It’s Monday, January 6, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Myanmar’s military junta setting up sham election
In an informal consultation with representatives from Thailand, China, India, Laos, and Bangladesh earlier this month, military junta leaders from Myanmar indicated that plans for a national election in 2025 are continuing, reports International Christian Concern.
While analysts have largely panned the planned elections as a meaningless exercise meant to whitewash the military junta’s undemocratic seizure of power in 2021, some of Myanmar’s neighbors seem ready to accept the elections as legitimate.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the junta has arrested 28,051 citizens since the 2021 coup, many for participating in the country’s pro-democracy movement. More than 21,000 of that number are still imprisoned to this day, and the junta has killed more than 6,000 in its attempts to crack down on political and military opposition to its rule.
According to Open Doors, Myanmar is the 17th most dangerous country worldwide in which to be a Christian.
19 Ontario women sent to US for abortions, costing taxpayers over $300,000
From 2023 to 2024, Ontario sent 19 women to the United States for abortions which were covered by taxpayer dollars under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, reports LifeSiteNews.com.
With an average cost per abortion of $17,382, a pro-life researcher suspects many or all were late-term abortions.
Despite pro-abortion advocates’ claims, more than 50,000 abortions a year take place after almost four months into pregnancy and approximately 10,000 late-term abortions occur after five months gestation.
In the face of the pro-death culture, Proverbs 31:8 declares, “Speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable.”
Trump to be sentenced days before inauguration
Before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House he’ll return to the courthouse, a New York judge ruled Friday, reports CBS News.
Justice Juan Merchan will sentence Trump for his crimes on January 10 — just 10 days before his inauguration on January 20 — in a court proceeding that will be unlike any in America’s 248 years.
Trump’s conviction in New York stemmed from a $130,000 so-called “hush money” payment his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, made to adult film star Stephanie Gregory in the days before the 2016 election.
House Speaker Mike Johnson re-elected in close vote
Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected House speaker on Friday, narrowly winning a showdown with his party’s right-flank after a last-minute assist from President-elect Donald Trump, reports ABC News.
Johnson was handed the gavel after a dramatic vote that saw the Louisiana native on track to lose on the first ballot minutes before two Republican lawmakers, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas approached the desk and changed their stance following what one called a “lively discussion” with Trump.
JOHNSON: “I’m grateful for this election, for the confidence this chamber has placed in me. It is the great honor of my life to serve this body with all of you.”
House Speaker Johnson highlighted what has made America unique.
JOHNSON: “We are stewards of the great American Revolution that began almost exactly now, 250 years ago, 1775 and 1776. It will fall at the time of this Congress, the Great Anniversary.
“In these two and a half centuries, we’ve been reminded repeatedly that freedom is never free. We have stood tall as the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. It is without debate. We are the freest, the most powerful, most benevolent nation that has ever been in the history of the world.
“We are the ones who ended slavery, who laid the transcontinental railroad, who gave women the right to vote, who won two world wars, who landed on the moon, and who won the Cold War. Throughout our history, we have done what no one thought was possible.”
And Johnson underscored the principles that have set America apart and should remain a part of our future.
JOHNSON: “We also recognize that the core principles that made America what we are must still be preserved today: individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity. These are the ingredients, the things that made us who we are. We will act quickly, and we will start by defending our nation’s borders.”
American churches closing their doors
And finally, as American church attendance continues to plummet, many pastors and priests are accepting that it’s time to sell their properties, reports ABC News.
As the person leading renewal and development for the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, Father Bryan Zielenieski is one of many religious leaders across America who have closed houses of worship in recent years. He said, “We essentially went to half of what we used to back in the early 2000s. We lost about 100 parishes.”
Zielenieski expects he’ll need to shut down another 70 churches.
On average, more than half of the diocese’s churches today are baptizing fewer than one person a month, and 59% of them are spending more money than they take in.
In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same. And only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week.
Hebrews 10:24-25 underscores the urgency of regular church attendance. It says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Monday, January 6th in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or 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.