It’s Wednesday, October 14th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Cuban Communists arrest pastor over prayer event
Communist officials in Cuba arrested a Protestant pastor last month for planning a prayer event.
Pastor Maikel Pupo Velázquez leads the unregistered Sacred Blessing Word of Fire Church. He was detained last year for delivering medicine to the families of political prisoners. He is now in prison himself for trying to organize a public prayer event, reports The Christian Post.
Anna Lee Stangl with Christian Solidarity Worldwide said, “We demand the immediate release of Maikel Pupo Velázquez. … There is no rational justification for the decision … to detain him for simply encouraging others of his faith to pray for Cuba.”
Write a polite, 4-sentence note to the Cuban Ambassador to America, Lianys Rivera, urging her to encourage the government to release Pastor Maikel Velázquez. Send it to the Cuban Embassy, 2630 16th Street NW, Washington DC, 20009.
Pope Leo has lung cancer
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer following a surgical procedure at Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital, reports One America News.
During the operation, surgeons successfully removed the lower lobe of the 71-year-old pontiff’s right lung. However, postoperative laboratory evaluations also confirmed the presence of lung adenocarcinoma, a malignant diagnosis that preoperative tests had previously suspected.
160 million people installed the YouVersion Bible app in 2026
The YouVersion Bible app continues to see growth around the world.
YouVersion added over 160 million new installs across its family of apps in 2026. And daily usage reached a record 18.5 million people.
Zimbabwe saw the most growth in daily Bible usage this year followed by Pakistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Terms like “anxiety” and “hope” were among the most searched in the app. And the most-searched term was “Psalm 91.”
Verse two of that chapter says, “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’”
Trump lifts sanctions on Russian diesel exports
The United States is lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports.
The U.S. had been sanctioning energy exports from the country since the Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2022. Now, Russia has agreed to supply millions of tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace in the coming months.
President Donald Trump hopes this will bring prices down. Listen to his comments to reporters.
TRUMP: “I think you heard about the oil deal with Russia. That is a big deal. That is massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and I want to thank [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, to be honest with you. We have massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and it’s diesel, which is what we want.”
Trump’s FDA will address Abortion Kill Pill next March
The Trump administration is sadly pushing off its review of abortion drugs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed abortion pills to be distributed through the mail under the Biden administration, reports LifeNews.com. Louisiana sued the FDA over still allowing this. Last week, the FDA filed an update in the case, saying it will not complete its abortion pill safety study until March 2027.
Erin Hawley with Alliance Defending Freedom said, “That will be too late for nearly 90,000 unborn babies who will die between now and then by illegally obtained abortion drugs in states like Louisiana that have taken great care to protect babies and mothers from the harms of abortion.”
Fewer Americans think college is important
Fewer Americans now put a big priority on college education.
A new survey from Gallup found that 31 percent of U.S. adults think college is very important. That’s down from 70 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who think college is fairly important or not too important has been steadily growing.
At the same time, college costs have skyrocketed. The average cost of college tuition and fees rose over 80 percent in the last two decades.
Protestant pastors preach longer sermons
And finally, Protestant pastors are preaching longer sermons, and most churchgoers support it.
A Lifeway Research study found that 80 percent of pastors say their sermons are less than 40 minutes. But a growing share are preaching over 40 minutes and even over 60 minutes.
Most churchgoers are fine with the current length of their pastors’ sermons. But a growing share now prefer longer sermons.
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said, “While much of the individual video content Americans consume today takes less than a minute to watch, the majority of churchgoers prefer sermons of at least a half hour.”
In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Wednesday, October 14th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.