It’s Thursday, October 24th, A.D. 2019. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Jonathan Clark
Chinese Communists demolish 3,000-seat church in middle of service!
Chinese officials destroyed a 3,000-seat church building in the province of Anhui last Friday, starting the demolition in the middle of a worship service.
Authorities then arrested the church’s pastors on Saturday on trumped up charges despite the church being part of the country’s officially-recognized church network.
Not only is China continuing its crackdown on Christianity, Algerian military troops shut down the country’s largest Protestant church last Tuesday. This is the 11th church shuttered this month in Algeria, Africa.
Chinese economy slows down
Meanwhile, in God’s providence, China’s economy continued to slow down this past quarter, the slowest growth since the first quarter of 1992 when China began publishing quarterly growth data, reports the Wall Street Journal.
China’s economy grew six percent during the third quarter, down from 6.2 percent in the second quarter, and 6.4 percent in the first quarter, while investments in agriculture, manufacturing, and construction also slackened.
Trump announces permanent ceasefire between Turkey & Syria
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced a foreseeably permanent ceasefire between Turkey and Syria, prompting him to lift sanctions against Turkey.
TRUMP: “Early this morning, the Government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria and making the ceasefire permanent. I’ve therefore instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to lift all sanctions imposed on October 14 in response to Turkey’s original offensive moves against the Kurds in Syria’s northeast border region.
“So, the sanctions will be lifted unless something happens that we’re not happy with. This was an outcome created by us, the United States and nobody else. No other nation. Very simple.”
This follows the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Syria after which Turkey attacked U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
Trump said a small number of U.S. troops remain in Syria to secure the oil there. Meanwhile, Russian military police started patrolling the Turkey-Syria border as part of a deal to remove Kurdish troops.
Phoenix abortionist pulls gun on peaceful pro-lifers
Phoenix police arrested abortionist Ronald Yunis on Friday on charges of aggravated assault.
On October 10, the Christian group Apologia Studios captured Yunis on video, appearing to pull a gun on a member of a group of pro-lifers outside the abortion mill that as Yunis drove away.
Pro-lifer Elvis Kesto walked over to give a ministry packet to Yunis who was in his car preparing to leave when Yunis appears to point a firearm at Kesto who was unarmed at the time.
Psalm 7:16 says, “His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.”
Republican lawmakers disrupt impeachment inquiry yesterday
Republican lawmakers disrupted the U.S. House of Representatives impeachment inquiry yesterday, preventing a Pentagon official from testifying, reports Reuters.
GOP lawmakers entered the meeting behind closed doors where Laura Cooper, the U.S. defense official who oversees Ukraine and Russia matters, was set to testify.
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said, “We’re going to try to go in there . and we’re going to try to figure out what’s going on — on behalf of the millions of Americans that we represent that want to see this Congress working for them, and not obsessed with attacking a president who we believe has not done anything to deserve impeachment.”
ObamaCare reg. forcing doctors to violate conscience struck down
Last week, a federal judge struck down an Obama-era regulation requiring medical professionals to participate in abortions or gender-transition procedures against their religious convictions.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of Texas made permanent a 2017 order blocking the part of the Affordable Care Act that would have violated physicians’ consciences.
How Protestant pastors spend their time
LifeWay Research asked 1,000 Protestant pastors if they regularly have any of six types of meetings.
And 99 percent responded that they have at least one of the following: counseling (90 percent), encouraging members to step into leadership positions (88 percent), one-on-one discipleship (84 percent), meeting with visitors (82 percent), leading a small group Bible study (80 percent), and meeting two or three individuals to personally disciple them (63 percent).
The study also found churches with larger attendance were more likely to have regular counseling meetings and small group discipleship meetings.
2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”
Hundreds of young British transgenders regret “gender transition”
Hundreds of young people are voicing regret over undergoing “transitions” to pretend to be the opposite sex, reports the Christian Institute.
Some are even leaving their “transgender identity” behind as they come to faith in Christ.
KathyGrace Duncan pretended to be a man for 11 years after she felt like she was born in the wrong body from a young age. Kathy took hormones and had surgery, calling herself “Keith”. But, it wasn’t until she professed faith in Christ and joined a church, that she was challenged to be the woman whom God created her to be. Kathy then had medical treatment to reverse some of the previous changes.
Twenty-six years later now, Kathy says what she wants to do is “help others to understand who they are. Not who they might falsely believe they are, but who they truly are, as God created them to be.”
Jesus said in Mark 10:6, “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, October 24th in the year of our Lord 2019. 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.