It’s Friday, January 19th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
North Korea’s hostility to Christianity
A North Korean young woman, named Ji Ho, said, “They came for my father while I was at school. When I opened the gate to our house that day, I heard shouting and saw state security agents with shovels, digging in the garden,” reports Open Doors.
She said, “As they dug outside in our small garden, they found [my father’s Bible], wrapped in plastic. One of the policemen came inside, holding the book, looking triumphant. He kicked over our small table as we cowered in the corner, flinging dishes everywhere, and threw the book down at my father’s feet.
“My father and I both sobbed. In that moment, we knew we’d never see each other again.”
For years, her father had loved to read her stories out of the book. He said, “A wise man sat on a mountain and began to teach. He said, ‘When salt loses its taste, what good is it?’ People are like salt. If we lose our kindness for others, we lose our humanity. Always keep your saltiness, Ji Ho.’”
Years later, Ji Ho providentially stumbled upon a Christian station broadcast out of South Korea and she heard those same words from Matthew 5 about being the salt of the earth. She felt convicted to share the meager vegetables from her garden with her neighbors who had no garden.
She said, “I’m a Christian now, serving the same Jesus as my father and the people on the radio. I might be the only Christian in North Korea. I hope that someday, I can meet another follower of Jesus.”
Open Doors operates a radio broadcast each day to help strengthen the secret church in North Korea and to grow the faith of believers inside that spiritually dark country.
Romans 10:15 declares, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!”
U.S. hit anti-ship missiles of Muslim Houthis
On Tuesday, the United States launched a new strike against the Yemen-based Houthis, a Muslim terrorist group, hitting anti-ship missiles in the third assault on the Iranian-backed group in recent days, reports The Associated Press.
The strike came as the Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack the same day against the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zografia, in the Red Sea. The ship was hit, but no one was injured. The vessel had been heading north to the Suez Canal when it was attacked.
The American strike destroyed four Houthi ballistic missiles that were prepared to launch and presented an imminent threat to merchant and U.S. Navy ships in the region.
Despite the massive U.S. and British assault on the group, bombing more than 60 targets in 28 locations using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, there has been no let-up in Houthi attacks on shipping in the region.
Vice President Harris: “We should all be scared” Trump could win
Vice President Kamala Harris discussed the 2024 election campaign during an appearance Wednesday morning on ABC’s “The View,” reports RealClearPolitics.com.
Here is the set-up question from Joy Behar.
JOY BEHAR: “Some heavy-hitting Democrats are sounding the alarm. Behind closed doors, President Obama reportedly has said that he thinks the Biden campaign is too complacent when it comes to Trump. Representative Jim Clyburn has said the campaign isn’t breaking through the [Make America Great Again] wall. Michelle Obama says she’s terrified, as we are, about the potential outcome of the election.
“Now, are you scared? First of all, what could happen if Trump ever became, God forbid, president again? And what are you going to do to stop the crazies?”
KAMALA HARRIS: “I am scared as heck.”
BEHAR: “Yeah.”
HARRIS: “… which is why I’m traveling our country. You know, there’s an old saying that there are only two ways to run for office: either without an opponent or scared. We should all be scared.”
41 weather-related deaths across America
Since Sunday, there have been at least 41 weather-related deaths across the United States, as an arctic blast continues to unleash heavy snow and icy temperatures from coast to coast, reports ABC News.
As of Thursday evening, more than 80 million Americans across 30 states were on alert for cold or snowy weather. Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories issued by the National Weather Service stretch from Montana all the way to the New Jersey shoreline as a fast-moving storm system takes aim.
Alaskan Airlines blowout led to emergency landing
And finally, on Friday night, January 5th, an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, had to make an emergency landing after a portion of the aircraft, a door plug, blew out mid-air, reports CBS News.
One woman aboard the flight said, “All of a sudden I heard a big bang. I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I look up and the oxygen masks were hanging from the ceiling and then I look to my left and there’s this huge chunk, part of the airplane just missing. The wind is just extremely loud; there’s wind blowing everywhere.”
Passengers say that one of the people sitting in the row where the airplane panel blew out was a child. A male eyewitness said, “There was a kid in that row, his shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane. His mother was holding onto him to make sure he didn’t go with it.”
Like God used an angel to guard the Israelites in the desert, so too God might have used an angel to protect that boy.
In Exodus 23:20, God said, “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”
Providentially, there was no one seated directly next to the window. No one died as a result of the blowout.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 left Portland at 4:52 p.m. Pacific Time. The aircraft returned to Portland and landed safely just before 5:30 p.m.
The jet, which had 174 passengers and six crew members aboard, reached 16,000 feet six minutes into the flight before beginning its descent.
Boeing, the manufacturer of the 737 Max 9 aircraft, told employees Monday that it plans to increase quality inspections, following the failure of an emergency exit door panel on that flight, reports ABC News.
The inspections come after Federal regulators grounded the 737 Max airplanes. Boeing said, it is “clear that we are not where we need to be” on quality assurance and controls.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, January 19th in the year of our Lord 2024. 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.