Thursday, June 9th, in the year of our Lord 2016
By Kevin Swanson
In another act of unspeakable cruelty, Islamic State militants burned 19 Yazidi girls to death in Mosul, Iraq earlier this week, for refusing their sexual advances. 3,500 Yazidi women remain in captivity according to the United Nations.
Psalm 5:6 says, “You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”
And now, reports of four dead and five wounded from a terrorist shooting yesterday in Tel Aviv, Israel. The police believe the attack was targeting Israelis. Two terrorists have been detained. Palestinian attacks over eight months have left 28 Israelis and two Americans dead.
The UCLA professor shot and killed last week was a Christian father of two young children. World Magazine reports that Bill Klug was a graduate of Westmont College and taught mechanical engineering. Before he died, Klug testified that “Knowing there is a God responsible for the world makes a big difference in my motivation to understand it better.”
Evangelicals are hoping for one million attendees at the Together 2016 Rally this July at the Washington Mall in DC. And they’re excited that the Roman Catholic Pope has agreed to join by video, to “Empower the church in America” and to awaken the culture to Jesus. Pope Francis will join with Hillsong, Francis Chan, Ravi Zacharias, Josh McDowell, Jeremy Camp, Michael W. Smith, and the Casting Crowns band at the event.
The transgender bathroom brouhaha is now heading to the U.S. Supreme Court. A Gloucester County, Virginia girl wants to use the boys’ restroom at her local high school, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the girl and against the school district, for violating Title IX. The County is appealing to the Supreme Court, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch.
Most of the 170+ Christian colleges in America receive federal funding and are impacted by the same Title IX requirements.
In a vote of 116-36, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill that would open public bathrooms to accommodate those who choose their own gender identity. The law would impact private businesses such as restaurants, movie theaters, bars, hotels, and other places of public accommodation.
“They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.” (Rev. 17:14)
As she clinched the Democratic nomination for president by pledged delegate count this week, Hillary Clinton is capitalizing on a first-time achievement in the history of American politics: “Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone. The first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee.”
Clinton emphasized recently, at the Copenhagen Women Deliver Conference, that abortion rights and gender equality must be core priorities in national and international politics.
Also on Tuesday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took home all five of the remaining primaries: New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and California. Thus far, Trump has received over 13 million votes in the elections, more than any other candidate in Republican history, according to the Gateway Pundit. In an interview yesterday, Mr. Trump said he’s narrowed down his vice presidential pick to four or five people. He’s holding off his announcement though until the Republican convention in July.
Pro-life candidate George Holding defeated Renee Ellmers in North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District primary, a victory for conservatives. Renee Ellmers, the defeated incumbent, nearly stopped a pro-life bill that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks, back in 2015.
Flood levels rose outside of Houston, Texas recently but so did Christian charity. While thousands of homes have been evacuated, and the Texas Governor declared 31 counties disaster areas. . . A faith-based group called Mercy Chefs has stepped in to bring physical and spiritual help to the many people in crisis. Gary LeBlanc, founder of Mercy Chefs, explains how they are helping the victims of the flooding: “We provide high-quality, chef-prepared, hand-crafted meals. We aren’t counting a peanut butter sandwich and a hot bottle of water as a meal, just to run our meal counts up. We work really hard at providing the highest-quality food in the field that’s possible.”
Isaiah 58:10 reminds us, “If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
The UK has been rejecting asylum sought by many Christian converts on trivial grounds. The All Parliamentary Party Group for International Religious Freedom has reported the UK’s unfair approach of vetting the Christians with Bible questions like the names of the twelve apostles. Baroness Berridge of the All Parliamentary Party said, “The problem with those questions is that if you are not genuine you can learn the answers, and if you are genuine, you may not know the answers.”
Christian Headlines reports Christians in China were banned from a prayer meeting because the government claimed they did not have permission. Organized by Bishop Stephen Yang Xiangtai, the planned prayer meeting came in response to the vandalization of three churches in the Handan province. May the Christians in China continue to pray.
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)
Tuesday night, two South Carolina National Guard F-16 fighter jets crashed over the state of Georgia, reported Fox News. The pilots were able to safely eject after the two planes collided in mid-air. The US Air Force is investigating the incident.
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.