It’s Tuesday, December 19th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com.  I’m Adam McManus. ([email protected])

By Kevin Swanson

Muslim terrorists kidnapped pastor in Burkina Faso, Africa

Global Christian Relief reports that Muslim terrorists have kidnapped a pastor in Burkina Faso, Africa along with seven church members.

One pastor said he knows of “around 20 churches that were forced to relocate and are living as refugees in different parts of the country.” 

Pray for the believers in Burkina Faso — a smaller African nation located just West of Niger. 

American Jewish facilities targeted

Repercussions against American Jewish facilities have increased, reports Israel National News.

Just over the weekend, authorities reported 200 bomb threats and false alarms — 100 in California and 62 in Arizona. Plus, a Boulder, Colorado synagogue was forced to evacuate their Saturday services.

Overall, these institutions have experienced a 541% increase in these malicious attacks this year, compared to the previous year.

19,500 Palestinians have been killed

According to satellite analysis of Gaza Strip, The Economist reports that almost 43,000 buildings have been damaged and 450,000 people have been left without homes in the Israel-Hamas War.

Around 19,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis have been killed, according to official numbers.

Canadian real estate bubble burst

That loud pop sound you just heard is the Canadian real estate market bubble bursting.

The greater Toronto area is down 19% from its peak, Victoria is down 11%, and Ottawa 14%, reports Norada Real Estate Investments.

More Americans in financial trouble

The number of Americans underwater on car loans as exceeded the record set in 2020.

In addition, an unprecedented number of Americans failed to make a monthly payment on their federal loans — about 40% according to the Biden Administration, reports Politico.

In fact, 45 million Americans have yet to pay off their federal student loans that total more than $1.6 trillion.

Debt is skyrocketing

The Global Debt Monitor stands at $307 trillion, reports Reuters. And the federal government debt stands at $97 trillion which is up 40% since 2019.  

A whopping 34% of the debt comes from the United States. That’s twice China’s contribution, three times Japan’s contribution, and ten times the United Kingdom’s contribution — as calculated by Visualist Capitalist.

Brazil’s drop in Gross Domestic Product

Brazil’s economy retracted in the third quarter by 0.64%. This follows two years of positive Gross Domestic Product growth in 2021 and 2022.  

Nonetheless, since 2011, the per capita GDP for the nation dropped from $13,200 to $8,900. 

Conservatives unable to stop tax-funded abortion travel & transgender surgeries

The House has passed an $886 billion defense bill without the support of the Republican conservative caucus amounting to 118 votes.

They were unable to eliminate taxpayer-supported transgender surgeries  and travel for abortions, reports CNA News.

Also, some conservatives were hoping to prevent the intelligence community from accessing private devices and communications without a warrant. The bill allowed access through 2024.

Pope approves of blessing homosexual couples

For the first time, the Vatican and Pope Francis have officially approved of blessings for those living in sinful sexual relationships, removing church discipline for men living in sin, reports LifeSiteNews.com.  

These blessings are allowed for “couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex,” and they are intended so that “human relationships may mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel message.”

However, the decision contradicts a 2021 ruling which stated that God “cannot bless sin.”

According to Pew Research, 92% of Catholics in the Netherlands support homosexual faux-marriage as well as 76% of England’s Catholics and 61% of American Catholics.

Proverbs 25:26 says,