Friday, April 7th, in the year of our Lord 2017
By Kevin Swanson
Trump Meets with Chinese President
President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the secular media encouraged Trump to make Christian persecution in China a discussion item for the weekend.
National Review and U.S. News and World Report pushed the issue in public editorials yesterday, but the White House indicated that the two heads of state are going to focus on North Korea’s nuclear testing and the China-U.S. trade imbalance.
Chinese Officials Raid House Churches and Arrest Christians
Christian Today reports that Chinese officials have raided three more house churches in the last few weeks. At least fifteen Christians were arrested and held for fifteen days.
“Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17)
Province in China Plans to Require Closed Circuit Monitoring of Churches
The Chinese Province of Zhejiang has announced plans to require closed circuit television monitoring in both Three-Self and Home churches. Christians who have resisted the action have been arrested and beaten, to the point that they have been taken to hospitals for treatment.
Daniel Harris, the Regional Manager for International Christian Concern, says this is the hardest persecution faced by the church in China since the Cultural Revolution.
“First they carried out this policy of cross destruction, but now they’re carrying out this policy of installing CCTV cameras. I think they’ve realized how much Christianity has grown in the city, out of an estimated population of about eight million people. People are calling this the worst crackdown on Christianity since the People’s Revolution or the Cultural Revolution, that happened decades ago when the communist party took power.”
U.S. Warships Launch Missile Attack on Syrian Military Base
Last night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian military base from two Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea. Listen now to the beginning of the Commander-in-Chief’s remarks.
“On Tuesday, Syrian Dictator Bashar al Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. …Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”
This was the first direct U.S. intervention like this since the war began six years ago.
Republican Senators Take Nuclear Option for Gorsuch Confirmation
The Republicans have gone nuclear to save Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court!
The New York Times reports that “Republicans argued that changing the rules to push through the nomination was their only option, accusing Democrats of razing Senate norms with the first-ever successful partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. Allowing this obstruction to stand, Republicans said, would have caused more damage than overriding Senate precedent to turn back the filibuster.”
Only four Democrat senators had broken ranks to oppose the filibuster.
This is the first time in the history of the United States Senate that it has taken the nuclear option to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. The Gorsuch nomination will be voted on today, God willing.
IRS Found to Have Confiscated Millions of Dollars from Innocent Citizens
The Treasury Department’s Inspector General has just completed a report on the Internal Revenue Service, and found that the IRS has confiscated millions of dollars from innocent citizens under a manufactured law called “structuring.”
The law enables legal proceedings against individuals who withdraw certain quantities of monies from their own bank accounts. Out of random sampling of 278 IRS forfeiture actions, the Inspector General found that in a full 91% of the cases, the individuals or businesses were involved in legal activities.
Creationist Kent Hovind served eight years in prison for the same charge of structuring.
Court Redefines “Sex” to Include “Sexual Orientation”
In a ruling made earlier this week, the Seventh Federal District Court of Appeals redefined “sex” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include “sexual orientation.”
Homosexual groups are calling it a “game changer,” and World Magazine says this puts Christian groups at risk of lawsuits. The ruling will only impact those living in Indiana and Wisconsin for now.
Italy Approves Abortion Pill
Italy is opening up access to the RU-486 pill, designed to kill a baby in utero. The government intends to make abortion more widely available, as 70% of Italian doctors refuse to perform surgical abortions, reports Reuters.
UN Continues Pushing LGBT Agenda on Children
Pro-family ministries and groups have long protested the United Nations pushing the LGBT agenda on children, but the United Nations is not listening to their voices.
The UN LGBT czar, a homosexual named Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand, says it’s “the younger, the better” when it comes to LGBT indoctrination.
ISIS Kills 33 People in One Day
The Islamic State executed 33 people on Wednesday this week. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights calls this the largest reported number of ISIS executions in the year 2017 so far.
58 Percent of Americans Think the Bible Is Important but Don’t Read It
Another survey from the American Bible Society with the Barna Group reveals that 58% of Americans think that the Bible is important, but they don’t have time to read it.
Only 20% of Americans read the Bible on a regular basis. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.