My Testimony.

By  Ken Palmer

I was brought up by a Presbyterian mother and an agnostic father. Went to church my whole life growing up, and got saved at Bible camp in Australia when I was 12. My father worked for Goodyear International, so we traveled a lot, and I was in touch with many faiths and cultures. When I moved to Chile, I began to move away from the faith and delve more into worldly things, started playing guitar seriously (played music since I was five...piano mostly and moved into guitar around 10 years old).

Although I smoked pot sporadically and drank rarely before the 10th grade, I began doing more of it in High School when I was in Chile. The drinking age was 18, but we were American, so it seemed ok for us teenagers to waltz into a bar and order drinks. My usage increased and my church attendance decreased, thanks to my non-religious father who didn't force us to go, which I am sure upset my mother, but I never saw that part of that program.

When I graduated High School, I embarked into Music School in Atlanta and experimented with crack and powder cocaine with my peers. After graduating from there, I had strayed from the faith almost entirely and embraced world faiths such as Taoism and Buddhism. I went on to The Recording Workshop in Ohio, and it was there, drunk and stupid, that I challenged Satan in a house I lived in with three other artists. One was Puerto Rican, and very Christian. He grabbed and and tried to stop me from doing so, knowing in my mind that I hadn't had the armor of Christ on, so he probably knew what was coming after that.

That night, in a nutshell, Satan, or at least what I thought was Satan, came to me in a dream with his scurrying little minions all over the floor where I was sleeping, and a heavy windstorm brewed outside...this is still in my dream. He kept me from speaking or breathing, and rose me out of the bed while I started to try and recite the Lord's Prayer for protection. That of course did not help, until I hit myself and startled myself out of the dream. I called my mother the next day and told her about it, and she said my brother was having similar dreams, demonic and not so good forces coming at him.

My faith started to reemerge, but not completely, as I wasn't done with "doing my own thing" as of yet.

I moved to New Orleans and started playing music fervently with many people there, all around town, generally smoking pot and drinking lots of beer. My brother attended Tulane there, so we were close, and he went to alot of my shows.

My faith stayed on the back burner, but I did believe Jesus was who He said He was, and knew he was the Son of God, but never asked him to come into my life as I did when I was 12. I was still His though, now as I look back on those days, and He wasn't letting go.

I got real good band together and we moved to Providence hoping to penetrate the Boston scene in the early 90's..we had plenty of good shows there, and my late friend Eric Sand (911 victim) and I had many discussions concerning Philosophy and Faith....he was Jewish, but we always came to agreement that faith was not so important to how it was applied and how we lived and portrayed ourselves to the rest of the world. Alas, Eric was older than all of us, and he needed to move onto the next chapter of his life, get a real job and family, so he moved to NYC and began working at the WTC with his brother 'n' law (Cantor Fitzgerald). Our band broke up, and I started to drink alot and my neighbor happened to be a Cocaine dealer, so I started using plenty of that. I left Providence in the middle of the night, like a scared cat, and moved back to New Orleans, hoping to rekindle what I once had there a few years earlier.

Alas, that didn't happen, and I began doing more drugs and more drinking, and my character began to dwindle. I met my first wife there, and things were good in the beginning, but the drug and drink usage took its toll, as well as the failure of not getting anything going there, and we fought alot, sometimes violently. We moved to Florida, where my mother and father had retired, along with my sister whom were living there, thinking that that atmosphere might bring some stability. Unfortunately, it was a resort town, with lots of partying, and I was in the Hospitality Industry, and drinking and drugs went right along with, as I did as well. Our marriage carried on for only another year until one final knock down drag out fight, and I exposed my infidelity, and it was over from there.

For the next couple of years, I focused on my Chef work, and rose up the ranks of a infamous restaurant group there, and started doing real well, putting two good bands together and making some real good music, along with a couple of albums to show for. While I was working one day, there was a fellow that worked the line, and he was a Christian and very interested in me. I was into the supernatural, UFO's Demons and Angels, as well as Ghosts and such, and he took a liking to me. We talked alot, even when we were really busy, and he shepherded me back into the faith. One day I told him about the dream I had had in Ohio, and the countless similar dreams that followed throughout my life in various places, and he asked me about the strong presence in the dreams. I told him about the dark forces, but always noticed another force, benign as it was, was always there. He asked me to approach that particular force, because it most likely is the one that needs me the most. He was talking about Jesus.

A few nights later, I did just that. I was in a dream, or nightmare, and was being constricted, and I asked that force to help me. It did. To be honest, I felt like the Fifth Element character in that movie at the end when he ejects that force out of her mouth to destroy evil. Everything that was bad in the dream, disappeared. The next night, sober and worn out from a day's work, I was watching VH1 and Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville were singing "I don't know much, but I love you" at Austin City Limits, and I fell to my knees balling like a little girl. I then asked Jesus to come into my life, and my whole body went numb and warm and I fell asleep.

The bad things didn't stop there. My life did get better for a while, and things were looking up, but one day, my friend pulled me aside and we sat down and had lunch together on our break. He said the night before, he had a "Word" about me, and he fell to his knees and prayed fervently for me. He then told me that things are looking up for me, but there will be a time when things won't, and I will need to turn to Jesus for support. I was in the "Honey Moon" period right now with my faith, but that will come to an end soon. Something bad was going to happen.

And it did. My father got real sick, my ex-girlfriend and I began using drugs, and we fought violently, and me and my band members were going down the rabbit's hole with Oxycontin and Booze, not the kids stuff either, we are talking heavy amounts of Jim Beam, the cleanest heroin in the pharmacy, and sometimes, a little coke to get this going real good.

Then my ex-girlfriend and I got into a real big fight, and she broke a window, cutting herself up in the arm bad. I went to jail, lost my dream job, and my brother that was practicing law in the next town, had moved to Seattle. I spent a year there under probation for a battery charge, while my father deteriorated in health. My drug use continued, but I still managed to pray for deliverance every night. Jesus heard me...I know He did.

After my tenure with the courts was almost up, I met Kelley at my job. She was a waitress, going through a hard time with an ex-boyfriend, and a history of Meth use in her back pocket. She was a mess as well as I , but we clicked and started seeing each other. During this time, I had been lurking several sites, occasionally posting as "21stcenturyhuman" , being caught up by the New Age agenda, but Christ had His grip on me, I knew that for sure. if it wasn't for some of the dispensational sites I frequented, and Herb Peters, it would have been very hard to get through that year. Thank you FulfilledProphecy.com for your support that year.

Kelley moved to California to be with her mom for surgery, and in the winter of 2005, I moved to Seattle to be near my brother. I wanted a fresh start, but I hadn't let go of the drinking and I lied about my sporadic drug use. Kelley moved up to Seattle with me, my father passed away in the summer, and we carried on, tapping into our old ways for a couple of years, fighting now and then, violently at times as well, always under the influence. It all came to a head in April 2007, after some bad news about the death of some friends, I went on a binge, and she did as well. We both arrived home and began to fight very hard. I was blacked out for most of it, but from what she told me it wasn't pretty. The next thing I remember, I was in the back of a police car on my way to jail, looking at some time behind bars. In the cell, I cried out to Jesus to deliver me from all of it, balling my eyes out once again.

Kelley and I got married in 2008 on March 12, two days shy of my birthday, and 3 days shy of hers.  After being promoted back to the level I was at before my downward spiral ensued, I am doing much better than I have ever done in the Hospitality industry.  The Lord has blessed me beyond words, things I never deserved.  About this time, I ventured into Preterism known by my Music Tech name Sciota Micks, somewhat reluctantly, yet unafraid as I pleaded God to keep me grounded the whole way through.  I trusted Him as I do now, no matter what the cost and what type of terrain I need to push through.  I wasn't very versed in any creeds, at all to say the least, and I wasn't very comfortable with futurism, in any way, since the glaring simplicity of the texts were screaming out at me, that this is most likely all past tense events. Thank the Lord I didn't have those hangups, and was able to approach the word of God void of any outside presuppositions. 

