When I was 16, I had existential crisis. For the first time in my life, I debated on becoming an atheist. I was becoming more increasingly convinced that there were no good arguments for the existence of a loving God. One night, I got tired of worrying. After reflecting hard on how I would live my life if I became an atheist, I told God that He better show me that He exists or else I would never return to the faith. I then proceeded to do what any good millennial would do; I turned to Google. After searching the internet for evidence, I came across what Biblical scholars refer to as Messianic Prophecy. These were predictions as it pertains to what the coming Messiah (the anointed savior of the world) would do and when He would come. After reading passages like Isaiah 53, I found myself believing that Jesus was the Messiah spoken about in the Old Testament. I decided that I should leave my agnosticism behind.
The next day, I after realizing that I was late to school, I pulled over, read Scripture, and prayed. For the first time in my life, I felt God’s presence. My heart was ‘strangely warmed’ and I decided that I wanted to really commit myself to following Jesus. I ended up getting a BA in Biblical Studies, and I followed this up with an MA in Philosophy of Religion, and a PhD in Philosophy. Since then, I have also published various papers that relate to the rationality of Christian belief. In fact, I even decided to become a professor so that I could teach classes on the relationship between faith and reason.
In 2016, I got the call to come and teach philosophy at Houston Christian University (HBU). I was extremely excited to come to HCU for few reasons. First, HCU is a serious Christian school. By serious, I mean that HCU is serious about their Christian identity. This isn’t a school that is Christian in name only. Second, I was excited to work for HCU because of the faculty. The philosophy department for example, is full of internationally recognized scholars who are doing cutting edge research. Third, as someone who was raised in Houston, I was glad to be back home. (I mean, who doesn’t want to go to Whataburger and see a Rockets game?)
As we begin to start another school year, I know that there are faculty members who are praying for their fall semester students. This again, is a testimony to how HCU takes the Christian faith seriously. This semester, I am specifically praying that students will take full advantage of being around sharp Christian thinkers, and, that upon graduating, the students would embody the spirit of HCU in their future work place.