Bible Time

Introducing The Old Testament by John Drane is an introductory Bible College textbook that does a wonderful job of introducing the Old Testament. Drane's book is written for a broad audience and uses vocabulary and language that I might not have selected, but it gets across a topic overlooked by the majority of Christians: The history of the peoples recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Most questions directed at me on the Bible Time web site are really questions about what happened in the Old Testament. People often draw faulty conclusions about things like the Lost Tribes and End-Times prophecy because they have faulty assumptions about what is actually written in the Old Testament. For the record... There was an alliance of peoples who left Egypt under Moses' command. They remained in alliance for about 500 years but then separated and fought each other in several bloody wars. The peoples formed two federations where each had their own capitals, kings, even dialects of the language. They were overrun at different times by different invaders and hauled away to different places. All of these different peoples are under the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants. The Jews of Jesus' era and of today only descend from one of those ancient peoples.

If none of what I just wrote makes sense, then you need a Bible College level "Introduction to the Old Testament 101" which is what this book provides. Various graphics in Drane's book show off the chronology and interaction of these two kingdoms. His introduction is the starting point for discussions like what you find here on the Bible Time web site.

Of course Bible Time project doesn't use the current Roman calendars, it fiddles with Drane's chronology and Bible Time forces solutions to problems untouched by Drane. But, without an understanding at least at Drane's level, it is impossible to understand the issues of the Lost Tribes nor Bible Prophecy generally. Highly recommended.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn was voted one of the 100 most influential books of the 20^th century. It is also one of the most often cited books by authors dealing with the process of discovery. You are not well read until you've read this book, often a required college level textbook.

Kuhn's English is difficult, which is why he is often cited and not as widely read as he should be otherwise. In the book he explains the way well trained technical experts react badly to important new discoveries. The reaction process is predictable and repeatable and happens across every area of technical discipline, including, I would say, Bible Prophecy.

The Bible Time theory is a discovery on the order of what Kuhn chronicles. Christians have reacted to the Bible Time theory in the same way Kuhn suggests. Kuhn's explanation has given me understanding as to what I should expect from people who are invested in earlier theories who react badly to the substantial evidence in support of the theory. People have reacted to the Bible Time theory in the same way they did to the discovery of electricity. Highly recommended.

Against The Gods, The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein provides a well written account of the development of the statistical sciences. Along the way he provides a well written account of the development of mathematics generally.

This book opened my eyes to problems of the number zero. "Zero" as we know it now did not exist when the Bible was written. Neither, for that matter, did elementary school mathematics.

Bernstein takes a historical approach and explains how we came to understand mathematics as we know it now. He explains each change as it occurred in history and what that change did to applied mathematics. This progression into modern math is what must be unwound in order to understand the numbers given in the Bible.

This topic has a huge bearing on our modern understanding Bible Prophecy. This book documented a fundamental topic that allowed the Bible Time project to develop as it has.

When Time Shall Be No More, Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture by Paul Boyer is a survey of the development of common modern prophetic thought. This book is a compendium of Paul's raw PHD research material. He traces the key historical events that changed popular American Christian culture.

In the 1700s Americans widely (and I believe rightly) thought that Jesus would return around 2000 years from his first visit. Why do we not think so now? Boyer explains.

No one is well read in the area of Bible Prophecy until they have had an introduction at Boyer's level. Boyer explains in detail the Millerite Fiasco as well as the development of Darbyism, the most popular End-Times theory in the Church today. Boyer also explains why economics and mass book publishing have distorted Biblical truths. Boyer's book is highly recommended reading.

Forbidden Knowledge Or is it..., Unlocking Biblical Prophesies and New Insight into the Last Days by D.A. Miller explains well why the time of Jesus' return can be fully known. This is an important work for anyone just starting out in the area of Bible Prophecy.

Though Miller does not say when Jesus is returning, his book fully refutes the idea that the time of Jesus' return is unknowable. I provide a similar debunking of the "it can't be known" banter on the Bible Time web site, but for those who want to hear it again from someone else, this book is for you.

Miller's book also contains information about the various feasts. This may or may not apply to the timing of Jesus' return. The Bible Time project neither supports nor contradicts Miller's feast analysis.

Emerging Viruses AIDS and Ebola, Nature, Accident or Intentional by Leonard G. Horowitz, D.M.D., M.A., M.P.H. is a book that documents the origins of the AIDS and Ebola viruses.

What most people don't know is that the development of this plague was paid for by the United States Congress as part of its bio-weapons program. The details of the plague were included in the Congressional Record so everyone would know the features of the AIDS disease years before it hit the streets. Horowitz even figured out who invented the virus and where it was introduced into the population at large. (Orphanages in the United States and in Central Africa... Of course, those racists at the US funded labs...) Horowitz even had his own investigation corrected by the man he figured out was the specific AIDS virus inventor, a man later pardoned by Clinton in Clinton's last hours in office. Such a complex puzzle.

