If We Want to See America Turn Back to God, Then …

Now that the midterm elections are behind us, our nation looks to the future—and what these choices will mean for America.  If you’re anxious or uncertain about what lies ahead, here are four ways God’s people can respond in the aftermath of the election.

Trust God’s Sovereignty

Politics are important, and Christians have a responsibility to engage in the policies that affect our nation.  However, we can rest knowing that nothing catches God by surprise, and nothing will get in the way of His plans and purposes.  Regardless of who is in office, the Bible tells us in Romans 13:1 that “the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”

If you are struggling with the outcome of this election, rest in the knowledge that God is good and He is moving and working in ways we cannot see.  Whatever the future holds for our nation, we can know that “the Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19).

Find Your Hope in Christ

Ultimately, no earthly leader or earthly policy can fix the root cause of America’s problem. The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God provided the solution to this problem by sending His Son to take the punishment for our sin.  He tells us that “whoever believes in [Jesus] should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Regardless of the shifting tides of culture, the success and failures of leaders, or the tumultuous noise of society, lasting hope and true healing is available through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Earthly kingdoms will rise and fall, but the kingdom of Heaven will endure forever.  When our hope is found in Christ, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that “this hope … [is] an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19).

Remember Your Mission

God’s people have a responsibility to live out our faith for all to see.  One of the ways we do this is by treating people with respect and caring for them out of an outpouring of the love we have been given in Jesus Christ.  The Apostle Paul tells us that “our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).  We might disagree with people—even fellow believers—but our purpose goes beyond our disagreements.  As citizens of Heaven, we are called to shine the light of Christ into this dark world.  Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Even if the election did not go the way you hoped, we are called to show God’s love to others and work for unity among God’s people.

Pray for Our Nation

The most powerful way to discover peace and promote the welfare of our nation is by lifting it up regularly to the Lord.  If we want to see America turn back to God, then the first place we must turn is prayer.  God told the prophet Jeremiah to “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7).

As the noise of the elections fades into the background, may the prayers of God’s people rise up in one loud voice.  The Bible tells us that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).  Prayer shifts our gaze: We stop looking to ourselves or our leaders and rest in God’s faithfulness and goodness.  In doing so, we will also realize that the chaos of this world is really the sound of people in desperate need of hope.

Ask God to bring true healing to our nation through repentance in the hearts of individuals.  Lift up America’s leaders—that God would draw them to Himself, guide them with His wisdom, and help them to lead in godly ways.  Pray that believers would boldly declare the hope found only in Jesus Christ and that many people would place their faith in Him.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Halls of Congress Will Soon Be Filled With Fierce Hostility Towards Biblical Truth

It’s becoming very clear that these really were the most important and consequential midterm elections of our lifetime.  By large margins, Democrats now control the House, Senate, and a majority of governorships nationwide.

Why were the midterms so consequential?  Let’s take a closer look at some of Tuesday’s winners and who exactly Democrats will be sending to the U.S. Congress in January to enact laws and determine the direction of our country.

At least 60 candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) won their elections on November 3rd and are now heading to Capitol Hill.  As their name implies, they want socialism in America—and they are very open about that.  Melat Kiros, who won a congressional seat in Colorado, asserted that socialism is as American as apple pie: “I don’t think there’s anything more American than subscribing to an economic philosophy that, as the evidence shows, is the only one that’s actually capable of delivering things like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  I really can’t think of anything else.  Socialism has proven to deliver on the values of the Declaration of Independence more than capitalism has.”

Of course, what she didn’t mention is that socialism and its big brother, communism, are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.  It’s an atheistic, envious ideology that punishes success and hard work.  It delivers on its promise of making sure everyone is equal—as in equally miserable and poor!  Now, dozens of people who support the destructive ideology of socialism will take seats of power on Capitol Hill.  Seems pretty consequential to me.

So does the fact that a record number of at least seven Muslims won their races on Tuesday and will be serving in Congress.  Two of them in particular: Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Michigan Senate race, and Adam Hamawi, who won a congressional seat in New Jersey.  Both men are committed Israel-bashers with ties to Islamic jihadists.  El-Sayed’s family has been intimately linked with the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamawi once testified on behalf of the Blind Sheikh, an al-Qaeda cleric who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.  Now, both Hamawi and El-Sayed will serve in the U.S. Congress.

The consequences from Tuesday’s midterm elections don’t end there.  We also saw eight trans men who identify as women win their elections nationwide, seven at the state level, and Tim McBride (who goes by “Sarah”) of Delaware re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

This midterm elections was a choice between three Fs—Faith, Family, and Freedom—or three Ss—Socialism, Sharia, and Separation.  Well, the “Ss” won out big time.

Elections have, you guessed it, consequences.  Everything you saw under Joe Biden during his four years in office—an invasion at our southern border, rising crime, DEI, anti-Biblical policies like gender madness, and the indoctrination of our children—all of that could be back on the table with a vengeance by 2028.

Speaking of revenge, Democrats are already gloating that they are going to make President Trump’s life miserable over the next two years with investigations, and you can count on them pushing impeachment again as well.

We have been through tough times before as a nation and as the body of Christ, and we’ll get through this too.  God is still on the throne, and He will never leave us or forsake us.  He is in control, and He knows the end from the beginning.  So take heart, but also know that Christians are going to have to do a whole lot better in the days to come in terms of fulfilling our Biblical mandate to be salt and light.

