THE INTERNET : OUR FINAL FRONTIER; YOUR LAST CHANCE?
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
FidoNet History And BBS'ing, Rise Of The Internet, Fall Of
FidoNet, Lure Of The Internet, Great Was The Company, Brief
History Of Our Ministry, Blessings Through Obedience, Why
Question God's Methods?, Extent of God's Love And Mercy,
Pride Ego And Self-Preservation, Moment Of Vulnerability,
Why So Many Chances, God's Judgment And Wrath, Two Paths,
The Internet: Our Final Witnessing Frontier?, Control Of
Information, Christian Persecution, Your Final Chance?
For those of you who may be new to online communications,
there is a good possibility that you have never heard of
FidoNet. Briefly, back in the late 1980's and early 1990's,
FidoNet was arguably as popular as the Internet is today. In
fact, some people who are still diehard FidoNet members in
its waning hours, won't hesitate to inform the "unlearned",
that FidoNet was one of the precursors to the now-public
Internet. It was comprised of individual BBS's, (or Bulletin
Board Services), which were run on private computers, and
which were networked together, using ANSI-based terminal
software, via local, direct telephone dial-up connections.
In other words, unlike today where the vast majority of us
must rely upon an ISP, (Internet Service Provider), or at
least a LAN, (Local Area Network), connection, in order to
connect to the Internet, there was no need for a middle man
back then, because the original FidoNet networks were run by
SysOps, (or System Operators), who all generally lived in
the same city, town or general area. Connecting to another
computer in the network was simply a matter of making a
local telephone call, via modem, to the BBS of one's choice.
Upon connecting to such a system, one could then obtain a
list of other local BBS's, or nodes, which formed a part of
that particular network. Being as these were usually local
calls, there was no charge involved. In fact, in the
beginning, most, if not all, BBS's were run for free by
those who were dedicated to the hobby. How different from
today where everything revolves around money, money, money!
As the acronym "BBS" implies, the primary purpose of a BBS
was to serve as a bulletin board, or message board, for the
users of the system, as well as for the other members of the
entire local network, via the exchange of message packets by
the SysOps. File-sharing also became an integral part of the
local BBS environment. While files were for the most part
free, many SysOps eventually found it necessary to implement
upload/download quotas in order to maintain a fresh stock of
interesting files for their BBS members. Even back then,
file leeches, (those people who download a lot of files, but
never upload anything in return), were a problem.
Originally, FidoNet, (which was just one of such networks),
was confined to the United States of America and Canada. As
more local BBS networks joined FidoNet, it became necessary
to form various "stars", or hubs, which served as message
relay stations between the various BBS networks which formed
a part of the overall FidoNet network. As I recall, there
were three such "stars" in the continental USA. It has been
quite a while since I participated in FidoNet, but if memory
serves me correctly, these three "stars" were located in
Texas, Pennsylvania and possibly California or Washington
State.
The people who administrated these hubs also worked together
to set the various policies which governed overall FidoNet
operations. There was a lot of politicking going on, and
there were problems on occasions. Some of the message forums
were also dominated by real dictatorial, tyrannical types.
They acted like little "gods", and their word was law. If a
person dared to challenge their word, or argued with them
publicly, (which was a real taboo within FidoNet), it could
easily lead to their temporary, or even permanent, expulsion
from participation in that particular message conference.
On a few occasions, I experienced this myself; but it wasn't
because I was disrespectful; I simply wanted to share my
Christian faith; but some of those antichrists just didn't
want to hear anything about it. They were happy with their
pagan beliefs. Even back then, Wicca, and other false belief
systems had already taken root within the online community.
I particularly noticed this amongst the military personnel
who appeared to operate a lot of the BBS's back then.
One thing is for certain; the FidoNet message conferences
covered a lot of different topics and interests, and thus
served as a springboard for sharing quite a diversity of
viewpoints. Whether it was technocrats discussing the latest
developments in computer technology, or people interested in
politics who were debating the latest issues from different
political perspectives, or young kids who were thoroughly
absorbed in the latest networked RPG's, (role-playing
games), or religious folks who wanted to share their faith
with the world, or scientists and academia exchanging views
on the latest speculations and theories, everyone seemed to
be represented to one degree or another.
Once it became physically possible to exchange message
packets via the Internet, (and thus cut down on the cost of
long distance phone calls between the hubs and adjoining
networks), FidoNet grew even more, and expanded to other
countries. It became necessary to divide the online world
into different zones, each of which had their coordinators.
