Friday, December 22nd, in the year of our Lord 2017
By Jonathan Clark
Egyptian Security Personnel Prepare to Protect Churches During Christmas
Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that they will have 230,000 security personnel throughout the country to secure Christmas celebrations next week amid a high security alert. Security plans include sending officers to protect 2,626 churches across the nation.
Terrorist bombings claimed by ISIS have killed dozens of Egyptian Christians in churches over recent years.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met with evangelical leaders from the U.S. for the first time last month, stating he is working to fight against the radical Islamic terrorists who attack Christians in his country.
Chinese Communist Party Bans Christmas Celebrations for Members and Government Officials
The disciplinary arm of China’s Communist Party banned all party members and government officials from celebrating Christmas, reports Radio Free Asia.
The notice stated, “They must earnestly study the doctrine of cultural self-confidence introduced at the 19th Party Congress, and refrain from blindly celebrating foreign festivals or engaging in Western religions.”
Even stores are dropping Christmas trees and gifts related to Christmas and Christianity. One university prohibited students from holding any Christmas gatherings.
Rights activist Hu Jia in Beijing said this is in keeping with China’s move towards “cultural self-confidence” and a huge backlash against Christianity in the country.
Psalm 2:11-12 instructs nations to serve Christ, “Serve the Lord with fear. . . Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
15 North Koreans Defected to South Korea So Far This Year
Defections from North Korea to South Korea are up three-fold with 15 so far this year compared to five last year.
The fourth North Korean soldier to defect this year walked across the Demilitarized Zone yesterday to a checkpoint, emerging from thick fog, reports the BBC. Shortly afterward, South Korean soldiers fired 20 warning shots as other North Korean soldiers approached the border in their search for the defector.
128 Member States of the UN Vote to Call the U.S. to Withdraw Recognition of Jerusalem
A total of 128 member states of the United Nations voted yesterday in favor of a resolution calling on the United States to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as “null and void.”
The emergency special session was held at the request of the Palestinians after the U.S. vetoed a similar Security Council resolution.
Ahead of the vote, President Donald Trump warned that he may cut financial support to nations that voted for the resolution.
CDC Reports Declining Life Expectancy in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data yesterday showing that life expectancy in the U.S. dropped in 2016 for a second consecutive year, the first time since 1963. The average American lifespan is now 78.6 years, ranking below many other high income nations.
Of particular concern, deaths due to drug overdoses, mostly opioids, rose to 63,000 in 2016, up 21 percent from 2015. Since 2000, over half a million people have died from drug overdoses.
Nearly Half of Americans Surveyed Support Investigation of Planned Parenthood
A new Rasmussen poll found American voters in favor of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of Planned Parenthood over the illegal sale of baby body parts. 46 percent supported the investigation, 38 percent did not support it, and 16 percent were not sure.
The Department of Justice officially began its investigation recently after requesting documents from congressional committees that recommended a criminal investigation of Planned Parenthood.
The abortion giant receives about half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds yearly, and murders about 320,000 babies in the womb on an annual basis.
Psalm 94:21, 23 says, “They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood. . . [God] has brought on them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; the Lord our God shall cut them off.”
Judge Denies Restraining Order on Californian Baker Who Refused Lesbian Cake
As the Supreme Court considers the religiousn freedom case involving Christian baker Jack Phillips, a judge denied the state of California a temporary restraining order last week on a Christian baker who refused to offer her services for a homosexual ceremony.
Last August, a lesbian couple approached baker Cathy Miller about her services. Miller’s conscientious objection led to the couple filing a complaint with California’s department overseeing civil rights law which put Miller under investigation.
Last Thursday, Superior Court Judge David Lampe denied the department’s restraining order on Miller to infringe on her conscience and business, reports Life Site News.
Special Report on China’s Coercive Population Control After the Newscast
Did you know that China’s hostility to children continues to lead to forced abortions and sex-selection abortions despite China’s recent Two-Child Policy? Stay tuned for a World View Special Report immediately following today’s newscast.
Former Phillies Pitcher Cole Hamels Donates Mansion to Christian Camp for Special-Needs Kids
And finally, former Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife, Heidi, donated their 32,000-square-foot mansion worth over $9 million in Branson, Missouri, along with 100 acres to Christian charity Camp Barnabas, reports NBC Philadelphia.