On Election Day, only 17% of evangelical Christians turned out to vote nationwide.  That is complete dereliction of duty from the body of Christ.  The very definition of lukewarm.

Meanwhile, you know who did turn out to vote in large numbers?  People who have no religious affiliation, like atheists and agnostics.  They made up almost 30% of all voters for the midterms, and you can take a wild guess who they voted for.

The takeaway?  Christians really need to stop saying, “I don’t need to get out there and vote because Jesus is coming back soon anyway.  I’m just going to sit here on the couch and binge some Netflix shows.”  I’m sorry, but Jesus told us that we are to occupy until He comes.  We serve a proactive God who told us to go and make disciples of all nations.

It’s time for Christians to get up off the couch and get into the game, because the future of our kids and grandkids depends on it.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

TX Senator-Elect Talarico Compares His Anti-Biblical Agenda to Jesus Christ Flipping Tables

One Texas Democrat was on a roll this election season.  And what did he say on the campaign trial: “God is non-binary.” ♦ “There are many more than two biological sexes. ♦ In fact, there are six.” ♦ “Prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness.” ♦ “If you deny your child’s gender identity, that’s incredibly harmful. … It’s abusive for sure.” ♦ “It’s always rich to me that defund the police is considered off limits.” ♦ “This idea that to be a Christian means you have to be anti-gay and anti-abortion, there really is no historical, theological, Biblical basis for that opinion.”

Those are just a handful of the comments from TXs’ newly elected Democratic senator, James Talarico—a graduate of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary who professes the Christian faith while championing LGBT ideology and abortion.  Though he has claimed to have walked back certain comments (such as his 2021 comment of God being non-binary), throughout his campaign, he repeatedly bent Scripture to prop up positions that stand in open conflict with the Bible he cites.

In his victory speech last Wednesday, Talarico cast his political agenda and supporters in the roles of David against Goliath—and then of Jesus Himself:

“I’m reminded of that story from Scripture of a shepherd boy who goes up against a giant for 40 days. … In this race, we went up against our own Goliaths. … David wasn’t as big or as strong as Goliath.  He didn’t have as many weapons, but he had hope.  He had faith, and he had a slingshot.  You were my slingshot.  The people of Texas were my slingshot.  And tonight we defeated Goliath.  Scripture has taught me, my own life has taught me, always bet on the underdog. …Through every underdog, through every David against every Goliath, through every Texan who believed in our state and believed in this movement.  Now the real work begins.  Two-thousand years ago, when the people at the top hurt His neighbors, that barefoot rabbi didn’t stay in His room and pray.  He walked into the seat of power, and He flipped over the tables of injustice.  As this movement heads to the seat of power, as we head to the United States Senate, we know what this moment requires of us.  Texas, it’s time to start flipping tables.”

During his campaign and even now on social media, supporters—progressive Christians and atheists alike—have held him up as a model of “faith.”  But for Bible-believing Christians, the concern runs deep.

“He’s an actual heretic,” said Josh Howerton, senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.  “A Biblically defined false teacher and heretic.”  Politicians have long twisted Scripture to fit their narratives, Howerton noted.  What sets Talarico apart, he said, is that “his whole platform is using the Bible to convince Christians to support godless things.”  Howerton warned that what progressive so-called Christians like Talarico do is “hollow out your religion and wear it like a skinsuit.”

As others have noted, for more mature believers, the statements can be easy to dismiss. For newer or weaker ones—or those who have never read the Bible for themselves—the risk of being led astray is real.

Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at the Family Research Council and Government Affairs Advisor for NC Values Coalition, put the dynamic in sharper focus.  Pointing to a speech in which the crowd cheered after Talarico quoted Scripture, Backholm observed: “Christianity is not offensive because of the God we worship.  Christianity is offensive because of the gods we refuse to worship.”

“It’s always been this way,” he continued.  “Nebuchadnezzar knew that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego worshipped Yahweh.  That wasn’t a problem until their loyalty to Yahweh conflicted with their loyalty to him.  When they refused to bow, they became a problem.  So it is today.”

In Backholm’s view, “Secularists don’t care if you call yourself a Christian, talk publicly about Jesus, and regularly attend church as long as you worship their rainbow gods of autonomy too.  If you do, they’ll hold you up as an example of one of the ‘good Christians’”—exactly as they are now doing with Talarico.

Jesus will be horrified, Backholm concluded, but the world will applaud it.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

130 Christians Slaughtered in 3 Different Countries

The past week was one of the most fatal for Christians around the world in recent memory. From Nigeria to Ethiopia to Jordan, gunmen slaughtered more than a hundred Christians.  The somber news reminds Christians in America of the urgent need our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ face every day.  

Last week, gunmen attacked a Christian community in northeastern Nigeria, firing on people as they fled into a river.  At least 62 people were killed in the attack, 52 were wounded, and thousands fled their homes.  In the past decade, Islamist militants have killed tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria.

Also last week, three unnamed terrorists opened fire at Christians gathered for a funeral outside St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hmoud, east of the Dead Sea. Jordanian authorities have suspects in custody, making this the only one of the three attacks where government authorities have acted to protect Christians.

