ISIS Meets Its Match in Iraqi Town Having Christian Militia

Did your media news source tell you?  Last week, a Christian militia reclaimed a village in northern Iraq from Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.

 

USA Today reported on the story of a group of Christian fighters driving ISIS insurgents from the town of Bakufa.  The inhabitants of the predominantly Christian Bakufa formed a village militia, after fighting side-by-side with Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to push ISIS from their hamlet.

 

The freshly recruited militia might be short on combat experience, but that’s not worrying them.  As one of their members says: “In my opinion, faith is greater than military experience.”

 

Where the black banner of ISIS once stood, the flag of the Iraqi Christian fighters now flies high over Bakufa.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

While Another Gets Beheaded, POTUS Has His Head in the Sand

Last week, the Islamic State (ISIS) beheaded another American; and the response of the President of the United States (POTUS) reveals a stubborn determination to deny reality.

 

Peter Kassig was a former U.S. Army Ranger and emergency medical technician who became empathic to the suffering of Syria’s civilians, and returned to the region after his discharge to provide aid.  He helped some of the 1-million Syrian refugees who have fled into Lebanon, using his own funds to buy supplies (like diapers and other necessities) and driving an ambulance into Syria.  He was kidnapped in October of 2013.

 

According to those who analyze such things, something went wrong with the video of Kassig’s beheading – It wasn’t caught on tape.  We can speculate that the former Ranger had enough strength left to fight back. Perhaps his was not the only blood on the sand.  In any case, ISIS felt obliged to offer video of Syrian soldiers’ beheadings instead, together with a tutorial on the history of ISIS, which began as an al-Qaida cell. The ISIS executioner joked over Kassig’s severed head, “He doesn’t have much to say.”

 

President Obama condemned the atrocity, saying that Kassig “was taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group.”  He continued, “While ISIL revels in the slaughter of innocents, including Muslims, and is bent only on sowing death and destruction, Abdul-Rahman was a humanitarian who worked to save the lives of Syrians injured and dispossessed by the Syrian conflict.”

 

Wait a minute!  Kassig converted to Islam and took the name Abdul-Rahman … but only in captivity.  Obama’s insistence upon using his Islamic name reflects his continuing belief that by denying Islamic extremism, he can promote peace.  “ISIL’s actions represent no faith,” he said, “least of all the Muslim faith, which Abdul-Rahman adopted as his own.”

 

When someone converts at the point of sword, in hopes of saving his life, is that adopting the Muslim faith “as his own?”  Who is Obama respecting by using the Islamic name: Kassig or his executioners?

 

The New York Times explained it this way: “The President used the Muslim name that Mr. Kassig adopted after his capture, making the point that the Islamic State had killed a fellow Muslim.”  If that’s the motive for using the Islamic name, it raises this question: Who does Obama imagine is unaware that the Islamic State kills Muslims?  Certainly in the very tape confirming the beheading of Kassig, ISIS provided graphic and high-definition evidence of the execution of 13 Syrian soldiers.  They weren’t Baptists.  A recent UN report depicts widespread ISIS terror and horror across Syria and Iraq.  “Executions have been recorded in Aleppo, Raqqa, Idlib, Al-Hassakeh and Deir Al-Zor provinces,” according to a Reuters account.  “Witnesses saw scenes of still-bleeding bodies hanging from crosses and of heads placed on spikes along park railings.”

 

But Obama is still at pains to protect the ‘good name’ of Islam.  He condemns the barbarism of ISIS and other terrorists, but feels the need to quickly add that their crimes “represent no faith, least of all the Muslim faith.”

 

Really?  The President is oblivious to reality.  Throughout the Muslim world, extremism is in full bloom.  Only a minority of Sunni extremists travel under the name al-Qaida.  Others are called al-Nusra (Syria) and AQIM (North Africa) and IS (Iraq and Syria) and Wahhabi (Saudi Arabia) and Boko Haram (Nigeria) and Abu Sayyaf (Philippines) and Taliban (Afghanistan and Pakistan) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (Pakistan) and al-Fatah (Palestinian territories) and Hamas (Gaza).  The Shia extremists include the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah (Lebanon) and the Mahdi Army of Iraq.

