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NEWYEAR!?
(Continued from page 18)
you" (verses 33, 34,
The Living
Bible).
Prlvacy
Oür Founding Fathers would turn
over
in
their graves if they could see
the mess we are in today. Our
"rights" have disappeared under the
banner of maintaining them. The
apostle John in the book of Revela–
tion and writer George Orwell
in
his
book
1984
both foresaw the prob–
lem: buying and selling, having and
not having a .job totally controlled
by government.
You may end up under another
government with another number–
and as
1
bring it up let me say ahead
of time that I am NOT saying that
the "number in their right hands
and in their foreheads" is the Social
Security number-BUT, let's just see
what now is, and what is possible
in
John's and Orwell's vision of our
next few years!
"Social Security"- what a won–
derful sound! And when it was in–
augurated we were all promised our
number would never be used for
anything but Social Security! Do
you know your number? What do
you use it for?
The computer
is
an invention of
the rank ofwriting and the wheel:
lt
has completely revolutionized our
society. Don' t misunderstand me.
Computers are not bad, but they
have been put to sorne uncomfort–
able uses.
Names are okay, but computers
prefer numbers. The one number
you have which is unique to you is
your Social Security number. Once
you have that unique number it is
convenient for government and
business to keep track of as many
things about you as possible with
reference to that one number. So
the promise of its single use goes by
the wayside, as so many other prom–
ises, and you and 1 become increas–
ingly naked and have our privacy
invaded to the last jot and tittle- or
should 1say bit and bite! For the fun of
it, why not figure out how many uses
your number is now being put to?
You might start by counting the
credit cards you carry-each com-
34
pany asked for your number before
issuing you their little plastic rectangle.
Credit rating? Driver's license?
Bank account? Gun registration?
Crop allotments? Timber harvest?
The amount of water in your well?
The checks you write? The life-style
you lead; the things yo'J buy? Did
you know, by the way, that every
check you have ever written is mi–
crofilmed and on file-and available
to government and business afike?
Need cash? What for? Paper
money is only redeemable in more
paper money! Besides, it's what
money can buy that is important,
not the money itself. Checking ac–
counts help create more money.
Credit cards do too. But they can be
doctored, stolen, misused. Wouldn't
it be nice if they offered to just tatoo
your
unique number on the back of
your hand-invisibly, of course-and
all you had to do was pass it under a
small machine to buy and sell, to
pay and get paid? No one could
steal it; nobody else could use
yo"ur
number!
Can' t happen? Don't bet on it!
Thy
Klngdom Come!
There wiU be no privacy in God's
Kingdom either. He knows not only
all the facts about us, but even our
every thought. He knows our heart
and our very intent. That's fine! As
long as Goo is governing
1
won't
mind that invasion of privacy-but
with human beings in control to
such an extent, 1 get uneasy. How
about you? With corruption ramp–
ant, terrorism spreading worldwide,
nuclear holocaust around the cor–
ner, society in a moral sinkhole, the
family disintegrating, famine, pollu–
tion and pestilence staring the
human race in the face,
1
can only
pray: "Thy Kingdom come! "
Thatwill be the really good news!
Happy New Year!
O
RECOMMENDED READING
What is the kíngdom of God? ls it the
church? ls it somethin9, " set up in the
hearts of men" ? ls it 'the good with–
in you" ? ls it " the millennium"? Each
of these is widely
taught~yet
none is
right! The shocking truth is made
plaín in the booklet
Just What
Do
You
Mean . . . Kingdom of God?
Be sure
to request your free copy (address
of our office nearest you is on inside
front cover).
FEEDING
WoRtn
(Continued from page
27)
thirsty, give him water to drink"
(Prov. 25:2 1).
In the parable of the good Sa–
maritan (Luke 10:29-37), Jesus em–
phasized that all men are our
neighbors and that Christians, like
the Samaritan, should come to the
aid of those who are hungry and
destitute.
The apostle James proclaimed
that true religion is inextricably tied
to ministering to the poor, the
fatherless and the widow (James
1:27). "lf a brother or sister be
naked, and
destitut~
of daily food,
and one of you say unto them, De–
part in peace, be ye warrned and
filled; notwithstanding ye give them
not those things which are needfu1
to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is
dead, being alone" (James 2: 15-17).
And in one of the most convicting
and conscience-pricking accounts in
all of Scripture (Matt. 25:34-40),
Christ speaks of a future time when
He will say to the righteous: "Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom.... For
1
was an hungred,
and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: 1 was a
stranger, and ye took me in: Naked,
and ye clothed me:
1
was sick, and
ye visited me:
1
was in prison, and
ye carne unto me.
"Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we
thee an hungred, and fed thee? or
thirsty, and gave thee drink? .. .
And the King shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my breth–
ren, ye have done it unto me."
For America and other nations
which claim to derive most of their
fundamental moral principies from
the Bible and the Judeo-Christian
ethic, there is no question that we
have at least sorne responsibility to
show compassion for the poor and
destitute, and to help feed the
world's hungry. But how much aid,
in what forro, and for how long are
knotty and soul-searching ques–
tions- questions which can only be
answered by our deepest and most
personal convictions.
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH . January 1978