Hollywood Declares: 2014 is the 'Year of the Bible'

In a throwback to the golden age of cinema, Hollywood has declared 2014 the "Year of the Bible."

From Ridley Scott's "Exodus" starring Christian Bale as Moses, to Russell Crowe playing Noah, Hollywood is gambling on new innovations in technology and star power to revisit some of the most popular stories ever told.

"It's definitely a throwback to the 1950s and early '60s," Dr. Stephen J. Whitfield, an American Studies professor at Brandeis University, told JNS.org.

Starting with "The Robe" in 1953 and Charlton Heston's 1956 Passover-related epic "The Ten Commandments," and continuing with Heston's other biblically themed films - 1959's "Ben-Hur" and 1965's "The Greatest Story Ever Told" - the post-war era was packed with movies that appealed to the conservatism of the era.

"One of the reasons biblical epics were [so] popular in the 1950s and '60s was because of the general atmosphere of piety of the era," Whitfield said.

Advances in technology also played a role, according to Whitfield.

"The second reason [for the popularity for bible-related films] was television, which was in black and white for most of this era," he said. "What movies could do is provide rich living color on a very big screen."

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Earliest Single-Cell Bacteria Contained Seven Complex Motors

A discovery a year ago in Japan continues to confound scientists: "If every school kid understood how that little thing works, the whole paradigm of evolutionary thought would have to change."

(Japan)—[Evolutionists] believe human beings evolved from a single-celled creature, which gradually becoming more and more complex over a vast time span. But what if the oldest single-celled bacteria ever found contained intricate, synchronized motors more complex than a Boeing 747? (Graphic: Seven motor, 24 gear MO-1 bacterium/via God Reports)

In November, 2012, two scientific groups from Osaka University in Japan and Aix-Marseille Université in France made a startling discovery.

They set out to uncover the power behind the tiny tails (flagella) that allowed the MO-1 marine bacterium to swim. Using electron cryotomography—an electron microscope and very cold temperatures—they found this "simple" creature's tails are powered by seven motors, arranged in a hexagonal array, with all gears interacting with 24 smaller gears between them.

"This is the earliest bacteria ever found," says Mark Rose, founder of Genesis Alive. "They found it in rock they claim is three billion years old," he notes. "That means it's the oldest, most complete single cell."
"The seven tails (flagella) rotate one way, and the smaller gears rotate the opposite way to maximize torque while minimizing friction," Rose notes.

These gears or bearings enable the flagella to spin very fast—so the MO-1 can swim ten times faster than E. coli and Salmonella. Some have referred to this as "the Ferrari of flagella," due to its speed and advanced design.

"This discovery baffled the microbiological world with its uncanny complexity," Rose notes. "Think of it, not one but seven proton synchronized motors interconnected with a planetary gearbox."
"The seven flagella propellers are inter-linked for minimum drag profile and maximum thrust by using 24 gears and a sheath, similar to modern aircraft and mufti-engine helicopters!" (Graphic: Seven tails-flagella-in yellow/via God Reports)

"It actually has gears and it keeps all seven motors synchronized," he notes. "Typically, any geared engines have no more than two motors. The best we could do in a helicopter is three engines and a multiple gear box to sync the engines."
"If every school kid understood how that little thing works, the whole paradigm of evolutionary thought would have to change."

Rose observes the axial proton motor is almost identical to modern AC (alternating current) brushless motors. "It has no wires, bearings or metal, and is 1/200,000 smaller than man's best device."
"The motors can drive the MO-1 bacteria at relative speeds of 100 body lengths/second. A Cheetah achieves a land speed of only 25 body lengths/second in comparison and that's in air, not fluid!" he says.

This "simple" bacterium has nearly the same number of parts as a Boeing 747—six million—which like the aircraft, work together perfectly. But these parts allow the bacterium to do something the 747 can't do—multiply itself. Note, the MO-1 bacterium has three more motors than the Boeing model.
Well-known evolutionist, Dr. Francisco Ayala of UC Irvine, has calculated the odds of human beings evolving from a single bacterium to be 1 in 10 to the 1 millionth power. However, three physicists, John Barrow, Brandon Carter and Frank Tipler, reexamined his data and said he overlooked several critical factors. They stated the odds at 1 in 10 to the 24 millionth power.

But according to probability theorists, any event with lower odds than 1 in 10 to the 50th power is considered mathematically impossible.

Continued, here.

Dead for 45 Minutes, Resurrected Man Tells Fox's Megyn Kelly About Experience in Heaven

"He had no heart rate. He had no blood pressure. He had no pulse, his brain had no oxygen for 45 minutes. So, the fact that he is up walking, talking, laughing and everything—I mean, that's amazing." -ICU Nurse, Emily Bishop

(Beachwood, OH)—For 45 minutes, doctors and nurses were unable to revive Brian Miller after the 41-year-old truck driver suffered a heart attack. But Miller, who says he was in Heaven during that time, claims he's alive today because God sent him back. (Photo via WJW Channel 8 News)

More specifically, according to a Fox News interview, God sent Miller's deceased father-in-law and mother-in-law to deliver a message to him that it wasn't his time and ushered him back into life.

