My ‘Bucket List’ for America … Before This Nation Dies

We’ve all heard of the ‘bucket list’ … that list of things we would like to accomplish or do before we die.  But have you ever thought about a ‘bucket list’ for America? … those things that need to be achieved before this nation dies.

 

If you were to create such a ‘bucket list’ for this nation, what would you include?  Here is my ‘bucket list’ for the United States.  What would you add or subtract from this list?

 

1.    President Obama – STOP his socialist agenda!

 

2.    Put “GOD” back in America!

 

3.    Borders – CLOSED to illegal aliens!

 

4.    Congress – ENROLL in retirement & healthcare plans available to everybody else!

 

5.    Government Officials – OBEY its own laws or be prosecuted like any other citizen!

 

6.    Language – Writing & speaking of ENGLISH as the declared primary language expected of all citizens!

 

7.    Culture – RETURN to the original intent of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights!

 

8.    Drug Free – MANDATORY drug screening before & during receipt of welfare beneficiaries!

 

9.    NO freebies to Non-Citizens!

 

10. BALANCE the federal budget between income & expenditures, to include debt reduction!

 

11. STOP giving away our money to foreign countries!

 

12. TERM LIMITS for all elected & appointed government officials!

 

13. GET OUT of the United Nations!

 

14. ELIMINATE the IRS tax code and REPLACE it with a flat tax based on everyone’s personal income!

 

15. RESPECT our military and our flag!

 

What would you add or subtract from this ‘bucket list’ for America?  Let the dialogue begin.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Term Limits – A Cure for the ‘Monkey Business’ of Government

Recently, I wrote a ‘bucket list’ for America … things I would like to see accomplished before this nation dies.  Among the fifteen things I listed was this: #12 – TERM LIMITS for all elected and appointed government officials!  Interestingly, this was the only listed item that generated any response and expressed concern.

 

Using some basic ‘Psychology 101’ from Dr. Mario Romagnoli, let me reply in his way –

 

If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage, hang a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana.  As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold water.  After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result (all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water).  Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

 

Now, put the cold water away.  Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.  The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs.  To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him.  After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.

 

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new one.  The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked.  The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment … with enthusiasm, because he is now part of the ‘team.’  Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by the fourth, then the fifth.

 

Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.  Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs.  Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

 

Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana.  Why, you ask?  Because in their minds – that’s the way it has always been!

 

This, my friends, is how well-entrenched governmental officials function and, therefore, accept as customary.  We need elected and appointed officials to enter their positions to perform their duties not according to the conditioned ways of the world, but in keeping with their God-given conscience of right and wrong.

 

This is why from time to time the electorate needs to REPLACE ALL of the monkeys in the cages of government!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Petty and Partisan Politics

Last week, House Republicans began a caucus meeting by singing, “Amazing Grace.”  Sadly, they were mocked by a liberal congressman from northern Virginia, who said, “Isn't that usually sung at funerals?”

 

The fact that the members of one party felt the impulse to remind themselves of a central truth – that we all fall short and are saved by the grace of God – was met by scorn and derision.  Yet, conservatives typically get blamed for the lack of civility in Washington, D.C.

 

Surprisingly, the Boston Globe, a flagship newspaper of the left, recently published a very long article that was critical of Obama's leadership style – and specifically his failure to deliver on his promises to bridge the divide in Washington.  Consider this excerpt: “In nearly five years in office, Obama has met individually with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell two times, according to a review of White House visitor logs, pool reports, and press releases. … He [Obama] has visited Democrat-leaning ‘blue’ states six times more often than he has visited Republican ‘red’ states. … None of his major legislative accomplishments – the stimulus, health care, and financial reforms – received more than six Republican votes.  In sum, one of the biggest failures of Obama's presidency is that, five years after he took office vowing to close the partisan divide, the capitol he now oversees and the country he represents are far more divided than they were before he came.”

 

Is Obama not the President of the United States … not just ‘blue’ states?  The petty and partisan politics must stop!  And ‘the buck stops’ with the President!    

