With Khamenei Dead Will Iran’s Underground Church Come to the Surface?

As tensions escalate in the Middle East with recent joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, perhaps you contemplate your understanding of faith, courage, and divine intervention. What the secular world views as mere geopolitics, many Christians recognize as part of a larger spiritual narrative: a storyline where oppression crumbles and the Gospel flourishes.

President Donald J. Trump’s role in these developments – his flaws notwithstanding – exemplifies a righteous stand against tyranny, potentially ushering in freedom for the Iranian people and opening doors for spiritual revival.

Go back to 2021 during a clandestine gathering in a modest safe house somewhere in Iraq.  The atmosphere was serene, punctuated only by the soft notes of a keyboard accompanying heartfelt prayers for a bold mission.  Five Iranian women stood at the center of the room, surrounded by about 15 others: local Kurdish believers, dedicated long-term missionaries from the West, expats who had traded Western luxuries for frontline service.  These women had braved days of perilous travel across borders and ISIS-controlled checkpoints to receive prayer and a spiritual commissioning.  Their purpose was clear and unwavering: upon returning to Iran, they would disperse to different provinces, planting underground churches in unreached villages, remote towns, and isolated ethnic groups where Christianity remains a forbidden whisper.

These weren’t the prayers typical of Western Christianity, fixated on financial favor or relief from minor inconveniences.  Instead, their petitions were raw and resolute: “Let us reach just one more with the Gospel.”  They embodied the Apostle Paul’s declaration in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

The risks were staggering; evangelizing under Iran’s authoritarian regime could lead not only to their own executions but also to the imprisonment or death of their families.  Yet, as hands were laid upon them in that humble space, their expressions radiated pure joy, unmarred by fear or sorrow. Martyrdom was a probable outcome, but it scarcely seemed to register.  Their focus remained on the miraculous ways God had drawn them to faith, some through dreams of the “Man in White” — a phenomenon reported widely in Muslim-majority areas of the Middle East, echoing Joel 2:28: “I will pour out My Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”

Among them were two sisters, inseparable since birth and now in their late 30s, who would likely never reunite in this life.  Theirs was a sacrifice so few of us in the West can grasp, yet it underscored the depth of their commitment.  They anticipation that God would reveal Himself to their fellow Persians. True discipleship demands courage, and in persecuted regions, the church thrives not despite adversity, but because of it.

Conflict in the Middle East has a long track record of inflicting disproportionate suffering on civilians while benefiting a select few.  But unlike the past, countless Iranian civilians are expressing heartfelt gratitude.  “Thank you,” they are earnestly saying for the nation (USA) they see as a beacon of freedom.  This shows how God can redeem even imperfect actions for good, as Romans 8:28 assures: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.”

Reservations about the strikes initially lingered until President Trump’s confirmation of the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  In his Truth Social post and subsequent statements, Trump declared Khamenei – “one of the most evil figures in history” — dead following the joint U.S.-Israeli operation, describing it as justice for victims of the regime and the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country.

In that moment, I had not simple the feeling of patriotism, though I am proud to be an American, but a sense that principled leadership was aligning with biblical justice. President Trump, for all his personal shortcomings, has consistently positioned himself as a defender of religious liberty and a foe of oppressive regimes.

This isn’t a blind endorsement; Trump’s motives may include strategic interests or political calculations. Yet, Scripture abounds with examples of God using flawed individuals for righteous ends.  Consider Cyrus the Great, the Persian king whom God anointed as “My shepherd” (Isaiah 44:28) to free the Jewish exiles, despite Cyrus’s pagan background.

Similarly, Trump’s actions could dismantle the barriers to freedom in Iran, where the regime’s radical ideology has rejected human rights and religious expression for decades.  By striking at the heart of the regime’s grip—most notably through Khamenei’s death—these interventions create opportunities for democratic reforms and, most importantly, for the unhindered spread of the Gospel.  Iran’s underground church, already the fastest-growing in the world, could explode into the open, fulfilling the Great Commission in one of the most restricted nations.

Critics may decry American involvement as imperial overreach, driven by oil ambitions or imperial desires.  Yet, in this context, it appears as something more profound: a vessel for divine purpose.  Just as God orchestrated the fall of ancient empires to liberate His people, so might He be at work here and decisively so, through the removal of the regime’s longstanding spiritual oppressor.  The “Lion of Persia,” a symbol of Iran’s storied heritage, could roar anew—not in defiance, but in revival.  Imagine an Iran where citizens enjoy political freedoms and, even more vitally, encounter the transformative power of Jesus Christ.  Those brave women prayed for the church to be built on the backs of every “one more” that heard the Gospel message, multiplied across a nation, which could mean millions finding eternal hope.

As Christians, we are called to pray for peace, justice, and the persecuted (Hebrews 13:3).  In President Trump’s decisive actions, we see a glimmer of righteousness amid chaos.  We see a leader willing to challenge evil, protect the vulnerable, and foster conditions for spiritual awakening.