I entered into it with a clean slate.  It has been a long road since I was 12, but I read the Word everyday, and pray almost every hour, thanking him for all those nights I faced darkness at my feet.  But my wife and I are both sober now (4 years) and very much in-love. Our life is better, maybe not financially at times, and we do have problems and issues, but Jesus is in control of those things, and He is alot better at it than we are, so things are much better. We don't fight much anymore, and if we do, it is only a disagreement that lasts a minute or so till it is resolved. If we keep Jesus at the Center, not in, but at the very core of our lives, miracles do happen. My story could have turned for the worse, but it didn't. And it came out, just as I had prayed it to materialize into. 

And with a little patience, and trust in Jesus, He can definitely accomplish anything.  Nowadays, I still play guitar, I record a lot at home, writing songs, centered on family, friends and my faith in Christ.  In 2009, my daughter Jean Virginia was born, the other love of my life, and one blessing that far outweighs anything I have ever received from God, likewise, a wish, I never fully deserved, considering my wife and myself both denied two of God's greatest gifts from the world in our youth by abortion, a sin, probably one of my greatest of sins, in which I will always ask forgiveness for. God is great everyone.  I am living proof.

This is a testimony of how I came to the Preterist position of Eschatology, the study of 'Last Things'

My objective here is to simply share the story of how I came to believe what I believe, and hopefully my story will cause someone to think about what they've been taught as far as the "End Times," or the study of Last Things.

I became a 'born-again Christian' Dec 10, 1984, after growing up in a staunch Roman Catholic family.  It was a very super-natural, God-driven experience... not a case of a "god-shaped hole" in my heart being filled.  I was a rotten sinner in need of a savior.  As far as the Roman Catholic Church, it was a group where pretty much everyone believed the same way as far as the essentials.  There weren't any doctrinal differences that I knew of.  Virtually no one questioned the teachings of the preists, bishops, cardinals - the Pope even had this thing called "Papal infallability" ! There was no second-guessing of any teachings or doctrines going on in my religious world as a practicing Catholic.

It would be many years as a Christian before I even heard the fancy term "Eschatology," the study of last things.  I was far more excited in those early years about my new-found salvation, and getting to know God.  I didn't even know of the 'rapture' when I was a baby Christian, new in the faith, wet behind the ears.

My "One Size fits all" mentality that I carried over from the Catholic Church led me to believe that my new "group" (born-again Christians) were similarly like-minded, so there was no reason to question what I was hearing from the pulpit. That "papal infallability" mind-set for me . . . was just transferred over to the Protestant preacher in the pulpit or on the radio.

At some point, I found out about the "Rapture," this teaching that one day, in the time it takes to blink, we (true Christian believers) would go up literally, physically in the air, and meet our Lord Jesus Christ in the literal clouds.  We would thusly have the awesome "bonus" of not having to taste death.  All Christians, as far as I knew, believed that this event would precede His "2nd coming" by seven years.  The 2nd coming as I was taught was an event  where Jesus would touch town literally and set His literal, physical foot on the Mount of Olives and sit on a literal throne in a rebuilt Temple and rule and reign the world for a thousand years.  In my mind's eye, I pictured Jesus with his long hair and beard, sitting in a big chair with about a hundred stairs rising up to the chair.

Finding out about this rapture was FANTASTIC !  I don't have to grow old, save for retirement, this was so awesome !  I closed out my 401K,  thus instantly giving myself a bigger paycheck, and life was sweet.  I remember seeing a T-Shirt in our local Christian book store depicting an outdoor basketball game, where SOME of the players and SOME of the fans were floating up in the air, the scriptural reference of I Thess. 4:17.  Of course, that is the well-known verse which states that we will be caught up in the air.

During my first couple of decades as a Christian, I believed that all Christians believed in the rapture view as taught by the Church, as well as all teachings about the second coming. I had no idea there were all these differing views.

In 1998, I began taking seminary-level theology classes, including one on Hermenuetics, which is the art and science of Biblical interpretation.  I learned quite a bit, including a principle called "Audience Relevance," which means we have to consider that the Bible was written to people in the first century and earlier.  Doesn't mean it's irrelevant to everyone else, of course, but as I heard at least one person say years later: "We are reading someone elses mail ! "  My professor at that time, who does NOT hold to the Preterist position by the way, said we have to "Bridge the gap," and get in the mind of the 1st century believer.  We need to ask: "What did these words mean to THEM ?"  This made perfect sense to me at the time, and still does today, as far as I'm concerned.

So one day I'm studying Matthew 24, where Jesus has been talking about his yet future return in judgment, commonly referred to by many as his "second coming."  I get to verse 34, where I read: "This generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled."  I stopped when I read that.  I was uneasy, because he seemed to be addressing THEM - the  PEOPLE ALIVE AT THAT time !  In fact, what I didn't realize at that time I was reading was that just a handful of verses prior, he was speaking of "this wicked and perverse generation."  In that earlier passage, with no context change, chapter and verse breaks being added centuries later, everyone today agrees he was talking to the people alive at that time - back then. I literally became "quesy" when I would read verses like this where Jesus seemed to be speaking to the people alive at that time.  That "first" passage was in Matthew Chapter 23, and the "this generation shall not pass" statement is found in Matthew's Gospel in Chapter 24.

For several months, I was very shaken, and my faith was really messed up - not like I no longer believed in God, or had "issues" with God, but I was so confused.  I frequently read verses / passages where Jesus and his disciples seemed to be speaking of a soon return, and this really had me extremely perplexed !

Before, I hadn't been troubled by this, because I was taught as a new believer that, yes, Jesus and His diciples DID speak of a soon return, but the "Key" to understanding all this was that Jesus was supposedly referring to the fig tree in Matthew 24:32:"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:" (KJV)

I was taught that he (Jesus) was referring to Israel, and that whenever a Fig Tree is mentioned, it's talking about Israel.  I was also taught that the tender leaves being put forth was the regathering of the Jews to their homeland, and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

I had been told the 'prophetic time clock' began ticking in 1948, and since a biblical generation was 40 years, that the rapture would happen at least by 1981, since the rapture would occur 7 years prior to the 2nd coming (pre-trib view), using the following formula:  1948+40=1988 minus seven, equals 1981.  So Jesus, I was told, was actually referring (back then) to the event of Israel being regathered in the future at some point.  The fact that it happened 2,000 years later is irrelevant, because Jesus is 'outside of time' as they often say - he is eternal - he knew it would happen, but didn't know when.  That was explained by the verse that says "But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Implying that the Son (Jesus) did NOT know.

But it was WAY past 1981 or 1988 now - it was 1998 - anyway, I was pretty messed up as far as my Christian faith - very confused.

One Saturday, I was listening to a talk show on a Christian radio station, KBRT-AM 740 in the Southern California area.  The host, Ken Davies, was speaking of this Preterist view - the show was called "Beyond the  end times"  Well, words at this point could not do justice to the cataclysmic shift from depression to elation, when I got the biggest "sanity check" ever, listening to this show !

Ken would later add a brother named Harley "H.L." James as his co-host, and I continued to listen to the show.  I was able to contact H.L., and I had a lot of questions.  He agreed to meet with me, and what ensued was the most amazing Bible study for me ever up to that point in my life !
What was great about my "study" with H.L. was that he didn't 'orchestrate' it by showing me this verse and then speaking some flowery words, then another verse, all to support his 'theories.' No - he just had me open MY Bible and read FOR MYSELF - he would say things like "Check out Joel 2:28," and I did - it read:"And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: " 

Then he said: "Now check out Acts 2:16-17'" - where I myself read out loud:
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams..."
What ? Last Days ?  I thought we were in the "last days" now (in 1998) !  And this (the Acts passage) is obviously the fulfillment of the passage in Joel - like the saying goes: "Wump ! There it is !"  The beginning of many light-bulb moments for me !

