About Me as a Teacher

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The purpose of this page is not to tell you about "me" but about what I believe, how I view Scripture as a teacher, and how I became a Bible teacher. Hopefully this will give you a broader perspective on my teachings and writings on this website without putting myself in a box or isolating myself under a particular theological label (I usually don't fit any of them anyway). I realize this is a lengthy page, but I have provided it to satisfy the majority of questions you might have.

My Beliefs

Please do not nitpick my wording or label me. Instead, grant me some grace as I attempt to sum up a complex worldview in the best way I can.

• God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are triune in nature (one God with three separate consciousness). He is eternal in His being, the creator of the universe, sovereign and transcendent over all things, and is Perfection and Goodness. Yet He is very involved in His creation because He is also Love.

• Humanity is created as the image of God and is unique in this way. Humanity was created to have a relationship with God and to represent Him. This was lost or marred when sin and rebellion were committed on the part of humanity through Adam and Eve. However, humanity is redeemable, is being redeemed, and will be fully redeemed.

• Jesus Christ is both God and man, is sinless by nature, and died and rose from the grave in our place to pay for our sins. He is the only one who has done this and the only one capable of providing this redemption.

• Salvation is only found through Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. This salvation begins and leads to the ultimate redemption of those who place their trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. Salvation is only found through faith and trust in Him, not through us or through our intelligence, skill, or works.

• The Return of Christ will bring the final redemption of all creation and humanity. Christ will judge the wicked, who will be separated from Him for all eternity, and glorify the believers, who will dwell with Him for all eternity. He will bring about a new earth and sky where there is no sin, Satan, or death.

• Scripture is the work of God, true and trustworthy in all that it says and for instructing us in our lives. Though Scripture does not answer every question about the universe and life, everything in the universe and life must be held up to the Scriptures.

How I View and Approach Scripture

As someone providing commentaries, Bible studies, and videos about Christianity, I believe this is an important topic to address. I believe that merely reading the Scriptures on a topical basis or reading isolated passages for "life application" is not the intention of God, does not lead to a good understanding of His Scriptures, and does not change lives. Though there is a time and place for this (not very often), this was not the point of Scripture. God's intention is for us to read the Bible to learn what He is telling us about who He is, who we are, and how He is working in the world, in our lives, and into the future. Taking passages out of context in order to support a specific view or reading isolated "Bible stories" in order to teach moral lessons not only violates the intentions of God and the Scriptures but has led to the Biblical illiteracy of the Church and the culture around us. Unfortunately, this is how most preachers preach and how most Bible studies are taught. In "studying" the Bible this way, we miss its whole message.

Please forgive me if I'm stepping on some toes here. My objective as a teacher is to communicate and teach using an approach that I have found helps people understand God's "big picture" message found in the Scriptures. This approach makes His Word come alive and makes it exciting and life changing, which is the goal of Scriptures—to change lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I believe that the point of the Scriptures is not to give us a simple history of a people but to teach us what the author wants us to know in order to understand a theological point. The Bible is not a historical or scientific book, though it is accurate in its historical and scientific facts. It is a theological book that uses real, historically accurate events and people to explain a theological point about God, humanity, and His plan of redemption. However, God also chose to use the mode of literature, along with its literary devices, with a very specific culture and people in order to tell His stories. Each author is deliberate about how he crafts and tells his stories or makes his points, leaving out irrelevant details and including necessary ones. Thus, the best way one can understand the theological message and intent of the author is to understand the literary devices he uses and the culture through which he speaks. Once we understand what He is saying about and through the original culture, we can then apply it to our lives and culture. I believe there is one interpretation with many applications.

I do not believe that the Bible is merely a collection of religious books gathered into one volume. While I do believe each book is has its own message, that was not Yahweh's intended and final goal. Each book continues the message of Yahweh's redemption of humanity through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the major message and theme (along with some others) that is woven throughout all the books of the Bible. One cannot have a complete picture or an understanding of this message without seeing how all the books continue uniquely to develop and contribute to this message. I believe that the First Testament is about the future coming of the Messiah and the Second Testament is about Jesus the Messiah (Christ) revealed. The Second Testament is concealed in the First Testament, and the First Testament is revealed in the Second Testament. Only when you see and study the Bible as one complete book do you really begin to see the whole counsel of God.

By the way, this is not a new or revolutionary view. It is how the Jews viewed Scripture throughout the centuries, both First and Second Testament eras, and how a lot of past and current Biblical scholars view the Scriptures. It is just not taught very much in the Church because most people do not read commentaries and are not taught how to really read and study Scripture. Once again, no offense intended; what makes it so exciting to be a teacher is helping people learn this.

When it comes to truth and knowledge of the Scriptures, I am neither a modernist nor a post-modernist. I am not a modernist in that I do not believe that if I read, study, or reason hard and long enough that I can figure out what is truth. This is a product of the enlightenment. I believe that we are limited in our understanding of many things and that only so much can be discovered in history, the universe, and about each other. There is a mystery to God, His universe, and His plan that will never be understood because He is God and we are not. I am also not a post-modernist in that I do believe that there is absolute truth and that we were given minds and the desire to learn the truth. I believe that certain truths are knowable through the experience of people throughout history and the fact that God gave us the Scriptures. Though God is unknowable if we, on our own, were to seek Him, He has made Himself knowable through the Scriptures, through His Son, and the Holy Spirit. In this way, they reveal to us truth because He is Truth.

My Background as a Teacher

I received a B.A. in Bible and Religion and a minor in European History from Huntington University in 2000. It was there that I recognized my deep interest in the Bible and history and learned that I was gifted as a teacher, and others affirmed me in this. I then received a Masters in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in 2004. It was there that I learned that I really loved the First Testament and that I excelled at and loved to research and learn, just for the sake of learning. If you do not care about schools or have no personal reaction to DTS, then feel free to skip the next paragraph.

Now, my experience is that when Christians learn that I graduated from DTS, they either think that is really good or really bad and that it thus it says something about me. But I have found that both opinions are misguided. If they think it is really good, it is because DTS has a reputation as a really good school (the Harvard of seminaries). But this does not mean that everyone who graduates from DTS maintains the same views or has the same level of skills. If they think it is bad, it is because they are a "dispensationalist" (don't worry if you don't know what that means), or because they are very dogmatic about truth, or because someone they heard speak came from DTS and they disagreed with their views. However, not every professor at DTS holds the same views (I found great variety there), not everyone graduates with the same views, and (generally an older generation feels negatively toward DTS), it is not the same school today as it was in the past, which is true of every school—for good or bad.

I enjoyed and learned a lot at DTS because I found that not just one view was taught. I learned all the theological views, along with their strengths and weakness. I also began to develop a big picture view of the Bible for the first time, seeing how all the books of the Bible fit together into one story. And, most importantly, I began to see the Bible as a piece of literature written in a specific culture in a historical background, which powerfully directed my path to become the teacher I am today. Finally, I learned that studying and appreciating these three things would help one love and understand the Bible and, ultimately, God.

I have been teaching Bible at Worthington Christian High School since 2007. I love it there and know that for right now this is God's will for me. I also teach adult and children's Bible studies at my church and in small groups. I love learning, reading books, and studying the Bible. And teaching is where I feel the most fulfilled in my spiritual gifts. I also have a wife and a daughter, which bring a whole new perspective to God and the Bible.