Personal
I love learning and being challenged to go beyond my comfort zone. I enjoy people—mostly. I am awed by my family—wife, children and mates, grandchildren, five great-grand-children, extended family, as well as church family.
For decades, I have made coffee shops my primary office.
Pastoring
Although I never intended to be a pastor, I spent 55 years doing so; 50 of those years in a multi-cultural, top-tier University community which certainly blessed and challenged me. The congregation I served for more than 40 of those years was God’s gift to make up for tricking me into being a pastor. Life in this community that pursues lively trust in what God has done through Jesus along with an emphasis on Jesus’s Open Table has allowed for relationships across all types of social lines that often divide.
Educational Background
After a year and a half of Engineering study at the University of Tennessee, I received a B.A from Johnson Bible College, M.A. in New Testament Language and Literature and an M.Div. in Semitic Languages and Literature from Lincoln Christian Seminary, then continued further graduate work in Philosophy at the University of Illinois. Hopefully, I have not, and will not ever, stop growing and learning.
Teaching Background
Through the years, I have taught classes in New Testament, Apologetics, and World Religions for the Urbana Theological Seminary; Old and New Testament Studies extension classes for Lincoln Christian College (now Lincoln Christian University); World Religion and Epistemology classes as a Grad Assistant for the Philosophy Department of the Univ. of Illinois; and many seminars for churches and conferences across the country.