Sunday, 9 May 2021

Think It Can't Happen Here? Finnish Leader Faces Jail For Quoting Bible

 

bible

 
Think It Can't Happen Here? Finnish Leader Faces Jail For Quoting Bible
 
In a case that's stunned the West, Finland's former Interior Minister and leader of the Christian Democrats, has been criminally charged for posting a picture of the Bible, opened to Romans 1:24-27.
 
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woke
 
Can The Church Reach The Social Justice Warriors & The Woke Generation?
 
Are there parallels between the anti-war hippies of the 1960s and today's social justice warriors? Are there valuable lessons we can learn from the past, both cultural and spiritual, that will give us insight for today?
 
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iran
 
Arabs Warn West: Do Not Let Iran Fool You
 
Arab columnists and political analysts who have been following the present negotiations in Vienna are convinced that Iran is once again poised to play the international community for fools. They warn the US against repeating the mistake of the past by falling for the Iranian ploy.
 
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grocery
 
Inflation Set To Send Grocery Bills Soaring
 
We are seeing food prices shoot up dramatically all across the industry, and experts are warning that this is just the very beginning.
 
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Prophecy Update – Current Events – (5/8/21)

The Book of Daniel Chapter 2:1-23 - Man vs God

FLIGHT #777: As Spring Draws Closer, NTEB Witness Billboard #3 Asks Millions Of Saint Augustine Beach Tourists ‘Will YOU Be Left Behind?’

 

New post on Now The End Begins

FLIGHT #777: As Spring Draws Closer, NTEB Witness Billboard #3 Asks Millions Of Saint Augustine Beach Tourists ‘Will YOU Be Left Behind?’

by Geoffrey Grider

will-you-be-left-behind-pretribulation-rapture-church-nteb-witness-billboards-saint-augustine-florida-f;ight-777-king-james-bible

Solomon clearly puts the timing of when the Beloved comes for the Bride as being at a time of year, right after winter, when everything is blooming and the birds are singing.

Today I had the joyous pleasure of driving down to the beach here in Saint Augustine, parking my car, and looking up at an incredible sight. What was it? NTEB Witness Billboard #3, lifted up yesterday over the main exit road that leads to the 312 bridge connection the beach with the mainland. It asks people 'will YOU be left behind' as it references the Pretribulation Rapture. Glory to God! I want to take a moment and thank everyone who sends in donations for us to have this billboard witness program, because of your giving and praying, we can do this, and so much more.

"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." Revelation 4:1,2 (KJB)

NTEB has been around for the past 12 years, since 2009, so this is our 12th Springtime season that we have witnessed, and I don't know about you but to me, it feels very, very different. Now I am not setting a date or calling for the Pretribulation Rapture to be this Spring, but since the Song of Solomon points to a Springtime rapture of the Church, we are going above and beyond this year.

Take a moment and look at the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church as found in the Song of Solomon.

The Bride and the Beloved

Song of Solomon chapter 2, verses 8-14, is an amazing picture, in type, of Jesus Christ coming to snatch His Bride up and away from off the Earth in the Rapture. For starters, you will note that the bride’s beloved is pictured as being above her, as if He was coming down to get her:

“The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.” Song of Solomon 2:8 (KJB)

Secondly, He is looking at her “through the lattice” located “behind our wall”, which is exactly where Jesus is when He comes to get us. He is veiled to the rest of the world, mocking referred to as “the secret Rapture”, but He is clearly visible to us. Next, you will note that He does not come down to get the Bride, rather He causes her to “rise up” and “come away” with Him. Hmm, now where have we heard language like that before? How about right here in these two New Testament places?

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (KJB)

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1 (KJB)

The Pretribulation Rapture Is In The Spring

Solomon clearly puts the timing of when the Beloved comes for the Bride as being at a time of year, right after winter, when everything is blooming and the birds are singing. Birds sing in springtime, I noticed their song this morning for the first time all year. Also, please note that it is not just any Spring to which he refers, but to one that also has the “fig tree” in leaf. That would mean that Israel would be back in the land.

