How I Got into Studying Bible Prophecy

Some people are probably wondering how I got involved in studying Bible prophecy. In this article, I will share my story, and explain how I got involved in studying Bible prophecy.

The story about how I got started with Bible prophecy begins long before I was born…

Before I was Born

Late one night a military man was preparing for bed just after receiving a message informing him that he was being transferred to new assignment. He originally believed he would be going to Germany, but the paper told him that he would be staying in Asia, the region where he currently was stationed at.

As he prepared to lie down, the man saw a large, mysterious light moving in from another room. At that moment the man was more concerned about getting some sleep than investigating the weird light that he saw moving. The man felt secure on the fourth floor of the building that housed military personnel. The man turned off a lamp and fell onto his bed.

As soon as the man’s body contacted his mattress he noticed that something was really wrong… He could not move! As he tried to figure out why he could not move he sensed that something was in his bedroom. He heard the clothes in his closet being thrown around and he heard something moving closer to him.

Sweat dripped all over his body as he laid completely paralyzed; fearful that something terrible was going to happen to him. Suddenly, he heard the presence next to him take great interest in a completely folded piece of paper that he laid next to the nightstand. The paper made a very loud noise as the presence investigated the piece of paper.

Moments later, the man suddenly heard the sound of a strong gust of wind in the room even though the windows were completely shut and it was a windless night…the presence had finally left.

As soon as the presence left the man regained the ability to move his limbs. The man leaped out of his bed to survey the room. He looked down at floor and found the piece of paper that presence took great interest in wide open. The paper was the message that the man received to transfer to his new assignment. This was definitely not a dream or a hallucination…

The man talked to people he knew about his strange experience, and they told him that they thought that he had been visited by demons. The man, unsure of what happened, turned towards religion in his search for some answers. The man found some people he knew reading a book about Bible prophecy.

With the recent supernatural encounter in mind, the man was curious about the book and asked to borrow it. When the man read the book he thought that it was one of the most fantastic things he ever seen… From then on the man tried to read anything that he could on the subject…

What you have read is not a fictional story. The man in this story is not a character that I made up…he is my dad.

Not an Ordinary Experience

I am not exactly sure what happened to my dad, but this event seems very similar to the events commonly described by people who retell their encounter with demonic spirits at night. Those who report demonic encounters say that they become paralyzed as the spirit(s) enter their room, move around for a while, and then try to harm them and/or take possession of their bodies. The people who report these encounters say that the spirit retreats when they mention the Lord’s name. However, my dad did not have to resort to saying the Lord’s name. The presence in his room disappeared before it could harm him.

Nevertheless, the event was a major catalyst that got my dad interested in Bible prophecy. Without that event happening I doubt he would have begun Bible studying prophecy and I doubt I would be as well.

My Upbringing

I grew up without a brother or a sister. I was raised by both of my parents, but it was my dad who took the responsibility of raising me as a Christian.

I was not the most knowledgeable child compared to my peers at the Sunday school I attended when it came to Bible knowledge. However, I would often be the first one to arrive at Sunday school (even before the teachers arrived) and I was very good at memorizing Bible verses. Here are a couple of examples:

• The Sunday school I attended awarded play money (which could be exchanged for small toys) to children who could memorize Bible verses and complete Bible worksheets that were assigned as voluntary “homework”. I recall earning the most play money of all the children at my Sunday school.
• I won a fake “Joe Montana” autographed mini football as a reward for reciting a giant list of Bible verses from memory when I was 10. I was the only one who came close to being able to recite all Bible verses on the list from memory. I still remember that the final verse on that list was Psalms 97:8 (Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O LORD).

I also have several memories as a child involving my dad, Bible prophecy, and I. Here are several of them:

