The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John is widely read, for a wide range of reasons. But books about the Revelation, although numberless, have limited readership, with the exception of one type.

If you have credibility with a certain group of Christians, and claim to have discovered the hidden true meaning of Revelation, and have deciphered the calendar of events, and most important, if that calendar refers to the present day and conclusively shows we are SOON going to experience the Final Reckoning - why, then you have readers. You have millions of them.

You just don't have the truth.

The time and energy of millions of well-meaning Christians is wasted by trying to find out who the false prophet is, and where the beast is. A favorite activity of this beast is setting up problems for us to try to solve for which there is no answer. Trying to figure out which prominent world figure is the beast and who "out there" might be the false prophet is a perfect example of playing a game with no end.

Another kind of book about Revelation that gets published is the scholarly work which has a limited readership of scholars and hobbyists. This is a much smaller group than the first, but is large enough for certain kinds of publishers. These books usually have found a certain piece of the truth. Taken together, they shed a lot of light and are, in my opinion, tremendously important.

They are also really boring to most people.

As a Revelation hobbyist, I have read many of each type of book about Revelation over the last thirty years, and have received something from each of them. But, as I mentioned in the forword, the two types of books have little or nothing to do with one another.

The popular books deal with fantastic theories and sensational interpretations. The authors typically know little of what scholastic Biblical study has produced, and care less. These Revelation interpreters generally view scientific work as anti-faith.

The scholars, on their part, disdain the fervor of the interpreters. This seriously limits those who will read their work. Indeed, I see little indication that they care much about wide readership. They address their colleagues mainly.

But much more serious than limiting their readership, by leaving the human emotion and motivation out of their quest for truth, they seriously limit the amount of truth they can find.

This is not a book about The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John. It is a book about John, what we learn about him from his work and what we can learn about his message from him once he becomes clearer to us.

As a salesman-turned-caseworker-turned United Methodist Minister, I have been preoccupied all of my adult life with people and what motivates them. It's natural, then, that my study of the Revelation has always included the question, "What exactly is John saying, and why has he said it just this way?"

In the process of scoping out John, we will come to some pretty fresh insights about what it was he was doing and why; what he was trying to communicate.

Perhaps you will be surprised to know some of the things that get said in Revelation, and almost always are missed. One fascinating example is that eternal damnation is denied. Hell is thrown into the lake of fire.

There are also ideas, powerful elements of our cultural mass mind, which are attributed to Revelation. Many of these ideas, if you look carefully, really aren't there at all. The last battle, the final confrontation between good and evil, is a good example of this. It just never takes place!

So, what have I found the Revelation to be after all these years of hobbyist study? It is the most practical and inspiring manual I have seen on how to survive in a world that appears to be overwhelmingly evil, with my faith not only intact, but made stronger.

Most who have glimpsed Glory are faced with the choice of either denying the reality of the world around them, or fortifying against it. There is a third way, demonstrated by Jesus and many of our true saints. In Revelation, this way is called "overcoming." This is a way which you can learn.

You can learn this way from a proper understanding of how to use the Revelation. If you would care to gain such a manual for yourself, I invite you to read the following summary of what had been "revealed" to me.

Let me underscore: this little book which you hold is not the manual for overcoming. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John is the manual. The following can help you understand the manual and know how to use it.

If you wish.

FOREWORD INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 APPENDIX A, 777 APPENDIX B - The Medicine Wheel REVELATION HOME PAGE