������

As a college student,��I never imagined I would become a teacher.��From my late��teens, I��felt��a��calling��to serve and positively��impact��my��city.��The people, the institutions, and the culture of the City of New Orleans had��given me so much.��I wanted to��give��back.��In my early 20s,��teaching��middle and high school��students was about the last thing��I��thought I would do as a vocation. But my mom saw something in me that she thought would be wonderful in a classroom��with students. I��am grateful for her vision.

My first opportunity to teach was in the New Orleans Public Schools, at Booker T. Washington High School, my father’s alma mater.��As��a young��teacher, I��believed deeply��in the potential of every��student. In New Orleans, as in most American urban centers, the quality of educational opportunities available to students largely depended on their parents’ income and their ZIP code.��I wanted to make a difference in the lives of students who needed a great teacher the most.��Booker T. Washington gave me that opportunity.

As I began teaching, I most certainly was not a great teacher, but I was committed to becoming one. A combination of graduate coursework, supportive professors, and mentoring from seasoned colleagues who became lifelong friends helped me become a relatively effective educator within a few years. I was wholly committed to the success and well-being of my students. While the places I have served and the positions I have held have changed over the years, my commitment to students’ success has never changed.

I was an educator��for a little over a decade before becoming a father. Fatherhood��did not make me a more committed or effective educator, but it did��broaden��my perspective.��As a dad,��I saw my students not��only as��pupils but��as their parents’ children.��As a dad,��I came to understand��parents’ hopes��and dreams��for their children��in a new way. I have also come to understand firsthand the degree of trust parents place in educators��and schools. My��parental perspective has not made me a better education leader, but it��has��shaped my leadership. My leadership at ��������is informed��by��my��training and professional experience,��but it is also shaped by my experience as a dad.

While students are typically central in deciding which college to��attend, many Houghton students have included their parents and families in��their decision-making process. It is also not uncommon for Houghton parents to engage in the life of the university. I have been blessed by relationships with many��of those��Houghton parents and grandparents over the years.��In getting to know them, I find��that as they��send their young adults to Houghton as undergraduate��students,��they do so with hope and trust.��They hope their children will be safe,��and��they��trust that as university leaders, we will do everything within our power to keep��them��safe. They hope their young people will be equipped to meet the demands of their vocations in an increasingly competitive 21st-century economy, and they trust that ������ will provide an academically challenging educational experience intentionally grounded in God’s Word��and centered on the Gospel��of Jesus Christ.

As families send their��young people��to��Houghton, they hope and trust that we will be more courageous than we have ever been, refusing to cower or compromise��in the face of the��enemy’s��attacks. That instead, we will stand��boldly��and courageously, proclaiming the truth of God’s incomprehensible��love for us,��telling everyone who will listen that��hope��and��the��redemption��of man��can come��only through faith in Jesus Christ, and equipping our students for faithful Christian leadership and service.��Families are��hoping��Houghton will deliver on our��promises,��and they��are��trusting��that we will��be true to our word.��We will not let them down.

The enemy comes not for our entertainment or enjoyment. Despite his tricks and deception, he comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). That’s it. No exceptions. Sin can present itself as pleasure, freedom, and empowerment, but in reality, it separates us from the love of our holy and righteous God. Ultimately, sin leads to death and eternal damnation, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23).

This is basic Biblical doctrine, rooted in the Word of God, long established by the Church of Christ, believed and proclaimed by Christians around the world for millennia. Yet a desire for societal acceptance within the American Church and among American Christians leads some to find the truth of the Gospel harsh and off-putting. So out of fear of personal rejection or being labeled a fundamentalist or a bigot, Christians who ought to know better choose to placate sin, ignoring or belittling its pernicious effects, often under the guise of being empathetic and compassionate.

But what is compassionate about allowing one who is in bondage to sin to continue to suffer while withholding the truth that would set them free? Such behavior is not at all compassionate. It is cowardly. Cowardice is simply the lack of courage. And it is indeed a lack of courage, not compassion, that leads the so-called believer to hide or neuter the Gospel in order to be accepted in societal circles and applauded by the world for an evolving, progressive view of Scripture. Such cowardice is not only shameful for the Christian, but his affirmation of sin has potentially deadly consequences for the unbeliever.

