It’s Friday, May 3rd, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Open Doors ministers to Ethiopian woman who lost everything
Desta Alemu knows what it’s like to be hated and cast out for her faith in Jesus. After all, she has the ashes of her burned home and business to prove it. She and her family were caught up in violence in their community in Ethiopia.
She said, “When we left our home, it was very difficult. We couldn’t even find a way to get out; we hid in a neighbor’s house three houses down. I can’t explain the pain and worry I felt in the chaos. Our possessions were destroyed; we lost everything.”
Thankfully, Open Doors was able to help her with both immediate needs—and long-term trauma care.
Desta explained, “Because I came [to the trauma care seminar], countless things have changed in me. I’ve learned about humility, and how Jesus was also persecuted. … Jesus was also hated, and He was also cast out.”
In John 15:18-19, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
Open Doors lists Ethiopia as the 32nd most dangerous country worldwide in which to be a Christian.
Chinese Bible distributor sentenced to 5 years in prison
In April 2021, Chinese authorities arrested 10 Christians for selling and distributing Bibles in Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia — an autonomous region in northern China. Just last month, a judge sentenced one of these believers to prison.
On April 15, 2024, Ban Yanhong was sentenced to five years in prison for “illegal business operations.” That’s how the Communist government describes the distribution of Bibles to Christians in Inner Mongolia.
Originally, the 10 Hohhot Christians purchased the Bibles legally from a church in Nanjing associated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. These churches are the only legal churches in China and are controlled by the Communist government.
In Ban’s case, prosecutors argued that even though the Bibles were initially purchased legally in Nanjing, selling and distributing them in Inner Mongolia by unregistered house church members was illegal.
Supreme Court agrees with Texas’ age requirement for porn
Great news! The United States Supreme Court has rejected a request to block enforcement of a Texas law that requires porn sites to verify the age of its users. This will ensure that far fewer minors will have access to these ungodly images.
In a one-sentence miscellaneous order released Tuesday that included no dissents, the Supreme Court declined to issue a stay in the case of Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.
This allows a ruling from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that upheld the age verification law to remain in effect.
Last June, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1181, which requires porn sites to verify a user’s age. Any company found violating the requirement faces a fine of as much as $10,000 per day.
Additionally, a porn company can be fined $250,000 if a minor sees explicit content because their age was not properly verified.
Second Boeing whistleblower died unexpectedly
A second Boeing whistleblower has died unexpectedly as the company faces scrutiny over safety failures on its passenger jets, reports Fox News.
Joshua Dean, a quality inspector for the Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died this week after a surprise infection left him in critical condition for days.
The cause was MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, according to what his aunt Carol Parsons told the Seattle Times, which first reported the death.
The 44-year-old lost his job in 2023 and filed a retaliation complaint with federal labor officials, alleging that he was only fired for speaking out.
Dean had been deposed in connection with a shareholder lawsuit and had reported dangerous faults in components of Boeing’s 737 MAX plane — a model linked to a number of catastrophes in recent years.
John Barnett, age 62, is the other Boeing whistleblower. He had sued Boeing, claiming that he had been retaliated against, harassed, and spied on by the company. He never showed up for his second day of depositions.
Barnett was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 9 outside his Charleston, South Carolina hotel the day after he gave a deposition in connection with his own retaliation lawsuit.
“Unsung Hero” is a must-see Christian movie
And finally, Joel and Luke Smallbone, the Australian duo that make up the Grammy Award-winning group for King and Country, and their older sister, artist Rebecca St. James, are widely known in music circles. But their family’s backstory — and unlikely rise to fame — hasn’t been told in-depth and in all its glorious messiness, until now.
The Christian movie, “Unsung Hero,” explores the remarkable journey of the Smallbone family as they relocate from Australia to America in search of new beginnings, reports The Christian Post.
After the collapse of his music business, David Smallbone, portrayed by a bespectacled Joel Smallbone, finds himself in a challenging position. Together with his pregnant wife, Helen, the “unsung hero” portrayed by Daisy Betts and their six children, they embark on a transcontinental journey, armed with little more than their luggage and a steadfast belief in their musical dreams.
The company behind it also released “Jesus Revolution,” “I Can Only Imagine” and “Ordinary Angels.”
A wholesome, faith-based film, “Unsung Hero” focuses largely on the power of prayer.
In Philippians 4:6, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
“Unsung Hero” also underscores the necessity of a vibrant church community, and the importance of family sticking together against all odds.
James Smallbone, David’s father, reminds his son, “Your family isn’t in the way, they are the way.”
I saw it with my bride, Amy, and our three children Tuesday night. It is terrific and very moving.
I urge you to get your tickets ASAP since it will only be in the theaters through Wednesday, May 8th.
Watch the trailer through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com and visit the website, UnsungHero.movie.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, May 3rd in the year of our Lord 2024. 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.