My Bible reading today was Matthew 24.

Well, before I make my comments, let me preface them with this: For my first 20 years, I was raised in independent, fundamental Baptist churches. In other words, all "prophetic" passages were interpreted premillenial, pretribulational and dispensational. I've seen the Thief in the Night series of movies waaayyy too many times. (Were sideburns and bellbottoms really in the Koine Greek?) In my last year of high school, first year of college at the Opportunity Place, the visitation pastor of the church to which I was a member, introduced me to Banner of Truth, thus introducing me to reformed theology.

Something, however, that I frankly refused to study was eschatology. My wife and my dad read every book of the Left Behind series as soon as they were released. I refused. I knew it was just more preemietribbiedispsensational and I could already quote that backwards in my sleep. I wasn't sure what I believed about prophecy, but I was fairly certain that was not it, and I just didn't want to further bemuddle my thinking.

So (now that I have fully offended and established a wall of separation between my tens of tens of readers and myself) I read Matthew 24 today. Yesterday, a small packet arrived in the mail from the International Preterist Association. I glanced through their material and found some of it interesting. I decided I would look into Matthew 24 and see if what they said held any water.

All I'm going to say now is that I would encourage you to read The Parousia by James Stuart Russell (1878). Read it with your Bible open beside it. Look up each reference. Read each one in context - the chapter before and the chapter after. Just read it and see what you think.

I still have questions. I'm still reading. But, I've got to tell you, this makes sense. I've never encountered an approach to prophecy that was so unforced, so natural. It is definitely worth investigating.

Oh, and the comments may now come in flaming fire.