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THOMAS A’KEMPIS (1380-1471) was a Dutch priest, monk, and writer born in Kempen, Germany. He attended a school near Deventer in Holland. Thomas of Kempen, as he was known at school, was so impressed by his teachers that he decided to live his own life according to their ideals. When he was 19, he entered the monastery of Mount St. Agnes and spent the rest of his long life behind the walls of that monastery. Thomas wrote a number of sermons, letters, hymns, and lives of the saints. The most famous of his works, by far, is The Imitation of Christ, a charming instruction on how to love God. The Imitation of Christ has come to be, after the Bible, the most widely translated book in Christian literature.
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Author and speakerMARLA ALUPOAICEI (Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the Director for Leap of Faith Ministries, an intercultural marriage support ministry in Frisco, Texas. Marla has authored or co-authored over twenty books and Bible study guides, including Taking the Intercultural Leap, Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca, and In the Flow: Spiritual Insights for Living a More Creative Life, as well as numerous nonfiction articles and poems. Marla has fifteen-plus years of ministry, teaching, and speaking experience with a variety of organizations. Currently she works as a staff writer for East-West Ministries, a grace-based church planting organization in Addison, Texas. Marla and her husband, Catalin, whom she met while on a missions trip to Romania in 1998, have been married for 7 years and currently reside in Texas.
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HARRY W. SCHAUMBURG, MA, MS, DMin, LMFT, speaker, author and counselor, is the founder and Executive Director of Stone Gate Resources, Inc., a ministry that has addressed the problems of sexual sin within the church for more than eighteen years. Offering real change, his pioneering Brief Intensive CounselingSM program has drawn over two thousand five hundred laity and clergy from the U.S. and eighteen foreign countries. For nearly thirty years, Dr. Schaumburg has been involved in pointing people away from sexual sin to restored intimacy with God and others. He is the author of False Intimacy: Understanding the Struggle of Sexual Addiction, the first book on the subject from a biblical perspective, and Sexual Redemption. Married forty years to his wife Rosemary, they have two adult sons.
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HANS FINZEL (D.Miss., Fuller School of World Missions; Th. M., Dallas Theological Seminary) is the president of HDLeaders. He served for 20 years as president of WorldVenture (formerly CBInternational). He and his wife, Donna, spent ten years as missionaries in Eastern Europe, working with WorldVenture to train pastors behind the Iron Curtain. Hans is the author of ten books, including Change is Like a Slinky, Launch Your Encore, The Power of Passion in Leadership, Unlocking the Scriptures, and his bestseller The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make. He co-authored The Top Ten Ways to Love Your Wife with his wife. He is the host of the Leadership Podcast, The Leadership Answer Man and is a widely sought-after speaker as an expert in leadership development, change management and international studies. The Finzels make their home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and have four children.
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DR. JOSEPH M. STOWELL has a distinguished career in higher education and church leadership. He has served as President of Moody Bible Institute and Cornerstone University and has had the honor of pastoring several churches in the Midwest. An internationally recognized conference speaker, Joe has written devotionals for Our Daily Bread and authored several books, including Strength for the Journey, The Trouble with Jesus, Simply Jesus, and Redefining Leadership: Character-Driven Habits of Effective Leaders. He and his wife, Martie, enjoy the pleasure of three children and ten grandchildren.
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NOEL CASTELLANOS has worked in full-time ministry in urban communities since 1982. He has served in youth ministry, church planting, and community development in San Francisco, San Jose, and Chicago. Noel is a highly sought after speaker, motivator, and mentor to young leaders throughout the USA, and has a deep passion to serve and invest in the lives of emerging leaders. After serving on the Board of the Christian Community Development Association for many years, he has established the new CCDA Institute, which is working to equip emerging church leaders in the philosophy of Christian Community Development, and currently serves as the CEO of CCDA. He and his wife, Marianne, have three children, and make their home in the barrio of La Villita in Chicago.
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LARRY BURKETT (1939-2003) was a well-known authority on business and personal finance. He wrote more than seventy books, including non-fiction bestsellers like Family Financial Workbook, Debt-Free Living, and The World’s Easiest Guide to Finances. He also had a worldwide radio ministry. Larry founded Christian Financial Concepts and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crown Financial Ministries®. He is survived by his wife, Judy, four grown children and nine grandchildren.
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JEFF 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.
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BECKY BYRD obtained a Master's Degree in Historical Theology from Wheaton Graduate School in 2016. She has a BA in Bible and Theology from Moody Bible Institute and was trained as a Spiritual Director at North Park Seminary. Her ministry experience spans from youth ministry to small groups, discipleship and connection ministry. She currently works with Dr. John Trent at Moody Bible Institute. She is learning to be an advocate for her children with special needs and enjoys serving her local church. Becky has been married to her husband, Steve, for 19 years and has four children. In her spare time she enjoys connecting with people, reading, photography, writing and exploring the awesome city of Chicago. You can connect with her at www.moody.edu/chapman-chair or on her blog https://coffeehousetheo.tumblr.com.
