Jeff has been privileged to be both a student and teacher of the Scriptures in both academic and local church settings. He holds an M.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies from Wheaton College Graduate School and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Early Christianity from Loyola University Chicago. He is an Affiliate Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary (Lombard, IL). He has taught as an Adjunct Faculty member at a number of schools, including Christian Life College (Mt. Prospect, IL), Loyola University Chicago, and Central India Theological Seminary (Itarsi, India).
Since, 1998 Jeff has served in pastoral ministry for three non-denominational, multi-ethnic churches in and around Chicagoland, as well as having spoken at retreats and conferences centered in the Midwest. Currently, he is an elder at Cross Culture Church in Chicago. He has been able to minister the gospel and train Christian leaders in other nations as well, including Brazil, El Salvador, Holland, India, Kenya, and Nigeria. Jeff’s academic and ministry contexts reflect the two primary components of his calling: to teach and train leaders for Christian ministry, and to build local churches. His passions for revival and the dynamic presence of God have been foundational for both his scholarship and congregational ministry.
Jeff’s wife, Carol, is a graduate of the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry (1999), and also holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana (1993). Carol is a gifted teacher, whose heart burns for the church to become everything it is destined to be in Christ.
Jeff and Carol were married in 2000 and have four children: sons Cadence (‘01) and Isaac (‘04), and daughters Acacia (‘05) and Alina (’09).