Margaret McSweeney

MARGARET McSWEENEY lives with her husband, David, and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. After earning a master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina, Margaret moved to New York City to work at a large bank where she met David. Margaret is the editor of Pearl Girls, author of A Mother’s Heart Knows and co-author of Go Back and Be Happy. Charity and community involvement are very important to Margaret. She has served on the board of directors for WINGS (Women in Need Growing Stronger) for over six years.

Jennifer Thomas

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.

Helen L. Taylor

HELEN LOUISA TAYLOR (1850–1929) was the daughter of a silk manufacturer in Derby, England. She excelled in her studies as the only girl in an all-boys school. Later she wrote for magazines and published several books, including Little Christian's Pilgrimage: The Story of the Pilgrim's Progress Simply Told (1889) and Christiana, The Story of the Pilgrim's Progress Second Part (1902). Many years ago Moody Publishers purchased the rights to both books, updated them, and created the bestselling Little Pilgrim’s Progress series.

James Vincent

JAMES VINCENT (B.A., UCLA ; M.A., University of Illinois) served as assistant professor of communications at MBI for ten years and is now senior editor at Moody Publishers. He has written or cowritten three books, including the centennial edition of MBI: The Story of Moody Bible Institute. Jim lives in Valparaiso, Indiana, with his wife, Lori, and their three sons.

Karen Waddles

KAREN WADDLES is a graduate of DePaul University and has a MASF from Moody Theological Seminary. She is a contributing writer to One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race (Moody Publishers), Our Voices: Issues Facing Black Women in America (Moody Publishers), The Women of Color Study Bible (Nia Publishing), and the Sisters in Faith Devotional Bible (Thomas Nelson).

Jonathan Leeman

JONATHAN LEEMAN is the editorial director of 9Marks, which involves him in editing the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He has written a number of books on the church, including Reverberation, and he teaches theology at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC and serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington. You can learn more about him and his writing at www.9Marks.org.

Brenda Cannon

BRENDA CANNON was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1890. After teaching school for seven years in that city, she attended the Women’s Missionary Union Training School in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1919 she went to North Carolina to serve as secretary of a small mission school, which developed into a home for homeless children and continued to serve the young mountaineers of the area as a school. Except for two years spent as a field worker and young people’s leader in Oklahoma, Cannon remained in North Carolina, teaching school and doing community work. So when she wrote of mountaineers, she wrote understandingly of friends and neighbors. She died in North Carolina in 1965.

Daniel Henderson

As a senior pastor for nearly three decades, DANIEL HENDERSON brought prayer-based revitalization to numerous churches. Now, as the President of Strategic Renewal and Global Director of The 6:4 Fellowship, Daniel is dedicating his full-time efforts to help congregations across the country and world experience renewal. Daniel is sought-after for his expertise in leading corporate prayer. He has authored numerous books on biblical leadership and prayer, including Old Paths, New Power and Transforming Prayer: How Everything Changes When You Seek God’s Face.

Susie Hawkins

Susie Hawkins lives in Dallas and has been actively involved in women’s ministry as a pastor’s wife, teacher and volunteer. She has also served as the Director of Women’s Ministry at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas. She has taught a weekly Bible study for business women in downtown Dallas and speaks at women’s conferences and retreats. She is also a contributor to various publications, such as Voices Behind the Veil and the soon to be released “Women’s Evangelical Library Commentary.” Susie has an MA in Christian Leadership from Criswell College as well as an MA in Theology. She is married to O. S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (formerly the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) and is the mother of two married daughters, Wendy and Holly, as well as a grandmother of five. Her favorite things to do are bargain hunting, lunching with friends and playing with her grandchildren!08/08

William D. Thrasher

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.

James Spiegel

JAMES S. SPIEGEL is a Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. He has published several books, including The Benefits of Providence, Faith, Film, and Philosophy, Gum, Geckos, and God, and the award-winning How to be Good in a World Gone Bad. Jim and his wife, Amy, blog together at www.wisdomandfollyblog.com. They have four children and live in Fairmount, Indiana.

T. DeWitt Talmage

J. C. Ryle

JOHN CHARLES RYLE (1816-1900) was born in Cheshire County, England. He attended Eton and then went on to Oxford, finishing his Oxford studies in 1837. In 1841 Ryle was ordained as a minister in the Anglican Church, and in 1880 he was named the first Bishop of Liverpool. Throughout his ministry he became known and beloved as a defender of the evangelical reformed faith.

Richard Ellsworth Day

RICHARD ELLSWORTH DAY was born in the United States in 1884. In his early life he was an apprentice at the Terre Haute Gazette in Indiana serving as an associate reporter. His first book was a biography on the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon entitled The Shadow of the Broad Brim, which he published with Judson Press in 1934. The book was an immediate success which led to subsequent biographies on Charles Grandison Finney (1942), D.L. Moody (1944), and Henry Parsons Crowell (1946). Richard Day and his wife Deborah would begin each project with extensive research and study and then retreat to their little cottage in Sunnyvale, California to write. In his day he was a noted Christian biographer, and between projects, traveled around speaking in churches and schools until his death in 1965.

Henry W. Coray

HENRY W. CORAY was born and reared in West Pittston, PA, in the heart of the anthracite region. He attended Wheaton College, and Princeton and Westminster Theological Seminaries. Following his three years in the pastorate in West Pittston, he spent one term as a missionary in Manchuria. The First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, CA, has also been one of Coray’s places of service.

Ryan Dobson

RYAN DOBSON is the founder of KOR ministries and the author of four books, incuding Be Intolerant. Through his podcasts, speaking engagements, and books, Dobson seeks to call Christians deeper into the ultimate adventure of following Christ.