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.