It’s Wednesday, September 22nd, A.D. 2021. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
100 incidents of persecution of Christians in China
International Christian Concern released a new report on persecution in China.
The report documents over 100 incidents of persecution in the country between July 2020 and June 2021.
Over the last year, the Chinese Communist Party has continued its campaign to bring all religious organizations under its control. Nearly every province in China saw an increase in persecution.
Persecution trends in the report include Sinicization (a state campaign to forcefully assimilate religious groups into Chinese Communist Party-defined Chinese culture), the demolishing of religious structures and symbols, church raids, and the arrests of Christians.
Facing persecution in a different time, the saints prayed in Act 4:29-30, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
COVID lockdown advocate, Justin Trudeau, won re-election
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau began a third term after elections on Monday.
Trudeau called the snap election two years ahead of schedule; however, the results leave Trudeau’s Liberal Party without a parliamentary majority again.
Trudeau’s campaign cost $600 million.
Trudeau and the Liberal Party have lead a controversial push for strict lockdowns and COVID-shot passports.
6 L.A. cops sue city over COVID-shot mandate
Six Los Angeles Police Department officers are suing the city over its COVID-shot mandate.
The mandate requires all city employees to get a COVID shot by October 20 unless they have a medical or religious exemption. However, the plaintiffs argue the city has made it difficult for people to get a religious exemption.
So far, 2,600 employees of the Los Angeles Police Department said they will seek a religious exemption. That’s about a quarter of the department’s workforce. Overall, about 10% of LA city employees are seeking a medical or religious exemption.
Get a religious exemption here if your work is pressuring you.
More Americans died of COVID than 1918 influenza pandemic
Reported U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 675,000 on Monday, surpassing the number of deaths during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic in the U.S.
Over 660,000 white flags now stand on the lawn of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as a tribute to the Americans who have died.
A new Pew Research study found a majority of Americans think COVID restrictions have hurt businesses and the economy. However, most Americans also think the restrictions were worth it.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: Surely, God has appointed the one as well as the other, so that man can find out nothing that will come after him.”
Will Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade?
The U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear an important abortion case on December 1.
The case involves Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is defending the law and asking the court to use the case to overturn Roe v. Wade.
It will be the first time the high court has heard oral arguments in an abortion case since the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
America’s heavy tax burden
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Americans spent more on taxes last year than they did on food, clothing, healthcare, and entertainment combined.
The average consumer unit spent $17,211.12 on taxes last year, just over the $16,839.89 spent on food, clothing, healthcare, and entertainment.
Nehemiah 5:15 says, “But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.”
Oldest living identical twins, age 108, live in Japan
And finally, two Japanese sisters are now the oldest living identical twins and the oldest identical twins ever, according to Guinness World Records.
Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama are 107 years old and 300 days .
The twins were born in 1913 into a family of 13 on Shodo Island, Kagawa prefecture. They lived through two world wars. The twins only joked about beating the previous world record, held by another set of Japanese twins. But that dream came true this month.
Japan holds several other supercentenarian records like the oldest living person and the oldest man ever.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, September 22nd, in the year of our Lord 2021. 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.