ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Painter is a "tent-maker,"
retired from twenty-five years as a college professor in electrical engineering,
aerospace engineering, and computer science. Previously, he was a NASA
"rocket scientist" for ten years and an Air Force Navigator for five. He’s
married to wife, Joy, and has four grown children and seven grandchildren.
He was born in 1934 in Winfield, a small town in Kansas. His father was literally "The Music Man," until he went on to be a professor at the University of Illinois. John’s mother was a concert-grade pianist and ensemble accompanist. The maternal grandfather was a driller, following the oil fields from Pennsylvania to Texas to Kansas. John’s paternal grandfather was a school superintendent in Missouri, as was his father before him.
As a child of the Midwest born in the Depression, John grew up in a Christian society. As the product of academic forbears, he saw unbelief obtain its foothold in America though academia. He had a front-row seat for the decay of American morality produced by a deliberate rejection of God, proceeding from the bastions of higher education. He witnessed it, but he did not perceive it [Isa.6:9].
When he was nine, John accepted Jesus in a First Christian Church. What he actually accepted was the preacher’s offer of forgiveness of sins if you just came down front and got some words said over you. That sounded like a pretty good deal to the boy. John hadn’t the foggiest idea of what a Savior and Lord was. His understanding of Christianity was essentially that of Tom Sawyer. Although John didn’t understand the covenant into which he was entering, God did. And, God kept His end of the agreement.
Although John was descended from a long line of teachers, he was not taught that most important fundamental. He was not taught the details of the story of Jesus. He was not discipled. He didn’t understand what he owed to Jesus. He had no idea of how spiritual things worked. And, not understanding spiritual things, he did not understand the world. He thought that the world was what Hollywood portrayed and the universities taught. He thought this for exactly forty years after he was baptized. Then, God intervened.
One day in 1983, at the age of forty-nine, John realized that he was standing on a slippery slope. It was, you might say, a vision. He was standing on a slippery slope and it was rapidly getting slicker. He was about to lose his footing and slide to the bottom. Except, he couldn’t see any bottom. Where did it lead? What was down there? John knew that he didn’t want to find out. So, he made a decision. He decided to seek God. And, God instantly met him where he was.
Immediately, strange things began to happen in John’s life. A lot of strange things, like visions, and scripture citations that would just come into his mind, and an appetite for the Bible. A voracious appetite for the Bible. Many of these things were what an open-minded man would call supernatural. They were not accounted for in the rational secular worldview. But, John knew the mathematical theory of information. He knew that the more unlikely the event, the more information it carries when it occurs. He knew that he had better pay attention to what God was doing in his life. He had better pay attention and he had better write it down. And, that was the beginning of the writing.
In the succeeding fifteen or so years, the Lord has had John write a lot. Most of it has been taught in a laboratory class John has instructed in his local church. The material has had a trial run, so to speak. He has taught some of it in seminars, varying in length from one day to one semester. And, it has been developed, refined, extended, and integrated. All the material has been in one context. What Jesus’ Church is, as contrasted to what the institutional church practices. And, what Jesus is going to do about it.
None of John’s writings are of the analytical types associated with academic products. Rather, they are revelations of the Bible, as given by God and put on paper by John. His function has been that of a "seer in the words of God," like Heman, who was a musician in the Tabernacle of David [1 Chron. 25:5]. Some of these writings are now to be made available on the Web. The present "About the Author" is to accompany these Web-based writings, so that the reader may know a little about the author’s background.
May the blessings of our Master be upon you as you read.
Present web-based writings hosted on HarvestNet ministries:
Seven Ministries of the Prophet by Froukje Eibrink Jansen and Dr.John Painter
HOW DO YOU KNOW ...you are in the will of God, concerning your calling by Dr. John H. Painter, 1997
The "Office" of the Prophet, by John H. Painter
