About Floyd
The husband. The guy who married the Bible Granny. The person who thinks that the Bible Granny is adorable.
He also loves the Bible, languages and other cultures, in that order.
His qualifications? Just remember, knowledge and education don’t equal character. Here's what he has to say about himself.
I developed my love for travel by attending eleven schools before I hit high school. I was an only brat, and my only friend was my German Shepherd. She slept in my bed. My dad was a cop, so I got beat up alot. I taught her to eat people by the time she was two years old. Well, not really eat them, just defend me enough to allow me time to run away. I got saved at twelve because a pastor told me that Jesus wanted to be my friend. I needed at least one friend.
Parent's Divorce
My parents got divorced when I was 15. My mom was an angel. I stayed with the angel. But something changed inside me. I realized that I needed to take care of myself, and that I might have to take care of Mom, as well. Jesus provided me with a pastor who did more for me that he will ever know until we meet in heaven. He helped me fall in love with the Bible and I grew bolder in talking about Jesus. Since most people didn't care about Jesus, I put two and two together and realized that those 'most people' wouldn't care about me either. Before that revelation I was petrified of my own shadow. Now...and with the encouragement of my pastor...
Vietman
At 18 I joined the Army. Vietnam. A combat sergeant. No long term career prospects. I realized that if God wanted me in heaven, combat was an easy fix. Four Purple Hearts, one Army Commendation Medal and one Bronze Star. Twice I should have died. There was no logical reason why I walked (crawled) away from those two skirmishes. My conclusion: God didn't want me dead. He just wanted my attention. He got it. If you're interested in more details, I wrote a short, poorly written version of that time in my life, here's the link: Death Came Calling, but I Wasn't Home. When people ask me why I got wounded so many times, I just say that I kept standing up at the wrong time.
In Vietnam I talked about Jesus all the time. A couple of my men hated me, but I was the one who took point, telling them to not do whatever I did that got me dead. I was wounded three times on the last day in combat. I spent eight months getting my legs back. Then, the last eight months at Ft. Bragg, NC, changed my direction again. I got talked into attending a Bible College for one year.
Germany
In the fall of 1969, I got talked into spending the next summer in Germany on a "missions" trip. I spent that summer demolishing rooms in a castle to turn them into classrooms. The only evangelism I experienced took place when I broke the rules. During the last week I walked into a bar (forbidden), ordered a coke and spent 30 minutes butchering the German language while trying to discuss Jesus with six half-drunk Germans. That accidental occurrence sent me back to the Bible College for a second year.
I met Christine and fell in love (with her, obviously). She also wanted to be a missionary. I stole her from a couple of other guys, married her and whisked her off to Portland, Oregon.
Portland
We found a fabulous local church, Eastgate Bible Church, where we spent most of our free time when I wasn’t working in a print shop (pre-computers) or attending seminary classes. Having to work my way through school was a true blessing. I began to recognize how much I loved being involved in the lives of unsaved people.
I love learning. In our culture, learning is primarily associated with official formal education. So I entered the train of degree-granting institutions to learn as much as possible.
I loved all my classes during my BA, MDiv and ThM, but there was no evangelism. It got talked about, lots of theory, but very little practical. Outside of seminary I trained numerous high school kids in evangelism by leading some crazy and whacky youth meetings.
Austria
Then we went to Austria. And it hit me. I had no way to evangelize because I didn't know the language! Some well-meaning missionaries had advised us to learn German well before landing in our chosen location. They said that the Austrians would laugh at all our mistakes. We didn't take their advice, and they were right. Our Austrian friends laughed at our mistakes, and that's exactly what God wanted!
I began asking Austrians to help me learn German by reading the Bible together. I would ask questions about the text, and they would provide the answers. If the text didn't answer the question, then we would just keep reading. I couldn't understand most of the conversations, of course, but when they said something I didn't understand, I just replied, "Interessant," (interesting), and we kept reading and asking questions.
My main motive, as first, was to learn German, but I was shocked when Austrians came to faith WITHOUT my explaining the text (since I couldn't explain anything in German, anyway). We had just read the text, and they understood it enough to place their faith in Jesus. So I never began "teaching" during a Bible study with unsaved friends. (I will later explain in this series of blogs what happened during those studies without my stellar teaching.)
After four years in Graz, we had become fairly fluent, and the Lord had allowed us to start two Bible churches. We continue to be amazed at how little input we gave our unsaved friends during those Bible studies.
I learned German by getting Austrians to help me, which allow me to build relationships with them long before I was fluent. But I also loved learning German. I read widely, so I could talk intelligently with the Austrians about their own literature. I even managed to get a BS in German Literature from Excelsior College (now University) in New York by transferring all my courses from the university in Graz into that degree.
Dr. John Lennox
Dr. John Lennox visited one or my studies, and on the way home, he told me that I had to write a book about how easy it was to allow the Holy Spirit to do all the work in an evangelistic Bible study. That book took three years to write. I dedicated the book to John.
First edition, published my Monarch Publishing in England. With later editions, we changed the title to "Evangelism for the Fainthearted."
Here's the latest edition: Evangelism for the Fainthearted.
If you want it on audible: Evangelism for then Fainthearted (audible).
We moved to Lower Austria, and working with a Swiss missionary, we began Bible studies. We planted a church in a couple of years.
Then we moved to Russia to do the same thing, but after a year, I got sick, and we returned to the States.
Academia
As of 2024, I've been teaching in Academia for 24 years. Emmaus Bible College (IA), Moody Bible Institute (Spokane campus), and Great Northern University (Spokane). I've taught courses on Bible, theology, missions, evangelism, cultural anthropology, history, international relations and German. Along the way I've realized that Academia's strength is the bubble it provides for the students to study. However, academia seldom trains believers to enter the unsaved world for the purpose of evangelism.
So I couldn't keep my evangelism students confined to the college campuses. My assignments always required students to spend regular time and interaction with the unsaved off campus.
It has been astonishing to see the fruit of those classes. Students from over 20 years ago have written to me about their ongoing question-oriented Bible studies and the impact on their unsaved friends.
Over the last few years it has also dawned on me that Academia offers limited opportunity for teaching and practicing evangelism. I could only teach an evangelism class once a year, and usually with just a handful of students. I taught more people to evangelize in my Bible Studies!
New Direction
I've decided that I want to spend the rest of my life in both worlds. Teaching, probably believers in a local church, and Bible studies in a bar 😜. Or wherever.
I will make this series of blogs far more comprehensive than any of my evangelism classes. More explanations, more easy assignments, more examples, more help with your specific situations, no time constraints, no grades, and NO GUILT!
(I've discovered that guilt in evangelism almost always comes from misinformation by those who should know better.)
In the past, I have either been too busy to follow up regular comments, or I simply became interested in other priorities (which weren't really priorities, simply other interests).
I will post as often as I can, and I welcome comments and questions, lots of questions. I will attempt to answer them as soon as possible. I will also invite any and all testimonies of your experiences in evangelism.
Since the Lord has taught us to evangelize in different cultures, I will add a ton of blogs from a course I've taught on how to cross cultures for the purpose of evangelism. Some, or most, of those blogs will help you evangelize your next door neighbors from Afghanistan 😀.
On another side note, over the years people have asked me to teach the Book of Revelation, but I've never had the time to accommodate everyone who has asked. John has directed the message of the Book of Revelation to those those who will face God's judgment and to those who won't. This book in the Bible has been an interesting tool in evangelism.
If you like what Christine and I are doing, let us know. If you are interested in supporting our new direction in ministry, send me chocolate, in any form. Or buy our books: Published.
Or donate: (We are NOT tax-deductable.)