Who Is Jack Hammer?

Kent Brandenburg grew up in Covington, Indiana, a small town on the Wabash River, where he attended the Covington public schools along with his older sister Kim and younger brother Kris. His mom Karen stayed at home except for some part-time work in the school system and his dad worked in the factory, Olin Corporations, making cellophane. While very young, his parents began faithfully attending an independent Baptist church and he received Jesus Christ and began living for him. He was baptized at age 7 in the First Baptist Church of Covington. Before his whole family moved to Watertown, Wisconsin so his father could attend Bible college, the church split and they became charter members of Maranatha Baptist Church in Covington. After they moved to Watertown, they joined Calvary Baptist Church and he attended Calvary Baptist School, from which he graduated 8th grade. Kent finished at Maranatha Baptist Academy in 1980, taking his first two years of Koine Greek during his junior and senior years. He graduated from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in 1984 (majoring in Biblical Languages), the next year received his M.A., and then finished an M. Div. in 1987. During his final year of graduate school he interim pastored the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Elkhorn, WI. After finishing seminary, he married Bridget Kirby in August and they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and joined an independent Baptist church there out of which they started a New Testament church in October of 1987 in Hercules. The Brandenburgs have four children—Kirk, Julia, Natalie, and Gabrielle. Kent still pastors the Bethel Baptist Church. While there, he has written or edited two books, Sound Music or Sounding Brass: A Biblical Theology of Music, and Thou Shalt Keep Them: A Biblical Theology of the Perfect Preservation of Scripture. A third book is finished and is in the final stages before publication: Fashion Statement: A Biblical Theology of Dress or Appearance. He is currently preaching through his last book of the New Testament, having also preached expositionally through Genesis, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah, and several other Old Testament books. He also regularly posts at What Is Truth?

Dave Mallinak pastors the Berean Baptist Church of Ogden, Utah, and teaches and administrates their Christian and Classical school.  Here is a link to his church’s website.

Dave’s Disclaimer:  I need you all to know that I almost agree with Kent less than I agree with Jeff, although I don’t agree with either as much as I agree with Dave, although I hardly ever agree with Dave, although Dave sometimes drives me insane with his inane sense of idiocy, so I prefer Kent to Dave, but I prefer Jeff to Jack Hammer, who really isn’t anybody anyway, which is why I prefer him least of all, but I’d rather say that Kent is to Jeff what jacks are to rubber bouncy balls.

Jeff Voegtlin is an associate pastor at Fairhaven Baptist Church. He was born soon after his father started Fairhaven in Chesterton, Indiana.  He attended both the academy and college there and then earned a master’s degree in Bible exposition from Pensacola Christian College.  In 1999, he began work toward a doctor of education degree in educational administration from Bob Jones University.  He graduated in 2007. His dissertation is a comparative case study of fundamentalist and classical Christian schools.

Jeff has been assisting in the pastorate at Fairhaven since 1993.  He is involved primarily in the education courses in the college (he is also the registrar) and the instrumental music ministry of the academy, college, and church.  He occasionally posts at You Think Too Much! Here is a link to his church’s website.