Jim, this blew mind as I realized many kids are already there living in this latest hyped up fantasy land. Thank you for sharing this as a needed wake up call. Lambert

On Nov 19, 2021, at 14:47, jim.hutchinson@xplornet.com wrote:

Lambert, As I was reading this article about Metaverse this morning, my 6 year old grandson came to me wanting the access to our Wifi in order to play their online streaming game, Roblox. I accomplished that, and then my 9 year old grandson, and brother to the younger, came to help me get their game, Roblox, running, this is streaming. What happened next was a God-Moment for me and my grandson. He went on to show me, with excitement and pride, his Avatar that he build to represent himself in the Metaverse world of Roblox.

He had saved Robux, a digital money, and then used those Robux (digital money) to purchase fancy hair, clothing and accessories for his Avatar. I could see his personality in what he chose as an image of himself in the game, Roblox. So at the very moment I was reading this article about Metaverse, and how society is going to shift to that the "avatar world" in the next 5 to 10 years, my 9 year old grandson is already there. He is in the Metaverse as an Avatar with all of his friends. As he stood there, I told him about what was happening, the article on the Metaverse that you sent me Lambert; showing him what I was reading. (From the article)

I told him about Travis Scott, who held a live concert on Fortnite. His eyes lit up when I said, "Fortnite". I do not know what Fortnite is, but I am assuming it is part of the Metaverse where people go as Avatars and live, meet, and play together. I told him that this singer, Travis Scott, attracted 30 million people, (payed attendees), as confident and colourful Avatars of themselves, to his live-concert on the streaming platform, Fortnite. More attended (watched) that any Super Bowl halftime show.

I explained to my grandson how this virtual-world, where people can create themselves into whatever image they want, is pulling people further and further away from Jesus, and causing themselves to feel as if they themselves are gods, bring pleasure to themselves - but it is all false and a complete and powerful deception.

I then told Karyn about what I was learning from the article, and about this live concert were people can go as Avatars. I described to her how all these people, as Avatars, go to the live concert together and are there in virtual reality, but really are there together as Avatars, in whatever crazy and unique form they choose. I then suggested to Karyn, after she said, "so the band is playing to an empty building?" - "maybe they have a huge screen set up in front of them so the band can watch the crowd of avatars reacting with each other and to their songs, motions and things they are saying". It is so easy to see how the antichrist will capture everyone in the world. Most likely a character like Elon Musk who is revolutionary, against the current leadership and full of vision for a future, a Metaverse future. Facebook, now named Meta, an intricate component of the antichrist's system to capture the entire population. Intriguing people to "Avatar" in the Metaverse - where they live and play with safety and anonymity, doing what they please.

This all made me think of the Children of Israel and the moment of the Golden Calf, and how they had corrupted themselves. Surely that is what is at play here. How most will willingly take the mark issued by the Beast.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for [as for] this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] unto me.

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron. And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow [is] a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted [themselves]: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it [is] a stiff-necked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. (Exodus 32:1-10)

Listening to all this talk about Metaverse looks like most people are interested in being able to rise up themselves with anonymity and satisfy their lust for play.

Henry Ford didn't set out to create megachurches. But before the advent of the personal vehicle, most Christians seeking a church faced a simple denominational decision: do you attend the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, or Catholic church around the corner? With a vehicle, Christians could suddenly attend whichever church had the best children's ministry programming, youth activities, and rock 'n' roll Sunday morning worship—as long as it was within 10 to 30 minutes of driving. We became consumers because we could be consumers. Indeed, churches appealed to our consumerism by offering a menu of ministries so expansive it could make a Cheesecake Factory server blush.

This wasn't the first time, and won't be the last time, technology changed the church. But even as the pace of technological change has felt dizzying and exhausting for churches in recent years, we've only seen the tip of the digital iceberg. The real change, which will truly transform our mental, spiritual, and ecclesiastical landscapes, is coming soon: the metaverse. What Is the Metaverse? For most people, "metaverse" is a new word, and we've only heard it because of Mark Zuckerberg's recent announcement that Facebook's parent company is changing its name to Meta. The new name is a nod to the future. Meta is positioning itself as the first mover of a new digital universe.

