It’s Tuesday, March 22nd, A.D. 2022. This The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Kevin Swanson
Hindus brutally murdered pastor in India
Pastor Yalam Sankar in Central India was brutally murdered by five masked men last Thursday, reports International Christian Concern.
A local Christian said “the Christians in this area have been facing intense opposition from the radical Hindu nationalists. Several times, Pastor Sankar defended Christians from radical Hindu nationalists, and that could be the reason for this extreme form of persecution, of killing.”
Open Doors lists India as the 10th worst country in the world for the persecution of Christians.
Chinese airline crashed, killing 132 people aboard
On Monday, a Boeing 737-800, operated by China Eastern Airlines, crashed in the mountains in southern China.
All 132 people aboard died, reports Reuters.
The Bureau of Airlines Accident Archives records 113 accidents resulting in 414 fatalities in 2021. That compares to 1,300,000 road accident fatalities in the same year.
GOP Senator John Cornyn vs. leftist Supreme Court nominee
The U.S. Senate Judiciary confirmation hearings began Monday for the president’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Republicans will focus on Jackson’s record concerning crime, abortion, and constitutional interpretation.
In fact, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas raised this concern.
CORNYN: “I’m also interested, as others have mentioned, in your opinion why pro-abortion, dark money groups, like Demand Justice, and anti-religious liberty groups are pouring millions of dollars into a public campaign in support of your nomination.”
South Korea & Vietnam have record COVID cases despite high vaccination rates
South Korea was the 10th most vaccinated nation in the world with 87% fully vaccinated for COVID-19, reports Worldometers.
But now, the nation records the highest number of COVID-19 new cases in the world by far, logging 621,000 on March 17th. That’s 3.3 times the record new cases logged by the United States over the last two years.
In addition, Vietnam is now getting hit pretty hard, with 190,000 plus new COVID cases per day. The Vietnamese registered an 81% fully vaccinated rate, compared to only 65% of Americans who are fully vaccinated.
The United States is down to only 16,435 new cases per day.
Jesus asked, “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.” (Matthew 10:29)
Hillsong Church’s Brian Houston is in more hot water
The embattled leader of the Christian-music bellwether, Hillsong, is in more trouble.
Although Brian Houston recently stepped down from leadership for criminal charges of “concealing child sexual abuse,” the pastor has now been charged by two women with inappropriate advances and the sin of drunkenness.
Australia’s ABC.net reports that Hillsong Pastor Phil Dooley “held an extraordinary meeting with 800 global staff members detailing Mr. Houston’s ‘indiscretions’.” Pastor Dooley assures that Houston has apologized, and the leadership has worked with “Pastor Brian to ensure he received professional help.”
New York City Hillsong’s celeb-pastor Carl Lentz was dismissed in late 2020 for egregious violations of the seventh commandment which says, “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:7)
And, this Thursday, Discovery+ plans a release of what it calls the “high-profile, star-studded [Hillsong] church’s alleged exploitation, abuse, and cover-ups.”
(Audio from trailer): “Have you ever heard of Hillsong Church? Hillsong is the celebrity church, right? Bieber, Bono, Vanessa Hudgens, Kevin Durant. Hillsong changed the way that many of us saw how church could be done. They’re huge now. They’re huge! This is cool church. There is a fine line between cult and culture. Manipulation, religious trauma, systemic cover-up, tremendous power. Everything in your life is Hillsong.”
The three-part docu-series is intended as an exposé of the mega-church movement, which includes more than 100 locations in 30 countries, including 14 in the United States.
You can see the trailer through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
1 Timothy 3 lists these as qualifications for pastors in the church: “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife. . .not given to wine. . . he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
Beware: Disney/Pixar pushes homosexuality in new Toy Story film
Disney and Pixar will include homosexual indoctrination for small children in the Toy Story franchise this year.
Variety reports that explicit lesbian behavior has been written into its new production of “Lightyear” to be released on June 17th.
This follows up on the same pattern Hollywood producers have used for How to Train Your Dragon, Beauty and the Beast, My Little Pony, and Sesame Street.
Stock down, gold up
Stocks were down and gold was up in Monday’s trading.
The NASDAQ dropped 0.5% after a 5-day improvement, and gold settled around $1,935 an ounce.
30-year mortgage rate now 4.5%
And finally, the average 30-year mortgage rate in the U.S. has topped 4.5%. That’s a 40% increase since Christmas.
The average monthly payment for a new home bought in December of 2020 would have been $1,335, and the average payment for a house bought yesterday would be $1,942. That’s a 45% increase in monthly house payments, in a year.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board puts the average take-home pay increase for U.S. companies at 3% for 2021, and 4% for 2022. Economists note that the real impact of higher interest rates on the U.S. economy has yet to be determined.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, March 22nd, 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.