User:Tsfortner/sandbox

Thomas Sean Fortner (7/10/1957- ) is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Mill Creek, OK and has worked in the fields of Information Technology and Christian ministry since 1974. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Biblical Studies from the Criswell Bible College (1987) in Dallas, Texas, a Master of Arts in History of Theology from Criswell Bible College (1991) and a Master of Divinity in Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2016) in Fort Worth, Texas. He was ordained to the ministry by the First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas in 1988.

While at Criswell College, he was introduced to the brand new field of computer aided Bible translation and Bible study, then running on Microsoft DOS platforms. He was a pioneer in deploying Bible study tools on Intel-based microcomputers for professors and students in the 1980s. When Windows 3.0 was released, and Bible study software for Windows became available, he switched to the Windows platform for new Windows software while continuing to deploy and support legacy DOS tools. He met Dale Pritchett, vice president of Logos Research Systems in 1992 and became an avid user and supporter of Logos Bible Software, beginning with version 1.0. He also uses and supports Accordance (formerly GramCord).

While a member of First Baptist Church of Dallas, he met and partnered with Jim Bolton, who was president of The Electronic Bible Society and The CD-Word Library (an early Windows Bible study tool). He became a charter member of The Electronic Bible Society in 1995.

While serving as pastor of 3 part time churches, he worked in Information Technology for Microsoft, Check Point Software, Imperva, Guavus and other smaller IT companies. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional (1996), a Check Point Certified Security Engineer (2007) and a Check Point Certified Master Architect (2008).