January 09, 2008 03:21 pm
—
By Melanie Patterson
The North Jefferson News
A newly-released book is making people take a second look at what they believe about the Bible.
At least that’s what Roger Snow hopes to accomplish with his book, “Fifty Ways to Leave Left Behind.”
The work is a comparison of two books in the Bible: Exodus and Revelation.
Snow, pastor of Empire Baptist Church, said the book is the result of something he learned during a five-year span of studying of the Bible.
It all started several years ago when Snow decided to lead his congregation through reading the entire Bible in a year. At one point, Snow was reading both Exodus and Revelation, and was struck by some similarities.
He started a small list of those similarities. In time, the list grew.
“Over a period of several years, I had 30 or 40 parallels,” he said.
The book details 50 parallels, including the great tribulation, a new name for God, Passover, a great dragon, a marriage supper, the throne of God and more.
Snow said that his intensive study of Exodus and Revelation has shown him that the books have “one cohesive story line.” He said it has given him a new look at the Bible as a whole.
“It has affected my reading of the New Testament. And it has affected my reading of the Old Testament as well,” he said. “I’ve gotten a new view of the reign of Christ.”
Snow uses the words “Left Behind” in the title because the book is his answer to the popular Christian fiction series by that name.
The “Left Behind” book series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, gives an account of life on Earth during the tribulation.
Snow says that account is wrong.
“(Left Behind) points to the doctrine that I’m rebuking,” he said. “I think I’m saying things that nobody else in the market place is saying.”
In fact, Snow said that he is having a hard time getting pastors and others to give him feedback on his book. He thinks that is because his ideas are so different from what is traditionally taught.
“I grew up on dispensational thought,” he said, meaning that “there’s one thing for Jews and and another thing for everyone else.”
But Snow said that God’s promises extend to everyone who accepts God. He said he wants to see people living out that truth.
“In the South, we’re inundated by the idea that things are getting worse and worse,” he said. Snow said that he, too, used to see life that way, but no more.
“I’m encouraged to look at life not as the worst of times, but as the best of times,” he said.
“There’s a church on every corner,” he said. “Is that not a sign of God’s overwhelming dominance in our land?”
On the other hand, he said, “We occupy the land, but we don’t own it. What keeps us from being able to say, ‘Our King reigns over us?’”
He said that a big problem in the church, especially in the United States, is that Christians complain too much.
“It’s like we’re at a smorgasbord and we complain because there are 13 desserts instead of 14,” he said. “We complain if the church has no air conditioning, if the pews are too hard, if there’s no children’s church. We’re spoiled.”
Snow said that he simply wants to see people walk in the triumph that God has already won.
His newly-found positive outlook spills over to his congregation as well.
“You can’t spend time on something this influential without it affecting the way you preach,” he said.
The members of Empire Baptist have been hearing about Snow’s new ideas for some time now. The pastor said that his church family is excited for him that his views are now in print.
Snow has served as the pastor of Empire Baptist for 17 years. A bi-vocational pastor, he has also worked as a carpenter for many years.
He and his wife Rhonda have been married more than 30 years. They have three children, five grandchildren and another grandchild due soon.
“Fifty Ways to Leave Left Behind” was released in December by Tate Publishing & Enterprises of Oklahoma.
Snow has been doing all of the footwork himself to get the book onto bookstores’ shelves.
He mailed a copy to every newspaper in Alabama and has personally called 75 bookstores so far to let them know about his work.
The book can be found on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and other booksellers’ Web sites.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.