Additionally last week, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in the Oromia state suffered a series of attacks in which more than 60 people were killed, including five children, and 20 houses were burned to the ground.  One survivor described it as an ambush, in which the attackers surrounded their victims on all sides.  A local official blamed the attacks on a rebel coalition, Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). However, according to Christian Emergency Alliance, “surviving witnesses claimed regional authorities collaborated with Islamist militias to carry out the massacre.”

All three attacks came the weekend before International Religious Freedom Day (October 27), and also shortly before the U.S. midterm elections.

Fortunately, international religious freedom still finds supporters in both parties—far more than pro-life or pro-marriage positions.  For instance, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) passed the Senate unanimously on September 30.

However, the parties do vary in the intensity of their commitment to international religious freedom.

In 2018, the Trump Administration hosted the first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, an international summit of government leaders and advocates focused on achieving real change.  The event has occurred annually since 2018, but the burden of hosting it was transferred to nonprofits after the Biden Administration declined to maintain the ministerial in 2021.

Indeed, the Biden Administration explicitly rejected a foreign policy that emphasized religious freedom in favor of one that emphasized the LGBT agenda and abortion.

“This is a major shift away from international religious freedom—moving away from even calling it religious freedom,” former USCIRF Commissioner Nina Shea said of the Biden Administration policy.  “It’s more of a watered-down freedom of belief or religion, and equating religion with belief, which is very dangerous because that would mean you have a right to believe what you want to believe, but you may not be allowed to practice it in a public square.”

Sadly, many foreign leaders predicted the Biden Administration’s pivot away from religious freedom and had given that as their reason for not implementing more permanent change.  It is one thing for Americans to give lip service to religious freedom and warn the world that we are watching.  But what really matters to Christians facing persecution is when governments (and militant groups) believe that America will not only watch but act to protect the religious freedom of persecuted Christians abroad.  Thus, the intensity of America’s commitment to religious freedom is what actually has an impact.

Christians have long been persecuted for their faith and will continue to face fiery trials for as long as the Lord tarries.  As Paul reminded his readers, quoting from Psalm 44, “for your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Romans 8:36).

Yet Christians continue to persevere in difficult circumstances because of the hope that is within them.  As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord,” Paul continued.  “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).

These words do bring much-needed encouragement.  The survivors of the attacks in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Jordan are likely consoling their souls in such promises even now. But the Christian’s final hope also motivates us to action now, and believers with an opportunity to vote can use that vote to succor their suffering brothers and sisters halfway around the world.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

3 Ways for the Church to Fulfill Its Prophetic Duty to the Nation

We have been told a lie. 

We have been told that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a private, pietistic self-help program: a spiritual escape hatch designed to get individual souls to heaven while the world burns around us.  We have been told that faith belongs in the prayer closet, but the public square belongs to the godless, that the church must remain quiet in the gallery while secular ideologues rule the stage.

We have been deceived.

When the early Christians declared Jesus is Lord, they were not offering a polite personal opinion.  They were making a politically disruptive statement.  In the Roman Empire, Caesar was called Kurios, Lord.  To proclaim Jesus as Lord was to say, “Caesar is not.”

The Gospel is not a spiritual suggestion.  It is a royal announcement from the throne room of heaven: Jesus Christ has lived, died, risen, ascended, and been crowned King of kings and Lord of lords.  And if this is true, and it is, there is no neutral ground in all of human existence. Jesus left no middle option: “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30).

Neutrality is a myth.  It is Christ or chaos.  It is light or darkness.  It is the covenant of life or the culture of death.  As Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”

Consider how Holy Scripture describes the reign of King Jesus:

• In Revelation 11:15, when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, heaven roars: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever” (RSV).  Not will become but has become.
• In Revelation 1:5, John calls Jesus “the ruler of kings on earth” right now, in real history.  He is the ruler of presidents, governors, senators, and representatives.

How does this apply to the civil magistrate?  We must be clear: the separation of church and state is a separation of governance, not a separation of sovereignty.

God has established distinct spheres.  The church holds the keys of the Kingdom and wields the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  The state is ordained by God in Romans 13 to hold the steel sword to maintain public order, suppress evil, and execute justice.  But both institutions are under the supreme sovereignty of Jesus Christ.

The magistrate exists under the sovereignty of Christ.  The President, the Governor, the Senate, and the House are called by God to be His civil servants.  And when a magistrate enacts godless laws, approves tyranny, or legalizes evil, he is committing high treason against the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth.

The Church, then, is called to be the prophetic voice to the state.  Like Nathan confronting David, like Elijah standing on Mount Carmel against Ahab, like John the Baptist speaking truth to Herod, the Church must stand before civil rulers and declare: “Thus says the Lord.”

If the church is to fulfill her prophetic duty to the nation, our convictions cannot rise and fall with the polls.  They have to rest on three things:

1. The Authority of God’s Word

We do not negotiate with the spirit of the age.  Scripture is not a collection of pious suggestions; it is the infallible, inerrant Word of the living God, sharper than any two-edged sword.  Human laws are only valid to the degree that they conform to the Law of God.

Scripture says judgment begins in the household of God.  I pray God grants His Church deep repentance for being led astray by ideologies and convictions that oppose His Word.  And I pray God grants the state repentance for not governing according to it.  We live in a culture of death, and our only way out is by the word of life.