Horowitz has all the tell tail signs that he was called by Jesus into this most technical ministry. An important read for those interested in understanding the AIDS end-times plague. Horowitz also touches some on the one-world government guys that keep showing up like rats in these stories.

Horowitz is also an important read if you have a loved one serving in the United States military. Many American soldiers died after returning home from the first Persian Gulf War because of the organic soup pumped into their veins by the same people that invented AIDS. The same garbage is going on in 2003 replay of the Persian Gulf War.

This subject is important because this plague emerged on the world scene following an end-times prophetic application of the original Exodus 'Plague of Blood.' It followed a 'year-for-a-day' application pointing at the millennium break in 2010. This had to be a plague caused by Pharaoh, (U.S. President Nixon and his crony Kissinger) on the waters (the other peoples of the world.) It even had the correct timing.

Buried Alive by Jack Cuozzo is a book by a man called by Jesus into technical ministry. In Jack's case the call was to study and explain to the rest of us the origin and nature Neanderthal Man. Unlike most people Jack is a Dentist and could easily see through sloppy archaeology and downright deception in the archaeological professions as it pertains to teeth, jaws and skulls. Along the way Jack takes his portable x-ray machine to Paris where he must survive being shot at by the French secret service.

Jack's conclusion is that Neanderthal remains are from very old post-flood regular people. The seriously flattened heads typical of Neanderthals is the result of hundreds of years of chewing. (Ah! Of course, as I hit my forehead.)

As any skilled dentist should be able to tell you, we would all develop a similar flat forehead if we could chew as long as they did. The monkey-like bite we all know from Neanderthals in science class is simply botched science by people who are not dentists and who have an evolutionist's agenda.

Under the long 13,000 year chronology used in the Bible Time project there was much more time for entire populations of such people to live their lives alongside shorter lived people, as the archaeological record clearly shows.

Cuozzo's analysis of life length shortening is flawed on several counts. The 13,000 year chronology means the time across which lives have shortened is much longer than he supposes. This slows down the age decay seen across the human race. He is also unaware of the way life lengths were recorded in the Bible. We look like we live shorter lives now simply because of our changed literary conventions. Otherwise Cuozzo's book is a great read with... no ending? Oops.

The First Edition of the New Testament by David Trobisch gives a defense for the idea that all Greek New Testament manuscripts derive from a single first edition, likely published commercially in the western world no later than the early second century.

Trobisch does not address the possibility that the New Testament was written in Aramaic, see below. His analysis of the Greek Manuscripts available across the western world suggest there was a single, whole, original, copy.

Where did that single original copy come from? Ah, that is the question. I'd say it was a commercial translation about like that done by any modern Bible society from an original Aramaic manuscript.

Rees Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb Is a biography of a man who was called to pray through World War II.

No one is well read in the area of intercession until they have read about Rees Howells.

No one is well practiced until they start experiencing some of the same things as Rees Howells. Intercessors are a strange lot. In Rees' case it included not wearing hats and only eating oatmeal for a year. The result? A life filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rees Howells almost single handedly defines the practice of intercession. Certain common intercessory expressions like "gaining the intercession" are defined by Rees. Rees demonstrates that certain areas of intercession are unavailable to the typical Christian until we have learned to hear Jesus' voice and have faithfully acted on his direct leading. This is a highly recommended book.

Releasing Heaven on Earth, God's Principles for Restoring the Land by Alistair Petrie is an important reference work for anyone doing regular prayer walking, prayer driving or who is praying for issues related to peoples and governments.

In the book Petrie explores how the Bible explains land defilement caused by human sin. You could find the same information by reading every reference in the Bible dealing with land and blood, but this is a single source that covers the topic. Written by someone who has had to pray through real issues faced by real people.

The book was Petrie's PHD thesis so it has a certain plodding rhythm typical of a PHD thesis. Don't give up on Petrie because of the read, his lesson's are key to understanding what is going on in the world and why nearly every nation faces judgment to some degree.

The Collapse of the Brass Heaven, Rebuilding our Worldview to Embrace the Power of God by Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry is written to help Christians move into a dynamic relationship with Jesus. These two authors had a dramatic impact on my personal spiritual development and this is one of their textbooks.

Books can never substitute for practice, but if you are a Christian and have never had an encounter with Jesus in a powerful way then you are likely living under a Brass Heaven. This book is for you.

1994? by Harold Camping is the book that triggered the Bible Time project. The book itself is filled with technical errors, mostly caused by lack of attention to detail. Sometimes the problems are caused by bad theology.

The specific error that triggered the project is found on page 297, the 5th row in the table where the age of Terah when Abraham was born is said to be 130. The problem is Genesis 11:26 says Terah was 70 when he had children. Oops. If this was wrong, his entire rendering of the 13,000 year Chronology was also wrong.

