How I Got into Studying Bible Prophecy Part 2

Over a year ago I began to share the story of how I got into studying Bible prophecy. I began by telling the story of how my dad got into studying Bible prophecy in Part 1. Today I continue my story in Part 2 by focusing on how I got into studying Bible prophecy as a teenager.

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 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).

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.

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 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.

I’ll stop here today. To summarize, I’ve been studying Bible prophecy since my junior year of high school. I’m currently 26 so I’ve been studying Bible prophecy for almost ten years. Bible prophecy is truly something I am interested. If/when there is a Part 3 I’ll probably talk about my “development” from college to today.