2. Salvation by Faith Alone in Christ Alone

Christ is the source of living water that flows forth to the nations bringing transformation. Political and cultural renewal flows from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaimed and embodied by his church.  Political reform without faithful allegiance to Christ is merely repainting a sinking ship.  Apart from faith in Christ, cultural renewal is impossible.  Apart from faith in Christ, there is no hope.

The Church has been entrusted with the one message that will transform this world: the Gospel of the King of kings, the Gospel of reconciliation and forgiveness.  She has been given it to proclaim to kings and outcasts alike.  The obedience of the Gospel is the only hope for our state and nation.

3. The Foundation of God’s Throne

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne” (Psalm 89:14).  Here is where the rubber meets the road.

If the magistrate’s God-given purpose in Romans 13 is to wield the steel sword to punish evildoers and protect the innocent, then there is no greater systemic failure in our land than the legal butchery of the unborn.  Abortion is not merely a political debate or a health care choice.  It is an abomination that cries out to heaven for judgment.  May God grant the Church and the state repentance for allowing such evil.

The Church’s prophetic message to the magistrate must be loud, clear, and relentless: God gave you the steel sword to defend the innocent.  Use it.

One party has told us plainly it will leave the sword sheathed while the innocent die.  One party openly champions laws that defy the Law of God.  But no platform can save us: salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, and no election returns a nation to God.  

Let’s pray our elected officials, whatever their party, have the conviction and courage to stand on these three pillars.

A church that speaks this way to a hostile culture will be met with a demand: Who gives you the right to speak on politics?  Who gives you the right to oppose our laws?  Who gives you the right to condemn our morality?

There is only one answer: Jesus Christ, the ruler of the kings of the earth.  The One who disarmed the powers at Golgotha, burst forth from the tomb on the third day, and ascended on the clouds of glory has sent us as His ambassadors.

So, we do not flinch.  We do not apologize.  We do not bow to the idols of our age.  We must repent of our cowardice, take up the Sword of the Spirit, put on the armor of light, and march forward as the army of the living God, bringing the crown rights of King Jesus to bear on every sphere of society.

For His is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.  Amen.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

This Election Is a Critical Moment In Our Nation’s History

Tomorrow, voters across America will head to the polls for what I believe is a critical moment in our nation’s history—a moment that I never believed would be possible in our great republic.

In a number of states and cities, from coast to coast, ballots will be cast for candidates who are proudly running on a radical political platform that praises and embraces the bankrupt ideology of socialism.

I don’t know about you, but I never thought the day would come when a socialist would not only be on the ballot, but would actually stand a good chance of winning an election.

It’s no secret how a socialist agenda has completely wrecked the economies of the nations that have embraced it.  Just look at Venezuela; once the richest, most prosperous country in South America, it is now among the very poorest, with dilapidated infrastructure, horrible healthcare, and abysmal personal freedoms.  Or, closer to home, just observe Cuba, a country impoverished by socialism for more than six decades.

Of course, it’s no coincidence that socialism is often just another brand name for communism, where corrupt rulers gain total control while promising freedoms and benefits that are mere propaganda.  Has there ever been a communist government that did anything other than brutally oppress its citizens and become a pariah nation?

Worst of all, communism—like socialism—is godless, even anti-God.  The socialists have always been the enemy of the church.  They hate God because they want to be the final authority, not God.  Allegiance to the atheistic state is commanded and supersedes worship and devotion to the One, true God.  Religion is a clear and present danger to the all-powerful state and must be suppressed, so in almost every socialist country, churches are marginalized and even persecuted.

Sadly, you don’t have to search abroad to see just how empty socialism really is.  Look no further than New York City and Seattle, where two of the most prominent and influential cities in the U.S. are being led by self-identified socialist mayors.

I’m grateful that the House of Representatives last month confronted this evil ideology by passing a resolution titled: “Providing for the condemnation and denouncement of socialism in all its forms.”  I couldn’t agree more.

King Solomon’s declaration in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “And there is nothing new under the sun,” seems prophetic for the 21st century’s rendition of what former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill summed up as the blight of the 1900s when he said: “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.”

But socialism isn’t the only fight we face.  The rising threat of Islam in the West should concern us all.  We just marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks on our nation. Yet from Michigan to New York to even Texas, we see too many of our fellow Americans staying silent or in some cases applauding when Muslim leaders exert greater control, when Sharia law influences public policy, and when radical Islamic groups seek to establish strongholds in our nation.

As voters prepare to cast their ballots in the midterm elections, the Apostle Paul’s instructions for the Colossians couldn’t be more timely: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

This is precisely why Christians must base their vote on Biblical values by supporting political candidates who recognize the sanctity of human life and Biblical marriage between a man and a woman; national borders and law enforcement; and the value of work and productivity. Socialism seeks to undermine all of this.

More than ever, Christians should steward their vote faithfully, as Paul told the church at Corinth, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

We have many Biblical examples of the influence godly leaders can have in government and politics.

Three thousand years ago, when King Jehoshaphat ascended to the throne of David, his country, like ours, was surrounded by threatening foes.  Earnestly and sincerely, King Jehoshaphat sought peace for his people.  This great ruler was a man of God.  The Bible says that “he walked in the former ways of his father David” and that he “sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments. … And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 17:3-4, 6).

When King Jehoshaphat sought peace and social progress for his people, what was his course of action?  Did he try new laws, new social plans, new educational projects and new financial programs?  No.  He went back to the Word of God.  Jehoshaphat demanded that his people learn the Word of God, that they live by it and that they humble themselves before God.

