It’s Thursday, March 3rd, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Communist Chinese released three Christian prisoners
In God’s providence, Chinese officials released three Christians who faced at least six months in prison for attending a Christian conference in Malaysia.
However, two more Christians, who were also arrested for attending the conference, remain in prison.
One of the believers, Song Shoushan, said he and the other Christians experienced God’s presence while in prison and even shared the Gospel with other inmates.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:12-13, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ.”
Russian missile strikes Kyiv TV tower, kills 5
On Tuesday, a Russian rocket struck a television tower in Kyiv, and damaged a nearby Holocaust memorial, killing five bystanders, reports The Daily Mail. Despite the smoke and flames which rose up the side of Kyiv’s 1,300-foot TV tower, it remained standing. Some broadcasts, though, were knocked off the air.
The capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, defiantly vowed “we will fight” to defend the city, amid fears it could soon be battered by artillery fire from a 40-mile long death convoy parked nearby.
(audio of Klitschko speaking in Ukrainian)
He said, “We are getting ready and we will defend our city!”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “This is beyond humanity. Such missile strikes means that, for many Russians, our Kyiv is absolutely foreign. They have orders to erase our history, our country, and all of us.”
Captured Russian soldier: “This is not our war.”
Roughly 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, and countless others have taken shelter underground in the subway terminals, reports The Daily Mail.
The U.N. human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths, though the actual toll is likely far higher.
One captured Russian soldier, named Spyridonodov Viktorovich, said in a video, “I call on the armed forces of Russia to stop bombing Kyiv. There are a lot wounded; have pity on them. You’re destroying peaceful people and you’re destroying your own soldiers. This is not our war.”
One senior Western intelligence official estimated that 5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed in the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II.
Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet today
Officials from Russia and Ukraine are expected to meet today. Russian forces continued to bombard the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Kherson this week while pushing towards the capital of Kyiv.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution yesterday condemning Russia’s operation in Ukraine and calling for their immediate withdrawal. One hundred forty-one countries voted in favor of the resolution. Thirty-four countries abstained, including Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, and China. Just five countries voted against it including Russia, of course, North Korea, Eritrea, Syria, and Belarus.
Britain scraps COVID-shot mandate for health care workers
The U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care announced yesterday it will scrap its COVID-shot mandate for health workers on March 15. The decision followed a consultation by the government which found that 90% of respondents did not support the mandate.
In Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan became the first provinces to drop their mask mandates.
Canadian pastor remains in prison
Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski remains in prison. Officials arrested Pawlowski on February 8th right before he was scheduled to preach at one of the Freedom Convoy trucker rallies.
Last year, Pawlowski was arrested for holding in-person worship services in violation of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
U.S. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told Rebel News Canada this week he has called for Canada to be put on a list of religious liberty violators.
HAWLEY: “The United States keeps a designation of folks who are religious liberty violators, nations that are religious liberty violators. I’ve called for Canada to be put on that list.”
GOP want Biden to end COVID-shot mandate for health care workers
U.S. Senate Republicans passed a bill yesterday that would end the Biden administration’s COVID-shot mandate for health care workers.
The bill is expected to fail in the House. However, it represents a rebuke to the administration’s mandates.
The Supreme Court previously upheld the mandate for health care workers while blocking enforcement of a similar mandate for private companies.
Kentucky and Georgia bills would ban abortion pill by mail
A Kentucky House committee advanced the Humanity in Healthcare Act to the full House on Tuesday. The measure bans the distribution of abortion drugs through the mail and bans taxpayer funding from going to abortion groups.
Meanwhile, the Georgia State Senate passed the Women’s Health and Safety Act. The bill similarly bans the distribution of abortion pills through telemedicine or the mail.
97% of U.S. Protestant churches met in person in January
A new study by Lifeway Research found that 97% of U.S. Protestant churches met in person during January 2022.
Despite in-person services returning to pre-pandemic levels, fewer churches have full attendance now.
The average church reported their attendance was 74% of what it was before COVID shutdowns. Sixty percent of pastors say they are exhorting online worshipers, who are able, to resume in person
The report found small churches were the most likely to have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with 18% of them reporting growth during the pandemic.
Also, 51% of pastors said the pandemic revealed existing weaknesses in their church, 17% said it launched them into greater levels of ministry, and 14% said it caused them significant damage.
Hebrews 12:26-28 says, “‘Yet once more I shake not only the Earth, but also Heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, March 3rd, 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.