ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Whenyou take seven years to write a book, as I did with this one, it is very difficult to even remember all the people that helped you along the way. Perhaps some of those left unmentioned will take comfort in the fact that it may be best not to be acknowledged in a book that is certain to be controversial. Since Chuck Smith, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, wrote the foreword for me, I doubt saying thanks to Chuck for doing so will expose him to any more criticism than he will already be subject to. I would also like to thank Pastor Brian Brodersen and his skilled staff at Calvary Chapel Publishing for the very important part they played in getting this book into readable print. Special thanks must go to Romy Godding for her skills as an editor, who can see what a book can be (and help it become that) long before it takes its final form. Also, I want to say thanks to Neil Godding for the cover design that clearly captures and communicates what I tried to say throughout the book. Thanks must also go to Christine Scheller, whose skill as a writer helped make The Dark Side of Calvinism quantitatively smaller but qualitatively better.

I must also mention Debbi, my dear wife of thirty-five plus years, who with the patience of Job listened (in the midst of her own very busy ministry schedule) as I read what I wrote and then rewrote (and rewrote) many times over these many years. Thanks Deb. My daughter Esther, who just happens to have a very handy degree in English, also read the manuscript from beginning to end and provided very helpful suggestions (as well as other kinds of very time consuming and patience producing help) that will explain why at least some of what I wrote will be understood by those who understand the English language. (I knew that college education was a good idea.) Thanks also to Esther’s husband Matt DeWitt, who, along with Esther, works with me full time in our church-planting mission to Russia. If he did not do what he does, I could not do all that I do.

Finally, I must say thank you to several people who have provided a great deal of encouragement to me in general and in the writing of this book in particular. First, there is my friend and co-laborer in Christ for more than three decades, Ken Ortize, who just happens to be the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Spokane, Washington. Then there is Roger Stahlut, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Open Door in Anaheim, California, who along with Pastor Ken, shares my heart for reaching Russia with the love and grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Were it not for the labor of love (and considerable language skills) of Christina Dixon and Shannon Bruns, two very dedicated missionaries working with me in Russia, this book may have taken an additional seven years to write.

Oh yes, I cannot fail to mention my two precious grandchildren, Hannah Faith (9) and Jonathon Matthew (7). While they did not assist me in the writing or editing of the book, they helped fill the last seven years with a great deal of joy.