It’s Thursday, September 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)
Eritrea, Africa released 27 Christians on bail
Eritrea is often referred to as the “North Korea of Africa”, reports International Christian Concern.
For most of the past two decades, Eritrea has had no foreign relations with any country other than Egypt and Iran. Then just last year, they reopened communication with Ethiopia, their brother country who they gained independence from in 1991.
Since 2002, the government in Eritrea has arrested hundreds of people, including journalists, clergy, and Evangelicals who they see as threatening their security. Many of those that have been arrested have been held for decades or died without ever receiving a trial or due process. Due to this, they have been ranked as one of the worst human rights violators in the world and one of the worst persecutors of Christians.
However, just last week, the Eritrean government released at least 27 Christians on bail. Though these Christians have been released for the first time in years, they are still not free to do as they would like. None of them will be allowed to leave the country. It is believed that they were only released due to COVID 19 fears. If this is true, then it is likely that those who have been released at this time will be returned to prison as soon as the fear of the pandemic is passed.
Pray that the Eritrean government will allow these Christians to go free. And pray for a change of heart in relation to freedom of worship.
Jared Kushner: “It takes a tough guy to fix the country.”
When President Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner joined Fox News’ Steve Hilton to discuss the 2020 election, he explained that the media thinks the voters are stupid, reports RealClearPolitics.com.
KUSHNER: “I think that the American people are a lot smarter than the media and a lot of the politicians in Washington give them credit for. They’ve been trying to make this about President Trump’s governing style. And the reality is that he needs to govern this way in order to produce the results he has. And so what we’ve been doing is trying to drive people back to the results.
“Before the pandemic, President Trump had the lowest unemployment rate in our country in 50 years, the lowest unemployment for black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, for women, and our country was trending in a very positive way.
“We have new challenges after the pandemic, and he’s the right president to pull it back. And that’s what we’re gonna be focused on.”
Kushner highlighted President Trump’s tough stands and results.
KUSHNER: “The American people want to see results, and ultimately, they’re gonna look at what’s better for them, what’s better for their families. And when they look at that question, they say, ‘Who do I want representing us against China and against these other countries?’ I think that they’ll see that President Trump. He’s a tough guy, but it takes a tough guy to fix the country, and get us to where we need to be.”
Minneapolis, which defunded police, now upset with rise in crime
It’s pretty ironic. The Minneapolis City Council that passed a unanimous resolution in June to defund the police is confused and livid over rising crime and slow response times by cops, reports the Washington Times.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo was peppered with questions by council members this week on everything from a spike in armed robberies to illegal street racing to murder. In fact, the 59 homicides year-to-date in Minneapolis nearly doubles the city’s year-to-date average since 2015.
Minneapolis City Council member Phillipe Cunningham said, “What I am sort of flabbergasted by is … colleagues who, a very short time ago, who were calling for abolition, who are now suggesting that we should be putting more funding and resources into [the Minneapolis Police Department].”
Netflix cancellations spike almost 8-fold over “Cuties”
Netflix saw its U.S. cancellations spike almost eight-fold following an online movement to boycott the streaming giant over its controversial film, “Cuties“, which sexualizes 11-year-old girls, reports the Blaze.com.
The film prompted hashtag #CancelNetflix to go viral, as well as an accompanying petition with a related name. At the time of this writing, 231,000 people have signed the CitizenGo petition, urging Netflix to cancel “Cuties.”
Variety Magazine, citing data from the company, reported that the subscriber cancellations began to rise on Sept. 10 — just a day after the film’s Netflix debut. Two days later, the cancellation rate “jumped to nearly eight times higher than the average daily levels recorded in August 2020.”
Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
“State of Theology” reveals Evangelical need to study Bible
And finally, Ligonier Ministries, founded by the late R.C. Sproul, teamed up with LifeWay Research for the biennial “State of Theology” survey to examine the differences between everyday Americans and Evangelicals on their beliefs about God, truth, the Bible and ethical issues. They spoke to a representative sample of 3,000 people.
Listen to my interview with Dr. Stephen Nichols, the President of Reformation Bible College and the Chief Academic Officer for Ligonier Ministries on Generations Radio today. While 52% of the general population deny the deity of Christ, 30% of Evangelicals do as well, concluding instead He was merely a good teacher. In addition, 22% of Evangelicals believe that gender is a choice, rejecting the Bible’s teaching that our gender as male and female is given by God our Creator.
Look at the key findings and at the 35 statements as a family and examine the Scriptures connected with each. The results reveal that Evangelicals desperately need to study God’s Word.
In Psalm 119:15-16, King David writes, “I meditate on [God’s] precepts and consider Your ways. I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your Word.” Good counsel indeed!
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, September 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.