Spotlight Interview with Thomas Torres

By Thomas Torres | TRINICY.org

BASIC QUESTIONS

• Major: BS in Pharmacy
• University: University of Washington
• State, Country: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
• Profession: Pharmacist

FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS

TRINICY: What spiritual habits and disciplines do you follow on a daily basis?
​THOMAS: I try to give the Lord the first and last 30 to 60 minutes of each day. I also try to read the Bible completely at least once each year.

TRINICY: Out of all God’s attributes, which one amazes you most? Why?
THOMAS: I am amazed the most by God’s love and sacrifice for us since He loves us so much He sacrificed His only Son for our salvation.

TRINICY: Who led you to Christ? Who are you leading or hope to lead to Christ?
THOMAS: My grandmother first taught me about Jesus when I was 3 years old. But my main inspiration came from my wife. When we were first friends, she taught me more about the Bible than I had learned in Catholic Churches. She also taught me about the salvation prayer and its importance in being saved.

TRINICY: What primary talents and gift(s) has God given you? How are you using them for the kingdom?
THOMAS: My primary talent is to serve others, which I try to do when I can. I also believe in servant leadership when it comes to leading people at work.

TRINICY: Which person from the Bible do you resonate with the most? Why?
THOMAS: I admire King David the most in the Bible because of his faith and humbleness to the Lord.

TRINICY: What social issue do you care most about? Why?
THOMAS: I care about abortion the most since it is the murder of innocent, helpless babies.

TRINICY-RELATED QUESTIONS

TRINICY: What does being a Christian mean to you? Why Are you a Christian?
THOMAS: For myself, being a Christian means to follow Jesus completely and to not let any worldly desires take precedence over Him. It means putting Him first in my life and to grow constantly in my faith.

TRINICY: What does being a Conservative mean to you? Why Are you a Conservative?
THOMAS: For myself, being a conservative means to hold onto traditional and moral values and not let the liberal attitudes of the world influence me.

TRINICY: What has your experience been like as a Conservative Christian on and/or off campus?
THOMAS: I’ve noticed there are very few true Christians out there in the workforce. Many say they are Christians, but they quickly jump on the liberal bandwagon in many issues.

TRINICY: What were your first thoughts when you heard about TRINICY?
THOMAS: I think TRINICY is awesome especially since the majority of schools try to indoctrinate their students against God. TRINICY helps these students to find allies with the same Christian believers as themselves.

TRINICY: ​What book(s) do you recommend conservative Christians read to help strengthen their faith in a secular and/or liberal setting?
THOMAS: The main book to read is the Bible to help conservative Christians strengthen their faith. Secondary are books from Dr. Robert Jeffress, especially Not All Roads Lead to Heaven and his new book Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World.

TRINICY: What advice or resource would you offer to fellow conservative Christians today?
THOMAS: I would advise conservative Christians to not be ashamed of their faith. Be bold like Daniel in the Bible.

OTHER QUESTIONS
​
TRINICY: What is an interesting/unusual fact most people don’t know about you?
THOMAS: Most people (besides family and close friends) don’t know much of my time in the military. Most people assume I was a pharmacist in the military. But instead, I was an Army Ranger during the 1980’s and was deployed to many parts of the world like Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Lebanon, Syria, etc.

TRINICY: What passion or dream keeps you up at night or wakes you up in the morning?
THOMAS: My dream that keeps me awake at night or wakes me up in the morning is for every member of our family to follow Jesus completely.

TRINICY: If Jesus were physically here now, what would you want to ask Him or talk about?
THOMAS: I don’t think I would have the courage to ask Jesus anything, let alone look at Him if He was here in front of me. He is my Lord and I am not even worthy to shine His shoes. But I would hold onto him tightly as a child holds on to their parent’s legs and not let Him go.

TRINICY: What are the three greatest life lessons you’ve learned thus far?
THOMAS: The 3 greatest lessons I have learned so far is that 1. Faith and prayer are important for any problems we encounter in life. 2. Most people give up mentally before reaching their goals even though their goal is within their reach. 3. The truth always comes out.

TRINICY: Which Christian song best connects with you?
THOMAS: I have 3 songs that I connect with. “Dear Younger Me”, and “I Can Only Imagine” and “Burn the Ships.”

TRINICY: What legacy do you want to leave as a Christian?
THOMAS: My greatest legacy I would like to have as a Christian is to help lead many people to Christ (either at work or people I meet).

TRINICY: Which teacher has impacted you most? How?
THOMAS: The teacher that influenced me the most was my college organic chemistry teacher since he was able to teach a very difficult subject with ease.

TRINICY: What is your life verse? Why?
THOMAS: My life verse is from Psalm 23: ”The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want” since it shows that no matter what happens in our lives, we will always have the Lord and that is all that we really need. Everything else is secondary to this.

TRINICY: Which world events have influenced, changed, or shaped your life?
THOMAS: The world events that helped influence me the most was 1. The election of President Ronald Reagan, since it showed me how to be more patriotic. 2. The breaking down of the Berlin Wall, since it showed me that peace could be possible in this world even when almost all hope is lost. 3. The invention of the computer and internet since it put knowledge at our fingertips.

TRINICY: What is the most difficult thing for you about being a Christian?
THOMAS: The most difficult thing about being a Christian is to know that we are always being watched by “baby Christians” and non-Christians. So it helps to always conduct myself as if Jesus is right next to me.

TRINICY: What, thus far, has been your greatest "praise report"?
THOMAS: I have many praise reports but one of the greatest ones I have is when my previous pharmacy was closing down and everyone was scrambling for jobs. I prayed and the Lord told me not to worry and He would find the job for me. Everyone at work was laughing at me when we had less than 2 weeks to go and I still had no job. But I had faith and waited. With less than 2 weeks to go, a district manager from Walgreens happened to drive by and saw our closing sign. He was from a different district so he rarely drives to where I was working. He came inside and offered me a job without even knowing me.

Another major praise report is when I was in my mid-30’s. I was told I had a heart problem and wouldn’t live past the late 50’s. I was also told that in my early 50’s I would start having major heart problems. When my blood pressure started going very high when I was 52 or 53, I assumed this was the beginning of the end. My doctor told me they would have to do an operation on my heart but first they must do a stress test. My wife (who was my fiancé then prayed for me and said I would be ok). After the stress test, the doctor said there must be a mistake since my heart is as healthy as an 18 year old man and I had no problems (even though the previous exams showed otherwise). Praise the Lord.

WE WOULD LOVE TO FEATURE MORE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS ON TRINICY.

If you know of other conservative Christians on or off campus we could feature, please email us at [email protected].