Since some of you might be formulating opinions throughout this upcoming Bible Study, I thought I would post this Introduction to a book I like, in the hopes that you won't, instead, develop the kinds of stubbornly inflexible Dogmas you have seen some of us "mature" Christians exhibiting here.
********
My parents both graduated from a Pentecostal Bible College in the early 1970s. They attended classes during the era of the Jesus People Movement, the Vietnam War, and the epically bestselling Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. During those turbulent times, my parents met and married. After they had my two older siblings, I was born into their family in 1983. This was an era of much speculation and fear regarding the end-times, which many believed had already begun. My parents had heard all the confusing and conflicting points of view regarding the end-times, and instead of becoming obsessed with figuring it all out, they made a choice.
They determined to raise godly children who would raise godly grandchildren. They chose to think long-term and invest in their future and the future of their children. They didn't have all the answers regarding a "perfect theology of the end-times," but they knew better than to buy into the hype. When their friends quit their jobs, bought boats, and racked up credit card debt "because the end of the world is around the corner and we won't have to pay it back," my parents called this irresponsible and unChristlike behavior.
Growing up, I never knew what my parents really thought about the "end of the world." When I pressed them for an answer, they would say, "We are Pan-Millennial," which was a humorous way of saying that it will all "pan out" in the end! This left me with a lot of questions in my teen years when the Left Behind series became a raging bestseller.
Since I was not force-fed a particular point of view by either my parents or my church while growing up, I had the full ability to think freely. I began to dig into studying the end-times and very quickly realized that this study was going to be deep, complex, and scary.
It didn't take long for me to become thoroughly confused. At that point, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to my heart. He said to me, "Jonathan, please set aside your study of the end-times. It is not the right season for you to study this. If you will trust Me, I will guide you to a right understanding in the future, but now is not the time. Wait on Me to give you a green light." So for the next two and half years, I chose to read nothing regarding the end-times; I didn't watch the Left Behind movies (sorry Kirk Cameron); I didn't even read the Book of Revelation!
One day, as I was browsing a used book sale, I saw a book on the end-times, and I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, "Buy that book; it is time to begin to reveal the truth to you." It has now been over ten years since that day, and what the Holy Spirit has taught me about the end-times has been some of the most wonderful revelation that I have received from His Word.
Plenty of books about the end-times have been written based on personal visions or wild interpretations of Scripture. This is not one of those books. I have a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies. I am a student of Church History. I am not going to fill this book with subjective visions and fantasies regarding private interpretations of the end-times. Enough of those books already exist, and the Holy Spirit had me avoid them for two and half years so that He could prepare my heart for what He wanted to show me.
Here are my starting points.
• Every part of the Gospel is simple, including the teaching regarding the end-times. If something is too complex for the average person to grasp, then it is being taught wrongly.
• Our view of the future should not cause fear. No part of the Gospel (which literally means "good news") ever causes fear.
• Our understanding of the end-times determines how we live our lives and whether we plan long-term, build a legacy, prepare our children for a lifetime of service to the Lord, and so forth. A correct view of the end-times will set us free from fear. It will cause us to have a renewed passion for Jesus rather than an obsession with the antichrist.
Since many of you did not grow up in "Pan-Millennial" households, it is possible that you have been force-fed a particular point of view for many years. I would ask you to lay down what you have heard all your life and consider opening your heart to hear a fresh understanding from the Holy Spirit. In trade, I, as the author, promise to write simply. I will choose not to use large theological terms. I will not waste your time; I will respect your time as my reader. I can promise you that I will not try to coerce you into agreement with me, but I will share with you what the Holy Spirit has shown me, and you can test all things and hold fast that which is good (see 1 Thess. 5:21).
Thank you for investing your time in this book; it will be worth it.
