FROM THE PASTOR
It was only a few years ago that a vast number of students of prophecy could not imagine how a one-world dictator (antichrist) would be able to come into all-encompassing power as described in God’s Word. To add to their confusion, they couldn’t imagine a dictator who would be able to enforce that a person could not buy or sell without the ‘mark of the beast’ (Rev 13:17). In all honesty, I believe in most cases they weren’t mocking God’s Word, they just couldn’t imagine such authority without the data to form a solid understanding. That has all changed today.
Think about it. Today we are steadily being drawn into an electronic cashless society because it’s so convenient. The data for establishing an understanding is now there. Most of us use more credit or debit cards than we do cash. We can purchase an article through Amazon, who has stored your payment information, with a click of a button and have it on your door step the next day. We can order groceries and other items on-line and have them ready to pick up at the drive-up area at Walmart or Gordons Foods and other stores. A person no longer needs to go to the bank to deposit a check. All that is needed is to do is take a picture of the check, e-mail it to the bank and it’s deposited. We can transfer funds from one account to a different account with the click of a button and set up recurring payments to be paid electronically without effort.
When you add to all that the increased need for security, because thieves are becoming savvier at stealing funds electronically, we now willingly provide authorization for facial recognition, finger-print authentication and even eye recognition through the iris. All of these personal particulars stored for future use. You can even check into the airport and bypass security in some airports through fingerprint recognition.
But don’t stop there. For our retirees, consider that you get your Social Security, Railroad, or other benefit checks from government sources who has records of your most personal information. For the most part these are all electronically deposited for you. You need a photo ID on your driver’s license, if you work in childcare of other care-giver businesses, you need to be finger-printed, and submit to a nation-wide background check through the FBI. There are also some cities with surveillance cameras on the streets, business with security cameras, and even homes with the new ‘Ring’ doorbells that records anyone who comes to the door. And don’t forget that everyone s consistently obtaining cell-phone pictures (in 2017 there was an estimated 1.2 trillion pictures taken by cell phone). Every one of them date stamped and GPS identified.
Still, don’t drop your guard… Your cell phone, unless you take specific precautions, continually tracks and documents your every move through GPS, saves your e-mails and texts to the ‘cloud’ (off-site storage facility) for storage. And if you have a smart phone, that phone tracks your search habits (my understanding is even in Incognito Mode) so they can provide you with advertising that meets your search patterns.
Connie and I have Spectrum Cable as our internet provider for both internet and television. A few months ago, I was searching for a new vehicle. In that effort I went online to search dealers and vehicle availability. After a few searches on my computer, we began to notice that the car ads increased substantially on our television. It probably won’t surprise you if I said the same thing concerning Bass Pro Shops ads. Spectrum documents internet searches so as to provide targeted advertising to tempt you to spend more.
Bottom line. We are increasingly becoming less independent and private all the time. The world is becoming less independent and more dependent with each passing electronic advancement. And all it will take is the right individual in the right place under the right circumstances to exploit that to their advantage. Just look at the power struggle among those who are supposed to serve the public today and we can all see how easy it can happen.
As God’s Word has warned us…
1 Peter 5:8 (NASB)
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Pastor Larry