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RICK OSBORNE is a bestselling, award-winning author of both parenting and children’s books. One of Rick’s main goals is to create resources that help families develop loving relationships and peaceful, happy homes. Among the many children’s books he’s written and coauthored are, ‘The Legend of the Christmas Tree,’ ‘The Legend of the Christmas Stocking,’ and the ‘101 Questions Kids Ask About God’ series. These have sold millions of copies and have been translated into many languages. Rick has coauthored books with Dr. John Trent, Josh McDowell, Larry Burkett, and Dr. Gary Chapman. He helped write and produce the booklet ‘The Most Important Story Ever Told’ which has had over 50 million copies distributed around the world. Find out more by visiting www.rick-osborne.com.
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JOHN TRENT, Ph.D., is the Gary D. Chapman Chair of Marriage and Family Ministry and Therapy at Moody Theological Seminary. He works to help train the next generation of family pastors and Christian counselors. He's also the President of StrongFamilies.com, a ministry committed to building strong relationships in these stressful times. Dr. Trent's main focus includes writing and speaking at retreats, conferences, business settings, churches, and seminars across the country. In addition to building family teams, Dr. Trent regularly speaks to corporate America on teambuilding, recruiting and retaining outstanding employees. He has authored and co-authored more than a dozen books for both adults and children, including Love For All Seasons, The Language of Love, and The Blessing. In addition to writing books, Dr. Trent has written numerous articles for both professional and popular publications. He and his wife, Cynthia, live in Scottsdale, Arizona and have two grown daughters.
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CHRISTIAN BUCKLEY is a husband, father, lawyer, entrepreneur, non-profit leader, writer, and follower of Christ. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, and a J.D. from UCLA. After leaving a successful corporate law practice behind to embark on a practical pursuit of discipleship, Christian founded Think More Truth, a platform where he hopes to inspire people to think and live outside the lines in devotion to Christ. He is also the co-founder of Glue Network and runs Covered Images, Inc. Christian lives in San Diego, California with his wife and children.
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ARTHUR MORGAN DERHAM was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1915. He was converted when he was fourteen. After some time as a business man and four years serving with the Metropolitan Police Force, he entered the Strict Baptist Bible Institute in Brockley, London, in 1938. Derham took the pastorate of the West Ham Baptist Tabernacle in west London, and it was there that the weight of Hitler’s blitz fell in 1940. The area bore attacks throughout the war, and within a few weeks eighty percent of the congregation disappeared because of damage to their homes. The church services were continued underground until 1944. After the war he began writing in addition to part-time pastoral work in other churches in England. He was also married and the father of a son and a daughter. During his life he authored one book and two small publications published in London as well as contributed to a number of magazines and papers.
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JILL GARNER is an accomplished speaker, advocate, and founder of Manners of the Heart, a nonprofit reawakening respect in our society for the sake of the next generation. She is the author of the award-winning Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World, Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World, and Manners of the Heart, an elementary school curriculum that helps children see beyond themselves to become all God created them to be. Her work is endorsed by Focus on the Family, FamilyLife Today, Dr. Kevin Leman, and many others.When Jill is not writing, you will find her digging into in-depth word studies in Scripture, baking a batch of her famous Double Delight Chocolate Chip Cookies, counting down to Christmas, planning the next great adventure, and occasionally casting a fly rod. Her greatest joy is time spent with her husband, grown children, and seven beloved grandchildren.
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JENNIFER LUCY TYLER is a wife, mom, Bible teacher, speaker, and author. Since 2006, she has traveled the globe, speaking at conferences to groups of women and youth and serving trafficking victims and orphans throughout several countries. One of her passions is helping women grow spiritually through online courses, retreats, events, and Bible studies. In 2018, Jennifer founded SoulCircles Ministries. SoulCircles began as an alternative ladies’ night out to study the Bible and has since become a virtual hub for women to learn theology and inductive Bible study from women of color Bible teachers. Jennifer is a Senior Church Advisor for World Vision and has a heart for serving the church through local and global missions. In the fall of 2025, Jennifer will release her book When Dreams Fall Apart: How Unanswered Prayers Can Deepen Your Intimacy with God with Moody Publishers. Jennifer resides in Maryland with her husband, Jeffrey, and their daughter, Justice.
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SHELLY BEACH has invested her life in the field of communication as an educator, administrator, writer, and writing consultant for the past thirty years. Her writing has been published in both the secular and religious markets in a wide variety of genres including poetry, short stories, feature articles, and interviews. Shelly speaks at writers’ conference, seminars, retreats, schools, and women’s conferences through the Midwest. In the editorial field, Shelly has also served as managing editor of specialty Bibles for Zondervan and was a contributing feature writer for the Stewardship Bible (Crossway Books).Shelly is a graduate of Oakland University and Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. She and her husband Dan reside in Rockford, Michigan, where they attend Blythefield Hills Church. They have two adult children who reside in Iowa and Washington State.
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