Friday, March 29th, in the year of our Lord 2019
By Jonathan Clark
Boko Haram Muslim Group Has Killed 300 Nigerians in Feb & March
Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and Northern regions have experienced consistent attacks from Islamic groups like Boko Haram and militant Fulani herdsmen, leading to the deaths of thousands since 2010.
Over 300 Christians have been killed just in February and March of this year, reports International Christian Concern.
Just last week, Boko Haram kidnapped 76 Nigerian Christians, killing four of them. But in God’s providence, the lives of the rest were spared. Stay tuned for a World View Special Report following today’s newscast about God’s remarkable deliverance.
Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame [the Devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Canadian Christian Activist Ordered to Pay $55,000 Fine to Transgender
On Wednesday, a human rights court in British Columbia, Canada, ruled Christian activist Bill Whatcott must pay $55,000 to politician Ronan Oger, who pretends to be a woman, for referring to Oger as a biological male.
Whatcott told LifeSiteNews, “Jesus Christ is still Lord and He will come again. I put my hope into that.”
John Carpay, president of the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom, which intervened in the case, decried the ruling as an attack on freedom of expression.
Pro-Lifers Are Marching Around the World
Pro-lifers have been gathering around the world this time of year to march for life. Last week, two million people marched in Argentina, and hundreds of thousands gathered across Argentina. In January, over 100,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., all in support of human life in the womb.
Several hundred people also marched in Sweden on Sunday in a country where no pro-life marches have taken place for years. The march took place despite threats from a Satanist group.
Federal Appeals Court Allows Trump’s Military Transgender Ban
A federal appeals court finalized a ruling on Tuesday, lifting the last of four injunctions against President Donald Trump’s transgender military ban.
The policy will go into effect on April 12 as planned, banning people with a history of gender confusion from the military. People pretending to be the opposite sex already in the military, will be treated according to their biological sex according to the new policy.
Muslim Sworn in as PA State Rep; Christian Pol. Prays for Forgiveness
Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Democrat from Philadelphia, was sworn in as the first Muslim woman in the Pennsylvania state legislature on Monday, reports the Washinton Post. The ceremony included a Koran and a Muslim prayer.
Shortly before the ceremony, however, Rep. Stephanie Borowicz offered the House opening prayer, invoking the name of Jesus 13 times, and calling out to God for forgiveness, referencing 2 Chronicles 7:14.
BOROWICZ: “God forgive us. Jesus we’ve lost sight of You. We’ve forgotten You God in our country. And we’re asking You to forgive us Jesus. Your promise in Your Word says that if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, that You’ll heal our land.”
Borowicz quickly faced backlash for her prayer, but she responded, “That’s how I pray every day. . . . I don’t apologize ever for praying.”
If you’d like to send her an email of encouragement, find the link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldView.com.
LifeWay Christian Bookstores to Close 170 Stores
The biggest Christian retail chain, LifeWay Christian Resources, will be closing its 170 stores by the end of the year as it focuses on digital channels, reports Evangelical Focus.
A shift in the last decade toward online sales, has seen the closure of other Christian book retailers like Family Christian Resources and Cokesbury Bookstores.
Dr. Dobson Doesn’t Have to Abide by Abortion-Pill Mandate
On Tuesday, a federal district court ruled the ObamaCare abortion-pill mandate cannot be used against the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute and its “Family Talk” radio show.
This follows a broader trend of the Trump administration’s Department of Justice which refuses to defend that bad mandate that would force organizations to fund abortions despite their religious objections.
Psalm 3:7-8 says, “Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people.”
Pro-Life Movie, Unplanned, Debuts Tonight!
And finally, make sure to see tonight or this weekend, the incredibly powerful pro-life movie Unplanned which tells the story of Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson from College Station, Texas, who after seeing 20,000 abortions in 8 years, became a pro-life advocate after she witnessed an ultrasound-guided abortion and subsequently quit. Watch the trailer and find a movie theater near you this weekend at the website www.UnplannedFilm.com. That’s www.UnplannedFilm.com.
Be aware that it does have an “R” rating, not because there is any nudity, sex scenes, bad language, or violence, but because it does show America what abortion is all about.
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And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Friday, March 29th in the year of our Lord 2019. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. Or get the app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
Special Report: Muslim Persecution of Nigerian Christians Builds Their Faith
Time now for a World View Special Report by Emily Swanson. I’m Adam McManus
By Emily Swanson
Jesus Christ’s body in Nigeria, Africa is still undergoing severe persecution. And just last week, Eternity News reports that 76 were kidnapped by the Muslim terrorist group known as Boko Haram. Four of them were shot by a firing squad, and the report of what happened next is supernatural.