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Photo Worth a Thousand Words Provokes Worldwide a Thousand Tears

Did you see the emotion-evoking photo of injured soldier, Corporal Josh Hargis, saluting his commander … while thought to be unconscious during the recent awarding of his Purple Heart?  Cpl. Hargis, an Army Ranger, was seriously injured on 6 October, in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan.  He surprised everyone in the hospital room by painstakingly raising his arm to salute.

 

Josh's actions affected all of those present … moving many to tears … and his commander recorded what happened with a photo and a note, sending both to Josh's wife, Taylor Hargis, who then posted them on her Facebook page.  The photo and letter were also posted on the Guardian of Valor website, along with a description of the suicide bomb attack that led to Josh's serious injuries and the death of several other members of his unit.

 

Here is what Taylor Hargis posted on her Facebook page:

I received this picture today along with a letter from the commander of the team Josh was a part of on the night of his injuries.  A letter to explain to me what kind of man I have the privilege of being married to.  He explained to me what happened and what was going on in the picture.  “Josh was seriously wounded as you know, and survived for almost two hours after his injury before arriving to the hospital.  Josh was immediately pushed through a series of surgeries and emerged hours later into an intensive care unit here at our base in Afghanistan.  Despite being in intense pain and mental duress, Josh remained alert and compassionate to the limited Rangers that were allowed to visit his bedside.  Prior to Josh being moved to Germany for his eventual flight to America, we conducted a ceremony to award him with the Purple Heart for wounds received in action.  A simple ceremony, you can picture a room full of Rangers, leaders, doctors, and nurses surrounding his bedside while the Ranger Regimental Commander pinned the Purple Heart to his blanket.  During the presentation the Commander publishes the official orders verbally and leaned over Josh to thank him for his sacrifice.  Josh, whom everybody in the room (over 50 people) assumed to be unconscious, began to move his right arm under the blanket in a diligent effort to salute the Commander as is customary during these ceremonies.  Despite his wounds, wrappings, tubes, and pain, Josh fought the doctor who was trying to restrain his right arm and rendered the most beautiful salute any person in that room had ever seen.  I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day.  Grown men began to weep and we were speechless at a gesture that speaks volumes about Josh's courage and character.  The picture, which we believe belongs on every news channel and every newspaper, is attached.  I have it hanging above my desk now and will remember it as the single greatest event I have witnessed in my ten years in the Army.”

 

Josh Hargis (24) and his wife Taylor are reportedly expecting their first child.  According to reports, he has been brought from Afghanistan to Germany and on to San Antonio, Texas to continue recovering from his injuries.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Power of Prayer for Public Places

The Case: A lawsuit filed in 2008, claiming that ceremonial prayers delivered at city council meetings violate the 1st Amendment’s ‘Establishment Clause’ of the U.S. Constitution and promote Christianity to town residents.

 

The Impact: A decision in favor of those challenging the city could affect religious observances at public events and gatherings across the United States.  Prayer before school board meetings, high school athletic events, local charity events and many more could be threatened.

 

A small town in northeast New York is at the center of what legal scholars say could be one of the biggest religious freedom cases in decades, as the U.S. Supreme Court opens its 2013-14 term.  The case, the Town of Greece (N.Y.) v. Galloway, involves the town council’s practice of beginning its meetings with a prayer offered by a volunteer “chaplain of the month” — Christian and non-Christian.  This has attracted friend-of-the-court briefs from religious, secular and civil liberties organizations.  The decision to take the case and how it rules could offer new insights on how far the court headed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is prepared to go to redefine the role of religion in the public square.

 

“If the court were to rule for Galloway, it would have to abandon prior precedent, it would have to abandon hundreds of years of practice going back to the founders of our country, and put in jeopardy the many practices and events that reflect our religious heritage throughout the country,” said David Cortman, attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom – a Christian advocacy organization supporting the town of Greece.