May the dust of war give way to a new dawn in Iran, where tyranny yields to truth, and the Gospel echoes freely.  The world watches; let us hope and pray that God’s kingdom advances through it all.

 

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

Dems Dismiss House Hearing on Sharia Threat, and Warn of “White Christian Nationalism”

Multiple Democratic lawmakers were dismissive of a congressional hearing last week about the growing threat of Sharia law in the United States, claiming it was a distraction from the greater dangers allegedly posed by the Trump Administration and “white Christian nationalism.”

The two-hour hearing by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government about the creeping influence of Sharia was chaired by Rep. Chip Roy (TX-R).

Last December, Roy launched the Sharia-Free America Caucus with another Texas congressman amid fears their state has been inundated with Muslim immigrants who aim to establish self-governing enclaves under Islamic law.  The caucus has since burgeoned to 38 members from 18 states, Roy’s office noted.

During his opening statement and also later in the hearing, Roy expressed concern that TX has become “ground zero” of efforts by radical Islamists to infiltrate the U.S. and implement Sharia.  He said he has spoken to Texans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who claim portions of the metroplex have effectively become “no-go zones” for non-Muslims, echoing similar situations in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Members made specific mention of EPIC City, a controversial plan to build a 400-acre residential estate open only to Muslims 40 miles northeast of Dallas, an area that has one of the largest Muslim communities in the U.S.

“If Texas falls, so does the nation,” Roy said.  “These efforts to undermine the Constitution and demonstrate political Islam have only been worsened by an unchecked immigration system that admitted Sharia adherence into our borders.”

One of the witnesses during the hearing was Robert Spencer, who serves as the Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and has written extensively about the threat of radical Islam.  Spencer said during his opening statement that Sharia law is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution, but predicted the competing legal systems will increasingly clash amid rising rates of Sharia adherents in the West, which he said radical Muslims intend to destroy by using its own weaknesses against it.

When the city of Keller, TX, scrapped a proposed anti-Sharia resolution last month, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) maintained that Sharia is simply a private morality Muslims follow, a claim Spencer disputed.

Claiming Islamic law derived from the Quran “is inherently political, supremacist, expansionist, and violent,” Spencer said the “Sharia law-based legal and civic institutions are contrary to America’s founding principles and may violate federal law and the Constitution.”

Citing the verse in the Quran that encourages Muslim men to strike their disobedient wives, Spencer offered the example of criminal domestic violence leading to a legal crisis in the U.K., where Sharia courts have collided with the country’s judicial system.

“This was no aberration.  As Sharia is considered divine law, those Muslims who adhere to it consider it always to take precedence over the laws of the land,” said Spencer, who later told Roy there is “no doubt” that the radical Islamist political agenda is to destroy Western civilization from within.  Spencer said their goal has been largely successful thanks to “non-Muslim apologists.”

Democratic members of the subcommittee used their time to pivot from what they deemed unnecessary concerns about Sharia law to lament the alleged influence of Christian nationalism in the U.S.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, (MD-D), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution renders concerns about Sharia in the U.S. irrelevant.  “We live in a country so great we don’t need these anti-Sharia and anti-Muslim legislation,” he boasted, going on to liken the imposition of Sharia law to “Christian white nationalism” that he said attempts to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.  Claiming “everybody can rest easy with Thomas Jefferson’s wall of separation between church and state that he identified in his famous letter to the Danbury Baptists,” Raskin suggested the hearing was a distraction from the Trump Administration’s alleged cover-up of the Epstein files and the federal crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis, MN.

Despite acknowledging that “Sharia law is not something that anybody would want to have to live under,” Raskin questioned the hearing’s relevance amid President Donald Trump’s alleged abuses of the U.S. Constitution, the issues in Minnesota and the supposed promotion of “white Christian nationalist ideology.”

When Spencer was citing an internal Muslim Brotherhood memo describing their goal of waging “a grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by its own hand,” Rep. Steve Cohen TN-D) raised his voice to interrupt Spencer.  “What it sounds like is a Middle Eastern version of Project 2025,” Cohen said of Sharia law, referencing The Heritage Foundation’s political platform that has drawn backlash from the political left.  His comparison drew laughter from Spencer.

Describing the hearing as “an interesting discussion of one religious minority attempting to impose its beliefs on the general population, which of course, would violate the First Amendment,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-D), praised Cohen for raising “an interesting point about the greatest danger perhaps lying not with Sharia law, but with white Christian nationalism.”

Scanlon repeated Cohen’s claim that white Christian nationalism is “embodied in The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto,” which she denounced for its call to ban abortion, overturn FDA approval for abortifacient drugs and rescind legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Rep. Brandon Gill (TX-R), a Christian and freshman member of Congress who has been outspoken about his concerns regarding Islamic immigration to the U.S., prompted visible snickering from Raskin on the other side of the dais as he cited figures from a 2024 survey that found 39% of Muslims in the U.S. believe Sharia law should be implemented in the country within the next two decades.