 

I’ll grant you that perhaps most Muslims worldwide want only to be left in peace.  They are the first, but far from the only victims of a movement that has taken the Islamic world by storm; and that Barack Obama thinks he can wish away by denying.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

NY H.S. Rejects Student’s Request to Start Christian Club

Wantagh High School of the Wantagh Union Free School District (New York) recently denied official recognition for student Elizabeth Loverde’s proposed club ‘Dare to Believe.’  In response to the rejection, Loverde and her family contacted the Plano, Texas-based Liberty Institute, which sent a letter Monday to the principal, as well as to other school district officials saying: “Once a secondary school such as yours creates a limited open forum, it cannot deny equal access to student groups on the basis of the religious content of the students’ speech,” read the letter.  “We therefore demand that the school reconsider its position, approve Liz’s club proposal, and grant official recognition to ‘Dare to Believe.’”

 

Hiram Sasser, managing director of strategic litigation for the Liberty Institute, told The Christian Post (CP) that as of last Tuesday, Wantagh School District officials “have not responded to the letter.”  “[Legal action] shouldn’t be necessary … We have no idea why the school district is rebelling against this well settled law ... Congress passed a law signed by President Reagan and the Supreme Court ruled more than 15-years ago that schools must allow faith based clubs,” Sasser told CP.

 

In September, Loverde met with Wantagh Principal Carolyn Breivogel about the possibility of starting a Christian club called ‘Dare to Believe.’  Reportedly, Breivogel rejected the student club idea under the assumption that having a Christian student organization recognized would violate the U.S. Constitution.

 

In their demand letter, attorneys with the Liberty Institute ally Bancroft PLLC argued that Wantagh’s rejection violates the Equal Access Act of 1984.  “The Equal Access Act of 1984 provides that once a secondary school such as yours creates a ‘limited open forum,’ i.e., … once the school ‘grants an offering to or opportunity for one or more non-curriculum related student groups to meet on school premises during non-instructional time’ — the school must not ‘deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings,’” read the letter.

 

In a statement provided to local media, officials with the Wantagh School District have denied Loverde’s sequence of events.  Officials have insisted that the ‘Dare to Believe’ proposal has not yet been rejected and is still under review, according to WABC-TV.  “As it is required with all student clubs, proper protocol and procedures must be followed and implemented before the club can be formally recognized.  The district is currently reviewing this request.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
 

Never Mine What “We the People” Might Want in Amnesty

Well, he’s doing it.  President Obama is going it alone.  Though he says, he would happily sign a comprehensive immigration reform bill into law if Republicans would finally, and at long last, participate in the political process.  But he’s lost his patience, and today is scheduled to sign executive action on immigration.

 

And while amnesty supporters may be happy, the public is evenly divided about whether the president should move forward unilaterally on such a controversial issue.  As the president signs an executive order on immigration, it meets more resistance than support.  A USA TODAY poll found close to half of those surveyed (46%) said he should wait for the new Republican-controlled Congress to act, and another 1-in-10 are unconvinced either way.  Just 42% of Americans say he should take action now.  This executive order is forecast to prevent as many as 5-million people from being deported.

 

Republicans have articulated that signing such an execution action would be a “grievous mistake.”  Apparently, it seems, many Americans would tend to agree.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

U.S. Bureaucrats Continue to Destroy Public Trust

In the aftermath of some 20 court decisions against state marriage laws and constitutional amendments, a constitutional law expert believes judicial boundaries have been violated.  The most recent action came when a Florida federal judge struck down that state’s marriage amendment, which had been approved by 62.5% of voters.

 

A stay on the court’s decision has been issued, but Liberty Counsel Founder Mat Staver tells OneNewsNow, “It’s ridiculous when federal courts overturn the natural order of marriage.”  He points out that these types of arbitrary decisions from courts greatly undermine public confidence in the judiciary.  “The judiciary is on trial more than marriage,” he says.  “You can’t put the laws of gravity on trial.  Such laws are what they are.  Marriage is what it is.  It is part of the natural creation, male and female, moms and dads.  They form the first foundation of government and provide the best environment in which to raise boys and girls to be men and women.”