That day it was like Harley was 'magically' inserting pages in my Bible - I didn't know that was in there !  - and this went on and on and on... read a verse, and think: "I didn't know that was in there !!"  read a verse, and think: "I didn't know that was in there !!"    Over and over and over again.
Hearing Ken and HL talk about how the 1st Century believers were not looking for a literal, physical, bodily return of Christ, nor a literal physical resurrection of biological bodies, made everything fit - the Bible made sense to me now !  I read a story about these guys named Hymenaus and Philetus, who were teaching that the resurrection had ALREADY happened.  Paul was concerned with this false teaching, and it was messing people up.  I realized sane people would've never believed this teaching in the first place, because all they had to do was roll back the stones of the graves and see the bodies of the righteous believers were still there.

I would also pick up on so many things I'd missed before - like how when it talks about Jesus' Parousia, the event commonly referred to as the "2nd coming," that they asked Jesus for a SIGN of His return - I realized that if they were expecting this event where he appeared literally, physically, why would they need a SIGN that it had happened ? - that he was now with (spiritually speaking) his (New) covenant people, his bride, the true Church.

Coming to the Preterist position for me was like a Salmon swimming upstream (compared to my fellow Christians), but now that the 'futurist goggles' are off, the Bible makes sense now !  There are too many to list here, but so many portions of scripture that I used to put on a shelf, so to speak, and just gloss over, now make sense - they FIT.

I said 'futurist goggles' - what I mean by that is we look around and we don't see a physical representation of Jesus, we didn't see Him floating on clouds, and so we read the Bible from the perspective that His parousia, his presence with His bride, His Church, has not happened yet, and then we struggle to try and interpret the scriptures using that grid.  It's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole !

The Church is the Bride of Christ - before He was crucified, He said that He was going to prepare a place for us, His bride - and that He would return - His parousia, the word is in Greek - means His presence.  He is with us now in Spirit - we (true believers) are one in Him.  They asked Him for a sign when He would come in His kingdom, and one He gave was the destruction of the Jewish Temple, and it happened in AD70.
Good enough for me...

JP, The French Preterist

Hi, my name is Jean-Pierre Côté

Born in 1957 in Montreal, Canada Raised as a Catholic (nominal), I became an evangelical Christian in 1984.

Studied in bible colleges and seminary, I was a music director in a Pentecostal church, prison ministry, mid week bible study leader, evangelist, substitute preacher, etc.  Became a  4 pt Calvinist then a 5 point Calvinist.

This rocked my church life, they kicked me out. Went to Baptist & Brethren churches to finally have a house church with about 18 members.  Today I do not attend any regular local church but I visit my brothers and sister now and then.

About ten years ago, I bought a couple of books which seemed interesting.  Apocalypse Conspiracy and End Times Madness.

They slowly worked their way in my understanding until I started to dive directly in the study of Preterism.

After reading a good sample of all the different positions within Preterism, I have come to hold A Full Preterist view. This answers more questions than any other eschatological system.

I work a whole lot in the French community on the net trying to spread the Word of (Fulfilled eschatology)

Thank God for the internet and AD70.net

God bless you all.

How I came to the Preterist view.

I was brought up in a non believing home, nominally Catholic. When I was 19 the Lord revealed Himself to me through His Word and I believed. That was 1980. I had just moved to Las Vegas, NV from Southern California. I was living with my brother and his wife and he had just gone forward at a Billy Graham crusade a few months earlier.
So I ended up going to his Assembly of God then after meeting a friend and being invited to a great Bible Study I started to attend a Four-Square church. During this time I married Bill , we met at that Bible study called Fish city. We me married in the 1980s and had our first two children.
At the Four-square church a little bit of end times was taught it was not quite dispensational.

The pastor did teach that we are the temple, we are Zion, we are the New Jerusalem. This really stuck out in my mind and later when we attended a Calvary Chapel and were exposed to strong Dispensational teaching for the first time we did question some of the statements. It just didn't line up in my mind. The church age being a parenthesis or hiccup in the true plan of God, etc. But pretty much I remember reading and studying Hal Lindsey, Tex Mars etc. While attending Calvary Chapel we were getting burnt out.

Meeting with friends and fellow believers we are disillusioned with “doing church” at the big buildings and all the trappings of the institutionalized church. So many of us banded together and started a home church. It was the best thing for us because we had hours upon hours each week to study the word and go through it with others. During that time, 15 years ago, one of the members of our Home Church was Amillennial in his eschatology. My husband Bill and I had never heard of that or any other eschatological view other than what we had always been taught – Futurism and Dispensationism. Now of course we didn’t even know those titles. We were just waiting for the rapture and to leave this earth that belonged to the Devil.

Our friend asked us to read a book explaining his view. Well, out of love for our friend and his family, we read Ammillenilism Today and found it intriguing. So we embarked on an intense study of End Times views. The friend that told us about the book and his wife and daughter did the research with us. We read several books and much of the New Testament scrutinizing it with our new found understanding of time statements and audience relevance! During this time we became reformed in our theology. Lots of paradigm shifts were happening.

Eventually we got on the mailing list of a Baptist Preacher named John Bray. We received little booklets in the mail from him quite regularly. They were very informative, thought provoking and interesting. He was first Amillennial then Partial Preterist. This was the first place that we heard the word Preterism.

Well, as we read John Bray his eschatology was changing and he became a Full Preterist and wrote a book called Matthew 24 Fulfilled. This was in 1998. We ordered the book and read it. We really tried to poke holes in the system but came to understand and embrace it.

Through the Internet we found out about David Curtis and Berean Bible Church. We started reading some of his teachings and got on the mailing list for the teaching tapes. We were so blessed and learned and grew tremendously in our understanding of Preterism. By this time we had 6 children and our two oldest listened to the tapes from Berean Bible Church daily as part of their homeschool studies. They are both men now and Preterist too. It was not just David’s teaching on Preterism that we liked we enjoyed many of the topics he taught on. We liked his teachings on many subjects! We did meet some other Preterist through the Internet. Some of the people we met online came to visit and that was quite encouraging. Bill and my oldest son attended a Preterist seminar in California and that was good too.

Eventually we decided to move east to be a part of a Preterist Church. So we visited Virginia in 2004 and moved there in 2005. We did end up moving back to Las Vegas in 2008. While living there we did have our last child #7 and gained a daughter-in-law for our oldest son!! The reason for moving back to Vegas was monetary and longing to be back with family and friends. Our second son Brian still lives there and goes to Berean. My husband still facilitates the pod cast. He also does that for another Preterist church, Messiah Reformed Church in Omaha, Nebraska.
1. I created a Preterist group for women on Yahoo groups now it is a Facebook group it is called Safe Haven for Preterist Women. The mission of the group is a safe place for women to have fellowship and to feel a part. I know that many of us have had to leave various churches or have to be silent. It is nice to have a safe place to go and share.

The church we attend now has a Preterist pastor. Some of the people in the congregation are also. As you can imagine there are many variations in what we all believe. So at times we have differences. I am thankful that the drive that my husband and I have is for love and unity along with the truth. We take it serious to , “as much as possible live at peace with all people”. So I thank God for the church we are in and our dear pastor.

For me being a Preterist is a real blessing because I now look forward to the future. I know that God is faithful and that He is truthful and that Jesus is ruling and reigning.

The New Testament makes so much more sense! I don't have to do mental calisthenics to make the time statements in scripture fit the text.

I believe that God's kingdom here on earth is a glorious reality and it is a privilege to be a part of it.

I don't have to fear the Antichrist, mark of the beast or Armageddon. Jesus is faithful and true to His word! I understand more than ever that Jesus came to give us life and that more abundantly!
So there it is.