“For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (KJB)

DEMONIC SPIRIT OF INSANITY - Democrats And The CDC Are Cancelling The Term ‘Mother’ And Replacing It With ‘Birthing People’ As Demonic Spirit Of Insanity Roiling America

 

New post on Now The End Begins

Democrats And The CDC Are Cancelling The Term ‘Mother’ And Replacing It With ‘Birthing People’ As Demonic Spirit Of Insanity Roiling America

by Geoffrey Grider

democrats-cancel-mothers-day-cdc-birthing-people-woke-liberalism-is-a-mental-disorder

These are the same great thinkers who have led the fight to cancel fathers and make fatherhood dispensable in the lives of children, a trend that began with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s. We see how that’s working out. Goodbye Mother's Day, hello Birthing People.

We live in crazy times, no doubt about it. We live in an age where activists scream 'BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!' then turn around and kill their own black babies in numbers that outdo Hitler's Holocaust of the Jews. We live in an age where activists scream "LISTEN TO SCIENCE!!!", then turn around and tell us there are 100 genders and that men can become women in defiance of both science and biology. We live in an age where the spirit of Antichrist has begun to rule over the kingdoms of men.

"And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." Luke 4:5-7 (KJB)

Men cannot become women, that is categorically impossible on any level by which metrics could measure it, transgenders are nothing more than 'dress-up dollies'; using chemicals and costumes to create hideous hybrids. If that offends you, then you are in agreement with Satan, plain and simple. You applauded when the Liberals cancelled Trump, but guess what? Now they're cancelling you and you are cheering your own damnation and destruction. Welcome to Birthing Peoples Day, brought to you by the spirit of Antichrist, with a whole lot more on the way. Enjoy!

LGBTQP-welcoming-congregation-church-laodicea-end-times-falling-away-bible-prophecyBAPTIST PASTOR WRITES IN USA TODAY THAT THE BIBLE CAN’T BE TRUSTED, AND THAT THE CHURCH MUST ACCEPT OPEN LGBTQP MEMBERS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE

Happy ‘Birthing People’ Day?

FROM MUST READ ALASKA: Missouri Democrat Rep. Cori Bush repeated the progressive waterboarding of language and culture on Thursday when she referred to women as 'birthing people' during a hearing about the health of black children, which a Democrat Oversight Committee calls a crisis. The term “birthing people” came so naturally to Bush that she didn’t understand what the fuss was all about.

She’s not the only one doing it. The thought leaders of the Left and policymakers at the highest level of government are erasing women and girls. The CDC now refers in its literature to “People who are pregnant” and “People who are breastfeeding,” rather than women or females. For inexplicable reasons, the agency that is tasked with interpreting science into policy now writes over women’s very chromosomes by reporting, “Pregnant people with COVID-19 are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.”

Where did this accepted of gender denial science come from? Feminist lawyers.

The gestation of a child, the morning sickness, the physical demands of advanced pregnancy, the labor of giving birth, and postpartum up-and-down experiences, and nursing a baby have made being a woman inconvenient in the field of employment law. Attorneys and feminists are positing that it is time to “de-gender pregnancy,” to reduce the frequency of workplace discrimination.

If everyone is a “people,” then pregnancy is something that might happen to any of them, the attorneys would have us believe.

