SciFriday

New Year, New Chapter

December 30, 2022

With this, our 300th episode, SciFriday goes on indefinite hiatus. We’ve had a wonderful time producing this program over the last seven years, but with a busy 2023 schedule that includes three weeks in Israel, three books, and two documentary videos to produce, something in our schedule had to give. We close out this seven-year run with a look at the Roman god of transitions, Janus, the realSt. Nicholas, and an explanation of how the early church settled on December 25 as the date for Christmas. Here’s the hard, historically documented truth: It had nothing to do with Saturn, the winter solstice, Sol Invictus, Nimrod, or Baal. In fact, the origins of Christmas were not pagan in any way, shape, or form. We may produce SciFriday specials in the future, but they will be available only through our app (http://gilberthouse.org/app) and our YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/@scifridaytv). Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Crowley, Rasputin, and Loch Ness

December 23, 2022

Loch Ness is best known as the home of a cryptid--the mysterious, serpentine creature called the Loch Ness Monster. We didn’t see Nessie during our visit to Scotland in 2019, but we did see a site that played an important role in the spread of occult teachings in the 20th century: Boleskine House, which overlooks Loch Ness, was the home of occultist Aleister Crowley a little over a century ago. Crowley, who called himself the Great Beast 666, was so influential that his image appears three times on the album cover for the Beatles’ 'Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.' Sharon explains why the late 19th and early 20th centuries were a transitional period for the world in terms of spirituality and the supernatural, which is why she set her series of supernatural thrillers The Redwing Saga right in the middle of this era. Watch for Crowley, Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin, and the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to appear in future entries of The Redwing Saga. Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

The Watchers and the Ripper

December 16, 2022

Sharon’s research for The Redwing Saga, her series of supernatural thrillers, turned up a historic link between the Watchers, Mount Hermon and Jack the Ripper. Sadly, the British Museum doesn’t keep the inscription discovered by Sir Charles Warren in 1869 on display. Warren was later appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, where he oversaw the unsuccessful Scotland Yard investigation into the Ripper murders of 1888. We also discuss our visits to Pendragon Castle and Glencoe, sites that figure prominently in The Redwing Saga, and you can see for yourself why the landscape of the Eden Valley and Loch Leven has so inspired Sharon’s imagination. Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Spiritual Warfare and Jack the Ripper

December 9, 2022

This week, we share some of the background for Sharon’s series of supernatural thrillers, The Redwing Saga. The eighth novel in her series, The Poisoned Pawn, is available now, and Sharon explains why we traveled to the UK in 2019 to visit some of the sites we discuss this week. What was so unique about Jack the Ripper, and why did Sharon decide use his killing spree as a starting point for her series? Is it possible that eyewitness descriptions were so different from one another because the killer was a demon using different men to carry out his hideous crimes? And to what end? Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Jesus vs. the Dead

December 2, 2022

The region between the Sea of Galilee and Mount Hermon in Israel is covered with megalithic monuments to the dead. We discuss the dolmen fields and megalithic sites of the Golan Heights and Hula Valley, like Gilgal Refaim and the Serpent Mound of Bashan, and connect them to the places where Jesus was baptized, based his ministry, and declared his divinity. And you can see those sites with us this coming spring! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Nephilim and Neanderthals

November 25, 2022

New DNA research shows that Neanderthals and Denisovans, supposedly extinct distant cousins of modern humans, traveled much farther than previously thought. Is it possible that the science isn’t as settled as paleontologists think? And that the global distribution of Neanderthals and Denisovans might have an explanation that defies conventional science? We also explore a possible link to the ancient land of Bashan and Jesus’ choice to begin his ministry there.

Asteroids and Algorithms

November 18, 2022

NASA recently smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid to test a concept for a future planetary defense system. Is it a coincidence that asteroid Dimorphos is about the same size as Apophis, which will make a near-pass of Earth in 2029? We also discuss the way social media algorithms shape our society. Here’s a disturbing thought: What if social media addiction leads to mental health problems by design? And what if that design is imposed on the algorithms by outside (i.e., spiritual) forces?

King of the East

November 11, 2022

China’s President Xi Jinping was given a third term in office at the recent Chinese Communist Party congress, elevating him to the status of Mao Zedong, the leader of communist China from 1949 until his death in 1976. We discuss an article by a Chinese expat who believes China might use a targeted bioweapon against Taiwan and whether that could even work, given that the island’s population is genetically very similar to mainland China, and reasons other than national pride that the Chinese Communist Party may want to take control of Taiwan.

Pharmakeia, Portals, and Virtual Sin

November 4, 2022

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY are creating new ways for us to engage with the unseen realm. We discuss the use of pharmaceuticals to ease depression, manage pain, and treat psychosis, which may actually make problems worse by opening gateways to entities who want to cause harm. In the same way, augmented and virtual reality may create entries for entities to engage with the unprepared in ways they don’t expect.

Mecca Was Not in Arabia

October 28, 2022

WE WRAP our six-week series based on our last tour of Israel with a look at the incredible city of the Nabataean Arabs, Petra. Petra was a cult center, a pilgrimage destination for pagans of the ancient world until the time of Muhammad in the early 7th century. That’s because Petra was the site of the original Mecca—and may have been the location of Mount Sinai, as well. Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Og's Giant Bed

October 21, 2022

AT THE SOUTHERN END of the Jordan River, Sodom and Jericho were destroyed, Moses was buried, and Elijah was carried up to heaven in a whirlwind. But there’s also a link to the other end of the Jordan, which in ancient times belonged to Og, king of Bashan. Our video tour of Israel continues east of the Jordan as we show you what Moses saw, explain why God called Mount Nebo “this mountain of the Travelers,” and take you out into the desert of ancient Edom. It’s easy to see why the Israelites complained, looking at mostly sand and scrub for forty years!

Joshua's Altar and Goliath's Head

October 14, 2022

WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS of Abraham, Joshua, David, and Jesus. Literally. That’s the short version of this week’s program. Our 2019 tour of Israel took us from Joshua’s altar, site of the recent discovery of an ancient curse tablet written in archaic Hebrew at a time when the Israelites weren’t supposed to be in the land of Canaan, to the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount. Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat showed us the historic locations of the crucifixion and burial tomb of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, and he explained why “Golgotha” on the Mount of Olives doesn’t just mean “place of a skull”—it’s where David buried Goliath’s skull! And you can see those places with us next spring! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel. Our new dates for our tour of Turkey: Due to the political situation in Eastern Europe, we’ve moved our tour back to October of 2023. Exact dates will be finalized by January. For more information, visit http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel. Please subscribe and share our new YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/scifridaytv!

Masada and Shiloh

October 7, 2022

OUR VIDEO TOUR of Israel continues this week with stops at several places that played key roles in history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maivxtj4ma4 First, we enter the Jordan River and explain why we baptize. Next, we tour Masada, site of the final battle between Jewish rebels and the Roman legions in A.D. 70. Then it’s on to Ein Gedi, where David cut the hem from Saul’s robe while the king relieved himself in a cave. Then we visit Qumran, where Jim Barfield of the Copper Scroll Project shared highlights of his research—which, if he’s right, could spark a geopolitical earthquake! Finally, we stopped at Shiloh, where messianic Rabbi Zev Porat showed us “Jesus” and “Messiah” in the prayer of Hannah (1 Samuel 2), and where we saw in an otherwise cloudless sky what we can only describe as the wings of the cherubim—right over the place where the Tabernacle stood for more than 300 years. Also: A camel nearly bucks our good friend and cameraman, Taylor Joseph. Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

The Serpent Mound of Bashan

September 30, 2022

ONE OF THE MOST MYSTERIOUS sites on earth is even weirder than previously thought. Less than ten years ago, Pastor Doug Van Dorn, author of Giants: Sons of the Gods, using Google Earth, spotted a strange, serpent-shaped ridge on the Golan Heights just one-quarter mile from Gilgal Refaim, a megalithic site much bigger and much older than Stonehenge. Independently of Doug, we found it again after our 2019 tour of Israel. The ridge, which is three times longer and five times higher than the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio, is covered with more than 140 megalithic tombs. And besides being a five-minute walk from Gilgal Refaim, it’s within plain view of Mount Hermon. Who turned this site into a necropolis nearly 6,000 years ago? Why there? And is the serpent-shaped ridge the reason the land was called Bashan—“place of the serpent”? Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Megiddo and Gilgal Refaim

September 23, 2022

ISRAEL IS GROUND ZERO in the long supernatural war in which we all play a part. This week, we begin a series of programs to show you Israel through our eyes. In 2019, we traveled across the country and captured the adventure on video (special thanks to our friend, Taylor Joseph, who did most of the video work). Our tour began at the town where Jesus spent his childhood, Nazareth, where you can find a working first-century village today that helps you see what life was like for Jesus and his family. From there, we traveled to the Jezreel Valley and visited Megiddo—which, contrary to popular teaching, is not where Armageddon will be fought—and Mount Carmel, the site of Elijah’s epic confrontation with the prophets of Baal. Join us in Israel! For details on our Israel Tour March 19-30, 2023, log on to http://www.gilberthouse.org/travel.

Gilbert House Ministries

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