Friday, July 29, 2016

The Spirit Protects Muslim Converts to Christianity


In the warm clear waters of the Arabian Sea, 18 former Muslims were baptized recently at an early morning service conducted by Bibles for Mideast.   The new believers had personally approached the ministry leaders and requested baptism.  “They wanted to be purified in the Spirit and the Water to get ready to meet Jesus Christ – the Bridegroom, who is coming in the clouds soon to take His Bride,” says Pastor Paul.  “Our Lord’s return is imminent, they all believe.”

After the baptism service the group worshiped together and celebrated the Lord’s Supper.  “During the worship service two women and a man from among the believers together prophesied in the Spirit to vacate the present shelter soon and move away to another place,” Pastor Paul reports.  Not knowing where the Holy Spirit was leading them, they obeyed the Lord and left the house where they stayed on July 17th and reached a new location a significant distance away from there.

In his farewell to them, Pastor Paul instructed the new believers and the voluntary ministers to conduct regular services and launch further ministries in their new location. “We promised that by God’s grace we would go there to do follow up ministries often and whenever they need our help,” said Pastor Paul.

Little did Pastor Paul realize how God was protecting them in the move.  The following day Pastor Paul “heard the shocking news that some fanatics under a religious leader came to that house with bombs and guns late at night (before dawn July 18th), broke the door by gun shot and entered inside to kill everybody at the house,” he reports.  But praise be to God, they found nobody inside!  The new believers had left less than 24-hours before the malevolent visit.

Frustrated beyond measure, the Islamic militants proceeded to destroy the house “with great anger and violence.”

Pastor Paul said, “We praise and thank our Lord Jesus Christ that He cares for His servants as a hen protecting chicks with its wings.  We praise and thank our Lord for His unspeakable gifts and mighty protection.” (quoting 2 Corinthians 9:15)  He went on to say, “We are in a new area.  Pray for us and the people of this place and surrounding places to experience the salvation of Jesus Christ by God’s grace and God’s protection.”

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

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

LGBT History Lessons in CA Schools Starting in 2nd Grade


New lessons for elementary, middle and high school students recognizing the contributions of minorities including “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans,” were recently approved by the California Board of Education.  The updates are part of a broader overhaul of CA’s history and social science curriculum.

CBS reported that CA students in 2nd-grade will learn about families with 2-moms or 2-dads.  Two years later, while studying how immigrants have shaped the Golden State, they will hear how New York native Harvey Milk became a pioneering gay politician in San Francisco.

California State Superintendent Tom Torlakson said the new initiative is called the History-Social Science Framework, and that it will update and upgrade history and social science instruction in the state.  “This is a big win for our students,” said Torlakson.  “This document will improve the teaching and learning of history and social science.  It will give our students access to the latest historical research and help them learn about the diversity of our state and the contributions of people and groups who may not have received the appropriate recognition in the past.”

On the CA Department of Education Facebook page, Jamie Oliver posted it would be interesting to see what would happen if the state’s education leaders decided that the Bible should be taught in school.  “You can bet that the gay agenda would be out in full force protesting against it.  But we are all supposed to just sit back and accept that our children are indoctrinated with the gay lifestyle?”  Oliver went on to say, “And if we don’t want our second graders learning about it, we are suddenly homophobes?  Maybe I don’t want our second graders or any elementary students talking about sex at all in school.”

During four hours of public testimony, dozens of speakers criticized the way the Framework discusses Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Japan’s use of “comfort women” during World War II, but no one objected to the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Opponents remain concerned the guidelines de-emphasize important historical figures and events to make room for LGBT icons of lesser or disputed note, said Pacific Justice Institute senior staff attorney Matthew McReynolds, whose Sacramento legal defense organization was involved in the repeal efforts.

All this to say: Herein is yet another reason for School Choice … remembering that parents have the Biblical mandate to educate their children – not the government.

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

Monday, July 25, 2016

Religion: #1 Reason for School Choice


As the United States of America moves in a more secular direction, parents have rightful fears regarding the moral compass leading our youth of today.  Accordingly, school choice is an option that parents both want and deserve when it comes to the education of their children.

