It’s Wednesday, August 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
Chinese Communists shut down church
Chinese officials liquidated an historic house church in Shaanxi Province earlier this month.
The Church of Abundance had been operating for about 30 years. Officials shut it down for being a “illegal social organization.”
Communists placed the church’s pastor, Lian Changnian, and his son, Pastor Lian Xuliang, under residential surveillance.
The latest closure is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to force Protestant churches to join the government-controlled Three-Self Church or face liquidation.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”
India’s hostility to girls slightly less pronounced
Pew Research reports that India’s sex ratio at birth has been moving toward balance.
The sex ratio imbalance arose in the 1970s as Indian families used sex-selective abortions tragically to kill girls and ensure the birth of boys. At least nine million female births went “missing” between 2000 and 2019.
For decades, the sex ratio at birth was about 110 boys per 100 girls.
The latest 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey found that the ratio has narrowed to 108 boys per 100 girls.
Notably, Christians in India maintained a healthy sex ratio at birth compared to other religious groups in the Hindu-majority country.
Court to California: Stop forcing churches to pay for abortions
Last Thursday, a U.S. federal judge ruled California cannot force churches to cover abortions in their insurance plans.
Alliance Defending Freedom represented Foothill Church, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, and Shepherd of the Hills Church in their suit against California. The state’s 2014 Department of Managed Health Care policy removed any limitations on abortion coverage in health care plans.
ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus said, “The government can’t force a church or any other religious employer to violate their faith and conscience by participating in funding abortion. For years, California has unconstitutionally targeted faith-based organizations. So, we’re pleased the court has found this mandate unconstitutional and will allow the churches we represent to operate freely according to their religious beliefs.”
CA mayor vetoed Planned Parenthood million-dollar grant
A California mayor is standing up against abortion funding.
On August 18, Fresno City Council voted 5-1 to give a one million dollar grant to a local Planned Parenthood. Last Thursday, to his credit, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer vetoed the grant.
Dyer stated, “I remain hopeful that the Council will reconsider accepting funds on behalf of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, and instead work to see that a health-related agency is identified as the local administrator of state funds.”
The council will consider overriding the mayor’s veto.
Join me and thank Mayor Jerry Dyer by calling (559) 621-8000, writing him at 2600 Fresno Street, Room 2075, Fresno, CA 93721, or emailing him through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
FL voters elected conservative majorities in 5 school boards
On Tuesday, candidates opposed to Critical Race Theory won a majority of seats in five Florida counties.
The candidates received backing from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the 1776 Project PAC. The political action committee is devoted to replacing woke school board members across the nation.
The recent election flipped Florida’s Miami-Dade County to conservative. It’s the most populous county in Florida and has the largest school district in the state. Miami-Dade County is now the largest county in America with a conservative school board majority.
Proverbs 1:7 speaks to education, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Only 51% of Evangelical pastors have a biblical worldview
And finally, a study this year from Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found just 37% of Christian pastors and only 51% of Evangelical pastors have a biblical worldview.
The latest report from the university found pastors from non-denominational and independent Protestant churches were the most likely to hold to basic biblical views.
Surprisingly, the study found few evangelical pastors hold a majority of biblical beliefs. Even fewer pastors from mainline, Pentecostal, and Catholic churches hold biblical beliefs. And pastors of Holiness churches and traditionally black denominations were the least likely to hold biblical beliefs.
Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, August 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.