According to the survey Gill cited, which was conducted by J.L. Partners on behalf of The Heritage Foundation, 50% of Muslims in the U.S. believe depicting Muhammad should be illegal, and 33% believe Islam should be declared as the national religion.

Near the end of the hearing, Rep. Glenn Grothman (WI-R), pushed back against his Democratic colleagues for wringing their hands over alleged Christian nationalism during a discussion about radical Islam, which he speculated was a cynical attempt to divide and demean.  Noting he routinely interacts with many conservative Christian groups and individuals in his midwestern district, Grothman said he has “yet to find one person who is a self-avowed, or even un-self-avowed, Christian nationalist.”  He continued, “I’ve just never met that person, and nevertheless, for whatever motivation — I think to be divisive, and I think to run down this country in the eyes of our immigrants, I think that’s what their motivation is — the Democrats keep talking about these mystery people.”  He went on to say, “And I would think that if they existed, sooner or later, I would at least run into one of those people, but I've yet to run into any.”

In a statement released last week on his website Jihad Watch, Spencer praised Grothman for responding to Raskin, Scanlon and Cohen, who he claimed spent the hearing being “deliberately obfuscatory, constantly nattering on about a fictional ‘white Christian nationalism.’ ”

In their attempt “to shift the focus to the alleged misdeeds of the Trump Administration in enforcing immigration law,” Spencer suggested such politicians are playing right into the hands of the radical Islamists he was warning about.

 

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

Islamic Prayer Is Now Broadcasting on the Streets of NYC – 5 Times a Day

With Mamdani as Mayor residents are reporting hearing the “Islamic Call to Prayer” on the streets of Manhattan – blaring five times a day from loudspeakers – 5 AM wake-ups included – forced submission on non-Muslims – pure civilizational jihad straight from the Muslim Brotherhood playbook.

To be clear: The Adhan isn’t a beautiful call to prayer, it’s a militant declaration: “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is greater than your gods, laws, freedoms); “There is no god but Allah” (all other faiths are false).

This is NOT normal – but they’re aggressively normalizing it.

In Astoria, Brooklyn, Manhattan residents are horrified:  Noise complaints flood in, yet the broadcasts grow louder and more frequent.

It began under Mayor Adams in 2023 (permit-free Fridays & Ramadan).  But Mayor Mamdani’s regime has supercharged it – daily calls spreading unchecked in Muslim-heavy areas.

In Islam, there is no reciprocity: Try church bells or hymns in Mecca – you’ll get arrested. Yet in 9/11-scarred NYC, we shamefully submit.

 

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

SCOTUS Could Review WA State Law Removing Parental Rights

Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to review International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson, a case where a group of parents have challenged a Washington state law that allows runaway minors to access irreversibly mutilating gender surgeries without parental notification or consent.

Under amendments to the Washington Family Reconciliation Act, licensed youth shelters may facilitate secret gender interventions on runaway minors and withhold this information from parents whereby removing them from any gender-based medical decisions for their children.

According to the parents’ petition, who are represented by Schaerr Jaffe, LLP and the America First Legal Foundation, Washington’s law puts parents who wish to raise their child according to the child’s biological sex in the same category as abusive and neglectful parents.  The law voids any requirement to notify parents of their child’s location and even can delay their reunification up to 90 days.  Four of the petitioning parents have gender confused children and reportedly had to “alter their current parenting” out of “daily fear” their children will run away to a shelter where gender interventions could be secretly facilitated.  Liberty Counsel’s brief asks the High Court to take up the case.

The parents first sued in November 2023, shortly after the law’s amendments took effect. In July 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the parents’ constitutional claims for a lack of standing, holding that the parents’ harms were either “self-inflicted” or speculative because no irreversible medical interventions had yet occurred.  The Ninth Circuit also declined to rehear the case en banc with the full circuit bench.  However, a dissenting judge warned that Washington’s statutory scheme threatens to “obliterate” parental rights if allowed to stand.

The question presented to SCOTUS asks: “Whether parents have standing to challenge a law or policy that deliberately displaces their decision-making role as to ‘gender transitions’ of their children, and in so doing creates present and likely future impediments to their ability to parent their children as they deem best for them.”

In the amicus brief, Liberty Counsel argues that the Ninth District erred in dismissing the case because the parents do have standing.  The parents have standing because:

The First Amendment allows pre-enforcement challenges where parents do not have to wait until actual harm has occurred to file a challenge.

Since the Washington law allows minors to threaten to run away, escape parents’ supervision, and get state-sponsored irreversible gender interventions, the law creates a “substantial risk” of injury to parents that can be heard in court.

