Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How did you develop a special interest in prophecy?
    It was through my memorizing of the text (in English) of the Apocalypse that I began to become interested in prophecy. I became very interested in what the Apocalypse had to say because it seemed to be speaking to us so accurately.
  2. Can prophecy be trusted or even believed?
    It is certainly true that countless prophecies have been made in the past that have proven false. The cycle continues right into the present: melodramatic prophecies that gain attention and then fall flat because nothing happens. Our culture can be forgiven if it has become cynical about the whole thing. But when it comes to the Apocalypse, we do not really find single, dramatic prophecies, at least not that are relevant to the present time. Instead what we find are descriptive pictures; and if we see global trends that are starting to match these pictures, should we not pay attention?
  3. There are so many takes on prophecy, for example, a film recently released on the History channel called “The Seven New Signs of the Apocalypse.” What makes your approach different from others?
    The two main things that I hope to add to our understanding of the Apocalypse are these: first, a disciplined, credible reading of the text. We should not be twisting the text and current circumstances to try to make them match. We should be looking honestly at the text and ask, “What does it actually say is going to happen?” Then we should look honestly at our world and ask, “To what degree can we say these things are happening?”  Second, I would like to at a broader context within which we are to observe the prophecies of the Apocalypse. The text was not written to entertain us nor to give us stand alone, melodramatic predictions. It was given with structure and purpose. All its predictions are for a purpose, and fit in the unfolding of a plan. We should not stop at just looking at the prophecies. We should see how the prophecies fit in the bigger picture.
  4. Other people, cultures, and religions have their own views on end times. Where do you fit among other beliefs?
    The second episode from a new TV series (National Geographic) entitled, “The story of God,” narrated by Morgan Freeman, focuses on the “end of the world” views held by different religions and cultures. The episode reflects rather perfectly our society’s new definition of “tolerance,” that is, the belief that all views, though they are mutually exclusive intellectually, are nevertheless of equal validity and merit. I am extremely thankful that I live in a day and culture where there is freedom of speech and mutual respect for one another. With respect to end times prophecies, it is the Apocalypse that is making predictions that are actually coming true; therefore it is the Apocalypse that I am continuing to follow closely.
  5. What is the main thrust of your recent book, The Gold Mine?
    The main thrust of The Gold Mine is that there is purpose and design woven into both the past and the future of both the collective and the individual human experience.
  6. What is the Patmos Project?
    The Patmos Project is a serious exploration of the prophecies contained in the document known to us as The Apocalypse of St. John the Divine, also known as the Book of Revelation. The ultimate goal of The Patmos Project is to produce an audio-video, interpretive reading of the text of the Apocalypse. The fulfilment of the prophecies will affect everyone on the planet; therefore we hope to produce this video in formats globally accessible and in as many languages as possible.
  7. You have been giving a talk entitled “Big Change Coming.” What is the purpose of this talk?
    The purpose of this talk is to present the six prophecies of the Apocalypse that predict the global circumstances that are to precede end time events, and to describe how they seem to be coming to fulfilment today. I hope that a helpful, ongoing conversation will arise out of this exploration. The talk has more recently been given with the title, “Prophecies that tell the time: how soon is big change coming?”
  8. Do you believe the world is going to end?
    The main thing I am trying to do is to make known to as many people as possible what the Apocalypse says is going to happen. My personal beliefs are of little consequence. So a better question is this: does the Apocalypse say that the world is going to end? A person could search at length and never find a reference to “end of the world” in the Apocalypse. In actual fact, it is only mentioned once in a very short, passing comment. The book is not about the end of the world. It is about the Creator’s purpose for the world, and the final fulfilment of that purpose.