A big problem with such theories is that they tend to upstage the gospel. John 3:16 does not go away or lose its meaning as a result of any details we may get about events that don’t impact us here and now.
Old earth ... new earth .... it doesn’t matter to me. A lot of people will question creation (or question God). I usually tell them that I have faith that Jesus rose from the dead after three days. Therefore, I believe God can do a lot of things beyond our comprehension.
God is outside of time. This doesn’t matter. He could have folded “time” as we know it back on itself a million times in one “so called” day. He did create light after all.
How many of us even understand the most basic Quantum Physics, yet we claim to know how God did this thing and could not have done that thing?