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REVEREND JAMES T. MEEKS (B.A., Bishop College) is the founder and senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Chicago’s Roseland community. With over 20,000 members, Salem is the largest African American church in Illinois and one of the fastest growing in the nation. He also serves as the joint chairman for the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and as an Illinois State Senator for the 15th Legislative District. Rev. Meeks is the author of How to get Out of Debt and Into Praise and Life-Changing Relationships. He and his wife, Jamell, reside in Chicago and are the proud parents of four children.
Read MoreCHARLES F. PFEIFFER (Moody Bible Institute; B.A., Temple University; B.D., Reformed Episcopal Theological Seminary; Th.M., Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Dropsie College) was professor of ancient literatures at Central Michigan University. He also studied at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute and New York University. He served on the faculties of Gordon Divinity School, King's College, Lancaster School of the Bible, and Moody Bible Institute. Dr. Pfeiffer, as author, co-author, or editor, participated in the production of many works including Hebrews for the Everyman’s Bible Commentary Series, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, and The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia.
Read MoreLISA D. JEFFERSON is an inspirational speaker, wife, and mother of two. She has received numerous awards and is currently involved in fundraising efforts for the Flight 93 National Memorial Project. It was on the morning of the 9/11 attacks on the US, that Lisa, a 17-year Verizon Supervisor and Chicago native, handled the emergency phone call that came in from Todd Beamer, one of the passengers who helped divert hijacked Flight 93. Called is her first book. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, and two children.
Read MoreMARK JOBE is the president of Moody Bible Institute and host of Moody Radio's Bold Steps. He is the author of Unstuck: Out of Your Cave into Your Call. He is also the founding pastor of New Life Community Church, a Chicago-based ministry with 27 locations throughout Chicago. Mark has a master's degree from Moody Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in transformational leadership from Bakke Graduate University. He and his wife, Dee, have three adult children.
Read MoreDR. EDGAR JAMES (Texas Institute of Technology; Wheaton College; Dallas Theological Seminary), a popular Bible teacher, is a former professor of Bible and Theology at Chicago's Moody Bible Institute. He is the author of over 30 books and more than a thousand articles. Among his published books are God, Man and Disaster, Armageddon, The Open Bible Owners Guide, Arabs, Oil and Armageddon and Armageddon and the New World Order. He is a contributor to the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia and the Family Bible Encyclopedia. He has had regular columns in Moody Magazine and Power for Living and has also written for the Chicago Tribune. Dr. James resides in Sunnyvale, California.
Read MoreJOHN FUDER (PH.D., Biola University) is Director of Justice and Compassion Ministries of re:source global as well as a part time grad school and adjunct professor for Moody Bible Institute. In 1993, after 15 years of serving in urban ministry in California, Dr. Fuder brought his passion of equipping students for effective urban ministry to Chicago. As the Professor of Urban Studies at Moody Theological Seminary, Dr. Fuder taught ministry practitioners and students for 17 years. Dr. Fuder has authored many publications including A Heart for the Community, A Heart for the City, and Training Students for Urban Ministry. Dr. Fuder and his wife, Nellie, have three children and a granddaughter.
Read MoreLOUIS A. BARBIERI, (B.A., Westmont College; Th.M., Th.D., Dallas Theological Seminary) is Chair of the Department of Theology at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. He is the author of a number of books, including the Everyman’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Peter, The Moody Gospel Commentary: Mark, and The Life of Christ: Matthew. Dr. Barbieri and his wife of over forty years, Carol, reside in the Chicago area. They are the parents of three and grandparents of seven.
Read MoreJAMES FORD, JR. (Moody Bible Institute, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) has been the Senior Pastor at Christ Bible Church (formerly South Shore Baptist Church), located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, since 1982. He serves on several boards, including the Alumni Board of Moody Bible Institute, is President of Impact Ministries, and provides the messages for Impact Ministries’ radio broadcast, Treasured Truth for Troubling Times. Pastor Ford is a contributor to the book Heart for the City and is the author of When A Man Loves A Woman and Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. He and his wife, Leslie, have three children and six grandchildren, and live in Chicago, Illinois.
Read MoreCHRISTIN DITCHFIELD is an international conference speaker, Bible teacher, and author of more than 80 books, including the best-selling A Family Guide to Narnia: Biblical Truths in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, and a dozen other guides to spiritual truth in classic literature. Christin holds a masters degree (MA) in Bible & Theology and doctorate (DMin) in Spiritual Formation. She shares her love of all things C.S. Lewis with her husband, Lewis scholar and Episcopal priest, Andrew Lazo.
Read MoreRON ZAPPIA is the pastor and founder of Highpoint Church, a multi-site church reaching thousands in the western suburbs of Chicago. His teaching ministry, Highpoint Ministries provides comprehensive teaching from God's Word through radio broadcasts that air on over 400 stations around the United States. A graduate of Bowling Green State University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Ron and his wife Jody live in Wheaton, IL with their three daughters: Allie, Erin, and Emily.
Read MoreAMANDA CLEARY EASTEP is an award-winning children’s author and a book editor. She works in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, but she has lived most of her life in the suburbs of Chicago, the home of the Tree Street Kids. Amanda and her husband, together, have eight grown children and a border collie named Annie who wakes Amanda up early every morning to write.
Read MorePHIL SHAPPARD served as Moody Radio's national operations manager before retiring in 2020. He studied at Toccoa Falls College and later graduated with a BS in Business Management from Elmhurst University in Elmhurst, IL. Phil and his wife, Nora, have three grown children and nine grandchildren, and make their home in the western suburbs of Chicago.
Read MoreBRADLEY BAURAIN has taught for more than 25 years in the United States, Canada, China, and Vietnam. He currently leads the TESOL programs at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He is the author of Religious Faith and Teacher Knowledge in English Language Teaching, co-editor of the International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching, and writes devotional studies for Moody's Today in the Word.
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