"Around the world, hundreds of millions of computers will also make the transition from the old year to the new, from the year 1999 to the year 2000. And when they do, many of these engines of modern society will begin to crash or malfunction, precipitating a global crisis, the scope of which we have not experienced since World War II."

The above is a quote from page 9 of the book Millennium Meltdown written by Grant Jeffrey. Mr. Jeffrey continues writing; "At 12:00 a.m., January 1, 2000, beginning in nations near the international dateline (such as Fiji and New Zealand), the world’s computers will roll over the digits "99" (1999) to "00" (2000). When they do, modern society will reap the whirlwind sown by an innocent cost-savings decision made by computer programmers in the early days of the computer industry to record computer dates with only two digits instead of four digit fields……"

The back cover of the book reveals Mr. Jeffrey is convinced of this great crisis happening to the world, writing the following:

I am sorry to report that the lights did not go out in Georgia, nothing fell from the sky, there was food in the stores, money was still available through the ATM, you could still put gasoline in your car, water still came out of the tap, et cetera. Seemingly, for the most part, common sense prevailed. Unfortunately, reports of Christians selling homes and businesses, cashing in stocks and bonds, life insurance, and heading for the hills to live, of pastors being forced to resign due to their not getting anxious over this impending "doom", churches splitting, were grievous to hear.

Grant Jeffrey and others who jumped on this fear-mongering must hold to a measure of responsibility for the actions many persons pursued based on the information coming from these who proliferated this irresponsible message of gloom. Common sense and a basic understanding of Scripture should have been criteria enough for these "prophecy experts" to have held their peace.

Further, Mr. Jeffrey and others do injustice to Scripture to say that this Y2K Crisis would set the stage for a world government, or would bring the Anti-Christ into power or usher in a cashless society due to the collapse of financial institutions.

The stage for a one-world government has been set for quite some time. Quotes from those involved in establishing it have already said that they are waiting for that one crisis that would allow it too fully blossom. I tend to believe that crisis would have to be one of far greater portent than the Y2K Crisis (perhaps Christ returning for His Bride) to create the right scenario for this to happen.

Also, if I understand Scripture correctly, the Anti-Christ comes into power in a time of relative peace and prosperity, not of chaos. Further, it makes sense that he would need a working computer network to accomplish some of his deeds.

I will not belabor the point, for now the crisis of having a crisis has become a snicker, the sad part being more loss of integrity and credibility for the Body of Christ. Mostly, people remember the alarmists instead of the voices of reason that tried to assuage any concern.

Hopefully, there will be a few who will realize that dutifully being a student of God’s Word and properly discerning events in light of Scripture and common sense will lead them to depend upon the One True God who never fails and is always faithful.

In closing, I can hope that Mr. Jeffrey and others will be men of integrity and apologize for their hastiness and lack of solid research. I fear silence will be golden for these or convoluted excuses be forthcoming. Pray that the damage to the Body of Christ will be minimal, that God will be glorified.