Monday, February 15th, in the year of our Lord, 2016.
By Jonathan Clark
By the providence of God, the balance of powers on the Supreme Court of the United States has been upset. News of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death has triggered a battle in Washington over his replacement. In the meantime, the court will sit in an ideological stalemate. Scalia was the most conservative member of the bench, a proponent of the traditional family, and a defender of liberty for Christians. Much hangs in the balance. The political stakes for the 2016 elections have increased significantly. Scalia died in his sleep at a hunting lodge in Texas over the weekend.
By the year 2050, the number of people age 85 and older is expected to triple, according to The Washington Post. Care for the elderly is a common concern among parents and children alike. Many are trying to balance the desire to keep their elderly family members at home away from the rigid environment of a nursing home with the burdens and challenges of being a caregiver. What will the U.S., and particularly Christians, do? The World View spoke to Todd Strawser, the director of Christian Family Eldercare, about the opportunity Christians have with the increase of the elderly: “So what as Christians we need to do is, first of all, to establish that honor is our priority for the elders. That’s what God’s Word says. We need to lay down honor as our priority. And therefore, [we need to] realize that we are all going to enter into different seasons of eldercare. And what that’s going to mean though, is that those seasons of eldercare can be difficult, as it’s mentioned in this article. Seasons of eldercare can be difficult, and even Christians can feel pretty ill equipped in terms of what to do, so we need to use not only our entire families to help in these seasons, but also the body of Christ.”
Scripture reminds us of our duty to honor the elderly, “You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:32).
One year ago today, ISIS released the video in which 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded by masked militants in Libya. However, the response of the Coptic Church over the last year has been forgiveness, according to Bishop Angaelos, the General Bishop of the Coptic Church. Christian Today reports that Bishop Agnaelos said, “The same tool used to try and magnify violence and division actually became a platform for everyone to see the strength of their faith.” May God grant us all the same readiness to forgive.
Somali authorities have confirmed that a suicide bomber was responsible for blowing up a Daallo Airlines plane flying out of Somalia on February 2. Minutes after takeoff, the bomb blasted a three-foot hole in the fuselage, causing an emergency landing. Of the 70 passengers, two were injured, and the only one who died is believed to be the detonator, according to local authorities. Somalian transport minister Ali Jama Jangali has blamed Al-Shabaab for the bombing.
A Christian of Somali descent was brutally attacked by his Muslim relatives while on the way to church last week in Nairobi, Kenya. The young man, Hassan, reported that he was unable to see or eat after the assault by his relatives, who were outraged by Hassan’s devotion to Christianity instead of Islam. Please pray for Hassan and his family as they face this persecution.
In contrast, liberal Christians in America are beating up on the Bible. According to the Christian Post, biblical critic Peter Enns sums up the liberal perspective in his book The Bible Tells Me So, writing, “For Christians, Jesus, not the Bible, has the final word.” Well, Jesus had this to say, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word . . . He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:23-24).
The FBI has thanked Franklin Graham for his instrumental work in bringing resolution to the standoff between law enforcement and a group of Oregon ranchers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The group had occupied the wildlife refuge for six weeks in protest of the government’s confiscation of land and jailing of two ranchers on charges believed by some to be spurious. Graham was in contact with the group for a week before they agreed last Thursday to end the occupation peacefully.
British authorities have arrested a 16-year-old boy living in England who is suspected of being the leader behind the recent hacking of FBI and DHS data, reported Fox News. The hacker claimed to have gotten the names, titles and contact information for 20,000 employees from the FBI and 9,000 employees from DHS. However, in a statement last week, DHS stated, “There is no indication at this time that there is any breach of sensitive or personally identifiable information.”
Good news for the babies of Winter Haven, Florida: the Planned Parenthood abortion mill in that city closed down on the first of February. According to Live Action News, Sidewalk Advocates for Life reported the shutdown, which is the first abortion facility closure in the ministry’s 22-month-history. Praise be to God!
Solomon reminds us that it is the Lord Who “delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper . . . From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight” (Psalm 72:12, 14).
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.