Thursday, September 14th, in the year of our Lord 2017
By Jonathan Clark
20 Nigerian Christians Murdered in Their Sleep
Last Friday, Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, Africa slaughtered 20 Christians in their sleep, including children, according to International Christian Concern. Police reportedly said the attack was in revenge for a Fulani boy found dead last week, but one of the Christian villagers pointed out that was in another town.
Since October of 2016, Fulani militants have attacked over 20 Christian villages, killed more than 200 Christians, and destroyed hundreds of buildings, including homes and churches.
Please pray for these persecuted believers and for repentance among the Fulani Muslims.
Matthew 5:10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Canada Works Toward Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana
Canada is moving to legalize recreational marijuana sales next July, and Ontario is the first province to declare how they will regulate it, reports Bloomberg.
Last Friday, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa stated the Liquor Control Board of Ontario plans to manage 150 government-run marijuana stores by 2020. Online sales are also part of the plan.
Christian Blind Mission Receives Award for Treating Blindness in Poor Countries
Last week, the largest Christian disability organization, Christian Blind Mission (or CBM), became the joint winner of the world’s biggest scientific prize in the field of vision. The award recognized CBM and the international non government organization Sightsavers for their pioneering work in treating preventable blindness in the poorest parts of the world, according to Christian Today.
Kirsty Smith, chief executive of CBM UK, stated, “We’re honoured to receive this award, which is testament to the tireless efforts of our experts and partners around the world. . . Together, we’re determined to build a world where nobody is needlessly blind and every person with a disability has the chance to fulfill their God-given potential.”
Last year, Christian Blind Mission performed over 400,000 sight-restoring surgeries and helped protect over eight million people from blinding diseases.
Eight Elderly People Die from Heat After Power Loss in Florida
Tragically, eight elderly patients died at a nursing home near Miami, Florida yesterday due to intense heat after loss of power from Hurricane Irma. Over 100 people were evacuated from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said that the sad event was probably linked to the severe heat, but that they would conduct a criminal investigation.
Network of Abortion Businesses Alarmed at Rate of Abortion Mill Closures
The Abortion Care Network, an organization of independent abortion businesses, released a report entitled “Communities Need Clinics”, pointing out the “alarming rate” at which abortion facilities are closing.
In the last five years, 30 percent or 145 of these independent murder mills have closed. This does not include hundreds of closed Planned Parenthood facilities.
The network admitted the effectiveness of pro-life laws, the blocking of Medicaid funding for abortion, and sidewalk pro-life activism. So far, eight states have only one murder mill left.
Congress Votes to Defund Program that Allowed Police to Seize Property
The Institute for Justice reports the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously supported three amendments on Tuesday that would defund a federal forfeiture program recently brought back by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The program allowed state and local law enforcement officers to seize property without filing criminal charges and transfer the property to federal prosecutors for forfeiture.
Institute for Justice Attorney Robert Everett Johnson said, “Civil forfeiture is one of the greatest threats to private property rights. But today, hundreds of members of Congress came together and voted to block an alarming expansion of this government power.”
Exodus 20:15 applies to governments too. “You shall not steal.”
Millennials Burdened by Student Loan Debt
Student loan debt stands at $1.3 trillion, according to the Department of Education.
Based on a new survey from Credible, the personal financial website, 50 percent of millennials said they would give up their right to vote in the next two presidential elections if they never had to make a loan payment again. Others were willing to move in with their parents, not travel outside the country, or give up texting.
Eight percent of respondents said they would give up nothing and keep up their debt payments.
Special Report on Betsy DeVos’s Thoughts on Homeschooling After the Newscast
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, an outspoken advocate for school choice, talked with The World View about her thoughts on homeschooling during her visit to Denver yesterday. Stay tuned for my Special Report immediately following today’s newscast.
Chick-fil-A Allows Displaced Church to Hold Sunday Worship Service in the Restaurant
And finally, Chick-fil-A is known for not opening its doors on Sunday so that employees can “set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose.”
WTVR-TV reports that one restaurant in Virginia opened their doors on Sunday to White Oak Community Church just so they could have a place to worship. The church had recently been told they could no longer use space at the local hotel. One attendant said, “I think it’s awesome that Chick-fil-A is opening its doors on a Sunday to allow a temporarily displaced. . . church to hold service.”
Closing Line
And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, September 14th in the year of our Lord 2017. Invite your friends to listen to this unique Christian newscast at
ww.TheWorldView.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
Special Report: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Supports Homeschooling
Time now for a World View Special Report. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos came to Denver yesterday as part of her “Rethink School” national tour, visiting Firefly Autism House during which she highlighted the ways educators are meeting the unique needs of their students.