We arrive at the culture wars of Mothers Day, 2021 and find motherhood itself is being cancelled by legal scholars trying to protect women for their own good. You are a menstruating person, not a woman. You are a birthing person, not a mother. There is nothing unique about your anatomy.

kataluna-enriquez-biological-male-wins-miss-silver-state-female-beauty-pageant-nevada-lgbtq-transgender-transgenderism-end-times-strong-delusionAMERICA’S EMBRACE OF THE DEMONIC DELUSION OF TRANSGENDERISM IS FURTHER PROOF THAT GOD HAS REMOVED HIS HAND AND GIVEN US UP AS A NATION

These are the same great thinkers who have led the fight to cancel fathers and make fatherhood dispensable in the lives of children, a trend that began with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s. We see how that’s working out. These are the same great thinkers who cancelled Mr. Potato Head this year, because “Mister” is a classification too far. Banishing Barbie is already underway with the de-gendering of the iconic doll.

when-wicked-bear-rule-people-mourn-nancy-pelosi-andrew-cuomo-democrats-mask-mandates-joe-biden-forced-vaccines-new-world-order-great-resetDEMOCRATS NANCY PELOSI AND JAMES MCGOVERN INTRODUCE NEW RULES FOR CONGRESS ELIMINATING GENDER TERMS LIKE ‘FATHER, MOTHER, SON AND DAUGHTER’

In 1865, poet William Ross Wallace wrote a poem that describes motherhood in terms that seem so politically incorrect today that the poem may be someday subjected to a “trigger warning.”

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’s third stanza is powerful:

“Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep – oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.”

The rush to de-gender pregnancy is robbing women of what is a transformational and fleeting season in their lives, the creation and nurturing of life itself. In January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic majority erased the words “father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister” and other terms that were not considered sufficiently “gender-inclusive” from the House rules. Those terms have been replaced with “parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling.” That’s right: There’s no more sister and brother or aunt and uncle. No more mom or dad.

To all mothers, happy Mothers Day from Must Read America. You are so very special and treasured. You are the hand that rocks the cradle, with unique abilities that shall not be denied. It’s time to start fighting back and reclaim your rightful place as mothers. Don’t let the Left take away what is amazing, important, and God-given. READ MORE

The Shock Letter With "When The First Seal Was Opened"

 

When The First Seal Was Opened

As the future grows dark, it is natural to ask:

When will the First Seal of Revelation 6 be opened?

How would we know when that happens?

Has it already happened?

I’ve already discussed some of this here:

The Seven Seals of Revelation
https://whenjacobreturns.com/supporting-passages/the-seven-seals-of-revelation/

That chapter will need to change a bit because I’ve been pondering that First Seal. And, I think that we need to discuss when that Seal was opened, and why.

- READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE -

Arabs Riot on Temple Mount, Escalate Violence

 

Biden Omits Important Word from National Prayer; Investigate Kerry Over Leaks to Iran About Israel;, Demand Republicans; Latest Israel News!
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Arabs Riot on Temple Mount, Escalate Violence
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NY Congressman Defends Cutting Aid to Israel

Saturday, 8 May 2021

Violent Clashes On The Temple Mount In Jerusalem Forces Border Police To Close The Damascus Gate To Head Off Further Riots As Ramadan Concludes

 

New post on Now The End Begins

Violent Clashes On The Temple Mount In Jerusalem Forces Border Police To Close The Damascus Gate To Head Off Further Riots As Ramadan Concludes

by Geoffrey Grider

violent-clashes-break-out-on-temple-mount-jerusalem-israel

Violent clashes broke out at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Friday, the last day of Ramadan, as Border Police close Damascus Gate.

No better way to celebrate Ramadan than to attack Jews on the Temple Mount that is illegally occupied by the Muslims, and that's exactly what happened earlier in the day today in the capital city of Israel in Jerusalem.

"Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever." 2 Chronicles 33:4 (KJB)

You can have all the Abraham Accords you like, and Israel can make peace with every Muslim nation on earth, but there will still not be peace in the Middle East until Israel makes peace with the Palestinians. That, of course, the bible tells us will never, ever happen not now, and not in the Millennium. That's because the 'peace' that's coming up will be the biblical false peace, and when Jesus returns as King of Kings, He will cast out the Canaanites as Zechariah tells us.

