It’s Thursday, August 6th, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
On 6-year anniversary of ISIS attack on Iraqi Christians, help them today
When you think of Ninevah, no doubt you’re reminded of the story of God’s call to Jonah to preach to the people there, urging them to repent of their sin.
Today, Ninevah is located in modern-day Iraq where, six years ago, the Muslim terrorist group of ISIS attacked the 100,000 Christians who lived there.
The Worldview spoke with Mike Simpson, the CEO of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East.
SIMPSON: “Six years ago today, ISIS swept across the north of Iraq, including the Ninevah Plain, where the town of Qaraqosh is located. And the Christian communities of that region fled for their lives. Many people were killed and others captured. Many families were separated from one another. It was a highly traumatic event. They left their homes with nothing in the middle of the night. People are living with the consequences to this day.”
Simpson explained what motivated ISIS to attack the people in Qaraqosh, Iraq six years ago.
SIMPSON: “ISIS targeted the Christian communities as well as other communities such as the Yazidi community. Anybody who stood in the way of their radical form of Islam was to be exterminated. ISIS was seeking to establish a caliphate that is a region sweeping across northern Iraq and Iran and Turkey and Syria — an area which they were controlling and that was under their perverted religious objectives.
“The Christians basically were either put in the position of having to convert to Islam, losing their lives, or, in some cases, they were required to pay a tax, a special tax for being a Christian.
“The population of the Nineveh Plain as a whole, in which Qaraqosh is located, included over 100,000 Christians. Now, there are about 12,000 living there. Many have left the country altogether because they’re so traumatized. Many were killed. Others have been driven into other parts of Iraq and have felt too traumatized to return to their homes.”
For just $25, you can provide an entire month’s worth of foodstuffs like rice and canned vegetables for one Christian family that fled the Ninevah Plain in Iraq and is today living in the country of Jordan. You can find a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
1 John 3:17 says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
Beirut explosion’s death toll climbs to 135
The huge explosion that rocked Lebanon’s capital of Beirut on Tuesday has left at least 135 people dead and about 5,000 injured. It’s the worst explosion in the country’s history.
Investigators are looking into why over 2,700 tons of the highly explosive chemical ammonium nitrate was stored at a facility for six years where the explosion occurred.
Los Angeles County threatens MacArthur with $1,000 daily fines
The City of Los Angeles recently sent a cease and desist letter threatening California Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church with $1,000 daily fines and even arrest for holding in-person services.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom shut down in-person services in over half of the state’s counties in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
MacArthur is represented by the Thomas More Society as well as President Donald Trump’s private counsel, Attorney Jenna Ellis.
Listen to an update from Pastor MacArthur, referencing Matthew 22:21.
MacARTHUR: “We do not bow to Caesar. We will not bow to Caesar. Caesar is not our king. The Lord Jesus Christ is our King. We will be gracious as we’ve always been. We will render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
“But we will not render to Caesar what belongs to God. We will be faithful to Him. And that means that we will continue together as a church every Sunday, every Sunday, that is not going to stop.”
California wild fire and North Carolina hurricane
Meanwhile, a wildfire east of Los Angeles has consumed over 40-square miles of dry brush since Friday, forcing thousands to leave their homes. The Apple Fire is the first big wildfire in Southern California since the coronavirus pandemic.
And on the east coast, Hurricane Isaias made landfall in North Carolina on Monday, killing at least nine people and knocking out power to over three million homes and businesses.
80% of American parents considering homeschooling!
A OnePoll study of 2,000 American parents found 80 percent of them are considering homeschooling their children this Fall in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Of those parents, nearly half say they would keep their children home through 2021.
Trump’s NIH Ethics Advisory Board opposes using aborted babies
The National Institutes of Health Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board met for the first time last week to review grant proposals involving human tissue from babies.
The Trump administration established the board earlier this year over concerns of aborted baby body parts being used in federally funded research.
Ten of the 15 board members oppose abortion and the use of baby body parts in research.
U.S. daily coronavirus cases fell this week
In God’s providence, new daily coronavirus cases in the U.S. fell this week to about 49,000 after spiking last month. It’s the lowest number in four weeks.
Meanwhile, the number of weekly coronavirus deaths in the U.S. fell at the beginning of this month to 500, the lowest number since March.
Astronauts return to Earth after 2 months in Space Station
And finally, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a successful two-month-long mission to the International Space Station in cooperation with SpaceX.
It was the first time a private company took astronauts to and from the station.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was quite excited when he gave remarks after the mission, saying it marked a new era in space exploration
MUSK: “What this heralds really is fundamentally a new era in spaceflight, a new era in space exploration. We’re gonna go to the moon, have a base on the moon, send people to Mars, and make life multiplanetary.”
After Musk admitted that he was grateful to God that NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley returned safely, he even admitted to praying to God.
MUSK: “I mean I really came here because I just wanted to see Bob and Doug, to be totally frank. (sighs with relief) Thank goodness. My entire adrenaline just dumped, you know. (laughing) Thank God! You know, I’m not very religious, but I prayed for this one.”
Psalm 8:3-4 says, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, August 6th, in the year of our Lord 2020. 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.