So it begins.
My wife has been saying to me for years that I should start a blog to talk about Bible questions and theological issues. My friends raised the money for me to have laser eye surgery so I could write a book (unfortunately this failed as I am so blind that they would have to turn my eyes into marshmallows). People who know me would say that there is no way that this will last. Our family missions blog seems to be more of a monthly newsletter than our daily journey over here in Asia.
So why start this site and start writing now? Maybe it is because I am almost 40 years old. Turning 30 sounded cool to me, the same age as Jesus when He started His ministry. I thought there would be some monumental change in my ministry then. I am not sure if I thought I would suddenly become a Levitical priest or a long-haired prophet, but life continued the same that year. Turning 40 seems more ominous, like there are black clouds looming on the horizon, and some wise old man is leaning over and whispering into my ear, “Carpe Diem!”
Wow, I can see that blog writing can quickly turn into a narcissistic exercise of epic proportions! Let me get to the point. I love God and I love the Bible. I love to talk and write about the Bible. I could sit around until the wee hours of the morning debating eschatology, so I know I have a beneficial, lifetime condition. I am a Bible nerd, and proud of it. In this blog, I will offer up my humble offerings to all the wisdom that is currently out there on the net, and contained in a multitude of writings.
Why read my blog if there is so much good stuff out there? Ummm, this is the point where I wax eloquently about my many accomplishments and impress you. I think I will take a lesson from Paul’s boasting in 2 Corinthians 11. I have a degree in political science, not in Biblical studies. I have never studied Greek or Hebrew, nor any other ancient languages (unless you can count Chinese). There are no letters after my name. I have written zero best-selling books, and do not currently have a mega church.
Impressed yet? I have been a missionary for the last 17 years, and have been involved with teaching missionaries how to study the Bible inductively. I have run 9 month Bible schools for 10 years, and have taught in Canada, the U.S., Asia, and Europe on the Bible. I know that I have so much to learn about God and the Bible, and will never be the “Bible answer man”, or “Bible answer person” to be politically correct. If this blog helps you, keep reading it and tell a friend. Check out some of my podcast Bible teachings at www.thesbspodcast.com.
Above all, I pray that my blog helps you love God more, love the Bible more, and keep hungry to learn so that we can share the blessings of God with a world in need of much healing.
The Bible Nerd 
Great blog! Question for the bible wizard – Rev 16:13-14 – three unclean spirits like frogs… Is there any relevant significance of the frog in that time/culture? Is this talking about a single event close to Jesus’ return or rather still a general overview of the church age? Didn’t have time to ask this question during your teaching on Revelation! Thanks, Jonny
Hey Jonny! It was great to be out there in Cambodia with you guys. You were an amazing school. As to your question, I believe the frogs have more to do with Old Testament Biblical imagery than the current Greco Roman culture. In chapter 9, what John sees in the 7 Trumpets is mostly framed with the Exodus imagery of Exodus 4 – 12. The frogs here come from the 2nd plague in Exodus chapter 8. As you look at the trumpets, you see many of the other plagues used in the imagery such as water turning to blood, hail and fire coming down from the sky, darkness, etc… These Exodus and plague images are used throughout the book of Revelation.
As to what this trumpet refers to is more complicated and generally depends on whether you take a literalist future view or a symbolic cyclical view. The literalist future view commonly sees this as the gathering of the armies of evil that are gathered together by the antichrist and the forces of Satan. They are preparing to attack the physical nation of Israel near the ancient site of Megiddo. The symbolic cyclical view sees this as a symbolic view of God preparing to judge all of His enemies at the end of the age when Jesus returns. Their view is that there will not be a literal battle of armies, but rather Jesus will simply judge them all and send them to eternal punishment when He returns. The use of Armageddon is therefore figurative to evoke all the international battles that have taken place over Biblical history near Megiddo (like Deborah and Barak, Josiah, etc…). Of course, there are more views than this, but these are the main two.
That’s really helpful thank you!
Thanks! If i clicked “Notify me of new posts via email” will it tell me each time you blog?
It should. Let me know if it doesn’t. Thanks for the comment!