Rick Presley, a former bi-vocational pastor, is currently an instructional designer with a major not-for-profit international humanitarian organization. Some of the experiences that have shaped his life include five years of teaching biology in a Christian school, serving as a technical consultant and laboratory technician in the chemical industry and church planting in the Columbus, Ohio area. He currently resides in the rural exurbs of Columbus with his wife Candy, five children and varying numbers of cats, dogs, fish, pollywogs, turtles, snakes and whatever else the kids catch and bring home.

Rachel Ramer is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in several publications. She currently teaches English composition at a local university and is also a writing instructor for an online writing program. Rachel educated her children at home for eight years and, prior to that, spent seven years working for an organization that provides direct care services for the mentally handicapped. She lives in the country in eastern Indiana with her husband, Curtis, and their three boys.

Rick was raised in an independent Calvinistic Landmark Baptist church. Rachel grew up in a conservative branch of the Mennonite Church. While their backgrounds were different, many of the legalistic and fundamentalist dynamics were experienced by both. It is their hope that you will find this website helpful and encouraging.

Pastor Gamaliel, the spiritual leader of the First Pharisee Church, is widely respected in the Pharisee denomination for his outspoken, hard-hitting commentaries on what is wrong with society at large and Christianity in particular. A graduate of Grace Pharisee Bible College, pastor Gamaliel has been involved in pursuing spiritual excellence his entire ministerial career. While his congregation, and indeed his denomination, is small, thanks to the power of the Internet, Gamaliel’s discourses, diatribes and disputes can be read by all those in need of spiritual direction. Eschewing political correctness and promoting candor and confrontation, Gamaliel dispenses sage wisdom for anyone who wants to know exactly what it takes to be a spiritual Christian. For all others too weak or carnal to pursue the disciplined life of a dedicated disciple of legalistic conformity to external standards of conduct, Gamaliel serves as a warning.

            Learn more about Gamaliel’s background here.

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