Question:
I am really enjoying your web site, but would like to know more about you and your background. For example, do you have a church connected to your Internet ministry? By the way, I found an "ichthys" while visiting a German portal - is this yours too? Keep up the good work,
Response:
I'm very pleased to hear that you are enjoying the site. As to the German site, no, my site is the only ichthys.com out there, but there are a lot of "variations on the theme" in cyberspace (the names are similar, that is, not the content), and a couple of them are in Germany.
As to my personal bio, I'm not sure that I have too much to add other than what can be gleaned from my CV. You can find that on the site at this link: C.V. (or click my name on the "About ICHTHYS" page). I became interested in pursuing the Bible as my life's true work when I was in the USMC, and have focused my efforts there ever since. As a P.K., I was always around these issues from an early age (and saw the problems with the organized church as presently configured). After resigning my regular commission in the Marines, and following a second B.A. in Greek (with much Hebrew, Latin and German thrown in), I went to seminary in CA to concentrate on Hebrew and Theology (I did initiate a procedure that would have led me to a traditional pastorate, but it became clear to me in seminary that this was not to be my calling), then off to get another M.A. and finally a Ph.D. in Classics in order to deepen my mastery of Greek and ancient world studies in general. And I've been hammering away at these things ever since. I don't know that there's really much more to say - I hope the materials posted at the site will be able to speak for themselves as you scrutinize them. I do hope too that you will continue to find them useful for your own spiritual growth. As I say, I myself did try the traditional route, but found that rather than being a help the restraints of traditional organizations were a hindrance to my seeking of the truth and nothing but the truth from the scriptures in order to better follow Jesus Christ (but I guess that is probably obvious from these studies too). The idea behind ICHTHYS is to make available through the Internet in-depth Bible teaching for those who may be having a difficult time finding it elsewhere (if I had a local church, I doubt that I would be able to do this ministry too because of time-constraints). You might also check out these links:
Colonel Thieme and the Origin of the Ichthys Ministry
Again, I appreciate your e-mail and your kind words!
Yours in the love of Jesus Christ,
Bob Luginbill