Friday, April 15th, in the year of our Lord, 2016.
By Kevin Swanson
Yesterday marked the second-year anniversary of 276 Christian girls being kidnapped by an Islamic terror group in Nigeria. 216 still remain in captivity, and the Boko Haram group released a video in which several of the girls expressed their desire to come back home.
Mausi Segun, a Nigerian researcher for Human Rights Watch, says it is increasingly difficult to ensure the safety of the churches: “In terms of providing security, it’s virtually become impossible. And so what the security forces have done has been to try to evacuate civilians from the areas where military operations are ongoing.”
A Canadian delegation reports that Canadian Pastor Lim, who was arrested and sentenced to hard labor in North Korea, is in failing health. Diana Khaddaj, spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, stated: “The government of Canada is concerned for Mr. Lim’s rights and well-being.”
Several more earthquakes have hit Southeast Asia this week. A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook Myanmar and Nepal, while another 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, killing two people and destroying some 19 homes.
More excitement is building for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in New York, with reports of 27,000 people attending his rally yesterday. Sanders is an unabashed socialist from Vermont, and he told the crowd that he wanted to create a revolution. Four days before the New York Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton still leads Sanders in the polls by 12%.
Ohio Republican presidential candidate John Kasich has spoken out against laws that would protect Christians in North Carolina and Mississippi. Kasich used a curse word to further emphasize his commitment to opposing Christian liberties at a town hall event in New York.
“For they speak against you wickedly, and your enemies take your name in vain” (Psalm 139:20).
Addiction to painkillers has become a major epidemic in America. Time Magazine reports that fatal prescription opioid overdoses in the U.S. have quadrupled in the last 15 years, and more than 47,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2014. Obamacare and government funding of medical care is partially to blame for it, according to a growing consensus of doctors. Dr. Bill Sullivan works in the ER in Spring Valley, Illinois. He says that doctors should resist pressures to over-medicate with opioids: “Sometimes treating someone with opiates isn’t the best practice, but a lot of patients feel that that’s appropriate, and that kind of drives the doctors to prescribe more opiate pain medication. So in some ways we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it may not be the best practice and it may not be necessarily what the patient needs, but it’s sometimes what the patient wants. And that can sometimes fuel the over-prescription of opiates.”
Because of lower interest rates, mortgage debt no longer carries the tax benefits it once did. Bloomberg Business reports that the standard income tax deduction offers significantly more of a break than interest deductions on a median-priced home bought with a 20% down payment.
“The debtor is servant to the lender . . . You are bought with a price . . . be not the servants of men” (Proverbs 22:7).
More troubles are surfacing for the Acts 29 network of churches. Darren Patrick, vice president of church planting and pastor of Journey Church in St. Louis, Missouri, was removed from his positions for a “historical pattern of sin.”
A public high school in Wisconsin wants to crack down on an off-campus lunch event held by moms who want to share Jesus with the students. Over 400 students turn out once a week for the home-cooked meals and an inspirational message from the Bible, but the high school administration will have none of it. Attorney Phillip Stamman told Fox News that the administration is upset “because they are sharing Christianity.”
“So the [Jewish Rulers] called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge . . . And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened” (Acts 4).
The worst job in America in 2016, as rated by Career Cast, is—you guessed it. It’s news reporting. The median salary for a newspaper reporter is just $37,000 per year. The best job for 2016 goes to the data scientist, with an average income of $128,000 per year. I knew I should have studied science more carefully as a student!
The nation of Greece has found a way to pay off some of its debts to the European Union. The European country is selling off its largest seaport to China for $320 million, according to BRICS Post.
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.