In Christ, Tricia Gann, wife to Bill, mother to Jeremy, Brian, Rebecca, Victoria, Steven, Elizabeth and Margaret

Las Vegas, Nevada

God really got my attention.

Mark Church.

At age 18-19 (in 2002), when I decided to give God a chance to prove HIMSELF, I was in the U.S. Air Force and had made it past boot camp. As I was in my Tech school training, I developed exercised induced asthma (which wasn't that severe), but they don't even allow you to stay in if you have it a little bit. I was being discharged and didn't know what I was going to do when I got out. I need to add that I was in boot camp when the Trade Towers were attacked on September 11th, 2001. So one night a few weeks before they gave me my DD214 (discharge papers) and sent me home, I broke down in the shower and cried out to God.


I said, "God, if you're even real, please show me who you are and what purpose I am here for. I want to know if you're Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Allah, Mohammed, etc.. (every name I could think of that had a religious "Messiah/God" connotation). 30 minutes after I got out of the shower, my sister randomly called me. Before I could say anything, she said that she was just in the bathtub "30 MINUTES" ago (exact same time I had been in the shower) praying to "JESUS" that I would get out of the military. First of all, she did not know that I was already getting discharged for a slight form of exercise induced asthma. Secondly, she was not a believer in anything at that time, but decided to call out to "JESUS" specifically and told me that's who she prayed to SPECIFICALLY, without me saying anything to her at all.


I told her that I was just in the shower praying to God to show me who HE was, and HE used her to give me that confirmation. She was blown away, and I think it influenced her faith as well. I honestly did not expect an answer from God so quickly. From that point onward, God was revealing HIMSELF to me more and more. I came in to it all with an open mind, even after that spiritual occurrence happened, because I wanted to know for sure. But at the same time I wanted God to know that I was going to HIM my best shot. In Deuteronomy 4:29 and Jeremiah 29:13 it says that if you seek HIM with all of your heart, you will find HIM. I literally did that, and I surely did find HIM.


After I finally got sent home, I ended up meeting a guy who introduced me to a pastor. I stayed with this pastor for 3 years (2002-2005). It was a non-denominational church (leaning more toward pentecostal / charismatic teaching). I remember singing songs about Christ's return, and just always believed that bible eschatology was speaking not only about our future, but about our very NEAR FUTURE.


After I left in 2005, I began enlarging my borders, via searching out different teachings in Christendom. I was exposed to Jehovah's witnesses, Mormons, 7th Day Adventists, Messianics, Catholics, etc.. and the list goes on. It got me very confused, so I eventually stopped going to denominational congregations of men.


I began researching and studying things on my own. Well, in November of 2008, I was not even searching for anything in particular on you tube, when I came across a video series by Ken Gentry. He was speaking about the true identity of the Beast in the book of Revelation.


I watched the videos a few times through, and took a whole day (over 10 hours) pausing the videos every few seconds, so that I could take down notes. Every time I thought that he would get stuck, he always brought to light something that I had never seen or heard before.


Never in my christian walk before that did anyone challenge me to study 1st Century history (particularly the time period between 30-70 AD). I was so amazed and shocked by it, that I actually put it on the back shelf for 2 years (from November 2008-December 2010). In December of 2010, I felt the Lord prodding me to study more. For the past 7 months now I've done so much extensive study, and I can truly say without a shadow of a doubt that Preterist belief is correct in terms of eschatology.


After all of the confusion and perplexity I went through with the different denominations, doctrines, teachings, etc.. I finally found a system (Preterism) that made sense. I have been hooked on studying it out more thoroughly ever since, and I will until the day I die.

"My Paradigm Shift: I took the RED PILL"

Hi, my name is Tuese Ahkiong.  I grew up in a Roman Catholic home and was not exposed much to eschatology apart from reciting the Apostles’ Creed at mass.  That’s until my Seventh Day Adventists cousins would come around when I was ten.  They would often speak of the end of the world.  This got me excited about reading The Book of Revelation which I did a few times.  While in high school (1984-1988) and still not a believer, I had a charismatic friend who shared Hal Lindsey’s teaching about Israel becoming a nation in 1948 and that a generation from then (1988) would mark the end.  After 1988 passed, I didn’t think much of prophecy or Christianity.  I rejected my father’s Catholicism and lived a godless life.  God showed His mercy upon me in 1994 by lavishing me with His amazing grace, His salvation, and His beautiful Holy Spirit.  I felt like a powerful ocean wave washed over me and cleansed me of all my evil filthy sins deep within.  God had given me a new life and I wanted to live in Him and for Him.  I wanted to know Him deep within my soul, so I started reading through the Bible, joining several Bible studies, and  almost non-stop listening to Christian radio. 


Most of the radio teachers were dispensational premillennialism like  Chuck Smith, Jack Van Impe, David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll and Chuck Meilser.  These speakers dominate the Christian media airwaves with not many alternative views to challenge them.  Since this was the view my Christian friend in high school espoused and somewhat my 7th day Adventist cousins, I did not question the teaching mainly because I knew no other perspective.  So, I embraced dispensational premillennialism. 


In 1996, I took a Bible class in The book of Revelation taught by an amillennialist.  I thought this perspective was better than dispensationalism but not completely satisfying.  So, eschatology went to the back burner and was not a high priority to me until later.


In 1997, I went into the ministry first with Youth For Christ and then in 2000 with a Christian School as a junior high Bible teacher and with my apologetic, discipleship and evangelism ministry called “ARM: Always Ready Ministries.”  I have taught children, teens, and adult Bible classes since.  As a middle school Bible teacher of boys, I would assign my students to write 5 questions and 5 topics of interest related to Scripture and life.  The top three without fail, would be girls, the afterlife, and the last days with girls being in third place and the last days being the most popular. They would ask questions about a future pretribulational rapture, antichrist, Beast, 666, microchips, Great Tribulation, rebuilt temple, one world government, cashless society, and many other related topics.  They were espousing today’s popular dispensational premillennial view.


Along with the students’ questions, Christian adults would often say that, “Eschatology doesn’t really matter; the most important thing is just sharing the Gospel,” “I’m a pan-millennialist; things will all pan out at the end, so it’s not necessary to study,” “studying this topic just raises arguments.” These kinds of statements were unacceptable for me, and motivated me to study many of the views on the matter.  These Christians were essentially saying that this large chunk of Scripture (2/3) was not important.  –Does Truth matter?


In 2004, I began an intensive study on eschatology to see where the facts of Scripture led.  At this point in my walk, I had read the Bible cover to cover twice.  I stumbled upon Gary DeMar’s American Vision.  The first book I read from him was “Is Jesus Coming Soon?”  I was so impressed with how Gary honored the Scripture’s time statements, addressing audience relevance, and apocalyptic language, without having to do hermeneutical gymnastics.  He simply let Scripture interpret Scripture and it made so much sense.  I felt like the disciples on the road to Emmaus whose hearts burned as Jesus revealed the Word to them.  I immediately became a preterist or a partial-preterist.  I bought every book, audio, and video he had on eschatology.  With a much Bible-honoring hermeneutic than before, I started devouring the Bible like never before looking for treasure everywhere and finding it.  I am now reading through the Bible for my 8th time.  I like to go through a different translation each time.


Around 2008, I started running out of verses to justify a partial preterist view.  Partial preterism was like being partially married; either one is a preterist or one is not a preterist; there’s no inbetween partial stuff.  So, I took on the preterist view, unless I can be shown from Scripture Alone that it is incorrect.  I started studying from the likes of David Curtis, Don K Preston, William Bell, Kelly Nelson Birks, Michael Loomis and others listening to preterist podcasts.


