It occurred to me that I did not have any real information about myself on the website. I was thinking about the best way to address this when I remembered that I recently completed a short biography for the soon to be released book version of “The Devil’s Body Count”.
Being a person that believes in working smarter, not harder, I decided that this would be the best choice to address the issue on the website. So, with a few minor tweaks, the book biography became the perfect fit for the website.
Forgive the third person reference – changing it to the normal first person perspective required more work than I was willing to give at the moment. Besides, I am completing this page in the midst of the next project. Perhaps when it is done, I will revisit this bio and correct the third person tense.
Until then, here is my “current” biography:
Richard currently resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and his youngest child – a 13 pound Pomeranian named Cody that absolutely runs the house and is ever the “daddy’s boy”. Richard was born and raised in Ohio, and has resided in Columbus his entire life.
Richard has worked in the electric utility field for 17 years, specializing in the testing, troubleshooting and application of controls for the distribution system. It is a profession that Richard refers to as the “happy accident”, discovering a new love and passion for this unexpected line of work after five years as a police officer, with several departments and in several capacities.
However, it truly turned out to be a move that the Lord Himself sanctioned. It would become a critical transition that would bear fruit as Richard moved into the core calling in his life.
Shortly after leaving law enforcement for this most unexpected career choice, Richard made the decision to pursue the education required for the industry. It was during his college years that he discovered that the Lord had given him the tools, skills and abilities for writing and research. It did not take long to realize that the day would come when the Lord required a return on His “investment”.
After a 20 year relationship with the Lord that had its share of ups and down, the day came when the Lord made it clear that Richard had work to do. It was a calling that had taken many years of preparation. There had been many days of conversations where the Lord trained Richard to ask the tough questions, and to observe differences that most miss in their studies. It was this process that brought Richard to a point in his relationship with the Lord, where he was ready to learn and understand some of the most complex and difficult doctrines that the Lord had written into the Bible.
In a remarkable example of the Lord’s planning, it would be the seven years of education and 17 years of experience in the electrical engineering technology field that would provide the critical pieces of the puzzle on understanding the rapture, what it is, and what it will look like that became the basis for the greater body of work that the Lord called Richard to complete. It was 17 years that hinged on a “whim”, that Richard made “just because”.He never knew why he was led to completely upend his career, and go down a road for which there was no earthly reason to travel.
As it turns out, it was not an earthly reason at all!
This process has been the greatest joy of Richard’s life. His service to the Lord was unexpected. He never imagined what the Lord had in store, nor that he would be a “prophecy guy” – an area that was a weakness for him during many of early years with the Lord.
Richard counts it the highest blessing to be serving with Stew Sutton on the editing and publishing of Tribulation Rising as a book project, and to be standing shoulder to shoulder with his brother in Christ. Indeed, Richard, Stew and many others have been brought together with what can only be described as the most amazing collection of overcomers that can be found anywhere. This group of mutual friends has been a source of strength in a world that has become nothing but a drain on that very thing.
Richard looks forward to the future endeavors that the Lord may bring.
If you need to reach me, you can contact me through email:
(Yes, this is correct – the “d” is missing. It’s a long story.)
I respond to emails on a case by case basis. Legitimate inquiries will receive the first priority. Arguments receive the lowest priority.
Emails with no purpose other than starting a fight, or lashing out, will be discarded.
Please note:
If you read a point in Trib Rising that you do not agree with and feel compelled to send me an email, understand that if you do not receive a response from me it is because the answer to your argument is already contained in the pages on this project.
If you do not receive a response, it means that I have long since found the position you present to be incorrect. When I say incorrect, I mean I already have a collection of scriptures, study and evidence which you will not be able to refute.
That evidence will be found in multiple pages on this website.
To know any subject in the Bible, and to have a position which is compatible with what the Bible says, you must read and understand EVERY scripture on a given subject. Your position cannot violate a single scripture. Even if it appears that my positions violate what you “clearly see” as truth, I assure you that I will have considered far more scriptures on the subject than you have. That is how I ended up with the positions you see here.
A good example of this is the presence of believers that perish under the Antichrist during the Tribulation. Only a fool declares “see, the church is present on the earth!” The total body scriptures bears out the opposite. The church is gone. Those that die in the tribulation for Christ are those that find Christ DURING the tribulation.
Additionally, when you decide that your position is the “plain language” position, and other interpretations are incorrect, you must ensure that your version of “plain language” matches what the author saw as “plain language”.
There are hundreds of examples in the Bible where the plain use of the language meant something different than what it means today. Yet, there are many believers that operate under drastically false doctrines simply because they read a scripture, assigned their modern definition to an ancient word, and declared the result as truth.
Many times, the current meaning of a word or phrase actually runs opposite of the original meaning when it was used in the writing of the Bible.
The second mistake that is made is when believers consult a Bible Concordance such as Strong’s, and fail to seek the additional resource offered by a reputable lexicon such as Brown Driver Briggs. It is not enough simply to know the definition of a general word. As it is today, there are multiple forms and transliterations of words that change the meaning of the word or phrase. In some cases, a subtle shift in the transliteration can dramatically impact the meaning of a word.
