Rethinking Revelation Chapter 13 (Part 1)
For the thoughtful Christian the prophetic warnings about a “beast” in Revelation chapter 13 can be made clear. Namely, this moment in which we are living will be the most difficult time ever for Americans to be committed followers of Jesus Christ.
I am bold to make such an assertion; however, it comes out of over forty years of intense study and thousands of research hours on the study of what the Bible has to say about the end times. In addition, I have published several well received books and articles on prophecy. Now, under the leading of the Holy Spirit I feel compelled to summarize some insights and conclusions from my research for you to consider. It’s my prayer that God will use this information to motivate you to think seriously about the implications for your own life and ministry.
First, let me tell you something about myself. I know I am usually more interested in a person’s presentation when I have a bit of a handle on who they are, and where they are coming from. I am not a trained theologian, nor am I a preacher. Basically, I am a Christian layman, a businessman, who, during my spiritual formation developed an intense interest in Biblical prophecy and a concern for the critical issues that confront Christians in these last days.
I was number 13 of 13 children. My father was a school teacher, businessman and in his later years a farmer. He taught us all the importance of hard work, honesty and a thirst for God. His emphasis on education is evidenced by the number of us children who received an advanced education. For example, my brother four years older than me received his Doctorate in physics and was a professor at Colorado State University. My brother two years older is a medical doctor and surgeon, and spent most of his career as a missionary in Kenya, East Africa. My degree was in mathematics and science with an emphasis in pre-engineering.
My mother lived an exemplary Christian life much like the outstanding godly women of the Bible as modeled in Proverbs 31. I made my first commitment to serve the Lord Jesus when I was nine. After graduating from college I married Barbara, a Christian girl from my home town. I entered the business world, working first for a short time for an insurance company, and then for Reynolds Aluminum Company in their industrial sales division. I received their top industrial sales award and reached the level of District Sales Manager. At age 32 I was recruited and accepted the position as Vice President and General Manager of Benada Aluminum, a manufacturer of aluminum extrusions.
Our commitment to serve the Lord was lacking during the first few years of marriage. It wasn’t until our late twenties that we recommitted our lives to make the Lord the center of all our activities. My interest in education led me to become a serious student of the Bible and a Bible teacher in our church. I have also served as a deacon and elder where we have attended church.
My wife Barbara was known as “Mrs. Energy.” Her gift of hospitality was legendary. It would be difficult to recall the number of times we had from 25 to 150 people at our home for a sit-down dinner, served hot and fresh with all the decorations. At such times our home became a place where the Lord ministered comfort and peace in a heart-warming atmosphere of love and tranquility. This, along with her added gift to cheer the heart as good medicine (Proverbs 17:22), has been a blessing to many.
Five years after recommitting our lives to serve the Lord an event happened that forever changed our lives beyond one’s wildest imagination. On a beautiful fall day in October of 1969 an elder in our church and his wife were killed in a tragic automobile accident. They were the parents of six children.
Soon after this tragedy, Barbara and I were called by the Lord to raise these children along with our own. At the time, we were busy people, not looking for something more to add to our plate.
However, we were obedient to the Lord’s call and made ourselves available to the presiding judge to assume responsibility for these children. Over the next few weeks and through several miraculous interventions, we were appointed their guardians. These six and our three children are now grown. All but one finished their college education and along with their spouses have wonderful careers and families.
As of this writing, we number 67 in our immediate family including spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Except the few that are too young, all have made a commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, all of our children have been active in school, business and the community. With great praise to the Lord, our family has been spared many of our society’s contemporary social problems like drug issues, alcohol challenges, and rebellion against family values—that have devastated so many American families, including Christian families. By this comment I do not want you to think no one in our family has ever made a mistake. But, when it did happen it was confessed and, as we put it before the Lord in fervent prayer, it brought healing. I share the story of how the Lord led and blessed our family since that accident over forty years ago in a recently published book, The Blessings of Obedience.
There are four things that sum up how I spend most of my time: serving the Lord, family, career and recreation. I have placed them in the order of their importance. The several books and booklets I’ve written would confirm my interest in being a student of the Bible. They can be found at my website www.bobfraleychristianlifeoutreach.com. My website will also direct you to several other Christian activities that are important to us. They are Help the World Direct, a missionary outreach I founded to help the poor in Kenya, East Africa. Golden Eagle Christian Center, a fully equipped Christian retreat center we founded near Greenville, Ohio. We also founded Paradise Valley Christian School in Phoenix, Arizona, which today is one of the major Christian schools in Phoenix serving Christians from all Christian denominations, (www.paradisevalleychristian.org or www.pvcp.org. My most recent project has been to found Campaign Save Christian America. This is an outreach that shares biblical principles to combat the spiritual warfare Satan is using to attack America in an effort to destroy our country’s spiritual heritage and Christian values. I summarize some of this important information for you in this booklet.
I could give you several Christian leaders as references. The two best known are: Tommy Barnett, Pastor of Phoenix First Assembly of God, one of the largest churches in America and founder of the Dream Centers and Dr. David Mains, Director of the “Chapel of the Air” for twenty years and winner of the 1995 National Religious Broadcasters Programmer of the Year award and the author of over 20 Christian books.
Pastor Barnett wrote, “Bob Fraley’s integrity and character are what have set him apart as an outstanding leader and role model. His company has been a leader of innovation that has provided a multitude of job opportunities. He has been a promoter in providing Christian education for thousands of children in Phoenix and contributed greatly to the medical field in caring for the needy in Africa.
His great love for America has caused him to pen several outstanding books and booklets that have been read by hundreds of thousands. I highly recommend this man of God to you. If you ever have an opportunity to read one of his inspiring books, I urge you to take advantage of it. He is a man of life-changing insight.”
Dr. David Mains wrote, “Bob Fraley doesn’t approach Scripture the way a trained Bible scholar normally would. And I have come to believe that therein lays his greatest strength. He thinks out of the box! His fresh thinking quickly captures your imagination.
Whether or not you agree with all he writes, you are forced to carefully consider his convictions. They not only make good sense, their implications require that you rethink how you live. What Bob has to say is like a spiritual hand that grabs your backbone through your stomach and shakes you around a bit.
I see his words as a great gift for which all of us should be thankful. I believe that even if you have never met him, through his words you will sense that he walks with the Lord and has certainly been given a message from Him for the greater Christian public.
What I share in this booklet is a living word that comes out of concrete personal experience. It is also something the Lord began to burn into my heart after I had experienced a revolutionary encounter with the Lord in 1971 about the Last Days. It’s my hope and prayer this booklet will help equip you to face the danger of Satan’s last-days battle plan of spiritual warfare in America.
It is normally relatively easy for us to mentally accept end-time chronology, but in order to make it meaningful it is necessary for us to receive it with an open spirit. It may be distressing to come to terms with end-time happenings. However, knowing what to expect is the key to spiritual survival. It is like training soldiers for battle. Boot camp is not supposed to be fun. It is designed to harden new recruits and prepare them for the battlefield. The same is true in spiritual warfare. It requires skill and discipline to emerge victorious.
In my next blog, I will share the second most important part of my life…. Join us here next week!
Visit the FREE DOWNLOADS page on our website to find several other books and booklets written by Bob Fraley. The FREE DOWNLOADS page contains complete .pdf files that you may read and download absolutely FREE! Go to: http://www.bobfraleychristianlifeoutreach.com and click on the “FREE DOWNLOADS” button!