 

Our Founders never envisioned that the 1st Amendment would become a weapon to excise Christian or traditional religious expressions from the public arena.  Today’s judicial activism has absurdly interpreted civic free exercise of religion as an unconstitutional establishment of religion … thus causing the 1st Amendment to violate itself.  Clearly, in its numerous rulings on religious issues since the 1947 decision Everson v. Board of Education, whether ruling for or against religious expressions, the Court now selectively relies on historical records and almost exclusively upon its own recent case-law precedents – the very precedents under which it has essentially rewritten the 1st Amendment.  And as a result of this misconception of the original intent of the 1st Amendment, we have violations of religious freedom.  In the 1971 decision, Lemon v. Kurtzman, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a government action “must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion.”  This meant that government could now do nothing that would give support to religious viewpoints or religious beliefs (in general).  Far from prohibiting the favoring of one particular religion, the Supreme Court decided that government could no longer favor religion at all; and in this and similar decisions, the Supreme Court has thus excluded religious speech from more and more areas of life … whether public monuments, displays of the Ten Commandments, prayer at school events, or even a “moment of silence” for students in public schools.

 

For those of you who would defend the freedom to pray in public places: If you believe in the power of prayer, it is time to earnestly pray that the Spirit of the Living God will move the hearts of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices to rule in favor of the Town of Greece (N.Y.).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Who Would Say That Jesus Had No Historic Significance to the Course of Western Culture? Answer: ACLU

While Bill O’Reilly enjoys the #1 bestseller on the New York Times list with his latest book entitled Killing Jesus: A History … which focuses on the historic Jesus of Nazareth … according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Jesus is not a historical figure.

The presence of Christ’s portrait in an Ohio high school, on a “Wall of Fame” … meant to highlight historical figures … caused those who viewed it “permanent, severe and irreparable harm and injury,” according to the ACLU.  As absurd as those claims may be, the Jackson City school board has cowered to the demands of the ACLU, who filed a lawsuit in February forcing the district to remove the portrait of Christ. The district has agreed to remove the portrait that was hung in 1947 (it’s actually been off the wall since April) and pay the ACLU and another litigant a $95,000 fine as a settlement, according to Fox News.

This is absolutely absurd.  “The case could have ended before it began if the school had simply acknowledged that it is not the government’s place to endorse one specific religion in a public school that children are legally required to attend,” James Hardiman, legal director for the ACLU’s Ohio chapter, was quoted as saying.

There’s only one problem with Hardiman’s argument.  The portrait was not hung on the wall for religious purposes.  It was placed as a tribute to a human being who had an undeniably profound influence on the development of western culture.

Are the ACLU attorneys claiming that Christ is not as historically significant as Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Karl Marx, Mahatma Ghandi or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?  If so, they need a refresher course in history of western civilization.

Apparently the school district decided to wave the white flag of surrender “rather than spending taxpayer dollars on fighting the lawsuit,” according to Superintendent Phil Howard.

While it can be said that the ACLU has been valuable at times over the years, going to the mat to defend fundamental constitutional rights, its anti-Christian obsession was stretched too far in this case, and the fact that it won without much of a fight – and walked away with a cash settlement – is a crying shame.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Change in Public School Policy Recognizes Equal Access to Religious Speech

Read about this great victory for religious freedom and the rights of students.

There is a policy change in a California school district which now allows an after-school Bible study group to distribute flyers to students.

In 2012, a local church in California contacted the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) regarding a local school district policy which unfairly discriminated against religious groups. The school district's policy allowed distribution of material/flyers on school grounds by outside groups, but prohibited distribution of religious material by religious organizations.

The church runs an after-school program called ‘Release Time’ – providing Bible-based “moral and character building” instruction to students … allowed under California Law. However, the church had limited access to schools in order to distribute invitation flyers to students.

In September 2012, the ACLJ provided the church with an informational letter, informing the church about its rights under the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The church’s pastor met with the school superintendent and gave him a copy of the letter. The superintendent agreed to consult with the school district's attorneys and revisit the policy. In October 2012, the ACLJ were informed that the school district agreed to change the policy.