The book is filled with a gross number of other errors and it is best the book remains out of print. BUT, it is interesting as an example of an attempt to use the Historical Prophecy strategy for a modern application. This is quite rare in modern times. This strategy was quite common 200 years ago. Camping's mistakes demonstrate why the Historical camp has lost favor among so many Christians today.

Oh, yes, one other point: The Bible Time day-for-a-year timeline demonstrates that 1994 was a totally insignificant year, as were all the years between 1992 and the first half of 1998. Oops again Harold.

Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge, A Christian Perspective by John Ankerberg explains the secret beliefs of the Masonic Lodge.

Several other authors on this page have had to encounter the Mason's in various ways. Until about 100 years ago nearly every Christian Church in the United States had a Masonic Temple either across the street or around a corner. Who are these guys and what do they believe? Why do Christians called into technical ministries so often encounter them? Why do they have temples with sacrificial alters dotting the land next to places of Christian worship? Ah, all good questions.

To start to get to an answer you need to understand what Free Masons believe. Do that with a book like this one.

As the Bible Time project developed I came to learn that Masonic theology pervades certain areas of Pop-Christian culture. The popular but wrong belief that Jesus was 33 when he was crucified comes from Free Masonry. Mason's want Jesus to have been age 33 so they can say he was one of them.

Pop-Christian beliefs about what, exactly, happens when we die is also pure Free Masonry. If you can only quote one Bible verse on this subject then you likely quote one out of context and get Masonic theology. Try quoting 5 or more seperate Bible verses and you'll quickly get to truth and away from Free Masonry and the ancient Egyptian Mystery religion.

Unfortunately for the Free Masons, Jesus said publicly that he did nothing in secret so no one operating in secret holds special revelation about Jesus. Unfortunately every generation must figure this out on their own.

If you don't know what a Free Mason is, or what a Free Mason is free of, then you need to start with this book.

Creation and Time, A biblical and scientific Perspective on the Creation-Date Controversy by Dr. Hugh Ross is a book that agrees with many of the premises of the Bible Time Project. Of course Hugh does not expound day-for-a-year theory, but he provides the foundation for understanding the common mistakes made in the Christian world regarding the Genesis account of creation.

Huge Ross has an interesting ministry because he has been called to refute much of the junk pushed by the Pop-Christian culture. He is often shunned, though he is quite particular and highly accurate in his Biblical interpretations. I have heard him point out to hostile Christian audiences that we are still in Creation Week day 7, Amen. Few others bother to take on this important fight.

A Dictionary of Symbols by J. E. Cirlot is a reference work that documents the symbols used in public art and architecture.

Anyone doing serious prayer walking, prayer driving or intercession for cities, states or nations needs a book like this one. I was blessed to learn this lesson in Seattle where a local law demands 1% of all capital construction costs be spent on public "art." Unfortunately the Seattle King County Arts commission only allows public art that is pagan so most of the city is defiled with pagan junk.

How do I know Seattle's public art is of this type? Because I had to look up in a dictionary over 100 examples during a series of scouting type prayer drives across the city. This is the Dictonary of Symbols I used, though there are several others that would work equally well.

I've since discovered nearly every other American city is defiled in a similar way: an Idol at the top of every street. Until you know how to read your city's idols, as Paul did in Athens, you're not ready to intereceed because local demons use this technique to publicly document local sin and thus mark their territory...

To see if you know what I'm talking about, can you explain which human body part soars skyward in the center of the Washington Mall in Washingdon DC? Why was this the symbol selected for the city? What is Jesus doing by allowing this object to mark this particular capital? If you can't answer these questions you need (at least) a book like this one. (And perhaps some time in the field.)

A Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names by J. B. Jackson is a reference work that documents the meanings of the names used in the Bible.

Modern English translations of the Bible do not typically translate the names found therein. Instead the translators only transliterate the names. This means English language readers cannot understand the meaning of the names used in the Bible. This is a shame since so much meaning is captured in the names. This work provides a way to find out the meaning of those names.

Books

Recommend by my friends...

Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster invites us to leave the fast paced world around us and answer Jesus' call to "follow me." We respond to Jesus' call by opening ourselves to him through the practice of spiritual disciplines. Jesus meets us there and becomes our ever-present teacher through the Holy Spirit and gives us power to minister to others.

Celebration has quickly become a classic on the subject of Christian spirituality and was described by the magazine Christianity Today as one of the top ten books of the twentieth century. This book is highly recommended for anyone in vocational ministry feeling void of the power to effectively minister to people's needs. This is not a quick twelve step for improving your ministry, but a call to become so close with Jesus that he actually ministers through you.

Darwin's Black Box, The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe demonstrates that irreducible complexity in biological systems precludes evolution.

Lion of Judah by Paul Wilbur

Wash Over Me by Jami Smith

Revival in Belfast featuring Robin Mark

Come Heal This Land featuring Robin Mark