Wednesday, March 2nd, in the year of our Lord, 2016.
By Mark Robinette
Super Tuesday was super for Donald Trump, who won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, and Vermont. Senator Ted Cruz pulled out a must win in his home state of Texas and a surprise victory in Oklahoma. Rubio’s hope to win Virginia faded early, but Minnesota gave him his first and only victory of the night. Rubio said he was hopeful the winner-take-all race in his home state of Florida will keep his campaign viable long-term. Here’s the delegate count as it stands right now: 254 for Trump, 170 for Cruz, and 111 for Rubio. 1,237 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination. Trump continued to tower over Cruz and Marco Rubio in national polls, 49% to 15% and 16% respectively.
The World View spoke to World Magazine writer J.C. Derrick. Here’s his analysis of who is the most evangelical candidate among the GOP contenders: “It depends on who you ask and how you define evangelicalism. You know, Donald Trump obviously claims to be Presbyterian, although he said he’s never asked God for forgiveness, so I think we can mark him off the list. Obviously, Ted Cruz has certainly made his evangelicalism and his faith a central issue in his campaign. Marco Rubio, while Catholic, has somewhat of an evangelical background and has been able to articulate his personal faith probably better than anybody else in the field. I think what you’re going to see is Trump, Cruz, and Rubio all getting a sizeable share of the self-identified evangelicals.”
The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention laid off more than 1,000 missionaries and staff after spending $210 million more than it took in last year. According to Christian Headlines, the church still has 3,800 missionaries in the field, a 20-year low, but it is now leaner and more efficient.
The Anglican Church of Canada, expected to change its position on marriage this summer to allow gay marriage, announced on Monday that the move is unlikely. Unable to get a two-thirds majority of bishops to agree to the change, general secretary Michael Thompson said that he and other leaders were “mortified and devastated by this realization.” Those who name the name of Christ should be mortified and devastated that these men, who portend to represent Christ, would consider perverting God’s Word in this way.
“And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment” (Jude 7).
A 38-year-old post-graduate student in Britain, who dared to remind his Facebook friends what God’s Word says about the sin of homosexuality, was ejected from Sheffield College. Felix Ngole, a father of four who came to England for asylum from Cameroon, simply posted a photograph of Leviticus 20 and was kicked out of the school soon after. The Christian Legal Centre is representing Ngole as he appeals the expulsion. Its chief executive Andrea Williams told The Independent, “Sadly, this is yet another case of Christians being ‘neutered’ in the public arena, and of censorship of views.”
A Hindu priest among the highest caste in Nepal was awakened from spiritual death by the transforming power of the gospel after a pesky and courageous evangelist persistently brought him the Word of God. Kosh Dahal said that he doubted Jesus could do any more than the 330 million gods and goddesses in Hinduism. A gospel preacher kept coming to his veterinary clinic and preaching to Dahal, until he agreed to pray twice a day to Jesus to see if it would make a difference in his life. Soon Dahal said, “This power like a current of electricity came into me and began to run very fast. I was shocked . . . I kept saying, ‘Who is this? What’s happening to me? What’s inside of me running very fast?’” It was an experience he had never encountered in his 30 years of worshiping the Hindu pantheon of gods. His wife and children were also converted to Christ.
Dahal abandoned the Hindu priesthood and began evangelizing. He and his family planted a church in Kathmandu. After some years, they left their jobs, properties, and families, and moved to the Philippines to study in seminary. While there, they planted five more churches. Since 2013, they have been ministering to the Nepalese in Malaysia.
According to Christian Headlines, a new survey finds that Christian churches are twice as likely to fear refugees from the Middle East due to ISIS and other Muslim conflict, than they are to help them. Most of the 1,000 pastors surveyed said their churches believe they should help them even if it is dangerous, but few are actually helping the relief effort.
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.