Billy Crone on How Bible Prophecy Betters Our Lives
To answer this and many other questions concerning Bible prophecy, Dr. David Reagan and I invited as a special guest on our television program Christ in Prophecy Billy Crone, pastor of a Las Vegas, Nevada church and founder of Get A Life Ministries. Pastor Crone is a very knowledgeable, articulate, and passionate proclaimer of God’s Prophetic Word. He answered our questions based on his latest book The Final Countdown. This book presents a survey of the signs of the times that point to the fact that we are living in the season of the Lord’s soon return.
A Guiding Light
Dr. Reagan: The preface of your book The Final Countdown starts off with a very, very powerful statement:
“Unfortunately, in the Church today, the study of prophecy has been forsaken under the assumption that one can’t really know for sure what it all means, and therefore we should refrain from teaching it. Yet, when you think about it this is actually a slap in the face of God, for a majority of the Holy Scriptures deal directly or indirectly with prophetic issues. Why would God put prophecy in the Bible if it wasn’t meant to be understood?”
Billy Crone: Yes, God’s not looking for a filler. God placed prophecy in the Bible for a reason. All of His Word is good for us, not just parts of it. All the Bible is good for us. How dare we as Christians say otherwise! I believe this lie flies straight out of the pit of Hell.
This lie deliberately keeps Christians, our own people, in the dark. The Bible stands out as the only book on the planet that reveals the future completely with 100% accuracy. You don’t have to question the origins of the Bible. We’ve got the only book on the planet teaching prophecy. For example, it tells us in minute detail what the Antichrist is going to do one day in conquering the world. From the Bible we know exactly what’s coming down the pike. We learn how not to fall for deception and how to avoid it. And, most importantly, how to escape God’s wrath through Jesus Christ.
Signs Addressed
Dr. Reagan: Is that then the focus of your book? And how do you address the signs of the end times.
Billy Crone: Basically I took in Volume 1 the first five out of ten what I call the “Big Ones,” or the “Big Guns,” the “Big Signs.”
How do we know we’re living in the last days? Sure, we don’t know the exact day or hour. I don’t care how nifty you are with a calculator. I don’t care how many times you stare at a constellation. You just don’t know. Nobody knows! The Bible is clear about that, so we don’t set dates.
But, God loves us and so He gives His children clear signs so that we can know the era of Christ’s return and when it’s getting close, hence the title The Final Countdown. How do we know that we are getting close to the next prophetic event on the calendar — the Rapture of the Church — and then shortly after that the seven-year Tribulation? And so, I start off with the first five end times signs that point to those events.
I certainly deal with the Jewish people as a sign. I next go to the sign of modern technology. I cover the sign of worldwide upheaval, which is basically about the world falling apart due to wars and rumors of wars. I also cover famines, pestilence, earthquakes, and signs in the sky.
God’s Victory Lap
Nathan Jones: Billy, you said your book was all about victory and hope, but you’re listing here some pretty scary events. Are you saying it’s always darkest before the dawn?
Billy Crone: That is true, but often times Christians respond to that fact, “I don’t want to hear about Bible prophecy.” I had one lady, I kid you not, with all due respect, she came up one time after a service I preached and she whined, “Don’t you realize I didn’t come here for this.” I didn’t say it, but in my mind I was thinking, “Don’t you realize the whole service doesn’t revolve around you. We are here for the entire Word of God. It is all good for us, even the darkest parts.”
Billy Crone: People certainly freak out about Bible prophecy. They don’t want to hear it. But, prophecy exists in a particular frame. Often we need to reframe prophecies because we’ve got the wrong frame — the wrong misconceptions — because the Enemy or whomever has slandered Bible prophecy and set it in the bad frame of doom and gloom. “Prophecy bad, boo, hiss! I don’t want to hear this.”
No, no, gloom is not why God gave us Bible prophecy. Prophecy can only be all good stuff for the believer in Christ, because every time you hear a message about some of these signs coming to pass — Israel, modern technology, even fast forward to one world government, Big Brother issues — yes, they are kind of concerning. But, guess what? All of those scary events are framed in the proper perspective, and wait a second, that becomes a reminder that Jesus is coming back.
Every time when you hear something on the news related to prophecy, that shows we’re getting close. If you’re freaked out about the way the world is going, put it in a different frame, the proper frame, the biblical frame.
Should you go out today without thinking about the Lord’s return, and you encounter a prophetic issue in the news, well thank Jesus for that reminder that He could be coming back even today. I almost lost my joy over the news, but now that I see it in the big picture, well I’m excited again. And then, what’s that? Two hours later I hear on the news about some modern technology that could limit our freedoms, well, yes, it’s concerning, but placed in the proper frame, not so bad. That’s two reminders in one day that keeps you from forgetting that the Lord’s coming back, and it could be today. And that’s the best news you could ever hear.
Nathan Jones: Christians get the 30,000 foot view with Bible prophecy. We can see God’s overall plan and how the terrors of today actually fit into the bigger picture of His plan. What excites me with the Bible is all of its proleptic statements; meaning that future prophecy is spoken in the past tense. That makes the Bible God’s victory documentary. He’s already done it. He’s already accomplished everything He’s planned to accomplish. He is victorious! But, then God goes back into time and records parts of the Bible, just so we know how it all ends, even before it begins. Knowing God’s accomplished all of human history, and He wins, therefore the Christian wins as well, gets me excited all the time. I’m happy when I read the Bible, for the book is God’s victory lap.
Billy Crone: Fulfilled Bible prophecy drives home the point that God is never not on the throne. God is in control at all times. God is sovereign, not just in the past, but He’s sovereign in the future as well. Don’t you think He can handle your problems today? Sure He can! That should be an encouraging word to you.
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