It’s Thursday, November 16th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Jonathan Clark

Chinese gov’t takes over charities

The Chinese Communist Party continues to crack down on anything related to religion.

The government is now considering legislation to put charities under its control. Charities have faced regulation since 2016, but have enjoyed some level of freedom from the government. Under the new law though, police and security officials will have direct control over them.

Bitter Winter Magazine notes, “It is clear that the Chinese Communist Party is concerned by these Chinese charities that serve as a conduit for exchanges with the charitable arms of religious organizations abroad.” 

China ranks 16th on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Psalm 14:4 asks, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the LORD?”

California Governor cleans San Fran streets for Commie dictator

Speaking of China, the country’s president, Xi Jinping, met with U.S. President Joe Biden yesterday for trade talks in northern California. 

The two leaders haven’t spoke for a year as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise. 

The meeting occurs on the sidelines of the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum being held in San Francisco. The 21-member forum includes the economies of the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, Canada, and Australia. 

California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom faces criticism for just now cleaning up the streets of San Francisco, known for widespread homeless encampments and drug users. Apparently, a visiting communist dictator does the trick.

House funds part of the government

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to temporarily fund parts of the government into the new year. This breaks with the past practice of passing an omnibus spending bill to entirely fund the government.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters: “As long as I’ve been in Congress, we have governed by omnibus bills right before Christmas. It is a terrible way to run a railroad. And the reason that we’re in such trouble with our federal debt is because Congress is addicted, obsessed with this deficit spending.”

The short-term spending bill is expected to pass in the U.S. Senate as well.

27 GOP Senators to Pentagon: No more tax-funded abortion travel

Republicans in the U.S. Senate are calling out the Defense Department for its pro-abortion policy.

Twenty-seven GOP senators sent a letter on Monday to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Austin created a travel fund to help military members get abortions.

The letter stated, “You have broken your promise to the American people not to politicize the military. … Now taxpayers–many of whom have deeply-held religious and moral objections to abortions–are on the hook to facilitate the very abortions they fundamentally oppose. … Do the right thing. Rescind the Policy now.”

Proverbs 24:11 says, “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”

To write a stern, 2-4 sentence letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, asking him to stop funding abortion travel for servicemembers and their dependents, send it to 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000.

Church attendance still down 10% from COVID shutdowns

Lifeway Research reports that churches have returned to in-person services, but not all churchgoers have.

Lifeway found that 100% of U.S. Protestant pastors say their church met in person in August. That number is slightly up from August 2021 (89%) and significantly up since September 2020 (87%).

However, only 9 in 10 churchgoers have returned since the pandemic. Pastors report attendance is 89% of what it was in early 2020.

Prominent atheist repents

And finally, a prominent atheist activist says she is now a Christian. 

Ayaan Hirsi Ali shared the news in a recent essay. She was born in Somalia, Africa and grew up under Islam. Hirsi Ali eventually rejected that for atheism and became an important critic of Islam, especially its treatment of women. She was even associated with the leaders of New Atheism such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

However, atheism did not hold the answers she was looking for. Only in Christianity could she find personal meaning and purpose in life. Hirsi Ali also shared how she found hope for civilization.

She noted the only thing that can fight the “resurgence of great-power authoritarianism,” “the rise of global Islam,” and “the viral spread of woke ideology” is the Christian tradition: “That legacy consists of an elaborate set of ideas and institutions designed to safeguard human life, freedom, and dignity.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, November 16th in the year of our Lord 2023. 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.