It’s Tuesday, September 13th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Kevin Swanson
Egyptian Muslims kill Christian father and son
A Christian father and son have been shot dead by Muslim jihadists in Egypt, reports The Barnabas Fund.
Salama Moussa Waheeb and his son, Hany, were working on their family farm on August 30th near the town of al-Qantara Sharq in mid-west Sinai when they were killed.
Pray for the family of Salama and Hany Waheeb that they will receive the Lord’s comfort and strength as they come to terms with their loss.
Psalm 5:4-7 declares, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness. … You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.”
Iranian pastor sentenced to 10 years in jail
An Iranian pastor, named Jospeh Shahbazian, has been sentenced to ten years in jail, while two other congregants were ordered to serve six years for their involvement in a house church in Iran, reports ArticleEighteen.com.
Two others were saddled with fines. All five lost their appeal recently before the 26th Revolutionary Court of Tehran.
Iran is the ninth worst country in the world for the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors.
Lifemark, the Christian pro-life movie, came in seventh
Lifemark, the film with a pro-life message which stars Kirk Cameron, came in seventh place in America’s weekend box office with $2.2 million in ticket sales, reports Box Office Mojo.
Averaging $1,444 per theater, the film, produced by Stephen and Alex Kendrick, beat out all but the top two box office releases for the week.
Still, it’s a far cry from the Kendrick Brothers’ recent releases of Overcomer and War Room, which earned $8 million and $11 million respectively on their opening weekends.
Lifemark will only be in the theaters through this Thursday, September 15th. So, you have 3 nights left to show your support and watch an inspirational Christian movie about adoption.
Watch the trailer and get your tickets at a theater near you through special links in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Heritage awards worst states on regulation and spending
The survey is in for the Heritage Foundation’s first Education Freedom Report Card. And the worst state in America is New York. The District of Columbia was an equal disaster.
Surveying states for regulatory freedom, school choice, transparency, and spending, the best state is Florida, followed by Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, and South Dakota.
The worst states for spending are Connecticut, New Jersey, and Vermont. The District of Columbia did equally poorly. And the worst states for regulation on parental freedoms are Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, and Illinois.
The study included an assessment of the percentage of homeschooled children, and the ranking of regulative controls issued by Home School Legal Defense Association.
Michigan judge strikes down ban on abortion as unconstitutional
Michigan’s 90-year-old law banning abortion has been ruled to violate the state constitution, reports CBS News.
Judge Elizabeth Gleicher of the Michigan Court of Claims ruled last week that prosecutors may not enforce the law in accordance with the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June.
The decision was followed Thursday by the State Supreme Court approving a ballot measure for November which would open up sweeping abortion rights for the state. Recent polls indicate that 55% of Michigan voters want abortion “mostly legal.”
Similar state-wide ballot measures are scheduled for November in California, Vermont, Kentucky and Montana.
The contentious Brazilian presidential election
Elections are approaching for the fifth largest country in the world. Brazil will have its nationwide election for president on October 1st.
The incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, is a pro-family values conservative, facing off against former Brazilian President Luiz da Silva.
Bolsonaro is trailing in what is expected to be a runoff election, by 51%-39%, reports Reuters. The Economist is predicting Bolsonaro’s loss.
Brazil’s skyrocketing debt and lack of financial freedom
Following in the pattern of the US, Brazil’s debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio increased from 60% to 105% since 2014.
Brazil remains one of the least free nations in South America, ranked as the 133rd least free nation in the world, by the Heritage Foundation’s annual survey. Plus, their conservative president has met with stiff resistance from the nation’s Congress and Supreme Court to enact tax reforms.
Brazil’s blossoming homeschool movement
Homeschoolers in Brazil are hoping for favorable legislation that has made it through the Lower House, and heads to the Senate for a final vote.
The national legislation would allow families to homeschool, as long as the children are enrolled in public or private school, and provide the school with records on a periodic basis.
There are an estimated 75,000 homeschooled children in Brazil at present.
In fact, their first-ever national homeschooling conference was held in Brasilia, the capital, just last week and attended by 1,000 people. In a gracious nod to the movement, the nation’s president invited the homeschoolers to participate in the bicentennial parade in the capital city on Wednesday.
Psalm 144:11-12 presents the vision for our sons and daughters in Christian families around the world. “Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouth speaks lying words, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood— That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style.”
Only one-third of pastors believe the tithe is binding
And finally, new Barna research finds that only one-third of pastors believe the tithe is binding on Christians today. And 40% of practicing Christians do give a tithe.
In 1924, total church charitable offerings exceeded 2.8% of the Gross Domestic Product. This ratio declined to about 0.6% of the GDP in 2020.
A recently released Lily Foundation report also found that 29 percent of American households donated to religious causes in 2018. By 2000, 46.5 percent gave.
Also, in 2018, the average total donation to religious causes was $771. By 2000, it increased to $1,107.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, September 13th, 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.
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North Korea will not abandon nuclear weapons
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing to weaken the North’s defenses and eventually collapse his government, reports NPR.
As reported in Yon Hap News, Kim Jong Un issued a statement Friday, vowing that the hermit state would “never give up nuclear weapons and there is absolutely no denuclearization, and no negotiation and no bargaining chip to trade in the process.”