The Ninth Circuit ignored the First Amendment right of parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children by overlooking the parents’ explicit religious objections to gender interventions.

Excluding fit parents and concealing irreversible child gender interventions are not only “improper and irresponsible,” they are also “impermissible under the First Amendment,” concluded Liberty Counsel.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The Supreme Court has the chance once again to uphold the rights of parents to direct the upbringing and welfare of their children.  The First Amendment simply does not allow a state to take physical custody of children from fit parents and usher them into irreversible and mutilating medical procedures without parental knowledge and consent.  Parents have a First Amendment right to guide their children consistent with the dictates of their faith.”

 

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

In the Abortion Abolition Debate, Justice and Mercy Don't Have to Clash

Justice and mercy are not opposites.  When abortion laws threaten prison for women, they miss the real perpetrators and they miss the Gospel.  Christians should defend unborn children without treating frightened women as the enemy.

Abortion ends a human life.  Christians should say that clearly, and they should work until abortion is unthinkable and unlawful.  At the same time, good law places accountability where power, profit, and coercion sit.  A woman often stands at the end of a chain of pressure, fear, and deception.

Women in crisis describe the same pressures again and again.  Ultimatums from the father of the child. Threats of violence, eviction, or abandonment.  Family shame and isolation.  Pressure from employers. Control from traffickers and abusers.  Even when a woman signs a form, the decision often unfolds under force or manipulation.

Research supports what front-line workers see.  A major review of pregnancy coercion found reported rates ranging from 1 percent to 19%, depending on setting and definitions.  That range reflects threats, control, and interference in pregnancy decisions.

Scripture holds justice and mercy together.  God calls His people to do justice and love mercy (Micah 6:8).  God calls leaders to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8).  God defines true religion as care for the vulnerable (James 1:27).  Jesus confronted sin without joining a mob hungry for punishment (John 8:10-11). Christians who fight abortion should hold the same posture.  Protect the child.  Confront the evil.  Refuse a posture that treats a woman as disposable.

That posture also fits sound public policy.  In most crimes tied to exploitation, the law targets the people who create, sell, and profit from the harm.  It does not treat the exploited person as the main criminal.  Drug networks illustrate the point.  Law enforcement aims at manufacturers, traffickers, dealers, and pill mills.  Trafficking laws also aim at traffickers and buyers, not at the person under control.

Pregnancy is not the crime.  The crime is the act that ends a child’s life, and the commerce that enables it.  The targets for penalties should include the abortionist who performs the act, the prescriber and dispenser who enable it, the manufacturers and distributors who supply the drugs for abortion, and the online sellers and facilitators who market and deliver them.  Men and institutions that coerce abortion should face penalties as well.

Some Christians worry about incremental reform.  They fear that step-by-step progress signals compromise.  It does not.  Abolition remains the goal.  Incremental steps serve as the path.

A first priority is confronting the driver of abortion that is hardest to regulate and easiest to scale, the abortion pill.  Guttmacher reports medication abortion accounted for 63% of U.S. abortions in 2023.

Mail-order abortion turns a life-and-death decision into a shipping transaction.  The FDA states that mifepristone is available through a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program, and that certified pharmacies dispense it in person or by mail.  [Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, mifepristone information page.]

Reporting on this regulatory shift notes that the FDA stopped enforcing the in-person dispensing requirement in 2021 and removed it in 2023.

Christians should not accept a system where abortion drugs travel through the mail with little verification of gestational age, incomplete screening for ectopic pregnancy risk, and weak follow-up care.  Those gaps harm women and they end children’s lives.  A pro-life strategy should press for stronger safeguards, stronger enforcement against illegal distribution, and stronger accountability for the sellers.

A serious pro-life legal framework follows a clear sequence.

First, place criminal penalties on providers and sellers who perform abortions or distribute abortion drugs in violation of state law.

Second, treat illegal abortion drug distribution as a serious trafficking offense, with penalties for manufacturers, distributors, brokers, and those who profit from the sales.

Third, strengthen enforcement against coercion, including penalties for partners, traffickers, and others who threaten, pressure, or force a woman toward abortion.

Fourth, expand real support so women see a future that includes their child, including housing stability, material help, parenting support, and church-based care.

Fifth, fund post-abortion recovery work and promote it widely, because trauma and shame often persist for years.

The pro-life movement also needs honesty about its own blind spots.  Many abolition arguments live in legal theory and punishment models.  Women often meet abortion as a crisis, not an ideology.  They sit with fear, coercion, risk, and grief.  When activists dismiss pregnancy centers and post-abortion healing as weak or compromised, they push away the people closest to abortion’s human cost.

The gender pattern that many people notice deserves attention.  Men should lead with courage, and they should also lead with repentance.  Male sexual irresponsibility, abandonment, pornography, and coercion form a pipeline into abortion.  A culture that excuses male abandonment fuels the crisis.  A pro-life ethic that ignores that reality is incomplete.

