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Authors

Nik Ripken, D.Min., and his wife, Ruth, are mission veterans of over 30 years with International Mission Board (Southern Baptist Convention), having served in Malawi, Transkei, South Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Germany, Ethiopia, and in the Middle East. They currently serve as Global Missiologists. Dr. Ripken is the author of many articles on missions and, along with Ruth, has done extensive research among the persecuted in approximately 70 countries. He is the author of The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected (B&H, 2013) and The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places. In cooperation with B&H Publishing, a curriculum based upon both books was developed in 2016. A documentary based on The Insanity of God was released in 2016. Nik and Ruth are the parents of three sons. www.nikripken.com

Richard M. Riss (as of Fall 1998) is Assistant Professor of Church History at Zarephath Bible Institute in Zarephath, New Jersey. He holds a Master of Christian Studies degree from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia (1979) and a Master of Arts in Church History from Trinity Divinity School (1988). He is currently finishing a Ph.D. degree in Church History at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Richard M. Riss has authored several books including The Evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1977), The Latter Rain Movement of 1948 and the Mid-Twentieth Century Evangelical Awakening (1987), A Survey of 20th-Century Revival Movements in North America and with Kathryn J. Riss, Images of Revival (1997).

Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., Ph.D. (Fuller Theological Seminary), is Senior Professor of Church History and Ecumenics and Special Assistant to the President for Ecumenical Relations at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God who has served at the seminary since 1974. His work on the Azusa Street revival is well known. His ecumenical work, since 1984, is highly respected around the world by Christian leaders outside the Pentecostal Movement. He continues to serve as a bridge between Pentecostalism and the larger church world, leading international dialogues, participating in ecumenical consultations, and working on and writing about church-dividing issues. He appears regularly on the AmericanReligious.org Town Hall weekly telecast. He co-edited The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism (Cambridge, 2014) with Amos Yong, The Azusa Street Revival and Its Legacy (Wipf & Stock, 2009) with Harold D. Hunter, and The Suffering Body: Responding to the Persecution of Christians (Paternoster, 2006) with Harold D. Hunter. He is also the author of The Azusa Street Mission and Revival: The Birth of the Global Pentecostal Movement (Thomas Nelson, 2006 and 2017) and Prophecy in Carthage: Perpetua, Tertullian, and Cyprian (Pilgrim, 1992). Faculty page

Brian P. Roden is a fourth-generation Pentecostal, raised in the Assemblies of God. He holds a BS in Computer and Information Science (1991) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and an MA in Theological Studies (2017) from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. He received ordination with the Assemblies of God in 2014. Brian blogs at www.BrianRoden.com, and teaches in both English and Spanish at his home church in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife Diana (a native of Mexico). They have two daughters.

Darrin J. Rodgers, M.A. in Theological Studies (Assemblies of God Theological Seminary), J.D. (University of North Dakota School of Law), is director of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center and editor of Assemblies of God Heritage. He is author of Northern Harvest (2003), a history of Pentecostalism in North Dakota, and numerous articles in books and journals. www.ifphc.org Facebook.

Michael Rogers, Th.D., has 20 years of pastoral experience and over a decade of experience as a Christian school administrator. Mike is a businessman and the Senior Leader of The Church at New Bern and the New Bern School of Supernatural Ministry.

Gary D. Rogers was born and grew to adulthood on the Texas Gulf Coast. He was blessed to be raised by an extraordinary Father and loving Mother—and he thought it was normal. However, he would eventually learn that far too many were deprived of the childhood they deserve. He would become convinced that he had a responsibility to share what he had been given with those who were denied a relationship with a healthy Father. It is that thought that was the genesis of his writing and speaking career. In his writings and speaking, he reveals how modern men can become valued, respected, and authentically masculine—and how society will benefit when they do. The blessing of family, the experiences of life, and the hard times he has walked through have all blended to forge a unique perspective which he shares with his readers. He has a passion to inspire men to be men, equip women and men with workable life skills, and to empower a healthy culture of fatherhood. He is the author of Unlocking The Power Of Fatherhood (2019).