When I left FidoNet during the late 1990's, it was comprised
of literally thousands of BBS's worldwide. I suppose that an
exact number will really never be known, being as BBS's were
coming and going all the time, and it was rather difficult
to keep the nodelists up-to-date in a realistic manner.
While the rising star of the Internet offered new growth
opportunities for FidoNet, it also signalled its eventual
fall from popularity, and in fact, its demise, being as
FidoNet simply could not keep up with the increasingly
sophisticated, and attractive, technologies which were being
developed specifically for the Internet. Whereas BBS's were
limited to message boards, online chat, file transfers, and
sub-standard ANSI graphics, (although we all thought that
the graphics were cool at the time, particularly those which
were animated), the Internet has faced no such limitations.
In addition to providing all of the above, (except for the
ANSI graphics), the high-speed Internet today offers us live
or pre-recorded streaming audio and video in the form of
news, sports, special events, video conferencing, Internet
TV and radio, worldwide web-cams, MP3's, movie trailers, and
other forms of entertainment. For added special effects and
interactivity, webmasters also offer us Shockwave and Flash
movies, Java applets, CGI scripts, as well as a host of
other plug-in technologies which further enhance one's
Internet experience.
Clearly, the volume of information the Internet provides,
(whether factual, propaganda or fantasy), and the speed with
which it delivers it, cannot possibly be compared to archaic
FidoNet by any means. Whether we are looking for knowledge
or mere entertainment, the Internet offers the online user
instant gratification. It is an exotic electronic world full
of motion, sounds and colors which flood the human senses;
and it is a cyber-world where one can be whomever he wishes
to be, regardless of the reality which surrounds him. Sadly,
a lot of Internet content does nothing to contribute to the
betterment of society because it fails to embrace high moral
standards; and as I noted earlier, a large part of it now
revolves around making a profit, and nothing more.
Yet, at the same time, I can see God's Hand, and His Wisdom,
behind the development of the Internet to some degree. While
a certain percentage of Internet content has been devoted to
things which in my view should be prohibited, we Christians
have not allowed Satan to steal the show entirely. Some of
us have availed ourselves of this new technology in order to
further the Work of the Lord, in the hope that more people
will come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
While I don't have a precise figure, from my involvement in
Christian web rings, as well as from my general web surfing,
I am given the impression that there are currently thousands
of individual web sites which are dedicated to the sharing
of our Christian faith in some form. I am reminded of the
following verses:
"The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that
published it."
Psalms 68:11, KJV
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come."
Matthew 24:14, KJV
It was from our humble beginnings as a local BBS, that our
current online Christian outreach ministry evolved. After
serving as a missionary for about fifteen years, first in my
native country, and then in several foreign lands as well, I
eventually settled in my current locale during the mid 80's,
where I continued in a door-to-door/street ministry for a
time. But towards the end of the eighties, I grew rather
backslidden in my ways and left my first love for the Lord's
Work. Instead of preaching the Gospel full-time as I had
been doing, I became involved in various secular jobs; first
working as a radio disc jockey, and then as a pet store
manager. After being laid off due to a change in ownership,
I started my own aquarium design and maintenance business,
which was featured twice in our local newspaper. However, it
eventually faltered, which I now believe was by God's
design.
In spite of my waywardness, God wasn't through with me yet.
It was through one of those jobs that I was introduced to my
first computer: a Macintosh Classic. That was in 1990. By
today's standards, the Classic is a very ancient machine;
and nowadays, most people just throw them away, or give them
away for spare parts. Back then though, having a black and
white nine inch monitor with a CPU speeding along at about
fourteen megaherz as I recall, was something to behold; and
need I tell you about our "super-fast" 1200 baud modems of
the time? Well, by early 1993, I was finally able to buy my
very first computer: a Macintosh LC III. This came with a
fourteen inch, 256-color monitor, a 25 mhz CPU, 4 megabytes
of RAM, and a 160 megabyte hard drive. I even purchased a
black and white laser printer to go along with it! Boy was I
modern now!
It was towards the end of that same year that I first heard
about BBS'ing; and before long, I managed to borrow an Apple
modem from a friend of mine. For those of you who complain
about the slow speed of today's dial-up connections, imagine
if you can, moving along at 300 to 1200 baud with an Apple
modem. Of course, at the time, it didn't seem slow, because
we had nothing faster with which to compare it; and just
being online was a wonder in itself. Eventually, I acquired
a 2400 baud modem as a trade-off for a desktop Christmas
lights program at a local Macintosh Users Group meeting. It
didn't even come with a modem cable, but I was happy!
