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.

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Wayne Croley
Wayne Croley

Hi! I’ve studied and written about Bible prophecy since I was a teenager. My goal is to make Bible prophecy easy for you to understand while avoiding the sensationalism seen elsewhere. I am the author of several end time books, including Prophecy Proof Insights on the End Times, a comprehensive book about the end times. I hold an M.B.A. and degrees in Managerial Economics and Political Science.

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  1. Quote from War On The Saints -“Through lack of knowledge, the majority of even the most spiritual people, do not carry out a fulland perpetual war upon this army of wicked spirits; and many are shrinking from the subject, and the call to war against them, saying that if Christ is preached it is not necessary to give prominenceto the existence of the devil, nor to enter into direct conflict with him, and his hosts. Yet large numbers of the children of God are becoming a prey to the enemy for lack of this very knowledge, and through the silence of teachers on this vital truth, the Church of Christ is passing on into theperil of the closing days of the age, unprepared to meet the onslaught of the foe. On account of this, and in view of the plainly given prophetic warnings in the Scriptures; the already manifestinflux of the evil hosts of Satan among the children of God; and the many signs that we are actually in the “later times” referred to by the Apostle; all believers should welcome such knowledge aboutthe powers of darkness, as will enable them to pass through the fiery trial of these days, without being ensnared by the foe.

  2. Have a look at it, you will be amazed….a warning to us in the end times of the warfare we will encounter

  3. Thank you Wayne. Have you seen this free e-book called War On The Saints by Jessie Penn-Lewis written in 1912. She talks about the future which I believe is now due to a waking vision I had at 7 years old when I saw Twin Towers fall and the Indonesian Tsunamis. I also saw the vatican cave in and many other catastrophes. I have been waiting most of my life to see the Catholic church fall and have always believed it is run by satan. I have lived in denial of an obvious spiritual purpose in God and went to uni and worked professionally for over 30 years. Now I care nothing for money or position as I have had way too much proof that we are in the end times. When I was 7 I was simply playing in the dirt with my sister when I suddenly climbed up on a rock and declared that “I am here to see the end of the old world and the beginning of the new one” then the visions came and I described what I was seeing. Somehow I knew it was God showing me……I was awestruck with reverence and although my voice was loud and strong my whole body trembled. I saw men in middle eastern garb trying to hide among the ruins of twin towers and a voice told me that they were responsible for the attack. I was told not to hide when Jesus returns but to stand up and reach out to Him for he can see every heart and evil will not be able to hide.

  4. Thank you so much for sharing your testimony. I hope people who are skeptical about the existence of spiritual warfare read your testimony and understand that their truly is a spiritual war ongoing.

  5. I am very pleased to find your site as this discussion is important for all the saints in these end times. I have had supernatural experiences since 5 yrs old so have been studying this topic for over 30 years. I was saved at 20 yrs old then due to the gift of healing and prophecy I was sucked into satan’s twilight zone and ended up in the New Age movement for 33 years as a psychic medium. I now know that satan is supernatural too and can come in the form of people either dead or alive. As a child my father prayed after I screamed upon waking up in the middle of the night being attacked by a demon. I was not bothered again until my dad suddenly died and I was approached by a demon who had taken on the exact image of my dad. I jumped out of bed in joy and shock but was immediately frozen in absolute fear and dread. I heard a voice say “Feel the love in your heart” and I immediately felt an overwhelming sense of love and suddenly the demon turned to dust and blew away. I have never been attacked like this again (but I know many unsaved psychics who still do) as I have learnt that Jesus is real and His love is too powerful for any demon to withstand. Faith is everything when it comes to dispelling demons and I now spend my time helping people who have demonic experiences to understand that its all bluff on satan’s behalf as he is already defeated……..so there is absolutely nothing to fear……fear attracts demons…….faith in Jesus dispels them!

  6. Yah. They parade around as aliens too. Mine were always shadow people and they invaded my body. The medical demons have termed them ‘hypnogogic hallucinations’ – we know better. Thanks for sharing. Mine went away after my conversion.

  7. Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully, your experience will help others to understand to not get involved with these types of boards.

  8. As a teen I played with a OUIJA board. We (my girlfriend and) shared with an entity that although was not harmful didn’t confirm or support Scriptures. We were non-practicing Catholics then. We “played” with the entity for about 3 months. Our “playing” consisted in basically normal conversations rather than silly Q&As.

    The entity told us a few things that would happen ahead, but they were rather things anyone with the mobility of a spirit has could quickly find out, like whether a teacher was coming in to school. Things changed when I began ti inquire about celestial matters. Especially when I asked how we faired before God. Her answer was also uncertain. She said we’d do well because we were not intimidated by spiritual matters. After that the entity said she had to leave and gave us instructions to break the board, throw it away and never get another one. We followed the instructions, but I wasn’t satisfied and got myself another OUIJA board, this time w/o my girlfriend. This time the entity wasn’t as benign as the first one. It was vulgar and crazy. So, the first entity came back, said she ran the second entity out of my “Zozo,” the asked us to break the board again and gave the same warming. We never again got another board.

    After we got married and had children we got saved and have been serving Jesus to this day.

  9. Wow! Thanks so much for sharing! Your personal experiences are incredible. These evil entities are definitely real. My dad warned me long ago to never get involved with ouiji boards. He told me stories about things happening to others who used them. I am terrified of the things, so I stay as far away from them as I can.