And when Judah returned to the teachings of the Bible, one of the most striking triumphs of military history occurred.  When Jehoshaphat’s enemies—the Ammonites, the Moabites and the Edomites—made an alliance against Judah to destroy her, Jehoshaphat trusted God.  And he sent into the field the strangest army that the world of warfare has ever witnessed.  Ahead of his forces marched not infantry or cavalry, not men with swords and bows, but singers who chanted the Lord’s praises and the words of Scripture.  No wonder that without fighting a battle, without losing a man, Judah put the enemy to flight!

Obedience to the Word of God brought peace then and it can bring peace now if God’s people—by His mercy and power—lead our nation back to Him.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The 7 Core Beliefs Needed to ‘Think Like Jesus’

Only 4% of adults in America have a biblical worldview.  George Barna, director of Research and co-founder of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, suggests this is because most adults don’t have a strong biblical foundation to build on.

Most Christians adopt a worldview known as “syncretism,” Barna explained during a recent appearance on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” stating that this is “the prevailing worldview in America, even among most people who consider themselves to be Christian, even among most of the people who would be identified as born-again Christians.”

“[Syncretism] is where we simply pull in ideas from many different worldviews, and we create our own worldview that feels good, feels comfortable, makes us feel secure, maybe makes us popular with other people,” he continued.  “But it’s not true.  It’s not valid, and it’s not helpful.”

In his new book, “How to Think Like Jesus,” Barna, who also serves as senior research fellow at Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview, asserts that there are seven foundational cornerstones that are necessary to inform a wholly biblical worldview. “What we discovered is if you really own these seven, then you’ll have an 83% probability of going on and developing a complete biblical worldview,” Barna shared. “But if you reject even one of those seven, then the probability of having a biblical worldview drops to just 2%.”

The foundation starts with returning to the basics of what Scripture lays out for believers.  “Most Americans do not truly believe in the existence and the biblical nature and character of the God of Scripture.  Now, if you don’t believe He exists, I mean, that’s a game changer right there,” Barna reasoned.  “All of your decisions basically are going to come back to you.  You don’t have to worry about any kind of guardrails that He put into place for our life.  You don’t have to worry about any kind of afterlife, because you won’t believe there is such a thing because He doesn’t exist or He doesn’t care.  He’s no longer involved with human beings.”

“[God is] the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who rules it today,” he added.  “He’s loving, He’s just, He’s merciful, He’s true, He’s involved in our lives.  All of those things matter.  And spend time thinking about the implications of that for your life, because that will change a lot of things in your life.”

Barna described the second cornerstone as the recognition of sin as something humans are born into as their natural inclination.  The third is realizing that the only way to find freedom from sin is to confess, repent, and start a relationship with Jesus Christ.  “Then we truly have hope,” said Barna.

The author proposes that the cornerstone that follows this realization is the acknowledgement of ultimate truth.  “There is absolute moral truth.  Truth isn’t something that you and I decide for ourselves.  There’s no such thing as your truth and my truth.  The only truth that exists is God’s truth,” Barna explained.  “And we can either get on board with it or not.”

Barna noted the validity and gift of God’s word to His followers as the fifth cornerstone. “God loves us so much, and he cares about our lives so much that he gave us the Bible, which is a guidebook of how to live in harmony with his principles for our life.”

He concluded that the final cornerstones are recognizing what God created humanity for, and what success in the Christian life looks like.  “Each of us has a common purpose for living a universal purpose, if you will.  We’ve also got an individual purpose that he gives to us uniquely, but that universal purpose is that we know, love, and serve God with all our heart, mind, and soul.”

“The best way to determine whether or not you’re successful in life has nothing to do with the size of your house, the kind of car in your driveway, your zip code, how much money is in your bank account.”  Barna countered that instead, it is honoring the Lord.  “Are you being consistently obedient to God?  And if you are, that’s what success is.”

The researcher and cultural analyst offered a piece of advice to Christians who seek a to live out a biblical lifestyle.  “Most of the media that’s out there is not going to point us toward Christ.  It’s not going to encourage us to live a biblical lifestyle, so rethink where you’re getting your information from.”

Barna further underscored the importance of evaluating peer relationships.  “Do they know, love, and serve God with all their heart, mind, and soul?  If not, either treat them like a mission field and help them to get there.  But on the other hand, try to find those people who do know and love and serve God with all their heart, mind, and soul.  Hang around with them because they’ll be a good influence.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Tensions Mount Over Unbiblical Claims of Pastors Running as Democrats

The current election cycle has been marked by the emergence of Christian clergy who have won Senate primaries for the Democratic Party, such as Pastor Adam Hamilton in Kansas and Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico in Texas.  But observers are pointing out that in the Democratic Party’s attempt to appeal to Christian voters, they are sacrificing Biblical truth regarding their stances on the nation’s most sensitive human dignity issues.

The trend of pastors running as Democrats for office became a true phenomenon last November, when Axios reported that a “shocking” number of 30 white pastors were tracked as running for elected office.  “This wave of clergy is weaving Scripture into online defenses of Democratic politics, and joining other progressive faith leaders in challenging President Trump on immigration, civil rights and poverty,” the outlet noted.

