S2E9: How to be a Witness with Chris Wall

Chris Wall is a pastor, author, and a founding board member of Inspire. Wall attended Oklahoma Baptist University, where he majored in Bible and was on scholarship to play tennis. Wall would go on to receive a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Midwestern Seminary. During his ministry serving youth in Oklahoma City, Chris was used of God to reach thousands of students and personally led hundreds of people to faith in Christ. One of Chris' students died tragically in a car accident in 2002. Wall used his daily journal to create a 40-day spiritual disciplines guide entitled A Life Worth Following. Today, Chris is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Owasso, Oklahoma, where has served for nearly ten years. Wall's greatest joy in this life outside of Jesus is his wife, Robin, and their children. 

Born and raised just a few miles from CHBC, Isaac Adams has lived in Northeast Washington D.C. most of his life, and has benefited greatly from CHBC members whom he met at an early age. Isaac attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied Journalism and Religious Studies. In college, Isaac came to know the Lord through the ministry of friends and his local church. In 2012, after his time at UNC, Isaac served with the IMB in Brazil, and then returned to CHBC in 2013 to participate in the pastoral internship program. After that, he served the efforts of Together for the Gospel, CROSS Conference, and The Front Porch and gained his Master of Divinity from Southern Seminary. He is the happy husband of Megan, father of Avett, and enjoys writing poetry and watching Tar Heel Basketball.

Dr. Peter Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House Cambridge and a lecturer on Hebrew language at the University of Cambridge. He earned his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge studying ancient languages related to the Bible.
Prior to leading Tyndale House, Williams was a Senior Lecturer in New Testament in the University of Aberdeen. He has spoken in churches, universities, seminaries, high schools and at conferences and seminars/workshops across the US and the world on Biblical subjects including Bible translation, apologetics, and how to understand the Scriptures.

Tyndale House Cambridge is currently researching, transcribing and publishing the Codex Climaci Rescripts (CCR) on behalf of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. The CCR is the most important manuscript of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and also contains other treasures, including an early Greek harmony of the Gospels and the earliest manuscript of the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes. Williams is personally leading this project.

Williams chairs the International Greek New Testament Project, which is currently producing the world’s most comprehensive information on the manuscripts of John’s Gospel.

Dr. Noble currently serves as Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University. He has been teaching composition and literature for over a decade, beginning at Antelope Valley College in his home town of Lancaster, California, and then at Baylor University. He has contributed scholarship on Cormac McCarthy and has published a book with InterVarsity Press titled, Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age. In addition, Dr. Noble is Editor-in-Chief of the online magazine, Christ and Pop Culture; co-founder of the evangelical political organization, Public Faith; a member of the Leadership Council of the AND Campaign; and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Vox, Buzzfeed, First Things, Christianity Today, and The Gospel Coalition. 

Tim Dalrymple is the President and CEO of Christianity Today. In 2013 Tim founded Polymath, a creative agency that helps clients with branding, design, web, video, marketing and communications, and content development. Its clients have included the Museum of the Bible, International Justice Mission, the American Enterprise Institute, and Indiana Wesleyan University. At Stanford, Tim was a world-class gymnast. He focused on campus ministry after his athletic career ended with a broken neck. He has a Philosophies and Religious Studies degree from Stanford, an MDiv from Princeton Theological, and a Ph.D. in Religion from Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Rick Thompson is a fourth-generation pastor of a vibrant church in Oklahoma City. His church is well known for its work in the surrounding community and in global missions, as well as its long history of training pastors and leaders. Rick has authored six books, including The Healthy Church: Seven Principles Every Leader Should Know, which is part of the Global Action “Foundations” curriculum. In addition to pastoring Council Road Church, Rick has taught Church History and Old and New Testament at Wayland Baptist University and frequently leads conferences at pastor training events. Prior to serving on the board at Global Action, he served on the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention for eight years. He holds a BBA from Baylor University, an MDIV from Southwestern Theological Seminary and a DMIN from Midwestern Theological Seminary. Rick joined the Global Action board in 2007 and served as Chairman of the Board prior to becoming President. He and his wife Teri reside in Oklahoma.

Trillia Newbell is the author of the kids’ books Creative God, Colorful Us and God’s Very Good Idea, a Bible study on Hebrews 11, A Great Cloud of Witnesses, and a Bible study on Romans 8, If God Is For Us, as well as the books Sacred Endurance: Finding Grace and Strength for a Lasting Faith, Enjoy: Finding the Freedom to Delight Daily in God’s Good Gifts (2016),  Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves (2015) and United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity (2014). Her writings on issues of faith, family, and diversity have been published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Desiring God, True Woman, Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and more.

Dr. Peter Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House Cambridge and a lecturer on Hebrew language at the University of Cambridge. He earned his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge studying ancient languages related to the Bible.
Prior to leading Tyndale House, Williams was a Senior Lecturer in New Testament in the University of Aberdeen. He has spoken in churches, universities, seminaries, high schools and at conferences and seminars/workshops across the US and the world on Biblical subjects including Bible translation, apologetics, and how to understand the Scriptures.

Tyndale House Cambridge is currently researching, transcribing and publishing the Codex Climaci Rescripts (CCR) on behalf of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. The CCR is the most important manuscript of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and also contains other treasures, including an early Greek harmony of the Gospels and the earliest manuscript of the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes. Williams is personally leading this project.

Williams chairs the International Greek New Testament Project, which is currently producing the world’s most comprehensive information on the manuscripts of John’s Gospel.

Tara-Leigh Cobble started D-Group (Discipleship Group) in 2009 and it has grown into 250+ groups around the world. She loves to speak to audiences about God and His Word, and has written a few books with an aim to point others toward Him through her story as well as their own. She also writes and hosts a daily podcast called The Bible Recap, which aims to keep people connected to reading the Bible when they're tempted to quit for lack of understanding, as well as a daily radio show called The God Shot.

Virginia is a sought-after international speaker, and has been the keynote speaker for large
audiences and special events at the Family Research Council (Washington, DC), Christian
Legal Fellowship (Vancouver, Canada), United States Air Force Academy, Family Talk
Gathering with Dr. Dobson, Summit Ministries, Victims of Communism Foundation, Hobby
Lobby, Georgetown University, and countless others.
Virginia has also published articles in the Christian Post, Christian Science Monitor, Focus on
the Family – Citizen Magazine, Christianity Today, The Daily Signal, and American Thinker.