preaching at the Moody Bible Institute and served in various pastoral roles throughout the nation. He is a former writer for Moody’s Today in the Word and past President of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. He has earned a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University, an M.Th. from the University of Edinburgh, an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a B.A. from the Moody Bible Institute, and did postdoctoral research at Baylor University.

Mark Shoemaker

MARK SHOEMAKER is the dad of three kids, is a Moody Bible Institute and Seminary graduate, a gifted communicator, and has been a youth and family pastor for more than 12 years. He’s passionate about helping students discover—and stay—on God’s path for them. He currently serves as the Next Gen Pastor at a multi-location church of over 3,000 regular attenders. Mark has been happily married for more than ten years.

R. E. Hough

Steve Stroope

STEVE STROOPE (B.A., Hardin Simmons University; M.Div., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) served as the Lead Pastor for 40 years at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. He is now the Founding Pastor. Church attendance under his leadership grew from 53 at its inception to over 11,000 today. Steve also provides coaching to partnership churches and missionaries in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, Cuba, Russia, Mexico, France, South Africa, and North America. He is a sought-after speaker, both nationally and internationally, and is co-author of Money Matters in the Church. He and his wife, Marsha, have two grown daughters and five grandchildren.

Will H Houghton

Jonathan Pearson

JONATHAN PEARSON is the Orangeburg Campus Pastor at Cornerstone Community Church and Assistant Director of The Sticks, an organization that empowers small town leaders. Jonathan is also co-host of the Next Up Podcast and author of Next Up: 8 Shifts Great Young Leaders Make and The Productive Pastor Handbook. He is married to Melissa and has a son named Riley. They live in Orangeburg, S.C. Find Jonathan online at www.JonathanPearson.net.

J C Macaulay

Derek J. Prime

DEREK PRIME was born and brought up in London, where he received his secondary education at Westminster City School. National Service immediately followed for eighteen months, during which time he was attached as an army teacher to the Royal Scots Greys in Germany. Upon demobilisation he went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied history and then theology. For the next three years he taught at a London Grammar School, prior to his ordination to become pastor of Lansdowne Evangelical Free Church in West Norwood in south London. After twelve years at Lansdowne he was called to Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh where he was pastor for eighteen years. He then devoted himself to writing and an itinerant ministry. During this time, sadly, within a few years of one another, both his younger daughter and his wife died of cancer. However, he was greatly blessed in having his other daughter and older son in Edinburgh and second son in London, giving him the joy of eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, an ever-growing family!

Winfred Neely

WINFRED NEELY (B.A., D.Min. Trinity International University; M.A. Wheaton) is currently working towards an advanced research degree in Old Testament at the University of Bristol, England. He is an ordained minister of the Gospel and a full time professor of hermeneutics, homiletics, and pastoral studies at Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Prior to joining the faculty at Moody, Winfred served churches in the City of Chicago and is currently interim pastor of the Judson Baptist Church in Oak Park, IL. He brings to his ministry a global perspective, having served as a missionary/pastor in Senegal, West Africa for nine years. He is also involved in a global equipping ministry, speaking and conducting workshops and training events at churches and conferences in the US and abroad. He and his wife Stephne have been married for forty years and have four adult children and nine grandchildren. He takes acting classes from time to time and is an ardent fan of science fiction films such as Star Wars and Star Trek.

William Dyer

REVEREND WILLIAM DYER was born in England in 1632. During his earlier ministry he was a pastor with the Church of England at Chesham and Cholesbury. He and many other pastors were known as “Puritans” because of their desire to purify and reform the state church. However, in 1662, Dyer and over two thousand other Puritans pastors were ejected from their parishes because of a lack of compliance to the new policies of the church. In the year following his dismissal from the church he wrote two of his most enduring books, A Cabinet of Jewels and Christ’s Famous Titles. In his later life he worked alongside the Quakers because of their zeal for Christ and passion for souls. He was buried among them in Southwark, England in April of 1696. From his writings he is seen to have been a man of great character, earnest to win men to the Lord, and eager to build up the saints in the love and confidence of Christ.