Here is what's likely to happen according to experts.

The Fall will see stockpiling by only the insiders (and "survivalists"). Some food supply companies will begin to run behind schedule (this is already happening), and gold & silver supplies will begin to dwindle as precious coin dealers get backlogged.

Christmas of 1998 will proceed as normal, few people will be thinking about Y2K (still). The wise are busy preparing, learning new skills, and continuing their stockpiling efforts. Food is still plentiful and there is no panic, although the news stories about Y2K continue to increase, especially around the New Year.

This is the "magic date" when nearly all large companies have promised they will be done with their coding. When this date actually hits, and people begin to realize more than half the Y2K programming projects are behind schedule, it's going to set off "the blame game" where CEO's and government officials start to come under increasing pressure to solve the Y2K problem.

With one year remaining, and most Y2K software projects way behind schedule, a few more people begin to wake up to the reality now only a year away. "Stockpiling" spreads from the fringe survivalist community to more mainstream families, and suppliers nationwide start to get really stretched. Bulk food (for storage) will likely have a 6-8 month wait on orders, and gold & silver prices will be on the rise.

Sensational news stories continue their impact on the American people, instilling a sense of fear about Y2K. While some companies will announce they are now "compliant", others are secretly way behind schedule. Y2K programmers will be earning up to $500 an hour, yet there still will not be enough. Recipients of government checks have no idea this is the last year they are going to get "free money".

The United States, Canada, New York State and Japan roll into their fiscal 2000. This may create chaos as budget computers refuse to operate. Expect widespread denials that their computers are having any problems whatsoever (but look for clues of new problems as the fiscal year progresses).

The Government of England rolls into fiscal year 2000.

The state governments of 46 states roll into fiscal year 2000. This will be an interesting day to watch.

This is when the real panic starts to hit. Banks will notice an increase in cash withdrawals as a small segment of the populations begins to withdraw cash out of fear of the bank collapses. The news will be kept quiet in the banking industry, of course, although bank Presidents will be pleading with the Federal Reserve to do something. Quietly, the Treasury Dept. will begin "panic printing" of large-denomination bills, fueling the spiraling inflation that will kick in just a few months later. Additional lawsuits will be filed against software companies whose products are non-Y2K compliant. To will also see a barrage of press releases from companies saying they are now Y2K compliant and ready for their clocks to roll over.

On August 22, the GPS system fails worldwide. (Global Positioning System). This is due to a known bug in the GPS firmware that will expectedly subtract 1024 weeks from the transmitted date beginning on August 22, 1999. The U.S. Navy has known about this bug for years and has publicly disclaimed any responsibility for people who might happen to get lost (hikers using GPS devices, ect..). There will be a barrage of news reports on that day, similar to the news when the Galaxy IV satellite went down, and a few ships will get lost at sea. Air traffic will be affected. The military will likely be on full alert (because their guided missiles won't work anymore!) but most regular folks won't notice it. However, the more observant members of society will realize this is a "distant early warning" about things to come. After all, if GPS is that fragile, what about the rest of society's computers? These people will then begin preparations for Y2K, adding to the pressures on the banking system (cash withdrawals) and the supply business (food, medical, ammo, ect..). At this point, a lot of suppliers will be out of stock on some items or simply way too busy to fill orders.

On this day, 9/9/99, we will get a small taste of Y2K. This date was used in many mainframe applications as an "end of record" indicator, and as 9/9/99 shuts down a few critical database systems around the world, we will get another wave of news reports that will add to the ground swell of fear that now clutches the attention of the public. Cash withdrawals will continue, purchasing of supplies will be in a near-panic state. People trying to buy what they need will now be greeted with busy signals or, "sorry, we're out of that."

The United States Federal Government rolls into fiscal 2000.

October will give rise to increased calls for immediate Y2K compliance. Banks, government agencies, and companies will all lie. They will say they are compliant even when they aren't, because they know that saying they are "still working on it" amounts to financial suicide at this point. It's possible that serious bank runs begin in October as people pull their funds out of suspected non-compliant banks. The FDIC will be very busy (and worried). The stock market, if it has not already crashed at this point, will begin a massive downturn.

A large meteor shower, already announced by NASA, will likely knock out some communications satellites, giving the world another small taste of Y2K. Some religious cults will see the shower as a sign from the heavens, and this will unleash another round of panic buying from their members. Cash withdrawals continue and the White House may consider invoking the Emergency Powers Act at this point. If that happens, large cash withdrawals will be made illegal and the real panic will set in.

Assuming the banks are still solvent, the most unusual Christmas shopping season in history will begin. Instead of buying toys and cosmetics, there will be a record sales in the areas of "practical" items such as cooking utensils and camping supplies. In December, the real panic starts to set in. There will be isolated runs on grocery stores and banks. Y2K programmers, now making over $600 an hour, will be working 18-hour days and asking to be paid in cash. If the stock market hasn't already crashed by December, this will be it. Expect an initial 25% drop in one or two days, then a second wave of selling that will leave the market at less than half its peak 1998 valuation. The reasons are twofold: people will need cash to buy supplies, so they will sell stocks. And secondly, there will be widespread concern over the actual state of Y2K compliance with companies, and stockholders will likely engage in massive selloffs.

