Friday, December 14th, in the year of our Lord 2018
By Jonathan Clark
For Asian Christians, Christmas Is Time of Persecution
The joys of Christmas season are often attended by security concerns for Christians in South Asia.
Last December, 150 Hindu Munnani radicals attacked participants in a Christmas service led by Indian Pastor Vinod Kumar.
The World View spoke to William Stark of International Christian Concern, the Regional Director for Asia, about the challenges Christians face in places like Pakistan and India this time of year.
“Christmas can be a pretty mixed season for Christians in countries, especially like India and Pakistan, where persecution is a big issue. For one part, Christmas as a celebration of Christians actually highlights Christians more than the rest of the year. We get a rise of attacks, working here at ICC, during the Christmas and Easter season because Christians are more visible because they are actually going out and they are celebrating.”
Stark said that Christians in these countries do look forward to Christmas, but it is not without danger.
“So, it’s a season where Christians do look forward to celebrating Christmas, but they’re also pretty cautious or security conscious about what it means to stick out when most of the year you can kind of blend in. India is a great example of this, because in the last four years persecution has doubled. Attacks on Christians around the Christmas season has really become a prominent ‘new normal’ for Indian Christians.”
Pray for the church in India to be comforted by Jesus’ words in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
New Brazil Cabinet Member: “We Want a Brazil Without Abortion.”
After Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro as president last month, the pro-life, pro-family politician is forming his administration.
The latest appointment to the incoming cabinet is Damares Alves, a pro-life evangelical lawyer, to head up the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights.
Alves stated, “The greatest human right is the right to life . . . I am against abortion. We want a Brazil without abortion.”
Church of England Shuns Bible, Embraces Transgenderism
The Church of England is throwing the doors open to people pretending to be the opposite gender.
A recent pastoral guidance letter instructs priest to offer baptism-style ceremonies to mark their so-called gender transition and to call them by their preferred male or female names.
Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”
Trump Signs Law to Fund Christian Groups to Help Iraqi, Syrian Believers
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed the Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act surrounded by religious leaders, reports the Christian Post.
The act authorizes the U.S. government to fund non-profits, including faith-based groups, to provide recovery aid to Christians and other minorities affected by the violence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
7 Legal Threats to American Churches
The Alliance Defending Freedom Church Alliance works to protect the religious liberty of churches in America.
John Harding of ADF recently released a report of seven current legal threats to churches.
The threats include tax-exemption challenges, zoning laws that block churches from using buildings and public facilities, abortion insurance coverage requirements for employees, and government intimidation to not speak out on political issues.
Apple’s CEO: It Would Be “Sin” Not to Censor Conservative Groups
Apple is looking to create 15,000 jobs and invest $1 billion in a new corporate campus in Austin, Texas along with other offices in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California.
Also, the tech giant’s CEO Tim Cook, who is an open homosexual and supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, recently received the Courage Against Hate award for Apple’s censorship of media that goes against the company’s values. Cook said to not ban such material would be “a sin.”
However, evangelist Franklin Graham hit back at Cook, saying that only God’s standard of right and wrong, as revealed in the Bible, should guide us.
Isaiah 8:20 declares, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
1.5 Million Penguins of New Species Discovered, Undetected for 2,800 Years
In God’s providence, scientists have discovered a supercolony of 1.5 million Adélie penguins on remote islands off the coast of Antarctica, reports Fox News.
With the help of satellite imagery, scientists have located the rare Adélie penguins which they say have lived undetected on the islands for 2,800 years!
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And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Friday, December 14th in the year of our Lord 2018. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
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Imprisoned Chinese Pastor: My Freedom in Christ Cannot Be Taken Away
On Sunday, Chinese authorities arrested 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church and their pastor, Wang Yi.
The prominent church movement leader and human rights advocate wrote a letter in case he was detained for over 48 hours which was published on Wednesday.
Wang affirmed his duty to obey God rather than the Communist regime while praying for the salvation of his jailers. Wang denounced the persecution against the church as wicked but said they could not take away his freedom in Christ.