“There have been lots of pilot programs and efforts around personalized learning. I think schools need to take a very close look at this to keep them engaged, to make them look forward to their learning.”
DeVos told KUSA Channel 9 News that “Too many [teachers] feel like their hands are tied when the system tells them when to teach, how to teach and what to teach.”
She thinks teachers should have more freedom to be innovative, saying that’s hampered by “defenders of the status quo.”
She cited a private school in Austin, Texas, a charter-school in Dearborn, Michigan, as well as homeschool co-ops as good examples of schools doing things differently.
DeVos’ bold advocacy as Education Secretary for charter schools and creative, entrepreneurial educational solutions is in keeping with her three decades of volunteer work in the arena. She has been an advocate of the Detroit charter school system and served as the chairwoman of the board of the Alliance for School Choice and the Acton Institute as well as leading the “All Children Matter” PAC.
No wonder her government-schools-only critics have been so hostile to both her nomination and her confirmation on February 7th in the Senate by a 51–50 vote, where Vice President Mike Pence cast the historic tie-breaking vote.
During her Denver visit yesterday, she admitted that “rethinking school means embracing dramatic change, even if it is hard, and even if it is scary.”
No doubt her last name was already a household name nationally long before President Donald Trump ever nominated her. After all, she is married to Dick DeVos, the former CEO of the multi-level marketing company Amway, and is the daughter-in-law of Amway’s billionaire co-founder, Richard DeVos.
In 2016, the DeVos family was listed by Forbes as the 88th richest family in America, with an estimated net worth of $5.4 billion.
As the Lord has blessed that family, they have been a blessing through The Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation, donating large amounts to hospitals, health research, arts organizations, Christian schools, evangelical missions, and conservative, free-market think tanks. The Heritage Foundation and Mars Hill Bible Church were just two of the recipients of the DeVos Foundation money. Of the $100 million the foundation donated between 1999 through 2014, half of it went to Christian organizations.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said DeVos has “made a career out of standing up to powerful and connected special interests on behalf of poor kids who are too often forgotten by Washington.”
Back on July 20th, during her last visit to Denver, DeVos said this.
“Choice in education is good politics because it’s good policy. It’s good policy because it comes from good parents who want better for their children. Families are on the front line of this fight. Let’s stand with them.”
Denver7, an ABC affiliate, noted during that July visit, that DeVos “got involved in policy making because she wants students who can’t afford to move to another district, or who can’t afford tuition, to have the same choice her children did” who alternately went to private Christian school or were homeschooled.
In fact, back on May 22nd, DeVos announced the Trump administration was offering “the most ambitious expansion” of school choice within American history.
That’s why the liberal Colorado teacher’s union, which feels threatened by the American notion of competition in the marketplace of education, organized hundreds of protesters to greet DeVos at her hotel and during her appearance at the State Capitol.
In an exclusive interview with Christian Home Educators of Colorado Director Steven Craig during her Denver visit, The World View asked Secretary DeVos about her thoughts on home education.
“Well I think that homeschooling is really an important part of the wide offering of options and opportunities for families to pursue. The move toward it continues to strengthen and grow. I think that’s a really great thing, particularly I think there’s more resources today than when we homeschooled our two daughters for the window of time. So that makes it more accessible.”
Unlike previous Education Secretaries who have been blatantly hostile to home education, DeVos shared that the demeaning stereotypes are simply not true.
“Some would raise a flag of concern around homeschooling about whether homeschool students have an opportunity of socialization. My experience of homeschooled students has been quite the opposite, that they are very social and very engaged and very interactive. The opportunity you have with homeschooling is to educate the whole person. The homeschool students that I’ve met have been very impressive on multiple levels, starting with their finely developed character.”
DeVos recognized both the incredible sacrifice that homeschool parents make as well as the consequential expansion of the kingdom of God through their children.
“To parents, I just, first of all, give them a ton of credit for pursuing this option for their children. It does take a tremendous amount of dedication and commitment. Hand in glove with that, I would encourage them because the work they are doing to help form their children is going to have lasting and eternal impact.”
Plus, in a 2013 interview with Philanthropy Roundtable, DeVos said, “To the extent that homeschooling puts parents back in charge of their kids’ education, more power to them.”
DeVos’ Denver visit yesterday is part of a multi-state tour with stops in Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Indiana.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 declares, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
How refreshing to finally have an Education Secretary who embraces America’s homeschool movement — without apology.
This has been a World View Special Report. I’m Adam McManus.