Their teachings brought greater clarity to issues surrounding the resurrection, great white throne judgment, satan, the return of Christ and other controversial passages that my futurists brethren regularly attacked me with.  I have lost several friends but have gain others.  It feels like being born-again, again. ;-)  Coming into the faith caused some of my non-believing friends to no longer like me, and then becoming a preterist caused some of my Christian friends to not like me. 


Some of these supposed friends really enjoy calling me a heretic.  They quote creeds, confessions and traditions but NOT Scripture to refute my view.  They have also cowardly declined from facing me in debate.  I am amazed by the amount of disrespect I have received from Christians since becoming a preterist.  They would rather hold to their traditions then be Berean and see if what I am saying it true. 


Ideas have consequences.  The way we view the future affects how we live today and plan for tomorrow.  If we believe we’ll soon be raptured; that the devil, the Beast and the antichrist will defeat the work of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit and the Church; that the Great Tribulation means the devil rules, why invest in the future?  If the Bible teaches that this world will get worse, which it doesn’t, but if it did and there is nothing we can do about it, why act?  


This way of thinking of the future is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If the popular false speculators continue teaching their failed fantasies, what is at stake is not their reputation because they just write another book; what is at stake is the integrity of God’s Holy Word, and ultimately The Gospel.  If false speculators continue teaching Jesus is coming soon and He doesn’t return when they say, what is brought into question is not the false prophet, but The Holy Scriptures.  Today’s generation of Christians need to be awakened from The Matrix of Hollywood DISPEN-SENSATIONALISM junk food-opium.  They need to know the truth that Jesus Christ is The Victorious Triumphant King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  The way this is done is the old fashion way; let God’s Word speak for Itself. 


I want to challenge you to compare Scripture with Scripture and not with the National headlines or the CNN news report and you’ll be unplugged from the Matrix.  You will see the Bible in a totally fresh light.  After becoming a preterist, I felt like I was reading the Bible for the first time.  It also felt like coming out of a cult because of all the lies I was taught by well meaning deceived saints.  The Bible has been more alive than ever before.  The transition is like going from listening to a 1933 transistor radio to experiencing George Lucas’ THX surround sound stereo system. 


I lead The San Francisco Bible Preterist Fellowship.  We have a page on facebook.  Please feel free to contact me at apolojedi2@yahoo.com 


May Our Lord bless you with the joy of knowing Him, The Treasure of the whole universe, as you seek Him.

My Testimony

Bryan Sherwood 

I posted this a little over a year ago at Terry's other group, Covenant Talk. I did a quick editing job so the timing will make sense.

My story is similar but still a little different. I was a futurist for over 20 years, started out a pretribber, and before my paradigm shift, I was a posttrib dispie. A friend of mine that created the Bible Fulfilled Prophecy group here at Facebook, Steve Mullican, we use to attend the same church down in Texas. We've been friends for close to 20 years, and we lost touch of each other about the mid 90's, and just reconnected about two and a half years ago. I was anti preterist till a little over two years ago.

I had a discussion board on the Aimoo network, and invited my friend Steve to join the group. I had a eschatolgy category that was totally dispie. He posted some things in there that had preteristic overtones, and at that time I was somewhat bothered by what he posted. This too, was a little over a couple of years ago, and I suggested we have a talk on the phone. I said Bro, the stuff you're posting seems to be preterist, saying all this stuff was fulfilled, and telling me about Matthew 24:34 and "this generation". I said, Man, you've got to be kidding, so you believe Jesus already came back? He said yes, and I had to hear how he was going to wiggle out of this one.

When I asked him how he reached this conclusion, he said Bryan, you're reading someone elses mail. What in the world was he talking about? He was very patient when he explained time statements and audience relevance to me, and he demonstrated it by the scriptures. I couldn't believe it, scriptures I've read over and over again, had a whole new light when those two principles were applied. We talked more and more on the phone, he was sending me links in my e-mail, and invited me to Paltalk where I could hear others discuss fulfilled eschatology.

I'll be honest, it wasn't an easy transition, after being indoctrinated with dispensationalism for over 20 years. I started out as a partial preterist for a few months because I still believed there was a possibility Jesus could come back one more time, and I also had a problem with the resurrection. Then the Pastor that owned the Paltalk room, talked to me over an hour on the phone and answered all my questions, and shortly after that, I became a full preterist. Now I'm very comfortable with my paradigm shift after numerous hours of bible reading and studying, and other books I've read like Matthew 24 Fulfilled, Last Day's Madness, The Parousia, a book that I really treasure, and the book I'm reading now, Behind the Veil of Moses.

All my friends here at Facebook and Paltalk have also assisted in the knowledge that I've achieved in such a short amount of time. The bible makes so much more sense to me, and the message of fulfilled eschatology has caused a renewed zeal for God, the bible, and also for studying. Without trying to be tacky or prideful, I can honestly say that, I'm proud to be preterist. I thank the Lord foremost, for opening my eyes to see, and my heart that was opened to receive this message. I also thank all of you for your posts, blogs, and teachings that have helped me a long the way on my journey. Lord bless ya'll, and thanks for taking the time to read my testimony.

How I became a Heretic.

Charles Shank

Some have been wondering where my story is, so here it is in short ( relatively );

I was brought up, from as early as I can remember, in the Reformed Baptist tradition. From what I remember; eschatology was never a huge consideration or worry, so I never really got into that aspect of doctrine until about my mid-teens when my family left the Reformed Baptists and adopted the moniker 'Reformed'. At this point; I started to become familiar with names like Gary North, George Grant, Rushdoony, and even, later on, Demar.

In my late teens and early twenties; I was introduced to some of the work of Max Sotak from Colorado, and of J. Stuart Russel and others, like Josephus. With the help and instrumentation of these men, and the Holy Spirit; I began to be a Berean and study the Scriptures for myself, and, putting two and two together, to see that what I'd been taught ( postmillenialism ) did not quite add up. I started out then, as something like partial ( inconsistent ) preterism, and gradually, God brought me, through many means,, to understand that all biblical prophecy had been fulfilled in the first-century with the 'cloud' judgment of national physical Israel.

Learning to dig and not just rake.

Wanda Short

Hi everyone! My name is Wanda and I live in South Florida... I have a 19 year old son and three grown step children and five step grandchildren! Hahaha and I am only 43!

I grew up in a Christian (Lutheran) home but was never immersed in scripture or taught in the Word...our family was very active in the church but it was mostly social activities and community service type events. My parents have a deep and strong faith and are believers in the Gospel yet we never discussed anything outside of our Sunday school lesson. We were not encouraged to ponder, explore, dig, research or question anything....just believe what is being told. In youth group we never prayed (except at dinner), we never talked about anything to do with our foundation of faith...we just went bowling and on trips and things that were fun but that didn’t feed us spiritually. So, I grew up very lazy in regards to what I believed and therefore did not experience joy or the desire to even know more of God.

About eight years ago I became a member of a Presbyterian church in our town and became involved as a youth group leader. I had been active as a youth group leader for the last 20 years and was suddenly tired of being the leader that my own youth leaders had been (big on fun, short on discipleship). My heart was so heavy all the time because the teens wanted to know more of God and they wanted to know more about faith and I couldn’t even tell them what I believed. Every interaction with them became a cycle of missed opportunities to encourage them in the truth of God’s word. Finally I couldn’t bear the thought of continuing in that fake superficial capacity - so I went to Alan and asked him if he would disciple me so that I could then in turn disciple the teens.

Thankfully he agreed and that decision was the catalyst to a life and completely heart changing experience for me. The more I understood and experienced the Sovereignty of God and His free gift of Grace the more I desired to know Him! Through these discipleship meetings Alan was able to continually encourage me and point me back to Christ and I was able to put off many of the damaging experiences I had gone through as a child! It has been (and continues to be) a long, bumpy, at times terrifying road but I feel for the first time in my life that I don't have to fight for control...or independence...and that I don't have to DO anything for my salvation!