 

Attorney Staver argues that with the judiciary wrongly overturning the natural order of marriage, the public does no longer trust the courts.  “When judges begin to cross the line – and I think they certainly do when they have the audacity to say that you cannot affirm the natural, created order of marriage as between a man and a woman – that ultimately undermines confidence of the people in the judiciary,” he explains. “When that happens, judges and courts all across the country will lose their power.  And, frankly, the time for that to happen has been looming for a long time.”  Staver concludes that, in effect, renegade judges are usurping the authority of the people and of the other two branches of the government.

 

It’s becoming a repeating nightmare.  The bureaucrats are forgetting or ignoring the fact that our form of government is of the people, by the people, and for the people.  It is we the people of the United States who ordain this constitutional form of government to insure “domestic tranquility” … among other things.  Given this understanding and the demonstration of our current branches of government, is there any wonder ‘why’ there is rebellion in the air?  Every one of these officeholders took an oath to uphold the Constitution.  If they no longer realize that they serve the people, then it’s past time for them to go!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

What’s a Fair Price to Buy Your Sister or Mother for Sex?

On the day after another beheading, we may have missed the other horrors of the Islamic State (ISIS).  Recently, ISIS leadership released a regulatory price for militants selling captured Christian and Yazidi girls … as young as 1-9 years old … as sex slaves and charging nearly 3-4 times the amount that they would charge for a grown woman.

 

A document obtained by IraqiNews.com, issued by ISIS, claims to be an updated price guide detailing how ISIS fighters must price their ‘spoils of war’ … which include female slaves and cattle.  The document (dated Oct. 16) claims that ISIS’ sex slave and cattle trading markets have seen a recent decline in demand; and because of that, ISIS’ overall revenue has been affected.  The terrorists must now abide by the new pricing scheme, or else they could face execution for disobeying ISIS law.

 

“In the name of Allah, most gracious and merciful: We have received news that the demand in women and cattle markets has sharply decreased and that will affect Islamic State revenues as well as the funding of the Mujaheddin in the battlefield,” the document states.  “We have made some changes.  Below are the prices of Yazidi and Christian women.”  The document has listed Christian and Yazidi girls, aged from 1-9 years old, with the most expensive price tag.  According to the document, those girls are to be sold for 200,000 dinars, or roughly $172.  Yazidi and Christian girls that are 10-20 years old are to be sold for nearly $129; those aged 20-30 are to be sold for about $86; and 30-40 year olds would cost about $64.  The cheapest of ISIS sex slave prices are for women that are 40-50 years old, who can be bought for 50,000 dinars, or $43.  The document also specifies that individuals may not purchase more than “three items” unless they are fighters from Turkey, Syria or the Gulf countries.

 

ISIS’ price guide was released a few days after a video spread across the Internet that purports to show ISIS fighters negotiating a trade of captured Yazidi women at one of the ISIS slave markets.  In the videoed conversation, it becomes apparent that ISIS fighters charged more for girls with blue or green eyes.

 

ISIS’ biggest sex slave trade centers are based in their largest strongholds in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria.  As the Daily Mirror reported, females from the ISIS al-Khanssaa Brigade, which includes many female radicals from the U.K., are in charge of running the brothel in Raqqa.  “It is the British women who have risen to the top of the Islamic State’s sharia police and now they are in charge of this operation,” an unidentified source told the Daily Mirror.  “They believe militants can use these women as they please as they are non-Muslims.”

 

While the prices that ISIS has now set for its female captives might not seem like a high price for human life, multiple teenage Yazidi captives, who escaped after they were sold by ISIS in Raqqa, explained earlier in October that they were sold for $1,000.  The Yazidi girls said they were brutally treated, underfed, forced into sex slavery, and in some cases, forced to change their name.

 

Although previous reports have indicated that ISIS relies heavily on trading young women and teenage girls, the IraqiNews.com report is the first indication that children younger than 10 are also subject to that same slave market.

 

In mid-October, the ISIS tried to justify, through religious reasoning, why it is right for its fighters to kidnap religious minority women and use them as sex slaves.  In an article in the fourth edition of the ISIS English-language digital magazine called Dabiq, the group claims that Islamic law permits its fighters to take religious minority women as concubines.  “Before Shaytan [Satan] reveals his doubts to the weak-minded and weak-hearted, one should remember that enslaving the families of the kuffar [infidels] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shari’ah that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Qur'an and the narration of the Prophet … and thereby apostatizing from Islam,” the article states.