"In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts." Zechariah 14:20,21 (KJB)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is claiming that his people are historically at home in Israel.PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS NOW CLAIMS THAT THEY ARE THE BIBLICAL CANAANITES, ZECHARIAH TELLS THEM WHAT THEIR FATE SHALL BE

Violent clashes break out at Temple Mount

FROM THE JERUSALEM POST: Clashes broke out between worshipers and security forces on the scene of the Temple Mount, where tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers gathered to mark the last Friday prayers of the Ramadan. Initial reports indicated several injuries, including at least 12 police officers, and 35 Palestinians, including two in serious condition, during the riots, according to the Red Cross, cited by Israeli media.  One of those injured was an Israeli officer who is in moderate condition after being hit in the face with a rock.

Border Police officers closed off Damascus Gate in the Old City in an attempt to regain control of the situation and to prevent more people from joining the riots. The secretary general of Islamic Jihad said Friday that "it is impossible to tolerate what is happening in Jerusalem and the enemy must expect our response at any moment."

Hamas also put out a statement Friday warning Israel about potential repercussions of the clashes at the Temple Mount.  Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sent a direct message to Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu telling him "not to play with fire. This is a struggle that you, your army, your police and your whole country cannot win. We will defend Jerusalem no matter what sacrifices we must make," Ynet reported.

Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas said that he called on the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations to demand the UN Security Council convene to discuss the situation in Jerusalem including clashes and clashes in Sheikh Jarrah, Walla reported.  Jordan's foreign ministry condemned the entrance of Israeli forces to the Temple Mount, and their "animalistic attack" of worshipers there.

Qatar also denounced the entrance of Israeli security forces to the Temple mount in the wake of clashes, calling it "provocation for millions of Muslims around the world," Ynet reported. Qatar went on to call for the international community to act to stop Israeli harm of the Palestinian people.

Israeli Police reported that "police troops began using riot control measures a while ago, in an attempt to restore order after violent riots broke out at the Temple Mount, during which hundreds of suspects started throwing rocks, bottles and other items towards our forces."

"We will not allow the disruption of order, any form of violence and attempts to harm officers while taking advantage of the freedom of religion and using it to promote a violent incident that includes hundreds of worshipers starting to riot and hurting police officers," a police statement released after police managed to regain control at the Temple Mount read.

Earlier, a video published by KAN News showed worshipers waving Hamas flags at the Temple Mount. Israel Police and IDF had sent reinforcements to the capital in preparation for the fourth and final Friday prayers of the month of Ramadan on the Temple Mount and closed several streets in the area.  READ MORE

Christians in An Era of Global Crisis

 

Christians in An Era of Global Crisis
Christians in An Era of Global Crisis

Who Is the Master of Manipulation and Deception?

Why Is This in The Bible?

Netanyahu Responds to US Pressure: Jerusalem is Not a Settlement!

 

King Solomon’s Biblical ‘Maritime Empire’ Discovered! Jews and Arabs Agree: Jerusalem Must Remain a United City! CLICK for Latest from Israel!
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Netanyahu Responds to US Pressure: Jerusalem is Not a Settlement!
Biden ‘Dead Set’ on Iran Deal, Despite High Price
DISCOVERED: Evidence of King Solomon’s Biblical ‘Maritime Empire’

IDF Thwarts Major Attack at Army Base, Kills Two Terrorists

 

'Say Sorry’ for Killing Jesus? This US Agency Demands Jews Apologize; Biden's 'Fundamental Error' in Talks with Iran; Latest Israel News!
World Israel News
IDF Thwarts Major Attack at Army Base, Kills Two Terrorists
US Military Agency Demands Jews ‘Say Sorry’ for Killing Jesus
UNDER THE RADAR: What You Probably Missed This Week but Shouldn’t Have

Friday, 7 May 2021

Middle East Update: America is leaving the Middle East

Prophecy Update: As It Was in the Days of Hitler, So it is Today

Prophecy Update: The Reengineering of People

Jared Kushner Launches ‘Abraham Accords Institute for Peace’ To Complete The Process Of Implementing The Two State Solution To Divide Israel

