It’s Tuesday, November 17th, 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
Christians are targeted for persecution in 145 countries
The persecution of Christians is on the rise, according to a recent report from Pew Forum.
Now 56 countries register the highest level of religious restrictions. That’s up from 40 countries in 2007. And Christians remain the most persecuted religious group in the world, suffering persecution in 145 countries. And the highest level of persecution is in Middle Eastern and North African nations.
1 Peter 4:12-14 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
Radical Hindus brutally attack during Christian prayer meeting
A group of Hindu nationalists brutally attacked a pastor and several members of a church gathered for a prayer meeting in the Meerpet neighborhood of Hyderabad, India.
International Christian Concern reports that a Christian man named Janaiah had his eardrum completely shattered in the attack and a Christian woman named Annamma lost six teeth.
Pastor Jay Adams, author of Competent to Counsel, goes to Heaven
Jay Adams, the Presbyterian pastor who revived biblical counseling in the Western church, went to be with the Lord on Saturday.
Pastor Adams authored the book “Competent to Counsel” in 1970, sparking a small revival in biblical thinking in the area of psychology. He taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in California during the 1980s, and authored over 100 books during his earthly sojourn of 91 years.
Norway law: Pastors get 3 years in prison if speak against homosexuality
Norway has severely curtailed freedom of speech, as one of the first western nations to do so, reports Reuters.
The country would imprison for three years any pastor who speaks publicly against the sin of homosexuality. Private remarks deemed “dehumanizing” by the courts would warrant a fine or up to one year in prison.
Norwegian Baptist denomination split over lesbian leader
Meanwhile, Evangelical Focus reports that the small Norwegian Baptist denomination is split on whether to allow a lesbian to continue as a church leader in the Baptist church.
According to one recent survey conducted, 65% of the Baptist churches in country opposed the lesbian leadership in the denomination. The Baptist Union claims 6,600 baptized members.
Category-5 Hurricane Iota threatens Nicaragua
In God’s providence, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is still shaping up to be the worst in recorded history as Hurricane Iota is barreling down on Nicaragua. It’s the worst of the lot, achieving Category 5 status as of Monday.
The numbers for 2020 now clock in at six major hurricanes, seven minor hurricanes, and 31 tropical cyclones. Damage so far is calculated around $40 billion.
2020 fire season: 14 million acres burned, 15,000 structures destroyed
God’s hand is on this world.
The Arizona Department of Fire and Forestry reports almost 1 million acres burned so far. That’s four times the amount of acreage burned last year.
The Geographic Areas Coordination Centers report a total of 14 million acres and 15,369 structures destroyed in the 2020 fire season. That’s arguably the worst fire season in recent history, compared to an average of 4 million acres burned per year since the early 1980s.
The 2020 fire season broke previous records set in 2015 and 2017, by about 40%.
Revelation 11:18 encourages us to the fear of God: “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants, the prophets, the saints, and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
More women will be Congresswomen
Women now take 134 seats in the U.S. Congress, up from 127 seats in 2018, and up from 17 in 1980.
And 17 newly elected GOP women were added to the number in the 2020 elections.
Trump attorney: We’ll “overturn results of election in multiple states”
A member of Trump’s legal team, Sydney Powell, dropped a bombshell on Fox News over the weekend.
POWELL: “We’re fixing to overturn the results of the election in multiple states. And President Trump won by not just hundreds of thousands of votes, but by millions of votes that were shifted by this [Dominion and Smartmatic] software that was designed expressly for that purpose. We have sworn witness testimony of why the software was designed; it was designed to rig elections.”
Powell explained that the evidence is massive.
POWELL: “We have so much evidence I feel like it’s coming in through a firehose. … The evidence is coming in so fast. I can’t even process it all.”
Dow average climbs to record on vaccine & oil gains
And finally, the DOW Jones scraped record levels again yesterday, reaching 29,950 points at the close. It was buoyed on news that the Moderna Coronavirus vaccine achieved a 94.5% efficacy rate.
And the NASDAQ closed at 11,935. That’s a 32% increase from a year ago. Additionally, the S&P price-to-earnings ratio hit 37. During periods of healthy economic conditions over the last 50 years, the ratio ranged between 5 and 18.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, November 17th, 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.