 

In light of all this: Where is the real ‘war on women’?  Can’t our political parties see the folly of accusing one another of a quasi-‘war on women’ when there is a real ‘war on women’ being executed by a real enemy of women – the Islamic State?  Get real, America!  Wake up, before our daughter, sisters, mothers, nieces, and female cousins become sex slaves to this wickedly demonic so-called religion of peace!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A U.S. Court of Appeals Finally Upholds Ban on Same-Sex ‘Marriages’

This past week, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld pro-traditional marriage laws in four states, breaking ranks with other courts that have considered the issue.  The ruling sets up the prospect of a U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) review.

 

The court of appeals panel, which heard arguments in August on gay ‘marriage’ bans or restrictions in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, split 2-1 … with Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton writing the majority opinion.  The ruling concluded that states have the right to set rules for marriage.  This follows more than 20 court victories for supporters of same-sex ‘marriage’ since SCOTUS struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year.  A federal judge in Louisiana recently upheld that state’s ban, but four U.S. appeals courts ruled against state bans.

 

The issue appears likely to return to SCOTUS so the high court can settle whether states can ban gay ‘marriage’ or that gay and lesbian couples have a fundamental right to marry under the U.S. Constitution.  Thirty-two states recently asked SCOTUS to settle the issue once and for all.

 

On October 6th, the high court unexpectedly turned away appeals from five states seeking to prohibit gay and lesbian unions.  SCOTUS’s order effectively made gay ‘marriage’ legal in 30-states.  The next day, the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned same-sex ‘marriage’ bans in Idaho and Nevada.

 

SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently told a Minnesota audience that the 6th Circuit’s then-pending ruling would likely influence the high court’s timing, and said there would be “some urgency” if the 6th Circuit allowed same-sex ‘marriage’ bans to stand.

 

Before the 9th’s ruling (October 7), three other appellate courts (10th Circuit in Denver, CO, the 4th Circuit in Richmond, VA, and the 7th Circuit in Chicago, IL) overturned statewide gay ‘marriage’ bans in Wisconsin, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia over the summer, ruling that they were unconstitutional.

 

During the 6th Circuit’s August 6 arguments, Judge Sutton vigorously questioned each side’s attorneys, though he repeatedly expressed deep skepticism that the courts were the best place to legalize gay ‘marriage,’ saying that the way to win Americans’ hearts and minds is to wait until they’re ready to vote for it.

 

Michigan’s and Kentucky’s cases stem from rulings striking down each state’s gay ‘marriage’ bans.  Ohio’s two cases deal only with the state’s recognition of out-of-state gay ‘marriages,’ while Tennessee’s is narrowly focused on the rights of three same-sex couples.

 

Plaintiffs include a Cincinnati man who wants his late husband listed as married on his death certificate so they can be buried next to each other in a family-only plot and a Tennessee couple who both want to be listed on their newborn daughter’s birth certificate.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Change is Possible for Misguided Homosexuals and Wayward Churches

Christian ‘spoken-word poet’ Jackie Hill-Perry used to be a lesbian; but after a radical encounter with God in 2008, the 25-year-old newly-wed — who is pregnant with her first child — is now, in her words, “the embodiment of change.”

 

The Washington Times revealed that the rapper’s testimony, which says, “Anything is possible with God,” is reaching multitudes through social media.  As a result, Hill-Perry is receiving support and praise … but also vicious condemnation.

 

According to the report, Hill-Perry said she was sexually abused by a family friend at the age of 5.  The subsequent “gender confusion” she suffered resulted in her being a full-fledged lesbian by the age of 17.

 

Then one day, said Hill-Perry, “The Lord spoke to me.  He said, ‘She [her lesbian partner] will be the death of you.’  In that moment, the wages of sin equaling death finally clicked.”

 

Speaking on Wade-O Radio, Hill-Perry noted, “I think we’ve made God very little if we believe that He cannot change people.  If He can make a moon, stars and a galaxy that we have yet to fully comprehend, how can He not simply change my desires?”  Hill-Perry reportedly lost her same-sex attraction over the course of the next few years and “gained an attraction” to her future husband and fellow Christian rapper, Preston Perry.  As for what the future holds, the Christian rapper concluded, “The true church of Jesus Christ will stick to the Scriptures.”

