I was born on a farm in rural Michigan as the youngest of six brothers. Our school was not a one-room school, but all my older brothers spent some time in a one-room school. My mother was born again somewhere around the time I was born, so I grew up never missing a Sunday at our Wesleyan Methodist church. I graduated the second in my high school class, and started attending Marion College, now Indiana Wesleyan University seeking a degree in Theology. Before I got far in college, I was drafted into the US Army.
While I was at White Sands Missile Range, I had a close encounter with God. I had been bothered by the signs of the believer in Mark 16 so I was asking God about them. I don't think I missed one day of asking God for perhaps 6 months. One day I was on a prayer walk and started to ask God again, when suddenly He spoke and answered my questions. It sounded like an audible voice! I learned then that if I consistently ask God something, He will answer.
I left the army after ten years, and moved to Moscow Idaho, to enjoy the great outdoors and get a degree from the University of Idaho. While living in Idaho I learned about Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I attended their camp meetings every summer for eight years, and God then called me to attend Rhema Bible College. It was at Rhema I had my first class on the book of Revelation.
After Rhema, God began pushing me into studying Revelation. I'll be honest: I had no desire to study Revelation. However, I was obedient. When I began, His push got so powerful, I could read nothing else in the bible. For three years I read Revelelation and Daniel over and over, maybe a hundred times. Then, just as God had spoken to me before, He began to speak to me about Revelation. His usual method was to ask me questions I had no answer for. Then, after some time of intense study, trying to answer, He would take me to a scripture that answered it. This is how this book came about.
