John Woodward Jr. was raised in a Christian home and came to know Christ as his personal Lord and Savior at an early age. The home churches of his family during his formative years were First Baptist Church of Bloomfield N.J, West Essex Baptist Church of Livingston, N.J., and First Alliance Church of Atlanta, GA.

After attending Florida Bible College for a year, John toured for two years with the Internationals. This music ministry presented concerts in the USA, Canada, and Europe in order to share the gospel of Christ and encourage believers in their spiritual walk. During the first year of touring John met Linda, a singer in the group, who grew up in Levittown, PA. They were married in 1978 and are now blessed with five children. Linda holds an Associate of Arts degree in music from Bucks County Community College.

After the Internationals, John completed his bachelor's degree in biblical literature at Northeastern Bible College, Essex Fells, N.J., then enrolled at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, PA. where he completed the M.Div. degree in 1981.

From '82-'89 John served as Associate Pastor at Peoples Church of Montreal. The church is a multi-ethnic congregation of 300 located in the center of this major city. The church sent him on short term missionary trips to Indonesia ('85) and India ('87).

From 1989 through July, 2001, John served as pastor of Winona Gospel Church in Stoney Creek (across Lake Ontario from Toronto). The church is affiliated with Associated Gospel Churches of Canada. God blessed the ministry in Winona over the years with the assistance of L.K. Redinger as Minister-at-Large and John Bryan as Assistant Pastor.

In '96 John and Linda attended Charles Solomon's Institute of Exchanged Life Counseling in Pigeon Forge, TN. This solidified the helpful teaching in Dr. Solomon's books that have been so influential in John's life and pastoral counseling over the last 15 years: Handbook to Happiness, The Handbook of Acceptance, The Ins and Outs of Rejection, and Handbook for Christ-Centered Counseling.

In 2000 he became an instructor with Grace Fellowship Intl., helping with 3 Institutes. In the fall, Trans World Radio started using a recorded script of Grace Notes for a weekly episode of their MemCare by Radio program, which is sponsored by GFI. In August, 2001 John left the pastorate in Ontario and moved with his family to Tennessee.

In 2004 John completed a Doctor of Ministry degree (in Discipleship Counseling) at Luther Rice Seminary in Lithonia, GA. He has written: Man as Spirit, Soul, and Body: A Study of Biblical Psychology (GFI: 2007), and Blessed Reassurance: Finding Security in Christ (GFI: 2008).

As of 2011, his role is Director of Education and Media at GFI. John is also editor and contributer of Grace Notes. Sign up for weekly Grace Notes and access the archive of 100's of articles @ at www.GraceNotebook.com.