It’s Friday, November 22nd, A.D. 2019. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Jonathan Clark
325 cases of European discrimination against Christians
The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe released their 2019 report this month, documenting 325 cases of intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe last year.
Forms of persecution included negative stereotyping in the media, legal action against Christian businesses, and Christian parents being harassed for trying to raise their children according to their faith. But the cases also included violence, aggression, and arrests involving Christians and vandalism of Christian sites.
1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”
Pastor U Maung Maung released in Myanmar
Praise God! Pastor U Maung Maung, who was kidnapped on October 26 by the Arakan Army in Rakhine State, Myanmar, was released on November 5.
Pastor U Maung Maung, from the predominately Christian Chin ethnic group, was traveling with his wife and infant before being separated from them and abducted with 57 others by the Arakan Army.
The army has threatened him if he shares what he experienced during the abduction with the Myanmar government.
On November 3, the Arakan Army also kidnapped a Chin Christian parliamentarian, U Hawi Tin, who is still missing.
President Trump flips Second Circuit Court of Appeals
In more good news, last week the U.S. Senate voted to confirm President Trump’s nominee, former White House attorney Steven Menashi, to the New York-based Second Circuit Court of Appeals, flipping the court to a majority of Republican-appointed judges.
And this week, the Senate confirmed Florida Supreme Court Justices Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Now the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuit Courts have more Trump appointees on the bench than judges appointed by Democrats, reports Courthouse News.
CA Supreme Court vs. Catholic group over tax-funded abortions
On Wednesday, California’s Supreme Court rejected a Catholic organization’s challenge to state regulations that designate the murder of unborn babies as “medically necessary.”
Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit has been fighting the 2014 regulations that would force it to cover abortions in its members’ health insurance plans.
Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.”
GOP Congressman: “These proceedings have been anything but fair”
U.S. lawmakers are wrapping up a week of impeachment hearings over President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
The Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Democrats would decide in the coming days on next steps in the inquiry after hearing from a dozen witnesses.
Yesterday, Republican Congressman Chris Stewart of Utah, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, said this during the impeachment inquiry.
STEWART: “The American people expect a lot in politics. They understand the tussle, the fight, the debate. But they also expect basic fairness. And these proceedings have been anything but fair. The Senate has an opportunity to fix that. I am confident they will. And I look forward to them completing the job that we could have done here.”
Democratic presidential candidates affirm abortion — again
During Wednesday night’s MSNBC Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders expressed their support for the impeachment inquiry
Additionally, Rachel Maddow asked this question of Senator Warren.
MADDOW: “Louisiana re-elected Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards. He has signed one of the country’s toughest laws restricting abortion. Is there room in the Democratic Party for someone like him, someone who can win in a deep red state, but who does not support abortion rights? Senator Warren.”
WARREN: “I believe that abortion rights are human rights. I believe that they are also economic rights and protecting the rights of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body is fundamentally what we do and what we stand for as a Democratic Party.”
Pew study: Most people think churches should not engage politically
A Pew Research survey found a majority of Americans believe churches and religious organizations do more good than harm and strengthen morality in society.
However, nearly 80 percent of Americans think religion is losing influence in America, and half of those say this is a bad thing.
But sadly, most Americans believe churches should not engage in public matters like politics and supporting candidates. Thirty percent even said religious organizations have too much influence on politics while 28 percent said churches don’t have enough influence.
Jesus tells the church in Matthew 28:19-20 to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”
17-year-old girl saves elderly man with dementia in freezing temps
And finally, 17-year-old Katie Qualls of Madison, Mississippi saved the life of an elderly man with dementia recently after she learned he had gone missing based from a friend’s Facebook post, reports WLBT.
Madison told her parents she couldn’t sleep until they found the gentleman, prompting her to join the search party in freezing temperatures.
QUALLS: “I immediately went to my parents and said, ‘I’m not going to be able to go to sleep until that this person is found, just like, thinking about if that was my grandfather or somebody just didn’t sit right with me.”
She followed a different path than the rest, finding the man on the ground among some bushes.
QUALLS: “I hear something and I turn to my left. And he’s like back up in the bushes and he blended in with the mulch. Let me tell you, I don’t know how I picked him up, but I picked his whole body up and carried him out. He was shaking really bad.”
Madison explained to the TV cameras why she believed she was the one to find the man with dementia.
QUALLS: “I realize it was just all God and how He led me there. I don’t know. It’s crazy, but He works in mysterious ways and He’s amazing. I know that for sure.”
Madison said, “I truly believe He made that happen for a reason. With all the stuff that’s happened in my life recently, I feel like He has a plan for me and I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s going to be helping people.”
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, November 22nd in the year of our Lord 2019. 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.