It’s Friday, October 2nd, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Jonathan Clark

Chinese Christian bookstore owner gets 7-year jail sentence

On Sunday, Chinese officials in Zhejiang province sentenced Christian bookstore owner Chen Yu to seven years in prison and fined him nearly $30,000 for “illegal business operations.”

Communist officials will also confiscate Yu’s phone and destroy nearly 13,000 Christians books from his store as well as hunt down Christians who purchased books from him.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced China’s persecution of Christians during a religious liberty symposium in Italy on Wednesday.

POMPEO: “Nowhere is religious freedom under assault more than it is inside of China today. That’s because, as with all communist regimes, the Chinese Communist Party deems itself the ultimate moral authority. An increasingly repressive [Chinese Communist Party], frightened by its own lack of democratic legitimacy, works day and night to snuff out the lamp of freedom, especially religious freedom, on a horrifying scale.”

232,200 dead French babies

232,200 babies were killed by abortion last year in France, according to the French Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics.

Most of the abortions were among women aged 20-29.

France’s National Assembly is set to consider a bill next week that would extend abortion access from 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy.

U.S. Supreme Court’s new term without Leftist Ginsburg

The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term next Monday with cases that involve religious liberty and healthcare.

The main religious liberty case involves Philadelphia’s decision to no longer partner with Catholic Social Services in placing adoptions over the organization’s refusal, on Biblical grounds, to place children with homosexual couples.

Another case will rule on the constitutionality of the Obamacare Individual Mandate.

With the empty seat on the court because of the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, conservatives are expected to carry more weight in upcoming decisions.

Deuteronomy 1:17 says, “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s.”

John MacArthur is not backing down

Pastor John MacArthur  continues to lead Grace Community Church’s indoor worship services despite Los Angeles County coronavirus restrictions as well as court orders to stop meeting altogether.

Last week, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge said the church is entitled to a full trial on the constitutionality of the lockdown restrictions. The first hearing is scheduled for November 13th, but the full trial will likely take place next year.

Pastor MacArthur said, “We are holding church. The Lord Jesus requires us to meet together and we will continue to do that because we are commanded to and because it is our right.”

Psalm 95:6-7 says, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”

Nevadans ready to trash Biblical definition of marriage

Nevada voters will decide in November whether to change the state constitution and remove language that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

70 percent of Nevadans do not support Biblical marriage while 23 percent do support it, according to a 2017 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute.

Meanwhile, Colorado voters will be voting on a 22-week abortion ban. The state currently has no abortion restrictions. And Louisiana voters will be voting on an amendment to say that there is no right to abortion.

Evangelicals likely to vote for Trump

Among likely Evangelical voters, 61 percent plan on voting for President Donald Trump and 29 percent plan on voting for former Vice President Joe Biden in the November elections, reports LifeWay Research.

Support for Trump and Biden is evenly split at 46 percent and 45 percent among people who identify as Christians and go to church regularly.

Voters without Evangelical beliefs are more likely to vote for Biden at 56 percent than Trump at 33 percent.

Daniel 2:21 says the Lord “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings.”

U.S. Gross Domestic Product fell by 31% in second quarter

And finally, the U.S. Gross Domestic Product fell by 31.4 percent during the second quarter of this year, according to a report from the U.S. Commerce Department.

It’s the greatest decline in the report’s history due to coronavirus lockdowns.

Experts are projecting a 30 percent increase in economic activity during the third quarter as states reopen.

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, October 2nd, in the year of our Lord 2020. 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.