Larry Russi, M.A. in Urban Ministry (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), is the Senior Pastor at Glendale Christian Lighthouse Church in Everett, Massachusetts. In ministry for over 40 years, he is the coordinator for the New England region of the American Evangelical Christian Churches (AECC) and also a member of the denomination's advisory board. Facebook

Jon M. Ruthven, Ph.D., passed away April 11, 2022. He spent his entire adult life in ministry, starting with David Wilkerson in Boston and New York City in the mid-60s. After spending a dozen years pastoring, a couple a years as a missionary in Africa as President and Dean of Pan Africa Christian College in Nairobi, Kenya, he ended up teaching theology in seminary for 18 years. Always interested in training and discipleship, Jon sought to develop a radically biblical approach to ministry training that seeks to replicate the discipling mission of Jesus in both content and method. Jon wrote numerous scholarly papers and books including On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Postbiblical Miracles (1993 and 2009) and What’s Wrong with Protestant Theology? Tradition vs. Biblical Emphasis (2013). He emphasized the biblical grounding for a practical ministry of healing, signs and wonders in the power of the Spirit. Facebook.

Philip Graham Ryken, Ph.D. (University of Oxford), is the eighth and current president of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is the author of more than 30 books, including The Message of Salvation (InterVarsity, 2001), Art for God’s Sake: A Call to Recover the Arts (P&R, 2006), Loving the Way Jesus Loves (Crossway, 2011), and expository commentaries on Exodus, Jeremiah, Luke, and other books of the Bible. www.wheaton.edu/about-wheaton/leadership/president-ryken

Nat J. Saginario, M.Ed. (R.I. College), has served the body of Christ around the world by teaching at various Christian Bible Colleges in the USA (Zion Bible Institute, Valley Forge Christian College, Summit International School of Ministry), as pastor and assistant pastor, and as short-term missions team leader and with Barnabas leadership training teams to over 85 countries.

Shanwi Samuel was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. He began serving the Lord in 1999. His home church is Bethel Church in Jakarta, Indonesia. He received a call to missions in 2001 and that same year began training at Tawangmangu Bible School. There he was mentored by senior missionaries, Pastors Sam and Carol Soukotta; they trained him to be an interpreter for foreign lecturers. Since that time he has served as an interpreter, preacher, and teacher; he does itinerant ministry almost every month seeking to kindle the fires of revival in his home country.

Mark Sandford, MDiv (Denver Theological Seminary), is Spiritual Director of Elijah House, a ministry founded by his parents John and Paula Sandford. Mark collaborated with his father to write Deliverance and Inner Healing (Chosen Books, revised edition 2008) and Healing the Earth ... a time for change (BT Johnson Publishing, 2013). He ministers to individuals and couples in all areas of inner healing and deliverance and teaches at Elijah House schools and seminars. Mark and his wife, Maureen, have three children and live in Post Falls, Idaho.

R. Loren Sandford died on September 17, 2021. He was the eldest son of John and Paula Sandford, widely recognized as pioneers in the charismatic renewal, prophetic ministry and inner healing. A graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, Loren entered full time ministry in 1976 and was the founding pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver, Colorado. As well as traveling internationally as a conference and seminar speaker, he was the author of numerous books, including: Burnout: Renewal in the Wilderness (1998), Purifying the Prophetic: Breaking Free from the Spirit of Self-fulfillment (Chosen, 2005), Understanding Prophetic People: Blessings and Problems with the Prophetic Gift (Chosen, 2007), The Prophetic Church: Wielding the Power to Change the World (Chosen, 2009), Renewal for the Wounded Warrior: A Burnout Survival Guide for Believers (Chosen, 2010), Visions of the Coming Days: What to Look for and How to Prepare (Chosen, 2012), Yes, There’s More: A Return to Childlike Faith and a Deeper Experience of God (Charisma House, 2015), A Vision of Hope for the End Times: Why I Want to Be Left Behind (2018), and The Last Great Outpouring: Preparing for an Unprecedented Move of God (2020). Married since 1972, he and Beth have two daughters and one son who have collectively given them nine grandchildren. Loren was also a member of the Osage Nation, a Native American heritage he deeply treasured. rlorensandford.com Twitter: @pastorrls

Eric Scalise, Ph.D., LPC, LMFT, is the Vice President for Professional Development at the American Association of Christian Counselors and the former Dept. Chair for Counseling Programs at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with more than 30 years of clinical and ministry experience. Author, speaker, and consultant, he works extensively with pastors and ministry leaders around the world.

Dean Schendel is a math teacher and former coach at Rice Consolidated High School in Altair, Texas. He has the privilege of being a part of the ministries of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and AWANA. He is the author of Oneness: A Call to Honor God in the Marriage Relationship (Westbow, 2015). Facebook Twitter: @DeanSchendel. DeanSchendel.com