Wednesday, September 21st, in the year of our Lord 2016
By Adam McManus
Boat Captain Throws Christian Refugees Overboard
A boat captain did the unthinkable. He threw six Christian refugees overboard which resulted in their deaths, reports Christian Today. Captain Alain NB from Cameroon could face up to 90 years in prison for the murder of the refugees. The boat was on its way from Morocco to Spain when six Nigerian Christian refugees began praying for the bad weather to cease. However, the captain accused the Christians of inciting the storm with their prayers.
Church in Iran Growing at Incredible Rate
Can you guess which country has the fastest-growing church in the world? Would you be surprised to learn that the answer is Iran? In 1979, there were only 500 Iranian Christians who had converted from Islam. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of Christian converts – perhaps a million. This despite the fact that Iran is ranked ninth on Open Doors’ list of countries where it’s most dangerous to be a Christian, and converting from Islam – the state religion – is punishable by death for men and life imprisonment for women.
Emily Fuentes of Open Doors USA talked to The World View about why the Iranian Church is growing so quickly.
“The majority of the population is actually under 35. And so it’s a lot of young people who have lived their whole life under a very restrictive regime, who crave freedom, and crave a lot of the things that they see from Western culture and other cultures. And so it’s a disillusioned youth, it’s a youth where there’s a high amount of drug use, and lack of employment for certain people, and so they are desperately looking for a different life than what they’ve had.”
Fuentes explained that American Christians have a lot to learn from our Iranian brothers and sisters in Christ.
“One of the most interesting things is that we as Americans are always so scared of persecution. Versus, where people are persecuted, they don’t even necessarily pray for the persecution to end; they pray for them to be able to endure through the persecution. And the reason why is because they know persecution refines their faith, it’s the more authentic faith where you’re relying on God completely. And I think that’s why you’re seeing the church grow so rampantly, because of the authenticity.”
Christian Woman Fired From County Clerk Office for Refusing to Perform Homosexual Marriages
Here in the states, a Christian woman was fired in Broward County, Florida for refusing to perform homosexual marriages. Yanicka Parker filed a lawsuit against Howard Forman, the Clerk of Courts in Florida, for firing her. Parker, a member of the Faith Deliverance Tabernacle church in Fort Lauderdale, cited Scriptures in her lawsuit including Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-27, saying that “it is a sin for persons of the same sex to engage in sexual relations.”
Rahami’s Journal References Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki
The journal of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the Muslim who is accused of setting the bombs to explode this weekend in New York and New Jersey, has been quite revealing. Fox News reports that it includes references to Osama bin Laden and the American terror cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Plus, ABC News reports that Rahami’s father claimed he called the FBI on his own son two years ago, before recanting.
All U.S. Navy Sailors Will Be Trained on New Transgender Policies
First, Obama ordered the Pentagon to lift its ban on transgendered military personnel in June. Now, the Navy will require all sailors to undergo training on their new transgender policies as they prepare for transgendered recruits on July 1, 2017. Travis Weber of the Family Research Council told The Christian Post this will bring more “discord” to the military, and a reticence to enlist.
Pro-Life Activists Afraid to Use Aborted Baby Pictures Despite Their Effectiveness
A new study from Tarleton University documents that once people have seen pictures of aborted babies, they are 30 percent more likely to realize that abortion is murder.
Mark Harrington, National Director of Created Equal, explained why some pro-lifers don’t use pictures of aborted babies in their outreaches.
“It’s always been my contention that people don’t use abortion victim photographs in pro-life outreach simply because of the persecution that comes upon those who stand next to these images in the public square. Many people just don’t want to be hated or disliked because of their stand on abortion. … Then they’re not liked, and if they’re not liked they don’t think they’ll be effective. And that’s been the problem all along. People are afraid. They think that they have to be liked to be effective. We don’t believe that. We believe that we would rather be hated and be effective. And sometimes you have to be hated. All social reformers were hated at one point or another.”
Replica of Temple of Baal Arch to Be Built in New York City
A replica of the pagan Temple of Baal arch is scheduled to be built in New York City this month. Patterned after the original Victory Arch at the Temple of Baal built 1,800 years ago in Palmyra, Syria, CBN News reports that it will be built in New York’s City Hall Park and overseen by The Institute for Digital Archaeology which claims that it will complement The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Mike Pence Gives Testimony of How He Returned to the Christian Faith
This past Sunday, Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick Mike Pence gave his testimony in the pulpit of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. According to First Coast News, a local TV station, he confessed that he once walked away from the Christian faith to which he clings so dearly now.
“I went off to college and had largely walked away from the faith that I was raised to believe in.”
But while he was at a Christian music festival listening to one preacher after another “talk about not so much what Jesus had done to save the world, but what Jesus had done for me,” Pence said his life was changed. “My heart broke with gratitude and I gave my life to Jesus Christ.”
1 Chronicles 16:11 says, “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.”
Unarmed Black Pastor Tasered and Fatally Shot by Police Officer
Terence Crutcher, an unarmed 40-year-old black pastor, was tasered and then shot dead by a white female police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma last Friday night despite having his hands up in the air. Police had claimed that Crutcher was reaching inside his car without his hands up. But video footage released by the Tulsa Police Department clearly shows the pastor with his hands in the air and his back to the officers, according to the Tulsa World. Crutcher’s twin sister Tiffany told a press conference that her brother Terence was doing nothing wrong, yet an officer could be heard in the footage calling the pastor a “big, bad, dude”.
Three Christians in India Attacked by Mob
Hostility to Christians in India continues to foment. This time three Christians were attacked by a mob who believed they were trying to convert Hindus, according to The Times of India. Pastor Bhatnagar was taken in a car by to the site of a nearby prison, threatened with a revolver and told he would be set on fire if he did not stop giving out the Christian pamphlets. Another had to be hospitalized.
Obama Says Diplomatic Efforts Are Key to Resolving World Conflict
President Barack Obama, in his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly, conceded yesterday that the United States and other world powers have limited ability to solve the most profound challenges facing the world. The Associated Press reports that Obama stuck to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria’s civil war and other world conflicts. Plus, in a not so-veiled reference to Donald Trump, Obama said,
“Today a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself, so the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration.”
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.