Hello my name is Jay and I live in Fort Worth, Texas.

Why do I want a web site?  I wanted a place to share my ideas and this website seemed like a good place to start.

By education I am chemical physicist.  I studied molecules, the fundamental building blocks of all the stuff that is in our world.  I did PhD level work in chemical physics but life got in the way and I was not able in finish the degree.  I am not upset about the decision to leave grad school and my chosen field.  I clearly had a choice that needed to be made: family or profession.  I chose my family.  

While I am a techo-geek, I have a love of history, culture, business, and government.  So I was a little different, even then, from my peers. Professionally, last 25 or so years I have been involved with technology primarily computer software,  databases, and systems development.

I had a life changing encounter with the Holy Spirit several years ago. It renewed me in ways that are hard to describe but I try to explain it anyway. Since then I have been on different kind of journey. (Chick here for details)  In the Gospels, we are told to become salt and light in our world.  This was something that made a lot of sense to me and  has become my personal mission statement.  To become salt and light in our world, to show that I am a different because of my faith.  But, just how was I going to do that.  I did what normal people do. I got  involved with many charities that offer help to the needy but has offered the message of the Gospel as well. 

In 2006, I was working on a contract job in Florida for FEMA.  Travel was a big part of this job. So, I was spending a lot of time in airports traveling between job sites (Orlando and Washington D.C.)  and home (Fort Worth).  So, I would pass the time in the airports reading not just the tech things I needed for my job but lots of other stuff.  One of the books I picked up was Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly.  Mr. O'Reilly galvanize many of the things that I have thought and felt for many years. Specifically, how the secular progressives (his term but a good one) are tearing down the traditional values that are the foundational building blocks of our society and culture as well as limiting personal freedoms and liberties for the sake of the collective.   When I finished reading that book, I felt like I had been called into service to become a Culture Warrior.

So what was I going to do to become a culture warrior? What preparations did I need to make?  I had always been very aware of current events: locally, nationally, and internationally.  However, I started taking more notice of the analysis and commentaries of these events from various places.  At the same time, I took up self-study study of ethics, philosophy, politics,  and biblical studies. I went back and re-read many of the books that I had studied when I was younger with a renewed purpose and different point of view.   Eventually, I began to see that my self-study was not enough and a more formal education was need.  So, started looking for education programs that were of the mode of this type of thinking.   I enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in the Master of Arts in Theology (M.A.T.H.)   This program for people wanting a formal education in theology and the biblical studies while at the same time not wanting to become a pastor in the pulpit or church.  The program is biblically based  and  flexible enough  allow a deeper study and understanding in ethics and philosophy from a Christian perspective.   

UPDATE - I have left SWBTS, mostly because their programs are geared for full time student or the student that does not have a full time job.   I have far too many responsibilities to quit my job and go to school either full time or part time.   However, I have found Tyndale Theological Seminary and Bible Institute.  Their programs are far more flexible and they realize that students have lives, families,  and responsibilities beyond going to school.   So far, I have been extremely happy with the courses I have taken and learn so much that more that I have a SWTBS because of the more relaxed atmosphere.  

Another big inducement for me to start this web site came from my church.  We did the Truth Project from the Focus on the Family Institute. Dr.  Del Tackett takes elements of our culture (science, law, philosophy, psychology,  history, and politics) and systematically shows how they all point to God and the glory of His Creation.  But, he also points out how our knowledge is being misused to deny and distort the image and glory of God.   At the very first lecture, Dr. Tackett said that this course would challenge us to think about what we believed and if we hung on for the entire journey we would come out with a fuller understanding of the Christian Worldview.    It as a 12-week series set up as a one-hour lecture on DVD from Dr. Tackett and then a break out session for small group discussion.  I did not miss one session and was drafted to be the leader of one of the small discussion groups.    Much of the information presented in the Truth Project was not new to me.  However, the organization and the examples are very illuminating then his conclusions where nothing short of amazing. 

I have come to believe that as a people we need to engage our brains and think or as O'Reilly puts is 'stop drinking the kool-aid'. We need to understand what we believe and why we believe it. Then be able to step up and defend those beliefs.  Then as issues/problems come along then we can deal with them and not get lost in emotional or irrational arguments that get us no where.  So this is how I got to the point. I hope that others will start reading and commenting on my new website.