The development marks a clear strategy shift for Democrats, who desperately want to eat into the Christian voter demographic that has been firmly dominated by the GOP for decades.  The pattern held firm in 2024, with a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey reporting that Trump captured 85% of the white evangelical vote and 57% of the white mainline/non-evangelical Protestant vote.

The strategic Democratic foray into turning clergy into political candidates has led to some awkward headlines for the party.  Last week, past comments of Pastor Adam Hamilton came to light in which he claimed that Christians don’t have to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Hamilton has also claimed that the Bible contains errors and has celebrated homosexual practices, which are clearly condemned in Scripture (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10).

In like manner, James Talarico ignited controversy last week when he claimed during a town hall election event that “the Bible is silent on abortion,” contradicting passages such as Psalm 139:13 and Luke 1:41.  The Senate candidate also explicitly supports same-sex marriage, a concept that is firmly contrary to Scripture (Genesis 1:27, 5:2, Matthew 19:4).

Pastors like Jim Garlow, who serves as founder and CEO of Well Versed, are pointing out the dangers of clergy who jettison the Bible out of political convenience.  “Scripture [states that] the purpose of government is to protect the citizenry,” he emphasized during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Wednesday.  “That would include a baby in the womb.  So if you’re in favor of killing babies in the womb, you’re not in a position to be in government according to Scripture.  Or we think of Genesis chapter[s] 1, 2, and 4. It starts with gender specificity — male and female, only two genders.  The next thing we have is a marriage of a man and a woman, and next thing we have in Genesis 4 is procreation. … [The] redefinition of marriage has tried to kill off God’s definition of marriage.  And then we have the loss of gender specificity. … So now we have people who call themselves pastors [who support these positions].”

Analysts like Suzanne Bowdey, who serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand, are also noting that the sudden surge of Democratic pastors on the political scene is yet another manifestation of performative politics.  “They just want to win, so they’re willing to lean into any trend,” she observed during “Washington Watch” Wednesday. “They’ll stick their fingers in the political winds [to] see where the American people [are] right now.  They’ll throw people into a race that supposedly espoused those values.  But if I’m a voter right now, I’m sitting there thinking, ‘What does the Democratic Party actually stand for?’ Because we keep hearing, ‘Oh, it’s a big tent.’  Well, okay, it’s a big tent, but at some point, you have to have a center pole holding up that tent that’s anchored in some core values.  On one hand, we hear that this is the party that cares about [Christianity].  On the other hand, they kick God out of their platform.  On one hand, we hear, ‘Oh, we don’t embrace socialism.’ On the other hand, we hear they do embrace socialism.  So it’s very incoherent. … What do they stand for?  And the American voter right now, I don’t think, knows.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

If Christians Remain on the Sidelines of Elections, Whose Values Will Shape America’s Future?

As Americans, we have the right to vote.  With that right comes the power to choose our leaders and influence the values that guide our government.  That right must be protected, but it must also be exercised.

There are roughly 250 million Americans eligible to vote.  Yet in the 2022 midterm elections, fewer than half participated.  Think about that.  In a nation where government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, millions chose not to make their voices heard. And Christians are not exempt from this troubling pattern.  Even where churchgoers vote at higher rates than the general population, far too many remain on the sidelines.

As Americans, we have a right to vote.  As Christians, we also have a responsibility to be faithful citizens.

Remember Jesus’s words, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).  In our constitutional republic, citizenship carries responsibilities.  Our government was not designed for spectators.  It depends on the participation of the people.  Jesus also called His followers the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Salt that never touches the food cannot preserve it.  Light hidden from view cannot illuminate the darkness.  We’re called to make a difference, not withdraw from the world around us.  Voting is simply one practical way to fulfill that calling.

Our freedoms were not secured so that we could stand aside while others decide how they will be used.  The ballot is not the whole of faithful citizenship, but it is one of the clearest opportunities we have to act on our convictions.

In the late 1940s, the Reverend Peter Marshall, chaplain of the United States Senate, preached a sermon entitled “Trial by Fire,” drawing from Elijah’s challenge in I Kings: “If the Lord is God, follow Him.  But if Baal, follow him.”  Marshall warned against living in a moral fog, refusing to choose between conviction and compromise.  Then he declared, “I, for one, am tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens.  The time has come. It is now when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship.”

Those words are as relevant today as when he spoke them.  Because every election is about more than which party wins or who occupies an office.  It’s about the principles that will shape our laws, protect our freedoms, and influence the lives of our children and grandchildren. When we stay home, we don’t stop those decisions from being made.  We simply leave them to someone else.

So ask yourself: If people who share your convictions remain silent, whose values will shape America’s future?  We cannot demand responsible government while neglecting our responsibility as citizens.  Exercise your right.  Fulfill your responsibility.  Study the candidates, weigh the issues against Biblical values, and then vote.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

When Artificial Intelligence Becomes the Expert, Who is Still Thinking?

Professional recruiters say they trust human experts more than computer algorithms. Yet when researchers put that preference to the test, artificial intelligence (AI) sometimes outweighed the human experts.  Even questionable machine recommendations carried surprising weight.

The October 3 study in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment examined how 1,208 recruitment professionals responded when outside advice contradicted their initial assessments.  Researchers found that inaccurate recommendations could degrade decision quality.

That finding reaches far beyond hiring.  What happens when professionals trained to exercise independent judgment begin treating AI as the more authoritative expert?