 

This testimony of change is what I’ve been saying for years.  The sexual preference of gays and lesbians for the same gender is not natural; nor is it an innate characteristic.  It is a ‘preference.’  And any church that blesses or minimizes or ignores what God clearly calls an abomination will never bring sinful humanity into eternal fellowship with a holy God.  The true church will only proclaim the truth of God’s Word, and lead the repentant sinner into a personal relationship with a loving and forgiving heavenly Father.    

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Father is Expelled From His Daughter’s School

When one Marine dad objected to his daughter’s homework assignment, school officials slapped him with a no trespassing order that effectively banned him from the school entirely.

 

Fox News Dallas-Fort Worth reported that Kevin Wood received the order (last week), following a disagreement with the La Plata High School vice principal.  His daughter’s assignment asked students to give an explanation of Islam’s Five Pillars, Muhammad, and Mecca.

 

School spokesperson Katie O’Malley-Simpson defended the school’s decision: “He was threatening to cause a disruption or possible disruption at the school.”

 

In contrast, Wood denies making any threats and claims to have witnesses who support his version of the story. He also adds: “I don’t force my religious views on them, so don’t force your religious views on me.”

 

The school defended the subject matter as a world history, rather than a religion, assignment.  However, Wood’s wife, Melissa, offered a pointed question direct to the school’s argument: “We cannot discuss our Ten Commandments in school, but they can discuss Islam’s Five Pillars?”

 

Learning about a major world religion as part of a world history class doesn’t necessarily seem objectionable.  However, the worksheets assigned to Wood’s daughter seem to delve gratuitously into aspects of Islam that have little to do with history and are perhaps better left for discussion outside of the classroom.  The assignment asked students to outline the Five Pillars of Islam, describe Islam’s links to Christianity and Judaism, Muhammad’s upbringing, and how Muslim rulers treated conquered peoples.

 

If Veteran Wood did indeed make threats, the school’s actions are completely understandable.  On the other hand, if the school is banning him as a means of silencing an inconvenient parent, then that’s alarming.  Judging from the report from local paper SoMdNews, Wood’s words — while brusque – don’t seem to rise to the level of a threat.  “I told her straight up ‘you could take that Muslim-loving piece of paper and shove it up your white [expletive],” Kevin Wood said in an interview.  “If [students] can’t practice Christianity in school, they should not be allowed to practice Islam in school.”

 

The bigger issue, and one the school has yet to address, is the appropriateness of children being taught materials objectionable to their parents.  Regardless of whether you agree that religion should be taught in public school or not, there is no question that parents should have an input in what their children learn, especially when it comes to an issue as deeply personal as religion.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Breathtaking Losers of the Mid-term Elections

Did you catch it? or did you miss it?  Democrat candidate for Texas Governor Wendy Davis and Democrat Senator for Colorado Mark Udall both ran on extreme abortion platforms … and they lost horribly.

 

Davis, a Democratic Texas State Senator, gained overnight fame for trying to filibuster a life-saving bill that would ban abortions at 5-months – the time at which unborn babies can feel pain.  Feminist and liberal groups glorified her as a hero for her late-term abortion agenda.  They even decided to run her against Republican Greg Abbott in Texas’s gubernatorial race.

 

How did that go?  Not well.  Her pro-life GOP opponent Greg Abbott won a majority of the female vote.

 

Then there’s Colorado, where Democrat Senator Mark Udall was just as keen on promoting late-term abortion.  His race also didn’t go his way.

 

In addition to these two races, the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) sent out a joyful email to supporters celebrating four other wins in which they had invested: Arkansas, North Carolina, Iowa and Kansas.

 

So, despite liberals desperately trying to keep their “war on women” strategy alive, which Charles Krauthammer went as far as to say had been “discredited,” voters clearly ignored these misleading campaign ads.  The mid-term election was a resounding victory for the pro-life movement.

 

The presumed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already announced he would push through the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act through Congress – a bill which would ban abortions after 5-months … the very kind of legislation Wendy Davis was trying to keep alive.