As Miller suffered the initial heart attack, his ICU nurse, Emily Bishop, said, "His heart is just quivering in there. It's not able to pump. It's not doing anything."
Speaking later of his miraculous revival, Bishop added, "He had no heart rate. He had no blood pressure. He had no pulse, his brain had no oxygen for 45 minutes. So, the fact that he is up walking, talking, laughing and everything—I mean, that's amazing."

According to Fox WJW Channel 8 News, not only did Miller's heart inexplicably just start beating on it's own again, but he "miraculously" suffered no brain damage or loss of any bodily functions. (Photo via WJW Channel 8 News)

When interviewer Megyn Kelly asked Miller to describe his experience, he said, "I [saw] the light and just kept walking toward it. And then, all of a sudden, it opened into a most beautiful path with flowers." It was as he was walking along this path that he was met by his in-laws.
When asked about his religious background, Miller explained that he's "always believed in the Lord" and that as a child he went to church a lot but that now, since getting married and driving a truck so often, he hardly goes anymore.

Miller admits that the experience has changed his perspective on life in multiple ways and that people need to know heaven is real.

Continued, here.

Congressional Hearing: Christians Worldwide Being Targeted for Their Faith

WASHINGTON – Christians are the most persecuted group in the world, but most in the West don’t identify with the persecuted Church, a Congressional hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee contended this week.

Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) opened the hearing by outlining various reports of Christian persecution in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria. He told the story of Habila Adamu, a Nigerian businessman who was shot for his faith in November 2012.

“[M]asked gunmen armed with AK-47 entered his home. They told his wife to leave, as they were here to ‘do the work of Allah,’” Smith explained, noting that moments later the men asked Adamu if he was a Christian and why he had not accepted Islam.

“I am a Christian. We are also preaching the gospel of the true God to you and to other people who do not yet know God,” Adamu replied to the gunmen.
“Habila, are you ready to die as a Christian?” the men asked. “I am ready to die as a Christian,” Adamu replied.

“They asked him again, ‘Are you ready to die as a Christian?’” Smith relayed. “[Adamu] replied, ‘I am ready,’ and before he had closed his mouth, a bullet ripped through him.”
Adamu miraculously survived. Smith held up a photo to show where the bullet had exited the Christian’s body.

Continued

Suicide Bomber Instructor Accidently Blows Up Entire Class of Islamic Terrorists in Iraq

An Iraqi suicide bomber instructor set off his own explosives during a training on Monday, ending the lives of himself and his pupils.

(Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack near Khullani Square in Baghdad February 5, 2014.

The instructor, who was teaching a class at a camp in the Sunni region of the country, north of Baghdad, accidently detonated his bomb, killing 21 other would-be suicide bombers. The casualties were part of a group formerly linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

The ironic incident is a brief moment of respite for many Iraqis who have been forced to ensure years of violence and killing in the country; in 2013, nearly 9,000 people were killed. Thus far, 2014 has not been anymore hopeful; roughly 1,000 Iraqis were killed last month. Meanwhile, suicide bombers have made themselves an ever present menace in Iraqi civilian life, relentlessly targeting markets, mosques, sporting events and funerals.

Liquor storekeeper Raad Hashim said that he was tremendously relieved by the death of the 22 men, who almost certainly would have ended the lives of dozens of innocent Iraqis and Syrians.
"What happened today was not death, but it was life to us," Hashim told The New York Times. "Those 22 who were killed today might have killed hundreds of Iraqis, hundreds of innocent souls. May they burn in hell."

Although he initially burst out laughing at the news, Hashim suggested that the suicide bombers' onslaught of violence has devestated the country.

"This is so funny. It shows how stupid they are, those dogs and sons of dogs," he said, before acknowledging that the accident also gave him "pain, as I remember all the innocent people that were killed here."

Hashim interpreted the suicide bomber's act as one that had been God-inspired.
"This is God showing justice. This is God sending a message to the bad people and the criminals in the world, to tell them to stop the injustice and to bring peace. Evil will not win in the end. It's always life that wins over death," said Hashim.

Source

Casual Sex and Casual Faith

Casual sex can refer to one night stands and non-relational sex, where there are no strings attached. How often do people approach God in similarly casual ways?

Biblical prophets write of how God’s people often play the harlot (See Ezekiel 16, for example). The problem becomes so bad that God tells Hosea to take for himself a prostitute as a wife. Their marriage involving her various adulteries and Hosea’s faithfulness in the midst of her infidelities symbolizes God’s relationship with his people, Israel. Instead of remaining faithful to the God of the covenant who had blessed them, Israel turned to Canaanite deities and worshipped and honored them as the source of their plenty (Refer to Hosea).