As some cower under the guise of compassion, the enemy does not retreat. He aggressively pursues their homes, their children, their schools, their communities, and even their churches. Sin reigns rampant in their communities, most often unchallenged, and sometimes even celebrated. God’s standard for holy living (1 Peter 1:15-16) is mocked. We see the aggressive indoctrination of young children with gender ideology and an intentional desensitization of adolescents to sexual sin and perversion. Educators and political leaders mock the sincere Christian faith of people of all ages, as schools, universities, governments, and corporations attempt to deny their constitutional rights to freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech. So-called ministers of the Gospel even attempt to delegitimize portions of the Biblical canon, asserting the need for a third testament of the Bible that aligns with Marxist and progressive ideologies—worldviews that are incompatible with orthodox Christianity.

Despite such cowardice, I am grateful for the courageous generation of Christian leaders the Lord is raising up in our midst. I see them at ������ and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of their lives. These are young Christians who have personally experienced the truth and grace of Jesus, and who boldly proclaim the Gospel of repentance and salvation through faith in Jesus. They know Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and the Holy Spirit is empowering them to be Christ’s witnesses in near places, far places, hard places, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8-9). They have rejected cowardice and embraced a courageous compassion, rooted in the unchanging and infallible Word of God.

I pray that the Lord strengthens and emboldens them. May He multiply the force of their efforts. And may many unbelievers come to know the salvation of the Lord through their courageous witness and the power of the Holy Spirit working through them.

Scripture is replete with the stories of brave men. Flawed and imperfect men made righteous by God and worthy of our admiration, not because of their own cunning or strength but because of their faith in and surrender to God. I have a few favorites.

I marvel at Caleb’s faith, his belief in the power of God, and his trust that God would keep His promises even as those around him were doubtful and fearful of their environment and Israel’s enemies (Numbers 13:30-33). Who can forget Daniel’s conviction to remain true to the God of Israel and God’s law, even as an exile in a foreign land who lived in the good graces of Babylonian leadership (Daniel 1:8-16). Joseph modeled supreme faith and trust in God as he took Mary, pregnant with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be his wife (Matthew 1:24-25). Each of these men inspires me, but as a young man, it is King David who may have been the most influential Biblical figure in my spiritual development. While David is often heralded for his bravery and courage, it was his flaws and brokenness that spoke to me as a young man. David’s failures and redemption showed me that God in fact uses deeply flawed and broken people, which gave me hope that God could use me.

In addition to these biblical examples, I��have personally been fortunate to have many influential��Christian men��to help form me as a Christian man;��particularly��my father, grandfathers, uncles, and��cousins.��In addition to��family members, I have had teachers and professional mentors who have guided, encouraged, and corrected��me. Even today, as a husband, father, and leader, I enjoy sacred relationship with Christian men who support and encourage me, and when needed, question and challenge me.

While I have been blessed with an abundance of faithful Christian men in my life, I grew up in a community plagued by the absence of men. Having married parents was atypical. Having an absent or incarcerated father was not uncommon. The absence of men was felt acutely in homes, church, and community structures. Single mothers did all they could to provide for their children, financially, spiritually, and emotionally, but the result of male absence was often poverty and many of its accompanying hardships. The plain truth is that families need fathers and husbands. And Houghton has a clear and important role to play in the preparation of God-honoring, faithful Christian men. I treasure Houghton’s opportunity to play a role in their Christian formation.

God created people, male and female, in His image (Genesis 1:27). Men and women bear the image of God our creator, equally valuable and loved by God. But men and women are not interchangeable. We are created with distinctions.��As such, Houghton endeavors to provide��a��nurturing Christian community that equips,��strengthens, and encourages young men as they prepare to become husbands, fathers, and servant leaders in their homes, families, churches, and communities.��I����want��Houghton men��to understand that they will serve in churches and communities marred by the absence and failures of men, and that their presence, service, strength, and compassion can play a healing and restorative role in��the lives of young people who desperately need the influence of Christian men in their lives.��It is a responsibility to be taken seriously.

The��lives of��Biblical men like Daniel, Caleb,��David, and Joseph the stepfather of Jesus,��continue to encourage and challenge��me.��But then,��so do the lives and service of��the��courageous��Christian��men��who serve at��Houghton today.��As Houghton’s president, my prayer and my aim��is��that��the��faith,��obedience,��failures,��and triumphs��of��Biblical��men and contemporary Houghton men,��inspire the young men studying at ��������to��act justly, the love mercy,��and to walk humbly with God��(Micah 6:8).��By God’s grace, may it be so.