Monday, April 23rd, in the year of our Lord 2018

By Adam McManus (adam@TheWorldView.com)

Communist Vietnam Beats Imprisoned Christians

Evangelical pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh will always have the scar on top of his head to remind him of the years that he was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured for daring to advocate on behalf of Vietnamese Christians denied human rights by the communist government, reports The Christian Post.

Having been arrested over 200 times for his human rights advocacy over three decades, Chinh, who was released last July after international pressure, said, “In Vietnam’s prisons, prisoners of conscience fare worse than common criminals. They are subjected to several measures such as solitary confinement, impurity in water, lack of food, no access to medical care, and denied access to their families.

“The wardens did a lot of beating to the point that many of the prisoners of conscience became ill, injured, handicapped and some of them died.”

James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.”

Vietnam ranks as the 18th worst country in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USA’s 2018 World Watch List.

Southwest Airlines Gives $5,000 to Survivors of Emergency Landing

Southwest Airlines is providing $5,000 checks and $1,000 travel vouchers to passengers who were on a flight last week when an engine broke apart, killing Jennifer Riordan, a mother of two sitting by the window when she was partially sucked out of a broken window, reports Bloomberg.com.

Bus Driver in Hot Water for Praying with Students

A Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota school bus driver says his rights to free speech and to practice his religion were violated when he was taken off his route for leading students in prayer, reports KSTP-TV.

George Nathaniel drove children to Nasha Shkola, a charter school focused on Russian language for culture for Quality Care Transportation which removed him from his route last week.

Nathaniel, who is a bi-vocational pastor, says while he wants to turn people to Christianity, he never forced students to pray.

Focus on the Family Became a Church?

Focus on the Family is defending its decision to have the Internal Revenue Service officially reclassify the Christian nonprofit as a “church,” according to the liberal group People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch site.

Paul Batura, vice president of communications for Focus, explained that the main reason it reclassified by 2015 fiscal year was to protect the identities of donors and to avoid Obamacare’s mandate on insurance coverage for contraception.

Batura also said, “In a hostile environment, we’re going to do everything we can do within the parameters of the law to ensure our freedom to continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, protect and defend the sanctity of life, help couples with their marriages, help parents raise their children, and find forever homes for orphaned children.”

Lessons from Ruth

The World View spoke with Michelle McClain-Walters, author of The Ruth Anointing: Becoming a Woman of Faith, Virtue and Destiny, based on the book of Ruth in the Bible.

“After the death of Ruth’s husband, her destiny could have gone down the trail of begging and being lonely and devastated, but she decided to give her life to the Lord and follow her mother-in-law to Bethlehem. She found a brand new life.

“Ruth was serving Naomi. Because she was selfless, God had a plan for her life. Laying down her own life, which was in Moab, she moved to Bethel, which is known as House of Bread. Because her heart was to serve her mother-in-law, God redeemed her life as well. The both of them were widows and both of them were childless, but at the end of the story she found love and also an heir.”

McClain-Walters has a simple application point for people today.

“The Ruth Anointing is a prophetic picture of redemption. No matter what’s happening in your life, through the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving Him as your personal Lord and Savior, God can redeem your life from destruction.”

Ruth 1:16 captures Ruth’s selflessness toward Naomi which led to her redemption. Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

Grandson Invents Device to Help Grandma’s Ability to Communicate

And finally, Danny Weissberg is a perfect example of how anyone can turn tragedy into inspiration.

After witnessing his grandmother suffer a stroke that left her with unintelligible speech, he created Voiceitt, a speech recognition technology that enables people with speech disabilities to communicate with anyone, anywhere in real time in audio, text messaging, and face-to-face communication, reports Good News Network.

The app records and learns a user’s personal speech patterns and pronunciation. After a brief training period, the app can turn statements into clear speech and also helps those with autism, Down syndrome and ALS.

Closing Line

And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Monday, April 23rd in the year of our Lord 2018. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

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Another Setback for Alfie Evans

The parents of 23-month-old Alfie Evans, who suffers from a rare neurological condition, are headed back to the European Court of Human Rights in a desperate attempt to save his life from a British hospital that wants to pull the plug on their sick child, reports Life News.

