It’s Wednesday, November 4th, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
Indonesian pastor and Bible translator tortured and shot dead
A Christian pastor and Bible translator who was killed in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua was likely tortured by a military officer who then shot him dead, reports the Christian Post.
On Monday, Indonesia’s human rights commission said that a fact-finding team believed that in late September, the military tortured Yeremia Zanambani, the pastor of the Gospel Tabernacle Church of Indonesia, hoping to extract information on stolen military weapons, CNN Indonesia reported.
The 67-year-old pastor, who was known for translating the Bible into Papua’s Moni dialect, was found by his wife lying face down in a pen for pigs, with gunshot wounds and his left arm nearly severed.
According to UCA News, “[The findings] are based on the dying man’s account given to at least two witnesses before he died that he saw the soldier at the crime scene along with three or four other soldiers.”
Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His faithful servants.”
Indonesia’s resource-rich Papua has seen a long-standing conflict between security forces and separatist groups since its absorption into Indonesia in 1969. Beginning last fall, there have been a series of protests and clashes between the Indonesian Army and the separatist groups, sending tens of thousands fleeing, reports International Christian Concern.
England bans ALL church services over COVID fear
The feared “second wave” of the COVID-19 virus is hitting Europe, prompting England to ban all religious worship services as of November 5th, reports Evangelical Focus.
A first open letter from pastors called Prime Minister Boris Johnson to understand that “the public worship of the Christian church is particularly essential for our nation’s wellbeing.” It called to “find ways of protecting those who truly are vulnerable to COVID-19 without unnecessary and authoritarian restrictions.”
This week, a second open letter signed by over 1,000 church leaders was sent to the English government and Members of the Parliament, saying, “It is a matter of great distress to us and to Christian people that the government of the nation we love should ban us from gathering to worship the God who claims our highest loyalty; especially when this has been done with no clear reasons for why it is necessary.”
Biden leading electoral votes at deadline
In the American presidential election, at our press deadline, former Vice President Joe Biden was leading with 209 electoral votes vs. President Donald Trump with 118 electoral votes. 270 are needed to win.
It was the night of the dueling predictions between Fox News and the New York Times. The right of center Fox News seemed to be concluding that Biden would win the election and the left of center New York Times seemed to be concluding that President Trump had a path to victory.
Analyzing the numbers on ABC last night, George Stephanopoulos drew a parallel between the 2020 presidential race, and the one in 2016.
STEPHANOPOULOS: “This is looking a little bit right now like a replay of 2016.”
In light of the piles of COVID-related mail-in ballots that still need to be counted, we may not even have a definitive presidential victor by today.
U.S. Senate is still a toss-up: Democrats flip Arizona
In the bid for control of the U.S. Senate, the Democrats have successfully flipped Arizona as Mark Kelly beat Martha McSally, reports Politico.com.
However, the Democrats need to flip 3 or 4 Republican seats in order to gain control of the Senate.
Thankfully, Senator Lindsey Graham, who chaired the recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, won a hard-fought race against Democrat challenger Jaime Harrison, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Harrison raised $109 million compared to Graham’s $70 million, making it the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.
House of Reps. Retains Democratic majority
And in the House of Representatives, the Democrats retained their majority and gained an additional 5 seats, reports Fox News.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will either continue to be the thorn in the flesh of President Trump for the next two years or she will be eager to deliver the socialist agenda of President-elect Joe Biden.
96% of Conservative Christian “SAGE Cons” supported Trump
A key voting bloc that was instrumental to President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 is even more committed to his re-election with “near-unanimous” support, according to a new survey, reports the Christian Post.
What are known as “SAGE Cons” — a term coined by longtime researcher George Barna which means Socially Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians — were seen as among the most influential actors in the last presidential election cycle because of the sway they have with the broader electorate despite being only 9% of the population.
Recently released research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, which is headed by Barna, indicates that 96% of this key group of philosophically conservative Christians backed Trump on Election Day.
Barna said, “SAGE Cons are a unique portion of the larger population. They’re more spiritually active and driven, more politically informed and active, much more likely to possess a biblical worldview that informs their thinking and choices, and they reflect an extremely high degree of consensus on a broad range of issues and beliefs.”
Among the issues most important to this group of Christian conservatives are abortion, religious freedom, appointments to the federal judiciary, law and order, and economic growth and stability.
The research also found that despite SAGE Cons solid support for Trump at the ballot box, only 19% said they considered him to be trustworthy in 2016. In 2020, that number rose to 63%. Those who regarded Trump as “smart” rose from 35% in 2016 to 76% in 2020; “presidential” from 15% to 53%; “a strong leader” from 54% to 89%; and “compassionate” from 29% to 63%.
Chicago pastor: “God is calling America to return to Him”
And finally, on Monday, Pastor James Ward, Jr. of Insight Church in Chicago, Illinois led a time of prayer and praise prior to the election at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. which was livestreamed.
WARD: “Jesus, our Lord stood on the side of a hill and preached the greatest sermon ever recorded and further explained in Luke 6:45 ‘that a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.’
“I’m privileged and humbled and honored, and by God’s grace, to stand here today along with my wife, Sharon, and to speak out of the abundance of my good heart, and to deliver a good thing to America, in a time that we desperately need to hear Good News about a good God who sent a good King, who only desires more than anything else to do good and not harm to the people of the United States of America, regardless of our ethnicity or any of the other factors that tend to divide us.
“In a time of cultural relativism and religious pluralism, in a time of what I described to be ideological warfare and unprecedented division, we’ve come together as a team today to remind America of an ancient, unchangeable, universal and singular message that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever’ — regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their political ideology, ‘that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.’
“It is most unfortunate and it really breaks my heart that in America we are perishing today unnecessarily. In Ezekiel 33:11, God says, ‘Say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die oh, House of Israel.’
“We’re perishing unnecessarily in our nation today. I believe with all my heart that God is calling America to not only turn, but to return to Him to live and not die.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, November 4th, in the year of our Lord 2020. 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.