It’s Tuesday, April 28th, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Kevin Swanson
U.S. percentage of deficit higher now than World War II
Proverbs 22:7 says, “The debtor is servant to the lender.” And the U.S. federal deficit for 2020 is now estimated to have topped $4.3 trillion or 21.4% of the Gross Domestic Product.
That exceeds the debt racked up in 1944 during World War II when the deficit reached 21.2% of the GDP.
Worldwide economic recovery will be long-term
Reuters polled over 500 economists on the potential of world economic recovery, and found 55% expect the recovery to look more like a “U” than a “V” — meaning, a long-term recovery.
The economists pointed to the worst of the economic collapse occurring in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Thailand, and Argentina.
COVID-19 crushing the housing market
A new Gallup poll also found that Americans are more pessimistic on buying real estate since the poll was first taken in the 1970s.
While existing home sales were down 8.5% in March over February, it might be the perfect time to buy a home.
Hong Kong arrests leading pro-democracy activists
Hong Kong’s resistance to communism has hit the wall, with the arrests of 15 pro-democracy activists on April 18th, reports the South China Morning Post.
Journalist and publisher Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and others were arrested for organizing and participating in anti-communist marches on August 18, October 1, and October 20 of last year.
The arrests prompted protests from the U.S. State Department, the Australian foreign minister, the International Bar Association, and the European Parliament.
Coronavirus infections on the decline
Is the end of this COVID-19 monomania in sight?
Washington State, where the first major COVID-19 infection spread in the United States, now reports a full 30-day decline on daily death reports.
The state data shows a 30-day increase beginning on February 22nd when the first infections and deaths were reported, and a 33-day decrease of the death incident reports following March 25th.
Then, looking at the country as a whole, the United States would have reached its peak on daily death counts over the last weekend.
New York City data indicates that the COVID-19 peak on daily death counts occurred on April 6th, almost three weeks ago. Colorado indicated a peak on April 10th.
New York’s COVID-19 death rate per million residents is 10 times Colorado’s death rate, and 100 times Utah, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Hawaii’s death rate per million residents.
31x as many U.S. babies killed in womb than all U.S. COVID deaths
Keep things in perspective.
While 56,000 Americans have died of the COVID-19 virus, an estimated 216,000 babies were killed by surgical abortions. Plus, 1,500,000 American children were killed by the use of the IUD conception control device.
Let us always be watchful for the warnings that Jesus gave us in Matthew 23:23. He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
When gov’t shut down U.S. churches, Christians were surprised
How does one love their neighbor and honor the King, while not allowing governments to infringe on freedoms? This is a question many Christians have struggled with in the past two months over the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s the question Bill Jack of Worldview Academy will be addressing in a webinar covering “The Loss of Liberty and How to Respond to this Pandemic.”
Mr. Jack told The Worldview that Christians have all been responding in different ways to this crisis, and he hopes the webinar will help them with the confusion.
JACK: “We were all taken aback by the suddenness of this and the swift response of governments both on the national level and the local level and the state level. We were caught flat-footed, everybody was, but especially Christians.
“For example, in the shutting down of churches; how do we respond to the loss of religious liberties against the concern for our neighbors; love for our neighbors, by not exposing them to a virus? How do we balance our compassion and our desire to maintain liberty?”
Jack said that these questions are ones they will answer on the webcast on Wednesday. It’s free, but you must register via a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Supreme Court: Gov’t to pay for $12 billion of health insurance loss
The federal government will be saddled with another $12 billion of insurance losses imposed by Obamacare, according to a Supreme Court decision issued on Monday, reports the New York Times.
By a vote of 8-1, the Supremes ruled that the federal government is liable for losses incurred in the healthcare exchange established by the Affordable Care Act of 2008.
Suicidal calls up dramatically
And finally, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Los Angeles, which handles one of the largest suicide hotlines in the country, now reports an 8,000% increase in call volume over the previous month, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Fox 17 reports an 800% increase. And local police departments are reporting a doubling of suicide calls.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, April 28th in the year of our Lord 2020. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.