It’s Wednesday, December 6th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. ([email protected])

By Jonathan Clark

Nigerian Muslims kidnapped 100 people

Muslim gunmen abducted over 100 people from northwest Nigeria over the weekend. 

A local church leader said the militants targeted Christians, including 72 members of his church. The gunmen are demanding a ransom worth over $130,000.

Christian rights activists accuse the local government of doing nothing about such attacks.

Please pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ in Nigeria, ranked first on International Christian Concern's Persecutors of 2023 list of nations where it is most difficult to be a Christian. 

British young people growing hostile to Christianity

Young people in the United Kingdom are growing hostile to the historic Christian faith of their nation.

A poll from Whitestone Insights found 23% of adults aged 18 to 34 agreed with this statement: “Unless the offending parts can be edited out, books containing what some perceive as hate speech should be banned from general sale, including if necessary religious texts such as the Bible.”

The results come as Christians are facing more censorship in the U.K. This includes arrests for street preachers quoting the Bible in public to legal action against pro-lifers for praying outside abortion mills.

Christian school suing Vermont over transgender issue

In the United States, a Christian school is taking the state of Vermont to court for religious discrimination.

The state banned Mid Vermont Christian School from all sports events as well as Vermont’s tuition program for holding Biblical doctrines on sexuality.

The school forfeited a girls basketball game against a team with a biological male pretending to be a girl. 

Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the school in its case.

Ryan Tucker with ADF said, “Vermont has repeatedly discriminated against Christian schools and their families for following their religious beliefs. Put simply, Mid Vermont Christian School believes that boys are boys and girls are girls. They have been punished for this belief.”

In Matthew 19:4, Jesus said, “He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female.’”

137 abortion mills shut down in 2022 and 2023

Operation Rescue reports 88 abortion mills shut down last year.

With 49 more closures this year, the total reached 137 closures over the past two years.

Currently, abortions mills are closed or have halted abortions in 14 states.

Adjusting for the opening of new abortion mills, the U.S. saw a net decrease of 13 abortion locations from 683 in 2022 to 670 in 2023.

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said, “This is a huge 69% decrease since 1991 when 2,176 abortion clinics were operating. … However, our findings reveal an alarming rise in dangerous mail-order abortions. … The prayers and work involved in exposing the evil behind the Abortion Cartel is more important than ever!”

More congregations leaving United Methodist church over homosexuality

More congregations are leaving the United Methodist Church (UMC) over the issue of homosexuality.

Last Thursday, the Michigan Conference of the denomination approved the disaffiliation of 62 churches. On Saturday, the Illinois Great Rivers Conference approved the disaffiliation of 51 churches. Also on Saturday, the Florida Conference approved the disaffiliation of 74 churches.

Nearly 7,500 congregations have now left the United Methodist Church since 2019 as the denomination has failed to enforce its rules against sexually perverted lifestyles. 

Gold hit $2,100

Gold prices reached an all-time high of $2,100 per ounce on Sunday.

Gold may stay above $2,000 over the next year. 

Prices have risen over the last couple of months because international conflicts have boosted demand.

Plus, on Monday, Bitcoin reached a 20-month high of $42,000. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency continues to rebound