The next morning, all of the remaining Christians, including children, were facing execution by Boko Haram militants. Right before the shots were to be fired, the soldiers began clutching at their heads and crying out, “Snakes, snakes!” Some even died on the spot, but as the soldiers were escaping, one Christian retrieved a gun they had left behind to shoot them.
A little child, the youngest of the group, put his hand on the person’s arm and said, “You don’t need to do that. Can you not see the men in white fighting for us?”
Think back to a very similar story in 2 Kings 6:16-17. “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’ And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
The Nigerian church continues to face violent persecution, the seizure of their lands by Fulani herdsmen, and murder at the hands of the Boko Haram militants.
The World View spoke to Pastor Aniekan Ekpo, who lives in southern Nigeria, but has a son-in-law in Northern Nigeria where most of the persecution is happening.
EKPO: “The persecution is going from bad to worse. The brethren in the North; my son-in-law with my daughter, is there in Jos. So we pray for them every day and get news from them. A lot is happening, especially during the election, there is a lot of persecution and killing.”
Ekpo said that the crackdown is only growing more intense.
EKPO: “When they do that they take over the town or the village, because they say that they have authority of the President, and they want to make sure that only the Muslims occupy the north. They want to make sure that the Islamization of Nigeria is taking effect. The churches will be removed. They will make laws that the churches should even be forced to pay taxes and if not close down. The Governor of Kaduna state has started bringing in certain laws that churches should not have programs at certain times, and you cannot listen to Christian radio or CDs in your car.”
He said that the regulations on Christians are tightening.
EKPO: “The church should not have prayer extended into the night, and there should be no loudspeaker while the mosque is blaring their loudspeaker outside. And then the pastor should have a license before he can be allowed to preach.”
Ekpo said that even many of those who were recruited for the Nigerian army never get commissioned so they revert to Boko Haram.
EKPO: “We are praying to God to be a support and help to our people. And in the IDP [Internally displaced persons] camp, the indigenous people, sometimes they are bombed, sometimes the soldiers go to them, but they may not be Nigerian soldiers; they are Boko Haram. Sometimes when Nigeria recruits a thousand young men and trains them then when they are commissioning them, 700 of them will be in the camp, only 300 will be commissioned. So the 700 will escape and they will become Boko Haram. That means they have trained them to handle ammunition, and then the government through the back door, will give them ammunition. And the Nigerian army will not be supported well.”
He said that the persecution in Northern Nigeria is only serving to make the church stronger.
EKPO: “We are happy for the Christians in the north. Persecution always strengthens the church and doesn’t destroy the church. What will destroy the church is prosperity. When people come into the church and pretend to be Christians, nominalism. But in the north, you cannot go to church until you are sure you say that you are a Christian. So this is strengthening them. It is strengthening their position in Christ. They are not Christians because they want everything to go well with them.”
Ekpo testified that these Nigerian Christians really understand the power of Jesus Christ dying for their sins, and they aren’t following Him to have an easy life.
EKPO: “They were Christians, because they know that the Lord Jesus Christ died for them, and they have come to Him because they are sinners for their salvation. Around July, I attended a meeting in Jos, and on Sunday I just walked down in and they were so happy. Despite the persecution, they are so vibrant, so happy. And then I was given about ten minutes to address them.”
Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
He shared that during his message to the Nigerians in Jos, they were greatly encouraged.
EKPO: “They were so encouraged. You could see them just beaming. They are happy. They are teaming up to help those in the camp. You see there are villages and towns that have been burnt down, destroyed. Some of them are widows. Some of them are orphan children. Some of them are widowers. But they are there; they are excited, and they will not become Muslims.”
Ekpo said that in the south, where things are easier, Christians are not as strong.
EKPO: “Here in the south, the mosque, if you become a Muslim, they will give you cows, they can give you money. Our brothers in the North have denied and rejected all of that. But down in the south, they come and settle in some places here, and then they send out their young men who make friends with our young girls, not Christians; I would say, ‘nominal’. Because here in the south, I would say everybody in the south claims to be a Christian. But I would say that some of them do not even know the message of salvation.”
He laid out some specific prayer requests for the body of Christ Jesus in Nigeria.
EKPO: “Pray for us as well that the Lord would strengthen us and help us. We are teaching men in the Bible college here. And they come, and we give them solid teaching and the word of God.”
Ekpo asked that Christians around the world would also pray for a good preaching trip for him as he goes to Scotland to share with brothers and sisters there.
Please don’t cease in praying for the church in Nigeria, that they would follow Jesus Christ, no matter the cost. Let the words of Matthew 10:39 sink into all of us. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
This has been a World View Special Report. I’m Adam McManus.