It’s Easter Monday, April 2, in the year of our Lord 2018. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
By Adam McManus (adam@Theworldview.com)
16 Palestinians Dead, 1,400 Wounded in Gaza Border Violence
As thousands of Palestinians marched to Gaza’s border with Israel on Friday bombarding Israeli soldiers with stones and firebombs, Israeli soldiers fired back, killing 16 of the marchers, reports the Chicago Tribune. Plus, 758 Palestinians were wounded by live fire while another 650 were injured by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation.
It was the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 cross-border war between Israel and Hamas.
Iraqi Christians Celebrated Easter with Great Hope
For the first time since the Islamic State terrorist group drove thousands of Christians from Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, the village of Qaraqosh celebrated Easter as believers slowly return to their hometown, reports The Christian Post.
Anis Behnam, a 58-year-old university teacher who was among those forced to flee the predominantly Christian town four years ago, said, “Easter is a message to humanity, a message of new life. After torture, after hardships, after tough conditions, there will be life again.
“Our Lord has risen. This gives all of us great hope, and we try to be just like Him.”
Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
NRA Board Member Ted Nugent vs. Pro-gun Control Students
CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting, for her reaction to the financial contributions that the National Rifle Association makes to the campaigns of politicians who support the Second Amendment.
Alisyn Camerota: “They give millions of dollars to politicians. How do you expect politicians, who need money to keep running for office, to say no to the NRA?”
Emma Gonzalez: “We keep telling them that if they accept this blood money, they are against the children. They are against the people who are dying. There’s no other way to put it at this point.”
Ted Nugent, renowned guitar player and NRA board member, appeared on The Joe Pags Show with this reaction.
Ted Nugent: “Well, that’s sad. The level of ignorance goes beyond stupidity. The National Rifle Association are a bunch of American families who have a voice to stand up for our God-given, constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. We have no blood on our hands. No NRA member has ever been involved in any mass shootings at all.
“In fact, the National Rifle Association is the lone organization that has taught firearm safety in schools and for law enforcement and for military and for family organizations around the country for a hundred years.”
Twitter Shuts Down Second Pro-Life Group
Twitter has again suspended a pro-life organization from running ads on its site, only to lift the suspension when conservative media inquired, reports The Christian Post.
The Daily Caller reported last Wednesday that they contacted Twitter after it became known that it had removed three ads from the pro-life group Human Coalition, claiming it was “inappropriate” content.
One of three ads that was removed said that abortion is not healthcare and intentionally killing another human being contradicts the Hippocratic oath.
Another mentioned how abortion is the leading cause of death in the African-American community, but almost never comes up in the national discourse about racism, and that 80 percent of Planned Parenthood abortion mills operate in racial minority neighborhoods.
Terri Schiavo Remembered
Bobby Schindler honored his late sister Terri Schiavo on March 31st, the anniversary of her death, reports Life News.
Due to her collapse resulting in a severe brain injury, Terri was unable to swallow using conventional utensils, and like many Americans, required nutrition and hydration by feeding tube in order to live.
Despite the fact that Terri was neither in a coma nor “brain dead”, her estranged husband Michael Schiavo was able to successfully petition the court to starve and dehydrate Terri to death over the course of 13 days.
Become a pro-life, anti-euthanasia advocate through The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.
Gutsy Texas Judge Opens Court with Prayer
And finally, Montgomery County, Texas Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack opens each court session with a Christian prayer which prompted the Freedom From Religion Foundation to file a lawsuit to shut him up, reports The Christian Post.
In an amicus brief filed Tuesday in district court, the Plano-based First Liberty Institute argued that Texas law does not allow Montgomery County authorities to determine how Mack begins his courtroom proceedings.
You can encourage him by calling (936) 539-7801.
Acts 5:29 says, “We must obey God rather than man.”
Closing Line
And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Monday, April 2nd in the year of our Lord 2018. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
Print stories
What About Human Rights in U.S./North Korea Talks?
North Korean defectors are voicing concern that the repression and long-standing human rights violations committed by dictator Kim Jong Un and his cronies will be forgotten during the nuclear summits expected to be held on April 27, reports Voice of America.