A recent survey conducted by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice reveals that the number one reason parents choose a particular school over another is for a religious environment; the next reason being better academics; followed by a lack of instruction over morals/character/values.

Over 2,000 parents were asked how satisfied or not that they were with their child’s school, and an overwhelming 81% were indeed satisfied with their current situation … according to the “Why Parents Choose” survey [http://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Why-Parents-Choose-A-Survey-of-Private-School-and-School-Choice-Parents-in-Indiana-by-Andrew-D-Catt-and-Evan-Rhinesmith-1.pdf].  The survey indicates: “[P]arents participating in school voucher programs are systematically more satisfied when they are given the opportunity to choose a school outside of their assigned neighborhood school.”

As this nation faces an intense religious liberty battle, it is now more imperative than ever that school choice remain an option.  Between bathroom confusion and the implementation of ‘Common Core’ being forced in public school systems across the United States, it is no surprise that parents are seeking better options for their children.

Perhaps you don’t have school-age children.  Maybe you have grandchildren.  But whether you do or don’t, you can weigh-in by supporting those companies that support school choice and ceasing to make purchases with those companies who do not.  Click on this link to view 2ndVote’s Education scores of corporations [https://www.2ndvote.com/scores#/all/education/hilo].

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

Friday, July 22, 2016

Today’s Culture of Marriage Confusing Young Adults


Young adults today are not exactly sure how to feel about marriage; and growing up in an unstable society of divorce, along with media-driven portrayals of marriage, plays a big role.  According to The Daily Signal, marriage is both an aspiration and a fear, and as a sad result: “[Y]oung Americans are left on the outside looking in, admiring marriage but paralyzed with anxiety about becoming another divorce statistic.”

The divorce rate in the United States has certainly led to a decline in marriage among young adults.  But many of them desire matrimony that is genuine and faithful … beating the odds of failed relationships they may have seen along the way.  It is up to this nation to join (in unison) to set a better example for the coming generations.

However, when hundreds of corporate giants are funding organizations like HRC (our country’s biggest supporter of same-sex marriage), it is easy to see why young adults today might be confused.  This advocacy group is working every day to destroy the traditional values that built America, and individuals and leaders must begin to fight back.

Learn which companies are funding the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) at [http://www.2ndvote.com/marriage], and see how all companies scored by 2ndVote stand on the marriage issue.

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

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

New Video on PP’s Profit Scandal


LifeNews.com is reporting that a new video has been released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) that highlights last year’s series of videos, revealing Planned Parenthood (PP) executives negotiating the sale of aborted body parts for profit – Eleven disturbing clips containing graphic detail.

In the second video, PP’s Medical Directors’ Council President, Dr. Mary Gatter, spoke of the price per fetus negotiation process, jokingly stating: “I want a Lamborghini.”  More videos displayed the same flippant attitude from the organization’s top officials.

As the videos were released and viewed last year, 2ndVote researched the many companies who had either directly funded PP or contributed through third party organizations.  Due to this corporate exposure, several large names disassociated themselves from the abortion giant, including: AT&T, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Co., and Xerox.

We need to rejoice (and support) these entities choosing to break away from funding PP, and continue to vote LIFE by working to influence other companies to take the same initiative.

See the CMP’s new video detailing a synopsis of all the recordings from last year’s scandal at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY1ReU8hLVI].  To learn which companies are yet supporting PP with ‘your money,’ check out 2ndVote’s Planned Parenthood resource page at [http://www.2ndvote.com/plannedparenthood].

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

Monday, July 18, 2016

Target is Targeted with Transgender Exploitation


Last week, FoxNews reported an individual claiming to be a transgender woman was arrested for a voyeurism incident at a Target store in Idaho.  The 43-year old suspect, who is biologically male, was allegedly wearing women’s clothing while taking pictures of a woman changing in the next stall of this Target’s fitting room.  From the article: “The woman was begging for help as she chased the man out the door,” a witness told East Idaho News.  “She kept saying she wanted those pictures deleted.”

Earlier this year, Target controversially announced a corporate-wide bathroom and fitting room policy that invited all-comers, regardless of biological sex, to use the male or female bathrooms and fitting rooms according to their sexual preference. 

