 On August 9th of this year, USA Today’s Jefferson Graham wrote,
“You will get chipped. It’s just a matter of time.” I imagine many of you, especially those who are older, will respond to that statement, “Oh, no I will not!” But before we go into a state of apoplexy over RFID chips being implanted under the skin in humans, we might want to take a couple of moments to learn more about what is going on in an industry that is growing now - and will likely explode in growth in the next 3-5 years. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? For those of you who do not know about the RFID industry - you might want to turn back the clock a few years to the Veterinary world announcing that you could put a chip in your pet to verify that the pet was yours. Some, wrongly thought, this would allow a person to actually track their pet wherever it was going. This is not true if the tag used was a “passive tag.” That means that what was injected into your pet (which is about the size of a single grain of rice) does not have its own power supply (a battery of some sort). Instead it meant that if someone found your dog and took it to a Veterinarian, the doctor could detect the chip with an RFID reader - which would transmit the information in the chip identifying the dog as your beloved Fido - along with how to contact you about your pet. The news in the last 5-10 years has been that the RFID technology that has been used in animals was not able to be used in humans for various purposes. At first the vast majority of these applications involved identification or something like a brief medical history showing a patient to have a certain type of medical condition that needs to be communicated quickly if there is a medical emergency involved. WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BIO-HACKING? What is happening today, that is very interesting, is that there are those who see a whole world of products that can be developed as a result of what we know and are learning from what are now the basic and rudimentary elements of RFID technology. This is where the designation, “Grinder” comes into play. Let me take a few steps back first - and define some words for you. Bio-hacker - A bio-hacker is someone who endeavors to hack or use current technology in ways that will interface with the human body. Grinder - A “Grinder” is a “do it yourself cyborg” who is seeking upgrading his or her body without waiting for the corporate or financial world to say it is Ok to do so. There are now technologies that have been reworked (which is what is meant by “hacked”) so that we can move our hand in front of a locked door and have it unlock. Similar reworked technologies can allow people to open and unlock a computer screen, start a car, or even use a scan of the chip in your hand to put your contact information into a phone. When this kind of “chip” technology was introduced there was a strong reaction against it. Some of that reaction was due to people being concerned about putting something electronic into their bodies - while others, myself included - were concerned about biblical prophecy about a mark that would one day be required to be able to buy or sell in our world. But now such strong reactions have calmed somewhat so that more and more people are being chipped. Noelle Chesley, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said the following about the eventuality of being chipped in our world. "It will happen to everybody . . . but not this year, and not in 2018. Maybe not my generation, but certainly that of my kids." The idea of a chip the size of a grain of rice is gaining traction in our society. Yet even the world “bio-hacking” causes concerns and red flags to go up in our minds. “Are you saying that someone is going to be able to hack into my body - or my mind - and make me do things?” At the moment such thoughts are merely the musings of movie and television writers. But those who are attempting to do bio-hacking want to access the human body more and more to be able to interface electronics with the electrical systems (read nervous system here) of our bodies. While many of these experiments are relatively harmless - there are those who have tried to implant things in their bodies who have wound up with terrible consequences. One such grinder cut into her hand and later wound up in the emergency room with sepsis. But if you are wondering how close we are to having a real Iron Man - or the ability to hack into our own bodies to make us “spidey-like” or to be a cyborg with superhuman strength - such things are still flights of science fiction fancy. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MARK OF THE BEAST? Let me also be clear on another subject that will eventually be mentioned in regard to bio-hacking and the work of Grinders. The rice-sized chip they implant in themselves is not the mark of the beast - just like the ones they put in pets do not make them “pets of the beast.” The biblical passage about this in Revelation 13 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17 (NASB) As you can see the marks of the beast is something received on the right hand or forehead. It is something that allows one to sell or to buy. But we learn in chapel 14 that there is also a component to receiving it that involves worshipping the image of the beast. Since the antichrist and the beast have not even been identified yet - since none of these technologies can be used currently as a form of payment as of now - we need to realize that this is not the mark of the beast. Could it be some precursor to the kind of technology that will be used in that day? Maybe, but please try to remember that when credit cards first came out - that some people in the prophecy community said that they were the mark of the beast. What I am trying to say here is that we need to be wise and measured with our comments. When we react