Friday, December 30th, in the year of our Lord 2016
By Kevin Swanson
Iraqi Refugees in Great Physical and Spiritual Need
The battle against ISIS in Mosul, Iraq continues, with Iraqi troops advancing on several fronts yesterday. The World View spoke to Drew Privet of Samaritan’s Purse, a ministry there on the front lines. He says they have found the most needy refugees in Iraq.
“Basically we try to decide where our efforts will have the greatest impact, both meeting physical and spiritual needs; what activities are most needed and most impactful.”
Drew shared an incredible story of how the ministry to the refugees has born fruit.
“One recent story is in a camp in Iraq. We provide some trauma counsel, and we have a trauma counselor there on staff. And she was supposed to go visit a lady in a tent, and this tent had a number on it. And so she’s driving out to this tent; this camp is very expansive; this is acres and acres of just tent after tent after tent. Well, this lady had written her tent number down wrong. And so our counselor drove up to the wrong tent. And when our counselor got out, a woman came running, from the wrong tent, the one that she wasn’t originally intending to go, and the woman was covered in gasoline. This woman’s situation was so dire, she was about to commit suicide by burning herself to death. And the Holy Spirit had placed our counselor, at that very moment, at the right place to intervene.”
Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Disappears
Zhang Kai, Christian human rights lawyer in China, disappeared after being called into a police office in Mongolia on December 27th. China Aid reports that his family does not know his whereabouts. They are praying for his safe return. Kai is known for being a bold advocate for Christians in China, having been imprisoned before in 2015.
United States Imposes Sanctions on Russia
The United States government has imposed sanctions on Russia for what they are calling “election tampering.” They are expelling 35 Russian operatives from the country. Russia is reportedly considering a response.
Obama Adds More Land to National Monuments
President Barack Obama is making a last ditch effort of federalizing more land under the National Parks. The Bears Ears National Monument will now control some 1.5 million acres, and another 300,000 acres is going to the Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada.
Federal Debt Has Gone Up $10 Trillion During Obama’s Presidency
By the numbers, here’s a look at 2016. The federal debt now stands at $20 trillion, up $1.4 trillion over the previous year, up $10 trillion since President Obama took office.
PassionLife Rally in Cuba Brings Message of Life to 450 People
Since the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, very little has changed in the country — especially since his brother Raul became president back in 2008 due to Fidel’s sickness. LifeNews reports that “if anything is to change for the better in Cuba, it will need to come through a shift in the hearts and minds of Cuban citizens—starting with the church that has been ravaged since the Castro regime first began in 1959.”
The World View spoke with Mark Nicholson, Director of PassionLife Ministries (www.passionlife.org) , about his recent visit to Santiago, Cuba on the southern tip of the island where they led four training sessions of pastors and one youth rally reaching 450 people.
“Passion Life Ministries was invited to come down to Cuba in November and work with area pastors to come in and hear a presentation on what we call The Gospel of Life, a Biblical presentation of what Scriptures say concerning life and how God sees it.”
Nicholson said the eyes of these pastors were opened to what God’s Word says about life, the shedding of innocent blood, and God’s forgiveness. He addressed the shockingly high 60% abortion rate in Cuba.
“As far as abortion rates in the world, the highest numbers are coming out of Asia. That makes sense with the population of China. But as far as the highest abortion rates per capita, the indications are that the Caribbean and Latin America have the highest abortion rates in the world — Cuba being the leader of all those countries in the highest abortion rates per capita. What we’re finding I think in Cuba is just a low value of life and an attitude that abortion is just another means of contraception.
“We ran into very few Cuban women in the church where we were who had themselves experienced fewer than three abortions. It’s very, very common for people to abort two, three, four—sometimes we heard of eight or nine abortions. This is married women; this is people within the church; this is people from outside the church.”
Nicholson told The World View that the pro-life training of PassionLife whet the Cuban Christians’ appetite to start crisis pregnancy centers.
“There are crisis pregnancy centers on the ground in Cuba, but they are few and far between. Where we went and did our training, immediately people within the church wanted two things. They wanted follow-up training both in post-abortive counseling, grief counseling, crisis counseling. And they also wanted to learn how can we as a church serve the people around us by setting up some sort of crisis intervention center for pregnant women to come to.”
Psalm 51:14 says, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.”
Americans Spend $34 Billion on Video Games
Americans are playing games. Video games sales worldwide topped $91 billion, of which $34 billion was spent by Americans. Total box office receipts were $11 billion, about the same as last year. Simultaneously, Gallup’s church attendance percent dropped to 36% last year (from 42% in 2009). The American fertility rate was the lowest ever, 62.3 births per 1000 women, according to the CDC. And the average life expectancy has reached 79.
Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Two Homosexuals Commit Suicide After Being Investigated for Child Sexual Abuse
World Net Daily reports of two homosexuals claiming to be married who came under investigation by police for sexually abusing little boys from an elementary school in St. Paul, Minnesota. One of the homosexuals was a teacher at the school, Lincoln Center Elementary.
The police had collected a great deal of evidence over four months, and after the news went public the two died in a murder-suicide. The Regnerus Study on homosexuality, sponsored by the University of Texas, found that children living in homes with self-professed homosexuals are 10 times more likely to be sexually abused.
Well, Jesus did say, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:18-19)
Newborn Baby Abandoned in Walmart Trash Can Survives
Miraculously, a little baby girl born on Christmas Eve survived after being thrown into a Walmart trash can by her mother, reports WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Firefighters performed CPR on the little girl in the bathroom before rushing her to the hospital. After reviewing surveillance video and interviewing witnesses, her mother was reportedly arrested on the same day and will be charged. We thank God the child’s life was saved.
90 Year Old Jewish Woman Shares Amazing Story of Surviving the Concentration Camps
One Jewish woman, Magda Herzberger, 90 years old, is sharing her story of surviving 3 concentration camps with the world. It was one of the worst death camps, Bergen-Belsen, in Europe. She was almost dead, when British soldiers found her lying amidst the dead bodies in the camp. She told Christian Today she was kept alive by “small miracles from God.” God had a purpose to save me. . . she said.
40,000 Members Disassociate from Norwegian Lutheran Church
After 500 years of state control of the Norwegian Lutheran church, that’s all changing in 2017. Already this year, 40,000 members of the church have disassociated by failing to sign up on-line. Church leadership is calling this the biggest change in the Norwegian church since the Reformation.
Number of Americans Retiring Abroad at New High
More Americans than ever are retiring abroad – typically Japan, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and the UK. The numbers grew by 17% since 2010. . .and Japan has the highest growth rate of U.S. retirees. About 400,000 American retirees are living abroad.
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.