Christians should aim for abolition with moral coherence.  Accountability for perpetrators. Protection for children.  Mercy for women who have been used, pressured, or misled. Justice and mercy are not opposites.  They belong together.

If the pro-life movement wants laws that last and save lives, it should pursue reforms that match truth and lived reality.  Make abortion illegal to perform.  Make abortion drugs illegal to sell for the purpose of ending a pregnancy where state law prohibits it.  Build enforcement that targets the industry and the coercers.  Surround women with support and with the hope of Christ.

Protect the innocent.  Confront the profiteers.  Heal the wounded.  That is the path to abolition.

 

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

Today Marks the Start of a New Season

What is Lent?

In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation through fasting for new believers who were baptized at Easter.  Today, it has become a shared season on the Christian calendar of repentance and discipline in preparation for Easter as Christians focus their hearts on Jesus’s sacrifice and await the celebration of His resurrection.

Lenten practices have evolved over time, but many Christians still observe it by fasting, typically from food or a habit (i.e., watching TV or using social media).  Lent also includes practices like prayer, generosity, and Scripture reading.  The point is self-discipline to focus on Christ.

The season is a liturgical tradition rather than a biblical mandate.  Lent itself isn’t commanded in Scripture, but its practices—fasting, prayer, repentance—are rooted in the Bible.

Why is it called “Lent?”

The word comes from an Old English term lencten, meaning “springtime” or “lengthening of days,” pointing to renewal.

When is Lent each year?

In most Western traditions, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday).  While the date changes each year, Ash Wednesday always falls 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday.

On the “Day of Ashes,” some Christians wear ashes in the shape of a cross on their forehead to symbolize human mortality (“For you are dust, and you will return to dust”) and/or mourning.

Why 40 days?

The number 40 reflects key biblical moments of preparation and testing—including Jesus’s 40 days of fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4), Israel’s 40 years in the desert (Joshua 5:6), and Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34).

Sundays aren’t counted in the 40 days because they’re always considered celebrations of Jesus’s resurrection (The Lord’s Day), so they’re not treated as days of fasting or penitence.

Topics like Lent and whether or not Christians can/should practice it have the potential to cause division in the church.  When you’re tempted to split with a brother or sister over secondary and tertiary issues, remember that we have a higher calling to unity in Christ and love for one another.

“Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).

 

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

Fewer Than 1/3 of Churchgoers Read the Bible Daily

Fewer than one in three Protestants who attend church services at least once a month read the Bible on a daily basis, according to a recent report from Lifeway Research.

A report published last week, based on The Lifeway Research State of Discipleship study, found that 31% of Protestant churchgoers read the Bible every day, while 30% do so a few times a week.

Additionally, 14% of respondents said they read the Bible once a week, 11% said they engage in it a few times a month, 5% said they only read it once a month, while 9% said they “rarely or never” do so.

According to Lifeway, the Bible reading rates have gone up compared to past years.  For example, in 2007, only 16% of respondents said they read the Bible daily, while in 2012, it was 19% of respondents.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, was quoted in the report as noting that the number of daily Bible readers has remained fairly steady since 2019.  “The portion of churchgoers reading the Bible a few times a week or more on their own has leveled off recently after rising dramatically since 2007, but the churchgoer population was also changing during this period,” stated McConnell.  “A lower percentage of Americans attend a Protestant church once a month today than when this series of studies began.  Clearly, the remnant of Americans attending church each month are more willing to regularly read the Bible on their own than when churches were more populated.”

Data for the report came from an online survey of 2,130 Protestant churchgoers conducted March 19-26, 2025, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.21% at the 95% confidence level.

The report also found that 74% of Protestant churchgoers said “the Bible has authority over every area of their lives,” while 15% of respondents were unsure and 11% disagreed.

Additionally, 72% of respondents found themselves “thinking about biblical truths throughout the day,” while 19% were not sure, and 10% of respondents disagreed. 

In a 2019 report, Lifeway Research found that 32% of regular churchgoers read their Bible on a daily basis, while 27% said that they read Scripture a few times a week, and 12% said they rarely to never read the Bible.

Regarding the 2019 study, Dirk Smith, vice president of the Bible distribution ministry Eastern European Mission, said in an op-ed published by The Christian Post last year that he believed the numbers were because of “the culture we’ve built around distraction, quick fixes and shallow spirituality.”

“We take the Bible for granted and allow ourselves to ‘unwind’ by doom scrolling — only to increase anxiety and depression levels,” he added.  “The consequences are undeniable.  Weak churches, weary Christians and a restless society searching for peace in all the wrong places.”

“The growing churches in America right now aren’t the ones with the flashiest worship teams or trendiest branding.  They’re the ones that open the Bible and teach it line by line, verse by verse, book by book.”

