Guest Bloggers for Next Week!

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving to attend the Acts29 lead pastor's retreat in Vail, CO. I thought it would be a good time to step away from the blog. In my absence I have asked some great bloggers to take over for a few days. Let me introduce them to you and thank them in advance for their work here to keep the Vitamin Z rolling. As you read below, check out their links. All of them have been greatly blessed by the Lord and I know they will provide much grace-filled insight for the rest of the week.

Dan Cruver:  Before co-founding and directing Together for Adoption, Dan was a college professor of Bible and Theology. He has also served as a pastor of family ministries. As one who has been adopted by God and has adopted two children, Dan founded Together for Adoption to equip churches and educate Christians theologically about orphan care and horizontal adoption. Dan regularly writes and speaks about the Gospel and its implications for solutions to the global orphan crisis. He is the editor and primary author of Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father, wrote the foreword to Heirs with Christ: The Puritans on Adoption by Dr. Joel Beeke and is a regular contributor to The Gospel Coalition Blog. 

Doug Wolter:  Doug serves as Family Pastor at LaGrange Baptist Church in LaGrange, Kentucky. He has an amazing wife and three incredible kids who continue to humble him and fill him with joy. He enjoys being with his family and church family, listening to music, reading, exercising and blogging at www.life2getherblog.com.  He also had the esteemed privilege of sharing a house with Zach while attending the University of Northern Iowa! 

Joe Crispin:  Joe is a professional basketball player. He works overseas for most of each calendar year and usually misses home too much during that time. After a successful basketball career at Penn State University, he has played professionally over the last 10 years in the NBA, ABA, CBA, Greece, Poland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and back in Italy again. When he is home in the United States, he resides in State College, PA with his wife Erin and their four children - Abigail, Elijah, Naomi, and Isaiah. In light of his faith in Christ and experience as a professional athlete, Joe loves to talk, speak, and write about sports and competition from a Biblical perspective. He is also a semi-consistent blogger and tweeter, though he does enter seasons where he wants nothing to do with the Internet and his too-highly-valued Macbook Pro.) 

(You can watch Joe lighting up fools on the hardwood by clicking here) 

Michael Kelley:  Michael is an extremely talented Bible teacher and communicator. He speaks to various different groups throughout the year in many different places and settings. Michael and I met each other in when we lived in Nashville and have remained friends since. He currently works for Threads, the young adult initiative of Lifeway Christian Resources, where he is the editor for Bible studies for young adults.  Michael has recently written a book about his son having leukemia that should be released soon. He has three beautiful children and is married to Jana. 

Owen Strachan:  I am Instructor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky and a PhD student in Theological Studies (Historical Theology) under Douglas Sweeney at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. I blog here about theology, culture, history, politics, philosophy, basketball, and ephemera.

I was formerly Managing Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at TEDS and Associate Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at TEDS. Before that, I was the Editorial Assistant to Southern Seminary President Al Mohler; before that, I worked for the White House in the U. S. Department of State. I interned at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and wrote for 9Marks.

I am married to the lovely Bethany and am the father of Ella Rose and Gavin Edwards. I’ve cut a rap cd (you can’t make this stuff up), won basketball championships at all levels except grammar school, high school, college, and professional, and have written a few books to help the church experience the practical effects of Christ-saturated theology. Passions include family, preaching, teaching, creating, leading, playing pickup basketball, and reading. 

Erik Raymond:  In addition to spending time with my family, I enjoy watching my kids play sports, reading, writing, watching colllege & pro sports and running through Omaha’s neighborhoods and trails.

I am a pastor at Emmaus Bible Church, a church plant south of Omaha. Our burden is to establish a gospel-centered, cross-boasting, group of missionaries who value the word preached in Nebraska’s Sarpy County (specifically the Offutt, Bellevue, Papillion area).