As of February 2013, the school district policy was changed, removing the discriminatory prohibition on religious organizations and now allows school principals to use their discretion to allow flyers to be passed out if they are seen as beneficial to students.

In September 2013, the church delivered over 3,000 flyers to Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth grade students, inviting them to participate in their ‘Release Time’ religious and moral instruction program.

Christians need to heed and take heart in the spiritual battle for today’s youth in public schools. Don’t let the intimidations of ACLU have victory without even a fight.  Call on the likes of the ACLJ.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Left Prefers the Martyred Shepard to the Right-Wing’s Proponents of the Good Shepherd

Many would not recognize the name of Matthew Shepard until it is associated with martyrdom for the cause of homosexuality.  Whether you recall or not, Shepard was a homosexual who was brutally murdered in Wyoming in 1998, and his death quickly became commemorative among the left.  It was held up as an example of the hate for homosexuals that were supposedly pulsating through America.

 

Predictably, Christians who resisted the legislative and political demands of the militant homosexual rights movement were blamed for Shepard's death.  Some left-wing sites accused Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and others of having blood on their hands because they opposed same-sex marriage and the teaching of homosexual behavior in our public schools.

 

Today, Matthew Shepard is in a lot of history books, and his tragic death is taught to many children with that politically correct angle.  However, a new book written by an award-winning journalist, who is also a self-described homosexual, debunks the whole narrative of Shepard's murder.  In The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard, Stephen Jimenez argues that, after exhaustive research involving more than 100 interviews, it is very likely that Shepard's murder was the result of drug dealing and a homosexual love triangle gone bad.  In other words, Shepard was murdered by other homosexuals!

 

But will the truth … some 15 years later … really matter?  Probably not. Matthew Shepard will no doubt remain the ‘poster boy’ of homosexual activists and a symbol of right-wing Christian hatred … even though conservative Christians had nothing to do with his death.

 

Jesus, the Good Shepherd said of Himself, “I am the truth …” (John 14:6), and also said to His followers, “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)  Given this new research on Matthew Shepard, will people who believe in Christ Jesus and His teachings be set free from ignorance and error, and the prejudices of worldly affairs?  The Good Shepherd offers freedom from the slavery to sinful lust.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

‘We the People’ Rally to Say – Enough is Enough!

Veterans have fought wars against America’s enemies; now they fight the National Park Service over White House ordered closures of war memorials because of the partial shutdown of the federal government. Now they’re developing a counterinsurgency to President Obama’s ‘war’ against them.

 

A ‘Million Vet March’ will be held this Sunday (13 October 2013) at 0900 hrs (Eastern time) at the World War II memorial on the National Mall … the very location where park rangers under orders from the White House tried (unsuccessfully) to prevent veterans from visiting in recent days. The announcement said the group Special Operations Speaks is organizing the rally because the Obama Administration “is using the government shutdown as an excuse to keep our veterans from acknowledging the debt owed to them and their predecessors.”

 

“This is unforgivable.  It is also unjustified, as no taxpayer funds are spent by keeping these shrines open.  We will open them ourselves, if that’s what it takes,” said the group, founded by former Navy SEAL Larry Bailey.  “We know that there may be some degree of confrontation, given the anti-military attitude of the administration.  It is our intention to avoid confrontation, and we request that you join us in avoiding any kind of physical contact with park rangers, police, or other law-enforcement personnel.  Give them no excuse to hijack the moment.” the organization said.

 

On its website, there was no waffling about the blame, however.  “In a mean-spirited fit of selfish anger, Barack Obama has shut down our nation’s war memorials.  And he has declared open war on our honored veterans!” the website says.  “The World War II memorial … the Vietnam Veterans Memorial … the Korean War Veterans Memorial – Obama has shut them all down to force his will on the House of Representatives and frankly, to get revenge on the American people who oppose Obamacare and his other naked power grabs.”  The message to veterans continued: “Let’s put it plainly: Barack Obama is behaving like a vicious tyrant.  And if he succeeds in this assault on the democratic system, the republic we love is at mortal risk.  It’s just that simple.”  Scheduled to speak is Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who is helping lead the investigation of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.

