It’s Wednesday, December 4th, A.D. 2024. 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 Jonathan Clark
1,500 people loot harvest of Christians in India
Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports eight villages in India’s central state of Chhattisgarh banned Christians last month.
The village resolutions told Christians to either leave or renounce their faith in Christ. Otherwise, the believers would have their property and fields looted. The resolutions affect about 100 Christians.
Soon after, a mob of 1,500 people, many of them Hindus, looted the harvest of the Christians who received little assistance from local police. Forty villagers had to leave their homes following the looting.
In Luke 18:29-30, Jesus said, “There is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
South Korean president declares Martial Law
(audio of South Korean protestors)
South Korea erupted in chaos on Tuesday after President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a martial law declaration.
Yoon claimed he was trying to eliminate “anti-state” forces at work among his political opponents in the country. He accuses them of sympathizing with communist North Korea.
It’s the first martial law declaration since 1980. The military attempted to enter the Parliament building, and hundreds of people gathered to protest the move.
South Korea’s parliament quickly voted that the martial law declaration was invalid. Yesterday morning, President Yoon rescinded the declaration after the tense standoff, reports Reuters.
23 Conservative Party members voted for British euthanasia bill
After the British Parliament voted for the euthanasia bill in a 330-275 vote, let the record show that 23 Conservative Party members joined 234 Labor Party members who voted for the bill.
Conservative Party leader, and former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, voted in favor of the bill. However, previous Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Theresa May, and Liz Truss had publicly stated opposition to the bill.
Pro-death euthanasia laws have been incorporated into the ex-Christian nations of Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and Australia; as well as Columbia and Ecuador.
Trump picks reformer Kash Patel to lead FBI
In the United States, President-elect Donald Trump announced last Saturday that Kash Patel is his pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Patel served during Trump’s first administration as Chief of Staff for the Department of Defense and wrote the book entitled Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. In his endorsement of Patel’s book, Trump wrote, “We will use this blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government!”
Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas commented on the pick.
CRUZ: “He has a serious, professional background. He was a prosecutor. He was a public defender. He was a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill. He was a senior intelligence staffer in the White House. He was the Chief of Staff of the Department of Defense. He was the deputy director of National Intelligence.
“And I got to say, all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI and clean out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the FBI.
“The FBI and the Department of Justice are two institutions incredibly important to the rule of law in the United States. I revere both. And one of the most tragic consequences of four years of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is both the DOJ and the FBI have been politicized and weaponized. And I think Kash Patel is a very strong nominee to take on the partisan corruption in the FBI.”
Guttmacher: Abortions up 10% between 2020 and 2023
The U.S. Center for Disease Control has issued a report indicating that the number of abortions in the U.S. had decreased by 2% between 2021 and 2022, and a 1% decrease between 2020 and 2022.
However, earlier this year, another report from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute concluded the number of abortions in 2023 of 1,027,000 was a 10% increase between 2020 and 2023.
Medication abortions, which include those issued by “virtual clinics” through the mail, were up 31% in just three years. Today, 63% of abortions in the U.S. are medication abortions, and 37% are surgical abortions.
Office mortgage delinquency hit 10.4%
The delinquency rate of office mortgages has spiked to 10.4%, just about where the index was in 2010, during that last great recession. Vacancy rates are higher than ever, causing defaults on these commercial loans.
Visual Capitalist tracks the survival rate of U.S. businesses over the last 10 years. 35% are still functioning, with farming businesses touting the highest survival rate of 51%. Mining and technology companies were the lowest at 25% and 29% respectively.
Bible sales grew 22%
And finally, the sale of printed Bibles is up this year.
U.S print book sales increased only 1% from January through October this year compared to last year. Meanwhile, printed Bible sales grew by 22% over the same period!
In 2023, 14.2 million Bibles were sold in the U.S. During the first 10 months of this year alone, 13.7 million were sold.
It’s not clear what all is behind the increase in Bible sales. One theory was offered by
Amy Simpson with Tyndale House Publishers who noted a growing interest in the Bible among Gen Z and college students. She said, “You have a generation that wants to find things that feel more solid.”
Psalm 119:160 says, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Wednesday, December 4th, in the year of our Lord 2024. 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.