My Writing Effort Since 1991 to Those in the Highest Positions of Power and Authority
The narrative below begins with my analysis of Christ's statements recorded in Luke 21:25a and Matthew 24:29-30a and ends with my eventual conclusion in 1989 that Christ was telling His apostles that He was planning to return to earth sometime after the year 1999 on mankind's calendar, and not before the year 1999.
In November, 1991, I would begin informing world leaders of this interpretation of Matthew 24:29-30a through a simple and straightforward letter-writing effort, which is still ongoing.
One of my goals in composing this web log is to hopefully find a publisher who would be interested in publishing my manuscript (briefly described herein) so that the general public can be made aware of what I am certain is the only plausible interpretation of Christ's words recorded in Luke 21:25a and Matthew 24:29-30a.
***********************************************************
(Originally written in May, 2002)
In 1954, I was born into a farm family in northeast Missouri and fell in love with the oldest science of astronomy at age 8. Being a Catholic, I heard the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 and Luke 21) read aloud in Catholic mass on back-to-back Sundays on an annual basis during the 1960s and I was very intrigued by Christ's prediction in Matthew 24:29-30a that, just before He returns, "the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shed her light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the hosts of heaven will be shaken loose. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky...."
Because I assumed that Christ was referring to the true stars falling from the sky (each of the true stars being the size of our sun), between ages 9-10, I was terrified by the prospect of living during the time that this cataclysmic event would take place. By age 10 in 1964, I began to believe the astronomers who implied that the true stars will never fall from the sky and I began to look for a sensible explanation behind the events described by Christ in Matthew 24:29. Because Christ was quoted to tell His apostles in Luke 21:25a, that "there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars...," it was apparent to me that the astronomers living just prior to Christ's return ought to be able to derive the general time frame for His return to earth by using the events described in Matthew 24:29. I quickly reasoned that "the stars will fall from the sky" can only be explained by a significant meteor shower. Also, during a total solar eclipse does "the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed her light" for a few minutes over a narrow strip of land and ocean. Since there are usually one or two total solar eclipses each year, I reasoned that Christ must be referring to a total solar eclipse in a special, perhaps critical part of the world that the astronomers living just prior to Christ's return will be able to identify. The only prohibition, according to Christ in Matthew 24:36a, is that "no one knows the day or the hour" of His return--which isn't really too prohibitive.
The following year, in 1965, my sixth grade teacher mentioned to the class that the meteor storm in the news at that time, according to astronomers, will produce another meteor storm in 1999 which strongly raised my suspicions that this 1999 meteor storm might fulfill one of the celestial events predicted by Christ in Matthew 24:29.
I went on to become valedictorian of my high school class of 18 and, four years later, earned a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering, cum laude, at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1976. I began my engineering career with a very fine agency in the USDA, the Soil Conservation Service, shortly thereafter and married a very special woman and I was on my way---or so I had believed.
In 1979, I watched a movie by the popular End Times prophecy lecturer, Hal Lindsey, entitled "The Late, Great Planet Earth" and I learned of the basic Last Days scenario that is presently taught and accepted by many millions of people (Antichrist, Armageddon, Seven Years of Tribulation, Rapture, etc.).
In 1988, my wife of 12 years and I divorced which, like most divorces, was very painful but I eventually recovered. On July 10, 1988, in an act of serendipity, through a newspaper article, I learned of a 22-year-old woman named Denise who was in dire need of a heart-lung transplant. In the article, Denise stated her belief that God would come through for her in providing her with a new heart and lungs.
I wrote Denise a short note of encouragement which eventually led to my receiving a call from Denise and I would then meet her the following day, on August 13, 1988. We quickly developed a great fondness for each other and, against all odds, three weeks after I met Denise, she received a successful heart-lung transplant on September 3, 1988.
After four months of a very arduous recovery, Denise gave a 'Dedication' on January 1, 1989 in which she sang and spoke and dedicated the rest of her life giving testimony to others of her God-delivered miracle.
Six days later, on January 7, 1989, I recalled that I, too, nearly died of a lung malady: when I was born (as my mother would tell me when I was about 10 years old), the delivery was traumatic, causing my lungs to collapse. My mother was so worried about my survival that she prayed that if I should live and that if I wanted to, that I would become a priest. I decided to invoke my mother's prayer on this day, January 7, 1989, by deciding to support Denise and her ministry for the rest of her life.
Three days later, on January 10, 1989, my February, 1989 issue of ASTRONOMY magazine came in the mail containing an article entitled, "Eclipse Prospects For the 1990s". I naturally was curious of what the upcoming solar eclipses would be and at the end of the article was described the total solar eclipse on August 11, 1999 passing through central Europe and Iraq and Iran--and my eyes became as huge as saucers!! (as the anticipated November, 1999 Leonid meteor storm was very well known by all devoted astronomers, amateur and professional).
