This site uses cookies to provide you with more responsive and personalized service and to collect certain information about your use of the site. You can change your cookie settings through your browser. If you continue without changing your settings, you agree to our use of cookies. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
CYNTHIA CAVANAUGH is an author, speaker, and leadership influencer. Her story of brokenness has propelled her to write, teach, and help others redeem their pain and heal through the pages of God's Word. She is an award-winning author of several books, and the upcoming Bible study The Godly Kings of Judah: Faithful Living for Lasting Infuence, an 8-week study about how to leave a legacy that endures (2022). Cynthia holds her MA in Leadership from Trinity Western University, where she is an adjunct professor in the Leadership degree program for international students. In addition to writing, coaching, and teaching, she is a freelance editor for new authors and is the host of the podcast, The Soul Anchor. Cynthia and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest where they enjoy bicycling and spending time with their grandkids. Connect with Cynthia at: www.cynthiacavanaugh.com.
Read MoreWALKER HAYES is a Grammy nominated singer/songwriter originally from Mobile, Alabama, signed to Monument Records. Throughout his career, he has released multi-Platinum singles "Fancy Like" and "You Broke Up With Me," performed on national television with Good Morning America, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The TODAY Show, and has been written about in the LA Times, Esquire, Billboard and Rolling Stone. His single "Craig" -- a song about a neighbor who reached out to Hayes in a time of need -- was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2018 AIMP Nashville Awards and prompted Hayes to start the Be a Craig Fund to help other families during their own times of need. A new version of the track featuring MercyMe is on Hayes' forthcoming album Country Stuff the Album. The song inspired this book.
Read MoreJEFF SIMMONS is the founding and senior pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church, which he and his wife, Lisa, planted twenty years ago. The church has grown from 15 people meeting for a Bible study in an apartment clubhouse on Thursday nights to several thousand people and five campuses in Franklin, Nashville, Nolensville, Columbia, and Haywood Hills. Jeff is a follower of Jesus, husband, and father of three wonderful children. He serves alongside an amazing staff team at Rolling Hills and is the President of Justice and Mercy International doing mission work in the countries of Moldova and the Amazon jungle. Jeff is an author and speaker while overseeing the ministry work with over 80 full-time church staff, 55 international staff, 70 learning center teachers, and multi-million-dollar budgets. Jeff is passionate about God's work and longs to make a difference for the glory of God in His day and generation.
Read MoreSusie Hawkins lives in Dallas and has been actively involved in women’s ministry as a pastor’s wife, teacher and volunteer. She has also served as the Director of Women’s Ministry at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas. She has taught a weekly Bible study for business women in downtown Dallas and speaks at women’s conferences and retreats. She is also a contributor to various publications, such as Voices Behind the Veil and the soon to be released “Women’s Evangelical Library Commentary.” Susie has an MA in Christian Leadership from Criswell College as well as an MA in Theology. She is married to O. S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (formerly the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) and is the mother of two married daughters, Wendy and Holly, as well as a grandmother of five. Her favorite things to do are bargain hunting, lunching with friends and playing with her grandchildren!08/08
Read MoreJOHN FULLER is vice president of Audio and New Media at Focus on the Family and co-host of the daily “Focus on the Family” broadcast. He leads the team that produces more than a dozen Focus programs reaching millions of listeners around the world. Many of these features and podcasts are also available at www.focusonthefamily.com. A media veteran of more than 30 years, John writes and speaks about creativity, media trends, influential leadership, excellence, and social media. As a father of six, he writes and speaks about strong marriages and effective parenting. John and his wife Dena are also advocates for orphan care and adoption. John has a M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado, and serves as an elected member of the board of the National Religious Broadcasters.
Read MoreLORRAINE PINTUS graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BA in journalism and dabbled briefly in politics as a lobbyist and press manager for a gubernatorial candidate. She has been a media relations manager for Frito-Lay/PepsiCo., Inc. and with her husband owned an IBM store before becoming a promotion manager for the University of California, Irvine. Lorraine now proudly serves as "vice president" of the Pintus Household where she is wife to Peter and driver to her teenage daughters Mandy & Megan. In her spare time, she writes books and travels all around the world with her dear friend and co-author of Intimate Issues, Linda Dillow. Lorraine and Linda speak to tens of thousands of women each year, telling them of the hope and healing they can know through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Read MoreWESS STAFFORD From the poor of Africa's Ivory Coast to President and Chief Executive Officer of Compassion International, Dr. Wesley K. Stafford — Wess — has maintained one simple belief: God's children are priceless resources. To that end, Wess leads Compassion's efforts to break the cycle of poverty for children everywhere. Wess joined the staff of Compassion International in 1977 and has worked with the ministry, both overseas and at headquarters, for 34 years. He has served as president since 1993. Wess lives on a small ranch near Colorado Springs, Colorado with his wife, Donna, of 32 years who was a Compassion sponsor even before she met Wess! They have two daughters, Jenny and Katie — the two children in the world for whom Wess is the greatest advocate of all.
Read MoreDR. AMY E. BLACK is Associate Professor of Political Science and chair of the department of Politics & International Relations at Wheaton College (IL). Prior to joining the Wheaton faculty in 2001, she taught at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A specialist in American Government, her research interests include religion and politics and Congress. Her books include Religion and American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives, edited with Douglas Koopman and Larycia Hawkins (Pearson Longman, 2011), Beyond Left and Right: Helping Christians Make Sense of American Politics (Baker Books, 2008), From Inspiration to Legislation: How an Idea Becomes a Law (Prentice Hall, 2007), and, with Douglas Koopman and David Ryden, Of Little Faith: The Politics of George W. Bush’s Faith Based Initiatives (Georgetown, 2004). She and her husband, Wheaton theology professor Dan Treier, live in Wheaton with their daughter Anna.
