I recently finished reading Dr. Matthew Halsted's new book with Lexham Press, The End of the World as You Know It. If folks have a R.E.M. song playing in their minds, I'm sorry. 😃 Besides the earworm, I loved Dr. Halsted's book! The book is aimed at folks who have had questions about studying the 'end times,' AKA eschatology, the study of the last things. Dr. Halsted takes the time to dig into the historical and cultural background that the NT writers such as John, Paul, and Peter lived in as they wrote to their various communities. Dr. Halsted's book is an exercise of what good biblical exegesis that takes into account the historical and cultural background of the biblical authors and their audience. Communication is about making a message clear to the intended audience. Materials that often confuse or scare us moderns were meant to comfort and encourage the original NT audiences they were written to. Key topics that Halsted's book covers: Introduction Are We in the End Times? How Should We Understand Revelation? What Is the Mark of the Beast? Will Christians Be Raptured? Is There a Coming Time of Tribulation? How Can We Know When Jesus Will Return? What Can We Know about the Antichrist? Conclusion: What Now? Final thoughts... This is my suspicion, but if Dr. Michael Heiser was still alive, I feel he would have made Dr. Halsted's book one of his immediate recommendations and go-to's for people who asked him questions about eschatology. Dr. Halsted's book utilizes some great scholarly material but distills the material to a level that a layperson can easily understand the point. However the case, Dr. Halsted's book is now one of my favorite go-tos for folks who have questions about eschatology. It challenges the typical "Evangelical-Pop-Culture End Times" scenarios and I found it refreshing to see an application of bringing out the meaning of the text in its original context...and finding that meaning still relevant and powerful in my day today. I highly recommend this book!