Because I was well aware that the very close proximity of a Mideast total solar eclipse and a Leonid meteor storm was exceedingly rare, occurring on the order of about once every 1000 years, I knew that I had uncovered a prophecy that was in the province of astronomers only.
About two months later, in March, 1989, I decided to glance through the Book of Revelation to see how individuals such as Hal Lindsey came up with their cataclysmic End Times scenerio and I quickly found Chapter 11, entitled "The Two Witnesses". After I read Revelation 11:3, which states, "I will commission my two witnesses to prophesy for those twelve hundred sixty days, dressed in sackcloth", my reaction was, "Who is that astronomer pair?"
The following three years would turn out to be a concerted effort on my part to get to the bottom of the truth during which I would suspect that there will be no cataclysmic 'end of the world' before Christ returns. Also, I would eventually realize that all Christian astronomers living at this time look a lot alike and it is very difficult to tell a particular one of them from all the others.
By late 1990, I realized that the last event described by Christ in Matthew 24:29 ("and the hosts of heaven will be shaken loose") was likely referring to the fact that, in early 1999, the planet Pluto once again becomes farther from the sun than Neptune (after spending 20 years closer to the sun than Neptune). This was confirmed in my mind in January, 1992 when I purchased a St. Jerome's Catholic Study Bible (copyright 1985) in which this last event in Matthew 24:29 had been dramatically changed to "and the powers in space will be driven from their courses." (This event could not be known by any human being until a few years after Pluto was discovered in 1930--plus I do not believe that the word 'space' was commonly used in this context in 30 A.D.)
These three diverse 1999 celestial events fulfilling what I am certain is the only plausible explanation for the events described by Christ in Matthew 24:29 come together, for all practical purposes, only one time ever--in 1999. The probability that a total solar eclipse in Iraq and Iran, a Leonid meteor storm (which did produce a meteor storm over Israel--of all places!--and southern Europe at a peak rate of over 1,600 meteors per hour on the morning of November 18, 1999), and the crossing of Pluto over Neptune's orbit all occurring within a 12 month period of time is on the order of only once every 100,000 years.
When I wrote my first serious treatise on this subject on November 27, 1991 in a paper I entitled, "My Life's Thoughts on the Second Coming", I wrote:
"It is quite apparent that if an 11-year-old boy in 1965 can suspicion 1999 based only on a 33-year periodic meteor storm at the turn of the millennium that the fulfillment of Matthew 24:29 in 1999 has been known to astronomers for 40-50 years. Whether astronomers bothered to share their inside joke with any world or religious leaders is not clear."
Because I would eventually realize that very few people have an extensive knowledge of astronomy or know of these statements by Christ recorded in Luke 21:25a and Matthew 24:29-30a, in 1993, I decided on two courses of action in publicizing this prophecy:
1) A letter-writing effort to addressees of power and influence which I began in 1991 and am continuing to do.
2) A book that the public can obtain.
The correspondence that I have received from addressees of power and influence during the intervening years indicates to me that my voice is being heard and that I am, indeed, likely to be the only informed Christian astronomer who is mounting such a letter-writing effort that is worldwide in scope. [At this point in time, April 6, 2005 (when I am making my most recent editing to this posting), I am just performing a maintenance letter-writing effort.]
During the last seven months of 1993, I wrote an 800 page (typed, double-spaced) manuscript entitled:
Matthew 24:29 Occurs (Occurred) in 1999
_____________________
The Case Against Armageddon
_____________________
The Story of the Two Witnesses of Chapter 11
of the Book of Revelation
Since my manuscript was typed and finished in 1994 (in rough but near final form) all four literary agents who read it liked it and found great potential for it. Despite my hiring three of these agents, however, and contacting several dozen publishers myself, like most would-be authors, I have failed to find an interested publisher for my manuscript.
Instead of a world-ending Armageddon or the appearance of an Antichrist (which I explain to be a popular myth), I share in my letter-writing effort my speculation that Christ's return is contingent with the attainment of a genuine and comprehensive Mideast peace agreement between Israel and her remaining Arab neighbors (the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Lebanon) which, of course, is still some time off. But I believe that Christ will return to earth sometime during the lifetimes of most of those who are now living.
Besides my views on these rather weighty matters, my manuscript contains a description of my true life experience which includes many emotional ups and downs plus my tongue-in-cheek humor that nearly all astronomers are known for.
My manuscript really must be read to understand and appreciate why I state near my manuscript's conclusion that my book is "The Second Greatest Story Ever Told". The only question in my mind is: Will my book become known by the general public before or after Christ returns?
Thank you for your time and I thank anyone who reads this for any help they can provide me in finding an interested publisher for my manuscript.