 

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

Scouting America Must Choose—DOW or DEI

The Department of War (DOW) requires Scouting America, formerly known in its glory days as Boy Scouts of America, to implement major reforms if the woke entity wishes to continue its connection with the federal department.

Sean Parnell, assistant to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, issued a February 2 statement about Scouting America’s desire to remain connected with the Department of War (DOW) and how this conflicts with its increasing commitment to woke ideology. “From Day One at the War Department, we have made it very clear: No more DEI at DOW.  Zero tolerance,” Parnell explained.  Therefore, the scouting organization has to choose either DOW or DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).

As one who remembers the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) back before they started allowing girls and openly homosexual individuals into the organization will understand, the organization has become aggressively wokeified within the last decade.  I became an Eagle Scout in 1970, but I would never recommend people putting their sons — or daughters — into Scouting America today.  It remains to be seen if DOW can force Scouting America to make significant enough reforms that the organization will be worth joining again for patriots.

Parnell explained about the DEI explosion within Scouting, “As a result, over the past several months, the Department of War has been reviewing its relationship with Scouting America—formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.  A great organization, that has — in many ways — lost its way.”

Scouting America lost its moral compass as surely as an inexperienced scout can lose his physical compass.  Hegseth previously put Scouting America on notice, hence the deal negotiations.  Parnell explained further DOW’s reasons for demanding reform: “On January 21st, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173: ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,’ terminating radical DEl preferencing in federal contracting.  All of our affiliations must meet this standard.” Parnell went on:

“But, for more than a decade now, Scouting America's leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.  This is unacceptable.”

DOW found a great deal to alarm and concern the Trump administration during its review, Parnell noted, even while expressing optimism that the scouting organization is finally on the road to reform and compliance with administration standards.

“Our review of the DOW’s financial assistance and partnership with Scouting America, including its quadrennial National Jamboree celebration, has been rigorous and ongoing,” Parnell stated.  “Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles.  Back to God and country—immediately!”

Scouting was never supposed to be about DEI propagandizing.  It was supposed to teach real-life skills and encourage civic responsibility, patriotism, and healthy living. Without those priorities, Scouting America is merely an empty shell of its original self.

Parnell optimistically ended his statement, “Scouting America and the Department of War are near a final agreement where we believe we can continue our partnership with Scouting America, as long as the organization rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms.  They are on the clock, and we are watching.”  Only time will tell.

 

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

Persecution and Church Raids in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Russian authorities have continued to raid religious worship services in parts of eastern Ukraine, warning congregations that unregistered churches could face repeated disruption unless they comply with Russian law.

On January 25, Russian police and military authorities carried out coordinated raids on Sunday worship services run by two Council of Churches Baptist congregations in Krasnodon town (known in Ukraine as Sorokyne) in the occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine.  Some of the officers were equipped with automatic firearms, according to church leaders.

Pastor Vladimir Rytikov said officers entered the prayer hall during worship, ordered the men present to stand, and recorded the identities of several attendees, Forum 18 reports.  He was later taken to a police station and questioned about the church’s refusal to register under Russian law.  “They said that if we don’t register, they’ll come to every service and stop it taking place,” Pastor Rytikov said.

A second Baptist congregation in a nearby village, Teple, was raided at the same time by officers from the police unit tasked with countering extremism.

The January raids are part of a broader pattern of enforcement actions against religious communities in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Between July and December 2025, there were at least seven raids on worship meetings across Russian occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.  Most involved Council of Churches Baptist congregations, which operate without state registration as a matter of principle, Forum 18 reports.

Five religious leaders were fined following these raids under Russia’s “anti-missionary” legislation, which penalizes religious activity conducted without official authorization.

Russian occupying authorities insist that all religious communities must register under Russian law or formally notify the authorities of their existence.  Leaders are also required to hold Russian citizenship. Communities that refuse — or that retain links to Ukrainian religious structures — are treated as operating illegally.

Council of Churches Baptists have long declined registration in any country wherever they function. Russian officials, however, claim that unregistered meetings constitute unlawful missionary activity.

Russian courts have repeatedly upheld fines against pastors in occupied Ukraine on this basis, even where services were held in private homes or long-established prayer houses.

The United Nations (UN) has repeatedly criticized restrictions on religious freedom in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and called on Russian authorities to allow religious communities to practice their faith freely.  In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, Secretary-General António Guterres stated: “No individual should be criminally charged or detained simply for practicing their religion, including in the forms of collective worship and proselytizing, in accordance with international human rights law.  Religious groups in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine should enjoy access to their places of worship and be able to gather freely for prayer and other religious practices.”

Rights groups say enforcement actions against churches and other religious communities form part of a wider campaign of pressure in occupied territories, including the closure or seizure of churches and other places of worships, the replacement of religious leaders with figures deemed loyal to Moscow, and the detention or removal of clergy who refuse to comply.

