It’s Monday, December 15th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Adam McManus

World’s 5 Communist countries are cracking down on Christians

Governments in the world’s five remaining Communist countries are intensifying control over Christian churches, reports International Christian Concern. Churches are facing growing legal, financial and operational restrictions under regimes in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam.

Authorities in China require churches to register with the state and operate under a system called Sinicization, which mandates that sermons and practices incorporate Chinese cultural elements and Communist Party ideology,

In Cuba, Christian groups are also legally required to register with the government, though new registrations are seldom granted. Individuals receiving foreign funding for church-related activities may be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison under Cuban law.

Christian groups in Laos must also register with the government and seek prior approval for nearly all activities. A 2023 U.S. State Department report said churches must obtain permission for services, gatherings, travel of clergy, construction of worship spaces, and distribution of religious materials.

In North Korea, churches are allowed only as tightly regulated institutions that serve the regime’s image abroad. North Korean citizens are expected to report anyone found engaging in religious practices outside these state-run settings or in possession of Christian materials like Bibles. Unauthorized religious activity is met with harsh penalties, including imprisonment or forced labor.

Vietnam also enforces mandatory registration for Christians and reserves the right to intervene in church finances and operations. A 2024 Vietnamese law, known as Decree 95, grants the government authority to demand financial records from churches and to suspend their activities without citing specific violations. Authorities in Vietnam have detained individuals and restricted congregations that fail to comply.

Galatians 6:9 promises, “ Let us not grow weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint.”

The $1 billion fraud of the Somalis in Minnesota

Federal investigators have uncovered and charged dozens of people in Minnesota — most of Somali, African descent — in a series of major public-benefits fraud schemes which cost the American taxpayers $1 billion, reports Fox.

These schemes include two primary issues. 

First, a nonprofit named Feeding Our Future claimed federal reimbursements for feeding children during the pandemic but is accused of taking hundreds of millions in funds for few or no meals.

And second, there was Medicaid fraud in autism care and housing support. Prosecutors say large and rapidly growing payments to providers for autism therapy and Housing Stabilization Services were fraudulent, with fake clients and claims submitted.

Appearing on Fox News with Laura Ingraham, Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for policy, said this.

MILLER: “This could very well end up being the greatest financial fraud scandal in American history.”

Republican Mike Lindell running for Minnesota Governor

Speaking of Minnesota, where Democratic Governor Tim Walz, has embarrassed his state nationally as the brief-lived Vice Presidential pick of Kamala Harris, MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell announced his candidacy for Minnesota's 2026 gubernatorial race last Thursday, reports The Christian Post.

The 64-year-old Lindell posted on social media. "After prayerful consideration and hearing from so many of you across our great state, I've made the decision to enter the 2026 gubernatorial race.”

LINDELL: “Together, we will restore respect for law and order. If you are here illegally, now's the time to leave, or you're going to be sent back where you came from.”

Governor Walz is running for his third consecutive four-year term.

2 dead, 8 injured in shooting at Brown University

On Saturday evening, an active shooter killed two people and seriously injured eight others at Brown University campus where a male, dressed in black, opened fire inside a building on campus, reports the Providence Journal. 

The Ivy League college in Providence, Rhode Island was in lockdown as the suspected gunman remained at large following the shooting.

Dick Van Dyke: “I have no idea” what happens when we die

In an interview with ABC’s Nightline with Dick Van Dyke, who just turned 100, Chris Connelly asked about loss and death.

CONNELLY: “How have you dealt with loss in your life, when you lose somebody close to you? How have you rebounded from something like that?”

VAN DYKE: “I don't know. You know, I lost my brother and my eldest daughter. Both committed suicide because of pain, and my reaction was anger, because I just think there were two deaths that didn't have to happen because they were, other than that, very healthy, except for pain.”

CONNELLY:  “Have you ever thought about death?”

VAN DYKE:  “I do now. I think most people don't, but when you get up around 100, it's a fact that you have to face. You know, it could happen any day.”

CONNELLY: “What do you think happens when we die?”

VAN DYKE:  “I have no idea. I think some people are afraid of death because they think you're aware of it. They can say, ‘Oh, darn, I'm dead.’

But, you know, you're gone; you don't exist anymore. No, death doesn't really frighten me, although I like a lot more life.”

Hebrews 9:27 says, “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”

Gift of tiny home reunites veteran with his 2-year-old daughter

And finally, when his 2-year-old daughter Majesty fell into the foster care system, a U.S. Navy veteran faced a significant barrier in his fight to assert custody: He did not have a permanent address, reports Good News Network.

At that point, Tim had gotten his life back on track after a struggle with substance use, but his group living arrangement in that program wasn’t designed for children.

He said, “I just remember thinking: ‘How can I rescue my daughter?’”

Providentially, a tiny blue home became available at Veterans Community Project, a nonprofit village that help residents regain parental rights of their children. Soon after, he got full custody and moved to a family unit complete with a bunk bed fit for a toddler.

The key moment in Tim’s transformation was the rediscovery of his Christian faith and his willingness to admit he needed