But what exactly is the metaverse?

In his primer, Matthew Ball—a managing partner at a venture capital fund investing heavily in the metaverse—writes: The Metaverse is a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users, and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications, and payments. The metaverse is not a digital world. It's a digital world of worlds through which people can travel seamlessly, retaining their appearance and digital possessions wherever they go. These worlds do not merely exist in VR (virtual reality), but also layer onto physical reality through AR (augmented reality). The metaverse is still a zygote, but a few early examples offer glimpses of the future:

* FOX's Alter Ego features musical artists performing as digital avatars for the show's judges. Contestants explain that physical appearance or social anxiety previously hindered them, but using an avatar allows them to be real. In the metaverse, people will have digital identities they may prioritize over their physical identity.

* Niantic's Pokémon Go allows players to use phone cameras to see AR Pokémon and capture them. In the future, people may use AR glasses to simulate offices and hangouts with friends.

* Travis Scott put on a live concert within Fortnite, where players could participate, dance, and move across worlds. More than 30 million people participated, making it bigger than the Super Bowl halftime show. In the future, people may expect or even prefer virtual venues as the place to experience live events.

* Apple's facial recognition software uses infrared to analyze 30,000 points on your face. This is what allows you to make animojis and memojis, which accurately render your facial expressions in real time. In the metaverse, people's digital avatars will seamlessly reflect their actual facial expression, creating a simulacrum of authentic personal presence.

* Playstation 5's controllers have revolutionary haptic technology, which enable game-makers to create eerily realistic physical sensations. In the future, haptic gloves will give you the ability to feel a digital handshake, hold a digital mug, or slap a digital high five.

* Microsoft's PlayFab and Amazon's GameLift use AI to host and matchmake gamers seeking a multiplayer experience. This keeps games fun, because you only compete with similarly skilled players. In the metaverse, matchmaking services might use AI-powered personality testing to create digital friend groups based on shared interests.

* NFTs (non-fungible tokens) allow you to own a discrete piece of digital property. In the metaverse, people will buy digital designer products, wearing them or using them across platforms in VR, or even in the real world via AR. Put on your AR glasses and a person or place becomes a living, moving piece of art (or advertisement).

* Microsoft's latest Flight Simulator contains over 2.5 million gigabytes of data, because Microsoft mapped the real world and built it into the game. It has 2 trillion unique trees, and 1.5 billion unique buildings. The simulator matches real-world activity, including weather (some people flew into a hurricane just to check it out). This is called a "mirror world," and in the future people might use these digital assets to design buildings for real-world construction or digital use only. You could buy a hyper-realistic digital property in which you live, interact, or go on mini-vacations.

None of these examples by itself is the metaverse. But collectively they outline the future baby the metaverse might produce.

How Christians Can Prepare

What does the metaverse mean for the church and for Christians? When Facebook debuted in 2004 and the iPhone released in 2007, we didn't know what the future held. Fourteen years later, we know. And the church is just now catching up. We can't catch up a decade after the metaverse reshapes culture. We must prepare disciples now, knowing the metaverse will only exacerbate the current problems created by a (believe it or not) less invasive internet.

Thankfully, the metaverse is still five to 10 years away. We can anticipate coming changes and prepare disciples of Jesus to live as faithful witnesses in that future world. Here are three themes we should start emphasizing today, so we can form resilient disciples of tomorrow.

1. Givenness of Identity in a Customized World. If you think society is struggling with questions of identity now, get ready. Individuals will be able to express themselves however they want through fully customizable avatars in the metaverse. For example, in Mark Zuckerberg's presentation, a friend appeared as a robot in a space room. What happens when we identify more with a virtual version of ourselves than with our real selves? People may begin to conflate their God-given identity with the self-made identity they crafted in the metaverse. The transhumanism debate is on our doorstep.

The imago Dei is about to encounter the imago meta.

The imago Dei is about to encounter the imago meta. In a world where every aspect of our identity will be completely customizable, celebrating a received identity—given by God to be his human image-bearers, made with flesh and bone, male and female, for the cultivation of the world—will be radically countercultural. But it will also be lifegiving. The anxiety of self-creation is already crippling Gen Z and Millennials. The church may be the last place that accepts you as you're made, not as you're projected.

