Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy

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Bible Prophecy: Who Can You Trust?

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Why we wrote

“Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy”

There are so many ideas floating around about prophecy in these fascinating times. How does one know what is true and what is just speculation? Fourteen years ago Lambert Dolphin and I teamed up to write a thoroughly Biblical book on the subject. We called it “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done: The Prayer Offered Most Often is about to be Answered.” It was posted on the Internet, and during that time more than 340,000 people have downloaded it. It was used by countless pastors and Bible teachers over the years and proved itself to be reliable. In all that time there was nothing we had taught about Bible prophecy that we needed to change or retract.

We realized that the world has changed in many ways during those 14 years: including the 9/11 attacks and the war on terrorism, the rise of Iran’s fanatical regime, and the financial meltdown of the past few years. These issues needed to be addressed. We also knew that many people would prefer to have a real book in their hands that they could mark up and return to as a trusted resource. That is why we updated the book, changed its name, and released it in two major formats: a large attractive paperback book, and an eBook for Kindle and other eReaders, tablets and smart phones.

Here is a note from co-author Lambert Dolphin:

The Bible is full of good news for all who wish to know the truth about the One, true God and the great future He has lanned for our race. Over 20% of Scripture concerns the future of mankind. But all the positive things God wants to do for us are thwarted by careless neglect of these prophetic Scriptures. Connecting the Dots has been written to help ordinary people understand the essentials of our future. Radio, television, movies, the media of every nation, the teachings of most churches and schools mislead, distort and warp the straightforward account of how our benevolent Creator will soon step back into history to bring about real peace on earth with justice for all.

We have had an excellent response so far from the readers of the book. It gives the “big picture” of prophecy and explains the major predictions about the End Times in a step-by-step way. There is also a free downloadable study guide that can be used for personal enrichment or for group study. If you don’t have a copy of Connecting the Dots yet you may order it directly from Prophecy Central or from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your Christian bookstore.

Order book from Prophecy Central

Order book from Amazon.com

Order eBook from Amazon.com

Free Download of Study Guide

Spiral-bound copy of Study Guide for $10

More information about the book

Tags: Apologetics, Bible prophecy, Connecting the Dots, Israel, Jesus, Rapture
Posted in 2012, Apologetics, Apostasy, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Creation, Earthquakes, Egypt, Eschatology, Evangelism, Fearful Events, Gog and Magog, Heaven, Hell, Islam, Israel, Libya, Mark of the Beast, Middle East War, Missions, New World Order, Peace, Persecution, Prayer, Rapture, Religions, Revival, Revived Roman Empire, Syria, Technology, Terrorism, United States of America, Wars | No Comments »

Free Study Guide / Gary Kah Endorsement

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Lambert Dolphin and I are pleased to announce that we can offer you a FREE STUDY GUIDE to go with our book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy. The guide is divided into 12 weeks of daily study (5 days per week) with stimulating questions and activities. It can be used for personal enrichment or for group study. It is available as a free pdf document (52 pages), or as a spiral-bound product at a nominal cost.

We are also grateful for the endorsement of Gary Kah, one of the most respected prophecy teachers of our time. Gary wrote…

“I have personally known Ron Graff as a friend for many years. He is a man of integrity with a genuine pastor’s heart and passion to see people come to know Jesus as Lord. He also happens to have a grasp of current world events and Bible prophecy like few others. His compelling book will heighten your sense of urgency about sharing the love and truth of Christ with a fallen humanity as the present age draws to a close.”

- Gary H. Kah, author of En Route to Global Occupation and The New World Religion, expert on globalization, international speaker and frequent talk show guest (www.garykah.org).

Get more information about the free Study Guide and Connecting the Dots.

Tags: Bible prophecy, Connecting the Dots, Free Study Guide, Gary Kah
Posted in Apologetics, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy | 1 Comment »

Your Prophecy Update

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

2011 In Review

The Year in Prophecy

We have just finished our wrap-up of last year’s world events in the light of Bible prophecy. It is a long one – 31 pages in all – and it covers the top 10 prophetic stories of the year. It’s free of course, and we offer it in two forms: The first is the website version with hypertext that allows you to do further research in Prophecy Central’s “World of information about Bible prophecy.” At any point you can go to one of our hundred-plus subtopics for more insight from the Bible, commentaries, and pertinent news over the course of the last decade or so.

The other version is a downloadable and printable (pdf) file. It’s like a small book about the events of 2011.

Study Guide

We have also just released another free resource: The Study Guide for our prophecy textbook, “Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy.”

This 12-week (five-days per week) guide can be used for personal enrichment, or as a stimulus for group discussion. Once printed, you can put this 52-page manual into your own notebook, or you may order it as a spiral-bound book at a reasonable cost.

Basic Prophecy Knowledge

It’s the beginning of a new and very interesting year! This is a good time for all of us to get up to speed on Bible prophecy. Let’s do it together. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

I will ask a series of basic questions about prophecy and let’s imagine we are all part of a big growth group where we can share our answers. I will just give some of the thoughts that I have heard from people before, and then I’ll make some suggestions.

