Monday, May 23rd, in the year of our Lord, 2016.
By Mark Robinette
Two years ago, 276 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped at gunpoint from their boarding school in Chibok in Borno. On Tuesday, when Amina Ali Nkeki walked out of the Sambisa Forest looking for help, she was the first girl from the mass kidnapping to be seen alive. According to CNN, Nkeki was released by her militant Islamic Boko Haram captors in very rough shape, with a four-month-old baby and a man claiming to be her husband. Edward Clancy from Aid to the Church spoke to The World View about the Nigerian crisis: “Boko Haram is the manifestation of many problems that exist and have existed in northern Nigeria in particular. In 2014, they were the most active terrorist group in the world, with at least 240 terrorist acts against the general society of Nigeria, and specifically against Christian communities, Christian churches, and against Christian leaders. And so, while Boko Haram is much less in the news, they’re still making their presence known in Nigeria and in the country that surrounds northern Nigeria.”
As God promised the prophet Joel, let it be unto Nkeki who has lost her childhood and her innocence. Restore her O Lord. “I will restore to you the years that the locusts hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar” (Joel 2:25).
Last week President Barack Obama threatened the nation’s public schools that he would cut federal funding if they did not comply with his orders of how they should treat transgendered children. That same day he issued another, less reported, threat. He told healthcare institutions accepting government dollars that he’d make sure their funding was cut if they refused to perform sex-change operations and abortions, adding that he would also refer their names to the Department of Justice for legal action against them. Ken Klukowski, an attorney with First Liberty Institute, said that the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law was “laughable.” He went on to describe the threat as “Orwellian” and “an unconstitutional assault on the First Amendment.”
Fighting back last week, GOP lawmakers took action to remove the sting of Obama’s threats. The Washington Examiner reported that Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., proposed legislation that would prevent public schools from being punished for refusing to comply with Obama’s directives.
Alabama State Representative Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham), the state’s only openly gay state legislator and emboldened by the administration’s support, said she thought children would be safer with a transgendered person in a bathroom than they are at church.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump met privately Saturday with 500 of the nation’s most prominent Evangelical leaders. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said that he worked hard to set up the meeting because he does not believe Christians should stay home and sit out the presidential race as some have argued. Perkins worked with Bill Dallas of United Purpose and Dr. Ben Carson to set up the meeting. Other top names at the meeting were Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, James Dobson, Ralph Reed, and Tim Wildmon. Floyd, leader of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, said, “None of us have endorsed Mr. Trump, nor have we condemned Mr. Trump. This is about the possibility of being able to appoint the next four Supreme Court justices. This is about the dignity of human life from the womb to the tomb. This is about religious freedom. I’m not about to sit at home and not express something. I’m accountable to God, and I believe I’m accountable to my fellow Americans.”
Trump also attended the National Rifle Association annual convention, promising to end “gun-free zones” on his first day in office. NRA officials opened their convention by endorsing Trump for president.
It was a strange day at a damp Pimlico racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday—its biggest day of the year. On Saturday, Preakness Day, two horses died and a jockey was seriously injured in the first four races. After winning the opening race, the horse named Homeboykris collapsed and died after having his picture taken in the winner’s circle. In the fourth race, Pramedya broke his leg while making a turn. The horse and its jockey, Daniel Centeno, both tumbled to the ground. Centeno broke his collarbone. The horse had to be put down.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7).
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