 

The rally is planned on the same weekend that thousands of truckers are scheduled to be in Washington, D.C. to protest the Obama Administration policies and actions.  At least two factions of the fraternity of truckers have made plans to be in Washington for 3-days beginning today (Friday, October 11th).  They are doing this to protest the Obama Administration’s “corruption against the Constitution.”  Zeeda Andrews, one of the founders of the protest, said, “If anyone can help save the country, it’s truckers.  Just like the truckers, Americans are sick and tired of what’s going on in this country.  It’s time to get up there and make a change.  If something happens, it’s because we all let it.  We have a right to address these issues and bring them to Washington, D.C. in a peaceful manner.”  “Most Americans are 100 % on board with this,” she continued.  “It takes everyone coming together to say: ‘No I do not consent to this lawlessness.  I don’t support your taking away my rights.’” The group has a Facebook page which says, “The American people are sick and tired of the corruption that is destroying America!  We therefore declare a GENERAL STRIKE on the weekend of October 11-13, 2013! Truck drivers will not haul freight!  Americans can strike in solidarity with truck drivers!”

 

Only a few weeks ago the ‘2 Million Bikers’ roared through the city.  The biker’s rally took over the city on the same day an event billed as the Million Muslim March was to be held.  Muslims later renamed it the Million American March Against Fear … but only a few dozen people appeared.  Instead, the city was taken over by bikers exhibiting their patriotism and displeasure with Washington.  Mark Segraves of the NBC affiliate in Washington reported at midday September 11th that only “about 25 people,” including activist Cornel West, were at the Muslim march, with a group of Christians about the same size nearby.  The counter-protest by bikers was in evidence everywhere.

 

The bikers are planning to join the veterans this weekend.  The organization said the rally will show Americans’ outrage at the awful treatment of the heroes who fought for the nation’s freedom.  “Americans have had enough of this shoddy treatment of those who saved our country from tyranny,” said Belinda Bee, organizer of 2 Million Bikers to D.C.  “These are men in their 80s and 90s.  They can’t come back next month or next year.  This is their chance to share in this American experience dedicated to their heroism.  And yet, this administration was willing to lock them out of a memorial that normally is unguarded in an attempt to score political points.  We, the leadership of 2 Million Bikers to D.C., urge you to join in this important rally.”

 

Needless to say, Washington, D.C. is going to be a busy place this weekend … with multiple rallies of protest.  Will our governmental officials get the message? or will the politicians continue to point the finger at others rather than assume the role of a statesman?   

 

In any event, hat’s off to these patriots who wish the will of the people to be heard by their elected representatives.  To our veterans, truckers and bikers – Start your engines!”  

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Tippecanoe and Ten Commandments Too!

The only Ten Commandments monument visible on Capitol Hill has been toppled facedown to the ground by vandals.  The 850-pound steel reinforced sculpture sits in the front garden of the Honorable William J. Ostrowksi House on Capitol Hill … the headquarters for Faith and Action … a Christian outreach ministry to top-level government officials in Washington, DC.  The 3-foot by 3-foot granite monolith was installed in 2006 after a five-year legal battle with numerous government agencies.  The damage occurred sometime between Friday night, September 20 and Saturday night, September 21.  A stolen “For Rent” sign was also stuck in front of the area.

 

“After all we went through to place this beautiful tribute to God's Law in full view of the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol buildings, it's heartbreaking to see it in this condition,” said the Reverend Rob Schenck, president and lead missionary of Faith and Action.  “But we're as determined to repair and reinstall it now as we were seven years ago when we did it the first time.  The Great Words of Sinai will be seen again here on Capitol Hill.”

 

Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, who collaborated with Rev. Schenck and with the Reverend Dr. Kenneth Johnson of the Adams County (Ohio) Ten Commandments Committee to bring the monument to Washington, said of the vandalism, “Any time a symbol of faith is attacked it must be deemed a hate crime.  This is the same as defacing a synagogue or mosque. It's outrageous and must be condemned by all people of conscience.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Political Correctness vs. Persecution of Christians

The time has long since come to put ‘political correctness’ aside and speak frankly about who's killing Christians and why.