After that, you and other brave souls can write their thoughts about
that question. Then we’ll move on to the next question. Hopefully, after a few of these Internet sessions, we will have raised our collective knowledge.

Here’s the first question…

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT PROPHECY?

This will be the title of our next post, and you can be thinking about it ahead of time.

Tags: basic prophecy questions, Bible prophecy, Connecting the Dots, new year, study guide
Posted in Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Preparedness | 3 Comments »

Another Nice Surprise: Our Book in Amazon list for “Bible Prophecy”

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

This week I made a list of great books and DVDs about Bible Prophecy. It’s sort of a general wish-list for prophecy enthusiasts. Amazon.com offers a way to list these products by categories in a personalized “store.” So I put together our own Prophecy Central Amazon Store. It turned out great. I hope you will check it out!

In the process of generating this helpful list I made an encouraging discovery. When I did a search for “Bible Prophecy” books in Amazon, my own book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy (co-authored with Lambert Dolphin), appeared on the second page of their listings! To be exact, it was #23 of 11,541 results. I was shocked! Who knows if it will stay there, but it was a real encouragement from the Lord.

I know the book will be a big help to those who want to grasp the big picture of Bible prophecy, but I don’t have the means to advertise it in a big way. This is just a reminder to me that whether it ever has wide distribution or not, it is all in God’s hands, and his power is unlimited.

Connecting the Dots is available from the Prophecy Central store. It is in stock and usually ships within 24 hours. We pay the sales tax (if applicable), and shipping for orders of 2 or more books is free.

Posted in Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Eschatology | No Comments »

Connecting the Dots Called a “Bestseller”

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Armageddon Books is an online bookseller that specializes in Bible prophecy books and products. They have been on the Internet about as long as Prophecy Central, and we have enjoyed watching each other grow for more than a decade.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy had crept up to the # 10 spot on their list of “October Bestsellers.” It felt good to see it displayed in the company of books by great writers like Hal Lindsey, Clarence Larkin, and Tim LaHaye.

They also listed our book on Page One of their General Prophecy section, and if one follows the link there, they devoted a three-page long description of the book.

To God be the glory!

Tags: Apologetics, Bible prophecy, Connecting the Dots
Posted in Apologetics, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Eschatology | 1 Comment »

Remembering Steve Jobs

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

We all knew Steve Jobs’ health was failing, but it was a shock to hear that he had died today, just a few weeks after resigning as Chairman of Apple Computer. Losing Steve Jobs was like losing Thomas Edison. His genius changed the world in which we live.

I had the privilege of meeting him in the early days of personal computers. It was my privilege to work with Apple Computer, developing simple educational programs for a brand new and very exciting market. Apple used some of my programs for their Educational Classics. I have a letter in my files from a vice president of the company saying that Steve Jobs had reviewed one of my new programs and liked it.

Over the years I followed his ups and downs, and like everyone else, I marveled at his accomplishments and the way they improved the quality of our lives.

I also met Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple in those days, and recently a friend of mine took my original Apple II to a conference where Woz was speaking. I sent along a copy of my book, Connecting the Dots, and a letter sharing the Gospel with him. He signed the computer in indelible ink, but didn’t comment on the letter.

Over the years I have prayed often for these to men, and for Bill Gates, who was also instrumental in these world-changing technological developments.

Jesus asked, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36) I hope Steve Jobs found Christ in his brief but amazing earthly journey. I never heard that he did, but I sincerely hope to meet him again in Heaven.

Food Storage and Prophecy

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

Barbara and I have been married for 50 wonderful years. Our life has been very good because of our personal relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ.

We have also been involved in pastoral ministry for 50 years, and are just now retiring after 20 years of leading our wonderful church family, Solid Ground Church, in Alta Loma, California. However, we do not want to waste our “golden years” with meaningless activity. For many years I have had a special interest in Bible prophecy, and have written articles and spoken at conferences on the subject. For the past 14 years I have edited “Prophecy Central.” It has become very popular among Evangelical Bible students and ranks very high in a Google search for either “prophecy” or “Bible prophecy.”. A good friend and I have written a new book, “Connecting the Dots,” that serves as a handbook of Bible prophecy. I will now be available to speak at various churches and conferences on the subject.

We have considered many ways of supplementing our income during our retirement, and have decided that helping other people discover and enjoy the incredible variety of food that can be stored for use in case of an emergency would be a perfect home-based business.. The best part is that these foods from Shelf Reliance are a delicious and nutritious addition to our regular diet. Because of that, older foods can be eaten instead of discarded when it is time for them to be replaced.

For our prophecy students, let me add this: We trust in the Lord for our provision, and we do not fear the future, even though we are seeing the fulfillment of many End-Times prophecies. We don’t store food to survive through the coming hard times of the Tribulation. We believe in the Rapture of the Church before the Tribulation begins. But simple logic and wisdom require people everywhere to be prepared for the kind of natural disasters and other emergencies we are seeing all over the world. In our area it just makes sense to have adequate supplies in case of an earthquake.

