It’s Thursday, August 20th, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Iraqi Prime Minister invites Christians to return
Christians in the Middle East continue to face persecution, but Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is now calling for the return of Christians to the country after the defeat of the Islamic State.
In Iran, Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and his wife Shamiram Issavi fled the country last week after losing an appeal of their prison sentences.
In Turkey, the government is forcing dozens of foreign Christians to leave or banning their return to the country in a crackdown on the Protestant community.
Last week, President Donald Trump said he hoped the landmark diplomatic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates would help persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
TRUMP: “Christians have been persecuted by some countries in particular in the Middle East. And I think this is a big start. I think it’s gonna be a strong start, very powerful start. . . . If you look at the way Christians have been treated in some countries, it’s beyond disgraceful.”
Last year, 40 million complete Bibles distributed worldwide
In 2019, Bible societies distributed a record 40 million complete Bibles around the world along with 15 million New Testaments and 315 million Scripture items, according to the Global Scripture Distribution report.
A quarter of the distributed Bibles last year were digital, mostly downloaded in Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Romans 10:17 says, “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Chinese Communists forcing Uighur Muslims to abort, killing newborn babies
Chinese hospitals carried out forced abortions in late-stage pregnancies and even killed newborn babies in an attempt to eradicate the Uighur Muslim ethnic minority in the country, reports Radio Free Asia.
The U.S. State Department again denounced communist China’s government with department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus telling Fox News on Tuesday, “We are extremely concerned by reports of forced abortions and sterilization in Xinjiang. These reports are consistent with an overwhelming and growing body of information that exposes the Chinese Community Party’s campaign of brutal repression.”
California churches vs. COVID Tyranny
Multiple churches are fighting California’s COVID-19 regulations that shut down religious services.
Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church are now suing the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti over the regulations. You can help support Grace Church, by contacting officials through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Harvest Rock Church is in court over the regulations and recently received a letter from their city’s prosecutor’s office, threatening daily criminal charges for holding services.
And religious schools are also suing Newsom over his recent school closure order in response to the coronavirus.
God’s possible punishment for CA’s hostility to churches
Meanwhile, California is suffering a record heat wave and wildfires.
Temperatures rose to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the state’s Death Valley, the highest temperature on record in the U.S. in over 100 years.
And thousands of lightning strikes have ignited hundreds of wildfires across the state, consuming over 45,000 acres and forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
Psalm 135:6-7 says, “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and in earth . . . He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”
28% of white evangelicals support Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden officially received the Democratic presidential nomination during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday.
DNC OFFICIAL: “Thank you to all our delegations, I’m pleased to announce that Vice President Joe Biden, has officially been nominated by the Democratic Party as our candidate for president of the United States. Vice President Biden is hereby invited to deliver an acceptance speech.”
BIDEN: “Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. It means the world to me and my family. And I’ll see you on Thursday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” (clapping)
A recent Fox News poll found that 28 percent of white evangelicals plan on voting for Biden. However, a Pew Research poll shows that 83 percent of white evangelicals support Trump.
Both Trump and Biden are campaigning to Christian voters, but Biden’s platform supports abortion and sexually perverted lifestyles.
Homeschooling interest skyrockets
As states close schools during the coronavirus pandemic, many parents are considering homeschooling.
The Home School Legal Defense Association is growing at 300 percent of its pre-coronavirus growth rate, increasing from 80,000 to 100,000 families during the pandemic.
Interest in homeschooling is on the rise outside of America too from many countries, including Portugal, Uganda, and South Africa.
Beirut pastor’s actions saved lives of 240 children
And finally, in God’s providence, a pastor in Beirut, Lebanon sent 34 church staff home and canceled a Bible class with 240 children on August 4. That very day a huge explosion went off a mile from the church, killing over 200 people in Beirut.
Pastor Said Deeb of Life Center Church told CBN News that he experienced a powerful prompting by the Holy Spirit to shut down operations that day.
DEEB: “Something so intense, as if the Holy Spirit is saying, ‘Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!’ So, I was saying to everybody, ‘Go! Go! Go! Go home! Go home! Go home!’ Pushing them, ‘Turn off computers,’ forcing them to leave.
“I felt something is going to happen, something bad is going to happen. We start praying, praying, but we didn’t get the breakthrough. I don’t know why I was so rude. I want everybody go home, go home, close everything and go home. Just close the center. ‘How come? We have a commitment to have meetings? We came a long ways, long distances. And now, saying go home.’ I said, ‘I don’t know why, but please go home and come on Sunday. It was a Tuesday.”
Pastor Deeb said the blast blew out windows and doors to the 4,000-square-meter facility and would have surely taken lives if anyone had been there.
Psalm 5:12 says, “For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, August 20th, in the year of our Lord 2020. 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.