It’s Independence Day, July 4th, A.D. 2019. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Jonathan Clark
Former Turkish missionary talks about Christian persecution
North Carolina Pastor Andrew Brunson addressed the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom last Thursday on the state of the Protestant church in Muslim-majority Turkey.
Brunson spent two decades planting churches in Turkey before being sent to prison for two years on false terrorism charges. He was released October of last year.
In the midst of a huge crackdown, Turkish officials have deported dozens of Christians families from the country, Brunson warned. However, he also said many Muslims are beginning to turn to Christ despite the crackdown and a struggling economy.
BRUNSON: “I think you have several experts on Turkey here today. I’m probably the only who is an expert on Turkish prisons. My experience in Turkey illustrates and, in some way, epitomizes how the Turkish government views Christians. The Erdogan regime has stoked an already deep-seated suspicion and animus towards Christians, and one of the ways they did it was through my case. There’s still a high degree of freedom for Christians relative to other Muslim countries in the region. But I’m concerned that all the signs point to this changing soon.”
Jesus said in Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
German family court grants kids custody to homeschool parents
On Tuesday, a family court in Darmstadt, Germany granted Christian homeschooling couple Dirk and Petra Wunderlich custody of their minor children, reports Alliance Defending Freedom.
The case began in 2013 when 30 police officers and social workers raided their home and forcefully removed the children for not being put in public schools.
The family still awaits an appeal from the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, challenging Germany’s ban on homeschooling.
Dutch doctors destined to deliver death
Last year, doctors in the Netherlands ended the lives of over 6,000 people through euthanasia. Meanwhile, Dutch physicians say they feel “coerced” or “blackmailed” into performing euthanasia, according to interviews by the British Medical Journal.
The Worldview spoke to Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
SCHADENBERG: “This was not a massive study, but there were 22 physicians. And 15 did what they call really deep interviews where they went through a lot of issues. And all those doctors were doctors who had actually done euthanasia at least once. Several of them had done quite a bit of it. And they were saying they were feeling blackmailed, pressured, controlled by others. They had doubts about their decisions, yet they went ahead with it anyway. The other problem is that when they were sent a referral they felt pressured to do that euthanasia.”
This reminds us of when Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the male children of Israel, but unlike these doctors, they preserved human life.
Exodus 1:17 says, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”
British teacher in trouble for allowing kids to opt out of “gay” indoctrination
Susan Papas, head of Heavers Farmer Primary School in South London, excluded a boy and a girl for five days after one of the children asked a teacher for permission not to participate in an LGBT lesson during “Gay” Pride Month, reports Christian Concern.
The 10-year-old boy named Farrell said he did not want to participate because of his Christian faith.
The teacher has been reported to local authorities for unlawfully excluding the students.
LifeSiteNews has organized a petition in support of the two Christian children, linked in our transcript today at TheWorldview.com.
President Trump’s “Salute to America” on July 4th
President Donald Trump announced a big July 4th celebration for today in a “Salute to America” that will honor each of the five branches of the military.
The Independence Day festivities include a concert, a speech by Trump, a parade through the streets of Washington, D.C., and a major fireworks display utilizing $750,000 worth of donated material.
The Army already sent several Abrams tanks for the event, and the Pentagon is trying to bring in a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber among other warplanes.
GOP Alaskan Gov. gets revenge against pro-abort judicial branch
Republican Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy issued a line-item veto last Friday to remove over $300,000 from the state judicial branch’s budget.
This comes four months after the Alaskan Supreme Court ruled the state cannot ban taxpayer funding of the murder of unborn babies.
Dunleavy noted in his veto message, “The Legislative and Executive Branch are opposed to State funded elective abortions; the only branch of government that insists on State-funded elective abortions is the Supreme Court. The annual cost of elective abortions is reflected by this reduction.”
Touché!
Americans think 1 in 5 are “gay” vs. actual 4%
Gallup released a new poll finding Americans greatly overestimate the number of people in the U.S. who live in sexually perverted lifestyles.
U.S. adults estimate that about one in four Americans (23.6 percent) are homosexual or lesbian. This is five times higher than Gallup’s 2017 study that found 4.5 percent of Americans actually self-identify with such lifestyles.
One thousand people offered to adopt baby abandoned in woods
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia released footage at the end of last month of a newborn baby girl they found abandoned in a plastic bag in the woods. The Sheriff’s Office hoped to find the identity of the baby whom they named India.
An outpouring of love followed as around 1,000 people offered to adopt the girl, and messages of support poured in from Italy, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Germany, as well as 45 states and the District of Columbia.
There was so much interest Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services announced on their website, “Baby India is in a safe and loving home with a supportive, approved family.”
James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Independence Day, July 4th 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.