John C. Burkhalter describes himself simply as "an imperfect but dedicated follower of Jesus Christ for almost 50 years". During that time he has particularly and intensely studied Jesus' words and deeds as found in the four Gospel books. He has been active in teaching, leadership and governance roles of several churches, and for a time after retiring as president of THI Holding Company, a Nationwide Insurance subsidiary, he evaluated the effectiveness and finances of Christian ministries worldwide for prospective donors. He spent the next 14 years assembling the scriptural weaving and associated parts of the book “Jesus Every Word and Deed,” subtitled “Woven From the Scriptures,” as well as a companion book of the same name but subtitled “Readers Theatre Version” for potential role - play and/or screenplay use.

Burkhalter considers himself not as the author of these books, but as the "word-weaver", because "the words are all from scripture and therefore God is The Author".