Books That Change Us

John Walkup,
Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Texas Tech University,
Faculty Commons Staff

[Feb 26, 2012] –



Sometimes I am asked, “What book has made a significant impact on your life?”

In ministering to other professors, I’ve read a number of books that have the potential to strongly impact our lives in the academy. While I don’t want to imply that reading and discussing books together is necessarily the ideal way to bring change to us as followers of Christ, the practice can be helpful if the books are chosen carefully and read with open minds and hearts.

Potential Pitfall

Since we earn our living by analyzing information with the mind, we may find ourselves challenged to bridge the gaps between head, heart, and actions. Reading books that stimulate movement in that direction I have found to be life changing.

Some of the authors whose books have had particular impact here at the San Francisco Bay Area campuses recently are:

• Dallas Willard — The Divine Conspiracy, and Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge
• Timothy Keller — The Reason for God, The Prodigal God and Counterfeit Gods
• John Piper — Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God.

These books have had the effect of helping me move closer to Christ while dealing with my tendency as an academician to say “I think I understand what the author is saying, and that’s good enough for me.”

Foundational Truths

I’ve mentioned these particular books first, because the authors are well known and excellent communicators. Second, because they address several issues with which we as Christian faculty grapple: serving God in the way we meet our university responsibilities, and learning what it means to love God with every part of our beings.

These issues include:
(1) Do we have a high view of Jesus as the most outstanding mind in our fields and the Bible as our reliable source of true spiritual knowledge? (Willard)
(2) Are we confident in our understanding of how to defend logically the Christian faith while also successfully resisting the systemic pressures to transform our academic careers into idols? (Keller)
(3) Have we learned to find our true treasure in knowing Christ personally? (Piper)

Since we operate in a world where the Biblical concepts of God’s grace and truth often are seen as utterly foreign, understanding these issues is vital if we are to function effectively as Christ’s representatives on our campuses.

I challenge each of us: read and discuss with Christian colleagues in order to fill our minds with thoughts of God; seek to stimulate our hearts to treasure Christ above all else; ask God to produce actions that cause those around us to want to know why we think and act the way we do.

May these books help us to live out I Peter 3:15 so that we will indeed be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within us.

What are some books you have read that fostered spiritual growth?

(c) 2012 John Walkup

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Expert Witness

Phillip A. Bishop,
Exercise Physiology,
University of Alabama

[Feb 19, 2012] –



As a professor, I have been asked on occasion to give testimony in the courtroom as an expert. I find that to be challenging, fun, and even lucrative.

I attempt to motivate my students by mentioning that someone I know makes over $300/hour chiefly because of their depth of knowledge on the information we cover in class. Alas, so far it has not made them lean forward in their seats to drink more eagerly from so rich a fountain of sagacity.

Testimony Required

Expert witnesses must have expertise in something of use to a civil court. It means that one has studied something and written a detailed and careful report. Usually it involves giving a deposition to hostile inquisitors. Often, being an expert requires testimony before a judge and sometimes to a jury about what we know and believe to be true.

As profs giving testimony, we must prepare. We must stay up-to-date and stay within our area of expertise. We must prepare to face hostile interrogators who will attempt to dispute our claims to the truth. We must speak with confidence from a basis of knowledge. If we aren’t able to speak with authority, we must study, consider all the evidence, and prepare to give testimony in a deposition and in court.

As Christian profs if we are to be expert witnesses we will hone our “Christian worldview.” We study to help us understand our faith in an academic way. We fellowship on campus to learn from Christian colleagues. We constantly consider the perspective of our skeptical peers. We pray and read Scripture being open to what the Holy Spirit may tell us of ourselves, our colleagues and students, and our academic areas. Always we are students to our discipline and to the Holy Spirit.

To Do My Best

When I serve as an expert, I am highly motivated. I want to do a good job. I am motivated by my fear of looking foolish. And I am motivated to do my best to discern the truth and testify to it using the evidence I have been given.

As Christian professors, we need to work diligently with our faith and to be consistent in our daily testimony. We need to fear disgracing the Body of Christ. We need to discern the truth and testify to it with confidence.

There is some tension and real pressure in being an expert witness to the court. It is a sacred trust to be taken seriously.

As Christians, we have a sacred trust. We have a duty to testify to the truth.

Looking For Connections

I feel compelled to testify to my students concerning the hope that is within me. I feel it is my duty to find how my academic specialty of exercise physiology relates to Christianity. I look for connections between faith and physiology. And I have found:

• Human physiology testifies to the wonder of God’s creation.

• It explains the mechanism of crucifixion.

• Knowing that gives me opportunities to share with colleagues and students. It is a privilege to testify to what I believe.

• And, this is a very “lucrative” gig, very “lucrative” indeed. We can’t afford to miss the opportunity to give our expert testimony.

Care to comment? Have you found ways your academic specialty relates to Christianity?

© 2012 Phillip A. Bishop
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