It’s Wednesday, January 12th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Jonathan Clark

Egyptian Christian activist released

Praise God! Officials in Egypt  released Coptic Christian activist Ramy Kamel last week.

He has been in pre-trial detention for two years for his activism on behalf of the Christian community in Egypt.

Mexico releases three Christians over pagan festival controversy

Meanwhile, in Mexico, authorities released three Christians last week.

Pastor Cipriano Gazca Maldonado of Emmanuel Mission Center Church said officials arrested the Christians for not contributing to a festival that included indigenous pagan practices.

Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me . . . to preach good tidings to the poor . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

India reverses ban on Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity

Last Friday, India reversed its ban on Missionaries of Charity using foreign funds.

Mother Teresa started the charity which runs orphanages and schools for abandoned children.

Officials targeted the charity under local anti-conversion laws, often used by Hindu nationalists to shut down Christian activity.

Missionaries of Charity is glad to have its license for oversees funding back, but many Christians groups in India remain cut off from foreign funding.

Bosnia rejects COVID passports

Bosnia-Herzegovina became the first county in Europe to reject COVID passports.

Mirnes Ajanović, a Bosnian lawyer, successfully challenged the passport system in a constitutional legal battle to stop “totalitarianism and discrimination” against Bosnian citizens.

COVID lockdowns violated religious liberties worldwide

The Religious Freedom Institute is releasing a report showing how religious liberty violations increased in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rebecca Shah spoke during a Religious Freedom Institute panel.

SHAH: “We found that there was an increase in deliberate and direct attacks on houses of worship across the globe. In particular, in Nigeria, 85% — writing about minority Christian communities in northern parts of Nigeria — said they were aware of direct attacks on houses of worship in their country.”

Religious discrimination during the pandemic also increased in Iraq, Indonesia, India, Egypt, Pakistan, and Nepal.

Supremes consider Biden’s COVID-shot mandate

The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments last week in a case to determine the constitutionality of the Biden administration’s COVID-shot mandates.

One of the mandates applies to large businesses, and the other applies to healthcare workers.

The justices appear favorable to striking down the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate for businesses.

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said it would be hard to argue that Congress intended to give such power to OSHA, noting, “This is something the federal government has never done before.”

Oklahoma introduces Heartbeat Act

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Sean Roberts announced he will introduce a bill this month similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act. If a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.

The bill bans abortions in most cases and allows private citizens to sue abortionists who kill unborn babies.

Meanwhile in Florida, Republican representatives introduced bills to ban abortions after 15 weeks, similar to a Mississippi law.

30% of Evangelicals want more in-depth teaching

Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts released a report on what Evangelical Protestants want in a church.

Seventy-four percent of church-going Evangelicals said they were happy with their church when asked about 14 different areas.

Evangelicals were most likely to be content with sermon length and Sunday service length. In terms of change, evangelicals were more likely to want more political involvement, more traditional music, and more outreach in the community.

In particular, 30% of respondents said they wanted more in-depth teaching from their church.

Matthew 13:23 says, “He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Man receives pig heart transplant

And finally, the University of Maryland School of Medicine announced Monday it performed the first successful transplant of a gene-edited pig heart into a human patient with terminal heart disease.

Fifty-seven-year-old handyman David Bennett opted for the transplant as a last ditch effort since he was not eligible for a human heart transplant.

Bennett is recovering well now several days after the surgery.

Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the transplant, said, “This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, January 12th, in the year of our Lord 2022. 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.