with absolute rejection of these technologies and call them the mark of the beast - we often have to eat a whole lot of crow later when they do not wind up as such. With that being said - I would like to send up a warning flag on the whole idea of “grinding” and “bio-hacking.” AMAL GRAAFSTRA, DANGEROUS THINGS, AND BIO-HACKING I recently watched a Ted Talk done by Amal Graafstra, the owner and founder of a company called, “Dangerous Things.” The talk was entitled, “Bio-hacking - The forefront of a new kind of human evolution.” If that title made you raise an eyebrow - it made me raise one too. Graafstra’s talk was fascinating, because it informed me as to what was truly happening in this area of study and inventive fervor. Graafstra is an inventor/entrepreneur who is trying to ride the wave of interest in bio-hacking by providing products and services for those who want to be inventors in this field. Dangerous Things may sound ominous, but it is just a marketing choice that enables Graafstra to have a name that is well known among grinders. His Ted Talk made me aware of much that was happening in the world of bio-hacking. Most of what he said was relatively innocuous, involving those who want to open doors, unlock computers, and even work of prototypes of implants in human ears that allow people to pick up sounds in similar ways that a bluetooth headset would allow someone to hear their cellphone or listen to music from it without the bother of an attached cord. It was also interesting to learn that the work of implanting these devices has begun to shift from the medical field to the world of those who do piercings for a living. SOOOO . . . WHY WRITE THIS ARTICLE IF THIS IS INNOCUOUS? That is a good question. Why am I writing this article and placing it in the “Prophecy/News Update” section of a website? It is because of the statement by Graafstra that this is the next step of human evolution. What I believe we are seeing is the beginnings of something that will have far darker applications in the future. There are currently experiments taking place that are attempting to have humans be able to see in infrared with their physical eyes. There are also others on the fringes of this movement who have as their desire then gradual movement toward cyborgs who are part human - part machine. This is distrurbing to consider. They dream of another step of evolution that will make a better human - by making it something eventually more and more inhuman. Now let me say that we are nowhere near the production of some kind of human/machine hybrid the likes of a Terminator. First of all - God was the One who created all life. We did not evolve to become human beings, we were made by a Creator God Whose purposes cannot and will not be thwarted by the desire to make us superhuman in some perverted attempt to advance the world beyond its “human stage.” Our current humanity is not the latest step in a never-ending evolution to higher forms of being. Our humanity is a gift from God and is the crowning work of creation. The reason things are so messed up on this world is because mankind chose and continues to choose sin and selfishness rather than submission to God and His will. Second of all, God’s purpose in making humanity was for us to be image bearers. We were to be the ones who are made in the image of God - and who reflect that image to God’s glory. His purpose since the fall of humanity into sin has been to redeem a people for Himself who will be transformed by the sanctifying work of the Spirit through the Word of God. All this is so that we would once again bear His image to His glory. REDEMPTION BY TECHNOLOGY OR CHRIS? The attempt at some grotesque man/machine hybrid is only a modern attempt at another tower of Babel, so that we could make a name for ourselves. The end of that road will not be pretty. If by some technological advance a direct link can be made into the human brain, we can be assured that the apocalyptic visions that movie producers and science fiction writers have considered will be the end of men controlled by technology (or worse - controlled by other men who are operating that technology). Do I mean by this come curse upon those who advance technology in our world? No, this is not my purpose. Electronics and technology will continue to advance in our world. But when men postulate that such technology will solve our problems and create a brave new world where we will evolve beyond our current human limitations. That is where I see little more than another feeble attempt to solve the problem of sin and selfishness by sinful and selfish means. It will wind up as just another tower built into the heavens to glorify man rather than God. May we not fall for the same lie yet again. Instead may we look to Christ and the cross - the only instrument of our redemption and the only way to fulfill the plan that WILL prevail to the end.
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 Over the years that I’ve studied Bible prophecy, especially that of the last days, there has been a nagging question in my head about what I would read. That question was always, “Where is the high levels of technology?” For all the fantastic interpretations of the beasts and locusts that turn them into helicopters and other things - I just did not see the prevalence of technology that I thought I would see in an end times scenario. Sure, the mark of the beast may be some sort of microchip, and the ability for every eye to see Jesus or the two witnesses in Jerusalem might be the ability of events to be televised globally. Also we might be dealing with someone in the first century seeing things that would honestly blow anyone’s mind who was seeing 21st century technology with a first century understanding of life. But lately, I’ve been looking at information that would help make sense of a world pushed back from its technological moorings.