2. Goodness of Creation in a Disembodied World. We will begin to live more of our lives disembodied, either as avatars in VR spaces or holograms using AR technology. The separation we feel—between our physical bodies and surroundings, and our virtually expanded consciousness—will grow. It will be easy to begin to see the infinite possibilities of our virtual world and bodies as better and more real than the physical world.

The church may be the last place that accepts you as you're made, not as you're projected.

Secularism disenchanted the world, and stripped it of transcendent, sacramental meaning. The metaverse offers a transcendence knockoff when it fulfills, as one podcaster put it, "the very long-term human aspiration to be able to enter a completely imaginary world." As disciples of Jesus, we insist upon the goodness of our physical world and bodies. Adam's first, most fundamental job was to cultivate a garden. Jesus calls his followers to care for the sick, visit the lonely, lift up the downtrodden, and steward the environment. We know a virtual world created by publicly traded companies will never be more real or important than the world God created and called "very good." Followers of Jesus must resist constant digital connection, forming communities where people intentionally disconnect from virtual reality to be present with others: look them in the eye, give them a hug, and simply be with them. This will be countercultural in the best way.

3. Limits as Grace in a Limitless World. The metaverse will present us with the opportunity to experience glimpses of power only God has. The readiness of information will give us a glimpse of being omniscient. The ability to create worlds and identities will give us a glimpse of being omnipotent. The conquering of geographic boundaries will allow us to be wherever we want to be at any given time, approximating omnipresence. The breaking down of the space-time barriers as we're able to travel back in time through VR experiences will give us a glimpse of eternity. Our futuristic tower of Babel is luring us in with promises of limitlessness.

Our futuristic tower of Babel is luring us in with promises of limitlessness.

Disciples of Jesus will need to resist by embracing God-given limits. We can be a presence in our local communities, focus on the slow incremental growth of systems and structures that lead to people's flourishing (both physical and virtual), and embrace the increasingly unfashionable phrase "I don't know." Our lives can manifest the truth that we can't be everywhere, and we can't be everything, and that's a gift from the God who is. Faithfulness on a New Frontier While we can't predict all the ways the metaverse will change us, we know that Christian witness is always countercultural. The metaverse may promise godlike power and knowledge, but like all idols, it will take more than it gives. Despite its allure, the metaverse will ultimately point beyond itself to the transcendent King whose words made nonvirtual reality a reality. Like every technological innovation, the metaverse will bring both opportunities and threats. But if we begin the hard work of discipleship today, we might find resilient disciples of Jesus faithfully leading on the edge of a new frontier, working for the flourishing of everyone—physically and virtually—with confident humility in the face of monumental change.

A Caveat Question: Is our universe one big virtual reality? How to test if we’re really living in a computer simulation? The Conversation November 22, 2021 An interesting thought experiment. But if the cosmos is a simulation, then history is merely a shadow play and our lives a mirage. That makes a liar our of the God who reveals Himself in creation and hisrtory, in the Scriptures and Jesus Christ. If the Only Begotten Son was never actually in fact incarnated in substantial human flesh — in which He suffered, was crucified, resurrected, ascended, and is now physically seated at the right hand of the majexty on high — if that is a fabulous concoction, then we remain without God and without hope in this world or the life to come. In such a case nothing remains but the nihilistic void. --Bryce Self.

A Prophecy Update

MARK OF THE BEAST TECHNOLOGY, RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER (NWO) COMPANION VIDEO at YOUTUBE:

I. MARK OF THE BEAST TECHNOLOGY NEVER OFFLINE – LEV GROSSMAN AND MATT VELLA

II SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

Apple isn’t just reviving an old category, it’s moving a boundary. It’s attempting to put technology somewhere where it’s never been particularly welcome before: on our bodies. When CEO Tim Cook and his colleagues talk about the Apple Watch the words they use over and over again are “personal” and “intimate,” and it’s true in the most literal way possible: they’re asking you to let them strap a computer to your arm. Like a pushy date, the Apple Watch wants to get intimate with us in a way we’re not entirely used to and may not be prepared for. This isn’t just a new product; this is technology attempting to colonize our bodies.

