It’s Tuesday, November 22nd, in the year of our Lord 2016
By Kevin Swanson
Earthquake Hits Japan, Potential Earthquake in California
Another earthquake has hit northern Japan, near the location of the last major earthquake in 2011. This time a 6.9 quake is nowhere near the magnitude of the 9.1 quake that produced 133-foot high tsunami waves and killed 18,000 people.
News sources are warning of a major earthquake in California along the San Andreas fault. Thomas Jordan from the Southern California Earthquake Center says, “The springs on the San Andreas system have been wound very, very tight. And the southern San Andreas fault, in particular, looks like it’s locked, loaded, and ready to go!”
1 Peter 1:24-25 says, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
Justice Minister in Ireland Plans to Pardon All Homosexuals in the Country’s History
Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister Claire Sugden announced plans to pardon any and all homosexuals convicted of homosexual crime in historic record. The motion needs approval by the Legislative Assembly, an action England and Wales have already taken. Northern Ireland remains one of the few Western nations that has not sanctioned homosexual marriage.
Christian Hospitals Opt Out of Euthanasia in Canada
Manitoba, Canada legalized euthanasia last June by legislative mandate, and now two Christian hospitals are opting out. The Mennonite Concordia Hospital and St. Boniface Catholic Hospital, have announced they will not kill their patients. However, they will grant referrals to those who desire a doctor-assisted suicide.
Minnesota Judge Rules That Gender-Change Surgery Can Be Covered by Medicaid
A district court judge in Minnesota ruled that a man’s “gender-change surgery” could be covered by Medicaid. The suit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union for a woman who was unhappy with the way God created her. Eleven states provide Medicaid coverage for transgender surgeries.
Isaiah 1:21-22 says, “How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers. . . Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves.”
Percentage of Marriages Ending in Divorce is Rising
Last Friday, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. divorce rate had fallen to its lowest level in more than 35 years. I talked with my father, Mike McManus, a Christian newspaper columnist (www.EthicsandReligion.com), who has thoroughly investigated the issue of marriage and divorce and he rejects that conclusion.
“If you look at the percentage of people who are getting divorced compared to previous years, it appears that there is an all-time low in divorce rate. But, of course, we have had a lot fewer marriages as well. So if you look at the percentage of marriages that are ending in divorce, that number is actually rising. About 1980 it was 48% of marriages ended in divorce. In 2015, there was a 53.4% divorce rate.”
McManus, who also founded Marriage Savers, (www.MarriageSavers.org) a ministry featured on the major networks newscasts, CBN’s 700 Club, The O’Reilly Factor, and Focus on the Family, told The World View about a rigorous pre-marital inventory which asks 150 questions of the man and the woman separately about communication, conflict resolution, finances, intimacy, spirituality, family of origin, and discipline of future children.
“230 cities have created what we call a ‘Traditional Marriage Covenant.’ This is an agreement by the Presbyterians and Baptists and Catholics and other denominations in a city to require anyone getting married to take a serious marital inventory — 150 questions asked of the man and the woman – and have that couple meet with an older couple whose marriage has lasted for 20 or 30 or 40 years and talk through the issues that the inventory brings up. If that’s done, about a fifth of the couples decide, ‘Ooo, this is not the right person for me.’ But of those who do marry, after 20 years, we have about a 90% success rate. So it’s possible to virtually divorce-proof young couples if they go through a serious marriage preparation process.”
Most interestingly, an independent research group analyzed the objective results of the Traditional Marriage Covenant in the first 118 cities where Mike and Harriet McManus implemented it.
“In 2004, a study was published by the Institute for Research and Evaluation. They examined our first 118 cities where we created one of these agreements by the pastors in a city. On average, the county-wide or city-wide divorce rate dropped by an average of 17.5%. In a tenth of these cities, the divorces dropped by 50% or more. The most spectacular was El Paso, Texas where the divorce rate plunged from 1996-2001 by 79.5%. And the result is El Paso has had the lowest crime rate in the United States of all major cities for the last four years. Why? Because so many kids were being brought up by their own married parents and very few of them became delinquent. In a recent year, there were only five murders in El Paso which is a city of 665,000 people. Detroit, which is about the same size, had 310 murders.”
Businesses Willing to Honor Christ in Christmas, and Ones That Aren’t
The Liberty Counsel has released its “Naughty and Nice” list for the 2016 Christmas season based on their willingness to honor Jesus Christ.
Those businesses resisting the Christian theme include Dick’s Sporting Goods, American Eagle Outfitters, GAP, J. Crew, Old Navy, Radio Shack, and T.J. Max. The nice businesses are Best Buy, Bath and Body Works, Dillard’s, Hobby Lobby, J.C. Penney, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Sears, and Walmart.
Trump Announces Three Cabinet Nominations
President-elect Donald Trump has announced three picks for his cabinet thus far. Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and Representative Mike Pompeo for CIA Director. Both candidates have a 100% pro-life voting record with National Right to Life. Presidential cabinet nominations do require Senate approval.
Also, Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for his National Security Advisor. Flynn is known for his strong rhetoric against radical Islam and his support for closer ties with Russia.
Stock Market Makes New Record High
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at another record high, just short of 19,000. That’s a 1,000-point gain since Donald Trump’s election two weeks ago.
500 Workers at Chicago Airport Plan Strike After Thanksgiving
Chicago O’Hare airport workers are planning a strike on Monday, November 29th, after Thanksgiving. Five hundred employees have agreed to participate.
Train Wreck in India Kills at Least 145 People
145 people died in a terrible train wreck in India on Sunday morning. Officials are still looking for bodies. The accident was reported as the worst since 1981 when 800 died in Bihar, India during a cyclone.
Mayor of Bloomington, Indiana Renames Good Friday and Columbus Day
Bloomington, Indiana is renaming two holidays — Good Friday and Columbus Day. Henceforth, they shall be known as Spring and Fall Holiday by a mandate handed down by the Mayor John Hamilton. The city is dominated by Indiana University, and hence the liberal bent.
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.