Monday, March 21st, in the year of our Lord, 2016.
By Mark Robinette
Four Bible translators gave their lives in the Middle East on Friday, saving the life of their lead translator and his many years’ work in eight languages. Wycliffe Associates reported the horrific yet heroic incident, saying that the four men threw their bodies on top of the lead translator as they were attacked by militants, saving his life. The good work will continue because these men did as Christ commanded. Wycliffe officials asked for prayer for the killers, that God would open their eyes to the truth.
“He that loses his life for My sake will find it” (Luke 9:24).
Secretary of State John Kerry’s declaration last week that the Islamic State is committing genocide may have been at odds with President Barack Obama, according to the Associated Press. Congress, which had voted earlier in the week 393-0 to call the atrocities genocide, also set a March 17th deadline for the State Department to do the same. A White House spokesman announced late on the 16th that Secretary Kerry would not make the deadline. When Secretary Kerry called ISIS’s acts genocide early on Thursday, a White House official told the AP that his announcement would “not obligate the U.S. to take further action against ISIS.”
World religious freedom organizations are urging the Burmese government to repeal laws set up to make conversions from Buddhism virtually illegal. Burma, now widely called Myanmar, held free elections recently, and many in the country and outside are looking for the day when people can stop fearing the brutal military junta and truly enjoy freedom of religion.
Muslim Fulani herdsmen, believed to be buoyed by Boko Haram insurgents, killed more than 300 Christian farmers two weeks ago in Nigeria. The World View reported the incident when it occurred, but at that time all that was known was that there was a massacre of an undetermined amount. The vicious band of Fulani has evaded the Nigerian government.
The true-life story of 12-year-old Annabel Beam, in theaters now as Miracles from Heaven, has many talking about the role of miracles in the Christian life. Writer Michael Foust, who just reviewed the movie for the Christian Examiner, spoke to The World View, and he shared some of positive and negative aspects of the film. Foust said that the story affirms the truth that God still heals and hears the prayers of His people. Unfortunately, there are veins of the heretical “prosperity gospel” in the story, but ultimately he recommended it cautiously for Christian families: “I would encourage people to see Miracles from Heaven, just because it’s a well-done movie. It’s among the best faith-based films that I’ve seen, and even generally among the best movies I’ve seen as well. It has an incredibly inspiring message about healing—the fact that God does heal today.”
Pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-born American imprisoned for several years, celebrated his son Jacob’s eighth birthday as a free man, after he was released from prison in Iran earlier this year. Using Facebook, he said, “This moment is the answer to prayer and the work of millions of people all around the world.”
The public feud between Donald Trump and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly went another round over the weekend. Fox complained that Trump had made “sexist verbal assaults” about Kelly, and Trump tweeted back that she was “sick” and called for his supporters to boycott her “overrated” show on the news network.
Sixty-two people flying from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don Airport in Russia were killed when their Boeing 737 crashed near the runway Saturday. Terrorism has been ruled out, but the cause of the crash is still under investigation. High winds kept the plane circling the runway for nearly two hours before it hit the ground.
The discovery of a 1,000-year-old Christian cross in Denmark now has experts thinking that Christianity had a presence in the country earlier than previously thought.
Isaiah 52:7 proclaims, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that says unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.