 

Wealthy Kenyans and Westerners bustled about Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi the other week.  Families ate lunch in the food court.  A radio station targeting Kenyan Asians was hosting a children’s event on the roof of the parking lot.  Around noon, armed gunmen stormed the mall and exploded grenades.  Thousands of terrified people dropped to the floor, fled out of exits and hid in stores.  The gunmen began lining people up and shooting some of the five dozen people they would slaughter and some 175 people … ages 2 to 78 … that they would wound.  Al-Shabaab, which is claiming credit for the attack, is reported to have singled out non-Muslims.  “A witness to the attacks says that gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted,” according to the Associated Press.  To weed out the infidels, according to news reports, the terrorists asked people for the name of Muhammad’s mother or to recite a verse from the Quran.  The Washington Post reported that one British mother and her young children survived when captors who shot her allowed her to leave on the condition she immediately convert to Islam.  The siege of the mall, which included the taking of hostages, lasted 4-days.  Three floors of the mall collapsed and bodies were buried in the rubble.  And that wasn’t even the worst terrorist attack of the weekend.

 

The next day, two suicide bombs went off as Christians were leaving Sunday services at All Saints Anglican Church in Peshawar, Pakistan. “There were blasts and there was hell for all of us,” Nazir John, who was at the church with at least 400 other worshipers, told the Associated Press.  “When I got my senses back, I found nothing but smoke, dust, blood and screaming people.  I saw severed body parts and blood all around.”  Some 85 Christians were slaughtered and 120 injured, the bloodiest attack on Christians in Pakistan in history.  The hospital ran out of beds for the injured and there weren’t enough caskets for the dead.

 

The situation for Christians in Egypt has also gone from bad to worse. August saw the worst anti-Christian violence in 7-centuries.  Sam Tadros, a Coptic Christian and author of Motherland Lost, says that there has been nothing like this year’s Muslim Brotherhood anti-Christian persecution since 1321 … when a similar wave of church burnings and torment caused the decline of the Christian community in Egypt from nearly half of Egypt’s population to its current 10%.  The violence of just three days in mid-August was staggering: 38 churches were destroyed, 23 vandalized; 58 homes were burned and looted; and 85 shops, 16 pharmacies and 3 hotels were demolished.  It was so bad that the Coptic Pope was in hiding, many Sunday services were canceled, and Christians stayed indoors … fearing for their lives.  Six Christians were killed in the violence.  Seven were kidnapped.

 

Maalula, Syria, is an ancient Christian town that has been so sheltered for 2,000 years that it’s one of only three villages where people still speak Aramaic – the language of Jesus – until September 7, when Islamist rebels attacked as part of the civil war ripping through the country.  An eyewitness to the murder of three Christians in Maalula (Mikhael Taalab, his cousin Antoun Taalab, and his grandson Sarkis el Zakhm) reported that the Islamists warned everyone present to convert to Islam.  Sarkis answered clearly, Vatican news agency Fides reported: “I am a Christian and if you want to kill me because I am a Christian, do it.”  Sister Carmel, one of the Christians in Damascus who assist Maalula’s many displaced Christians, told Fides, “What Sarkis did is true martyrdom, a death in odium fidei.”

 

Some U.S. elites continue to insist that the ‘war on terror’ has nothing to do with Islam.  Tell that to the jihadists.  Tell that to the nearly 500 victims of these deadly attacks.  Here we have Muslims killing Christians in Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan and Syria.

 

Again, it’s time to ask an important question that many have avoided for far too long: Can we finally start talking about the global persecution of Christians and other non-Muslims?

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pastor Converts Fellow Prisoners – Maintains His Convictions – Calls His Children to Forgive

Did you catch the news of American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh, hand-delivering a letter to the Iranian president's U.N. delegation on Monday (23 Sep) … urging her husband’s freedom? Thursday (26 Sep) marked 1-year that Pastor Saeed has been jailed at Evin (one of Iran's most notorious prisons) of an 8-year sentence … convicted of threatening the security of Iran because he chose to peacefully gather with other Christian believers.

