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RON BLOCK has been banjoist guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for Alison Krauss & Union Station since 1991. He wrote many of the band's gospel songs: "There is a Reason," "In the Palm of Your Hand," "Jesus, Help Me to Stand," and his playing has been featured on albums by Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Fernando Ortega, and others. He's received 14 Grammy Awards for his work with Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, and the O Brother, Where Are Thou soundtrack, and received a Dove Award for his song "A Living Prayer." He has also written on spiritual and musical topics for the Rabbit Room website since its inception in 2007, rabbitroom.com.He married Sandra in 1988 and they live in rural Tennessee. They have two grown children, Ethan and Erica.
Read MoreTIM DOWNS is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University in Graphic Design. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred newspapers worldwide. In 1979 he joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, where he founded and directed the Communication Center, a communication training facility. He continues to serve as a speaker and writer. He and his wife, Joy, have spoken at FamilyLife Marriage and Parenting Conferences since 1985. He is author of First the Dead, Less Than Dead, Chop Shop, Head Game, Plague Maker, Shoo Fly Pie, and Finding Common Ground, which was awarded the Gold Medallion Award in 2000. He is also co-author of Fight Fair and The Seven Conflicts: Resolving the Most Common Disagreements in Marriage along with his wife Joy. Tim lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife and three children.
Read MoreNORMAN GEISLER (Th.B., William Tyndale College; A.B., Wheaton College; M.A., Wheaton College Graduate School; Ph.D., Loyola University) Distinguished Professor of Apologetics at the Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California. He was the author or co-author of some 80 books including A General Introduction to the Bible, Baker Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, Christian Ethics, and Systematic Theology. He also wrote hundreds of articles. He and his wife of 57 years, Barbara, have six children, fifteen grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Read MoreEARL R. HENSLIN (Psy.D., Biola University), is a licensed marriage and family therapist, former part-time faculty member at the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology at Biola University, La Mirada, California, author of seven books, and co-author of three books and numerous professional articles. He is a member of several professional organizations and helped in the founding of Overcomers Outreach to aid churches in establishing support groups.For the past 14 years Dr. Henslin has been integrating brain imaging into the treatment of psychological, physical, and spiritual problems at his counseling practice, Henslin and Associates, a Christian counseling group in Brea, California. Dr. Henslin has four adult children and two lovely granddaughters.
Read MoreMATT 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.
Read MoreTODD NETTLETON is the Chief of Media Relations and Message Integration for the Voice of the Martyrs—USA and host of The Voice of the Martyrs Radio. He serves as a voice for persecuted Christians, inspiring Christians with the faithfulness of Christ's followers in 70+ nations where they face persecution for wearing His name. During more than 20 years serving at VOM, Todd has travelled the world and conducted face-to-face interviews with hundreds of Christians who've endured persecution in more than 30 nations. He is a graduate of Bartlesville Wesleyan College (now Oklahoma Wesleyan University) and has done postgraduate study at the University of Oklahoma. Todd and his wife, Charlotte, have two sons and two daughters-in-law. In his spare time he enjoys reading, music, travel and sports, including serving as commissioner of a fantasy football league.
Read MoreJOHN WALSH is the founder of BibleTelling and the Christian Storytelling Conference. His network of BibleTelling trainers conduct seminars in the US as well as 21 other countries. The most exciting seminar is the annual BibleTelling Seminar in Israel. Those who attend tell 120 stories of the Bible at the 45 locations where they happened. The Art of Storytelling was first published in 2003, and then republished in 2014. His book, All the Stories of the Bible is used worldwide by missionaries, pastors, and other Christian workers. John shares his Bible stories on a 2-minute daily radio spot called All the Stories of the Bible in a Year and a 4-minute weekly radio spot called Telling the Stories of the Bible.
Read MoreJOCELYN GREEN is an award-winning author who inspires faith and courage in her readers through both fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife herself, she authored Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives and co-authored The 5 Love Languages Military Edition with Dr. Gary Chapman. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on American's home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration. The books in the Heroines Behind the Lines Civil War series have been honored with gold and silver medals from the Military Writer's Society of America. Wedded to War was a Christy Award finalist in two categories. Jocelyn graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with a B.A. in English, concentration in writing. She is an active member of the Christian Authors Network, the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Military Writers Society of America.Jocelyn lives with her husband Rob and two small children in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Visit her at www.jocelyngreen.com.