Read MoreJEAN ANDRIANOFF might easily have been chosen "Person Most Likely to Spend Her Life Behind a White Picket Fence in Mid-America" by fellow students at Geneva College. Instead, God took her and her husband David to Thailand, Laos, Mongolia, and Malaysia over a twenty-five year period of ministry under the Christian and Missionary Alliance and World Concern. They now live in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, where Jean finds inspiration for writing from God's creation, family, life experiences and her faith in Jesus. She is the author of Chosen for a Special Joy, the story of David's parents and a people movement to Christ among the Hmong of Laos. The Sunday School curriculum she developed for the Lao church is widely used in Cambodia as well. David and Jean have two daughters and two grandchildren.
Read MoreSARAH "VIRGINIA" JACOBER was born in Dayton, Ohio and accepted Jesus as her Savior at age eleven. The first time she heard a missionary speak, she knew this was what God wanted her do. After graduating from Nyack College, she married Edward G Jacober. They pastored a church while he attended Dallas Theological Seminary, and then were appointed by The Christian and Missionary Alliance to do evangelistic work in India. Their four children attended school in the Himalaya Mountains. Transferred to Bethlehem, Israel, they taught the Bible and visited Bedouin tents for fifteen years. Sarah’s husband died, but she continued working and speaking in churches. After retiring, she made fifteen short term mission trips to various countries around the world.More than forty of Sarah’s articles and poems, plus six books have been published. Sarah lives near family in North Carolina, has seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and continues to write for God’s glory.
Read MoreRuth Presswood Hutchins In 1970, to fulfill the request of Rev. J.C. Pollock, an author from England, Ruth Presswood Hutchins wrote at considerable length about the life and ministry of Ernest Presswood. At that time, a conviction came upon her that she had a story to be told, a story that had taken her 20 years to forget. She began to pray about the matter. The task seemed too great. It took her 20 years to remember, research, organize and write No Sacrifice Too Great. It is the story of her life, especially the years in the Netherlands East Indies as the wife of the pioneer missionary, William Ernest Presswood. Those years included internment by the Japanese during World War II and the tragedy of its aftermath.
Read MoreMARGARET PAGAN received an A.B. in English from Morgan State University and studied writing at Johns Hopkins University. Her first published work appeared in Essence magazine, and she continued to publish many freelance articles, for the most part, dealing with African American history and genealogy. After accepting Jesus Christ as her Savior she studied at Baltimore School of the Bible, and she began to desire to write on things that glorify Christ. After writing an entry on the life of Katherine Ferguson, a pioneer in the Sunday School movement, for a biographical encyclopedia, Margaret went on to write her first work of historical fiction, More Than a Slave: The Life of Katherine Ferguson. Margaret is the wife of Carl E. Pagan, pastor of Urban Bible Fellowship Church and resides in Baltimore, Maryland.
Read MoreRAMON PRESSON, PhD, a licensed marriage & family therapist, has been in practice for 30 years and is the founder of LifeChange Counseling and Marriage Center of Franklin. He is a newspaper columnist; and with a dozen books in print he is the most published practicing therapist in Tennessee. He is a charter member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. From 1989 to 2004 Presson served as an assistant pastor in large churches in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. Ramon has had the unique privilege to serve on staff with and later co-author several books with Dr. Gary Chapman. He is currently co-authoring the teen edition of When Will My Life Not Suck? Authentic Hope for the Disillusioned with his 17-year-old son, Cameron. Ramon and his wife, Dorne, have been married for 28 years, have two sons, and live outside Nashville. He can be reached at ramonpresson@gmail.com.
Read MoreGEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898), evangelist and philanthropist in England, was a man of prayer and strong faith who depended wholly on God for his temporal and spiritual needs. During his time serving as pastor at a church in Bristol, England, his famous work with the orphans began when two young children were thrown upon the church's care. Mueller resolved never to tell anyone what his needs were. He told them to God and confidently expected them to be met. Over his life, he handled more than $8 million, although his own worldly possessions were valued at about $800 at his death. He is author of the book Answers to Prayer.
Read MoreKEN R. CANFIELD, Ph.D. (B.A., Friends University; M.C.S., University of British Columbia; Ph.D., Kansas State University) is founder of the National Center for Fathering, and served as NCF's president and CEO from 1990 through 2005. In January 2008, he accepted an appointment as Executive Director of the Boone Center for the Family at Pepperdine University. He is the author of The Heart of a Father and numerous other books including the award-winning 7 Secrets of Effective Fathers. Ken and his wife, Dee, have been married over 30 years and have five children and three grandchildren.
Read MoreRITA A. SCHULTE is a licensed professional counselor who specializes in the treatment of mental health disorders. In 2011, she created Heartline Radio, a broadcast show that addresses cutting-edge mental health issues and provides content to educate and equip listeners in how mental health affects our culture. Rita is frequent contributor to many publications and is the author of Shattered: Finding Hope and Healing through the Losses of Life; Imposter: Gain Confidence, Eradicate Shame and Become Who God Made You to Be, and Think This Not That: Rewiring Your Brain to Eliminate Toxic Thinking. She speaks around the country on mental health-related issues. She received her B.S. in psychology and her master's degree in counseling from Liberty University. Rita is no stranger to loss and suffering. In 2013, she lost her beloved husband to suicide and her world was decimated. She speaks candidly about this loss at her national workshops in the hope of helping others heal. Rita makes her home in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Read More