It’s Wednesday, April 29th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark and Timothy Reed
Egyptian Christian YouTuber faces 5 years hard labor
A Christian YouTuber in Egypt is facing five years of imprisonment and hard labor simply for sharing his faith online.
Augustinos Samaan regularly posts Christian videos to his channel which has over 100,000 subscribers. Officials charged him under the country’s blasphemy provision. The law criminalizes speech that is deemed offensive to Islam.
Samaan appealed his sentence last week with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom International. Since August last year, authorities in Egypt have arrested dozens of people for online religious content.
In Matthew 10:32, Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in Heaven.”
Global military spending up
Global military spending reached a record $2.9 trillion dollars last year. That’s according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Military spending rose 14 percent in Europe and eight percent in Asia and Oceania. Meanwhile, the United States spent 7.5 percent less on military expenditures. The U.S. remains one of the top three military spenders along with China and Russia.
Experts note that many U.S. allies are spending more on their militaries following pressure from the Trump administration.
Former FBI Director James Comey indicted over photo that threatened Trump
On April 28th, the Justice Department secured an indictment charging former FBI Director James Comey with threatening the life of President Donald Trump by posting a photo of sea shells on Instagram that featured the numbers “86-47”, reports NBC News.
The two-count indictment alleges that a reasonable person would interpret the image of the shells, arranged to spell out “86 47,” as “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” “Eighty-six” is a term used to mean “cancel” or “get rid of.” And, of course, “47” refers to the 47th president of the United States.
While Comey deleted the post, saying it never occurred to him that it would be interpreted as being violent. In a subsequent Instagram post last May, Comey said that he assumed the shells he saw on a beach walk were “a political message” and comically claimed that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” adding that he opposed violence “of any kind.”
Todd Blanche, the acting U.S. Attorney General, spoke at a press conference yesterday.
BLANCHE: “The defendant, James Comey, knowingly and willfully transmitting in interstate commerce, a communication that contained a threat to kill the president of the United States. Both of these counts carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.”
War Department will no longer require flu shot
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the military will no longer require the flu shot.
Listen to Hegseth’s comment on the change of policy.
HEGSETH: “We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capabilities. In this case, this includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it.
The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere, in every circumstance, at all times, is just overly broad and not rational.
“Our new policy is simple. If you, an American warrior, entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it. You should. But we will not force you, because your body, your faith, and your convictions are not negotiable.”
Proposed bill: No pension for Congressmen convicted of sex crimes
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri introduced a bill that would strip the federal pensions of Congress members who are convicted of a sex crime.
Hawley’s bill, the “No Pensions for Congressional Predators Act,” comes on the heels of two high profile Congressional resignations over sexual allegations including Democrat Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzales of Texas.
Speaking on FOX News, Hawley referred to Swalwell as a driving reason behind his legislation.
HAWLEY: “This is why Congress needs to pass legislation. I’m introducing it today that would deny pensions to every member of Congress who is convicted of a sex offense. Right now, you could be convicted and still get your pension. The only thing the government ought to be paying for for people like Eric Swalwell is a jail cell.”
Two Louisiana bills threaten pro-life work
A pair of Louisiana bills are threatening pro-life work in the state.
One bill, the Pregnancy Help Center Healthcare Licensing Act, seeks to require pregnancy centers to become licensed, a bill that may force these centers to have doctors or nurses, on site, at all times.
A second bill could restrict the freedom of religion for pregnancy centers.
Erica Inzina of Louisiana Right to Life is concerned about the bill. She said, “Some of the language and the tactics that we’re seeing are the same types of tactics that have been used in other ways to villainize pregnancy centers elsewhere in the country.”
Church attendance rising
And finally, church attendance is rising for the first time in decades, according to a new report from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
The median in-person weekly attendance at a house of worship is now 70 adults. That’s down from 137 adults in 2000. However, it’s significantly up from 45 adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study noted, “For the first time in decades, more congregations are stabilizing or growing rather than shrinking.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Wednesday, April 29th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.