  10. Dear Wayne,

    My older sister got a book on out of body experiences and this led me and another sister into getting a ouiji board, needless to say the occult is nothing that anyone should ever dabble in. It opens the doorway to demons trying to take over your body. I noticed every time I tried to use the oujii board that it would response to me with foul language, cursing (things like, d*mn you to h*ll) me,( I believe because I was also reading the bible some and thought of myself as a Christian)

    My sister on the other hand could questions for her, things that no one but a unclean or demonic spirit would have been able to answer.

    Started noticing things moved around in our room, a crucifix turned upside down twice and then completely broke that I had beside my bed. I was in college at the time and my mom said big life-size photo I had of me, kept getting flipped face down, the scariest moments I had however was in my dorm room one night. My roommate and myself were lying talking had the lights out and all of a sudden this dark shape started forming and hovering over me in my bed. My roommate saw it and we both started screaming and she jumped to turn on the light and we both saw it go under my bed, it was in the shape of a huge serpent and we both slept with the light on that night. I went home that weekend and my brother and I burned the ojjuii board, as we burned it whatever demon was attachéd to it went and and forced my mom down on the bed and she could not move and she called on the Lord and it left her.

    This however was not the last experience I had with this demonic spirit, because it followed me overseas when I lived there after getting married. I had several experiences, one my husbands niece had lived with us for a short time and I was walking toward the kitchen when she walked in front of me, going to the bathroom, at least I thought it was her but walking on, I walked into our kitchen and there she was standing by the sink, washing dishes. I believe these demonic spirits can take on the form of people. One night I felt as if I was in my spiritual body looking down at my own body and seeing my husband and children, all of a sudden that same dark shape was with me above my body and I knew it wanted possession of my body and it was as if my spirit was in a fight with this demonic spirit over possession of my body. I felt as if my spiritual body was being buffeted from one side of the ceiling to the other and I finally calling on God and ordering it away in his son, Jesus Christ name, made it leave.

    Years later, after warning my children about fooling with the occult and what I experience, my college age daughter and a friend of hers decided to get a oujii board. The friend asked questions, my daughter had the same experience I did the first time I tried to use one, insults, cursings and so on.
    Her friend asked it why it did not like my daughter, it spelled out, mother. My daughter asked her to ask it, because she was skeptical and thought her new friend was just trying to creep her out what my name then, because she knew her friend didn’t know me or my complete name and it spelled it out completely. I went down to visit my daughter in her new apartment and I could sense something was amiss when I went in. Her roommate came in and could not look at me for some reason. I walked into my daughters bedroom and it sounded as if a coin dropped from a great distance at my feet. The next time she was in for a weekend visit, she let me know what her and her friend had been doing but said that she had discontinued having anything to do with it. I warned her to anoint herself and order the demon out of her life. The roommate started acting like she was possessed by the demon, my daughter ended up moving out of that apartment and had to cut off her friendship. Demons are real, the book of Luke tells us we have power, through Jesus Christ to order them out of our lives, sometimes the lunar ones are only able to ordered out through fasting and prayer.

  11. It’s not sleep paralysis when you are awake and cannot move. If this ever happens to you it is important to pray no matter what!

  12. I told my dad about sleep paralysis. He doesn’t think it was sleep paralysis because of that presence that was in his room. Sleep paralysis though must be scary to experience if you’re not aware of it.

  13. I experience what your dad experienced on occasion. Science calls it “sleep paralysis”..but I can’t rule out dark spiritual forces either. Patience and prayer definitely works.

  14. These liars are not powerful. The Living Word of God clearly states that our Savior went into hell and snatched the keys of sin and death from the liar himself. they are cast down, and we are lifted up!!! take courage brothers and sisters! do not be intimidated by these appearances! they can manipulate flesh, but your True Name, the name of your spirit, the name that Jesus Himself has named you, is written on a white stone in Heaven! BE OF GOOD COURAGE, AND GOOD CHEER ALL WHO BELIEVE IN THE SACRIFICE OF THE HOLY LAMB!!! BLESSED IS HE FOREVER AND EVERMORE!!! HALLELUJAH AND AMEN!!!!!!!

  15. Ive had an experience also where i was sleeping. I felt a strange presence while i was asleep it was a paralyzed not being able to breath feeling. it only lasted a few minutes but the power these beings have is no doubt powerful.

  16. I had a very similar experience. After I had heart surgery, I was at my parents house resting. I was half asleep and half awake, while I was in this state, a ball of blue light touched my feet and started moving up my legs. As it moved further and further up my body everything that it thouched became paralyzed, I could not even feel it anymore. Still in the half asleep/ half awake state (but fully conscious, don’t know how to explain that), it got to my throat, and I was having difficulty breathing, at this point almost my whole body was paralyzed. I had called out to Jesus in my mind, it was as if you could think a scream. At the mere thought of Jesus’s name whatever this was recoiled. It fled SO FAST, while it was doing so, you could feel the hate and fear coming off of it. As soon of it was finished touching me, i was ABLE to fully wake up. This is one of the most frightening experiences of my life. Praise be to God and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ!!!

  17. Wayne –

    I have had a similar experience where a spiritual force that I could sense was standing at the room of my bedroom and I was paralyzed with fear. My mind was also very cloudy and I had a very difficult time remembering Bible verses or hymns. After some struggle, I finally was able to invoke the name of Jesus and begin to speak Biblical truth and the fear / presence was relieved.

    I have a complete testimony written down that I would be willing to share if your interested. Contact me by email.

    I have actually been trying to find resources to understand this event more. If you have good, grounded resources please post them as I would like to research this more.

    I keep thinking there has to be a reason that this happened to me – as there was a reason it happened to your dad. God in his sovereignty allowed it in both cases.

    Thanks,
    Jay