******************************************************
Interests: Astronomy, photography, current world events, reading, writing (of course), my St. Louis Cardinals and Rams, religion in a pragmatic sense, financial news, and eschatology (the study of 'end times' prophecy).
In November, 1991, I would begin informing world leaders of this interpretation of Matthew 24:29-30a through a simple and straightforward letter-writing effort, which is still ongoing.
One of my goals in composing this web log is to hopefully find a publisher who would be interested in publishing my manuscript (briefly described herein) so that the general public can be made aware of what I am certain is the only plausible interpretation of Christ's words recorded in Luke 21:25a and Matthew 24:29-30a.
***********************************************************
(Originally written in May, 2002)
In 1954, I was born into a farm family in northeast Missouri and fell in love with the oldest science of astronomy at age 8. Being a Catholic, I heard the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 and Luke 21) read aloud in Catholic mass on back-to-back Sundays on an annual basis during the 1960s and I was very intrigued by Christ's prediction in Matthew 24:29-30a that, just before He returns, "the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shed her light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the hosts of heaven will be shaken loose. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky...."
Because I assumed that Christ was referring to the true stars falling from the sky (each of the true stars being the size of our sun), between ages 9-10, I was terrified by the prospect of living during the time that this cataclysmic event would take place. By age 10 in 1964, I began to believe the astronomers who implied that the true stars will never fall from the sky and I began to look for a sensible explanation behind the events described by Christ in Matthew 24:29. Because Christ was quoted to tell His apostles in Luke 21:25a, that "there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars...," it was apparent to me that the astronomers living just prior to Christ's return ought to be able to derive the general time frame for His return to earth by using the events described in Matthew 24:29. I quickly reasoned that "the stars will fall from the sky" can only be explained by a significant meteor shower. Also, during a total solar eclipse does "the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed her light" for a few minutes over a narrow strip of land and ocean. Since there are usually one or two total solar eclipses each year, I reasoned that Christ must be referring to a total solar eclipse in a special, perhaps critical part of the world that the astronomers living just prior to Christ's return will be able to identify. The only prohibition, according to Christ in Matthew 24:36a, is that "no one knows the day or the hour" of His return--which isn't really too prohibitive.
The following year, in 1965, my sixth grade teacher mentioned to the class that the meteor storm in the news at that time, according to astronomers, will produce another meteor storm in 1999 which strongly raised my suspicions that this 1999 meteor storm might fulfill one of the celestial events predicted by Christ in Matthew 24:29.
I went on to become valedictorian of my high school class of 18 and, four years later, earned a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering, cum laude, at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1976. I began my engineering career with a very fine agency in the USDA, the Soil Conservation Service, shortly thereafter and married a very special woman and I was on my way---or so I had believed.
In 1979, I watched a movie by the popular End Times prophecy lecturer, Hal Lindsey, entitled "The Late, Great Planet Earth" and I learned of the basic Last Days scenario that is presently taught and accepted by many millions of people (Antichrist, Armageddon, Seven Years of Tribulation, Rapture, etc.).
In 1988, my wife of 12 years and I divorced which, like most divorces, was very painful but I eventually recovered. On July 10, 1988, in an act of serendipity, through a newspaper article, I learned of a 22-year-old woman named Denise who was in dire need of a heart-lung transplant. In the article, Denise stated her belief that God would come through for her in providing her with a new heart and lungs.
I wrote Denise a short note of encouragement which eventually led to my receiving a call from Denise and I would then meet her the following day, on August 13, 1988. We quickly developed a great fondness for each other and, against all odds, three weeks after I met Denise, she received a successful heart-lung transplant on September 3, 1988.
After four months of a very arduous recovery, Denise gave a 'Dedication' on January 1, 1989 in which she sang and spoke and dedicated the rest of her life giving testimony to others of her God-delivered miracle.
Six days later, on January 7, 1989, I recalled that I, too, nearly died of a lung malady: when I was born (as my mother would tell me when I was about 10 years old), the delivery was traumatic, causing my lungs to collapse. My mother was so worried about my survival that she prayed that if I should live and that if I wanted to, that I would become a priest. I decided to invoke my mother's prayer on this day, January 7, 1989, by deciding to support Denise and her ministry for the rest of her life.
Three days later, on January 10, 1989, my February, 1989 issue of ASTRONOMY magazine came in the mail containing an article entitled, "Eclipse Prospects For the 1990s". I naturally was curious of what the upcoming solar eclipses would be and at the end of the article was described the total solar eclipse on August 11, 1999 passing through central Europe and Iraq and Iran--and my eyes became as huge as saucers!! (as the anticipated November, 1999 Leonid meteor storm was very well known by all devoted astronomers, amateur and professional).
