All posts filed under: z402

The anniversary of the Piltdown fossil (missing link) fraud exposure

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Nov. 21, 2022 marks the anniversary of the day, the skull of the Piltdown man, hailed as the missing link between man and apes, was revealed to be a fraud, Denison Forum reports. The skull was discovered in England in 1912 by lawyer and amateur anthropologist Charles Dawson. Because, it had the head of a man and jaw of an ape it was hailed as the missing link by the head of the British Museum, Sir Arthur Smith Woodward. For the next several decades, the fame of the Piltdown man discovery spread through evolutionary circles. But there is more to the story. It seems that the British were a bit envious of German archaeologists who claimed to have found a human jaw bone of a man that was 600,000 years old a few years earlier. Ryan Denison, Ph.D. explains what happened next: However, in the late 1940s, a new kind of chemical test was developed, and researchers from Oxford and the British Museum applied it to the Piltdown Man. They published their findings on this …

Meet a Canadian facemask zealot

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Yes, there are some demanding that governments require students to wear facemasks again this winter to stop the spread of COVID. Even her own fellow school trustees don’t agree with her. Here are a few studies showing that facemasks are ineffective in stopping the spread of COVID: READ: CDC: Schools With Mask Mandates Didn’t See Statistically Significant Different Rates of COVID Transmission From Schools With Optional Policies READ: The astonishing data that may prove masks DON’T work as Covid cases in Singapore and New Zealand OVERTAKE Australia despite SUPER strict mandates: ‘They don’t matter’ READ: Two top Oxford academics accuse Facebook of censorship for branding their article on whether masks work ‘false information’ READ: So, what was the point? Cloth masks allow 90% of particles to filter through giving them little ability to prevent  COVID transmission, study finds READ: Blue face masks are only 10% effective in preventing COVID infection, new study finds

‘The Chosen’ surprised and placed third in theater box office sales this past weekend

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The Chosen is a multi season TV series on the life of Jesus portrayed in the Gospels. Each episode focuses on one of the stories. Now in its third season, the first two episodes were released as a special-screening in 2,012 theaters across the US this past weekend. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show shocked Hollywood as it grossed $8,7 million on its first weekend, and ended up as the third most watched movie. Leading the way was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with $67.3 million on its second weekend of viewing. Second place fell to another new release, a comedy-horror movie called The Menu, which had $9 million in sales, but was viewed in 3,211 theaters, a third more than The Chosen. The Chosen beat out releases by such Hollywood franchises as Disney, Universal and DC Comics. It also outsold, She Said that covered the exposure of notorious Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein by New York Times reporter Jodi Cantor. Writing for the Texas Monthly, Sean O’Neal, said the show portrays Jesus’ disciples as real, …

G20 calls for a global vaccine passport

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At the recent G20 meetings in Bali, Indonesia, the top 20 economies of the world agreed on a draft proposal recommending the adoption of vaccine passports for international travel, CBN reports. The G20 also represents 66% of the world’s population. The passport, which would come in a paper format or through an app downloaded on a person’s cellphone, would effectively prevent anyone who has not been vaccinated for COVID from travelling internationally. However, many are concerned that there would be serious privacy concerns for those who download the app, as it would not only allow governments to track the daily movements of every citizen but even limit their everyday activities. CBN provides more details: The agreement called for shared technical standards and verification methods, including vaccine passports. It also commits to “support continued international dialogue and collaboration on the establishment of trusted global digital health networks that should capitalize and build on the success of the existing standard and digital COVID-19 certificates.”  In a separate updated document, the G20 vows to: “Endeavour to move towards interoperability …

Micro churches, the New Testament pattern?

