It’s Tuesday, July 23rd, A.D. 2019. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Kevin Swanson
Armenian Christian Syrian woman brutalized, killed
July 8th, 2019 was a tragic day for Suzan Der Kirkour, an Armenian Christian Syrian woman. Having gone missing for a night, she was found dead later, killed by Islamic terrorists.
(The content in this story is not appropriate for young listeners.)
The Worldview spoke to Claire Evans from International Christian Concern.
EVANS: “She was an Armenian Christian which means that her ancestors were victims of the Armenian genocide. She comes from a long line of Christians being persecuted for their faith. And unfortunately what happened with her is just a continuance of what’s been going on for decades now.”
Evans said that the Christian women in these countries are extremely vulnerable to attack right now.
EVANS: “Because really this is the conclusion of a long line of persecution incidents that just continue to escalate and escalate and escalate until we get something that is just bad as a woman being gang raped and then stoned. Christians in Syria, particularly Christian Syrian women, are incredibly vulnerable especially during this conflict. They’ve been vulnerable before the civil war, but this just pushes them into an even deeper state of vulnerability.”
Zechariah 7:9-10 has words for those so violently oppressed: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”
The Chinese economic sector is cracking
The Wall Street Journal reports that Chinese corporations have defaulted on $7 billion in debt this year thus far.
The Chinese investment group Minsehng announced Friday that they will not be repaying on $500,000,000 of U.S. Bonds.
Puerto Rican Governor uses profanities in chat messages
Thousands of Puerto Ricans protested on the streets against Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello, encouraging his resignation over offensive chat messages — laced with profanities, and suggestions of violent treatment towards political enemies.
Puerto Rico is looking at a $120-billion price tag for its national debt, or $33,000 per person. Given the present median income of Puerto Ricans, that would take each household 63 years to pay off if they applied their whole paycheck to the debt every year.
The ticking time bomb that is U.S. debt
U.S. household debt has dropped from 98% to 77% of the Gross Domestic Product since the great recession, while the federal debt went from 67% to 105% of the GDP.
Also, U.S. corporate debt has risen to 47% of the GDP, just slightly higher than the debt ratio that kicked off the Great Recession of 2008.
Deloitte reports that “between 2010 and 2017, US non-financial corporations increased their leverage by almost $3 trillion, much more than in the previous two recoveries ($2.1 trillion in 1992–2000 and $1.5 trillion in 2002–2007). And this time, debt quality isn’t as good as in the last two recoveries.”
But most concerning is that the debt payback ratio has deteriorated. During the previous two recession recoveries, these ratios had actually improved.
Leading the debt binge this time is the Information Technology and communications sector, according to the Deloitte report.
Judge censors prayer, Christian music at graduation
Proverbs 9:10 says, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.”
But the last remnants of the fear of God in public schools have been removed from a South Carolina school district. After a six-year battle, a federal judge ruled that the district may not use “religious music” or pray at their commencement ceremonies
That’s according to Brucie Hendricks, a U.S. District Judge’s ruling in the case of American Humanist Association et al v. Greenville County School District.
The senior counsel for the American Humanist Association said they are thrilled that the court “finally” put an end to “Christian hymns at public school graduation ceremonies.”
British Parliament repeals Northern Ireland’s pro-life laws
Isaiah 59:7 says, “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.”
Northern Ireland is the last holdout in the Western world on the shedding of innocent blood, reports ChristianToday.com.
However, the British government has committed what Christians in the UK call “one of the most shocking abuses of the Parliamentary process in modern times.”
Late last week, the parliament repealed North Ireland’s pro-life sections of “Offences Against the Person Act of 1861,” effectively legalizing abortion in this last pro-life holdout.
Michael Robinson, director of parliamentary communications at The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said, “Theresa May’s legacy would be one of undermining devolution in Northern Ireland and ushering in “one of the most ruthless abortion regimes in the world.”
Christian hero returns to Africa to serve the poor
And finally, Dr. Kent Brantley is going back into medical missions in Africa.
Five years ago, he contracted the Ebola virus while serving in Liberia, Africa. But, by God’s grace, he came back from the edge of death. Dr. Brantley says, “God saved my life, a direct answer to thousands and thousands of prayers.”
And now, he told the Christian Chronicle, he is moving his family to “Zambia to serve at a Christian mission hospital to serve the poor and have compassion for the people in need and to participate in God’s work of making all things new and fixing the broken things in this world.”
Dr. Brantley made Time Magazine’s cover in 2014, for their Person of the Year Award along with other Ebola Fighters.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, July 23rd in the year of our Lord 2019. 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.
Print stories
Rev. David Jeremiah: Pastors obsessed with attendance numbers
Pastor David Jeremiah had some pointed remarks for the state of the church in America, reports the Christian Post.
He warned against the “entertainment service,” and expressed the importance of more teaching in the church. He also cautioned leaders about “obsessing” over attendance numbers, and avoiding the controversial.
The 78-year-old radio host is also pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California.
God spares Oregon believers in drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooter fired shots at a church in Grants Pass, Oregon during a Sunday morning service.
Parkway Christian Center reported on Facebook that one shot hit an upper window, but thanks be to God, nobody was hurt. The church was emptied and placed on lock down while the police investigated.