Please take a look at this great new product line.

Tags: earthquakes, famine, food, freeze-dried, preparedness, retirement, work from home
Posted in Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Earthquakes, Fearful Events, Preparedness, Speaking | 2 Comments »

Systematic Prophecy: Sound Biblical Teaching

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Now that Harold Camping and his followers have raised a huge question in the minds of millions of people about prophecy by setting a false date for the Rapture, and then by recalculating the date (as we warned he would do), it is time for pastors and Bible teachers to adopt sound scriptural teaching on this subject and warn their students against setting dates for the Lord’s return.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. – 2 Timothy 3:16

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. – Hebrews 1:1-2

Sound Scriptural Teaching

Nearly 1/3 of the Bible is prophecy! Pastors and Bible teachers dare not just ignore the subject. First, we need to know and teach about the detailed predictions in the Old Testament that have already been literally fulfilled by the first coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. These prophecies form the greatest proof of the validity of the Bible and of the person and work of Christ. Then we need to be able to give basic answers to questions about those prophecies that have not yet come to pass.

Great theological writers have developed what is known as “Systematic Theology.” These major projects seek to draw together all the main biblical concepts on various aspects of theology. Some of these topics are Theology Proper (the study of God), Christology (the study of Jesus Christ), Pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit), Soteriology (the study of Salvation), Anthropology (the study of mankind), Angelology (the study of Angels – including fallen angels like Lucifer and the demons), Ecclesiology (the study of the Church), and other sub-topics of theology.

There is a final category of Systematic Theology known as Eschatology (the study of last things). This subject deals with biblical teaching about future events. Qualified theologians have collected and harmonized Old and New Testament prophecies about the future and have presented the material in an orderly way to show the “big picture” of coming developments. Those who are grounded in the basics of Eschatology will be better prepared to understand what is happening in the world. They can then share their findings with others with confidence and caution. Some worthy examples of “Systematic Prophecy” are Lewis Sperry Chafer’s volume on Eschatology and Dwight Pentecost’s classic book, Things to Come. Bible students and teachers may use these books to provide a basic foundation of what God’s Word says about the future.

Our own new book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, was written in this same systematic way. It follows the prophetic Scriptures about Israel, God’s Chosen People, the Church, future believers of the Tribulation Period, the Millennium, and beyond.

In the next few blogs, we will continue this topic by addressing three other vital aspects of this great subject:

Principles of Interpretation

Teaching with Humility

Denouncing Falsehood

Tags: Bible prophecy, false teachers, systematic prophecy
Posted in Apologetics, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Eschatology, Rapture | No Comments »

Our Book – 300,000 and Counting

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

The book that Lambert Dolphin and I wrote has had 335,919 readers to date, BUT it is our old (1998) online version, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done… The Prayer Offered Most Often Is About to be Answered!”

Someone sent this Email to Lambert:
I’ve been reading your book “Thy Kingdom Come” and really appreciate the hard work you put into this. It seems that with only some updating for current events (I remember asking my self if this was pre-9/11) many would benefit from your explanation of Revelation.

Lambert wrote back:
Thank you very much for your kind words.
Last November Ron Graff and I released a completed updated and revised version of this book. You should find many major changes and updates.
The new book is “Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy.” So far it has had an excellent reception. It is available online at our Prophecy Central store (It is the only product there), or any of the major booksellers. But it takes time to get the word out without a huge advertising budget. Please visit our Facebook page, where we post news about the book’s progress. While you are there, please click “Like.” That helps let other people know about the book.

Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy

Order the Book – Paypal

Posted in Apologetics, Apostasy, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Earthquakes, Egypt, Evangelism, Fearful Events, Gog and Magog, Islam, Israel, Mark of the Beast, Middle East War, New World Order, Peace, Persecution, Plagues, Rapture, Religions, Revival, Revived Roman Empire, Technology, Terrorism | 2 Comments »

Why Jesus Isn’t Likely to Return on May 21st

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Perhaps you have heard that Harold Camping, General Manager and President of Family Radio, says he has calculated the exact date of the Rapture, based on a complicated formula that stretches 7000 years from Noah’s flood. The proposed date is May 21 at 6 p.m. As we reported in Prophecy Central, his listeners have supported the theory, buying billboards and driving scores of Family Radio vehicles in many parts of the country warning people to be ready.

Camping has been wrong before. He predicted the second coming on Sept. 6, 1994, and hundreds of his listeners gathered at an auditorium to wait for the event.

In our ‘Warnings and Cautions’, we stress that no one knows the exact date of Christ’s return. Here is Jesus’ own instruction about this from Matthew 24:32-44.

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

So, by publicizing a supposed exact date for the Rapture, Camping has made it almost certain that Jesus will not return on that date. However, millions of Bible-believing Christians do think that He is coming soon, so it is a good idea to be ready all the time!

Our new book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, has detailed information about the Rapture of the Church and the later Glorious Return of Jesus Christ.

Posted in Apostasy, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Evangelism, Rapture | 22 Comments »

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