Who is the writer of DiscipleMaker?
[Official bio for publicity]
Daniel J. Koren celebrates over 15 years of full-time pastoring and over 25 years of writing and teaching. Married to Leanne, his bride for over two decades, they are raising their energetic children in Branson, Missouri. Daniel holds an undergraduate degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from MSSU and a Master of Theological Studies from UGST.
He has six published books, two major teaching series, and over a hundred other lessons, magazine articles, and stories, with many more in the works. Daniel grew up in a home focused on ministry, giving him a passion for the Kingdom of God and broad experiences in dozens of states and a few countries. Well over 100,000 people have accessed and benefited from his written Bible studies and church teaching lessons.
Backstory of the writer of these lessons
[this bio is more fun]
I feel like I should introduce myself. I mean, I would not want to invest in a teaching series if I did not know something about who was producing it. So, here goes…
As a teenager, I had a secret I did not tell others about. Just about any chance I would get, I would sneak into my bedroom and sit in the corner and pull something off the bookshelf. I really did not want anyone else to know I had it. It was too personal.
You see, I had an addiction. I am not really sure when it started, but at some point I became hooked on something I still have never gotten over. It started with a strong attraction to my Bible (although this was not the secret).
I tried to play basketball because that was what teenagers did. I rode my skateboard and tried to learn the tricks. I played Mario Bros. and even beat it because that is what normal teenagers did. But none of that was the real me. Instead, I was hooked on a bookrack.
On that bookshelf was more than just my Bible (or all three—or was it four of them?). That was not the secret I was hiding. It did lead to it though. My parents had enabled my addiction by giving me a Bible handbook, a Bible dictionary, and a few other helps. I bought my own Strong’s concordance and Interlinear Greek-Hebrew-English Bible. I saved and spent all I could get on that collection.
The book I did not want anyone else reading was the one I was writing. That was my secret. I did not know what I was doing other than responding to this drive deep inside me. No one preached about this. No one I knew had the same addiction I did. I loved to study God’s Word and then write the thoughts He gave me.
I began a notebook and started jotting down my inspirational thoughts from Matthew. I loved that book. I still have not lost my love for that gospel. Now, however, I am equally in love with Mark and his great details. I also love how Luke weaves the story of Jesus into the story of the church in Acts. The Gospel of John, however, holds a very special place in my life.
Okay [sigh], you probably do not want to know about my attraction to every book of the Bible and how each one became real to me through the years (except Obadiah—still waiting on that one to grab me). That love for God and His Word has carried me through many hard times in life. It took me a long time to realize that God wanted to use that gift He had given me. I thought I just had a hobby. In my 20’s I realized how this was a key part of my identity.
By the grace of God, I survived getting a Creative Writing track at a state college. After getting my Bachelor’s in English there, I moved directly to Urshan Graduate School of Theology. They tell me I Mastered theological studies there, yet I am still studying that and much more, almost daily. Fifteen years of pastoral ministry have helped me find a lot more depth and real-world perspective than my early notebook scratchings did. I have now written and published hundreds of teaching lessons consumed by thousands and thousands of believers. I also have written books that have topped my publisher’s charts.
I want to introduce you to DiscipleMaker. I do not have all the answers, but I have spent a lot of time studying and learning how to apply the teachings of Jesus in a modern world. It is not enough to just know about the Bible. We have to help others live it.