Lincoln Brunner

LINCOLN BRUNNER has been a journalist for 22 years. After cutting his teeth as a sportswriter and general assignment reporter in central Wisconsin in the early 90s, he went on to edit a small daily paper in Illinois. He then served as an editor for several trade magazines. In 2004, he felt a strong call to do full-time reporting about Christian missions work and went on to report on missionaries around the world for two different missions organizations. These days, he works as managing editor for a Bible translation organization. Lincoln and his wonderful wife, Ann, have three daughters and live in Texas.

John Townsend

DR. JOHN TOWNSEND is a psychologist, relational expert, business consultant, and leadership coach. He has written or co-written over 20 books, selling 5 million copies, including the 2 million best-seller Boundaries; Leadership Beyond Reason; and Handling Difficult People.For more than twenty years Dr. Townsend has engaged with audiences, organizations and leaders around the world, providing practical solutions to their problems. He is a co-host of the nationally-syndicated talk show New Life Live John is a visiting professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, and is Clinical Director of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is active on the Board of Directors of Mustard Seed Ranch www.mustardseedranchtn.org, a residential program for abused children. He, his wife, and their children reside in Newport Beach, CA. John’s passion is playing in a band which performs at southern California lounges and venues.

Rebekah J. Byrd

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.

Renaut van der Riet

RENAUT VAN DER RIET loves to go zip-lining with his eight kids through the adventure course they built together. He walks quickly. He talks with his hands and arms. And if you find him at home, you're likely to see him tilling soil because Brooke, his wife of 25 years, loves gardening. In 2002, Renault founded Mosaic Church in Winter Garden, FL. It has become a nationwide pacemaker for fostering and adoption and a model for trauma care. He is also the founder of Axum Coffee Company, named after the Ethiopian city from which he and Brooke adopted four of their children. Renault is developing The ReStory, a project aimed at providing Gospel clarity to followers of Christ and inviting them to consider how their lives might be different if they dared to believe Galatians 5:1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

Joseph Parker

David M. Howard Jr.

DAVID M. HOWARD Jr. (B.S., Geneva College; M.A., Wheaton College; A.M., Ph.D., The University of Michigan), is professor of Old Testament at Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of four books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books, What Makes a Missionary, and The Structure of Psalms 93-100, as well as several dozen articles in scholarly journals and Bible encyclopedias. He resides in Shoreview, Minnesota.

Bev Hislop

BEV HISLOP (D. Min., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) has recently served as Professor of Pastoral Care for Women and the Executive Director of the Women's Center for Ministry at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. She also served on the board of Network of Women in Leadership and was the former host of the weekly radio program Western Connection for Women. Bev has authored Shepherding Women in Pain: Real Women, Real Issues, and What You Need to Know to Truly Help, and Shepherding a Woman's Heart: A New Model for Effective Ministry to Women. She is also a contributing author to Tending the Soul and Women's Ministry Handbook. Bev and her husband, Jim, have two married children and six grandchildren.

Lois Walfrid Johnson

LOIS WALFRID JOHNSON is a speaker, teacher of writing, and former instructor for Writer's Digest School. She is the author of 38 books, including Girl Talk, the Gold Medallion Book Award winning Let's-Talk-About-It Stories for Kids series, the bestselling Adventures of the Northwoods mysteries, and the much-loved Riverboat Adventures. In her exciting Viking Quest series Lois' characters travel from Ireland to Norway, Iceland, and Greenland, then sail with Leif Erickson to what is now America. Lois' husband, Roy, is a gifted teacher and idea person for her writing. They enjoy time with their family, friends, and readers who have written from more than 40 countries to say, "I love your books. I can't put them down."

Donald S. Whitney

DON WHITNEY (Arkansas State University; Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality and is Associate Professor and Dean of Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Don is the author of Spiritual Disciplines within the Church, How Can I Be Sure I'm A Christian, and Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Don and his wife, Caffy, have one daughter and live near Louisville, Kentucky.

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.

Michael S Horton

MICHAEL S. HORTON (Biola University; Wycliffe Hall, Oxford; University of Coventry) is Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. In addition to his work at the Seminary, he is the president of White Horse Media, for which he co-hosts the White Horse Inn, a nationally syndicated, weekly radio talk-show. He is also the editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine. He served in pastoral ministry for over ten years. He is author of over a dozen books including Law of Perfect Freedom, Agony of Deceit, and Christless Christianity. He lives in Escondido, California, with his wife, Lisa, and four children.

Jayme Hull

JAYME HULL is an author, speaker, and ministry leader who motivates audiences to invest in mentoring. Shaped by countless mentors over the past thirty-five years, Jayme now has the privilege of mentoring millennial women. Through her mentoring, teaching, blogging and devotionals, Jayme has no greater joy than to pour into women's lives -- whether over a cup of coffee or through the written word. Jayme resides in Tennessee, with her husband, John. They have three married children and are the proud grandparents of four grandchildren.

Edward G. Shaw

EDWARD G. SHAW, MD, MA, is dually trained as a physician and a mental health counselor. He is the primary care partner for his wife, Rebecca, who was diagnosed with eary-onset Alzheimer's disease at age 54. He was a practicing radiation oncologist for 23 years. In 2010, inspired by Rebecca's journey, his medical interest shifted to dementia diagnosis and treatment, and with his additional training in mental health counseling, he founded the Memory Counseling Program that is now part of Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His moving personal story of caring for his wife, coupled with his innovative use of the five love languages in dementia counseling, inspired the central message of Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade.

Amy Ford

AMY FORD is the President of Embrace Grace, Inc., a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of providing curriculum and leadership support for churches nationwide to open their arms to young women with unplanned pregnancies. Embrace Grace is utilized by over 700 churches across the nation and world. She is also the author of A Bump in Life: True Stories of Hope & Courage During an Unplanned Pregnancy. Amy resides in Arlington, Texas, has been married for 21 years, and has four beautiful children.

Erik M. Peterson

ERIK M. PETERSON has been a designer and art director of book covers and interiors for over twenty years. From time to time he works on other types of design projects but always come back to books. More recently he’s worked on large-scale visual storytelling projects such as Little Pilgrim’s Progress: Illustrated Edition (in collaboration with illustrator Joe Sutphin) and The Pursuit of God: A 31-Day Experience (a thoughtful, illustrative layout of A. W. Tozer’s classic work, designed for slow, meditative reading).