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PAUL SMITH (Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Theological Seminary) has served as senior pastor of West Side Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington for more than 18 years and has also been active in renewal ministries with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Paul is the author of several books, including Enjoying God Forever and God’s Plan for Our Good. He and his wife, Careen, have one son and three daughters.
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SHAI LINNE is a recording artist who has released numerous acclaimed Christian hip-hop albums, including The Atonement and The Attributes of God. After completing a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and serving as an elder at Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA, Shai co-founded Risen Christ Fellowship, an inner-city church in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Previously, Shai wrote God Made Me and You and co-authored It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Blair and their three children, Sage, Maya, and Ezra.
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MATT MARKINS serves as the President and CEO of Awana, a global leader in child discipleship. As a researcher in child discipleship and children’s ministry, Matt has commissioned eleven research projects since 2013, including a study conducted by Barna Group called Children’s Ministry in a New Reality. He’s a board member at large for the National Association of Evangelicals and is the author or coauthor of four books, most notably The Faith of Our Children: Eight Timely Research Insights for Discipling the Next Generation and RESILIENT: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church. He’s also the cofounder of the Child Discipleship Forum and D6 Conference. Matt and his wife, Katie, have been involved in children’s ministry for more than 25 years and spend their time in Nashville with their two sons. For more information go to www.ChildDiscipleship.com and www.Awana.org.
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JOSHUA SHERIF was born in Egypt to a Muslim family and immigrated to the United States, where he later came to faith in Jesus. For the past decade, he has planted and pastored in Albany Park, Chicago, IL, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country. His congregation represents more than thirty nationalities, speaking twenty languages. Josh has enjoyed his years equipping and coaching other missionaries and pastors around the world. His story was featured in Love Costs Everything, a documentary produced by CIY and Voice of the Martyrs, concerning Christian persecution.
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MATTHEW LEE ANDERSON is an Assistant Professor in Baylor University’s Honors College and the Associate Director of Baylor in Washington. He holds a DPhil in Christian Ethics from Oxford University and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute. He founded Mere Orthodoxy and co-hosts Mere Fidelity, a podcast on faith, theology, and ethics. He lives in Waco, Texas, where he enjoys piano and beating fourth graders at basketball in his spare time. Learn more at MatthewLeeAnderson.com.
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BOB GRESH is the co-founder of True Girl (formerly Secret Keeper Girl) and Born to Be Brave, which provide live events for tweens and their parents in up to 100 cities per year, reaching over 400,000. A long-time marketing consultant, his passion is using his business experience to teach tweens and teens to live in confidence and Truth. His faith-based entrepreneurial ventures include Grace Prep High School, a new model of Christian education in Central Pennsylvania as well as the nationwide Christian touring ministries. He is the author of Who Moved The Goalpost: Seven Secrets to Sexual Integrity. He lives on a hobby farm in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife, Dannah, and over 20 animals.
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KAT SHULTIS lives in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with her husband, Casey, and their son. Their company, HeWouldLoveFirst.com, answers the question What Would Jesus Do? She leads a ministry called Be a Blessing to help girls with body image and disordered eating habits and shares encouragement online for women with various struggles she has walked through as well.
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HANNAH FARVER is a college student, writer, website blogger, speech and debate coach, and she has even been interviewed on ABC. She also embarked on a national conference tour for young women. Like most people her age she doesn’t know exactly what the future holds, but for now she is planning on a career in media—and more writing, of course. She lives outside Dallas, Texas.
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The late ISABEL FLEECE was married to Dr. Allen Fleece in 1934, and together they ministered in three churches as pastor and wife. Mrs. Fleece is the author of Not By Accident: What I Learned from my Son’s Untimely Death. Many have come to love Isabel for her wise council and for her ministry to grieving parents.
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A. W. TOZER began his lifelong pursuit of God at the age of seventeen after hearing a street preacher. He never attended high school or seminary—his spiritual understanding came from the power of the Word and the power of the Spirit. While serving as a pastor and magazine editor, he wrote prolifically about basic spiritual disciplines and their relationship to contemporary life. His powerful use of words continues to grip the intellect and stir the soul of today's reader.
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Cai Sujuan, also known in the West as Christiana Tsai, was born the 18th of 24 children in Nanjing, China. Sujuan grew up in a fortunate setting, but she was often sad and a very serious child—she even considered becoming a Buddhist nun. She was fascinated by the English language and was initially introduced to the Gospel at a missionary school. Soon after, though she was inclined to disbelieve, the message of Jesus Christ struck Sujuan’s heart and she became a Christian.Sujuan grew in love and faith, and upon graduation decided to return home to bring her family to Christ. In all, 55 members of her family eventually followed the Lord.Later in life, Sujuan contracted malaria and spent much of the rest of her life bedridden. But her ministry only grew! From her bedside, Sujuan was able to comfort lost and broken souls more effectively than she ever had before.After many decades of faithful service to the Lord, never losing her love for her homeland, Sujuan went to be with Jesus on August 25th, 1984.
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LAURA DINGMAN spends most of her time creating and leading worship experiences that help connect people with the story of God. She has served in vocational ministry as the Creative Arts Director at The Creek, a large church in Indianapolis, for over a decade. She loves to show people where their story intersects with God's story. She enjoys belting Broadway, laughing hysterically, reading great books, and living life with her favorite two people in the whole world, her husband, Matt, and her spunky daughter, Abigail. She is the author of Life Rhythms: Learning to Live in God-Centered Time and I Am Found: Quitting the Game of Hide and Seek with God, Ourselves, and Others. You can learn more about her journey and connect with her at www.lauradingman.com.
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ERIC L. JOHNSON (PhD, Michigan State University) trained as an academic psychologist and is the Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of Foundations for Soul Care; coeditor of God Under Fire and Christianity and Psychology: Four Views; and associate editor of the Journal of Psychology and Theology. He serves on the executive board at the Institute for Christian Psychology.
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STEVE FARRAR (California State, Western Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the founder and chairman of Men’s Leadership Ministries and a speaker for these and other conferences and events around the country, including Promise Keepers. Steve is the author of King Me, How to Ruin Your Life by Forty, Point Man, and God Built. The Farrars have three grown children and currently reside in suburban Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.stevefarrar.com.
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BEVERLY DAYTON, along with her husband Howard, has co-authored books, workbooks, and teacher’s guides designed to teach children and teenagers to handle money God’s way. Bev is an accomplished speaker and also owns a home-based business. Howard and Bev have been married for over 35 years, have two married children, Matthew and Danielle, and live in Gainesville, Georgia.
Read More/C-cover/without%20spine/9780802414717.jpg "The Character of the Church")