You can shift the meaning 180 degrees!
Here is an example. This 180 degree shift can make a difference if the concordance you consult renders the base definition of the original Greek or Hebrew as “sacrifice”. Yet, the slightest shift in the form renders the scripture you are studying as “no sacrifice”. This occurs more often than I can count.
Without the use of at least one reputable lexicon, you may never see the linguistic differences in the original language.
We can illustrate this further with two statements:
“There is food”.
“There is no food”.
In both cases we have four characters that are combined to form the word “food”. In the dictionary, the word “food” means the exact same thing for both statements. Here is where many believers run into problems.
In the second statement, there is an additional two characters present. They are used to form the word “no”. When “no” and “food” are brought together, the meaning of the overall statements are changed, and sit 180 degrees apart.
This is easy to recognize today. However, in the original Greek and Hebrew languages, these differences are very difficult to catch if you are not a language scholar, or have the skills and experience to denote very subtle differences in visual patterns. Literally, some of the differences in the Hebrew language nearly appear as a mistake on the paper.
Yet, I see a multitude of wayward believers pounding their chest, extolling their scholastic prowess on “original language studies” while parading glaring and obvious errors as their proof!
Another error that gets made in most false doctrine is the failure to notice critical details in the scripture. I cover this subject multiple times in Trib Rising. One example is the first prophecy of world empires that Daniel received. How many times have you read this block of scripture?
How many times have you done so without asking “why” the Lord used a statue to reveal this information to Daniel? There are no accidents in the Bible. A statue was used for a reason.
Have you ever noticed that Revelation actually uses two different terms to describe what gets lumped into a singular description as “white robes”? Did you know that each terms has a different definition, and refers to two different articles of clothing?
There is something else that needs addressed.
No one man can hold the entire revelation of God. The deeds of Jesus alone fill more books than the entire planet can hold. What that means is this.
Most believers in false doctrine reach a point where they think they have all there is to know on a particular subject. This is a problem. Understand, we can literally learn something new every day on the things of the Lord. It does not matter how many times we cover a subject in the Bible. None of us will ever hold every piece on this side of eternity.
So, why does that not mean that you were sent to teach me something new? Simple.
If you have emailed me with what you believe to be a correction, understand this – if the Lord is not continuing to give you additional insight, answers, revelation – and MOST critical – additional scriptural evidence to support what you believe. . .
You have a false doctrine.
Here is the thing. Everything you read on this website continues to grow. The Lord is continuously offering additional scriptural evidence to support what you are reading here. In fact, there is more evidence for the points in Trib Rising than I can ever include. As of this writing, there are no less than four additional projects in the works – each as massive as the projects that are currently found on this page.
However, without exception, every last email I have EVER received that attempts to “correct” my “errors” uses the exact same arguments, depending on the doctrine that they dispute. Hands down, the rapture is at the top of the list.
There is never ANY new revelation in these arguments. There is never any new scriptural evidence presented. It is ALWAYS the same canned arguments. Not only that, but each emailer seems to operate under the literal impression that they have been given a “new” revelation that is going to “blow the lid off my work”.
Your arguments are not new. Read a little longer. You WILL find irrefutable evidence that puts your position down.
If you are tempted to email me with a correction, you will need to submit proof that you have put in the work. If the Lord is leading you to teach me something, then He already knows what it takes to get my attention. Understand that He requires me to put in the work. He knows what He has given me to do, and how He built me to learn and understand. He also knows that this is a serious meat only project, and requires only serious meat to make a correction. Anything less and it is NOT the Lord leading you to “correct” me.
For example, if you “just know” that the pre-trib rapture is false, and that the Lord wants you to “correct” my “errors”, then the Lord will lead you to delve deeply into the material presented here. He will give you the patience to see the task through. He will give you an irrefutable response to EVERY point I present, as if so much as a single point is unassailable, then what you hold as truth cannot be actual truth. If you are called to correct me, then the Lord will give you the means to make a lawyers case for what you hold to be the truth.
Remember – you have issues with my work. That requires you to present evidence to the contrary. It is not my job to do your work for you. Do not expect me to drop what I am doing and devote endless hours chasing your “truth”, because you lack the conviction and calling to put in the work.
To that end, here are several examples of points that are extensively covered in Trib Rising, and will not get a response UNLESS you meet the requirements given above:
The rapture was invented in 1830. You will need to address that one man (Dave MacPherson) devised this error in 1984, since 1830 is clearly “new” to you.
The 7th trumpet is the “last trump”.
Matthew 24 proves a post-trib rapture.
“One taken, one left” means that the righteous are left, and the wicked taken.
Second Thessalonians proves that the rapture comes after the Abomination of Desolation.
Tithing is not Biblical.
There will be no Third Temple in the Tribulation.
The Two Witnesses are not two actual people.
The Tribulation has already begun.
This list is not inclusive. However, you get the point. Chances are if you are tempted to email a correction, you fall somewhere in one or more of these camps.
In the name of our most blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.