It’s Wednesday, September 4th, A.D. 2019. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.

By Adam McManus (adam@theworldview.com)

Nigerian Christian teen Leah Sharibu is ALIVE!

Contrary to inaccurate reports last month that Leah Sharibu had been killed, she is alive and well, reports International Christian Concern.

Sharibu is the Nigerian Christian teen who was kidnapped on February 19, 2018 by Boko Haram, the Muslim terrorist group.  The brave teen refuses to convert to Islam even as she has had her life threatened if she doesn’t do so.

According to Morning Star News, Garba Shehu, a Nigerian presidential spokeswoman, said, Leah “is alive, given assurances from our security agencies, and the government is committed to her safe return as well as all other hostages to their families.  Instead of giving up, the government is carrying forward a process that should hopefully yield her release by her captors.”

In July 2019, Boko Haram released a video in which Grace Taku, a kidnapped Christian aid worker, mentioned that Sharibu and three other Christian women had been killed in captivity. Apparently, she was forced to make that false claim to manipulate the government.

In addition to praying for Leah and Grace’s safe return, pray through Ephesians 3:16 which says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”

Hurricane inflicted “extreme danger” on the Bahamas

Hurricane Dorian carved a path of destruction through the Bahamas yesterday, destroying or severely damaging 13,000 homes, reports Reuters.

Aerial video recorded over the Bahamas’ Great Abaco Island showed mile upon mile of flooded neighborhoods, pulverized buildings, upturned boats and shipping containers scattered like Lego toys. Many buildings that had not been flattened had walls or roofs partly ripped away.

While its winds had diminished to a Category 2 storm, Dorian expanded in size and picked up speed yesterday. Forecasters said it would come “dangerously close” in the next 36 hours to Florida’s east coast, where more than a million people have been ordered evacuated.

Watch Samaritan Purse’s Edward Graham, Franklin Graham’s son, appear on Fox News to talk about all the ways they are helping people in the Bahamas and those affected along the Atlantic Coast. You can find that video link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.

To help the Hurricane Dorian victims recover, make a donation by calling 1-800-528-1980. That’s 1-800-528-1980.

Pregnant inmate delivers baby in prison with no medical aid

A pregnant inmate named Diana Sanchez, who gave birth in a Denver County Jail cell, is suing the Denver Sheriff Department and Denver Health Medical Center.

Mari Newman, Sanchez’s attorney was alarmed.

SANCHEZ: “She immediately told a guard and later a nurse that she was in labor, that she had been experiencing contractions, that her water had broken, and ultimately that she was passing blood.”

Newman’s law firm provided edited surveillance video that shows Sanchez’s struggle, without help, on the morning of July 31, 2018.

NEWMAN: “We’re talking about well over five hours that she was in hard labor, yelling for help, screaming in pain, and they simply fail to take her to the hospital. When a woman is forced to give birth and her cell all alone with no medical care whatsoever — feet away from a toilet in a cold, hard cell — it’s unfathomable to me.”

The Denver Sheriff Department has changed its policies to ensure that pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labor are now transported to the hospital.

Facebook censors pro-life group

Facebook is censoring the pro-life group Live Action, claiming that its content is “false news” and, in a bizarre example of the wolf guarding the hen house, Facebook is using two abortionists as fact-checkers, reports the Christian Post.

The pro-life group pushed back on Facebook’s claim by citing the over 1,000 medical professionals who signed the Dublin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare, which states that “the purposeful destruction of the unborn child – is not medically necessary to save the life of a woman.” And approximately 2,500 others from the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists also agree.

Live Action President Lila Rose said, “Continued efforts to censor Live Action will have tremendous implications, not only for the pro-life movement, but for free speech in America.”

Justin Bieber: Getting right with God changed everything

And finally, pop star Justin Bieber posted an extremely honest note to his 118 million Instagram followers about his life, his struggle with drug abuse and anxiety, and his faith in Jesus Christ, which ultimately led him through it all, reports FaithWire.com.

Bieber opened up about how a meteoric rise to fame as a child launched him into a downward spiral of partying and drug abuse, causing him to withdraw from those who cared about him. In the end, he says, it was only Jesus who could turn it all around.

He said, “As my talent progressed and I became ultra successful, it happened within a span of two years. My whole world flipped on its head. I went from a 13-year-old boy from a small town to being praised left and right by the world with millions saying how much they loved me and how great I was.”

With staggering wealth but no real life skills, Bieber found himself lost and confused.

He said, “Everyone did everything for me, so I never even learned the fundamentals of responsibility.  By this point, I was 18 with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted.

“By 20, I made every bad decision you could have thought of and went from one of the most loved and adored people in the world to the most ridiculed, judged, and hated person in the world.”

Unable to cope with the relentless ups and downs of tour life, Bieber said he started “doing pretty heavy drugs at 19.”

Incredibly, however, Bieber found that God did not give up on him. Instead, the Lord blessed him with wonderful people, including his wife, the former Hailey Baldwin.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, September 4th in the year of our Lord 2019. 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.

Print stories

China enforces law prohibiting Christian conversions of minors

China’s recent crackdown on Christianity has led to intensified enforcement of a law already on the books: children and youth cannot convert to the faith until they’re 18.

Churches across China are canceling Sunday School classes for children in light of the new clampdown, according to Mission Network News.

Erik Burklin of China Partner said, “They would use that time to teach children Bible verses and teach them Christian songs.”