January 29, 2025

North Korea tortures, publicly executes, imprisons Christians; DeepSeek, a Chinese AI, beats ChatGBT; California ends prosecution of two pro-life activists

6 minutes

It’s Wednesday, January 29th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. ([email protected])

By Jonathan Clark

North Korea tortures, publicly executes, imprisons Christians

The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights released their 2024 White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea.

The research is based on the accounts of North Koreans who defected to South Korea. It includes over 15,000 responses and over 2,000 cases of persecution. Ninety-six percent of respondents said that religious activities are not permitted in North Korea. And only 5% report having seen religious items like a Bible.

Yeo-sang Yoon, director of the North Korean Human Rights Archives, noted, “Right now, people [of faith] are being tortured, sent to concentration camps, or publicly executed.”

North Korea remains the worst country on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Young Brits more likely to have Christian faith than be atheist

OnePoll released a survey this month entitled, “Belief in Britain.”

The study of 10,000 people found atheism is losing influence on younger generations.

Only 13% of those aged 18-24 identify as atheist compared to 25% of those aged 45-64. Younger people were also the most likely to identify as religious, meaning they worship regularly and ascribe to a specific belief system.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI, beats ChatGBT

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, released a large language model last week. The Artificial Intelligence assistant quickly outperformed ChatGPT in downloads at the Apple App Store.

DeepSeek’s app surprised experts, performing better than American AI chatbots despite being produced with less money and computing power.

The news sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 3% on Monday. U.S. chipmaker Nvidia led the losses, dropping 17% or nearly $600 billion in market value. It’s the largest one-day loss for any company.

Trump bans woke gender ideology from military

President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Monday to keep radical gender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives out of the military.

Trump noted, “Consistent with the military mission and longstanding [Dept. of Defense] policy, expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”

Trump’s orders also offer reinstatement for troops who faced expulsion for not getting the COVID-19 shot during the pandemic.

Supreme Court considers a religious charter school case

Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving the first publicly funded religious charter school.

Oklahoma’s state school board approved a Catholic church to open a charter school. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was set to begin classes in August 2023. But the state’s supreme court ruled against the approval. The case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jim Campbell with Alliance Defending Freedom said, “The U.S. Constitution protects St. Isidore’s freedom to operate according to its faith and supports the board’s decision to approve such learning options for Oklahoman families.”

California ends prosecution of two pro-life activists

Praise God! The state of California agreed to end its prosecution of two pro-life activists on Monday.

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt have faced years of litigation and millions of dollars in fines for their pro-life work. Their undercover videos exposed Planned Parenthood’s illegal sale of the body parts of aborted babies. David and Sandra shared the videos through their organization The Center for Medical Progress.

David said, “After enduring nine years of weaponized political prosecution, putting an end to the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris is a huge victory for my investigative reporting and for the public’s right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts. Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex.”

Proverbs 24:11 says, “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”

Christians minister to victims of California fires

And finally, Christians continue to provide relief to those affected by wildfires in California.

CBN’s Operation Blessing is working with local first responders and churches to bring long-term assistance.

In the midst of suffering and loss, pastors are seeing a surge in church attendance.

Listen to a comment from Pastor Steve Wilburn of Core Church LA to CBN News.

WILBURN: “We're seeing people come into the church, and we're seeing hurting people. You know, it's been said in times past. You know, if you're going to speak to hurting people, you're never going to run out of people to speak to. But we're seeing people make commitments to Christ. That’s what we're seeing.”

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, January 29th, in the year of our Lord 2025. 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 ([email protected]). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

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