John F Lugger
Having earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio State University, John had just begun a career in that vocation when he met Charlene, whom he soon married in the spring of '74. John, a lifelong Lutheran, and Charlene, a member of the church of Christ, had some decisions to make concerning their respective faiths.
John was initially skeptical of his wife’s church, which was very friendly but different from his. Focusing on Scripture, never baptizing anyone but adults, no women leaders, no musical instruments, no reciting of creeds during services, not even clergy robes to differentiate them from the crowd! Never insisting or trying to give her opinion on such things, Charlene simply encouraged her husband to study the Bible with her, which he did.
After much study, including developing a friendship with the preacher at Charlene’s church in Columbus, Ohio, Gene Carrell, John realized he needed to make a change. For one thing, he realized he was not saved by being baptized as an infant. Instead, the Scriptures speak of a different plan, where he had to be old enough to understand what he was doing – to believe, repent, confess, and then to be immersed/baptized, to be forgiven of sin. It all made a great deal more sense.
Were it not for his dear wife, who, looking back, was just following Peter’s words, reaching him with an “incorruptible beauty of a gentile and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:1-4) as she encouraged him to seek God’s truth through His Word, John might never have found that truth.
Following his obedience to the Gospel, John developed a passion for writing. Unsurprisingly, his extensive studies and denominational background gave him a unique perspective to author these books and workbooks for in the series: “Denominations: From God Or Man?”
