InFormation: When Knowledge Requires Conformity

By Jeremy Gerbig

Biblical topics like the Mark of the Beast and the Afterlife have left mankind baffled throughout history. Many have wondered, “What will it be like?” and “What does the Bible say about it?” Noah Thompson seeks to find the answers to these questions and more as he discovers the newest computer chip implants resemble the Mark of the Beast all too well.
Of course it would never come to be without introducing extraordinary, life enhancing benefits. Tracking missing children, protecting against theft, and never having to find your wallet or keys ever again are only the beginning for this technilogical marvel. Soon, people around the world will be integrating their own minds with personalized, compact super-computers. Learning, as well as the rest of the world, will never be the same!

InFormation takes readers on a wild ride through a first hand experience of the wonders of Heaven, the travesties of Hell, and the deceit of the Mark of the Beast. Inspiring Scriptures and real-life news articles unveiling the advancements made toward the integration of man and machine are scattered throughout this breathtaking journey of one man's quest for truth, faith, and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeremy Gerbig
• Release date: May 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310183874

Book preview

Introduction

Special thanks to my wife, Penny, for being such a great inspiration for me to write the story, as well as for being my real-life Samantha. Without the encouragement I received from my wife and three beautiful children, I never would’ve been able to complete this wonderful story. Thank you, Penny, Gracelin, Elijah, and Cory. Thank you, God, for giving me this message to share with the world.

Although the story is fiction, many aspects of the story are very real. There is a loving God and an eternal hell. There are angels and demons, streets of gold, and a lake of fire. There really are microchip implants being used that eerily match Biblical prophecies describing the Mark of the Beast. The articles in this story concerning the computer chip implants are also real (with the exception of televised news story in chapter 3).

I greatly enjoyed splashing in the occasional Scriptures throughout the story. I can only wish to see the things that Noah sees and still live to tell about it. The story has been a great inspiration to me, and I hope it will be for many readers to come.

Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts...

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Online Resources

wanttoknow.info/microchipsimplantsnewsarticles

Popular Science & Scott Fontaine (Fox News)

UPI.com

Neurorevolution.wordpress.com

Independent.co.uk/news/

SeatleTimes.com

JesusMinistries.org

Ch. 1: Dream On

I had the same dream again last night. The same dream I already had three nights this week. I was standing in front of an enormous army. It wasn't an army like you see today. They were dressed in the old sword and shield type armor. Except the armor was made of the most beautiful metals I've ever seen. Traces of gold and diamonds throughout each sword, and the shields glistened with smooth silver. The helmets looked more like crowns as they were decorated with precious stones. There were so many men; it would be impossible to even guess how many were there. They were countless. They were packed in as far as my eyes could see.

There was a thin fog rolling along the ground when I began to shout out a battle cry to the troops. I clinched my sword vigorously in the air as I gave an adrenaline-pumping scream as if we were only seconds away from engaging the enemy, even though no one else was in sight. Midway through my scream I began to notice the thin fog rolling away from beneath my feet. And when it rolled away it took with it the very ground on which I was standing. I continued screaming as I fell into what seemed like a bottomless pit.

I'm not the kind of person that thinks there's a deep meaning behind every dream, but there's definitely something about a reoccurring dream. It plagued my mind all day. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I sat down at a small coffee shop downtown pretending to read the newspaper as I tried putting a meaning, any meaning to the dream. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything...? No. That's stupid. None of the old sayings or fortune cookie parables made any sense of it.

I eventually decided to actually read the paper I've been staring at for the last twenty minutes. After all, today's one of those big days in the news. It’s one of those days where some people save the newspaper in a shoebox under their bed. Today was the big day when the new and improved microchip implants finally hit the streets. Am I alone in thinking there must be something wrong? Maybe it’s my pessimistic, It'll never work side coming out. Or perhaps I'm just getting older and with every year I’m becoming closer and closer to being like my crazy, screwball grandpa. Toasters are evil! The microwave worships Satan! Ha-ha.

No matter what the reason, it just seems a little too out there for me. I love technology, don't get me wrong. But people trust their lives with these things. I mean, it’s a good idea, I guess. Doing one’s banking through a computer chip in the hand is much safer than carrying around a plastic card, a checkbook, or, even worse, cash. Instead of just using numbers that anyone can write down and use, it uses an invisible, encrypted code. It even has life-sensors on it so that no one can use it after the chip holder is deceased.

I can even understand why parents would want to put them on their children. They have tracking devices in them as well. There are too many crazy people out there today - kidnappers, pedophiles, murderers, thieves, ex-girlfriends. It would make tracking down a missing child so easy. With this thing, three and a half seconds and you know where they are within two inches. All that can be found in only the size of a grain of rice. Like I said, it just seems crazy. I guess it’s too much for a college kid to be worrying about. I'm too close to graduation or even Finals to be worried about what the rest of the world is doing and why.

I finally got my head out of the paper long enough to reach for a sip of white chocolate mocha when I spotted Murphy Johnston walking into the coffee shop. Murphy is known around here as being the Campus Christian. He's always going on and on about God. I even spotted him wearing his Working for Christ – lousy pay, but the retirement plan is out of this world T-shirt before I quickly ducked and buried my head in my newspaper. Of course I knew it was inevitable. You can't avoid someone like Murphy. If he's met you, he remembers you and always says hello. If he doesn't know you, he introduces himself.

I met Murphy in Physics class last year with Dr. Rollings. I'll never forget it. Murphy debated creation in class in front of everyone...on the first day of class! Mind you, this is a stadium-seating classroom of well over a hundred students. If anything, the man deserves some credit for having some serious guts. Rarely would anyone else dare to utter even more than a sentence. He walked all the way down to the front of the class, as if he was the teacher, and spoke with a bold and confident voice. It was odd to see such a scrawny, plain young man speak as if he were ten feet tall. He spoke very elegantly about the universe and Intelligent Design. For a moment, he even baffled the professor who eventually agreed to disagree and thought it would be only appropriate to move on to the rest of the lesson (which was actually on potential energy. I'm still not sure how the debate even started). And as fate would have it, he came directly to my table, pulled out a chair and sat down.

Crazy isn't it? He said to me as if we were already engaged in conversation. I replied with a confused, Huh? The chip…in the paper. The front page story. Crazy, isn't it? Oh, yeah. For a moment I actually forgot about what I had been gazing at. Murphy continued, You know, the Bible actually talks about a mark being put on the right hand and forehead. My stomach turned as one of the first words out of his mouth was the Bible. I flashed back to last year’s Physics all over again. But then I realized that for the first time Murphy actually struck a conversation with me that kept me captivated. What a strange universe where I actually connect with nerdy Murphy on something that everyone else seems to think is the greatest thing to ever arrive on earth.

Murphy bent over the table and squinted as he took a closer look at me. Hey, aren't you...Noah Thompson? Murphy had a phenomenal way with names. I don't understand how someone can meet new people several times a day and never forget a name. It's almost eerie. Aren't you taking Philosophy with Prof. Howard this semester? Murphy asked. I nodded. That class is even bigger than the physics class. I didn't know Murphy was even in it, and he talks as if we were lab partners…weird, right?

"Did you know it was