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Churches are still reporting a significant drop in attendance in 2022, following the lockdowns in 2021 that saw church services curtailed in many countries. According to reports, in 2019, 34% of Americans attended a service at least once a month, and recent surveys indicate this has dropped to 27% in 2022. The same thing is happening in Canada, where the government’s StatsCanada reported that the number of people who attended a religious service at least once a month has dropped from 23% to 19% in 2022. These are interesting days for the churches that still haven’t recovered from the pandemic and related lockdowns. But these difficult times, may also provide an opportunity to rethink church. An Assemblies of God church in Gainesville, Florida may provide a pattern for such a transformation, micro churches, AG News reports. In 2004, when Mike A. Patz became the lead pastor of the 3,500 member Greenhouse Church in Gainesville, Florida, God gave him a vision of having the church return to the pattern found in the Book of Acts of …

Christian Post still banned on Twitter

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While Elon Musk’s transformation of Twitter into a free speech platform is underway, Christian Post, a major Christian news outlet still hasn’t had its count restored. Christian Post was banned in March this year after a headline of one of its stories described trans-woman, Health and Human Services Secretary Rachel Levine, as a man. The CP’s previous appeals of the banning had been denied, but with the change of ownership, CP initiated a second appeal on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. According to the latest reports, Musk has restored the Babylon Bee, a Christian satirical website, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Veritas and even former US president, Donald Trump, after Musk initiated a poll asking if Trump should be allowed back. In a poll, that saw over 15 million people casting their vote, just under 52% voted in favor of allowing the former president to return. Even though he has not posted any tweets, Trump has 87.6 million followers. READ: Trump, Babylon Bee back on Twitter; Christian Post still banned  RELATED: Elon Musk references Bible verse as reason …

A sense of purpose leads to a longer life, study suggests

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Throughout the Bible, one message is delivered time and again, God has a purpose and plan for each of our lives. From Jeremiah’s prophecy during Judah’s darkest hour while in Babylonian captivity, God still had a plan and a purpose for every person, even though they had been ripped from the promised land: 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) The Apostle Paul writes that we are all part of the Body of Christ, and each of us are gifted with a unique and necessary role. And Paul adds that those with seemingly lesser roles are often the most important (1 Corinthians 12:21-25). So, it is vital that you find God’s purpose for your life, because according to research by Harvard University’s School of Public Health, those who have a sense of purpose live longer lives, StudyFinds reports. The research team led by Dr. Koichiro Shiba came to this conclusion after …

Roman Catholic Doctrine: the veneration of Mary

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The Roman Catholic Church’s veneration of Mary started centuries ago in the church’s battle with Gnosticism, a belief that separated the spirit of a man from his flesh. Flesh was evil, and the spirit was good. As part of this belief, a person could basically sin as much as they wanted in the flesh, because the spirit remained pure, a view hinted at and condemned by Paul in Romans 6:1. The Gnostics also believed that because of the Lord’s sinless life, Jesus could not have been human or born in flesh, and that He appeared on earth in spirit form. As this heresy spread in the early church, Christ’s humanity, became a test for the spirits; 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, (1 John 4:3 NIV) To counter this heresy, the church began to push and exalt Mary, Jesus’s earthly mother, as evidence of Christ’s human birth. But by the third and fourth century, it had …

Pastors believe their parishioners are more loyal to their political parties than their church, study reveals

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Recent research by the Barna Group found that a majority of pastors believe members of their congregation are more loyal to their political parties than their church. Writing for the Christian Post, Ryan Foley provides more details on the study: In September 2022, Barna asked Protestant pastors if they had given “serious consideration to quitting being in full-time ministry within the last year.” Thirty-nine percent answered in the affirmative, a slight decline from the 42% who reported that they were considering leaving full-time ministry in October 2021 and an increase from the 29% who said the same in January 2021. Barna identified “the immense stress of the job” as the leading cause of pastor burnout. Fifty-six percent of pastors who were considering quitting cited stress as a major reason for their discontent. Forty-three percent of pastors thinking of abandoning full-time ministry reported feeling “lonely and isolated” while 38% pointed to “current political divisions” as a factor leading them to consider a career change. Barna asked pastors to elaborate on how “current political divisions” have emerged …