It’s Wednesday, September 4th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Jonathan Clark

55,000 Nigerians killed between 2019 and 2023

The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa released a report last month on Christian persecution in Nigeria. 

Violence in the country has taken the lives of over 55,000 people between 2019 and 2023. Of those, over 30,000 were civilians, including 16,769 Christians. Radical Muslim Fulani herdsmen were responsible for over half of the Christian deaths.

The observatory noted, “In states where attacks occur, proportional loss to Christian communities is exceptionally high. In terms of state populations, 6.5 times as many Christians are being murdered as Muslims.”

Please pray for the persecuted church in Nigeria, ranked 6th on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. 

Psalm 14:4, 7 asks, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up My people as they eat bread, and do not call on the LORD? … Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people.”

People looking for leaders who will champion religious freedom

Pew Research released a survey finding people around the world want leaders who stand up for religious freedom.

In the U.S., 64% of adults said it is important to have a leader who stands up for people who share the respondents’ religious beliefs. A majority of people in most other countries surveyed said the same thing. 

Countries with high levels of support for leaders sharing their religious beliefs included Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, and Kenya.

Countries with the lowest levels of support for this included France, South Korea, Japan, Spain, and Sweden. 

7,500 pro-lifers attend India’s March for Life

Pro-lifers in India held their 2024 National March for Life last month. 

The event took place in the southern city of Thrissur and drew over 7,500 people. It was the country’s largest March for Life.

India legalized abortion back in 1971. Now, mothers in the country kill 15 million of their pre-born children per year. 

Bishop Gerald John Mathias attended the recent march and told Life Site News, “I’m grateful to the youth, particularly the youth taking interest. It's most encouraging for the future of the Church, future of the society, future of families.” 

Donald Trump champions in vitro fertilization

In the United States, former President Donald Trump said he would make in-vitro fertilization (IVF) free for Americans if he is elected.

Last Thursday, Trump told NBC News’ Dasha Burns “it’s helping women [be] able to have a baby....We need great children, beautiful children in our country.” 

Here’s a soundbite from that interview.

TRUMP: “So, we are paying for that treatment.”

BURNS: “All Americans who want it?”

TRUMP: “All Americans that get it; all Americans that need it. So, we're going to be paying for that treatment, or we're going to be mandating that the insurance company pays.”

However, many oppose in vitro fertilization as undermining pro-life goals. CatholicVote noted, “We are opposed to any In Vitro Fertilization mandate and will work with [Trump] and his administration to make clear that IVF puts women at risk, and destroys countless innocent living human embryos.”

Only 54% of Protestant Evangelical attend church in person

Lifeway Research published analysis of a 2024 report by Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts entitled “Church After COVID.”

The report found only 54 percent of Protestant Evangelicals attend church in-person every week. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic nearly 90 percent of Evangelicals were attending semi-regularly. 

Online viewing of services has increased; however, many of those engaging online are also attending in person.

The study also found about a quarter of churchgoers started attending their current church since the pandemic, marking significant changes in the makeup of churches post-COVID.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Archeological find from Biblical Jerusalem affirms Scripture

And finally, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a stone seal at the City of David National Park in Jerusalem.

Archaeologists believe it is from the First Temple period, around 2,700 years old. 

The seal bears a name inscribed in Old Hebrew script and a winged figure associated with pagan Neo-Assyrian influences.

Ze'ev Orenstein with the City of David Foundation told Fox News the seal “joins the list of countless archeological discoveries in the City of David — the historic site of Biblical Jerusalem — affirming Jerusalem's Biblical heritage.” 

Close

And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, September 4th, in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by Amazon Music or 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.