 

New post on Now The End Begins

Jared Kushner Launches ‘Abraham Accords Institute for Peace’ To Complete The Process Of Implementing The Two State Solution To Divide Israel

by Geoffrey Grider

jared-kushner-abraham-accords-institute-for-peace-israel-two-state-solution-palestine-joel-3-armageddon-parted-my-land-nteb

Jared Kushner is founding the 'Abraham Accords Institute for Peace' to work on deepening agreements Israel reached last year with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Everyone thought that the Abraham Accords would end when Joe Biden became the pretend president, but in fact, just the opposite is taking place as we told you it would. At this point, the Abraham Accords are virtually unstoppable as they are the foundation on which the covenant confirmed by Antichrist will take place. Sobering thought, yes?

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Daniel 9:27 (KJB)

"Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:" Isaiah 28:15 (KJB)

So here we have Jared Kushner, an absolute minion of the Antichrist, doing what he does best  in helping to facilitate the eventual Two State Solution that Joel 3:2 (KJB) says will trigger the Battle of Armageddon that takes place at the Second Coming. We told you that God would use Donald Trump to shake the whole world, and that is just what is taking place. So get ready to see Israel divided to create Palestine, and get ready to see the Jewish Temple rebuilt.

jerusalem-israel-temple-mount-jews-muslims-praying-together-al-aqsa-mosque-abraham-accordsTHE ABRAHAM ACCORDS HAS MANY MOVING PARTS, CLICK TO READ ALL ABOUT IT.

Jared Kushner launches Abraham Accords group to promote Arab states' new ties with Israel

FROM THE JERUSALEM POST: Jared Kushner is forming a group to promote relations between four Arab states and Israel, normalized under agreements he helped broker as a top adviser to his father-in-law former President Donald Trump, the group said on Wednesday.

The Biden administration has said it wants to build on the accords and potentially add additional countries. President Biden spoke Tuesday with Emirati Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed and said the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel was of strategic importance to the U.S. source

Kushner is founding the 'Abraham Accords Institute for Peace,' to work on deepening agreements Israel reached last year with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, is writing a book about his experience in helping broker the deals. He will be joined in the new group by former US envoy Avi Berkowitz and ambassadors to the United States from Bahrain, the UAE and Israel.

Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban, a contributor to Democratic causes, was also listed as part of the effort in a statement by the group, which described itself as non-partisan. The founders "intend to add additional Democrats to the group as well as international advisers from the region," it said. The Arab countries' agreements with Israel were opposed by the Palestinians, who say they violate pledges from Arabs not to make peace until Israel withdraws from occupied lands.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat who defeated the Republican Trump in an election in November, has said he aims to strengthen and expand the agreements, a position he repeated on Tuesday in a phone call with the UAE's powerful crown prince of Abu Dhabi. READ MORE

Shocking New Study Shows That When Humans Are Touched By A Humanoid Robot It Makes Them More Like To Listen And Follow Their Orders

 

New post on Now The End Begins

Shocking New Study Shows That When Humans Are Touched By A Humanoid Robot It Makes Them More Like To Listen And Follow Their Orders

by Geoffrey Grider

singularity-transhumanism-cyborgs-antichrist-elon-musk-revelation-13-666-robots-humanoid

Researchers in Germany say the touch of a humanoid robot makes people happier and more likely to follow their requests.

We live in a world where we have been groomed to think of algorithms and chunks of plastic and metals on the same level of human beings, don't believe me? Then why do you say 'thank you' to Alexa after she completes a task, why do you joke with Siri, and all of the hundreds of ways we speak to our machines? Because the Mark of the Beast System has trained you to do that.

"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Revelation 13:14,15 (KJB)

Blow-up sex dolls have been the fodder of stand-up comics for years, but there is nothing funny about what's happening now with ultra life-like humanoid robots that humans are not only having sex with, but falling in love with emotionally. That is overtly demonic and all part of the coming dispensation in which Antichrist will rule over this fallen world. Don't talk to your devices as if they were real, and don't have anything to do with the coming VR and AR fake reality the tech gods seek to enslave us with.

