It’s Tuesday, March 15th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Kevin Swanson

Russia on brink of defaulting on debt

As the Russian–Ukrainian conflict continues, economists believe that Russia is on the brink of defaulting on debt.

However, the nation holds one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world at about 18%.

2.8 million Ukrainian refugees

According to the United Nations, more than 2.8 million Ukrainians have left the country, 1.7 million of whom have gone to Poland.

That compares to 6.8 million refugees who left Syria during the Syrian Civil War back in 2011.

Ukrainian pastor: 400 high rises damaged, people lack food & water

In an interview with The Worldview, Ukrainian Pastor Sergei detailed the impact of the Russian invasion.

SERGEI: “Our hearts and our minds and thoughts are with civilians in Ukraine because, as a result of this military conflict, many civilians, unfortunately, are losing their houses.

“In Ukraine, specific arrangements, like accommodations, people live in high rises, many of them. For example, in Kharkiv, this is large city, one and a half million people population. At this point, according to government sources, they say that 400 high rises are damaged. So, people are without food, without water, without electricity, and it’s wintertime.

“So, I just ask to pray for peace, so God would support them, because many kids and women are suffering.”

Pastor Sergei said the Baptists and Pentecostals, who remain in country, are focusing most of their energies on providing medical care and humanitarian aid to those impacted by the war.

Mike Pence, with Samaritan’s Purse, visits Ukrainian border

Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, visited refugees at the Ukrainian border with Samaritan’s Purse over the weekend.

He said, “I want the Ukrainian people to know that Americans are standing with them in prayer. I appreciate that Samaritan’s Purse is always on the frontlines with help in Jesus’ name. Where there is suffering, you are there.”

You can make a donation to support their Emergency Field Hospital which has been set up on the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine. Go to SamaritansPurse.org.

Low interest rates combined with high inflation increases inflation

The Delta price, which is the difference between the inflation rate and the Federal Funds Rate, has dipped to a record negative 6.34%, averaging a negative 1% since 2008.

This ratio averaged in the positive 2% range between 1959 and 2008.

The Federal Funds Reserve rate is the bottom rate at which banks borrow money from each other when their funds drop below the reserve requirement set by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Economists, like those at Wolfstreet.com, insist that continued low interest rates, under high inflation conditions, will guarantee increased levels of inflation in the upcoming years.

Congress approved 1,500 pork barrel projects or bribes

The major media missed the $1.5 trillion budget bill rushed through Congress in just two days last week.  The budget represents an 8.2% increase over the 2021 budget.

Here are the low points in the budget package.

• Another $286 million for Title X funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses.
• A 700% increase for “Environmental Justice” programs.
• $3.2 billion for “Renewable Energy.”
• 1,500 earmarks are in the budget. Alternately known as “pet projects,” “pork barrel spending,” or “bribes,” earmarks were almost eliminated in 2011. But they are back to the levels seen in the early 2000s.

Deuteronomy 16:19 warns: “You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.”

Whopping $475 billion deficit in five months

And finally, the Congressional Budget Office has announced a $475 billion federal deficit for the first five months of this fiscal year. That would amount to a $1.1 trillion deficit.

That would take the Debt-to-GDP ratio (Gross Domestic Product) from 123% to 132%.  That means the United States would become the seventh worst nation in the world for debt, below the nations of Mozambique and Eritrea.

That’s a reminder of Deuteronomy 28:43-44.

“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.  He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, March 15th, in the year of our Lord 2022. 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.