My Journey

In late 2006 I discovered that Jesus came to save unworthy sinners like me from the punishment that we deserve. I immediately turned to Jesus for salvation and gave up my drug abuse, drug dealing, and life-destroying sinful habits and became a Christian.

Having left atheism in the dust, I was amazed to learn that God had given a book to humanity. I gave up my career goals and went to study God’s book. In 2007 I went to a Bible college where I spent ten years studying while also working part time. This was a time where I learned a lot of hard lessons about how my character and values needed to change. Thankfully, my professors and fellow students were very gracious and helpful! I also learned that the best way to learn new languages like Greek and Hebrew is by spending 20 hours per week studying each language.

While I was at the Bible college, I realized that the trend in Christian academia was to progressively become more liberal with time, even amongst the conservative scholarship. I was deeply disturbed by how the field of Ancient Near Eastern studies was being abused in order to twist the meaning of the Bible. After graduation in 2017, I applied to a university that had an Ancient Near Eastern studies program and I was confident that I’d get in and get the education I needed to succeed. I was rejected mercilessly; when I asked why I was rejected, I was told that the university does not respect the dogmatic education given out in Bible colleges and Seminaries.

After some time in prayer and talking with friends, I decided to take independent courses in the Ancient Near Eastern studies department and the department of Linguistics so I could get the professors there to recommend me. After taking six courses there in one year, I was able to get their professors to recommend me for acceptance. Since one of those professors was on the committee that decided who would get in to study in the department, I was accepted.

I spent two years doing my MA. My time in the university (including that first year when I wasn’t in a degree program yet) was spent studying Akkadian (the language of Mesopotamia), Aramaic (the later language of Mesopotamia), Ugaritic (Canaanite), linguistics, Ancient Near Eastern religions, and translating and interpreting specific books in the Hebrew Bible. After graduating with an MA, I was accepted into their PhD program where I studied advanced Biblical Hebrew, comparative Semitics, and linguistics. I am currently in the dissertation writing phase where I am bringing a modern linguistic analysis to understanding Biblical Hebrew–something that is sorely needed!

During my MA, I married my lovely wife whom I met while we served together in a nursing home ministry while I was still doing my bachelors; I’d lead a Bible study and she’d play the piano. It was during those days that I saw her excellent servant-hearted character and decided I wanted to marry a woman like that. She’s been a continual blessing to me daily since!

The Blog

I created this blog to bring to help Christians understand their Bibles and to bring clarity to many issues that I think are being befuddled by well-meaning but misguided teachers.