Former detainees and human rights investigators say some religious leaders have been subjected to severe abuse while in custody, including beatings, prolonged isolation, and other forms of physical and psychological mistreatment.

The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) reports that in several cases, priests and pastors have disappeared for weeks or months after being taken for interrogation, while others have been forced to flee or accept removal from their posts.

Observers say religious leaders are often targeted not for specific offences but because of what they represent.

“In the occupied territories, churches are among the few remaining institutions that command moral authority independent of the state,” said Mitzi Perdue and Nicole Monette of CEPA.

International bodies warn that these measures — alongside “anti-missionary” prosecutions, censorship of religious literature, and disinformation campaigns — amount to a systematic effort to suppress independent religious life and enforce political loyalty.

Calling for "targeted sanctions" against perpetrators, Perdue and Monette, continued, “What is happening to the clergy in occupied Ukraine is more than another tragic byproduct of war.  It is a deliberate governance strategy, removing independent moral authority and replacing it with Moscow-loyal figures.  Compliance is enforced through terror.”

As of early 2026, hundreds of religious communities in occupied regions have registered under Russian law, while others remain unable or unwilling to do so.

Communities linked to Ukrainian church structures, including many Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox groups, are among those most frequently targeted.

Local believers say the result is a climate of uncertainty in which worship continues under the constant threat of inspection, fines or closure.

Russian officials contacted by journalists have declined to explain the legal or security rationale for involving multiple state agencies — including police, prosecutors and security services — in raids on worship services.

 

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

Church Movement Seeks to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage

A coalition of Christian conservative organizations and leaders has joined a new campaign seeking to mobilize churches to push for the overturning of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Known as the Greater Than campaign, the effort is spearheaded by the advocacy group Them Before Us and includes among its supporters Focus on the Family, Live Action, the Colson Center, Word on Fire, the American Family Association and Citizens for Renewing America.

The ultimate goal is to get the Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which held that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects same-sex marriage.

Greater Than describes itself as a "coalition of parents, students, researchers, think tanks, influencers, and citizens who are willing to state the self-evident but costly truth: children need, deserve, and have a right to their mother and father."

Individuals expressing their support for the campaign include pro-life activist Lila Rose, The Blaze talk show host Steve Deace, Princeton University Professor Robert P. George, and author and speaker Heidi St. John.

“When marriage was redefined in 2015, parenthood was too.  Once husbands and wives became optional, mothers and fathers became replaceable,” states the campaign’s website.  “But for a child, their mother and father are never optional; they are essential. Children need both a mother and a father to provide stability, guidance, and the unique love only a man and woman can give.  No adult desire or ideology can change that.”

Katy Faust, founder and president of Them Before Us, told The Christian Post (CP) in an interview the other week that her group was inspired to launch the campaign last year as the country neared the 10-year anniversary of the decision.  “It dawned on us: has anybody really, really put together an effort to overturn this?” Faust recalled.  “I kept thinking, another organization that has more legal chops than we do was ultimately going to do it.  But it dawned on us leading up to the 10-year anniversary that no, this is probably something that we need to do.”

"We can pull in a lot of other wonderful, faithful, grounded, virtuous, clear-eyed organizations into the mix, because there’s a lot of people that have been steadfast before Obergefell and ... I think are ready to really make an effort to take it down.”

The campaign has three components, Faust said.  The first is “a judicial strategy” that she believes “has the possibility and I would say likelihood of success.”

The second component is an effort at “changing public opinion,” with Faust saying “Americans need to understand the threat that gay marriage poses to children and that natural marriage is directly connected to children protection.”

The third component involves mobilizing churches, which Faust hopes to transform into “a child-centered fighting force.”  The campaign plans to develop “materials that both Protestants and Catholics can use to understand why natural marriage is God's plan A for child protection,” Faust said.

Released on June 26, 2015, the 5-4 Obergefell decision struck down state-level constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, with Justice Anthony Kennedy authoring the majority opinion.  “The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,” wrote Kennedy.

“The petitioners in these cases seek to find that liberty by marrying someone of the same sex and having their marriages deemed lawful on the same terms and conditions as marriages between persons of the opposite sex.”

In 2022, the Obergefell ruling was federally codified when a Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress passed bipartisan-supported legislation, which then-President Joe Biden signed into law.

Recently, social conservatives have tried to advance legal challenges in the hopes that the more right-leaning modern-day SCOTUS will overturn the 2015 decision.

Last November, however, the high court denied without comment a petition filed by former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis to reconsider the 2015 ruling.

Faust told CP that she was “actually glad they didn’t take up the case,” as she believed that Davis “was the wrong victim and she was asking the wrong questions.”

