It’s Thursday, February 16th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Indian pastor remain in jail
A pastor in northern India remains in jail three months after winning bail. Hindu extremists filed new false charges against him to keep him in prison.
Last Tuesday, Pastor Vijay Masih spent his 100th day in jail.
Masih leads an Evangelical Church of India congregation in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Under the state’s anti-conversion laws, the pastor and nearly 50 other Christians in the area were arrested last April.
Masih’s wife, Preeti, told Morning Star News, “Police did not ask us anything. They have only heard one-sided complaints from the opposition party, and under pressure from them they have carried out arrests.”
Turkey earthquake death toll 41,000
The death toll from last Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria has risen to over 41,000. Tens of thousands of people are still missing.
Christian aid groups are on the ground helping with the relief effort. Samaritan’s Purse deployed a 52-bed mobile medical facility to Antakya, historically known as Antioch, the area where believers were first called Christians, according to Acts 11:26. Among other services, the hospital will include two emergency operating rooms and a pharmacy.
Following a February 9 airlift from Atlanta, their team quickly began raising the field hospital on property surrounding the 1,100-bed Hatay State Hospital, which was irreparably crippled and made unsafe by the earthquakes. The Samaritan’s Purse team is urgently building on the open space of the adjoining parking area and preparing to receive patients at the mobile medical facility later this week.
The loss of the region’s key healthcare facility further compounds the desperation felt by communities who’ve experienced unimaginable loss, grief, and the destruction of all they had.
Melanie Wubs, Medical Response Coordinator with Samaritan’s Purse, asked for prayer as they meet the needs in Turkey.
WUBS: “My name is Melanie Wubs, Medical Response Coordinator with Samaritan’s Purse. I’m here in southeast Turkey where the effects of the earthquake this week have been devastating. Samaritan’s Purse has been working with a partner here.
“We’ve been requested by the Ministry of Health to set up an emergency field hospital in this spot where this 1,000-bed facility behind me has suffered severe infrastructure damage and is not functional. We ask for your prayers for the people here in Turkey and also for our team as we move quickly to meet the needs.”
To make a donation to help Samaritan’s Purse pay for the field hospital, the medical supplies, and the transportation to Turkey of the 75-member team, click on a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Polling on Christian nationalism
The Public Religion Research Institute released a new survey on Americans’ views of Christian nationalism.
The study measured Christian nationalism by the degree of support for statements like “The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation,” or “U.S. laws should be based on Christian values.”
Ten percent of Americans agreed almost entirely with such statements; 19% agreed but not strongly; 39% disagreed; and 29% strongly disagreed.
Evangelical Protestants were the most likely to agree with Christian nationalism, while Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants were among the least likely to agree.
Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!”
British church leaders reporting fellow Christians for anti-“gay” stand
Church leaders in England are now reporting Christians to the police for opposing sexually perverted lifestyles.
Last year, Christopher Cocksworth, a bishop in the Church of England, reported “offending” tweets made by Sam Margrave to authorities.
Margrave is an elected member of the Church of England’s General Synod. He won his election on a platform of standing for Biblical truth on life, death, sex, and marriage.
Police did open an investigation into Margrave, but have since closed the case.
He told The Daily Signal recently that church leaders are still trying to silence him: “There’s a vocal minority that control the church and are using its resources to bully me into silence.”
California fires teacher over her objection to fake pronouns
Last month, a school district in California dismissed a Christian teacher who took issue with the school’s gender policies.
Jessica Tapia was a physical education teacher at the Jurupa Unified School District. She refused to allow biological males in girl’s locker rooms. She also disagreed with the district’s policy to not tell parents if their children wanted to pretend to be the opposite sex.
Tapia told Fox News she chose her faith over her job.
TAPIA: “It was crazy to be in the position where I realized that I couldn’t be a Christian and a teacher — is what that felt like.”
Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
House Judiciary subpoenaed Big Tech executives
Yesterday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed chief executives of big tech companies. The companies include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio chairs the committee. GOP House members are concerned the companies are suppressing the free speech of conservatives.
Jordan’s office said in a statement: “These subpoenas are the first step in holding Big Tech accountable.”
South Carolina’s Abolish Abortion February 25th rally
And finally, the pro-life group Abolish Abortion South Carolina is announcing a rally at the state’s capital of Columbia next week.
It will be held at the South Carolina Statehouse on Saturday, February 25 at 11:00 am.
Speakers will include Republican Representative Rob Harris and Pastor Jeff Durbin. Love Life Ministries will lead a prayer-walk afterward.
Harris has pre-filed a bill called the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023. The bill would protect all people, including unborn babies, beginning at conception, under the state’s homicide laws.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, February 16th 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.