How do these Old Testament realities bear upon the New Testament church? Old Testament allusions ring out in Paul’s words to the church in 2 Corinthians 11:

I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)

Continued, here.

Shocking Expose’: Former Egypt Pres. Morsi’s Collaboration with Al Qaeda

By Raymond Ibrahim

As former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s trials continue, it’s enlightening to consider what is likely to be one of the centerpieces: longstanding accusations that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party worked with foreign terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, against the national security of Egypt.

Based on these accusations of high treason, Morsi and others could face the death penalty.

Concerning some of the more severe allegations, one of Egypt’s most widely distributed and read newspapers, Al Watan, recently published what it said were recorded conversations between Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri (see picture, above), Al Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri’s brother. In these reports, Watan repeatedly asserts that Egyptian security and intelligence agencies confirmed (or perhaps leaked out) the recordings.

Much of the substance of the alleged conversations is further corroborated by events that occurred during Morsi’s one-year-rule, most of which were reported by a variety of Arabic media outlets, though not by Western media.

In what follows, I relay, summarize, and translate some of the more significant portions of the Watan reports (verbatim statements are in quotation marks). In between, I comment on various anecdotes and events – many of which were first broken on my website – that now, in light of these phone conversations, make perfect sense and independently help confirm the authenticity of the recordings.

Continued

Obama Affirms Jesus as his Savior and Lord, Stands for Religious Freedom

By Mark Ellis

Pres. Obama at Prayer Breakfast

At the 62^nd annual prayer breakfast Thursday morning, President Barack Obama confirmed his faith in Christ and took a strong stand for religious freedom around the world, encouraging prayers for imprisoned pastors in Iran and North Korea.

The First Lady and Vice-President Biden attended the traditional gathering held at the Washington Hilton, along with foreign dignitaries such as President Martelly from Haiti and President Nishani from Albania. Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) co-chaired this year’s breakfast.


Bethany Hamilton, the evangelical surfer who tragically lost an arm in a shark attack, read the story of the Good Samaritan from the Book of Luke and the well-known Scripture from Ephesians about how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

President Obama recalled the significance of his church involvement in Chicago. “I’m grateful not only because I was broke and the church fed me, but because it led to everything else.  It led me to embrace Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  It led me to Michelle — the love of my life — and it blessed us with two extraordinary daughters.  It led me to public service.  And the longer I serve, especially in moments of trial or doubt, the more thankful I am of God’s guiding hand.”

The President spoke out against the “modern slavery of human trafficking, an outrage that we must all join together to end.”

Continued

Syrian Children Enduring 'Unspeakable' Suffering

A new report shows children have endured "unspeakable and unacceptable" suffering during the conflict in Syria, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says.

Children have been sexually abused and tortured in government detention, while rebels have recruited them in support roles and for combat, the report warns.
It estimates that more than 10,000 children have been killed. Many more have been injured or have disappeared.
Mr Ban urged both sides in the conflict to protect and uphold their rights.
While the UN has previously accused the government and rebels of grave violations against children, the report is the first to have been presented to the UN Security Council.

Rape

The report, which covers the period 1 March 2011 to 15 November 2013, says that in the early stages of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, violations were mostly committed by the Syrian military, intelligence services and pro-government militias.
Then, as the fighting intensified and the armed opposition became more organised, an increasing number committed by rebel groups were documented.
The report says children were arrested, detained with adults, ill-treated and tortured by government forces in large-scale arrest campaigns, particularly in 2011 and 2012.

Continued

Analysis

Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

 

Ban Ki-moon's report is useful in highlighting some dangerous trends and the way they impact on children and civilians in general.

It shows how, as the conflict has become more militarised, rebel groups have gained access to heavier weapons, making their own attacks more indiscriminate and deadly.
The same goes for the increasing use by militant jihadist groups of suicide and car bombs, in which children are often among the victims, as well as the regime's mounting deployment of deadly barrel bombs and other heavy weapons.

The report also underlines the rebels' practice of recruiting minors for combat and auxiliary roles, making them liable both to attack and reprisal. It seems that if you are old enough to fight, you are old enough to be tortured and abused in a detention centre.
The report calls on all sides to halt abuses affecting children. Depressingly, it is predictable that the appeal will fall on deaf ears.

Mr Ban's special representative for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, is scheduled to brief diplomats on the report's findings next week.

Source

Mr. Obama’s Brand of 'Christianity'

For 20 years, Mr. Obama drank from a particular brand of religion—liberal Christianity. To be sure, most Bible-believing Christians would not consider that brand to be Christianity at all. But liberal Christians would consider their brand to actually be the enlightened one.

Over time, liberal Christianity has developed a humanistic understanding of what the Christian faith is about. They claim that Christians who still believe the Bible is God’s perfect self-revelation are stuck back in the first century. Society has evolved, they say. And because society has evolved, God must be evolving also. After all, why else would He allow such change to occur?

Thus, people who take the Bible as the absolute truth for all time are branded as rigid and unenlightened.

Read more, here.