It’s Monday, August 17th, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
84-year-old Chinese man ordered to pray to Xinping, not Jesus
Authorities in China replaced a cross in the home of an 84-year-old Christian with an image of Xi Jinping and ordered him to pray to the country’s president instead of God as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to “sinicize” Christianity, reports the Christian Post.
The unidentified Christian told Bitter Winter Magazine, “Xi Jinping is a man, not God. I feel saddened for the cross being taken down, but there is nothing I can do.”
Exodus 20:1-3 says, “God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Evangelicals, Democrats praise Trump’s Israel-UAE deal
The deal announced Thursday to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that would see the suspension of Israel’s plans for annexation in the West Bank has received bipartisan praise as some see the agreement as a sign that “a peaceful Middle East” is possible, reports the Christian Post.
The deal was facilitated by President Donald Trump, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed.
Under the agreement, the two Middle East countries will establish full diplomatic relations. The United Arab Emirates will join Egypt and Jordan to be the third Arab country to establish such ties with Israel.
While the deal has been condemned by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as Muslim countries Iran and Turkey, the agreement received support from leading establishment Democrats, including presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden who said, “Israel and the United Arab Emirates have taken an historic step to bridge the deep divides of the Middle East.”
Rev. Johnnie Moore, an evangelical who serves on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, said, “Evangelicals are elated. For years, our community has worked and prayed for peace between the United Arab Emirates, its neighbors, and Israel.”
(The United Arab Emirates has also committed to helping rebuild two churches that were destroyed by the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq.)
Republican John Kasich endorses Democrat Joe Biden for President
Former Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich has announced that he is officially supporting Democratic nominee Joe Biden for November’s presidential election and will speak at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reports Breitbart.
In an interview with Erin Burnett on CNN’s “OutFront,” Kasich claimed that Biden was a strong Christian.
KASICH: “I think he’s a man of faith. And I don’t think he’ll go hard left. I think he’s a pretty tough guy.”
Won’t go hard left? Who is Kasich kidding? He’s already gone hard left embracing taxpayer-funded late-term abortion and virtually every policy in the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party.
BURNETT: “Southern Baptist minister, he’s ordained, Mike Huckabee said the other day in part I don’t know of anybody, people of faith, I tell you, they’re not going to go with Biden. That’s not an option. What do you say?”
KASICH: “Well, I’m clued in to a lot of people of faith, a number of them who are very happy that I’m making this decision. Faith is a matter of, of your personal relationship. I don’t know why that’s been said about Joe. I think he is a man of faith.”
Faith in big government to be sure, faith in more abortions, and faith in a Leftist ideology.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Does Joe Biden believe that? John Kasich is correct in saying that Christianity is a personal relationship with God. The question is this: Does Joe Biden have one?
California judge greenlights MacArthur’s church to meet
Praise God! A judge ruled late Friday afternoon that Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, can continue hosting in-person worship services and does not have to adhere to any attendance caps or bans on singing, reports CBN.
Appearing on Moody Radio’s Chris Fabry Live on Friday, Pastor John MacArthur explained why he was convinced that the civil magistrates were in the wrong.
MacARTHUR: “All rulers are sworn to protect the Constitution. That means they have to protect churches. We’re not violating the law; the people who are trying to shut us down, they’re the lawbreakers.
“Our argument is that no one, including the governor, is empowered to determine what is essential and non-essential. Our governor determined that liquor stores are essential, abortion clinics are essential. So, 364 babies a day are being killed in California. And riots and protests — they’re essential. So, our argument is that he can’t determine anything about what’s essential or non-essential. But, the church in particular, has an elevated privilege based on the First Amendment.
“And secondly, from our viewpoint, Christ is the head of the church. The church of Jesus Christ has met in spite of magistrates and sovereigns demanding that they not meet and making Christianity illegal.”
Pastor MacArthur addressed the possible physical danger of attenders through the COVID-19 virus vs. the known spiritual dangers without Christ.
MacARTHUR: “The COVID issues in California are so minor. Yesterday, the Health Department said we have now one death in 100,000 people. That is almost zero. There’s no statistical reason to shut down anything in this state, and particularly, to shut down churches.
“I was asked a question about did I worry about somebody in the church dying from COVID. And I said, ‘No, I that’s never happened to us yet and it’s a negligible possibility.’ I said, ‘I am really cognizant of the fact that everyone will die. We’re not here to prevent people from getting the flu. We’re here to prevent people from going to eternal hell.’”
In addition to suing Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, Grace Community Church has named Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Democratic California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
The judge is requiring congregants to wear masks and social distance between family groups while indoors. A full hearing is set for September 4, 2020.
Troll doll “gasps and giggles” when button in “private area” pushed
And finally, the “Trolls World Tour Giggle and Sing Poppy” doll has enraged parents across America for its inappropriateness, prompting 330,000 people to sign a petition demanding that Hasboro, the toymaker, remove it from shelves.
One of those parents is Jamie Nelson Cornaby from Utah whose daughter received the Troll doll as a gift. In a video, she shows that there is a button located at its “private parts.”
CORNABY: “It makes a gasping sound when you touch her privates. And to me it’s just like sexual sounds and it’s so disturbing. Are they really grooming our kids? Sorry, I think they are — because you touch privates and she makes inappropriate sounds. Why? Why does a little girl need that? She doesn’t. And actually, as a parent, it makes me quite mad.”
You can watch the video demonstration from a disturbed parent through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Hasboro’s VP Julie Duffy told the Providence Journal, “This feature was designed to react when the doll was seated, but we recognize the placement of the sensor may be perceived as inappropriate.”
Toymaker Hasbro has agreed to pull the new Trolls doll.
You can send your feedback to Hasboro through this email address: HasbroBrandPR@hasbro.com
Matthew 18:6 says, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in Me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, August 17th, 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.
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CA bill funds puberty-blocking drugs leading to permanent infertility
A committee in the California state Senate voted earlier this week to approve a bill creating a fund for experimental medicalized gender-transition procedures, including cross-sex hormones and body-altering surgeries for both minors and legal adults, reports the Christian Post.
After pressure from transgender activists, the legislators revived the bill and the Senate Health Committee voted 7-1 to pass AB 2218, which is called the Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund.
Opponents of the measure have been pointing out that one of the side effects of the combination of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones is permanent infertility.