The ministry provides camps for children with special needs and chronic illnesses. Hamels said, “Seeing the faces, hearing the laughter, reading the stories of the kids they serve; there is truly nothing like it. Barnabas makes dreams come true, and we felt called to help them in a big way.”
Camp Barnabas was thrilled to receive the gift as they expand their ministry.
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Closing Line
And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Friday, December 22nd in the year of our Lord 2017. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
Special Report: Forced and Sex Selective Abortions Continue Under China’s Two-Child Policy
Time now for a World View Special Report by Emily Swanson. I’m Adam McManus.
Two years ago on January 1st, 2016, the mainstream media was excited when China dropped their one-child policy for a two-child policy.
However, The World View spoke to Reggie St. Little John of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers who speaks out for the lives of little Chinese girls who are still being aborted despite the new Two-Child Policy. The impression was that China ended their coercive population control.
“And the way the Chinese Government announced it, is that they had abandoned the One Child Policy, which makes it sound like they had ended all coercive population control in China which is not true because it is still illegal to have a baby if you’re not married and third children are still illegal. So single mothers and women pregnant with their third child are still subject to forced abortions by the government. That has not ended.”
St. Little John said that the Chinese government is not the one which pressures people to abort their baby girls, but that’s more of a societal pressure.
“In terms of the gender side, the sex-selective abortions of baby girls that’s not done by the government. That’s done by pressure, social pressure usually coming from the mother-in-law, the husband and the mother-in-law. And that has not ended either because the cultural conditions of son preference remain and the low birth limit remains. You put those two together, and you still get the selective abortion of baby girls, especially baby daughters.”
St. Little John said that China has put themselves between a rock and a hard place because they know they are creating a “demographic disaster.” They had hoped the two-child policy would encourage more children, but Chinese people don’t want more children.
“They absolutely know it. And that’s why they went from a one-child to a two-child policy. And I think that they were hoping that people would have more kids, and people have not responded to the ability to have a second child the way the Chinese government has hoped. They are about 1.5-2 million births short per year from what they had hoped, because people in China don’t want to have a second child. Generally, If they had a boy they don’t want to have a second child. They had their boy, or if they had a girl, they don’t want to have a second child, because it’s very expensive in China.”
St. Little John said that it doesn’t make sense that China would still use coercive population control when they are in such desperate need of children.
“Why do they have any coercive population control at all? They should be offering incentives to people to have second children. They’re caught. On the one hand, they really know that they need more people because by the year 2050, I think a third of their population’s going to be retirement age, and meanwhile they don’t have the young population to sustain it. And also their labor pool is decreasing, so they know they need people, but on the other hand they don’t want to let go of that control they get through the forced abortion regime.”
St. Little John works hard with the Save-a-Girl Campaign in a rural part of China, and she shared a sweet story about two twin girls who were saved through the campaign by God’s awesome power.
“There was a woman who was pregnant, and her mother-in-law was pressuring her to have an ultrasound. And she did not want to have an ultrasound. Typically, these pregnant women do not want to have an ultrasound, because they know that if the ultrasounds shows that they have a girl, with the mother-in-law, the net pressure would be for her to abort. So she dragged her feet and dragged her feet and didn’t go in for the ultrasound until she was like eight months pregnant. She went into the ultrasound and found out that not only was she carrying one girl. She was carrying two girls. She would use up her entire quota of babies in one pregnancy, both girls. Then the pressure became really intense from the mother-in-law to abort both babies.”
St. Little John said that it was at this crucial point was where they were able to offer the woman assistance.
“She resisted and resisted, but she didn’t know what to do. Our field worker found about her, went to her door, and said, ‘Congratulations on your twin daughters. Girls are just as good as boys, and we will help you keep your daughters by giving you a monthly stipend’; that’s money that a field worker will bring to them every month to help them support their daughters.”
St. Little John said that the tragedy is that the world is not aware of the fact that many little Chinese girls are still being aborted.
“I think that what happened is that when China switched from the one-child policy to the two-child policy, the Chinese government announced it as being an abandonment. They had abandoned the one-child policy. The mainstream media just picked up on that. China scraps the one-child policy, so everybody thinks it’s over. When I tell people what I do, ‘I am fighting forced abortion and sex selective abortion in China,’ a lot of people look at me and say, ‘Wait a minute I thought that was over.’”
St. Little John said that if people want to support saving girls in China they can go to www.WomensRightsWithoutFrontiers.org and click on “Help Save Lives in China.”
This has been a World View Special Report. I’m Adam McManus.