Monday, April 25th, in the year of our Lord, 2016.
By Mark Robinette
High school administrators in Middleton, Wisconsin, have asked parents to stop hosting free lunches where they discuss Christianity with students at a park near the school. The school claims that its lease agreement with Fireman’s Park during school hours means that their rules apply to the parents’ “Jesus lunches,” as they have been called, but organizers of the lunches say that the park is still open to the public. The World View spoke to Ingrid Machonta, marketing director for Chick-fil-A in Middleton, about the “Jesus lunches”: “To be able just to offer something and have nothing in return is something that Jesus offers us—He sent His Son to die on the cross for us. And we don’t have to do anything—it’s great, it’s an undeserved gift. And in the same way, by giving someone a free lunch, they’re not asking them for anything in return.”
Some students from Middleton are also protesting the “Jesus lunches” for the first time. Reportedly backed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, students, including atheists, gathered last Tuesday at Fireman’s Park, speaking out against the “Jesus lunches” and claiming they cause division at the school.
Christ reminds us, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
In a press conference on Saturday in London, President Barack Obama said that North Carolina’s bathroom law and Mississippi’s law protecting opponents of homosexual marriage are “wrong” and should be “overturned.” This comes after the U.K. released a travel advisory to those states in regards to homosexual tolerance, reported the Christian Post.
Meanwhile, the city of Washington, D.C., has asked the public to report single occupancy, non-gender-neutral bathrooms. Since 2006, the District of Columbia has required businesses to simply label their bathrooms as “restroom” with no reference to gender, enforceable by a fine.
Take this for religious freedom: over 160,000 people have signed a boycott of Target in the two days following the company’s new policy allowing men in women’s bathrooms. The American Family Association is heading up the boycott, stating that Target’s policy puts women and children at risk. You can join the boycott of Target by going to the American Family Association’s website: https://www.afa.net/action-alerts/sign-the-boycott-target-pledge/.
A “personhood” bill in Alabama, which would effectively ban abortion, died last Thursday, as it did not make it to a vote in the House of Representatives. The House adjourned before voting on the bill after House Democrats launched a filibuster. May God bring repentance to those who did not stand for the unborn.
Solomon tells us of such men, “They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death” (Psalm 94:21).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report last Thursday showing that suicide is on the rise in America. Sadly, the greatest increase in suicides is among young girls between the ages of 10 and 14.
A U.S.-led air coalition destroyed an estimated $500 million worth of ISIS cash according to a senior defense official, reported the Christian Post. This seriously hinders ISIS from paying its current fighters and bringing on more. The U.S.-led coalition has also been able cut the terror group’s oil profits in half.
According to South Korean defense officials, North Korea fired what looked like a ballistic missile off its northeast coast from a submarine on Saturday. This has fueled concerns over what weapons capabilities North Korea actually has. The U.S. State Department has not commented on the reports of the launch.
Fox News reports that a TV crew for the show River Monsters by Animal Planet rescued a fisherman stranded on an island off the coast of Australia. The director of the episode, Stephen Shearman, recounted that the man had “said his last prayer” and was “prepared to die and meet his maker.” By God’s providence the man was saved, but we should all remember the brevity of life.
“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever” (1 Peter 1:24-25).
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.
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