Most of this has been revisited because of the current problems we are having with North Korea - and the threats that nation has been making against ours. One of the things that is fascinating is the ongoing scenarios where either a nuclear weapon is detonated in the United States - or just an EMP blast took place at a higher altitude. The affects of a nuclear blast are fairly well known - although we would be talking about a nuclear explosion at least 10 times the size of those that happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the prospect of an EMP blast high above our nation is something I’m not sure any of us could truly grasp. If such a detonation were to take place it would pretty much cripple the electrical grid almost everywhere in the United States. The aftermath of such an attack would be truly disastrous. Some who work in the Homeland Security Department believe that the fatalities from such an attack could run in the millions - even up to 10 million or more. This is not because of any fallout or any explosive event - but rather due to the crippling of our infrastructure. There would be a nationwide blackout, as well as the destruction of all of our electronic infrastructure that is not protected by some sort of shield that filters out the EMP pulse from the explosion. Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, a former Congressional EMP Commission member, paints a very powerful picture of what such an attack would bring on our nation. A significant EMP attack carried out high above the skies of the United States would take town the nation’s electronic infrastructure. Electronic systems of all kinds - computers, networks, and communication systems would all be down for at least months if not years. Currently all the systems that provide fuel, food, banking, medical, and transportation in our nation would be destroyed. All our electronic shipping and banking systems would be gone in a flash. Pray stated, “It would be, literally, a new stone age. In recent days the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, has threatened to destroy America, warning of “nuclear thunderbolts” that would bring judgment to us. But what should deeply concern us is that we are not just talking about transcontinental ballistic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads, there have been two satellites that are in orbit that could carry out the attack as well. Pry explained in an interview recently that North Korea launched two satellites into strange orbits around the earth. Their orbits have them approach our country from the southern regions of the globe, where we do not have adequate early warning systems in place. There are also no missiles in place that could intercept an attack from these satellites. Pry, who is not the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, and direct of the U.S. Nuclear Strategy Forum, has made his thoughts known alone with a field of experts in this field. “All of us,” Pry states, have written that we think that the threat, the possibility of a super-EMP warhead is so great, the United States should take North Korea’s satellites down. We ought not tolerate them orbiting, because nobody knows for sure what’s on the satellites.” Pry went on to add that such an attack would render the United States, “blind and defenseless.” Jim Oberg, an American scientist and retired Space Shuttle Mission Control Specialist is also concerned about these satellites. Oberg was on of a few American scientists who visited North Korea’s Sohae space launch site. In a Space Review article Oberg said the following” ”There have been fears expressed that North Korea might use a satellite to carry a small nuclear warhead into orbit and then detonate it over the United States for an EMP strike.” Oberg went on to say, "These concerns seem extreme and require an astronomical scale of irrationality on the part of the regime. The most frightening aspect, I've come to realize," he said, "is that exactly such a scale of insanity is now evident in the rest of this ‘space program.” There was an enormous amount of money put into this program - and the observers like Oberg were not convinced at all that the program was not military in nature. Oberg’s concerns seem far more warranted now that a report from just over a year ago confirmed that North Korea's satellites are fully capable of performing a surprise EMP attack at an altitude and trajectory that evade U.S. National Missile Defenses. When I read these reports recently things began to make a little more sense. A world where we go from a technological giant into a stone age culture would be disastrous beyond imagination. The rampant spread of disease, starvation, and subsequent war (because we would be pretty much blind and defenseless) seem to fit the onset of the seal judgments of Revelation 6. In that chapter events happen where we see war, famine, pestilence, wild beast attacks, and massive persecution against believers take place. Are we in that time period now? I am not making a prediction that we are - but I am saying that we are in the midst of times that could easily come about due to the current world crises. If this is the case, what should we do? I will save those comments for my next article. In the meantime - watch, pray, and make sure that you are ready for His return. |
 What is the Prophecy/News Update?At Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro, we believe that history is moving toward fulfilling God's plans and purposes. In an effort to help us be prepared for His appearing - and also to chronicle news items you just won't see in the national media - this page is devoted to sharing those items and their possible significance to 
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