March 1999 New Horizons

Preparing for Possible Disaster

by G. I. Williamson

By this time you are no doubt aware of the rising crescendo of concern about the Y2K ("Year 2000") problem, also called the millennium bug. Somehow, we are told, the brilliant people who launched us into the computer age made a gigantic mistake when designing software by using only two digits to designate years. Thus, many computer chips will not run properly past the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1999, interpreting the next year, "00," to mean 1900! According to some computer experts, we are rapidly approaching an electronic doomsday, when the whole fabric of our electronic and computer—controlled infrastructure may experience a colossal breakdown. Well, what should we Christians do? Should we head for the hills? One influential writer of Reformed books has indeed moved to a rural setting and installed equipment to ensure that, whatever happens to others, he will have his own private sources of water and energy. I'm not heading for the hills, in part because I do not have the financial ... Read more

A Christian's Response to Impending Crisis

by Robert J. Scott

The classic children's tale The Horse and His Boy, by C. S. Lewis, is about crisis. It's a powerful story of the Christ—figure Aslan's protecting and promoting the welfare of his people. In his master plan, a baby is kidnapped and raised by a stranger in a foreign land, knowing only misery and suffering. Why? So that he might be in the right place at the right time to discover a terrible plot to attack and destroy his homeland, Archenland. The book is the exciting story of the discovery of this impending crisis and Shasta's response to it—racing across the desert to warn and deliver his people. One incident in particular merits a closer look. As Shasta and friends cross into Archenland, they look back across the desert and see something far off in the distance. "It looks like smoke. Is it a fire?" asks Shasta. "Sandstorm, I should say," replies Bree (his horse). "Not much wind to raise it," says Aravis (his companion). "Oh!" exclaims Hwin (her horse). "Look! There are things flashing in it. ... Read more

The Spiritual Side of Millennial Fears

by Alan D. Strange

The countdown has begun. Apocalyptic predictions abound. Pundits and prophets warn that at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000, computers (and computer chips embedded in all sorts of equipment) all over the world will malfunction, since they have not been programmed to recognize the year 2000 (the so—called Y2K problem). Since there are not enough experts to fix all the computer programs before 2000 arrives, doomsayers prognosticate dire consequences: air traffic—control systems will fail, national defense systems will crash, the IRS will be unable to collect taxes, vital utilities will fail, assembly lines will grind to a halt, etc., leading to widespread hardship, massive layoffs, and civil unrest. Such an apocalyptic scenario finds a ready audience both in the broader culture and among Christians. During the past century, many evangelicals have embraced dispensationalism, with all of its pessimistic end—times expectations. Predictions of gloom and doom fit right in with the ... Read more

Thoughts from a Y2K Programmer

by Thomas Cole

I work with computer systems for a major financial firm. During the past two years, I have been involved with the programming effort to address the Y2K issue for a large group of my company's systems. Having been in programming for sixteen years, I didn't think that any computer task would be too difficult to deal with. Y2K came pretty close, though. The complexity with Y2K was that changes were required in all parts of our systems. We contracted with another company to make the necessary modifications to our software programs, but the task of testing those modifications was ours. This required us to create test data that had dates not only in the 1900s, but also in the 2000s. The sheer volume of changes made, and the need to validate them all, led to over a year of constantly repeated testing, analyzing why something went wrong, fixing the program, and then retesting. I would spend the normal working hours managing my group, and then come home and do further testing on my own. We had a deadline of ... Read more

The Bible Teaches the Doctrine of Election: Part II

by Geoffrey C. Smith

The God who chose the Thessalonians for salvation chose them through his appointed means. He chose them, says Paul, "through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" ( literally , "by sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth") (2 Thess. 2:13). What exactly are these two means, and how do they relate to each other? The New Birth At this point, things become a little tricky. For us to determine fully the meaning of "sanctification of the Spirit" would require a fairly extensive study of the words themselves, as well as the concepts related to them, covering both the Old and the New Testament. Therefore, I am going to jump ahead to my own conclusions about this expression. Their validity can be tested by the flow of thought in the context. The phrase "by sanctification of the Spirit" means "the work of sanctification performed by the Holy Spirit." Generally, this refers to the Holy Spirit's commitment to produce genuine holiness in the people of God—a ... Read more

What Is the MTIOPC?

by James S. Gidley

A few years ago, the Subcommittee on Ministerial Training (SMT) was considering whether it should recommend to the General Assembly the establishment of an Orthodox Presbyterian seminary. I was discussing our deliberations with a friend of mine, who happens to be a PCA minister. His response was, “How could it be better than __________?” (naming a well-known seminary). For various reasons, we did not recommend the establishment of a new seminary, but instead the establishment of a ministerial training institute. The purpose for the institute would be to provide supplementary education to seminary students (and others) in selected areas which we believe are not being adequately covered by seminaries today. The 1998 General Assembly approved this plan, and we are now [March 1999] setting up the Ministerial Training Institute of the OPC (MTIOPC). In addition, we are planning to visit seminaries more regularly and to discuss with them the preparation of students for ministry in the OPC. An ... Read more