Dr. John Oswalt returned to the Asbury Theological Seminary faculty in 2009 as visiting distinguished professor of Old Testament. He has also served as research professor of Old Testament at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Miss., from 1999 to 2009, was president of Asbury College from 1983 to 1986 and a member of the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., from 1986 to 1989.

He is the author of 11 books, most notable of which is the two-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah in the New International Commentary of the Old Testament. His most recent book is The Holy One of Israel: Studies in the Book of Isaiah, released in 2014. He has also written numerous articles that have appeared in Bible encyclopedias, scholarly journals and popular religious periodicals. Dr. Oswalt is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, with membership in the Kentucky Annual Conference. He has served as a part-time pastor in congregations in New England and Kentucky, and is a frequent speaker in conferences, camps and local churches.

Oswalt received a B.A. from Taylor University; a B.D. and Th.M. from Asbury Seminary; and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

He is married to the former Karen Kennedy, and they have three children and two grandchildren.

His theme for the Bible Study will be “Great Prayers of the Old Testament”.

I grew up in Oregon City, Oregon, in a loving Christian home as the oldest

of three children. I cannot remember a time when I did not hear about

God and Jesus’ love for us. I gave my life to Jesus when I was 7 years

old during VBS. Since that time, I have known without a shadow of a

doubt that God is calling me to be a missionary. When I was 15 years old,

I surrendered myself fully to God and the Holy Spirit during Multnomah

Holiness Camp. God used that camp to show me that even though I was

a child of God, I had not given my whole life and desires over to Him. He

showed me that He wanted everything and not just the part I was willing

to give.

I attended Northwest Nazarene University and earned my degree in

music education. I had questioned whether or not it was God’s will for

me to earn this degree because I didn’t see it as getting me any closer to

the mission field. However, throughout my years at NNU and my years of

teaching, He showed me that He had a wonderful plan in mind, even if it

did take a longer route than I would have wished. For the last five years,

I have been an elementary music teacher in the public school system.

God has shown me that He has placed in me a passion for the lost,

hurting, and abused children of this world. Currently it is God’s will that I

show His love, hope, and purpose to the children of the American Indian

Field.

Plan ahead!!

Next years camp will be

June 25 – July 1

2017

John has deep roots at Red Rock and is no stranger for those who have a long association with the Camp. A third generation pastor,  as a 14 year old he received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at Red Rock under the preaching of his dad who was the camp evangelist. When he was 19, he dedicated his future profession (to be a lawyer) to God at the altar rail at Red Rock. After doing his thing working as an attorney – the bulk of his time spent as a criminal prosecutor – John finally answered the call to ministry God had laid on his heart when he was 9 so that John could now do HIS thing. His passion in ministry is for the spiritually lost to find salvation in Jesus and to then grow into mature followers of Christ who are active in helping God’s Kingdom grow.

John has performed 3 prior stints as Red Rock Bible teacher and served as Vice President for 13 years. In the latter role he led worship in the morning and evening sessions, and also preached the equivalent of a weeks’ worth of camp filling in days evangelists had to arrive late or leave early. Along with his wife Laurie, who served as music leader for ten years, Red Rock made the transition to contemporary worship. He has served as a church and camp evangelist, and had the privilege of preaching the final sermon in the old Tabernacle here at Koronis Ministries.  John also taught the theology course for 125 Lay Pastors at a school in Uganda. During his 21 years as pastor of Grace UMC in St. Cloud, attendance grew by 245% and the church relocated and constructed a new building. John is currently a pastor at Relevant Life Church in St. Cloud, with a ministry emphasis in the area of Spiritual Growth and Discipleship.