Tuesday, December 20th, in the year of our Lord 2016
By Kevin Swanson
Nine Dead in Attack on Christmas Market in Berlin
What appears to be a terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin has resulted in nine deaths and at least 50 injuries. The driver is under arrest, and another passenger was killed in the melee.
Russian Ambassador to Turkey Fatally Shot
The Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was shot and killed at an art exhibit in Ankara yesterday. The attacker shouted “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great”, according to reports. Russia is calling it an act of terror.
Siberians Die from Drinking Bath Oil Thought to Be Substitute for Alcohol
Forty-nine people in a Siberian city have died after drinking a bath oil thought to be a cheap substitute for alcohol. Where there is no hope in Christ the Savior in these poorer districts, men and women will seek a cheap and easy escape, and find death.
Electoral College Officially Elects Donald Trump
Donald Trump will be our next president, by official electoral college vote. Only a few protest votes in the electoral college yesterday made no substantial difference in the election outcome.
Trump Selects Billionaire Vincent Viola for Secretary of the Army
President-elect Donald Trump picked another billionaire for his Secretary of the Army. Vincent Viola is a West Point graduate, and founder of an electronic trading firm. He’s worth $1.8 billion, according to the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans. Also, Trump’s appointee to the Office of Management and Budget is Congressman Mick Mulvaney. The Heritage Foundation rates Mulvaney as the 12th most conservative congressman or senator in Washington.
And the Heritage Foundation rates Representative Ken Buck from Colorado and Senator Mike Lee from Utah as the nation’s most conservative legislators.
Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn.”
Turkish Government Persecutes Christians
President Barack Obama has referred to the president of Turkey as “one of my best friends,” but the Turkish government has turned into one of the most virulent enemies of Jesus Christ and His people. Long time missionary Andrew Brunson has been locked up in a Turkish prison for 70 days. Brunson has served Christ in Turkey for 23 years. According to World Net Daily, he had been denied a Bible, and the authorities confiscated his eyeglasses, his watch, and his phone.
Obama Signs International Religious Freedom Bill
Proverbs 21:1 says, “Yet, the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, and He turns it whithersoever He wills.” Thankfully, President Obama has signed the International Religious Freedom bill, authored by Congressman Frank Wolf. The new law will raise religious persecution issues to a higher visibility within the State Department.
Prosecutor Who Attacked Investigators of Planned Parenthood Loses Election
The man that was persecuting the Christian family bakery in Oregon (and fined the $135,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a homosexual couple’s wedding), lost in his bid for political office in the last election.
Now here’s news that the prosecutor that went after David Daleiden, the pro-life investigator of Planned Parenthood baby body parts also lost his re-election bid in November.
Psalm 37:35-26 says, “I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more.”
Menominee, Michigan Restores Nativity Scene to City Park
A Nativity scene has been returned to the city of Menominee, Michigan park after it was removed due to a complaint from the atheist group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The World View spoke with Mat Staver, the founder of the Liberty Counsel (www.lc.org) which took up the case defending the city’s long-standing Christmas tradition.
“This is good news because this nativity scene had been put up for a number of years until the Freedom from Religion Foundation had sent a letter. It was distorted, frankly, as most of them are. The city then decided to remove the nativity scene. We contacted the city, sent a letter, outlining what the law is and putting forth the law that a nativity scene on public property sponsored by a public entity is constitutional so long as there is a secular symbol of the holiday nearby like a Christmas tree or Santa Claus and the reindeer for example. The nativity scene will remain in Menominee, Michigan.”
Staver explained that the Freedom from Religion Foundation is really just a paper tiger.
“You know, the Freedom from Religion Foundation usually uses letters rather than litigation. They don’t have a very good track record when they go into courts, but unfortunately, some of these letters, as distorted and as wrong as they are, have an effect as in this case here. The original effect was to take down the nativity scene. Had we not gotten involved, the nativity scene would stay down. So that’s the only effectiveness that this group has, and that is if people believe their propaganda and lies and voluntarily take action. We are trying to find out every place that these threatening letters go out and we’re doing what we did here, sending out the right information, giving free counsel and offering free legal defense. And when that happens the Freedom from Religion Foundation generally doesn’t have any case and don’t follow through on their threats to sue.”
Study Shows Significant Lead Contamination in Drinking Water in Many Areas of America
Reuters News Agency has issued a study on lead content in America’s drinking water. Turns out that there are 3,000 areas with a least twice the lead contamination than what was found in Flint, Michigan. Particularly bad, were pockets in Goat Island Texas, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Baltimore.
The good news however, is that overall lead contamination in American children has been reduced 90% since 1970.
CNN Calls 2016 “The Year We Got Everything Wrong”
CNN is calling 2016 “The year we got everything wrong,” and the most humbling year for journalists in history. CNN calls this the year of populism, nationalism, anti-multi-culturalism, and diminishing trust in political institutions. It was the year of Brexit and Trump.
It was the year that Christians realized “that the most High INDEED rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will, and sets up over it the basest of men.” (Daniel 4:17).
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.