It’s Thursday, March 31st, 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

Russian troops released Ukrainian-American pastor

Praise God! Russian troops released Ukrainian-American Pastor Dmitry Bodyu on Monday, reports ChurchLeaders.com.

Troops kidnapped Pastor Bodyu on March19th as he continued to serve his church in Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine.

As we previously reported, Protestant churches in Ukraine are facing oppression as they come under Russian occupation.

Despite war, Ukrainian Christians singing

Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, shared a clip of Ukrainian Christians singing.

(audio of singing)

And, in this soundbite, a Christian Ukrainian is reading Psalm 31:16.

(reading in Ukrainian language)

MAN: “Let Your face shine upon your servant; save me in your unfailing love.”

Ukrainian forces pushed Russia back in the Southwest

Russia continued to bombard Kyiv as well as the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.  This comes despite Russia saying they would scale back operations in those areas on Monday. About 100,000 people are trapped in Chernihiv with only enough food to last for a week.

Over the past week, Ukrainian troops have recaptured areas on the outskirts of Kyiv and pushed back Russian troops in the southwest.

Finland dropped charges against Christian woman

Yesterday, a court in Finland dismissed all charges against a Finnish Parliamentarian and a Lutheran bishop over their Biblical views on marriage and sexual ethics.

Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish Member of Parliament, faced criminal charges for a 2019 tweet where she described sexually perverted lifestyles as sin.

After the ruling, Räsänen said, “I am so grateful the court recognized the threat to free speech and ruled in our favor. . . . I hope that this ruling will help prevent others from having to go through the same ordeal.”

Air Force denied 5,000 COVID-shot religious accommodation requests

Dozens of Christian members of the U.S. Air Force are suing the U.S. Defense Department for moving to terminate them over their religious beliefs.

The Christian airmen face termination, and even court martial, for not getting a COVID-19 shot that would violate their religious convictions.

As of this month, the Air Force has denied over 5,000 COVID-shot religious accommodation requests with a rejection rate of over 99%.

The Alliance for Free Citizens is representing the airmen in their case.

Biden’s budget greenlights tax-funded abortions

President Joe Biden’s $5.8 trillion proposed budget for next year allows for taxpayer funding of abortion by eliminating the Hyde Amendment.

The new budget would increase Title X family planning funding by 40%. This would essentially create a $400 million slush fund for abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

The budget also authorizes abortion funding oversees.

Will Smith’s slap of comedian Chris Rock

The 2022 Oscars had the second-lowest viewership in its history, up slightly from last year’s worst viewership.

The deaf family drama CODA from Apple TV became the first streaming service film to receive the award for best picture.

Will Smith won best actor for playing Richard Williams in the film King Richard, a drama about tennis star Serena Williams. Smith drew headlines at the Oscars after slapping comedian  Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about his wife.

The award for best original screenplay writing went to Belfast, a drama about a Protestant family in Northern Ireland.

MovieGuide noted issues with each film, but also commented on strong Christian, moral, and pro-family elements in the films.

Tulsa church leaves liberal United Methodist denomination

And finally, a large church in Tulsa, Oklahoma announced it is leaving the United Methodist Church, America’s second-largest Protestant denomination.

Asbury Church said in a statement on Monday, “Asbury is a traditional, Wesleyan congregation that is committed to helping others follow Jesus. Because of the slow and steady drift of the United Methodist Church from their historic Christian mission, we have begun the process of disaffiliating from the denomination.”

Asbury Church said it may join the Global Methodist Church which is theologically conservative and split with the UMC over the issues of marriage and sexuality.

Revelation 3:3 says, “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, March 31st, 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.