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STEVE VANDEGRIFF (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) is a professor of youth ministries at Liberty University in Virginia. A former youth pastor, Steve enjoys ministering and speaking to young people and their parents. He previously spent thirteen years as the executive director of Youth for Christ in Alberta, Canada. He is co-author of Timeless Youth Ministry, Disturbing Behavior, and Protecting Your Teen from Disturbing Behaviors. The parents of three children, Steve and his wife, Pamela Jo, reside in Lynchburg, Virginia.
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BILL THRASHER serves as the lead faculty member in the Master's Program in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship at Moody Theological Seminary. He is a frequent speaker for churches and retreats across the country. His ministry interests include campus discipleship, singles ministry, and evangelism. He is author of Believing God for His Best, A Journey to Victorious Praying, Principles of Christian Living from Romans 5-8, The Attributes of God in Pauline Theology, Living the Life God Has Planned, Putting God Back into the Holidays, and God As He Wants You to Know Him. Bill and his wife, Penny, live in the Chicago area and have three sons—Will, Michael, and David. His website is www.victoriouspraying.com.
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DR. PAUL NYQUIST was the 9th president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago—a higher education and media ministry founded by evangelist D. L. Moody in 1886. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Studies and received a Th.M. and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books including Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture.
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DARRELL BOCK (BA, University of Texas; ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Aberdeen) has earned recognition as a Humboldt Scholar (Tubingen University in Germany), and is the author of more than forty books, including well-regarded commentaries on Luke and Acts and studies of the historical Jesus. He was president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) for 2000-2001, is a consulting editor for Christianity Today, and serves on the boards of Wheaton College and Chosen People Ministries. His articles appear in leading publications, and he is often an expert for the media on New Testament issues. Dr. Bock has been a New York Times best-selling author in nonfiction and is elder emeritus at Trinity Fellowship Church in Dallas. When traveling overseas, he will tune into the current game involving his favorite teams from Houston, even in the wee hours of the morning. Married for over forty years to Sally, he is a proud father of two daughters and a son, and is also a grandfather.
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MATTHEW CORK has served in a number of key roles over his many years at Friends Church, including: WorshipPastor, Executive Pastor and the position he currently holds, Lead Pastor. Matthew’s focus since 2003 has been on therenewal of Friends Church. He has a strong pastor’s heart that has led him to be a key part of transitioning a church incrisis. On a trip to India in 2007, Matthew saw firsthand the plight of the Dalit people and the impact education canhave on improving their lives. Since then, Friends Church has launched a new vision called Global Freedom and hasbeen instrumental in building a large number of Education Centers throughout India. Matthew lives in Yorba Lindawith his wife Mardi and their three children: Nolan, Sophie and Ella.
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DR. CRAWFORD LORITTS' ministry has given him the opportunity to travel throughout the United States and much of the world, speaking in churches, evangelistic outreaches, conferences, colleges, and seminaries. He has been a church planter, served for over twenty-seven years on the staff of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) and for over fifteen years as Senior Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia. He is the author of nine books including Your Marriage Today...and Tomorrow, co-authored with his wife, Karen; and the host of two national radio programs, Living a Legacy and Legacy Moments. As President and Founder of Beyond Our Generation.com, Crawford is committed to encouraging, mentoring, and helping to shape the next generation of Christian leaders.
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RAMON 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.
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DR. PAUL ENNS has served as Minister, Biblical Training & Leadership Development at Idlewild Baptist Church since July 1995. He attended Dallas Theological Seminary, obtaining his Th.D. (Bible Exposition) in 1979. In addition to his teaching position at DTS, Dr. Enns also held positions at: Luther Rice Seminary, Talbot Theological Seminary, and Word of Life Institute. He was instrumental in establishing the Tampa Bay Extension of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently is Professor of Systematic Theology and Director.Dr. Enns has served as Scholar in Residence for the Lockman Foundation, since 1989, as editor and translator of the New American Standard Bible.An accomplished author, Dr. Enns has written twelve books including The Moody Handbook of Theology (Third Edition); Approaching God: Daily Reflections for Growing Christians; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John Gospel Commentary; Heaven Revealed and Everything Happens for a Reason. Dr. Enns enjoyed 45+ years with his beloved wife Helen before her homegoing to heaven in 2005. He resides in the Tampa area and has two sons.
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JENNIFER M. THOMAS, Ph.D., is a motivational speaker specializing in the five love languages and communication. She is a business consultant and psychologist. She recently gave a TEDx talk on the two essentials for healthy relationships. Hint: They involve a love tank and forgiveness. She is co-author (with Gary Chapman) of When Sorry Isn't Enough and The Five Languages of Apology. Her books have been translated into fifteen foreign languages and sold hundres of thousands of copies around the world. Jennifer has a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland, as well as a BA in Psychology and Religion from the University of Virginia. Visit her website at www.drjenthomas.com to take a free apology profile and register for her enewsletter.
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Soong-Chan Rah is Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. He is the author of The Next Evangelicalism (IVP Books, 2009). Prior to coming to North Park, Soong-Chan was the founding and senior pastor of Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, a multi-ethnic, urban church in Cambridge, MA. Soong-Chan has a B.A. from Columbia University, a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from Harvard University, and a D.Min. from Gordon-Conwell. Soong-Chan serves on the boards of Sojourners, the Christian Community Development Association, World Vision, and the Catalyst Leadership Center. He lives in Chicago with his wife Sue, a special educator and his two children, Annah and Elijah.
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AARON COE serves as the Vice President of Mobilization and Marketing of the North American Mission Board, providing leadership in mobilizing churches and missionaries to plant churches.Aaron, a native of Louisville, KY., served from 2003 to 2010 as a church planting missionary where he worked with New Hope New York, an organization that planted 38 churches in the years after 9/11. From this experience, he became the lead pastor/church planter at Gallery Church in 2006. He also has played a role in raising leaders, partners and resources for many new churches, including the Gallery Church.In 2009, he became executive director of “SendNYC,” the impetus for what has become Send North America – NAMB’s church planting initiative.Aaron has a Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Carmen, have four children, Ezra James, Danielle, Joshua, and Harper.
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QUINA ARAGON is an author, editor, and spoken word artist residing in Orlando, FL, with her husband and daughter. They are members of New Creation Fellowship. She is the author of the children's book trilogy, Love Made, Love Gave, and Love Can, which poetically retells Scripture's story through a Trinitarian lens of love. She is also the author of Love Has a Story: 100 Meditations on the Enduring Love of God, which invites you to explore God’s love as it has existed and moved throughout (and before) time, and how it intends to transform your own life story. This book, which can be read as one story or in 100 bite-sized pieces, features over 40 of Quina's personal poems, tracing God's love through her own life story. It is biblical theology, meets personal story work, meets your local coffee shop poet. Love Has a Story is available wherever books are sold. You can find Quina at her website QuinaAragon.com.
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