We have consistently told you that the drive to full human microchip implantation comes in three stages, which are as follows:

  • STAGE ONE: Getting the whole world in front of a computer. This was successfully accomplished in 1994 with the twin whammy of the release of the Internet for public use, and the stratospheric rise of Windows software in personal computing systems. This stage lasted from 1994 to 2007, when Apple was the first company to market with a successful mobile device, or smartphone as they are commonly called.
  • STAGE TWO: Getting the computer on you. Now that the whole world was attached to personal computers and laptops, Stage Two is where the computer went from being in front of you to being on you. Stop anyone one the street and ask them to you show their mobile device, and you will see it is somewhere on their body. The stage began as previously stated in 2007 with the iPhone from Apple, and is currently coming to an end here now in 2019/2020. Stage Three is the third and final stage in this process.
  • STAGE THREE: Getting the computer inside you. Augmented reality smart glasses, in all their varied mutations, are the bridge to human implantable microchips and computer processors. When this stage is fully realized, wearers of the smart glasses will be able to have full 3D interactions in the air as computers screens as we know them today will cease to exist. The technology that will be developed during this stage, 2020 - 2026/28, will include implantable devices that will supplement the smart glasses. This is where Augmented Reality and human implantable will merge .

All of this is the precursor to the coming One World System under Antichrist, and his Mark of the Beast. Now you can see that when the Mark is rolled out, it will not be some new thing that boggles people's minds, no, just the opposite. When the Mark of the Beast comes along after the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church, the Mark will simply be the 'latest and greatest' piece of technology to a world that has already been using Augmented Reality systems and gotten used to seeing things in 3D.

mark-zuckerberg-mobile-world-congress-digital-zombies-virtual-reality-beast-end-times-ntebDO NOT ENTER INTO THE WORLD OF VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY, YOU MAY NEVER COME OUT

Being touched by a humanoid robot makes people happier, more likely to listen to machines

FROM STUDY FINDS: Instead of being reliant on other humans, researchers are hoping that one day robots may be able to fulfill the roles of therapists, personal trainers, and even life coaches. Their study follows the widespread increase of touch starvation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies have pointed out how physical distancing and isolation is creating psychological complications over the last year. Does a reassuring pat on the back bring you comfort during a tough day? A new study finds, when it comes to touching, people aren’t even picky about who’s doing the touching.

People who go a long time without touch, also called “skin hunger” or “affection deprivation,” may experience a variety of negative physiological effects that increase feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety. Some studies even find that these people may even have an increased likelihood of infections due to immune system changes.

Study authors note scientists continue to explore the effects of physical contact with robots. However, while some studies detect meaningful effects, others find no benefit to a robotic hug.

A motivational robot?

In this research, 48 students engaged in a counselling conversation with the humanoid robot NAO – a programmable research robot often used for education and research purposes. During the course of the conversation, for some participants, the robot briefly and seemingly spontaneously patted the back of the participant’s hand. This differed from the design of other studies, which have relied on human-initiated touch. In response to the robot’s touch, most participants smiled and laughed, and none pulled away. Results show those who were touched were more likely to go along with the robot urging them to show interest in a particular academic course discussed during the conversation.

Participants also reported a better emotional state after the robot’s pat on the hand. Researchers note those who the robot did not touch still rated the conversation just as favorably. The hope is that scientists can harness the impact on request compliance so robots can engage in motivational jobs, such as persuading someone to exercise more.

“A robot’s non-functional touch matters to humans,” Laura Hoffmann from Ruhr University and her team write in a media release. “Slightly tapping human participants’ hands during a conversation resulted in better feelings and more compliance to the request of a humanoid robot.”

The findings were published in the journal PLOS One. READ MORE