Thursday, March 28th, in the year of our Lord 2019
By Jonathan Clark
The Story Behind the Persecution of a Beijing, China Church
As we reported yesterday, Chinese government officials raided a Bible school class at Beijing’s Shouwang Church over the weekend. The authorities demanded that the 1,000-member church end their activities and read out a document formally banning the church.
The World View spoke to Gina Goh with International Christian Concern about why the Chinese government has gone after this church multiple times.
GOH: “This church, Shouwang Church, it’s not the first time it was cracked down. It actually made it to international headlines several years ago because they purchased this property, and it was confiscated by the government, because the government demanded it to join the state-sanctioned church, and it refused. So, it started this large scale of cracking down, and it was the first large house church in recent years that has suffered this type of persecution. They had to take their worship outside.”
Goh said that this church is known for its boldness in fearing God rather than man.
GOH: “It’s also because of their will. A lot of churches in China, just like anywhere else, sometimes when you are faced with persecution, your natural instinct is to hide or break into smaller groups to avoid persecution. But the members of Shouwang church have said, ‘You know what. This is our right; you have no right to persecute us this way.”
Acts 5:29 says, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”
Cyclone in Africa Kills 750 People
Cyclone Idai struck Africa’s southeast coast by the Indian Ocean earlier this month, bringing destruction to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.
Death tolls have risen to at least 750 with hundreds of people missing.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe declared two days of mourning and prayer for the people affected by the cyclone.
Mnangagwa attended a Methodist Church in Mabelreign, Harare on Sunday, saying, “We cannot direct God, but we just accept what He has done. Let us pray and seek God when we still can as disaster can come anytime and in different forms. We are all sinners and we should all go to Jesus when we are still alive.”
British Police Interrogate Christian Journalist over Transgender Pronoun
Surrey police in the United Kingdom interrogated a Christian journalist and mother named Caroline Farrow over her comments on Twitter where she referred to a boy, pretending to be a girl, with a masculine pronoun. The interaction became public last week.
The boy is the son of transgender activist Susie Green, who filed a complaint over the tweet, but later retracted it.
Farrow said it was her “religious belief that a person cannot change sex” and that she is “prepared to go to prison over the right to state basic beliefs and truths.”
Trump Prohibits Taxpayer Funding of Pro-Abortion Foreign Groups
Last year, President Donald Trump reinstated the Reagan-era “Mexico City Policy” which prohibits the government from funding foreign organizations that support abortion internationally.
POMPEO: “President Trump boldly expanded the Mexico City policy in 2017. It now protects every human life impacted by the nearly $9 billion of foreign aid we spend on global health programs each year and in turn protects more unborn babies around the world than ever before. This is decent. This is right, and I’m proud to serve an administration that protects the least amongst us.
“This administration has shown that we can continue to meet our critical global health goals, including providing health care for women while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies.
“As Secretary of State, as a result of my decision today, we are also making clear we will refuse to provide assistance to foreign [Non Governmental Organizations] that give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry. We will enforce a strict prohibition on back-door funding schemes and end-runs around our policy. American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions.”
You can watch the Pompeo announcement by video.
Barna Research: Pastors Admit Negative Influence of Gov’t Schools
The Barna Group conducted a recent survey which found that 65 percent of Protestant pastors and half of Roman Catholic priests believe that government schools are a negative influence on children.
Yet, those spiritual leaders are doing little to help equip the parents in the discipleship of their children.
Children’s friends and the broader culture were also ranked among primarily negative influences by a majority of those surveyed.
This comes as schools have dismissed prayer and the culture has increasingly embraced moral perversions.
Proverbs 13:20 says, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
Another $1 Billion to Fund 57-Mile, 18-Foot-Tall Southern Border Wall
Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced Monday the Pentagon has approved up to $1 billion in military funds to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The funds are intended for a 57-mile long,18-foot high wall between the Yuma and El Paso sections of the border.
God Spared the Prayer Closet of an Alabama Grandma
And finally, a 72-year-old Alabama grandma survived a powerful tornado that destroyed her house earlier this month, everything except her prayer closet. Two twisters hit Lee County, Alabama within an hour of each other on Sunday, March 3.
Earnestine Reese emerged from the rubble of her home, praising God for sparing her life as she spoke to her grandson over FaceTime after the storm.
REESE: “You hear me boy? You hear me? Tell God thank you.”
Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide [God’s Words] from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.”
Close
And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, March 28th in the year of our Lord 2019. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. Or get the app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.