Read MoreBRYAN LORITTS is the Lead Pastor of the Abundant Life Christian Fellowship of Silicon Valley, California. He is the privileged husband of Korie, and the graced father of three sons -- Quentin, Myles, and Jaden. He is also an award winning author of six books including Saving the Saved: How Jesus Saves us from Try-harder Christianity into Performance-Free Love which was given the Christianity Today Award of Merit, and his newest release Insider Outsider. Bryan co-founded Fellowship Memphis in 2003, and later founded the Kainos Movement -- an organization committed to seeing the multi-ethnic church become the new normal in our world. He travels extensively throughout the world preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ at conferences and events, as well as serving on the board of trustees for Biola University and PineCove Christian Camps. His messages can be heard daily on the Salem Radio Network's KFAX station. You can follow him on Twitter @bcloritts.
Read MoreR. ALBERT MOHLER, JR. is the ninth president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world. Considered a leader among American evangelicals by Time and Christianity Today magazines, Dr. Mohler hosts two programs: "The Briefing," a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview; and "Thinking in Public," a series of conversations with the day's leading thinkers. He also writes a popular blog and a regular commentary on moral, cultural and theological issues. Mohler is author of numerous books including He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters, and The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down: The Lord's Prayer as a Manifesto for Revolution, and has also appeared on such national news programs as CNN, Larry King Live, NBC, Today Show, and Dateline NBC. He and his wife Mary, reside in Louisville, Kentucky and have two children.
Read MoreHAROLD MYRA served as the CEO of Christianity Today International for 32 years. Under his leadership, the organization grew from one magazine to a communications company with a dozen magazines, copublished books, and a major Internet ministry. Myra started his journalistic career with "Youth for Christ" magazine, which under his leadership became "Campus Life" magazine. Author of five novels, numerous children's and nonfiction books, and hundreds of magazine articles, Myra has taught writing and publishing at the Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois. He holds honorary doctorates from several colleges, including Biola University in California and Gordon College in Massachusetts. Myra has received various awards, among them the prestigious Magazine Publisher's Award and the James Deforest Murch Award from the National Association of Evangelicals. The Evangelical Press Association presented him with its highest honor, the Joseph T. Bayly Award, for his triple career as an editor, author, and publishing executive. Harold and his wife, Jeanette, are the parents of six children and grandparents of five. They reside in Wheaton, Illinois.
Read MoreTODD A. WILSON, B.A., M.A. Wheaton College; Ph.D., Cambridge University, is the President of the Center for Pastor Theologians. He previously served as senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books, including The Curse of the Law and the Crisis in Galatia, Pastors in the Classics, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living, The Pastor Theologian, Real Christian, Mere Sexuality and The Crucified Apostle. Todd is married to Katie and they have seven children, three biological and four adopted from Ethiopia.
Read MoreKURT BRUNER hosts DriveFaithHome.com to help churches reach and disciple busy families. He has worked with hundreds of churches as they customize a ministry model pioneered while he served as pastor of spiritual formation at the 20,000 member Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. The bestselling author of more than twenty books, Kurt spent twenty years with Focus on the Family where he served as Vice President over films, books, magazines, radio drama, broadcasting, and other media groups including the popular Adventures in Odyssey team.
Read MoreBRETT CLEMMER (B.S. Tufts University) is Vice President of Man in the Mirror. He acts as emcee and has served as a special speaker for the Friday morning Man in the Mirror Bible Study. He is the co-author of No Man Left Behind. Brett and his wife, Kimberly, live in Casselberry, Florida and have two children.
Read MoreJOHN FUDER (PH.D., Biola University) is Director of Justice and Compassion Ministries of re:source global as well as a part time grad school and adjunct professor for Moody Bible Institute. In 1993, after 15 years of serving in urban ministry in California, Dr. Fuder brought his passion of equipping students for effective urban ministry to Chicago. As the Professor of Urban Studies at Moody Theological Seminary, Dr. Fuder taught ministry practitioners and students for 17 years. Dr. Fuder has authored many publications including A Heart for the Community, A Heart for the City, and Training Students for Urban Ministry. Dr. Fuder and his wife, Nellie, have three children and a granddaughter.
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