Because I was well aware that the very close proximity of a Mideast total solar eclipse and a Leonid meteor storm was exceedingly rare, occurring on the order of about once every 1000 years, I knew that I had uncovered a prophecy that was in the province of astronomers only.
About two months later, in March, 1989, I decided to glance through the Book of Revelation to see how individuals such as Hal Lindsey came up with their cataclysmic End Times scenerio and I quickly found Chapter 11, entitled "The Two Witnesses". After I read Revelation 11:3, which states, "I will commission my two witnesses to prophesy for those twelve hundred sixty days, dressed in sackcloth", my reaction was, "Who is that astronomer pair?"
The following three years would turn out to be a concerted effort on my part to get to the bottom of the truth during which I would suspect that there will be no cataclysmic 'end of the world' before Christ returns. Also, I would eventually realize that all Christian astronomers living at this time look a lot alike and it is very difficult to tell a particular one of them from all the others.
By late 1990, I realized that the last event described by Christ in Matthew 24:29 ("and the hosts of heaven will be shaken loose") was likely referring to the fact that, in early 1999, the planet Pluto once again becomes farther from the sun than Neptune (after spending 20 years closer to the sun than Neptune). This was confirmed in my mind in January, 1992 when I purchased a St. Jerome's Catholic Study Bible (copyright 1985) in which this last event in Matthew 24:29 had been dramatically changed to "and the powers in space will be driven from their courses." (This event could not be known by any human being until a few years after Pluto was discovered in 1930--plus I do not believe that the word 'space' was commonly used in this context in 30 A.D.)
These three diverse 1999 celestial events fulfilling what I am certain is the only plausible explanation for the events described by Christ in Matthew 24:29 come together, for all practical purposes, only one time ever--in 1999. The probability that a total solar eclipse in Iraq and Iran, a Leonid meteor storm (which did produce a meteor storm over Israel--of all places!--and southern Europe at a peak rate of over 1,600 meteors per hour on the morning of November 18, 1999), and the crossing of Pluto over Neptune's orbit all occurring within a 12 month period of time is on the order of only once every 100,000 years.
When I wrote my first serious treatise on this subject on November 27, 1991 in a paper I entitled, "My Life's Thoughts on the Second Coming", I wrote:
"It is quite apparent that if an 11-year-old boy in 1965 can suspicion 1999 based only on a 33-year periodic meteor storm at the turn of the millennium that the fulfillment of Matthew 24:29 in 1999 has been known to astronomers for 40-50 years. Whether astronomers bothered to share their inside joke with any world or religious leaders is not clear."
Because I would eventually realize that very few people have an extensive knowledge of astronomy or know of these statements by Christ recorded in Luke 21:25a and Matthew 24:29-30a, in 1993, I decided on two courses of action in publicizing this prophecy:
1) A letter-writing effort to addressees of power and influence which I began in 1991 and am continuing to do.
2) A book that the public can obtain.
The correspondence that I have received from addressees of power and influence during the intervening years indicates to me that my voice is being heard and that I am, indeed, likely to be the only informed Christian astronomer who is mounting such a letter-writing effort that is worldwide in scope. [At this point in time, April 6, 2005 (when I am making my most recent editing to this posting), I am just performing a maintenance letter-writing effort.]
During the last seven months of 1993, I wrote an 800 page (typed, double-spaced) manuscript entitled:
Matthew 24:29 Occurs (Occurred) in 1999
_____________________
The Case Against Armageddon
_____________________
The Story of the Two Witnesses of Chapter 11
of the Book of Revelation
Since my manuscript was typed and finished in 1994 (in rough but near final form) all four literary agents who read it liked it and found great potential for it. Despite my hiring three of these agents, however, and contacting several dozen publishers myself, like most would-be authors, I have failed to find an interested publisher for my manuscript.
Instead of a world-ending Armageddon or the appearance of an Antichrist (which I explain to be a popular myth), I share in my letter-writing effort my speculation that Christ's return is contingent with the attainment of a genuine and comprehensive Mideast peace agreement between Israel and her remaining Arab neighbors (the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Lebanon) which, of course, is still some time off. But I believe that Christ will return to earth sometime during the lifetimes of most of those who are now living.
Besides my views on these rather weighty matters, my manuscript contains a description of my true life experience which includes many emotional ups and downs plus my tongue-in-cheek humor that nearly all astronomers are known for.
My manuscript really must be read to understand and appreciate why I state near my manuscript's conclusion that my book is "The Second Greatest Story Ever Told". The only question in my mind is: Will my book become known by the general public before or after Christ returns?
Thank you for your time and I thank anyone who reads this for any help they can provide me in finding an interested publisher for my manuscript.
******************************************************
Interests: Astronomy, photography, current world events, reading, writing (of course), my St. Louis Cardinals and Rams, religion in a pragmatic sense, financial news, and eschatology (the study of 'end times' prophecy).
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