 

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) reports that a member of Iranian President Rouhani's detail accepted Pastor Saeed's letter from Naghmeh, and said he would deliver it to President Rouhani.  According to his wife, Naghmeh, Pastor Saeed (an U.S. citizen) has been told repeatedly by prison officials that “they would free him and allow him to return” to his family, if he would only deny his Christian faith.

 

Naghmeh, in a convocation speech at Liberty University, says of her husband, “He's stood strong in that prison.  He's led many, many—over 30 people—to Christ.”

 

In the meantime, Saeed's daughter (Rebekka) recently celebrated her birthday; and Saeed managed to send her a letter.  Here are some excerpts from his correspondence:

 

“Hello to my beautiful flower Rebekka Grace…

Although this is the second year that I am absent from your birthday, I want you to know that I am with you with all of my heart, mind and soul.  I cannot come to you in flesh, but my spirit is there with you on your special day…

I want you to know how painful it is for me that there are great forces that are preventing me, your father, to be near you and Jacob, my beautiful and fragile flowers.

Although the wounds that they inflict on me are so painful, but I can still say that I continue to bless them and ask for forgiveness for them.  I would also like to know that you are doing this as well and that you are not allowing anything but Jesus and His love to consume your little hearts…

I want to tell you that you two are my little heroes.  You have grown so much in giving that now you have given up the one person that you love and need so much in your little lives to the little kids that do not have mommies or daddies.

I kiss your small and delicate hands for the sacrifice you are giving…

Although governments fail, I know that Jesus sees the price we are paying for Him and He will gather us together as family one day that I may see you grow up tall to be like your beautiful mommy…”

 

As Christians worldwide gather at the Table of holy communion this Sunday, let us remember in prayer the likes of Pastor Saeed … who are remaining faithful to their conviction of Christ Jesus in the midst of persecution.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

If It Looks Like a Duck, Swims Like a Duck, and Quacks Like a Duck …

Will ignoring Islamic militants make them go away?  Never! … because wherever evil exists it will destroy.

 

The other week, Islamic gunmen (including a woman) laid siege to the popular, up-scaled Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya … telling Muslims to leave and then executing non-Muslims.  Four Americans were reported injured.  According to one witness, the jihadists shot hostages who could not name Muhammad's mother.  Reports indicated that as many as 70 people are dead and at least 175 wounded.  The extremist group al-Shabaab has taking credit for this massacre.  Attacks on soft civilian targets like this are reminiscent of the horrors of Islamist attacks in Beslan (a school) and Mumbai (hotels).

 

While the United States condemned the despicable bloodbath of innocent men, women and children at the Westgate Shopping Mall, the Obama Administration refers to it as “violent extremism” with no reference to Islam or Jihad or terrorism.  “We stand together with Kenya in our resolve to confront and defeat violent extremism.  We stand ready to assist Kenya in finding those who did this and in holding them accountable.”

 

In Pakistan, two Islamist suicide bombers detonated at All Saints Church in Peshawar claiming to be doing the will of Allah … killing 85 people and wounding 140 more … including many children as they left their time of Sunday worship.  The Pakistani Taliban eagerly claimed credit for the bombing.  Several mainstream news sources called the barbaric assault in Pakistan “the deadliest-ever attack against the nation’s Christian minority” and included a picture with a caption describing “a relative of victims of the Christian church bombings.”  Yet, again, the news media made no reference to Islam or Jihad or terrorism.

 

If Americans are serious about preventing such nightmares from happening in the United States, it's time to stop crying racism at those calling for better border security, and start paying attention at who's coming, who's here … and why.

 

Finally, I must say of the Christians dying from the brutality of Islamic militants – The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Christian Church.  Christian martyrdom is different from Islamist martyrdom.  Christians don’t kill for Jesus – they die for Him and live for Him.  There is no other hope and no other way!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel