It’s Thursday, August 22nd, A.D. 2019. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Jonathan Clark
Chinese Christian leader released from prison
Li Yingqiang, a member of the Early Rain Covenant Church in China, gained his release on Sunday after eight months in prison, returning to his hometown and reuniting with his wife and children.
Chinese officials arrested Li along with over 160 other church members last December in a broad crackdown on churches not sanctioned by the state.
Before his arrest last year, Li told the South China Morning Post, “Persecution is a price worth paying for the Lord. We would rather live through it than to hide our faith. We hope more Chinese churches will speak up and stand with us.”
1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”
Iranian church grows despite persecution
Sharing your faith or converting from Islam are both illegal in the Muslim country of Iran where persecution against Christians is intensifying, reports Open Doors.
However, the church is only growing there, so much so that Iran’s government is admitting it. Back in May, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Mahmoud Alavi, told a group of Muslim leaders the government was trying to combat mass conversions to Christianity.
Alavi admitted, “these converts are ordinary people, whose jobs are selling sandwiches or similar things.” This contradicts Iran’s frequent rhetoric that Christian converts are Western agents set to undermine national security. Not only that, Alavi said whole families were coming to Christ and that it was happening frequently across the country.
Why is Coca Cola pushing the homosexual agenda?
Boldog István, deputy speaker for the political party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, called for a boycott of Coca-Cola this month after the company released advertisements throughout the country’s capital affirming sexual perversions.
The ad campaign included suggestive pictures of homosexual couples and slogans like “Love is Love” and “Zero Sugar, Zero Prejudice.” The ads coincided with the Sziget music festival in Budapest that draws hundreds of thousands of people.
A CitizenGo petition garnering over 40,000 signatures successfully brought the pictures down, although the slogans remain in the advertisements.
Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Irish Christian bakery back in court again
The Christian, family-owned Ashers Baking Company of Northern Ireland won their case before the U.K. Supreme Court last year after the business was taken to court for refusing to bake a cake in support of sexual perversions.
Now Gareth Lee, the homosexual who originally ordered the cake, is appealing the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The Christian Institute, which supported the Christian company, said this is an attack on freedom of expression that must be “robustly opposed.”
Planned Parenthood out; Pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in
As we reported yesterday, Planned Parenthood was defunded by $60 million in U.S. federal funding this past week under new Trump administration rules for Title X monies.
Also last week, the Ohio legislature passed a two-year, $69 billion budget, including a $1.5 million annual cut from Planned Parenthood funding while allocating $7.5 million for pregnancy resource centers.
U.S. deficit balloons
The U.S. federal deficit is expected to grow $800 billion more than previously expected over the next 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office report this week.
This comes after two legislative packages passed this year, pushing the nation into levels of debt not seen since the end of World War II.
North Carolina’s sanctuary county for the unborn
The Yadkin County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina passed a resolution on Monday, becoming the nation’s first sanctuary county — for the unborn.
This follows other government bodies voting to become places of safety for unborn babies like the cities of Waskom, Texas; Roswell, New Mexico; and Riverton, Utah.
Proverbs 24:11 says, “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, August 22nd in the year of our Lord 2019. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.