It’s Monday, February 28th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark and Adam McManus
Communists prohibit online church meetings, social media
A new Communist law against Christians goes into effect in China next month.
The law bans unregistered churches from holding online meetings and prohibits people from sharing religious content on social media.
Thomas Muller with Open Doors reports state-authorized churches will be affected by the law as well. Muller said, “All other ‘underground’ churches are effectively being driven off the internet.”
Russia kills 240 Ukrainians, bombs gas pipeline
Russia failed to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city during fighting on Saturday night and Sunday morning, reports The Daily Mail. But Russian forces entered Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Sunday morning.
Vladimir Putin had green-lighted their deployment, with each fighter given a deck of cards to help them recognize Ukrainian leaders they were encouraged to capture and kill.
The United Nations says at least 240 Ukrainian citizens have been killed. Plus, at least 200,000 people have fled Ukraine to three countries, 150,000 of whom have crossed into Poland.
Russia took control of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant 62 miles north of Kyiv, reports USA Today. And Russia blew up a gas pipeline near Kharkiv, sending a huge mushroom cloud billowing into the sky.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko says their air force shot down a missile aimed at Kyiv, by a plane that flew in from Russian ally Belarus. Plus, Ukraine has obliterated a 56-tank convoy of feared Chechen fighters and Ukrainian National Guard units have recaptured the Antonov International Airport in Hostomel, after an attack by Russian assault helicopters and jet fighters,
Putin is reportedly furious at the slower-than-expected efforts to conquer Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Zelensky emerges as courageous hero
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emerged as a courageous hero.
Listen.
(audio of Zelensky speaking in Ukrainian)
ZELENSKY: “I initiated a phone call to the president of the Russian Federation. The result was silence. … If we are attacked by the troops, if they try to take our country away from us, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. Not attack, but defend ourselves. And when you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces.”
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Then, on Saturday, the Ukrainian President made a selfie video outside in Ukraine’s capital.
He said, “There’s a lot of fake info telling that I ordered the Ukrainian Army to surrender. I am here. We will not lay down any weapons.”
Appearing on Fox and Friends, former President Donald Trump analyzed why he thought Russian President Putin had been emboldened to attack Ukraine.
TRUMP: “I think Putin really wanted to negotiate for a period of time. When he watched Afghanistan, when he watched that unbelievably bad withdrawal, where they took the military out first, where they left $85 billion worth of equipment behind for the Taliban to have and to sell and to use — and of course, the deaths, the deaths that happened — when they watched all of that, I think they got emboldened.”
Founder of Christian Radio for Russia: “God is in control”
Dr. Daniel Johnson, the founder of Christian Radio for Russia which operates New Life Radio from Odessa, Ukraine, told The Worldview that his Russian-speaking broadcasters have been addressing the Biblical context for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
JOHNSON: “We’re reminding people that even though war is here right now, it’s all predicted. It’s all part of God’s plan. And we remind people to look forward to what the end of Revelation describes of Christ’s return and the establishment of His kingdom.
“When you’re going through a period of war that’s the particular area of the scriptures you want to focus on because it reminds you that God is in control and that these wars, and rumors of wars, are going to take place. Despite the crisis we find ourselves in, this is just part of God’s plan.”
Johnson said the orthodox leaders in each country seem animated by nationalism.
JOHNSON: “I have seen photographs and video of Russian Orthodox priests taking holy water and throwing it on Russian tanks and blessing them as the soldiers go by. And Ukrainian Orthodox priests bless their soldiers in a similar manner. So, there are two orthodox priesthoods that are independently blessing the soldiers of each nation.”
Will Christian Finnish politician get justice?
A Finnish court heard final arguments last week in the case of parliament member Päivi Räsänen.
She faces two years in prison for opposing sexually perverted lifestyles because of her beliefs based on the Bible.
Religious freedom advocate Pastor Andrew Brunson delivered a letter to Räsänen last week with a prayer pledge signed by over 14,000 people.
Britain to end at-home abortion pill program
The U.K. plans on scrapping its at-home abortion pill program.
The government started the program during the COVID-19 pandemic. It allowed women to get abortion pills in the mail and self-administer them up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
An estimated 10,000 women needed hospitalization after taking the pills not to mention the many unborn babies killed in the process.
Biden nominates judge hostile to religious liberty, unborn babies
And finally, last Friday, President Joe Biden nominated appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Jackson would be the first African American woman on the Supreme Court.
Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List pro-life group objected. “She is on record opposing the free speech rights of pro-life advocates pleading to save lives outside abortion centers and supporting the false claim that abortion is ‘health care.’”
And Kelly Shackelford with First Liberty Institute warned, “Her record from the beginning of her career shows hostility to religious liberty, free speech, and other constitutional rights.”
Exodus 18:21 says, “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, February 28th, 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.
Print stories
CDC drops mask mandate for 70% of Americans
The CDC dropped indoor mask guidelines for 70% of Americans on Friday.
The new metrics labeled over half of U.S. counties where three-fourths of the population lives to be at “low” or “medium” risk to COVID-19.
On Thursday, Washington state and New Mexico announced they are dropping their indoor mask mandates. Hawaii is now the only state with no date set for lifting its mask mandate.
Majority of U.S. public trusts pastors
A new Barna study found that a majority of U.S. adults are unsure whether pastors in their local community can be trusted, are in touch with their community’s needs, or are reliable sources of wisdom and leadership
Just 57% of Americans think pastors are a trustworthy source of wisdom. Over 60% of Americans said pastors were reliable in spiritual and relational matters.
However, pastors themselves said their congregants were more likely to trust them than people in the local community were. Pastors were especially unsure of how reliable they are as sources of counsel for how Christians should inform our political and justice systems.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”