Personal Bio

I was born a poor...
Not really, I was raised in the typical, middle-class, suburban family; not perfect, but pretty good overall. Grade school and high school were easy for me and science was my favorite subject. I ate up everything with gusto. Evolution was the established fact of biology and the big bang was the obvious answer to the beginning of the universe. I had facts, explanations, examples; enough evidence to win any argument. Besides, I was good at arguing. I knew innately how to twist my opponents words and manipulate the conversation to ask questions that could only be answered the way I wanted. And, as if I wasn't already a good enough person, I went to church and attended the youth group meetings regularly. As far as I knew, the scales were most definitely balanced to the "Good Deeds" side of the equation. I was certain heaven awaited me. But being "born again", that was for the fanatics and missionaries to Africa.

Then, I went to the US Naval Academy. The first thing that happened, was church dropped out. I mean, how could God possibly expect me to attend church on Sunday morning when that was the only day of the week we were allowed to sleep in past 5am. But then I found Officer's Christian Fellowship. It was like being back in the youth group and it got me away from the stress of being a plebe on Wednesday nights. In November, I found out about the January OCF retreat. I was in! And I was going for the most important reason that you attend a retreat: to meet girls. Now, give me a break, I was 18, male, and had been stuck for 6 months in a world where the only girls I saw wore the same black uniform I did or were on the other side of a ten foot high brick wall. The odd thing was that as we were driving there, I made a decision to spend the entire weekend focussing on God. And as much of a miracle as that was, what happened during the weekend was the real miracle.

The weekend was spent on Joshua, but for some reason, the speaker retold the story of Adam and Eve. The amazing part was I believed every word of the story and a light dawned in my brain as if I could think clearly for the first time. At that moment, I knew that Genesis was right and evolution was wrong. I didn't know how, and I had years and years of school and study and knowledge railing against the idea, yet I believed. That weekend I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. Once I actually understood what I had done, I began to devour anything I could find on the accuracy and authority of the bible and on the sciences of origins. I found more than enough evidence to convince me that the Bible is absolutely reliable. In the sciences, I found that the "established fact" of evolution is not nearly as stable as it is presented. I believe now, that the weight of the scientific evidence supports the Genesis account of creation. The more I study, the more I find that not only supports Genesis, but continues to amaze and astound me about the wondrous God of the universe.

This brings me to my current condition. I am starting a new vocation, teaching about the science and theology of origins. I hope to encourage others to study the sciences. God didn't create this world and hide from us. He reveals himself through His word and through the magnificent creation that is all around us. Christians shouldn't be afraid of science. We need to embrace it, even when the data seems to contradict our faith. I know that in the end, the data will support God. How could it not? He created all the data.