The most important influences in my life and writing are: 1) My salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, who brought me to Himself on December 26, 1971. 2) My calling to ministry, of which I first became aware in 1974.  Until the last few years, I have either understood this calling in conventional, "pastor or missionary" terms (for which I'm not well suited), or to actively ignore it, on the tacit assumption that God surely made a mistake!  I now understand that the core of my calling is writing and teaching. 3) My academic training in general, and my now 23-year plus career as a research paralegal.  In my work, I have done all of the same research and writing work that my attorney employers do, under the suprevision of some very good attorneys, but without direct responsibility for clients and without formal recognition.  This course of preparation has taught me to reason carefully and to express myself well in words.  It has also taught me patience in the matter of doing my assignment (whether from an attorney or from God) without demanding recognition or immediate, visible results.  As pertains to my Christian writing, God knows best what He wants to do with it!    4) My apparently largely congenital inability to intuit many social cues others pick up automatically, due to an entity my doctors have labeled Asperger's Syndrome.  This can be both a blessing and a curse.  While it has always made me somewhat of a social outsider,  it has also forced me to study social interactions others take for granted. This has been positive, and important to my writing.  My ability to perseverate in study of obscure topics that interest me has also been important. 5) The support of my wife, her family, and several believers from unexpected places--from denominations or parts of the world very different from my own--in some major crises in my life. 6) My personal exposure to many different parts of a weak, divided Body of Christ that it seems ought to be united and strong.  

J.D., University of Iowa, "With High Distinction" (1982); M.A., History, University of Iowa (1984); M.S., Biochemistry, Iowa State University (1982); B.S., Chemistry and B.A., Linguistics, "Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Linguistics" (1976)