My last newsletter was four months ago (May 5th, 2009). As a result many of you have been asking “where are all the newsletters?†Of course, I planned to do newsletters regularly, but as they say, life got in the way. (I explain below for those interested.)
Bible Prophecy Glossary
However, the main reason for this newsletter is to announce I have completed a Bible Prophecy Glossary. I got the idea to write this after having the realization that, as good as my book is, it represents only one approach to mastering the subject of Bible prophecy. Having more than one way to learn a topic can only increase understanding. Given how hard Bible prophecy is, it definitely merits cross-training.
Of course, just like my book Know the Future, this glossary is different compared to others you might encounter. The difference is that it bases its definitions on the two key breakthroughs I have identified for understanding Bible prophecy accurately: 1) literal interpretation 2) incorporation of the prophetic Feasts of the LORD and other parts of the OT.
Check it out here: http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/bible-prophecy-glossary.htm
(I encourage your feedback on how to improve or add to this first stab. Thank you.)
October Speaking Engagement in Jacksonville, FL for Feast of Tabernacles
For those in the Florida area I have been invited to teach for a week in Jacksonville. I’ll be in the area from October 1st through October 15th. We’ll be camping out with the folks and discussing the Bible everyday. The focus will be on what Bible prophecy says is coming and also much detail on what God wants us to do in the meantime to prepare ourselves and in general draw closer to him just because. If you want a sneak peak on what my next book will cover by all means try to come.
You can see details on the event and learn what the “Feast of Tabernacles†is at this blog post: http://timmchyde.com/tabernacles-sukkot-jacksonville-florida/
http://timmchyde.com/feast-of-tabernacles-sukkot/
Three Ways To Stay Up to Date: My Blog TimMcHyde.com, Facebook and Twitter
Speaking of the blog, I’ve begun to update my blog for non-article-worthy posts and news items. This is the address http://timmchyde.com/. You’ll find some posts on Obama as the Antichrist there lately.
Likewise, I plan to use my Facebook account to keep people abreast of developments. You can add me as a Facebook friend by clicking here: http://www.facebook.com/addfriend.php?id=512870162
Ditto for Twitter. You can see the postings for that here: http://twitter.com/TimMcHyde
Moving (& in the Bible), The Prophecy Conference, Summer Break
Here’s an update on why so long since my last newsletter.
The Bible records how God trained many of the saints heroes through hardships. They were put in dungeons for years, banished to be strangers in foreign lands and even experienced extended desert or wilderness sojourns. For many reasons I feel like Costa Rica is my own version of a wilderness experience. Since I was a boy I desired to understand the Bible, especially prophecy. After moving to Costa Rica ten years ago, that dream began to become a reality. We have been able to learn things of God we never could have in our busy, scripted lives in the USA. Those of you who have read my book know how thrilling these things are.
But the similarities to Biblical wilderness experiences for us do not end there. My landlord announced earlier in the year that he wanted to return to live in his own house before our lease was up (which made it optional for us to comply with). Here in Costa Rica it takes the hand of God to find a comfortable house to U.S. standards, so we were not thrilled with his request. Nevertheless, we wanted to try to help him out believing that if God would bless it we would be willing to do the work. Thankfully, God seemed pleased with our self-sacrifice and hospitality as we did find a good home, for $200 less rent. It was tough as all moves are, but we are now in our new house—our tenth dwelling in ten years of living in Costa Rica or an average of one move per year.
If that seems like a lot, think about this: Numbers 33 records all the stops of Israel during her Sinai wilderness wanderings. If you count them there are exactly 42 (foreshadowing of the 42 months of the Great Tribulation?), or one per year. And that’s what I mean about our wilderness experience in Costa Rica. We never intended to move every year (who would?). Yet, one thing is certain: you do learn more when you change your surroundings frequently. When we prayed to God for understanding years ago, we kind of asked for these experiences. This according to the Bible is how God goes about training his servants who ask for wisdom or a closer walk with him.
After the move I continued to prepare for my first prophecy keynote at the www.TheProphecyConference.com which took place at the end of June in St Louis. How did it go? I’m happy with it considering it was my first big presentation and I could not prepare fully due to the move. More than that, I realized as soon as I starting talking with people and listening to the first speakers that what I had prepared was going to be too technical. I have been spoiled by the more studious left-brained types who read my book and stick around on my private forums to ask questions and discuss prophecy. A live talk to a mixed conference audience like this is much different. So I made a rookie mistake that I won’t make again.
When I move into more speaking engagements and video I will have to keep that lesson in mind. For example, http://www.GodsLearningChannel.com is interested in having me on but I don’t plan to pursue it until I am more practiced with live mixed audiences.
My Next Book – Next Year?
We enjoyed talking to all of God’s servants at the conference in St Louis (and look forward to more of that in Jacksonville, in a more intimate setting). More importantly, those interactions impressed something upon me. I realized how much people are like sheep without a shepherd these days. They don’t have time to study the Bible and research the Internet for hours each week like I have been able. They need guidance on practical matters like how to prepare for the end times and live in the present times until the end times begin. What are the principles of wisdom for our times that please God? And how to we deal with family and friends who do not like it when we start making changes to serve God better (which often means serving those around us less than they are accustomed to)?
Because my wife is very good at counseling people on such questions in their own life, I’m excited to announce that I’ve decided recently to make her a co-author on this forthcoming book. Because of this I have high hopes that this book will be as good or even better than the first one that you all love. I still plan to make it freely available on my site (by living off the sales of my first book). In this way I expect the book to reach many people and fill a great void in showing God’s servants how to understand the key principles of living from the Bible. The goal is to help them live according to what the Bible says directly, with no middleman or religious traditions in the way. Lofty goals I know, but not a far cry from what we have been already learning and living ourselves the last ten years…especially with God’s help.