America is wiring AI into the professions built on specialized knowledge and public trust. Physicians consult it on diagnoses, attorneys on legal research, and executives and financial officers on risk and opportunity.

The benefits are real.  AI processes information rapidly, spots overlooked patterns, and relieves professionals of repetitive work.  Properly employed, it strengthens human performance.

Yet the systems built to assist professionals also shape their decisions in ways they neither anticipate nor understand.  Wrong answers are the lesser problem.  The greater danger is the machine’s apparent authority, which discourages the independent scrutiny on which professional competence depends.

In a study posted October 7 involving 225 physicians from 42 countries, researchers tested how doctors responded to clinical advice from conversational AI.  The physicians evaluated anonymized neurocritical-care cases.  Unknown to them, researchers sometimes instructed the AI to recommend appropriate treatment and sometimes steered it toward harmful decisions.  When the AI gave sound guidance, 2% of targeted decisions were harmful.  When it was instructed to mislead, that figure climbed to 49%.  Of the 190 physicians who made at least one harmful decision while using the misleading system, 141 reported noticing nothing unusual about the AI.

The study is a preprint that has not yet undergone peer review, and it measured simulated decisions rather than actual patient outcomes.  Still, the warning is plain: Professional experience alone may not protect against a persuasive machine.  These were trained physicians, not novices, yet a confident wrong answer still carried the day. AI grows more persuasive every year.

The cost of failing to verify is already showing up in American courtrooms.  On October 7, Reuters reported that FIFA wants a federal antitrust lawsuit dismissed because the plaintiffs’ attorneys never paid a court sanction.  A federal judge in Puerto Rico had fined the lawyers more than $24,000 for filings containing 55 defective citations bearing the hallmarks of generative AI.  The attorneys denied using AI.

Whatever role the technology played, the principle stands: Lawyers cannot surrender their duty to verify the authorities they cite to a court.  Attorneys must understand the law, weigh competing interpretations, and answer for their representations.  AI can assist with those tasks.  It cannot assume the professional obligations attached to them.

A second development reaches deeper than individual error.  On October 8, Reuters described how AT&T is using artificial intelligence to reduce its reliance on outside law firms. The company has partnered with OpenAI to move routine legal work in-house to an AI-driven legal unit.  For corporations, the appeal is obvious.  Why pay outside firms for routine hours when software can do part of that work faster?  Yet routine work is where young lawyers learn their craft.  How will tomorrow’s seasoned attorneys acquire the judgment once built through those foundational assignments?

Professional expertise rarely emerges fully formed from classroom instruction.  It develops through repeated exposure to difficult problems, careful supervision, mistakes, correction, and experience.  If AI performs the work through which professionals build those abilities, institutions must find other ways to cultivate them, or today’s efficiency gains will become tomorrow’s competence problem.

Scripture draws a distinction that technological enthusiasm overlooks.  Proverbs 2:6 declares, “For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (ESV). Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom are not interchangeable, and none of them is the same thing as information.

AI can retrieve enormous quantities of information, recognize complex relationships, and generate persuasive recommendations.  Professional judgment requires more.

A physician must consider the individual patient.  An attorney must weigh legal obligations against professional ethics.  A corporate leader must consider consequences extending beyond immediate financial returns.  Each decision requires context, discernment, and accountability.

Wisdom also carries a moral dimension.  Proverbs 18:17 warns, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (ESV).  An AI system always states its case first, fluently, and with confidence.  The professional’s duty is to examine it.

A machine may help identify possible courses of action.  It does not assume responsibility for choosing what ought to be done.  That obligation remains with the human decision-maker.

None of this proves that AI is destroying professional expertise.  But a pattern has emerged.

Recruiters can be swayed by algorithms they trust less than human advisers.  Physicians in one experiment followed persuasive machines toward harmful decisions.  Lawyers have been sanctioned over defective citations bearing the hallmarks of generative AI. Meanwhile, corporations are restructuring the very work that once trained young professionals.

The stakes climb higher in uniform.  Military commanders and intelligence professionals now use AI to process information, develop options, and accelerate decisions.  There, excessive deference to a machine’s recommendation could carry consequences measured not in lost jobs, bad contracts, or legal sanctions, but in lives.  AI can inform a commander’s judgment. Command responsibility cannot be delegated to software.

Professional organizations should ask more than whether AI raises productivity.  They should ask whether their people can recognize its errors, challenge its recommendations, and explain their own decisions.  They must also preserve the apprenticeships that turn young professionals into genuine experts.

AI belongs in professional life; its benefits are too significant to dismiss.  The task is to ensure that it strengthens human competence instead of displacing human judgment.

America’s institutions need professionals who can do more than operate sophisticated machines.  They need people capable of questioning those machines, recognizing their limitations, and accepting responsibility for consequential decisions.

AI may become an indispensable source of information and analysis.  But when the machine becomes the expert everyone consults, someone in the room must still be thinking.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Sec. Hegseth Says DoW is Placing Spiritual Health at the Same Level as Physical Health

Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, announced the creation of an Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) “to strengthen the moral, ethical, and spiritual readiness of our warfighters.”  The director will report directly to Hegseth.

A Department of War (DoW) memo explained the agency “will ensure resources are adequately provided and, where necessary, policy is properly aligned to prioritize the free exercise of religion and the spiritual readiness across the Total Force.”

Hegseth made the announcement during his “State of the Force” speech on September 30.

