It’s Thursday, December 30th, 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
Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India had foreign funding blocked
India recently blocked foreign funding to Missionaries of Charity, an organization founded by Mother Teresa. This comes after India falsely accused the charity of forced religious conversions.
Attacks against Christians in India continue to rise as more states pass anti-conversion laws.
Plus, two churches in India were vandalized last week.
One attack happened before Christmas at an historic church in India’s Karnataka state. The other attack took place at a church in Haryana state the day after Christians celebrated Christmas there. No one has claimed responsibility.
100,000 Russian troops along Ukrainian border
U.S. and Russian officials agreed to security talks next month.
Tensions are rising as Russia has positioned 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.
U.S. intelligence suspects Russia will launch an invasion next year.
The Biden administration threatened unprecedented sanctions against Russia if it does invade Ukraine.
North Carolina sheriff defends Bible verse on office wall
A North Carolina sheriff is standing by a Bible verse on his office wall.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter this month demanding that Sheriff Jody Greene of Columbus County take down the verse.
In response, Greene posted that he will not waiver in his Christian beliefs, “The verse is one of my favorite Bible verses, and it seemed fitting for all the adversity I have had to endure. . . . Before we execute a search warrant, or any service that puts our people in immediate harm’s way, we ALWAYS go to the Lord with a group prayer.”
The verse is Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada died at 82
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid died on Tuesday after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 82.
The former boxer-turned-politician served four years in the U.S. House and 30 years in the Senate as Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress.
Reid was known for dealmaking in the middle of Washington gridlock.
He helped pass Obamacare, the 2008 bank bailout, and new Senate rules that allowed President Barack Obama to appoint more judges.
Reid was a Mormon who entered his political career in opposition to abortion and faux homosexual marriage. However, he shifted his views over the course of his life.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, found guilty
The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, reports the Associated Press.
The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s palatial homes in Florida, New York, and New Mexico.
Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts. With the maximum prison terms for each charge ranging from five to 40 years in prison, Maxwell faces the likelihood of years behind bars. That’s an outcome long sought by women who spent years fighting in civil courts to hold her accountable for her role in recruiting and grooming Epstein’s teenage victims and sometimes joining in the sexual abuse herself.
North Carolina County Commissioners protect babies from abortion
Stokes County Commissioners in North Carolina adopted a resolution this week in favor of restoring legal protections for unborn babies.
The resolution supports North Carolina’s heartbeat bill which lawmakers recently introduced.
Four other counties in the state have passed similar resolutions.
Over a dozen states have passed Heartbeat Bills, but only the one passed in Texas is currently in force.
Supreme Court will address Biden’s COVID-shot mandate for businesses
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear cases against the Biden administration’s COVID-shot mandate for private businesses and healthcare facilities. Oral arguments begin next week.
Several courts had placed temporary injunctions on the mandates. However, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated the mandate for private employers earlier this month.
Biden increases pay of the military by 2.7%
President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law this week.
The law authorizes a 5% increase in military spending to $768.2 billion.
The legislation gives a 2.7% pay raise for service members next year.
Republicans blocked an effort to include women in the draft. The Act also protects service members who refuse the COVID-shot from a dishonorable discharge.
50% of Americans have difficulty with categories of good and evil
A Pew Research study found 48% of Americans believe most things in society can be clearly divided into good and evil. But 50% said most things are too complicated to be divided between good and evil.
Christians (at 48%) were more likely than the religiously unaffiliated (at 37%) to subscribe to clear ethical divides.
Among Christians, Protestants and weekly churchgoers were the most likely to support clear moral standards.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says, “Test all things; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
Fellowship of Christian Athletes handed out 200,000 Bibles this year
And finally, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has worked for 67 years to disciple athletes and coaches and to distribute Bibles.
This year, the organization handed out 208,624 Bibles.
FCA President Shane Williamson said, “We are committed to God’s Word and biblical truth, and we continue to be amazed at what God is doing to get His Word into the hands of coaches and athletes around the world.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, December 30th, 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.