at my birthday party, my mom beat me black and blue in front of everybody. >> so he grew up in a very unstable situation as a small child. but the one continual influence in his life was the seventh day adventist church. >> the seventh day adventist movement is from the 19th century. it's, i think, most characterized by its name of adventist. the idea of advent of christ, usually called the second coming. so it's a group that began to believe that the end of time was very near. >> howell is fascinated by the new testament and its promise of a judgment day. he describes in his own words