On Friday, the British Supreme Court denied their effort to save their son.

Democratic Party Sues Trump’s Campaign

The Democratic Party on Friday sued President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the Russian government, and the Wikileaks group, claiming a broad illegal conspiracy to help Trump win the 2016 election, reports CNBC.

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, the Trump campaign called the lawsuit “frivolous,” and a “last-ditch effort to substantiate the baseless Russian collusion allegations by the nearly-bankrupt Democratic Party.”

Trump Scores High with White Evangelicals

According to a new Public Religion Research Institute survey, President Donald Trump has 75 percent support from white evangelicals, presumably because he has kept his pro-life campaign promises.

By contrast, “Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals never reached 50 percent during the 2016 primary season.”

Support increased to 68 percent by the inauguration and then to 74 percent in February 2017.

Liberal Court Overturns Ban on Planned Parenthood Funding

On April 18, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio upheld a lower-court judge’s ruling which struck down a law signed by Governor John Kasich in 2016 that banned Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving taxpayer funds, reports The New American.

Incredibly, the panel ruled unanimously that cutting off all funding from Planned Parenthood is a violation of the organization’s freedom of speech and creates an “unconstitutional condition.”

Columbine High Principal Recalls God’s Intervention

Last Friday was the 19th anniversary of the horrific shooting at Columbine High School in which 13 people were killed. Frank DeAngelis, the former principal, recently shared how God looked out for him and students he was trying to protect on that fateful day, reports The Christian Post.

DeAngelis said that the death count could easily have been higher.

Sitting in his office when he heard the gunshots, the principal ran out into the hallway to protect students and saw the shooter about 75 yards away. His plan was to get the students safely into the school’s gym and lock the doors.

Unfortunately, the doors to the gym were locked.

“I got them into a hallway and I wanted to get into the gymnasium so we could be behind locked doors. But the doors were locked. And something happened that still gives me chills when I say it. Girls were screaming, the gunman was firing shots and he was getting closer. I go to open the door and it’s locked. I had 35 keys on a key ring and I reached in my pocket and I pulled out a key and it was a key that opened the door on the first try.

“It was not a specially marked key, it wasn’t larger or anything. … I really believe it was divine intervention. If I would have had to fumble around to find the key there’s a good chance the girls and I probably would have died that day.”

Actress Natalie Portman vs. Israel

Natalie Portman, a Jewish actress who was born in Israel, has decided not to accept Israel’s Genesis Prize as part of its 70th Independence Day celebration saying through her agent that “[r]ecent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The move was believed to be in response to Israel’s recent deadly shooting of Palestinian protestors.

The Genesis Prize honors notable individuals “who inspire others through their dedication to the Jewish community and Jewish values.”

Colorado Governor’s Misgivings About Pot Availability

Colorado Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper was against legalizing marijuana, but once the voters spoke, he went along and defended Coloradans’ right to use recreational pot, reports Colorado Springs Gazette.

But now, in an interview with CNN, he appears to be opening the door a crack to the idea of re-criminalizing cannabis.

Re-criminalizing marijuana in Colorado would take another vote of the people to undo the constitutional amendment approved by 55 percent to 45 percent less than six years ago.

Army Recruitment Numbers Down

Due in part to an increasingly robust economy, the U.S. Army will not meet its mission to recruit 80,000 active duty soldiers this year and has officially lowered that goal to 76,500.  

But Army leaders said the service has been able to encourage more experienced service members to stay on the job to satisfy a growing demand for troops, reports WTOP.

California Anti-Semitic Gunman Arrested

Nicholas Rose, a 26-year-old Irvine, California man, is charged with hate crimes for threatening to kill Jewish people and possessing anti-Semitic literature and ammunition.

An English as a Second Language teacher, Rose had drawn up so-called “kill lists” of prominent Jews in the community and entertainment industry, and a list of steps he allegedly called “Killing My First Jew”, reports CBS-LA.