Happy Easter!

Preachers, please stop using biblical languages in your sermons if you don’t know what you’re talking about. You may think you’re adding depth but often it has the opposite effect in making errors. Please take Greek/Hebrew at a Seminary and it will benefit your ministry for life.

My paper for the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) has been accepted! I’ll be presenting insights from a forthcoming chapter where I draw upon Persian period inscriptions to better understand Nehemiah’s role as a cupbearer! I’ll see y’all in November!

I published my first Japanese article! It’s titled “Biblical Archaeology of the Persian Period.” Although Japanese is my mother tongue, because all my theological education is in English, this was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. May this bless the Japanese believers.

Where is everyone with their Bible reading? I’m a bit behind where I’d like to be, but I’m on 1 Kings 13!

Could yall help by voting for my little boy? jr-ranger.org/2026/jin-49b1

Good luck to those submitting paper proposals today for SBL’s annual meeting. I look forward to hearing some of your brilliant papers in November!

SBL proposal submitted! Good luck to those trying to make the March 4th deadline!

I presented my paper on AI and spiritual formation! It’s nice to be back at my Alma mater and attend Baylor’s Symposium on Faith and Culture!

Me prepping my conference paper in presenting next week at Baylor University’s Symposium on Faith and Culture.

Happy Valentines Day! Did you know that the first time the Hebrew word אהב “love” appears in the Bible is when God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac whom Abraham “loves” (Gen 22:2)? This story captures the main themes of the Bible “Love God” and “Love your neighbors” (Matt 22:37-40)

One of my academic heroes passed away. Muraoka was the most influential Japanese Semitic linguist. But his life as a Japanese Christian is what really inspired me. I worked with him on a forthcoming publication and he was supportive of me as a junior scholar. williamaross.com/2026/02/11/i...

Another article submitted…

Chapter revisions completed and sent!

The most expensive Pokemon card (a Pikachu Illustrator PSA 10) owned by Logan Paul is up for auction and is currently at 3.4 million dollars! goldin.co/item/logan-p...

Me revising a manuscript I submitted last year…

First article of the year done! (It’s an article I’ve been working on this Christmas break!)

I want to go to this Batman museum… imagine all the artifacts from Gotham.

Why does every streaming services have every language except Japanese when watching Pokemon which is a Japanese anime? I don’t get it. 😞

Scholarship is humbling. I spent days researching and I thought I learned everything I need to know about a topic. Then I found a publication on an inscription I didn’t know about which completely made me revise my draft. We have to be carful not to make rash conclusions!

Merry Christmas!

It’s one of those days when you’re researching Old Persian inscriptions using books published in German. #academia #historian

Me catching up on One Piece watching the story of Bartholomew Kuma. It’s one of the most emotionally moving story.

One struggle when publishing on biblical archaeology, finding pictures and getting permission for pictures takes hours and sometimes even requires payment…

Cycle of a professor working at a teaching institution. I teach full time during the semester, I grade full time at the end of the semester, and I write full time once the semester is over.

I am finally done grading hundreds of pages of papers after three days straight of grading…

I will cherish the memories I have with Tom. I read his book Shifting Sands at TEDS, and I got to meet him when he visited my class. While I was a PhD student at Baylor, we had lunch at conferences and shared a good laugh and talked about archaeology. www.biblicalarchaeology.org/milestones/t...

It’s the last week of classes @BethelSeminary and @BethelU! I am proud of my students! I set a time of reflection, and students realize how theological education is life changing! Those who didn’t know any Hebrew are now reading Ruth in Hebrew! Others know how to read OT genres! Hallelujah!

My Doktormutter Deirdre Fulton wrote a wonderful advent devotional that highlights the radical message of the Gospel. She encourages us to have hope in the midst of difficult times and reminds us that Scripture challenges us to pray for our adversaries! alumni.web.baylor.edu/advent/2025-...

I was featured in Disciple Dojo’s video highlighting JM’s time in Boston! I met JM at Every Voice’s reception IBR/SBL! I was glad to meet another Christian martial artist and talk about my research and the work of Every Voice! youtu.be/gebq-8nPD5w?...

I want to honor the life of Gary Long. Gary was the first person who took me out after I moved to MN. He told me about the culture of Bethel, he resonated with the challenge of being a transplant in MN, and we shared the love we have for students and the OT. He will be missed.

I have been elected as a steering committee member of the Institute for Biblical Research’s Asian and Asian-American Biblical Interpretation! I am excited to serve along these amazing colleagues!

A common question I answered during SBL, “How’s life and weather like in Minnesota?” Well I came back to a snow storm 🌨️ (the photo is my yard) and Next week, the lowest projected temperature is 5 degrees Fahrenheit/-15 Celsius! 🥶

I’m done with IBR/SBL. I gave two presentations, one which was described as “a work of art.” One highlight of my trip was visiting Harvard’s famous Museum of the Ancient Near East! (The curator is a friend of mine who works on the same archaeological excavation).

The last thing I did at SBL was organize Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s Old Testament/Archaeology lunch! I am so encouraged to see how friends are serving God and educating the next generation!

I had such a great 2nd day at SBL’s annual conference! I had dinner with Baylor’s Old Testament/Hebrew Bible PhD, lunch with my doctoral advisor, and met great people at Every Voice’s reception!

My professor Jim Nogalski at Baylor University wrote this murder mystery novel with Wipf and Stock publishers! So stoked to read it!

For those attending SBL, I look forward to seeing you tonight!

A full but exciting day 1 of SBL is done! I attended really insightful papers, and shown is the photo is the Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah session I presented at (I’m in the crowd). My paper was very well received with a great discussion which followed!

And my computer decides to die on me in the day I give my paper for SBL….

My first day at IBR is done! My IBR paper on the sabbath in Chronicles was well received and I look forward to the first day at SBL!

Tomorrow I’ll be presenting my paper at the Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah session at SBL! All the papers in the session are previews of chapters from a forthcoming book!

Boston here I come!

Note to self. It’s not a good idea to be teaching a full time load, plus an overload class, and to write two conferences papers. But the papers are written and forgive me if a snooze off during a session at SBL.

Bethel Seminary is hiring! We are looking for a Program Director for Competency-Based Theological Education Program! Please share this post with anyone who might be interested! staffcareers-bethel.icims.com/jobs/2186/pr... I’d be happy to meet at IBR/SBL to talk about this opportunity!

This Friday at IBR/SBL I'll be presenting a paper on the notion of sabbath in Chronicles! I'll be joined by papers by stellar scholars and look forward to the responses by @AubreyBuster and Paul Evans! I hope to see you there!

Me watching Physical Asia

Happy to finally see my chapter in print! In“YHWH the Tyrant!?” I analyze the depiction and role the God of the Hebrew Bible play in anime/manga! I argue how the memory of Christian colonialism is reflected in the negative portrayal of YHWH as a foreign deity who opposes Japanese beliefs/traditions

It’s a month out from SBL! I need to finish that paper…

Another major find connecting Israel and Assyria! www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...