At the time, I had no idea that I could actually operate my
own BBS, so I was happy with just posting messages on the
local boards. But even then, God was already beginning to
stir up my spirit again, as I just couldn't keep away from
preaching the Gospel. It was during early 1994, after having
gotten my feet wet in the BBS world, that I finally bought
the Hermes BBS software package, and started my own board,
which eventually became known as "The Treasure Trove BBS",
or "TTT BBS", due to its Christian content. The name was
based on the following verse found in the Gospel of Matthew:
"Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is
instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man
that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his
treasure things new and old."
Matthew 13:52, KJV
Before long, I joined a local Christian network, the name of
which I can no longer remember. It was through that network
that I also became familiar with FidoNet; and eventually, I
began my own FidoNet message conference. That conference was
actually the beginning of our worldwide online Christian
outreach ministry.
During the same time that all of these events were occurring
in my own life, the Internet was also growing and gaining in
popularity; and as I mentioned earlier, it was just a matter
of time before BBS'ing and FidoNet would be overshadowed by
the same. The Lord knew that it was in my heart to spread
the Christian Gospel as far and as wide as possible via this
new medium; and after proving myself faithful with the BBS
for about three years, He finally opened the doors in late
Spring of 1997, when we finally acquired the financial means
to set up our first Christian web page.
By today's standards, our site was a rather pitiful endeavor.
I knew very little about HTML coding in those days; and so,
design-wise, the site wasn't much different from primitive
ANSI graphics. However, with the Lord's help, I have learned,
and have slowly expanded our online presence; so that today
we offer an interesting and inspiring assortment of options
and materials at our site, which is now known as Endtime
Prophecy Net. This includes a wide selection of Bible-based
commentaries written by myself and my daughter, as well as
many useful Bible study tools, such as Bible dictionaries
and encyclopedias, an online KJV Bible, a custom-designed
search engine, hundreds of topic-specific Bible verse lists,
plus our EPO Guestbook, and our EPO Messageboard.
In addition to our Endtime Prophecy Net web site, and its
text version counterpart site, Endtime Prophecy Org, we also
operate a small, private, Christian mailing list known as
EDGE, (Endtime Discussion Group Exchange), as well as our
"Armageddon" Hotline server. "Armageddon" is in effect a
modern BBS system which utilizes a regular GUI, (Graphical
User Interface), as opposed to archaic ANSI graphics. It
offers file transfers, live chat and newsgroups. It can be
accessed by both Macintosh and Windows users, simply by
downloading the free Hotline client.
As I look back now, I can truly see how the Lord has guided
us, and provided for us, as we have sought to do His Will. I
am reminded of the following verse:
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19, KJV
So I am extremely thankful for what He has done for us, as
well as through us. As the old saying goes, little is a lot
if God is in it; and it isn't until we take that first small
step of faith, that God can reveal the next step in His Plan
to us. His blessings come through our obedience to His Will.
While some conservative Christians view the Internet, (and
computers in general for that matter), as something evil and
of Satan which is to be avoided, I must ask such people: Who
are we to question the methods God makes available to us in
order to get the job done? It seems to me that in the final
waning hours of the current worldly system, the Lord would
be rather interested in seeing as many people as possible,
come to the knowledge of Salvation; and He would be willing
to use whatever means are available to us, in order to
accomplish that goal. As I mention in other articles, such
as "Is Salvation Meant For All Men?", the Apostle Peter
wrote:
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance."
2 Peter 3:9, KJV
The fact that God is even willing to reach down into the
privacy of people's homes, via their personal computers, in
order to try to deliver the Gospel message to them, is in my
view, a very powerful sign of His Love and Mercy. Even when
organized religion has failed to reach them, even when radio
and television evangelists have failed to catch their ear,
even when Gospel tracts and street evangelism hasn't gotten
through to them, God is still trying to reach those people
on a personal one-on-one level, in the privacy of their own
homes; perhaps even in the privacy of their own bedroom or
study den where their computer is located, late at night,
when no one else is watching, and no other distractions are
present.
You see, under such conditions, there is no need to put on
the false image some of us like to display in public. It is
sinful, human nature which causes us to create this false
impression of ourselves, and to build this wall of defenses
around ourselves, in order to preserve our pride and our
inflated egos. We feel that we must meet the expectations of
others, or else prove to ourselves that we are better than
others; and so we pretend to be someone who we are really
not.
However, in the privacy of our own homes, we can lower our
defenses, and we can just be ourselves. We can be honest
with ourselves; and it is often in that moment of human
vulnerability, when we think that we are safe, that God can
strike our hearts with the hot, piercing truth of His Word
when we least expect it. Perhaps we "accidentally" discover
a certain web site; or out of curiosity, we decide to log on
to a certain server, and wham!...the Lord delivers the
Salvation message to us once again, hoping that this time,
we will be wise enough, and perhaps humble enough, to
receive it. As the Apostle Paul informs us:
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart."
