My Personal Testimony - Introduction

I have been a Christian for some 22 years now, and there are times when I forget to remember and meditate on all the things the Lord has done in my life. As will all of us, he has shaped me and prepared me specifically for the things he has me doing now, and the things he will have me do in the future and into eternity. I am aware that my testimony of faith and sanctification is relatively unique. In short, I was born into a liberal mainline protestant denomination, became an avoid nihilistic atheist, pursued a degree in nuclear engineering, got saved through (among other things) modern physics, tried my hand at doctoral mathematical studies, became a collegiate ministry staffer, got married, had kids (including an autistic son and walking through a sanctifying adoption), became convinced of the importance of the human free will debate in every area of life, slowly moved from Arminianism to Calvinism (for lack of better terms), earned a PhD in leadership, landed a dream job as a professor, and am pursuing a further doctoral degree in biblical spirituality.

As I know personal testimonies can get long and, if one is not careful, monotonous, I thought I would take the opportunity to share the narrative accompanied by the important thoughts I had along the way. I believe God gave me these thoughts when I needed them, even the bad ones. As this website is dedicated to taking every thought captive, it seems that this would be a good way of going about addressing some ideas in a more personal and interesting way than merely giving sterile syllogisms and isolated biblical passages. While I believe both of those things are important (especially the biblical passages bit), I think there is value in packaging arguments, ideas, and their consequences in story form.

So, if you are willing to read on, I pray that the following would be edifying to you. It may be that you don’t care the least about the arguments of modern physics, and if that is the case, I hope that you will simply skip those chapters (or “blog posts”) of my story. In the end, I pray most earnestly that you do not read anything I write as some sort of self-aggrandizing narrative. I honestly do not think anyone needs to hear my story due to my own person, talents, or accomplishments. Rather, my story is one of countless billions that the Lord has spoken into existence and still sustains through his Son. And, as God has made each of us in a way that is atune to story and narrative, I pray that you will see God as the author and perfecter of my faith… and yours.