It’s Wednesday, May 5th, A.D. 2021. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Chinese Communists arrested Beijing preacher
Chinese Communists arrested Qie Jiafu, a preacher from Zion Church in Beijing last week.
Zion Church was the largest house church in Beijing before authorities shut it down in 2018. Also, the church’s pastor, Ezra Jin Mingri, and his daughter, are banned from leaving the country for three years.
This comes as China cracks down on pastors with their new Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy that came into effect this month. The measures include a database of clergy. Pastors in the database must support the Chinese Communist Party. And pastors who refuse to be part of the database are considered criminals.
China president Xi Jinping dubbed “Helmsman”
China’s President Xi Jinping recently assumed the title “helmsman.”
The honorific position represents ultimate authority and has not been used since former dictator Mao Zedong. Analysts suspect the move indicates Xi’s intent to consolidate complete control over China under extreme Communism.
Acts 12:22-24 warns, “And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck [King Herod], because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.”
Mike Pence: “God is not done with America”
Last week, former Vice President Mike Pence said he believes God is not done with America as he spoke in Columbia, South Carolina during an event sponsored by the Palmetto Family Council.
Pence criticized the first 100 days of the Biden administration.
PENCE: “After 100 days of open borders, runaway spending, plans for higher taxes, a bigger welfare state, more government, defunding the police, abandoning the right to life, canceling our most cherished liberties, I’ve had enough!”
Pence also called on Americans to hope for the future.
PENCE: “Even in these challenging times, I think we do well to remember that ancient verse. It’s hung over the mantle of our home for 20 years. It’s in Jeremiah 29:11. It says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” And I believe as everyone involved with Palmetto Family believes, that if we will, but put our trust in Him, if we will carry the message of our ideals and values to our neighbors and friends, there is a hope, there is a future, and the best days for the greatest nation on Earth are yet to come. Thank you. God bless you all. And God bless America.” (applause)
(You can watch Pence’s speech, which begins at the 19:30 mark, here).
Lubbock, Texas: Biggest American city to be sanctuary for unborn
Lubbock, Texas is now the most populous city in the U.S. to become a sanctuary city for the unborn.
Voters in the city of 250,000 approved the ordinance 62% to 37% last Saturday.
It’s the first city to pass such an ordinance where Planned Parenthood is already operating.
Biden quadrupled number of refugees Trump allowed
The Biden administration quadrupled the refugee admissions to 62,500, up from the 15,000-limit set by the Trump administration.
The new cap allows 22,000 refugees from Africa, 6,000 from East Asia, 4,000 from Europe and Central Asia, 5,000 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 13,000 from the Near East and South Asia.
Bill and Melinda Gates getting divorced
After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates filed for divorce on Monday.
Despite saying their marriage was “irretrievably broken,” the couple said they would continue to work together on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations.
Bill Gates is the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of about $130 billion.
This comes two years after the divorce of billionaire Jeff Bezos, the richest person in the world by man’s standards.
Proverbs 11:4 says, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”
Prison Fellowship distributed 100,000 Bibles during pandemic
And finally, Prison Fellowship distributed 100,000 Bibles to prisoners in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.
James Ackerman, CEO of Prison Fellowship, told The Christian Post, “During a time when prisons had shut down, and incarcerated men and women had to go without visitations or programming, there’s this sense of hopelessness in prisons. . . . God put on people’s hearts and encouraged chaplains to promote the Word of God. And [the fact] that the hope of the Gospel found itself in such high demand is so encouraging to me. … It is creating an environment of calmness in the prison that the Department of Corrections feared might not be there.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, May 5th, in the year of our Lord 2021. 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.