I grew up on a farm in east central Indiana. Participating in farm responsibilities and in organizations such as 4-H, FFA, Junior Leaders, and area youth rallies helped me develop leadership skills.gardner

My undergraduate education was at Ozark Christian College (BTh, New Testament) in Joplin, Missouri and California State University, Stanislaus (BA, history) in Turlock, California. I majored in church history in my masters degree at Wheaton College and in higher education (college teaching) in my doctoral program at University of Arkansas.

I have served as a full-time and part-time preaching minister for a total of thirteen years in Missouri, Kansas, and California. I taught six years at Central Christian College of the Bible at Moberly, MO, serving as academic dean one year. I taught thirty-four years at Ozark Bible College, now Ozark Christian College in Joplin, MO. Seventeen of those years I was also academic dean. I retired from the college in 2006.

I served on the Commission for Accreditation of the Bible College accrediting association, now Association of Biblical Higher Education, and on the Advisory Council for Good News Productions, International. I have been a member of the Evangelical Theological Society since 1970 and am a member of the International Society of Christian Apologetics.

My wife Barbara, originally from Colorado, is also a graduate of Ozark Christian College. She completed a masters in library and information science from the University of Oklahoma and has worked in the reference department in a public library and as reference librarian at Ozark Christian College. She retired at the end of 2006. Our two sons became engineers and our daughter specialized in audiology and sign language. Our younger son was killed in a truck accident at age thirty-four. We have four grandchildren who are our delight. We have a special relationship with them through our regular Bible club.

Barbara and I have led tours to Europe and Israel. We spent the fall 1998, in Prague in the Czech Republic. Barbara helped with the establishment of a Christian public library and I taught history in Anglo-American College. In August, 2011, we spent three weeks in Amman, Jordan. I taught a two-week graduate course on Christianity and world views at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary and Barbara assisted the librarian in the seminary library.

In 2000, I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a fatal disease causing progressive scarring of the lungs. The cause is unknown and no cure is available except lung transplantation. I was privileged to receive a double lung transplant at Barnes Jewish Hospital in June, 2004. I have had minor complications but overall I have done well. In December 2011, I am dealing with chronic rejection of my lungs and have received treatment at Barnes Hospital to combat this problem.

In 2005, Barbara underwent breast cancer surgery, followed by chemo treatment in 2006. She is doing well.

In our local church I teach a Sunday School class and have often been the teacher in our Wednesday evening care group. Since retiring, I am devoting myself to writing. We both are giving more time to family, especially the grandchildren.

I have written seven books (two are out of print), was co-author on another and edited two others. My Christianity Stands True has been translated and published in Russian, Czech, Polish, Korean, and Spanish. It is being translated into Hindi. My Where Is God When We Suffer? has been translated and is now available in the Russian language, Arabic language, and is being translated into Polish.

My new book, Commending and Defending Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Apologetics, was published by College Press in 2010. It is a first book for a serious study of apologetics it deals with the what, why, and how of giving a persuasive defense of Christian faith. it will son be available in Russian.

I preach in our local church periodically as a substitute for our preacher and speak in workshops in conferences and conventions.

*