It’s Monday, May 20th, 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
Where is Chinese Christian blogger Zhang Zhan?
Zhang Zhan, a 40-year-old Chinese Christian blogger, journalist, activist, and former human rights lawyer, was scheduled to be released on May 13 after four years in Shanghai’s Women Prison, reports The Associated Press.
She was imprisoned in May 2020 after getting convicted of reporting on the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. The Free Zhang Zhan campaign issued a press release on May 13 stating that there was no confirmation of her release from prison. Plus, Zhang’s family had been under immense pressure from Chinese officials not to give any media interviews about her case.
The press release added, “We are left wondering where she is, how she is doing physically and mentally, what’s happened to her family, and what the future holds for her. … It is totally unacceptable that the Chinese government subject many human rights defenders and their families to this kind of cruelty. Even after their release from prison, they are still deprived of their basic rights.”
Zhang’s case highlights the Chinese government’s arbitrary arrests of Christians, journalists, and human rights lawyers who challenge the Communist government’s control and policies.
By contrast, Psalm 82:3 describes the Biblical obligation of the civil magistrates. “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.”
Please write a polite email or letter to Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to America, asking for information on Zhang Zhan’s whereabouts. Send it to 3505 International Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.
Trump demands drug test of Biden before debate
Appearing at the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner last Friday, former President Donald Trump said he wants President Joe Biden to be drug-tested before their first debate on Thursday, June 27th, reports The Hill.com.
TRUMP: “I’m gonna demand a drug test too, by the way. (cheers) I don’t want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite. (laughter) I said, ‘Is that Joe up there?’ (laughter) And by the end of the evening, he was exhausted, right? No, we’re going to demand a drug test.”
Giuliani served legal notice of Arizona indictment at 80th birthday
Former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani got more than cake and presents for his 80th birthday bash in Palm Beach, Florida. He was also served a legal notice of his Arizona indictment for allegedly being involved in a plot to overturn the 2020 election in favor of ex-President Donald Trump, reports the New York Post.
Around 11:00pm, after most of the 200 birthday guests — including Trump advisors Roger Stone and Steve Bannon — were gone, two officials from Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office delivered the papers.
Some of the party stragglers began screaming – including one woman who cried as Giuliani was handed the papers.
Giuliani was the last of the 18 pro-Trump defendants to be served in the indictment returned by a grand jury last month. They’re accused of partaking in a failed bid to award Arizona’s 11 presidential electoral votes to Trump.
Woman prayed while dangling from bridge in semi truck
And finally, newly released dashcam footage of an accident that left a massive semitruck dangling from a bridge earlier this year is going viral.
The shocking footage of the Kentucky four-vehicle crash, which unfolded Friday, March 1 on the Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky, is absolutely terrifying, reports FaithWire.com.
Trevor Branham, age 33, lost control of his vehicle, crossed into the wrong lanes, hit another car, then struck the semitruck in question.
Sydney Thomas, age 26, was driving that semitruck, which was sent off the bridge and dangling 100 feet above the Ohio River. She described what happened to WHAS-TV.
THOMAS: “He crossed over into the northbound lane and then he hit me. And once he hit me, he took my suspension out. It didn’t matter which way I turned the wheel, the truck was going to go [in] whatever direction it wanted to go in. I felt myself veering off to the left. And then, I saw myself going over the railing and I was, like, ‘Well, this is it!’
“When I went through the railing, I was just thinking, ‘Wow! This is crazy to die like this.’ I really thought that I was about to die. I can try to hurry up and take the seatbelt off and jump out of the truck if I have enough time to. I was thinking this: when I felt myself going over I’m like, ‘I’m going to have to jump.’ I can’t swim either. I started thinking that and then it stopped. And once it stopped, I just looked down and I saw the river. If this truck falls, I’m gonna have to jump out because, if not — the Ohio River is 128 feet deep. Because if I don’t, I’m gonna be at the bottom of the river because that truck was full!”
Providentially, Thomas wasn’t injured in the astonishing accident. She didn’t hesitate to pray.
THOMAS: “I was praying, I was crying, and I was trying to just stay calm and just hope and pray that they would be able to get me out — because I didn’t think they would be able to. If I start freaking out and screaming and moving around, the truck might fall into the river.”
She confessed, “Sometimes you pray, and I’m guilty of this: I pray, and I don’t think God is listening. But He was that day!”
God kept that semi-truck from falling into the water for 40 minutes until firefighters were able to use a crane to lift Louisville firefighter Bryce Carden down to reach her. Amazingly, he appeared at her window mid-air, latched to a harness, and hanging from the crane. He asked if he could pray with her – and the two proceeded to invoke the Lord.
CARDEN: “She was just praying. She was praying a lot. And I prayed with her. ‘Thank God!’ That’s what she kept saying, ‘Thank God!’ And I told her, I said, ‘Just take a deep breath, and then here’s what I need you to do’ — because I needed her to assist and move in certain ways to be able to get the harness on right.”
Though Sydney Thomas has no plans of traveling ever again on the Clark Memorial Bridge, she credited God for saving her.
THOMAS: “God kept me here for a reason because I really shouldn’t be here, but I am. So, I’m just, you know, giving Him all the honor because stuff like that don’t happen every day.”
Psalm 28:7 says, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.”
As for Branham, the driver who caused the accident, he was arrested in March and charged with four counts of wanton endangerment and one count of operating on a suspended license.
The truck driver’s father, Marc Thomas, said that he too believes the Lord was watching over her. He said, “That [rescue] was nothing but God displaying Himself to me!”
Check out the amazing video which we have linked in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Monday, May 20th 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.