My wife, Donna Jean and I share three grown sons. Adrian is completing a Ph.D. in German Studies at Vanderbilt; Austin works in behavioral therapy with autistic children; and Alexander serves as an infantryman in the U. S. Army.

I was an ordained elder in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church beginning in 1995. I transferred my credentials to the Global Methodist Church in 2023. My full-time appointment is to serve as Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, teaching primarily online since joining the staff here in 2014.

Favorite Bible verse?

I serve as the director of music and organist for our traditional services.

I am the author of over thirty-five books on the New Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and spiritual formation and a frequent contributor to Bible curriculum and reference works. Some of my titles have been translated into Korean, Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Sinhalese, and Armenian. Research and writing have been a career-long passion for me and, as it has turned out, a way to contribute to the biblical engagement of sisters and brothers in many lands and languages.