Today is a day that gamers everywhere will celebrate. It was on this day in 2001 (24 years ago) that Microsoft released the Xbox gaming consoles. Some of the first games available were Arctic Thunder, Madden NFL, NASCAR Heat, NASCAR Thunder, Shrek, Star Wars: Starfighter Edition, and a few others. In total, there are 989 game titles available.
Talking with one of our young adults a few weeks back, I realized that MY generation saw the rise of several things. I was fortunate to have one of the first gaming consoles – the Atari 2600 that came out in 1979. There were earlier versions but this was the most popular. Riveting games like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Indy 500, and Combat were all the rage, filling up several hours as you attempted to get the high score. Only my generation remembers having to blow in the cartridges to make them work!
I remember the first computers coming into the school. The Apple I was complete with 5 ¼ inch floppy and had orange or green fonts against a black background. You had to learn simple DOS commands to launch programs and you learned early on what the “command prompt” was all about. I’ve watched as computers went from the 5 ¼ to 3 ½ to CD to where most computers don’t even have a CD drive. The computer has gone from something needing a sturdy table to a device that fits comfortably in your lap – or in your hands and even on your wrist.
The conversation with this young adult even brought up cell phones. I grew up in the day of party lines, rotary dial, and long cords. The first cell phone I ever owned was in 1994, a simple flip phone that required you to be cautious about roaming charges. We still used it as a phone but typically only for emergencies. Today, I have my Smart Phone and I would be absolutely lost without it! It is a computer, gaming system, weather station, health monitor, and so much more. Yes, you can still make calls with it if you must. But the speed and simplicity of texting is so much better.
Televisions. Hasn’t that changed dramatically! Our first television sat on a rickety metal stand. Rabbit ears, sometimes wrapped in aluminum foil, came out the back of the set. Knobs and dials were used for changing the channel and adjusting the horizontal hold. Then we went to the big televisions in wooden consoles. The really wealthy got the projection screen televisions and often had a NASA-sized satellite dish in their yard. 
Today, you can get televisions that are over 90 inches, flat, and mount directly to a wall. Their picture is more brilliant than if you were looking out the window on a bright, sunny day. Cables and wiring are disappearing as we switch to streaming.
I was of the Pepsi generation. Do you remember that ad campaign? It began in the 1960s and ran through the 1970s. In 1984, they declared Pepsi was the choice of a new generation. And in 1997, Pepsi introduced their newest slogan: Generation Next.
Looking at where gaming consoles, computers, cell phones, televisions, and even Pepsi are at today and knowing where you started makes you feel – old. But, I also think it is exciting and I find myself amazed and feeling privileged to have been a part of watching the technology develop and advance over the last 50 years. It’s fun as well as mind boggling to look back, remembering “when,” and to look at where we are at now.
What an AWESOME generation!! But there’s one better – far better than we can imagine.
Matthew 24:32-34 says, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: (33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. (34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Reading this in the context of the chapter, “this generation” refers to those living at the time of the Second Coming of Christ. They have seen the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15), the persecutions and judgments (Matthew 24:17-22), the false prophets (Matthew 24:23-26), the signs in the heavens (Matthew 24:27-29), Christ’s final return (Matthew 24:30), and the gathering of the elect (Matthew 24:31).
Our generation could be the generation to see the return of Jesus “in the clouds” as the voice of the archangel announces His coming, the trumpet sounds, and the voice of the Lord calls us home. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; John 10:27-30). This isn’t the Second Coming. This is the Rapture of the church and it will happen seven years prior to the Second Coming. And it will happen in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
Regardless of what generation we live in, what we see as that generation progresses, and the changes that occur, one thing remains the same. Lamentations 5:19 declares, “Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.”
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