 

SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser released this statement heralding the news:

 

“Tonight’s overwhelming victory for pro-life candidates signals the fact that the bottom has fallen out of the abortion-centered ‘war on women’ strategy.  We are encouraged with the new pro-life Senate and look forward to a vote on our top legislative priority, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.  This compassionate, popular legislation will protect the lives of more than 18,000 unborn children per year.”

 

In the words of Townhall.com web editor Cortney O’Brien, “Clearly, the SBA List is way more election savvy than the pro-abortion Cosmopolitan magazine, which endorsed a string of losing candidates.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Post-Election ‘Prayer Power’ to the People

For many Americans, today is either one of rejoicing or one of dismay; because the results of yesterday’s election have been made known.  Regardless of who you voted for, if you are a Christian, the Apostle Paul tells us: “I urge, then, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)  In other words: Pray for all the politicians … even the ones you didn’t vote for … and especially the ones you don’t like!

Gerald Flurry has written: “Prayer is political action.  Prayer is social energy.  Prayer is public good.  Prayer shapes more of our nation’s life than is formed by legislation.  That we have not collapsed into anarchy is due more to prayer than to the police.  Prayer is a sustained and intricate act of patriotism in the largest sense of that word – far more precise, loving, and preserving than any patriotism served up in slogans …. The single most important action contributing to whatever health and strength there is in our land is prayer.”

Proverbs 21:1 says: “The king’s heart (or the Mayor’s heart, or the Governor’s heart, or the President’s heart) is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases.”  In other words: God has the power to direct the decisions of our leaders … even the bad ones.  And when we pray … that power of God is unleashed.

 

What should we pray for?

I. We should pray for the success of “whoever” is in leadership.  When Israel was held captive in a pagan nation, God told them to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jeremiah 29:7)

II. We should pray for healing of our land.  2 Chronicles 7:14 reads: “If My [God’s] people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

 

III. Pray that the decisions of these leaders will lead in such a way that we can reach more and more people with the message of Christ’s love.  That was the major thrust of Paul’s comment to Timothy when he wrote: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, [Why?] that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Don’t underestimate your prayers!  Your prayers … coupled with other God-fearing believers … can make the difference … regardless of who was elected.  Do you believe it?

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Calling All Christians: Vote Your Values

These are challenging times for America.  The nation that has served as the light of liberty for the world seems to be darkening.  There are many Americans who are openly expressing great concerns about our nation’s future in the generations to come.  I, too, have the same concerns – but even greater concerns that the true Church of Jesus Christ is failing to fulfill her responsibility in the public and political arenas of our great nation.

 

To bring our country back to the level of decency and morality designed by our forefathers, Christians must become the “salt” and “light” Christ commissioned us to be in our personal Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and world.

 

Our Lord tells us in Matthew 22:21, “...Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Unfortunately, some have misconstrued this as meaning that Christians have no place in Caesar’s public arena.  That is far from the reality of what Jesus was saying.  It is clear that He has commissioned us that we are to give of our time, our efforts and influence to the things of God; but also to the actions required for creating a godly government (Caesar’s).

 

Yet, so many Christians in our nation fear that their involvement in the political process is somehow “unchristian” or outside of the realm of Christian responsibility.  But nothing could be farther from the truth.  ‘Politics’ is not a dirty word, and it is not a spiritual ‘taboo’ for the followers of Christ to be involved in the political processes of our nation.  In fact, I believe God expects it from us all.

 

Billy Graham once stated, “If America is to survive, we must elect more God-centered men and women...”  Of course, to do that, we need godly candidates and godly voters.  Far too many Christians are not even registered to vote; and a large percentage of those who are registered don’t vote.

 

Wake up Christians; rise up and face the responsibilities that you have!

 

Now, this will no doubt wake up some of you.  I believe it is a sin not to vote.  Let me repeat that: I believe it is a sin not to vote.  Some are you are thinking – Where does it say in the Bible that it is a sin not to vote?  Listen, again: Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s …” meaning that we are to render to the government whatever is our responsibility as citizens of the state to render.  And certainly in this nation that includes (at the very minimum) the responsibility of voting.  Why is it a sin not to?  Let me answer that with a question: Is not a sin any failure to obey a commandment given by God?  A sin is not whatever you like to think it is; it is a disobedience to the commands of God!

 

So, GET OUT TO VOTE!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel