It’s Monday, May 13th, 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
Imprisoned Chinese leaders face serious illnesses
Since two leaders of the Ganquan Church in Hefei, Anhui Province in China were arrested last fall, their wives and members of their church family have pleaded for their release. Those pleas have grown more urgent after the two leaders developed serious health problems while in prison, reports International Christian Concern.
In November 2023, Communist authorities detained Pastor Zhou Songlin, Elder Ding Zhongfu, and 14 other members of the house church. Pastor Zhou and Elder Ding are the only church members who remain in prison.
Pastor Zhou is suffering from an unspecified “serious illness” that his doctors say cannot be properly treated while he is incarcerated. And Elder Ding is experiencing high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness, and insomnia.
The Ganquan Church is an underground church that refuses to come under the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement which is China’s only legal church. As a result, Ganquan is considered illegal and cannot purchase property.
That’s why Pastor Zhou and Elder Ding used church funds to purchase two properties in their own names to secure property for worship and other church activities.
Biden gets pushback over claim “We leave no one behind.”
President Joe Biden faced a wave of pushback from GOP lawmakers in response to a post on the @POTUS X account that said, “On my watch, when we make promises, we keep them. And we leave no one behind.”
Blaze.com reports that multiple Republicans challenged the president’s claim.
Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan tweeted, “Afghanistan. Israel. Haiti. All Joe Biden does is leave Americans behind,”
And Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin tweeted, “This would be hilarious if it was not tragic. Biden has abandoned Americans around the world and wants you to forget about them. I never will. Remember in November.”
Stephanie Clifford took stand in Trump’s “hush money” trial
Last Tuesday, Stormy Daniels, a disreputable actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, took the stand in the so-called “hush money” trial of former President Donald Trump, reports The Epoch Times.
She claimed that she had a tryst with Trump in 2006 at which time he had been married to his third wife, Melania, since January 22, 2005. NBC News noted that Clifford, who was 27 at the time, boosted her credibility by describing the flooring of the hotel suite.
Trump has categorically denied the encounter ever took place.
Prosecutors say that President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to Clifford during the 2016 campaign in a bid to buy her silence about the alleged affair. At issue is the nature of the payments. They have argued that the payments should have been marked as campaign-related expenses since her silence helped assure his election.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the case. He has argued that the trial is merely an attempt to keep him off the 2024 campaign trail.
In Clifford’s testimony, she recalled that the former president told her in the hotel room that she “should go on his television show,” referring to the “Celebrity Apprentice” program that he hosted and starred in. She claimed she asked him. “What if I lose on the first episode?”
She also made claims about visiting Trump to break the Seventh Commandment at his hotel in Lake Tahoe, California, during a golf tournament.
Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not commit adultery.”
Top 10 most dangerous states
While the violent crime rate in America fell for two years in a row after an increase in 2020, property crime – which covers infractions such as vehicle theft and burglary – appeared to increase in 2022 for the first time in two decades.
Here is a list of the top 10 most dangerous states, reports U.S. News & World Report in order from the most dangerous at number 1.
The top 10 most dangerous states include New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Washington, Tennessee, Alaska, Oregon, California, and Missouri.
16-year-old anti-Israel protestor arrested for vandalizing NYC statues
An anti-Israel, pro-Hamas teen protester, accused of shamefully vandalizing a hallowed World War 1 memorial in Central Park, New York last Monday, was ratted out by his own father for his despicable actions, reports the New York Post.
The 16-year-old suspect, who was videotaped and photographed spray painting graffiti including the words “GAZA” and “Free Palestine,” got a buzz cut and wore a keffiyeh scarf on his head for court to hide his identity.
He was arraigned on felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor graffiti charges.
Not only was he identified defacing the World War 1 memorial dedicated to Manhattan’s 107th Infantry Regiment, but also a statue of Civil War Union General William Tecumseh Sherman as well.
Police went to the boy’s home — and spent hours negotiating with his parents. The parents finally agreed to walk the teen the two blocks to the 121st Precinct station house, where he was arrested.
Missionary William Carey published influential evangelism book
And finally, we celebrated an important milestone in Christian history just yesterday. On May 12th, 1792, William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions, published his highly influential book on the importance of evangelism.
The title is anything but pithy. Ready?
Despite that long title, the passionate content of his book led to the founding of the English Baptist Missionary Society.
A Baptist from 1783, Carey served for several years as a pastor in Moulton, Northamptonshire, where he also taught school and continued his trade as a shoemaker. In 1789, he transferred to the Baptist church at Leicester. Then, in 1793, Carey and John Thomas, a doctor, went to Calcutta, India.
Carey became a lifelong missionary to India. In fact, he has been called the “father of Bengali prose” for his grammars, dictionaries, and translations.
William Wilberforce, the English abolitionist, described the English Baptist Missionary Society as “one of the chief glories” of the British nation.
In Romans 10:14, the Apostle Paul asked, “How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Monday, May 13th 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.