It’s Friday, October 20th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Indonesia withdraws permit for Christian school
In the town of Parepare, Indonesia, the council had granted permission for the construction of the Gamaliel Christian School.
Then, members of the Islamic Defenders Front participated in a march through the city along with hundreds of area residents. They shouted, “Revoke the permit” and unfurled banners that read, “Reject the Construction of the Gamaliel Christian School.” Eighty-seven percent of Indonesians are Muslim and 11% are Christian.
Bowing to pressure from Islamic protestors, local officials have vowed to withdraw permission that had been granted to build the Christian school, saying it could potentially cause friction, reports Morning Star News.
In Galatians 6:9, Paul had some great advice for the Indonesian Christians who are trying to build this school. “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
According to Open Doors’ World Watch List, Indonesia is the 33rd most difficult country to be a Christian.
President Biden addressed America about Israeli-Hamas War
In a rare prime-time address Thursday night, President Joe Biden spoke to the nation, reports NBC News.
BIDEN: “Now, early this morning I returned from Israel. They tell me that I’m the first American President to travel there during a war. I met with the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet. And most movingly, I met with Israelis who had personally lived through horrific horror by the attack by Hamas on the seventh of October. More than 1,300 people slaughtered in Israel, including at least 32 American citizens. Scores of innocents, from infants to the elderly grandparents, Israelis and Americans taken hostage. As I told the families of Americans being held captive by Hamas, we are pursuing every avenue to bring their loved ones home.
“As President, there is no higher priority for me than the safety of Americans held hostage. The terrorist group Hamas unleashed pure, unadulterated evil in the world. But sadly, the Jewish people know perhaps better than anyone that there is no limit to the depravity of people when they want to inflict pain on others.”
Biden said, “When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced … 9/11, we felt enraged, as well. While we sought and got justice, we made mistakes. So I cautioned the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
He plans to ask for another $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and a total of $40 billion for Israel, Taiwan and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jim Jordan still hopes to become House Speaker
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio wants to be House Speaker.
While he needs 217 votes to win, he only got 200 votes on Tuesday and then 199 in a second vote yesterday. A third vote is planned for 10:00am Eastern this morning.
Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds said that the House GOP Conference will not move forward with a resolution that would grant interim Speaker Patrick McHenry more power in his role, reports CNN.
Sidney Powell pleads guilty to trying to overturn Trump’s Georgia loss
On Thursday, lawyer Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to reduced charges over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia, reports the Associated Press. She became the second defendant in the sprawling case to reach a deal with prosecutors.
Powell, who was charged alongside Trump and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law, entered the plea just a day before jury selection was set to start in her trial. She pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties.
As part of the deal, she will serve six years of probation, will be fined $6,000, and will have to write an apology letter to Georgia and its residents. She also recorded a statement for prosecutors and agreed to testify truthfully against her co-defendants at future trials.
States collect DNA of newborn babies without parental consent
Most new parents have no idea that by the time they leave the hospital with their newborn, a sample of their child’s blood has already been sent to the state government, reports LifeSiteNews.com.
Depending on the state, the government may store and use their child’s blood for anywhere from months to indefinitely – and not only is it legal, it’s actually mandated by law.
Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Each state has its own newborn screening program through which healthcare professionals who deliver babies are required to collect a blood sample in order to test for rare genetic or metabolic diseases.
Only in two states, Maryland and Minnesota, are healthcare practitioners even required to obtain parental consent. Wyoming law technically requires parents’ “written consent,” but is worded vaguely enough that in practice, it amounts to a system that must be opted-out of rather than opted into. Utah allows a “religious exemption”
The Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom said, “Within 48 hours after the birth of a baby, the heel is pricked, newborn blood is squeezed onto a card with special filter paper, and the card is sent for analysis to the State government laboratory.”
Woman’s last wish: Give away VW Beetle to a funeral attendee
And finally, a generous woman decided to do something fun with her last wishes, offering her car to anyone who would come to attend her funeral, reports Good News Network.
Her name was Diane Sweeney, a lover of family, faith, and her VW Beetle. Passing away suddenly in July of last year, she had told her nephew, Rick Ingram, about her plan to give away her car in a raffle if she died.
Because she had never married nor had children, Sweeney said, “Whoever comes to my funeral, I want them to have a chance to win my Volkswagen Beetle.” So, Ingram not only placed an ad in the paper, but contacted Channel 4 News of Oklahoma City. The funeral service was “packed.”
After filling out her entry form at the funeral, 16-year-old Gabrielle Bonham of El Reno, Oklahoma, a stranger to the deceased woman, became the winner.
Diane Sweeney’s cousin said the VW Beetle went to the perfect person, a young woman in need of reliable transportation at the beginning of her adult life, taking the keys from a woman who had finished hers.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, October 20th in the year of our Lord 2023. 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.