Keith Giles - Jesus Unexpected: Ending the End Times to Become the Second Coming

PRAISE FOR

JESUS UNEXPECTED

One of the most difficult aspects of my own faith journey was the slow (ten years) and painfully arduous work of walking away from the Dispensational, Left Behind end-times views in which I was raised. [In Jesus Unexpected ,] Keith Giles has crafted a deeply helpful and valuable gift that would have saved me years. As you read, question everything, be open and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you."

WM. PAUL YOUNG, AUTHOR OF THE SHACK

Keith Giles Jesus Unexpected is a welcome addition to his helpfully provocative series. As usual, he saturates his arguments with scriptural investigation, this time emphasizing the ways in which Christ has already come again.

His takedown of Dispensational misapprehensions is medicine for those of us who experienced the agony of Left Behind trauma, meeting and refuting that popular, colossal mistake on its own terms. His preterist read of the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation is careful and convincing. But what I most appreciated was that Giles was able to walk us out of our lust for mechanical certitude and into a humble (and ancient) recognition of the Mystery of Resurrection, rather than repeating the modern hubris of eschatological presumption. Nicely done.

BRAD JERSAK, DEAN OF THEOLOGY & CULTURE, ST. STEPHEN'S UNIVERSITY (NB, CANADA), AUTHOR OF IN: INCARNATION & INCLUSION, ABBA & LAMB

Though most evangelicals dont realize it, the Dispensational understanding of the end times that most contemporary evangelicals espouseincluding the belief in the rapture, the Tribulation, and the ultimate restoration of Israelis a very recent theological innovation. Moreover, as Keith demonstrates throughout Jesus Unexpected, it's a theological innovation that is rooted in a seriously distorted reading of Scripture and that has harmed a lot of people and that continues to seriously hinder the credibility of the Gospel. Sticking close to Scripture at every point, Keith masterfully exposes the errors of Dispensational Theology while offering readers an alternative preterist interpretation of the New Testaments eschatology that liberates readers from fear and that calls on them to participate in what God is doing now to reconcile all things to himself. Anyone who cares what the New Testament says about the end times owes it to themselves to read this insightful work.

GREG BOYD, AUTHOR OF THE MYTH OF A CHRISTIAN NATION

"What we foresee for the future can energize us or paralyze us. One of the most paralyzing visions of the future is one that has captured modern imagination with addictive fear, and is supported by a secret code in a holy text, understood only by a select few. Dispensationalism is a world view that has kept many Christians blind to the beauty that is present, keeping them preoccupied with dread about the horror to come. Nothing frees us from this irrational fear as effectively as a clear understanding of how and where these twisted ideas were developed. In Jesus Unexpected , Keith Giles not only does that, but also draws our attention to something more captivatingly beautifulthe presence of Christ within us inviting us to participate in an adventure that is already happening."

ANDRE RABE, AUTHOR, PUBLIC SPEAKER, PHILOSOPHER, AND RADICAL THEOLOGIAN

Jesus-followers who have stayed awake at night fearful of the second coming of Jesus need to read this book by Keith Giles! Youll be astounded with the idea of the Apocalyptic Hyperbole and quickly come to see that there really is nothing to fear after all. In fact, the seeds of Jesus divine presence live within you. The radical idea that the second coming has already occurred is a tremendous comfort to those who have been afflicted with fear and trembling about the rapture since their early days. I highly recommend this book to Christians who are ready to embrace a new truth about their faith journey so that you can live knowing the surprising reality of the second coming.

REV. DR. KATY E. VALENTINE, AUTHOR OF FOR YOU WERE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE: SEX, SLAVERY, AND SELF-CONTROL IN A PAULINE COMMUNITY AND CO-HOST OF THE HERETIC HAPPY HOUR PODCAST

All I can say is, wow! [ Jesus Unexpected ] packs quite a punch. The only issue I take is that the author didn't write it in the late 80s or early 90s, when I needed it most. It would have spared me from all the sleepless nights I had as a kid, worried that my parents would be raptured while I was left behind. But I can forgive Giles for that because I know there are countless others still trapped in Dispensationalism, and it's better to find freedom late than to never find it at all.

MATTHEW J. DISTEFANO, AUTHOR OF HERETIC! AND CO-HOST OF THE HERETIC HAPPY HOUR PODCAST

In Jesus Unexpected , Keith unpacks the ideas of rapture theology, kingdom eventualities, and our place in all of it. Questions surrounding the biblical theories have been around for millennium and Keith jumps right in to share his take on the subject matter. As this topic was a source of existential crisis for me as a child, it is with great relief that I read of differing ideas as to the reality of this supposed event. I wanted to find those areas in which Keith had not done enough homework to disavow me of my preconceived ideas, but I was unable to identify an area in which he failed. As such, I found myself deeply interested and impressed with Keiths obvious attention to detail and his usual care in stating his standpoint.

MICHELLE COLLINS, AUTHOR OF INTO THE GRAY AND HOST OF THE BOOK-ISH PODCAST

Luther saw grave things wrong with the Church of his day. He posted his 96 Theses calling out these atrocities and was branded a heretic and forced to live in exile. Had Keith Giles lived 500 years ago, he would also have been ostracized as a heretic and forced to live in exile. Let us be grateful that Keith is here now and that is not the case. Keith is a courageous modern-day Luther. He systematically takes us through the fallacies of the Church in his writings. In Jesus Unexpected , Keith does what he does best, exposing the modern-day myths about the End Times. He gives us this information in simple language, so that anyone of any age could read it and learn from it. When I read Keiths books, I feel like I am seated in a living room, relaxed, sipping coffee, and having an intelligent conversation with a friend. This friend is not out to prove everyone is wrong and he is right. He only desires for the reader to reconsider what they have been taught and seek truth and greater knowledge. I have needed this book for many years and I devoured every page of it!

TODD R. VICK, AUTHOR OF THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND AND HOST OF THE RECONSTRUCTION REBEL PODCAST

The subtitle of Keith Giles new book says it all, Jesus Unexpected: Ending the End Times to Become the Second Coming . As is usual in his Jesus Un series, Keith keeps his authors eye on the ball which in this case is a very present, pulsating, and palpable Jesus; a Christ who has already returned here in fullness to indwell all humanity. If true, and I think it largely is, this puts all futur ist eschatology out of business. Keiths vibrant message to us is to look both within ourselves and between ourselves to find the unexpected Jesusa Jesus whose eschatological timetable is always today, here, and now.

RICHARD MURRAY, AUTHOR OF GOD VERSUS EVIL: SCULPTING AN EPIC THEOLOGY OF GODS HEROIC GOODNESS

Those of us who were theologically formed in the era of the Left Behind series have been far more impacted than we realize by various end times conspiracy theories that many have come to view as Biblical truth. In Jesus Unexpected , Keith Giles masterfully dismantles these apocalyptic myths one by one. After laying waste to limiting false doctrines of the last days, Giles makes a compelling case for a far more hopeful view of the current state of the church and, in fact, the whole world.