• Every evening I laid next to my dad on the couch watching cartoons on television while he read the Bible and Bible prophecy books.
  My dad would sometimes take me along when he went to a Christian bookstore. I would often wander the bookstore trying to pass the time as my dad looked at various Bible prophecy books.
• My dad often listened to Bible prophecy cassette tapes while driving me home from wherever we went. I think I once overheard a Bible prophecy teacher on tape read Revelation 8:7 (which concerns the first trumpet) aloud during one of the drives home. The next Sunday I surprised my Sunday school teacher during a discussion of a story from the Bible when I asked him about angels burning the grass and trees. The Sunday school teacher did not provide much of a response and quickly redirected the discussion back to the Bible story.
• My dad would sometimes try to discuss the topic of Bible prophecy to random people during a conversation. I remember him awkwardly trying to explain the topic to my science teacher during a parent-teacher conference. I can remember the discomfort my science teacher was experiencing as my dad tried to discuss the topic with her.
• My dad would sometimes discuss Bible prophecy with a friend of his on Saturdays at McDonald’s. I would often get as bored as the poor, black dog that also waited for them to stop talking. Sometimes their conversation could last for a few hours.
• Despite my exposure to Bible prophecy as a child, I was afraid of the topic and had no interest in studying it. In fact, I was actually afraid of entering the room where my dad stored all his Bible and Bible prophecy material. In addition, I would sometimes purposely show signs of discomfort (like using awkward silence) to get my dad to stop discussing the topic of Bible prophecy with me.
• One day during the summer before my junior year of high school I decided to read the Book of Revelation to see what was actually in it. I read the Book of Revelation from start to finish, and I had no understanding of what I had read when I finished as everything about the Book of Revelation seemed abstract to me. I did not tell my dad about this in fear that it would get him to discuss Bible prophecy again with me (I still did not have any interest in studying Bible prophecy even after reading the Book of Revelation).

Turning to the Subject

Several months later I experienced the toughest time of my high school career. I turned to prayer for help; asking for my situation to improve. Around that time my dad began to bring up the topic of Bible prophecy with me much more often than he had in the past. It got to a point where my dad would sometimes spend up to 30 minutes at a time talking about Bible prophecy nonstop even when I showed signs of discomfort.

He would tell me about Gog, Meshech, Tubal, and the Antichrist. He also mentioned to me that he did not know everything about Bible prophecy.

I had preferred that he stop discussing the topic of Bible prophecy, but I did not ask him to stop out of respect nor did he stop.

The situation got to the point where I thought that things would get better if I decided to help my dad in his Bible prophecy studies. I had some access to the Internet, which my dad did not really have access to. I decided one day after a string of difficult days in Spring 2002 to finally help my dad in his study of Bible prophecy. I offered to go to various website on the Internet to give him information concerning what people were thinking about certain topics he was studying.

My situation deteriorated further a few weeks after I began to help my dad. I thought that Satan was trying to make me miserable as a way to discourage me from studying Bible prophecy because I had the thought that my situation would improve if I had begun to study Bible prophecy. In fact, I lost control of my composure after a very tough day at school and shouted something like “This is Satan’s doing!” (referring to my increased unhappiness with my situation) with my dad nearby and my dad’s chief boss-the superintendent of the school district-nearby. I created quite the scene, and my dad was angry with me for shouting.

I ultimately decided to continue to study Bible prophecy after that incident as my way to show defiance to Satan.

A Fast Learner

I spent the summer before my senior year of high school learning as much as I could about the topic of Bible prophecy. I received little guidance from my dad when attempting to learn about Bible prophecy. However, it was extremely “easy” for me to learn things because my mind was able absorb Bible prophecy like a sponge. The Book of Revelation even became something that I could better comprehend. I learned information so quickly and easily that it was almost like an “on-switch” had been activated in my brain once I committed to studying Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy quickly became an interest to me instead of something I primarily did to show defiance to Satan.

I often brought a Bible to school with me during my senior year of high school. I would often eat lunch alone while studying my Bible or go to my school’s library to research historical information relating to my Bible prophecy studies. I was definitely not the typical high school senior.

After High School

After graduating from high school, I spent my entire summer trying to not only study Bible prophecy but also write articles about Bible prophecy topics. By writing articles I hoped to increase my understanding of Bible prophecy and hoped to share what I wrote someday with people. I never published those specific articles, but I still have the computer files where they are stored. I sometimes look at them to see how far I’ve come in terms of my understanding and my writing and to see if there’s something I noticed back then that I’ve failed to notice now.

Before I began my freshmen year of college I wanted to major in Atmospheric Science because I had a strong interest in meteorology. For many years my “dream job” was to be a weather forecaster. However, I also had an interest in politics, economics, and finance because I liked to news events relating to those topics-even before I got into Bible prophecy.

I decided just before the start of my freshmen year to focus on taking college courses which could potentially help me to better understand how world events could bring about the fulfillment of Bible prophecy events. I was aware that there were some Bible prophecy commentators who often gave their opinion about political and economic events, but I doubted whether they actually had a solid understanding of the subject matters they discussed. I felt that I could be unique if I were able to combine a deep understanding of Bible prophecy with a deep understanding of subject matters like politics, economics, and finance.

The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to obtain degrees in Managerial Economics, Political Science, and a M.B.A. (concentrating in Finance). Thanks to the Lord I can provide people with a perspective on current events and how they may relate to Bible prophecy events that is not commonly seen. I choose to share my views on Bible prophecy-related topics because I want to help people understand what’s going on and I feel compelled to due to the opportunities I have been given.