Open Doors ranks North Korea as the most dangerous place to follow Jesus on their 2018 World Watch List. With more than 50,000 in prison or labor camps, such a ranking is little surprise for the totalitarian regime that controls every aspect of life in the country and forces worship of the Kim family.
The Costa Rican Pastoral Presidential Candidate
Costa Rica, a country that lives on its reputation as a laid-back vacation spot, has been surprised by the political ascent of Alvarado Munoz, a 43-year-old conservative evangelical pastor and singer, reports The Gazette.
Munoz has pledged to challenge homosexual faux marriage and to uphold the country’s protective pro-life laws.
According to the Pew Research Center, about 20 percent of Latin Americans now identify as Protestant, up from just 3 percent just a few decades ago. But Catholics remain socially traditional.
Facebook Has Egg on Its Face
Facebook employees were in an uproar last Friday over a leaked 2016 memo from a top executive defending the social network’s growth at any cost — even if it caused deaths from a terrorist attack that was organized on the platform, reports The New York Times.
In the memo, Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook vice president, wrote, “Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools. And still we connect people. The ugly truth is that we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect more people more often is *de facto* good.”
Bosworth and Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, have since disavowed the memo.
Pro-Abortion Nebraskan Legislators Blocking Pro-Life Measure
Nebraska is getting closer to finalizing a budget that defunds Planned Parenthood, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Pro-abortion lawmakers had been holding up the $8.8 billion bill because of the provision to stop $2 million in Title X funds from going to any group that “performs, assists with the performance of, provides directive counseling in favor of, or refers for abortion.”
Supreme Court and David Daleiden’s Freedom of Speech
The Supreme Court is convening to consider whether to review Daleiden v. National Abortion Federation, involving David Daleiden’s right to publish videos exposing the abortion industry’s role in the sale of baby body parts, reports Life News.
The Supreme Court has historically decided that the type of gag order issued against Daleiden is unconstitutional, holding that prior restraints are “the most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.”
Pray that the Supreme Court will indeed take the case and uphold the right of pro-life speech.
Houston Megapastor Bilked Elderly in Scam
A prominent Houston megachurch pastor named Kirbyjon Caldwell, who counseled presidents and top executives, was charged on Friday with selling investors more than $1 million in worthless Chinese bonds and using proceeds for his own benefit, reports Reuters.
The bonds were issued by the former Republic of China before 1949 and are not recognized by the current Chinese government and have no investment value.
Caldwell raised at least $3.4 million from 29 mostly elderly investors by promising them high returns, and used about $1.8 million of the proceeds for personal expenses, the SEC alleged.
1 Timothy 3 warns, “Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, … respectable, … not a lover of money. … He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.”
Paul, Apostle of Christ Film: Great Quality and Accuracy
While some Bible-based films range from being low-quality adaptations of the Bible to being simply low-quality films, Paul, Apostle of Christ appears to have hit a sweet spot in both quality and accuracy.
According to Paul Asay at Focus on the Family’s PluggedIn Movie Reviews, it’s not only “filled with lots of encouraging Christian content and positive messages,” but it’s also “a well-crafted, moving film with strong performances.”
His primary word of caution regarding the film has to do with the violent content. Thinking of families with younger viewers, Asay points out that the depiction of Roman cruelty could make it tough for some to watch.
Check out the trailer and find a theater near you.
Stranger Donates Kidney to Single Mom
Last November, 42-year-old Jennen Johnson was diagnosed with kidney failure, given less than four years to live unless she found a kidney donor, reports the Good News Network.
The Toronto, Canada single mother placed an ad in the classified section of Now magazine which said: “Mother of a 12-year-old daughter desperately looking for a generous O blood type willing to get tested and possibly donate a kidney to save my life. If seriously interested in helping me continue to be a mom to my daughter for the years to come, please contact [me].”
After going viral, Christi Nolan – a 37-year-old yoga instructor – read the ad, discovered she was a match, and donated a kidney to the stranger.
1 John 4:7 says, “Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”