Hebrews 4:12, KJV
God knows us, even better than we know ourselves; and He
knows the appointed time He has chosen for our Salvation. He
knows when we are finally ready, and willing, to receive the
free Gift of Salvation which He offers us. As I have stated
before, in some cases, the Lord has to allow certain people
to experience many hardships during their lives, in order to
break their pride, and bring them to a point where they can
be honest with themselves, as well as with Him, and truly
admit that they are sinners in need of forgiveness and
Salvation. Until that moment arrives, all of the preaching
in the world will fall upon deaf ears. Why is God being so
merciful to such people when they have resisted His Spirit
all of their lives? Why is He giving them so many chances to
accept the Sacrifice of His dear Son? Perhaps the answer is
best summed up in the following verses:
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment:"
Hebrews 9:27, KJV
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;
that every one may receive the things done in his body,
according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
2 Corinthians 5:10, KJV
"If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall
stand?" Psalms 130:3, KJV
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and
they were judged every man according to their works. And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Revelation 20:12-15, KJV
You see, God knows the score even before it has been fully
declared, because He owns the Books. As such, He knows what
awaits us if we refuse to humble ourselves, and accept the
Sacrifice of His Son as atonement for our sins. As wise King
Solomon once wrote:
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall."
Proverbs 16:18, KJV
So I tend to believe that it is because of the tragic end
which He knows awaits those people who continue to cling to
their pride, that the Lord is making every effort possible
to reach them with the Gospel before it is too late; and
that includes reaching out to people via the Internet. Just
like human parents, the Lord is a man of His word. If He
warns us that He is going to punish us if we don't behave,
then He has no choice but to fulfill His word if we continue
on in our belligerence. Thus it is that we find verses like
the following in the Bible:
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath
of God abideth on him."
John 3:36, KJV
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life."
1 John 5:12, KJV
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God...For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 10:31, 12:29, KJV
As Peter candidly wrote, God wants to save as many people as
possible, but to a certain degree, He leaves it up to us to
make the right choice. He lovingly and patiently shows us
the way to Salvation, but He won't force us to walk it if we
don't want to. His Holy Spirit will incessantly work on our
hearts, but as Jesus clearly stated, we must choose the path
we will follow:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it."
Matthew 7:13-14, KJV
Returning to the importance of the Internet as an effective
form of Christian outreach; on various occasions, I have
stated that the Internet may possibly be the final frontier
for modern Christian evangelical endeavors. As one by one
the governments of foreign lands continue to close their
doors to Christian missionaries, our online witness via the
Internet may prove to be all the more important, as it will
allow us to continue to reach out to some people in the
privacy of their own homes, until even that is restricted.
In fact, in recent months, I have been reading news articles
in which it has been stated that in China, Internet access
is already being tightly controlled and restricted. If a
person wishes to acquire Internet access there, he must go
through a government-operated ISP, where he is sure to see,
hear and read only those things which the Chinese government
deems are suitable and appropriate for the Chinese masses.
The same thing is occurring in Muslim countries which are
ruled by powerful, conservative governments. Internet access
is only available to those people who can be trusted with
the information that they will find there, and all kinds of
filters are implemented in order to avoid exposure to
Western ideas and practices which may question, or threaten,
Islamic ideology and orthodoxy.
Undoubtedly, what is happening in these places is only a
foreshadow of worse things to come. As each year passes, and
as the Internet becomes even more interwoven into the fabric
of our lives, the danger of the free flow of information
being curtailed further, becomes an ever-present possibility.
The reason why I say this, is because I have become convinced
that this is already so to a certain degree, even within the
so-called "Free West".
A few decades ago, people scoffed at the suggestion of an
authoritarian, Orwellian world of 1984. This is no longer
so. We are seeing it happen all around us this very day, if
we will only open our eyes to the truth. I don't doubt that
many of you reading this already foresee the day when radio,
television, tabloids and magazines, and perhaps even books,
will become things of the past. Everything having to do with
information will be piped into our homes via the Internet.
In fact, if you can currently afford the luxury of broadband,
such as a DSL or cable modem connection, or better, then in
large part, you are already living the future. Within a few
short years, everything in our homes will be controlled by a
powerful computer sitting on the desktop or perhaps embedded
in the walls of our homes. Software programs like "Xtension"
are already making this possible. Soon we will all be piped
into one source; and when there is only one source, be it
for information or for anything else, it inevitably presents
the danger of being manipulated and controlled by the
supplier. Monopolies are nothing new under the sun.
