It’s Monday, August 9th, A.D. 2021. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.

By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

Christian Iraqis celebrate 7 year anniversary after ISIS attack

When you think of Ninevah, no doubt you’re reminded of the story of God’s call to Jonah to preach to the people there, urging them to repent of their grievous sin.

Today, Ninevah is located in modern-day Iraq where, seven years ago last Friday, the Muslim terrorist group of ISIS attacked the 100,000 Christians who lived there.

The Worldview spoke with Max Wood, Chairman of the American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East.

WOOD: “On August 6, 2014, the ISIS armies rolled through the Nineveh Province area of Iraq, which had traditionally been the highest concentration of Christians of any province in Iraq. They destroyed everything. They destroyed homes, businesses. They murdered people; they assaulted women. Over 100,000 people fled that violence.”

Wood explained what motivated ISIS to commit such violence.

WOOD:  “The ISIS group was hoping to establish a pure, radical Islamic caliphate. Any person, be they Christian or even Muslim that did not agree with their view of Islam, was in the way. They murdered them or gave them an opportunity to leave. They gave some the opportunity to convert. But ISIS’ goal, and for three years they came close to accomplishing that, was to establish a radical, Sunni Islamic caliphate that they felt would eventually rule the world. Fortunately, after three years, the western forces were able to stop ISIS and kill their leader, and bring a halt to the excessive violence.”

Wood defined a caliphate.

WOOD:  “A Caliphate is an Islamic term for an empire. The Caliph is the ruler and a caliphate is the Islamic theocracy, empire, or kingdom. There was a caliphate 2,000 years ago or so in the Middle East. They hoped to return to those glory days when Islam ruled all of the Middle East, parts of Europe, and parts of Asia. A caliphate ruling the world is something that the Quran commands in some of its verses. Many Muslims interpret this to mean that they are authorized to violently overthrow governments in place, violently eliminate religious groups that don’t share their views. Groups like ISIS want to see the whole world worship Allah.”

When ISIS attacked the Christians in Iraq’s Ninevah Province seven years ago, the believers escaped to Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Kurdistan.  For seven years, the American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East invests $21,000 per month to sustain the 8,000 Christian refugees in Jordan.

WOOD: “Our foundation helps these refugees with food coupons that they can use in Jordanian Christian stores to provide food to them. We help them with medical expenses. We help their children get education in Christian Schools in Jordan. We help them in some cases with housing needs. And the Olive Tree Center gives him a chance to come and gather as Iraqis and partake in various programs that we offer including counseling sessions, music therapy, art classes, cooking classes.”

If you’d like to help provide food, medicine, shelter, and counseling for these Iraqi Christian refugees in Jordan, you can give through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.

Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

WOOD: “On August 6 of this year, they held a celebration of sorts, celebrating that they have survived this trauma and that they still have their faith in Jesus Christ.”

GOP Senator: We trust Fauci like we would Cosby as bartender

Appearing on Fox News with Shannon Bream, Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana addressed the lack of trust that the American people have in Dr. Tony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the president, who’s pushing for new mask mandates.

KENNEDY: “If I were king for a day — I’m not, I don’t aspire to be — I would appoint one person in whom the American people have confidence here in Washington, not a politician, to try to answer people’s questions. Fair or not, I don’t think that’s Dr. Fauci. About half of Americans trust Dr. Fauci now, like they would trust Bill Cosby as the bartender. That’s just a fact.”

Hillsong pastor charged for concealing child sexual abuse by his father

Brian Houston, founder of the evangelical megachurch Hillsong, says he will return to Australia and fight to clear his name after being charged for allegedly concealing child sexual abuse by his late father Frank Houston in the 1970s, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Houston, who has been living in the U.S., was charged following a two-year investigation.

Frank Houston, who died in 2004, has been accused of abusing nine boys while a Pentecostal preacher.

Poirot actor came to Christ through studying the resurrection

And finally, after 20 years of investigating Christianity, a famous British actor came to faith in Christ, reports New Life Publishing.

Perhaps you’ll recognize the theme song from his TV show which ran from 1989-2013.

(theme music of Hercule Poirot)

David Suchet portrayed Agatha Christie’s fictional Belgian detective named Hercule Poirot.

In one of his scenes, he cited the healing hand of God.

POIROT: “There is nothing in the world so damaged, that it cannot be repaired by the hand of Almighty God. I encourage you to know this because without this certainty, we should, all of us, be mad.”

Raised in an agnostic home, Suchet was moved in 1986 after reading Romans 8 in an American hotel room. In his new autobiographical book, Behind the Lens, Suchet confesses that he “didn’t understand much of it, but halfway through I came across a passage that spoke of a way of life I wanted to be part of.  It was a worldview I’d been searching for ever since the 1960s. Suddenly, I’d found something I felt I’d been looking for perhaps most of my adult life, a coherent philosophy I could really relate to. Christianity offered me that. The Christian worldview is love.”

In his book, Suchet writes, “Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, says, ‘Without the resurrection there is no faith.’ So the whole of Christianity is based not only on the death, the crucifixion, of Jesus, but also on the resurrection. The early Christians believed he was divine because of the resurrection and, for me, without the resurrection, there is no faith. You cannot separate the cross from the resurrection, which is the greatest miracle justifying Christian belief in Jesus’ divinity.” He came to Christ in 2007.

During the final season of Poirot, Suchet spent 200 hours narrating the Bible. (Listen to a sample from the book of Matthew.)

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, August 9th, in the year of our Lord 2021. 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.