As the largest parties in the history of civilization kick off early in the day, another segment of the world population; the survivalists will be hunkering down with their candles and food supplies to see what will happen. The evening news is interrupted with a special briefing that parts of Japan have lost power as they rolled into January 1, 2000. The reports also describe the last-minute cash panic that shut down the country's banks.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, news pours in from the Soviet Union, Australia, the Middle East and Europe: the power grid wasn't 100% compliant after all. Cities are in the dark, and mass panic is starting to spread. But the ill-informed party on.

The fools of America are still in the streets when it hits. Half-drunk from the evening celebration they don't realize why the lights went out. Within an hour, as inner-city populations realize 911 doesn't work, mass looting begins. They start with TV's, VCR's, and stereos; ironically, all items that are worthless without electricity. But the smart ones go for the gun shops. When the gun shops are all looted, inspired by a new sense of lawlessness, the gangs start going door to door, shooting first and asking questions later. The police will be helpless, and any family who decided against purchasing a firearm out of concern that "guns are dangerous" now realize they are a lot more dangerous when the criminals have them and you don't. A lot of lives will be lost that night.

The President will declare martial law on this day, prohibiting people from being on the street after 11pm. He will call in the National Guard to try to control the rioting, but the effort will have little impact. While Guardsmen can easily handle isolated outbreaks of violence (such as the O. J. trial riots in LA), they now find themselves spread paper-thin as rioting and looting take over in LA, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and a half- dozen other cities. Fires, started by the rioters, burn well into the weekend, and few people realize why the fire department can't respond: their communications systems are completely down, and effectiveness is reduced to a third of normal. Even the Department of Defense suffers a communication breakdown as their internal e-mail refuses to work. Chaos reigns.

The first day of business in the new Millennium brings a wave of shock and panic to the citizens of the world: international banking is dead. Wire transfers simply can't go through, and international money activity comes to a dead halt. Bank runs begin in the United States as the remaining "skeptics" finally realize Y2K is real. Power is restored in some areas, but the country as a whole is operating on 50% its normal capacity. Bank runs now begin in earnest, and the President orders a nationwide "bank holiday" until further notice. Depositors are turned away by the millions, and for the first time in three generations, American citizens begin to understand what it feels like to lose your life savings in a flash. Their money, which never really existed in anything but a digital computer record anyway, now vanishes. If the stock market has somehow managed to live through this, January 3 is the day it collapses, perhaps to 25% of its 1998 peak. Interest rates shoot through the roof, into the 50% range, as lenders and banks begin to realize the enormity of the crisis now being faced. Citizens holding variable-rate mortgages suddenly realize their monthly house payment will now be impossible to meet, and the defaults begin.

The domino effect ripples through society. As companies shut down and mass layoffs begin, inflation eventually reaches triple-digit territory. Gold and silver coins start to appear as the currency of choice since green paper dollars lose value by the hour. Stockpiles of coal for the power plants continue to shrink. They will run out in another week or two, and then the longest, coldest winter in the memory of just about everybody begins. For those without a backup heat source, the Winter of 1999/2000 will be the coldest and hardest in memory.

And it's just the beginning;

2000 finds the world at a crossroads. Governments fall as they find revenue collection impossible. The fractional reserve banking system, a foundation of society since the 1600's, is over. It failed, and will not be tried again for a thousand years. All the lies of the governments, the money supply, inflation, are all revealed to the citizens of the world in one tremendous finale. Suddenly, the people of the world realize they are on their own, for money is going to magically appear in your mailbox. If you are to survive, you have to earn it, every minute of every day, working with your hands and your skills, chopping wood, grinding flour by hand, preparing meals from food basics, administering emergency medical care when needed.

The above is obviously a "worst case scenario." Let's hope it doesn't actually happen. But it doesn't have to be exactly like the description offered above to still be bad. There are a million possibilities of events that wouldn't fit the description here but could still be horrendous.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 3: 8-11, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends; With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."

Knowing that the time is short we should be redeeming the time and by that we should be taking every opportunity to share the gospel with the lost and dying world. I don't know if any or all of these scenarios will come about, but the one I know without a doubt that will come to pass is the one in 2 Peter listed above. We are given the directive to live holy and godly in light of the circumstances that are around us. The saddest day in any Christian's life will not be regarding how many supplies they failed to put back, or how prepared they are for the future events. The saddest day will be when they stand before God and are asked how many they brought into the Kingdom with them! I cannot think of a worse situation to be in than to stand before Christ and have to say that you never led anyone to accept Jesus as their Savior. If you have never had the privilege of leading a lost person to Jesus, then you have missed the whole purpose of your position in Christ. The Parable in Matthew 25:14, gives us the unfortunate reality of this very situation and explains the extremely serious gravity of it. Please read it and learn from it. If I can ever be of any help or assistance in any way please do not hesitate to let me know. God bless you and seek Him with all of your heart.

Adam