“We are placing spiritual health at the same level as physical health,” Hegseth said.  “Our department is, you might say, is putting on the full Armor of God.  Because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual.  God is good.  Evil is not. America’s military must understand the difference.”

According to Hegseth, one of the main objectives is to provide military chaplains proper support to carry out their duty.  “This won’t be a paper-pushing shop,” he explained.  “It will have real teeth.  It will protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support.  The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels.  Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission.”

The ORA is the latest in a long list of positive steps by the administration that will protect religious liberty for our service members, chaplains, and veterans.

In January, the President’s Religious Liberty Commission heard testimony about the attacks on religious freedom in the military.  The Commission heard from First Liberty clients and attorneys who experienced religious discrimination.  “Religious liberty is a very foundation stone of American security,” explains First Liberty Senior Counsel and Director of Military Affairs, Chris Motz.  “Throughout its history, faith has been the sinew binding America’s might. In recent memory, this pillar vanished.  Outright religious discrimination in the armed forces has been well-documented.”

Religious liberty is in the DNA of America’s military.  Faith has played a central role throughout our nation’s history, back to the Founding Era when George Washington requested chaplains to support the Continental Army in the fight for independence.

A congressional report found approximately 73% of service members identify as people of faith, and they attend religious services weekly or more at twice the rate as their civilian counterparts.  The men and women in uniform continue to draw strength, courage and inspiration from their faith as they fight for the rights and freedoms that we cherish so dearly.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Large Banks Discriminated Against Customers for Christian Views

Nine of the nation’s largest banks relied on subjective decision-making and the opinions of advocacy organizations to terminate customer accounts or deny service to potential customers—often because of Biblical beliefs on key moral issues—between 2020 and September 2025.  The findings, released last week, were part of a report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that charters, regulates, and supervises banks and federal savings associations.

“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked, and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould.  “Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views.  Fair access to financial services is not a mantra—it is a mandate.”

The OCC says it reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints, hundreds of bank decisions, and about 420,000 pages of bank documents in its Debanking Review.

In 2023, during the period reviewed by the OCC, Franklin Graham delivered the keynote address at the National Religious Broadcasters convention.  He warned those in attendance, “We are living in a cancel culture that wants to destroy Christian organizations.  They want us to shut our mouths.  They don’t want to hear from us.  Now, if you don’t preach the Gospel, you don’t have anything to worry about.  If you’re not going to talk about sin, you don’t have anything to worry about.  But if you’re going to try to preach and proclaim the Gospel, they’re going to try to shut you up.”

The report highlights a number of key findings the OCC found in its review.  Among them:

• The banks largely lacked clear and measurable standards and objective, risk-based criteria for assessing the reputational risks of customer relationships. The report added: “The banks also relied on various sources to inform these decisions, including the results of negative news searches and non-traditional sources, such as the opinions of advocacy organizations.”
• The way the banks implemented ambiguous “reputation risk” policies disadvantaged Americans holding certain political, religious, and social views.
• Mere allegations, negative press or negative reviews contributed to some banks declining to serve average Americans, even in the absence of any validation of the underlying facts or concerns.

The passage of “fair access” laws in several states seems to have led many banks to revise the policies that had led to their unjustly debanking customers, but the report adds with the change of each administration or Congress, “a return to prioritizing public perception could easily result in backsliding.”

Reputational risk appears to have been a core concern in the debanking of certain customers. The review found that bank policies reflected concern for negative news, social media or attention from advocacy groups.  The report includes several examples of banks basing decisions, at least in part, on information from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has repeatedly labeled Christian organizations as “hate groups” because of the Biblical views of those organizations.  The report includes several examples of customers whose accounts were closed or were otherwise denied financial services because of perceived reputational risks.

PNC Bank declined to issue a line of credit to a media company.  “Bank employees cited a speech made by one owner, ‘a conservative political commentator,’ and noted that another owner’s foundation ‘has funded several Christian conservative groups, including several identified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.’  One bank employee stated, ‘I think it becomes really difficult to justify aligning ourselves with a company whose owners have built very public personas around opinions very contrary to PNC’s beliefs/values.’”

In June 2021, JPMorgan subsidiary WePay closed the account of a customer that employees characterized in the bank’s internal tracking system as a “[r]ight wing religious conservative nonprofit with strong anti LGBTQ rhetoric.”

Wells Fargo influenced one of its independent sales organization customers to close the merchant account of a religious nonprofit, providing the sales organization with information from a third-party website highlighting the nonprofit’s views on same-sex marriage.  The sales organization terminated the nonprofit’s account.

The OCC launched its review in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump in August 2025.  The executive order stated: “Financial institutions have engaged in unacceptable practices to restrict law-abiding individuals’ and businesses’ access to financial services on the basis of political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities.” The order added that as a result, “individuals, their businesses, and their families have been subjected to debanking on the basis of their political affiliations, religious beliefs or lawful business activities, and have suffered frozen payrolls, debt and crushing interest, and other significant harms to their livelihoods, reputations and financial well-being.”

The banks included in the review were JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank.

Proverbs 20:23 says, “The Lord detests double standards.  He is not pleased by dishonest scales.”  The Bible has much to say about economic honesty and the government’s responsibility to uphold just standards.  That’s why I welcome this report from the OCC—one of America’s principal banking regulators.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel