Ernest L. Easley was born and raised in Texas. He attended Baylor University (Track and Field Letterman) and graduated from Dallas Baptist University (BS). He then graduated from Southwestern Theological Seminary (MDiv) and Luther Rice Seminary (DMIN). Easley pastored for more than thirty-two years and then served as the first Professor of Evangelism in school history at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He has served as the Teaching Pastor over Equipping at First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, since 2019. His preaching ministry has continued to expand as a contributor to Sermonsearch.com. Easley has been a leader among Southern Baptists serving as a Trustee for the International Mission Board and the Executive Committee (Chairman in 2013–2014). His battle with throat cancer in 1998 began a series of challenges and changes in his life, including the destruction of his sylvia glands, an implant behind his vocal cords after they ceased functioning allowing him to speak, and the inability to swallow food due to long term radiation, which is now overcome by a feeding tube. His vocal challenges now prohibit him from preaching and teaching, so he has exchanged the pulpit for a pen to declare the truths of the Word of God. He details his cancer journey in the book Through the Valleys. He has also coauthored the book Resuscitating Evangelism, with his son Jordan. His other son Jonah is a church planter in Washington state and his daughter Jessica serves on a church staff in Georgia. In addition, he and his wife Julie have seven grandchildren.
