It’s Monday, December 12th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
State Dept. fails to include Nigeria and India in list of bad actors
After the U.S. Department of State announced its recent designations for Countries of Particular Concern last Friday, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom responded with “outrage” by the State Department’s omission of Nigeria and India from the list of designations, reports International Christian Concern.
These two countries are notoriously known for their grave violations of religious freedom.
Earthquake hits Mexico City
An earthquake hit southwestern Mexico on Sunday causing tremors through parts of the capital, according to residents, but there was no immediate damage, reports Reuters.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck 1.9 miles west-northwest of El Ticui in the state of Guerrero at a depth of 12.3 miles.
Masks are back in New York City
In the face of high levels of COVID-19, the flu, and Respiratory Syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) Virus cases, New York City’s health officials have issued an advisory, strongly urging New Yorkers to use masks — again, reports NBC New York.
The Big Apple’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, says that the rise in respiratory viruses is the reason as to why the city’s health office is recommending, not only the use of masks, but also vaccinations and boosters.
Michelle Obama got Trump banned from Twitter
Former President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter the day after former First Lady Michelle Obama and others demanded the company “permanently” remove him, according to the newest “Twitter Files” installment, reports Fox News.
On Saturday, CEO Elon Musk and journalist Michael Shellenberger released the fourth batch of Twitter documents that show internal communications by the company’s executives between January 6-8, 2021, including and shortly after the riot at the Capitol Building.
In a January 7th tweet, Michelle Obama wrote, “Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop enabling this monstrous behavior — and go even further than they have already — by permanently banning this man from their platforms and putting in place policies to prevent their technologies from being used by the nation’s leaders to fuel insurrection.”
She added: “And if we have any hope of improving this nation, now is the time for swift and serious consequences for the failure of leadership that led to yesterday’s shame.”
Restaurant denies service to Christian group over pro-life, pro-marriage stands
A Christian group which was denied service at a Richmond, Virginia, restaurant is speaking out against what it called a “bigoted” decision by the eatery to cancel its reservation, reports CBS News.
Metzger Bar and Butchery recently refused to host a private event for The Family Foundation, a conservative Christian group, over its biblical opposition to homosexual faux marriage and baby-killing by abortion. Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb said that the restaurant’s decision not to serve the group, based on its religious and political views, was “alarming and disgraceful.”
COBB: “Americans don’t want to hear that we’re at the point where we’re so divided on things like faith and our views on issues that we get to the point where we’re eating in different restaurants. That’s not America. That’s not the freedom that we love. And that’s not civility.”
In the Facebook post, Metzger Bar & Butchery acknowledged that they had in fact canceled the reservation due to the religious beliefs and political advocacy of the foundation.
The post said, “Metzger Bar and Butchery has always prided itself on being an inclusive environment for people to dine in. In eight years of service, we have very rarely refused service to anyone who wished to dine with us. Recently, we refused service to a group that had booked an event with us after the owners of Metzger found out it was a group of donors to a political organization that seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ+ persons of their basic human rights in Virginia.”
2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
The restaurant’s lead chef and co-owner, Brittanny Anderson, is known for having been a contestant on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” cooking competition show.
Today.com noted that management has refused service in the past to anybody who has made staff feel “uncomfortable or unsafe.”
Kevin Swanson, the host of Generations Radio, asked, “If the restaurant had said, ‘Black people make me feel unsafe,’ ‘Islamic people make me feel unsafe,’ or ‘homosexual people make me feel unsafe,’ how many lawsuits would be filed against that restaurant?”
After the incident, Cobb, of The Family Foundation, wrote a blog post entitled “We’ve Been Canceled! Again.” She wrote, “Welcome to the double standard of the Left, where some believe Jack Phillips, [the Christian baker in Colorado], must be forced to create a wedding cake as part of the celebration of a same-sex ceremony, but any business should be able to deny basic goods and services to those who hold biblical values around marriage.”
Listener’s brainstorm about library censorship of Kirk Cameron’s book
In reaction to The Worldview’s report that 50 “Drag Queen Story Hour” libraries have either denied or ignored Kirk Cameron’s request to read his Christian children’s book in the library in person, Gayle Brown, a Worldview listener in Hayden, Idaho, wrote, “If other people’s public libraries are like ours, any person can request a book that that library doesn’t have and the library will purchase it.
“We should all request our library to buy Kirk Cameron’s book, [As You Grow,] as well as check it out. Let’s show them that this book is what we want our children to have access to. I’ve added many Christian books to our local public library this way.”
If you convince your library to purchase As You Grow, please email me at Adam@TheWorldview.com. Include your name, city, and state.
Sign up to receive Audio Advent calendar of A Christmas Carol
And finally, this Advent, join the Merry Beggars at Relevant Radio in a first-of-its-kind audio Advent calendar of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Christian homeschool families are ecstatic. And it’s free.
NARRATOR: “Journey back in time with us to England 1843 where Charles Dickens will perform for the very first time a public reading of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ This Advent, encounter the terrifying ghost of Jacob Marley …”
MARLEY: “Man of the worldly mind: Do you believe in me or not?”
NARRATOR: “The music of Mr. Fezziwig.”
FEZZIWIG: “You-hoo my boys. No more work tonight. Christmas, Ebenezer.”
NARRATOR: “The Ghost of Christmas Present.”
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: “Come in, come in.”
NARRATOR: “The author himself, Charles Dickens.”
DICKENS: “Thank you. Please, sit down.”
NARRATOR: “And our dear old friend, Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge.”
SCROOGE: “Bah. Humbug. Out upon Merry Christmas.”
NARRATOR: “Join us this Advent, as we journey together towards Christmas with Charles Dickens in his classic tale of redemption, A Christmas Carol.”
Watch the trailer and sign up to receive the free daily audio Advent emails throughout December to enjoy as a family in a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Ebenezer Scrooge experienced the transformation described in 2 Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, December 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.