It’s Tuesday, January 4th, A.D. 2022.  This The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com.  I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Kevin Swanson

India’s violent year for Christians

2021 marked the most dangerous year for Christians in India.

United Christian Forum counted 486 violent incidents last year, compared to the previous record of 328 set in 2019. Sadly, only 34 of the violent incidents received an official police investigation last year.

Thailand, Benin, and Mexico liberalized abortion laws

On the pro-life front, the nations of Thailand, Benin, West Africa, and Mexico liberalized their abortion policies in 2021.

In a vote of 352 to 58, Poland’s parliament rejected a law that would have banned abortion in cases of rape and incest in October 2021. And Germany is considering several laws which would further promote abortion in that country.

Since 2014, ten additional nations have liberalized abortion laws, including New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Australia, Argentina, Chile, and South Korea.

U.S. surgical and chemical abortions are up

Despite efforts to regulate surgical abortion in some U.S. states, the use of chemical abortions has increased.

Plus, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the overall abortion rate in this country is on the upswing.

In 2019, it increased by 2.3% with another 2.3% rise in 2020. This represents the first increase in both the surgical and chemical abortion rate in America since 1981.

China’s low fertility rate compounded by gender imbalance

CNN reports that China’s fertility rate stands at 1.3, lower than Japan’s fertility rate. This has happened despite the shift from China’s one-child policy to their two-children policy in 2015, when the fertility rate was up around 1.66.

Also, the gender ratio is severely out of balance, which compounds the problem. Disturbingly, among the 0 to 24-year-old age group, there are 117 males for every 100 females, according to the British Medical Journal.

Omicron fears leads to 2,320 cancelled flights

Flightaware.com listed 2,320 flights which were cancelled yesterday morning, as Omicron fears throttle U.S. airlines. These are flights within, into, or out of the United States.

Leading cancellations were Southwest Airlines with 13% of flights cancelled, followed by Skywest, Republic, and JetBlue.

Frontier Airlines saw only a 4% cancellation rate, and American Airlines only 2%.

New U.S. COVID cases vs. deaths

According to “official data”, there are 348,000 new U.S. COVID cases on the 7-day average.

A year ago in January, the new case 7-day average rate was about 200,000.  However, the 7-day moving average on COVID deaths is down to 1,200 per day.

That’s only about one-third of what the daily average COVID death rate was a year ago, when it was hovering around 3,000 deaths per day.

Psalm 30:4-5 encourages us to “sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Evangelical author getting a divorce

Lysa TerKeurst, a top-selling evangelical author and the founder of Proverbs 31 Ministries, has announced that she and her husband are getting a divorce after 30 years of marriage.

TerKeurst has three of the top 10 best sellers, and six of the top 20 best sellers in the Amazon Christian Women’s category for 2021.

She had revealed that her husband, Art, had been unfaithful.

Psalm 11:3-4 declares, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in Heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.”

Seattle: America’s most mentally ill city

Seattle is the most mentally-ill city in America, reports the Seattle Times. Twenty-one percent of Seattle residents received a prescription medication for mental problems over the last month.

Boston and Philadelphia are tied for second place, and after that San Francisco.

Seattle also leads the nation in percentage of people experiencing depression and anxiety. Coincidentally, these are also the most liberal cities in the U.S.

Cryptocurrency’s instability

Cryptocurrency’s instability continues with another 2% drop yesterday on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a digital currency which operates free of any central control or the oversight of banks or governments.

CNBC reports that Bitcoin settled at $46,268 on Monday, about where it was in February of last year. Meanwhile, the S&P stock index is up 23% since last February.

Christian film “American Underdog” doing well

“American Underdog,” the film produced by the Erwin brothers based on the story of professing-Christian quarterback Kurt Warner, has grossed $15 million at the box office since its release on Christmas day.

The film’s national ranking has hovered between fourth place and fifth place for the last ten days, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Watch the American Underdog trailer.

The overall U.S. Movie Box Office totals for 2021 settled at $4.5 billion, still a fraction of 2018’s Box Office totals of $11.9 billion.

Truck driver rescued 8 passengers from burning bus

On Christmas Eve, a truck driver named Sirizani Butau came upon an accident on a Zimbabwean highway involving a gas tanker truck and a passenger bus.

Batau rushed into the burning bus, rescuing eight passengers from imminent death, all the while sustaining third degree burns on his arms and legs.

He is recovering from his burns, and the president of Zimbabwe has declared him a national hero.

Generations family’s home burned to ground

And finally, one homeschooling family lost all their Generations curriculum in the Louisville, Colorado fire, when their house burned to the ground on Thursday.

We’re replacing all of it.  Pray for those who lost everything in the fire.

Thus far, according to the Denver Post, the fire has burned 6,219 acres.

There is one bit of good news.  One of the three people missing has been found alive.  Pray also that the other two people will be found alive as well.

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, January 4th, in the year of our Lord 2022. 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.