It is because of these perceived dangers, that some people
have already begun to sound the alarm, and are declaring
that the Internet must remain free of governmental control.
Sadly, I think that they are blowing the bugle a little too
late. The invisible hand of Big Business, which actually
controls the government, has already realized the potential
of the electronic Golden Goose, and they are already doing
their best to try to control it; and you can bet that they
will continue to squeeze it more and more, for all that it
is worth.
If you doubt that this is so, consider how much junk mail
you receive now, as compared to a few years ago. If you have
a high profile on the Internet, such as through owning one
or more registered domain names, this makes you even more a
target of unsolicited, and annoying, commercial spam. If it
weren't for sophisticated email programs which allow us to
set up filters, and ISP-based filtering systems, we would
all go crazy . . . or else end up closing our accounts in
frustration.
But my point is, the danger of the Internet being controlled
is real. For example, since 9/11, in the so-called name of
"fighting against global terrorism", the American government
has taken drastic steps to not only curtail the rights and
freedoms of ordinary American citizens through questionable
executive orders and bills, which could be activated, should
the need arise, but it is now common knowledge that it has
also waged an intensive domestic spying campaign against its
very own citizens. This spying campaign has by no means been
limited to traditional methods such as physical surveillance
and phone taps. It's now evolved to include the intentional
sniffing of online electronic communications, such as email,
through such controversial programs as "Carnivore", which
has since been assigned a more generic name, so as to not
draw further attention to its true purpose.
Governmental control of the Internet aside, from a business
perspective, things aren't much better. It may not be long
before Internet email taxes, and other profit-making tactics,
make the Internet inaccessible to all but the rich and the
elite. As we have already seen, with the wild proliferation
of commercial spam, not to mention the fact that a person
can rarely visit a site without being bombarded with hordes
of ads for everything under the sun, annoying pop-ups, and
bogus links which really lead to porn sites, things really
are out of control. Add to that the threat of identity
theft, and the unintentional downloading of trojans and
viruses, is it really any wonder that some new computer
users might be hesitant to embrace the online world?
But returning to our online Christian witness, I believe
that it is only a matter of time before our activities will
be curtailed. Some of you will undoubtedly be incredulous
regarding my statement. If so, perhaps it is due to the fact
that while you may know that Christians are currently being
persecuted in foreign lands, you fail to realize that we are
also being persecuted in our own land, (USA), as well. As I
point out in "Civil Disobedience And Christian Persecution",
Jesus stated that during the Endtime, we Christians would be
persecuted for His name's sake. Consider His words:
"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he
that endureth to the end shall be saved."
Matthew 10:22, KJV
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall
kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's
sake."
Matthew 24:9, KJV
Please notice that the final verse comes right before the
one I quoted earlier, in which Jesus says that the Gospel
will be preached in all nations, and then the End will come.
This gives us a time reference for when this persecution
will occur. In other words, my understanding is that once
God feels that we have accomplished our purpose here as
witnesses of our faith, He is going to allow the persecution
to begin, in order that the wicked can fill their cup of
iniquity. This is all in accordance with the Scriptures, and
it is also what will make God's Judgments so righteous when
they begin to fall in earnest upon this sinful, unbelieving
world.
With each passing year, I believe that the discrimination
and persecution against Christians will rise; even in the
so-called "Christian" United States of America. Due to the
endeavors of our antichrist enemies, such as the ACLU,
(American Civil Liberties Union), the ADL, (Anti-Defamation
League), and similar organizations, we will be viewed more
and more in a negative light. Have no doubt. These groups
desire no less than the total destruction of our Christian
faith. For years now, they have used such issues as gay and
lesbian rights, abortion, etc., as clever tools to convince
the general American public that we're close-minded, biased,
prejudiced, out of sync with the times, anti-semitic, and
basically, a danger to society. Given enough time, some of
our basic doctrinal beliefs may eventually be viewed as hate
crimes. Our web sites may even be shut down, and we may even
be imprisoned if we refuse to renounce our beliefs. You say
that it can't and won't happen? Let's wait and see.
So my message today is a double one. First, as Christians,
let us not underestimate the power of the Internet, but let
us take full advantage of it while we still have the freedom
to do so. And second, if you have not yet come to Christ, I
pray that this message, or one similar to it, will cause you
to finally open your heart to the Lord. He is reaching out
to you now, even at this late hour. Will you accept the free
Gift of Salvation which He offers you? I certainly hope so.
You may not get another chance.