“Children have lost their mother or father.  They are being commodified.  Parental rights themselves are being weakened because of gay marriage,” Faust said.  “The real question before the court is not ‘does gay marriage provide some kind of inconvenience for Christian adults?’  The question before the court needs to be ‘do children need, benefit from, deserve and have a right to their own mother and father?’ ”

 

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

Representatives Establish ‘Sharia Free America Caucus’

Across our nation and around the world, Islam is on the rise.  And, in order to combat this growing threat, some Republican lawmakers have established the Sharia Free America Caucus in the House.

Several House Republicans are uniting against what they call a dangerous Islamic ideology spreading nationwide.  Texas Representative Keith Self shared with CBN News why he helped to create the Sharia Free America caucus.  “North Texas has had like 20 mosques in the last two years,” said Self.  The congressman draws a direct connection between a growing Muslim population in his home state to a gradual infiltration of Islamic control.

While Representative Self is concerned about the growing influence of Islam in his state, he’s more concerned about Sharia law, the Islamic law and framework for daily life laid out in the Quran.  Sharia is wielded by dictatorships like the Iranian regime to oppress people, and it is entirely incompatible with our Constitution.

While Representatives Self and Chip Roy are leading the fight against Sharia through the Sharia Free America Caucus, they have had several other lawmakers join them. CBN notes that 26 Republican representatives from 17 states have joined the caucus, and all of them are determined to stop Sharia law from being welcomed in America.

Representative Self in particular highlighted an upcoming vote in which Texans will have the chance to decide on the future of Sharia law in the Lone Star State.  According to the Representative, Texas voters will see Proposition 10 on the March 3 primary ballot, a proposition that “calls for the prohibition of Sharia Law in the state.”

While Sharia law in America seemed unthinkable just a few years ago, it is now a very real threat.  Let’s ask God to protect us from this violent, oppressive, pagan ideology!

 

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

Vance Calls Abortion a Decision Between God and Paganism

Vice President JD Vance said in his remarks at the 53rd annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., that the debate on abortion is a decision between God or paganism.

In his remarks (January 23) before the massive pro-life gathering at the National Mall, Vance touted the Trump Administration’s efforts on behalf of the movement.  This includes pardoning pro-life activists imprisoned for protesting at abortion clinics and ending federally funded experiments using aborted fetal cells.

He also spoke about the child tax credit, making housing more affordable, and creating special government accounts for children, including an initial $1,000 deposit for babies born between New Year’s Eve 2024 and New Year’s Day 2029.

Vance also talked about an academic paper he recently read, which detailed how ancient brothels unearthed by researchers often had many baby skeletons nearby.  “This is shocking to us because we grew up in a Christian culture and were formed by religious values.  Even those of us who aren’t particularly faithful, it’s a shocking thing to hear,” said Vance.  “But we have to remember that in the ancient pagan world, discarding children was routine.  From the skeletons in brothels, to the child sacrifice of the Mayans, the mark of barbarism is that we treat babies like inconveniences to be discarded rather than the blessings to cherish that they are.”

Vance contrasted this with civilization being influenced by Judeo-Christian principles, referencing Psalm 139, which notes that humans are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God.

He added that the March for Life is not just “about a political issue,” but rather, “whether we will remain a civilization under God or whether we ultimately return to the paganism that dominated the past.”

“The far left in this country tells our young people that marriage and children are obstacles, that it’s irresponsible, even immoral, because of climate change or some other reason,” the vice president continued.  “They tell us that life itself is a burden.”

“But we here at this march, we know it’s a lie.  We know that life is a gift.  We know that babies are precious, because we know them and we love them and we see the way that they can transform our families.”

Vance said that family life was not just “the source of a great joy,” but was “part of God’s design for men and women, a design that extends outward from the family to our neighborhoods, to our communities and to the United States of America itself.”

“To our fellow Americans, we say you’re never going to find great meaning in a cubicle or in front of a computer screen,” he declared.  “But you will find great meaning if you dedicate yourself to the creation and sustenance of human life.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Vice President Vance back to the March for Life this year,” said March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter, in a statement provided to The Christian Post.  “His presence at this year’s March underscores the importance of this iconic event and the centrality of the pro-life movement to a healthy conservative coalition.  We are honored that he will join us in standing up for the unborn alongside our marchers from all over the country.”

The March for Life is the largest annual pro-life gathering in the U.S., held every year on or around the anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in all 50 states.

Roe was overturned in 2022 with the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling.  The decision opened the door for several states to ban abortion in nearly all circumstances.

The theme for this year’s March for Life was “Life is a Gift,” with Lichter explaining last October that it was chosen because it invites people “to be swept up into a movement that transcends politics and celebrates the joy, beauty and goodness of life itself by recommitting ourselves.”

In addition to Vance, the rally also featured a video message from President Donald Trump, who highlighted his efforts to advance pro-life agenda items and religious liberty.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., also gave remarks at the March for Life, sharing the stage with several other pro-life members of Congress.

 

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