A few years ago, Alan asked me to read a paper he had written "Reading the Bible Through New Covenant Eyes"…this was the start of his much larger work that ended up being the book by the same title. This short paper was enough to start my journey into learning how to read scripture in context and to remember that it is written to a specific people in a specific time. Ha! No longer could I take one verse out and throw it around and make it mean whatever I wanted it to at that moment! Wow. So once I understood that - it really was a very easy jump for me to then realize that Jesus is very specifically speaking of His second coming to the disciples (not me!) and that there is scriptural proof that the Parousia occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. This then naturally led to my embracing of Full Preterism. What this did for me was to bring everything I had hoped for – into a completed state! God has fulfilled ALL His promises…I don’t have to worry about when He will do it (which always led to my fear of Him changing His mind!) because He has been true to His Word (scripture) and it is done! This was like the corner piece of the puzzle for me – I am eternally ALIVE! The bible is from start to finish the entire story. Well, that “small” paper has since evolved into the full length book featured on this website and I have had the pleasure and joy of reading the many drafts that it has gone through to its completion!

Will Alan’s book and the logical conclusions that you must make from it change your life as drastically as it has mine? I pray it does! I pray that your heart bursts with joy as the implications of Full Preterism become clear to you! I thank God every day for the passion and fire He placed on Alan’s heart which makes him willing to stand for truth and to shepherd those in his flock. Well-done Alan! Now when will the next one (Living Our Lives With New Covenant Eyes) be ready for proofing? :-}

From Amil to Pret

Tony Denton

Well, here goes, Terry. :) I'll try to keep it short. I was raised among the churches of Christ which, as most everyone knows, is of the amillennial persuasion. After high school, instead of going to a seminary, I pulled a Timothy and Titus sort of thing by moving in and traveling with a fella who had been a full-time minister for maybe 40 years by that time (this was 1981). 

I started being supported a little as I began going here and there to preach in 1982. In '83 I was called from the east coast to my first real located work in McAlester, OK. (I was raised in Raleigh.) In 1985 I moved to Durant, OK, to work with another preacher in a mission work. While there, he and I decided to study Mat. 24, pretty much each on our own, then come together to share our conclusions. This is where it all began for me. He and I had both, contrary to the way we were taught, came to the same conclusion that Mat. 24 was ALL about an end-of-judaism scenario, not an end-of-time scenario.

After that, little things here and there began to bother me (though not this other fella) as I went on with my general Bible studies--many things just weren't jivin' fer me; but it wasn't until, I think, '92 or '93 when I met and heard ... yeah ... Don Preston speak at a "unity" meeting in Kentucky (or was it Tennessee?). He spoke, I think it was, for 45 minutes, and piece after piece after piece of the puzzle was easily being put into place. So I attacked him the first chance I had, bombarding him with questions. We began corresponding, and it hasn't stopped since. Now for the rest of the story. Once I began gettin' serious about studying the Bible from this new-to-me preterist perspective, I, as each year came along, had to stop singing certain songs with the congregation and teaching on certain issues, because I never much liked teaching something about which I didn't feel convinced.

As you can imagine, especially being a full-time supported minister for over two decades by this time, things just kept snow-balling to the point that there was nothing I could teach on which didn't somehow reflect my new way of seeing the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It got to where folks started asking me questions, and all I could do, if they wouldn't let it go, was to sit them down and say, "OK, you asked fer it. How're goin' deal with it?"

Most who asked were, as is often the case (just think of Jesus' disciples) were the type who trusted me and were interested in where I was theologically so they could study it as well. But, finally, the wrong person discovered my heavy preterist leanings in '07 and told the wrong person (someone who isn't of the Berean mind-set, and, sadly, also a honcho who was the only one with his name on the church property and treasury); so half the congregation followed his intimidating lead and refused to study this with me, dropped my support like the proverbial hot-potato, and even the locks on the church building doors were changed. (This guy never did seem to really like me much or want me there [though nearly everyone else did], so it seems he finally found his ace-in-the-hole to destroy my "good" in the brotherhood, leaving us in a lurch, and that after being diagnosed with MS without insurance; thus even benevolence was thrown out once I was labeled a preterist-heretic.)

Yeah, sad story; but my family and I are much, MUCH more spiritually content than we had ever even thought we could be, having been raised so very legalistically. So for a few years now (it was slow partly due to the fact that my family's living depended on it), I've considered myself a full or true preterist, for I'm now convinced that such is exactly what God expects me to believe from my own, personal studies, instead of from what I was taught to believe and teach. THE END. :)

I tried to prove preterism false.

Tracy M

I loved reading some testimonies here, and particularly one by “Jamie” who was raised with the preterist view! How refreshing it was to hear her call futurism’s tangible kingdom and literal end of the world, “a little nutty.” Lol. I believe one day everyone will look back and wonder how we could have believed something so contrary to God’s Word.

I was raised to believe the ridiculous notion that God wasn’t lying when He said His return would be ‘within a generation’ and ‘soon, shortly, in a little while, quickly’… He just wanted every generation to live ready. So ‘at hand, the last hour, near, at the door, about to come’ and my favorite, ‘will not delay’ were magic adverbs which would one day apply, whenever it was really time. How did the futurist tradition even come to be in the first place?! Sometimes I think that if 2 Peter 3:8-9 (1000 years like one day) and Matt 24:36 (no one knows the day or hour) weren’t in the Bible, everyone would be a preterist.

Have you seen Brian Martin’s video, “You’ve Got to be Kidding, Right?” I highly recommend it. My testimony is very similar to his, in that I came to the view by trying to prove it wrong to my dear misguided Christian brother, who had been the best man at our wedding. My husband and I were committed to bringing him and his wife back to reality. Ha! We had no such luck.

As I look back, I realize that the 6 areas that really opened our eyes coincidentally start with 2 H’s, 2 A’s and 2 T’s. So I use the acronym ‘HAT HAT’ to remember them.

Hermeneutics… Audience Relevance… Time Statements…
History… Apocalyptic Language… Typology.

Some of the highlights along the way were, 1) Learning that the Bible wasn’t written TO us, but FOR us, and that Revelation really was written TO the 7 churches in Asia.

2) learning that the ‘elements’ that were to melt in fervent heat were not atomic particles, but elementary teachings or principles, as used in Galatians 4:9.

3) Learning that “heavens and earth” referred to Israel or God’s covenant with Israel.

4) Seeing that planet earth endures forever (Eccl 1:4, Psa 78:69, Psa 104:5)

5) Reading Josephus’ historical account of the first century persecution and War of the Jews.

6) Seeing how John's spiritual imagery was borrowed from the Old Testament prophets who used the same language to communicate national destruction, not planetary demise.

7) The typology of the High Priest, 40 year Exodus types and shadows, and Feast Day significance. How the Old Covenant was a shadow of the New Covenant substance.

8) Realizing that Jesus meant what He said when He told Peter He wanted John to remain till He returned! (Jn 21:22) How many people gloss over this??

9) Reading Luke 21:20-22 again for the very first time. That was one big ‘Aha.’

I’ve seen these t-shirts at Berean Bible Church: “Preterism… it’s about time.” Great play on words. I think that phrase should replace the doomsday billboard out on the Interstate saying that May 21 is the end of the world. Or at least go up on May 22!

My Journey to Preterism

Dale Stanford

I had grown up in church and knew about Jesus. I read the bible and thought I had accepted Jesus as my Savior. I don't think I even considered the term Lord and what it meant. But I always sensed God in my life. I believe He kept me from getting into trouble and from harm many times as I was growing up. But He let me do my thing knowing that I would someday realize that He was THE way, THE truth, and THE life! I continued to live my life as I wanted through highschool, one year of college, and 6 years in the Navy. I got married in the Navy and we partied our way through it. We had a daughter in the Navy and a son shortly after we got out. After 9 years of marriage she filed for a divorce and I was crushed! There was a small church that I had passed every day on my way home from work, so God brought it to my attention one afternoon. I knocked on the pastor's door one afternoon and he invited me in. We talked, cried, and prayed together. He invited me to come to church there, so I did. For the next two years I spent every free moment I had studying the bible. I couldn't get enough! I also listened to lots of christian music. Keith Green was my favorite. His music blessed me so much! I went to every service and event that the church offered. I sang in the choir, played on the fast pitch softball team, and participated in all of the work parties. God was blessing me, and I wanted to tell everyone I knew about Him! A lot of my friends thought I was being too pushy, but I just wanted them to know the love I had just found in Jesus! While I was singing in the choir, I met a young lady who became my current wife. We have been married almost 29 years now, and have a 21 year old daughter. She is our miracle baby, and God has used her to bless our lives!

About 3 years ago my job ended. After about 6 months my faith was shaken, and I began to worry about it. How was I going to provide for my family without a job? One day I took my bible out to my patio and began reading the book of Job. After a few days of reading, thinking, and praying about what Job had endured, I fell on my face before God! How could I complain and feel sorry for myself after what Job had gone through? I knew that God had promised me that He would never leave me, and that He would always provide for my needs. But I had suddenly lost that faith. I repented and asked Father to forgive me for not trusting and believing Him. I told Him that I would never forget those promises again, and that I trusted Him no matter what happened in my life. Well, it's now been 3 years and I still haven't landed a full time job! But my faith hasn't been shaken since that time! I haven't worried about it since then and I praise God for His promises!

Shortly after my faith failure, I ended up on Ed Steven's website (preterist.org). I don't remember how I got there, and I don't remember anyone talking to me about preterism. But once I was there and began reading the Q&A's, everything started to click. The time statements and audience relevant scriptures couldn't be refuted! The more I read, the more I discovered the fact that scripture had already been fulfilled! I googled other preterist sites and found Don Preston's site as well. I communicated with Ed Stevens via email and phone, and he sent me several of his books to review for him. I'm thankful for Ed Stevens and his heart for ministry! I have also grown to love Don Preston, Michael Loomis, and many other preterist brothers and sisters. I love following Terry and other preterist friends on facebook! I have so much more to learn, but I know that I will always be learning until I leave this life! It is like being re-born again! I love studyng God's word, and am always ready and willing to share His truth with others. I pray that He will open up more doors for me to share the truth of fulfilled eschatology with those who are ready to hear. It is frustrating sometimes attending a futurist church and having to bite my tongue at times. I have shared with several brothers and I know God is working on them. He was patient with me for almost 30 years. How can I not be patient with them? May God reveal more of His truth to us as we seek Him. May He fill you with His love, grace and peace. I look forward to seeing all of you in the unseen realm!

Blessings,

Dale

My Journey into Preterism

Tina Rae Collins

I grew up in a very conservative, extremely strict, always critical church that accentuated what I did wrong and never what I did right. The idea was to search the New Testament with a fine-tooth comb and try to find any commandment or example that we must follow and beat people over the head with it. No matter how many wounded, bruised, hurting disciples came out of this, we kept on beating (or getting beaten) until the results we wanted were achieved. We insisted that we were the one true church and all others were denominations that God disapproved of, and therefore all people in them would burn in hell forever. I honestly think we were proud of this—that we were the true disciples and God would take vengeance on the others, who, although they tried very hard to please Him but somehow missed the mark, would writhe in agony for eternity while we laughed and danced and enjoyed our life in heaven.

This all somehow looked good and holy from the outside, but I knew my own dark heart. I knew I could not and was not measuring up. I knew that I failed at every turn to live up to what I was reading in the Bible. Sure, my preacher was good and his wife was good and the elders and their families were upstanding people. But I was a fake. While I tried, possibly harder than they did, I could not be the person I knew I should be and I thought they were. I was always fearful, thinking God was going to drag me off to hell by the hair of my head at any given moment. I could never find true happiness in serving Him. I heard and read about the peace that passes understanding but it was far beyond my reach.

Thankfully, that has all changed. I have finally, through realized eschatology, found the amazing peace that God’s word says can be ours. Nobody will ever again make me feel bad about my walk with God. Oh, and I now truly understand what it actually means to walk with God. I feel His presence in my life in a way that I never did before. How did I get from there to here? Grab a cup of hot cocoa and sit down and relax--this may take a while.

In 1993 I met Art Ogden (he spent a week in our home during a gospel meeting), and I read his book Avenging of the Apostles and Prophets. I had read the words of others on the book of Revelation, but nothing ever clicked. I knew right away, however, that Art was onto something. I didn't understand why he suddenly jumped thousands of years right there at the end of Revelation, but I got the rest of it and knew it was truth. Art was a partial preterist. He could not bring me all the way to the truth, and it was many years before I got there.

A few other things over the years got me more interested in this topic; and then one day not too long ago (sometime in 2007 or 2008) a friend wrote me and, without meaning to, he let the cat out of the bag. Something he said made me realize that he believed in fulfilled eschatology, which I had previously read some about but had dismissed, although I kept the information I had been given and stored it away. I wrote my friend and asked if he was a preterist. He said yes and I started bombarding him with questions. The one big hurdle I had was 1 Corinthians 15, and my friend finally got me over that as he showed me that it was the law that kept us under sin and death and the law was gone. Now I realize that, instead of being the hurdle to get past, this chapter teaches very strongly that the resurrection is past.

I read The Parousia by Russell and Who Is This Babylon? by Don Preston. I began to get in contact with every preterist I could find to help me. Even though I was learning and realizing that I had been wrong, I could not take that final step and say I actually believed what I was learning. I kept saying I was “studying preterism.” Part of that, of course, was that my husband (at the time) was powerfully against the idea of preterism. He did not want me studying it. At first he said we would talk about it. “Talking about it” became him giving me several passages of Scripture that he said refuted fulfilled eschatology. I stuck them in a book to look at later and forgot where they are, and he became angry that I had lost his “refutation.” I told him I did not need Bible passages as I had read the Bible, and particularly the New Testament, from front to back on numerous occasions. I said I needed him to sit down and explain to me how his passages refuted preterism. That he would not do, and he finally banned the subject in our house. He did, however, bring it up sometimes himself so he could say how “stupid” it was. Once I reminded him that we weren’t supposed to talk about it and he said, “No, YOU can’t talk about it. That’s the beauty of being the head of the house.”

Knowledge is good, but if you can’t defend it, do you really believe it? I wasn’t sure. One day I sat with my older sister on a church pew as a preacher was standing in the pulpit talking, and she pointed out a passage in the Bible to me. The passage was:

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Her thinking (I assumed) was that since we still have some of these people (evangelists, pastors, and teachers), why do we not have apostles and prophets? I wanted to help her understand, so later I told her that I do not believe we need the others—that we no longer need to tell our neighbor about God because we all know Him. I told her I do not think we need pastors or evangelists, who are no longer inspired as they were in New Testament days, to tell us anything, as we have the Word of God and can read it for ourselves. I brought in 1 Corinithians 13 and “that which is perfect,” explaining that all that had taken place and we no longer see “through a glass darkly.” And then I, perhaps unwisely, brought up fulfilled eschatology, which thoroughly appalled her.

My sister and I own an e-mail discussion list together. As time went by she began to question me publicly on the list. I tried every way I could to get around talking about fulfilled eschatology, as I was not studied enough and did not feel that I had the ability to defend my new-found beliefs (or thoughts, or whatever I considered them at the time). But she hounded me until I finally had to answer her questions or look like a coward. And so began a very long discussion that sent me seeking preterists from every corner of the earth to “come over into Macedonia” and help me out. One man in particular was a lifesaver. He sometimes gave me answers before I even needed them. It was as if, and I believe it was, God was there anticipating my needs and providing for me in great detail. I was able, through help, to defend fulfilled eschatology—and learn a great deal myself! I can never fully believe something until I can defend it against the adversaries. After I had done that I finally realized that I was indeed a preterist.

Needless to say, my husband became more and more angry and cold toward me. He accused me of discussing preterism just to irritate him, which was far from the truth, as the last thing I wanted was to irritate him. He put time limits on how much I could study preterism. He said he would not worship with me and could not fellowship me. I asked what he would do if I went where he went to worship and he said he would reveal my beliefs to the leaders. Eventually he stopped me from all study of fulfilled prophecy and told me to give him my materials. I never did get them together and he never asked for them again—thankfully, because I gathered them together and took them to my daughter’s house for safekeeping. Because of this and other problems in our marriage, my husband divorced me in 2009, stating to me that he would tell the judge that I was a preterist as his reason for divorcing me. He was only joking, of course, but it shows how strongly he felt about it and that it did indeed have a bearing on our divorce.

I decided I needed to quickly read the New Testament through to see if I could find anything that would prove fulfilled prophecy to be false. Although, as I said, I had read it many times, I needed to search and make sure nothing refuted my new beliefs. I didn't find anything. Then I read it through again, in a different version, just to see what I could find that would bolster my belief in fulfilled prophecy. What a surprise I got that time! Fulfilled prophecy jumped out at me from practically every page of the New Testament. I was extremely excited but also ashamed of myself for having missed it all those years when it was sitting there staring me in the face.

I believe it is God’s will that I teach the truth on this subject, and I am using every avenue available to me to do just that. I want others to know the joy, peace, and overwhelming love of God and man that comes from this truth. Some believe “end times” study is not very important because it doesn’t change us or give us anything to do. Well, it does change us. It lets us see that God truly is love and that He wants to come to us and dwell with us and be our God. It changes everything.

Now that I have discussed what and how, I would like to discuss why. Why did I change my views? What is it about preterism that makes me believe I finally have the truth about end times? This is the fun part. You might want to pop you some popcorn to go with your hot cocoa.

Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Luke 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Matthew 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

A fire was prophesied to come upon Israel at the time the "Sun of righteousness" would "arise with healing in his wings." Elijah was to come beforehand to prepare the people for that "great and dreadful day of the Lord." If we believe Jesus' words--that John was Elijah that was coming--we know that the day was also coming when the wicked in Israel would be consumed and the righteous would tread them down. We can know the day was imminent because Elijah was there. And Jesus intimated that the fire was already kindled.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 ¶Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

I should be able to stop here. At least I feel that way now. But how many times did I myself read these passages and not understand the way I do today? If we just clear our heads of any preconceived ideas and read what this text says, we can see that the great tribulation was coming on Jerusalem and it would be the worst tribulation that ever had been or ever would be. And IMMEDIATELY after THIS TRIBULATION ON THE JEWS Jesus would come in the clouds with power and glory and the trumpet would sound and Jesus would gather His elect from one end of heaven to another. THAT generation would not pass until ALL that Jesus spoke took place. I sincerely believe that, were this speech of Jesus' written in any book besides the Bible, all of us would easily understand that all these things were going to happen in that generation. Most of us are basically brainwashed to believe what we have been taught. It is no fault of our own, and nobody meant us any harm. Our teachers were doing the best they could to teach us what they thought was truth. We read what we expect to be there.

There is more. I have page after page. But this should be enough for now.

"I'm Not Changing...Just Growing"

 

 May Lyn

"Who, What, When, Where, Why and How?"

Different dispensational event timelines...Different end of the world/rapture/millennial timelines...Jesus' Kingdom is/is not here...

"Does ANYBODY know what the Bible is talking about?"

"Did Jesus mean what he said? If not, wouldn't that make Him a false prophet? And being who He is, how could He be mistaken? If the Bible was written by inspired writers, how could they have misunderstood Jesus?" And so on...and so on...

I didn't know or hear of anybody else with the same questions I had, and I couldn't get the same answers to my questions from different sources. I fast became disillusioned with mainstream Christianity.

One day while driving, as was my custom, I was searching the Christian radio programs that I knew and came across an old familiar voice. Couldn't mistake that accent! I hadn't been a regular listener and so hadn't heard him for a few years. He was talking about a subject I had never heard, preterism, and about the 2nd Coming having taken place in and around A.D. 70.

Boy, did that get my attention! That radio host was Arthur Melanson right here in my own back yard. I continued to tune in whenever I could and found that I was back in school learning Bibical history that I had never been taught. By the way, Arthur was a futurist when I had last heard him on the radio, so I was quite surprised to hear his change of position.

I was starting to get answers to my questions that made Bibical-sense not man-sense. And so 16 years later my journey with Jesus continues! I believe the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and ears and made me a Christian Enlightened. ♡

Why I changed my views.

 

Loren Adkins

Why I changed my views from futurism to Preterism. 

I have been in church my whole life, at least as close to being born into life as a Christian as on can get. My mom got saved just before I was born and started to attend a Apostolic Pentecostal church. This was a very conservative church, as they preached against everything it seemed. We were also what most refer to as oneness. We refuted the triunity of God teaching unless one was baptized using the “name of Jesus” one was not saved. We further preached that one had to speak in tongues to receive the Holy Ghost.

There is much more I could say about this but that is another testimony. About 5-6 years ago my new son in law gave me a bible study he came across on Daniels 70 weeks. This study was put out by a former United Pentecostal Church International Pastor that I had high respect for as a teacher. Before I go on I want to give a little more background on myself. I was really into prophecy as I wanted to understand the books of prophecy so I could see and know when Christ was coming back to judge the world, and all the trappings that went with it, the anti-christ, false prophet, tribulation etc. The problem is that in all the studies I would listen to and in all my own study things would not fall into place in my heart. Now I am a spiritual guy, I don't learn by the usual methods. I learn concepts of learning but them must learn through those concepts myself. There is little that I have learned by memorization, which seems to be the method many learn by today. Which is why I believe many take what has been taught them as doctrine without deep study themselves, if it looks good, sounds right, and feels ok at the time it must be right. I mean because the man behind the pulpit would not lead me astray that is his job, that is what he gets paid to do tell us what is the word of God so we can just be saints, right.

This attitude I might add is the reason the world is the way it is we have become gullible to almost every media that we hear and see.

Back to this bible study, the teacher Larry Smith had just been shown by God how that the teachings of futurism were not scriptural. He began to teach PP. The study I got on the 70 weeks of Daniel was one of his first studies he put out on the subject. It was a 12 or 14 page study that was like all other studies by Larry Smith short and direct and very easy to see and understand. After reading through this study the first time I saw the validity of everything he said. In simple concise wording backed up with scripture. But as this went against everything I knew and understood. I questioned everything, I ask any one that would talk to me what they thought of this idea. As that is just what I thought it was an idea. Some passed it of as just another variation of understanding that did not matter, others tried to refute these teachings calling them heresies. I read, reread, talked to others that would talk to me, I got into deeper study of the other teachings of understanding prophecy. I have in my possession the book by Dwight J Pentecost , called of things to come. This book is as big as the bible, with comparisons of all the different teaching of understanding prophecy. Although he leans towards futurism he does give a good comparison of the other teachings. I read this book almost from cover to cover, then back through again, let me tell you I got a pretty good understanding of what is taught concerning prophecy now.

The fact is that after going round and round with this thing for 2- 3 years, I finally took a stand against all those I know around me and became what is called partial preterism. At least I believed all of the 70 weeks of Daniel were completed and fulfilled at the time of Christ. Just as I was settling into this understanding, I realized that if Daniels 70 weeks were complete and fulfilled in Christ this must change the way I see the rest of prophecy. Over the next year or two I would come to be what I term full preterist. Although I do have some differing views from mainline FP I believe all bible prophecy has been fulfilled.