Technological progress tends to feel incremental, but this is a watershed, a frog-boiling moment. There was a time when the Internet was something you dialed up; then it was replaced in the late 1990s by broadband, the always-on Internet, a formula that already sounds quaint. Apple Watch signals the advent of an always-there Internet, an Internet that can’t be put away. We’re used to dabbling just our fingertips in the Internet, but the Apple Watch doesn’t stop there. It tracks your movements. It listens to your heartbeat. It puts your whole body online. Exactly how personal do we want to get?

…But wearables also ask you to give up control. Once your device starts telling you what you should and shouldn’t eat and how far you should run, it’s getting in between you and your body and mediating that relationship. Wearables will make your physical self visible to the virtual world in the form of information, an indelible digital body print, and that information is going to behave the way any other information behaves these days. It will be copied and circulated. It will go places you don’t expect. People will use that information to track you and market to you. It will be bought and sold and leaked–imagine a data spill comparable to the recent iCloud leak, only with Apple Watch data instead of topless selfies. The Apple Watch is more intimate than other devices, but the Internet isn’t getting any less public.

…But more than that, more than another decisively imperial annexation of another technological sector, the Apple Watch represents a redrawing of the map that locates technology in one place and our bodies in another. The line between the two will never be as easy to find again. Once you’re O.K. with wearing technology, the only way forward is inward: the next product launch after the Apple Watch would logically be the iMplant. If Apple succeeds in legitimizing wearables as a category, it will have established the founding node in a network that could spread throughout our bodies, with Apple setting the standards. Then we’ll really have to decide how much control we want–and what we’re prepared to give up for it.

COVID MICROCHIP DEVELOPER SAYS THERE'S NO STOPPING ROLL-OUT: 'WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT!': |
THE DEVELOPER OF A CONTROVERSIAL NEW COVID MICROCHIP THAT IS EMBEDDED IN THE SKIN HAS HIT BACK AT CRITICS WHO SLAMMED THE PROJECT IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH EXPRESS.CO.UK.
– ANTONY ASHKENAZ, JAN 3, 2022

A Swedish start-up tech company has invented a scannable microchip that is implanted in people’s arms and can display your COVID-19 vaccination status. This digital implant is designed to be embedded into people's arms so your vaccine passport pops up when scanned. Created by the tech start-up Dsruptive Subdermals, the controversial invention is made of a pre-programmed scannable implant two millimetres by 16 millimetres in size…One Twitter user argued: "Look, I’m as pro-vaccine as anyone around…AND I’m pro-vaccine passport (on a voluntary basis only), but this just plays into the narrative of 'they want to track you' conspiracy theorists." But speaking to Express.co.uk, Hannes Sjoblad, managing director of Dsruptive Subdermals, fired back at the critics. He said: “This technology exists and is used whether we like it or not. “I am happy that it is brought into the public conversation. "New technologies must be broadly debated and understood. “Smart implants are a powerful health technology. “That is what we are building at DSruptive and our goal is to transform healthcare on a global scale.” While new in humans, this kind of technology is very common for household pets, where most of them are embedded with a microchip that reveals the animal’s medical history when scanned. Costing 100 euros for a microchip, the device works by scanning the spot on the arm with a mobile phone. When scanned, a PDF will appear that shows all the details of the person’s EU Digital Covid Certificate, which indicates their vaccination status and may also show whether the person has recently been tested positive for Covid. Mr Sjoblad added: "This means it is always accessible for me or for anyone else, really, who wants to read me. "For example, if I go to the movies or go to a shopping centre, then people will be able to check my status even if I don't have my phone."…

CHINA DEVELOPS AI 'PROSECUTOR' THAT CAN IDENTIFY 'DISSENT' AND PRESS CHARGES FOR COMMON CRIMES 'WITH 97% ACCURACY' – JACK NEWMAN, 27 DECEMBER 2021 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10346933/China-develops-AI-prosecutor-press-charges-97-accuracy.html China has developed an artificial intelligence prosecutor that can charge people with crimes with more than 97 per cent accuracy, researchers claim. The dystopian machine can identify 'dissent' against the state and suggest sentences for supposed criminals, removing people from the prosecution process…These include 'provoking trouble' - a term used to stifle dissent in China, credit card fraud, gambling crimes, dangerous driving, theft, fraud, intentional injury and obstructing official duties…in a paper published in the Management Review journal: 'The system can replace prosecutors in the decision-making process to a certain extent.'…One prosecutor in Guanghzhou says he has concerns about the new technology. He said: 'The accuracy of 97 per cent may be high from a technological point of view, but there will always be a chance of a mistake. 'Who will take responsibility when it happens? The prosecutor, the machine or the designer of the algorithm?'…There are also fears it will fail to keep up with changing social standards and could be weaponized by the state.

II. RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER JOE BIDEN ABOLISHES 90 PERCENT OF ICE’S DEPORTATIONS –NEIL MUNRO, 6 DEC 2021

President Joe Biden has slashed the deportation of illegal migrants from 25 cities by roughly 90 percent, so helping business groups with a flood of desperate, low-wage workers. Biden’s business giveaway was revealed by the Center for Immigration Studies, which also showed that Biden’s deputies have reduced by two-thirds the deportation of criminal migrants who threaten Americans and the nation’s growing population of illegal migrants…In 2021, the 25-cities’ deportation rate has dropped to roughly 3,000 per month since the Senate’s confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s appointee to run the Department of Homeland Security.

POPE FRANCIS: MULTILATERALISM MUST NOT BE STIFLED BY ‘NATIONALISTIC DEMANDS’ – THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, 4 Dec 2021

Pope Francis arrived on Saturday in Athens, Greece, where he launched an impassioned appeal for multilateralism, migrant reception, and combating climate change…The international community needs this cooperation “in order to open up paths of peace through a multilateralism that will not end up being stifled by excessive nationalistic demands,” he declared…“It is sad to see how, in recent years, many age-old olive trees have been burned, consumed by fires often caused by adverse weather conditions provoked in turn by climate changes,” Francis said. “Against the scarred landscape of this marvelous country, the olive tree can symbolize the determination to tackle the climate crisis and its devastation.” “I would like to encourage once again a global, communitarian vision with regard to the issue of migration, and to urge that attention be paid to those in greatest need, so that, in proportion to each country’s means, they will be welcomed, protected, promoted and integrated,” he said.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY PAINTING DEPICTING GEORGE FLOYD AS JESUS IS 'HERETICAL, BLASPHEMOUS,' STUDENT SAYS: KELLY LATIMORE'S PAINTING, TITLED 'MAMA,' EVOKES MICHELANGELO'S SCULPTURE 'LA PIETA' – TENY SAHAKIAN, NOVEMBER 23

A painting of George Floyd depicted as Jesus Christ displayed at a Catholic university is "heretical, blasphemous idolatry," a student told Fox News. Blayne Clegg, a junior at the Catholic University of America, was shocked when he saw the painting hanging outside the law school’s chapel a few weeks ago. "There's a fine line between recognizing the innate dignity and righteousness of human beings that are made in the image of God and embracing brazen, progressive politics," Clegg told Fox News. Kelly Latimore's painting, titled "Mama," shows a mother mourning her son and evokes Michelangelo's sculpture "La Pieta," according to the school. Michelangelo's work depicts the virgin mother Mary holding Jesus Christ..."Jesus has been depicted as many different races, but Jesus is always depicted as nothing but Jesus, the sinless son of Almighty God," Clegg continued. "There has never, to my knowledge, been any serious, respected Catholic theologian or icon maker who has depicted Jesus Christ as another human being." When asked whether the painting is of Floyd or Jesus, Latimore has replied, "Yes." Floyd called out for his mother in a viral video that showed him die under a police officer's knee. "Following the violent death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Latimore created this icon in June of that year," the description posted with the painting reads…"The image is evocative of the Pietà – the Mother of Sorrows," the description continues. "May Mary, the Mirror of Justice, hear the cry of all who have known the sorrow of losing a loved one to violence and injustice. Amen." …The school’s Vice President of Communications responded to Fox’s request for comment saying, "The icon ‘Mama’ is a pieta depicting Mary and her Son, Jesus Christ."

From: Dr. Andy Woods. Date: January 7, 2022.

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