I had a disturbing dream last night. I’m not a dooms-dayer or a negative person, but this dream bothered me. Some say that God speaks through dreams at times. You be the judge.

I went to the mailbox and there was a letter from the government. It was my family’s "Citizen Identification Cards". We had 24 hours to activate them by removing a piece of tape and impressing our thumbprints in a certain area. We also had 24 hours to convert all our cash and assets to Universal Citizen Credits. Within 24 hours, we would not be able to buy or sell with cash, or barter with any kind of goods – only Universal Citizen Credits would be legal tender, and they could only be accessed with our Citizen Identification Card.

I remember thinking, Hmmm, I didn’t think the anti-Christ would do this until AFTER Jesus came back. I was puzzled, but had a strong urging in my spirit that these cards had something to do with the dreaded Mark of the Beast that would damn our souls for all eternity.

So I gathered my family around me, and explained our options. We could either accept the Citizen Identification Cards by removing the tape and putting our thumb prints on them, turn in all our cash, and then be able to continue our lives as before.

Or, we could refuse and suffer certain death, sooner or later, either by starvation, or execution. I explained that by the morning we would have to decide, but I encouraged them to refuse so that we would not forfeit eternal life.

The next morning, we encouraged each other with Scriptures, sang a hymn, and walked out the front door to the glare of media lights. The government official gave us one last chance to become true citizens. Hand in hand, we refused, and were shot…

When I woke up I felt so strange. The dream was so real I felt like I should be dead. And I got to thinking about all that has happened in the last year with the Y2K scare, about the possibility that we could have been under martial law by now if some of the scenarios of disaster had played out. I also wondered if all the members of my family would really be able to discern the signs of the times, and would be able and willing to make the decision to follow Christ even if it meant death.

One of the last programs I watched in 1999 was about our marvelous future due to computers. We already have automobiles that can access information from satellites to aid in navigation. In the near further, "smart cars" have been predicted that will do your driving for you. In the homes of the future, our appliances will supposedly be intelligent enough to radio for help if they are about to dysfunction, to order groceries and have them delivered, to cook our food for us. Our homes will be computer controlled – all the way from the proper temperature to mood music and lighting. And whoever controlled the computer that controlled our lives would be able to track and control us. Do we really want to give up our freedoms for a few feeble creature comforts?

I keep hearing that song in my mind "I wish we’d all been ready..."