It is noteworthy that several other retailers have not instituted such dangerous policies and have not taken the liberal advocacy position.  These companies include: Hobby Lobby; Bed, Bath & Beyond; RadioShack; Dillard’s; Michaels; BJ’s Wholesale Club; and more.

LifeSiteNews has explained why conservatives should be paying attention to this most recent incident at Target by writing, “Pro-family advocates have warned that sexual predators would take advantage of such policies to film or otherwise victimize women and young girls.”

You need to know that Target is a major corporate sponsor of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – the liberal LGBT advocacy organization that supports similar bathroom policies across the country.  HRC is an organization that promotes a liberal agenda through political activity and lobbying efforts to overturn laws upholding traditional marriage.  HRC contributed almost $1-million to candidates and campaign committees that supported their agenda on the marriage issue.

Aside from boycotting Target, Christians need to do business with those companies who are not supporting HRC, and refrain from those retailers who are using ‘your money’ to fund causes contrary to your religious convictions. [Refer to this site that identifies the supporting corporations of HRC [http://www.2ndvote.com/marriage].

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

Friday, July 15, 2016

SCOTUS Decision on Abortion: “Legal” (wins); “Safe & Rare” (loses)


In follow-on to my previous blog posting, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has become ‘an arm’ of the abortion industry … rather than an unbiased source of justice and constitutional arbiter.  The Court’s recent 5-3 decision in Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt – striking down a 2013 Texas law requiring common-sense health and safety regulations for abortion clinics – is a prime example.  There is no doubt women’s health has been sacrificed at the altar of abortion.  

Veterinary clinics, hair salons and public swimming pools have more regulatory oversight than abortion clinics.

The women’s groups and politicians who have claimed all these years to be pushing for “women’s health” have now been exposed to care nothing about the human beings involved in abortion, but only about the “right” to have an abortion on demand.  

In Whole Women’s Health, the SCOTUS’s majority completely snubbed state legislative efforts to impose standard health regulations on abortion clinics; in essence, deeming itself “the country’s ex-officio medical board.”  In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas pointed out that a majority of the SCOTUS are willing “to bend the rules when any effort to limit abortion, or even to speak in opposition to abortion, is at issue.”  Sadly, the SCOTUS’s majority mindset of “abortion no matter what,” is at the impetus of many pro-abortion initiatives … at the sacrifice of true women’s health.

Up until 2010, abortion clinics had very limited regulatory oversight, with less than half of the states in the country even having a single regulation on the books.  But in 2010, a horrific incident in Pennsylvania brought to light the importance of such laws.  The investigation into the clinic of Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell revealed that women contracted sexually transmitted diseases from the facility’s unsanitary equipment; infanticide occurred; women suffered infertility as a result of botched procedures; and two of Gosnell’s patients died from neglect and malpractice after obtaining an abortion.  One woman, Karnamaya Mongar, died in Gosnell’s clinic, when the abortion being performed on her went wrong, and emergency personnel could not reach her in time because they could not fit a gurney down the hallway and out the emergency access.  

With this backdrop, the Texas bill HB 2, like 22 other states, sought to assure women’s safety by treating abortion like any other surgical procedure.  It required clinics to have the same level of regulations that any other outpatient surgical facilities had, and that abortion doctors would have admitting privileges to hospitals.  

For years, abortion advocates have equated greater access to abortion with improving women’s health; but in doing so have advocated for sub-standard health regulations … whether it be ultrasound laws (that many states have sought to employ) or abortion clinic safety regulations.  This is a dis-service to women and true healthcare.  Whether it’s coming from SCOTUS or Planned Parenthood (taxpayer funded) or abortion activists, the “bending of the rules” for abortion is not only disingenuous, but it also dangerously sacrifices the health of women upon the altar of the “right to an abortion.”

The mantra “safe, legal and rare” that was coined by Bill Clinton when he ran for president and used by many other political candidates (since) has been blown out of the water. With this SCOTUS decision, it is clear that advocates of abortion don’t care if it is “safe” and they no longer want it to be “rare.”  They simply want abortion to be “legal” at all costs, at all times.  The child and the woman are secondary.

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

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

SCOTUS Rules Black Lives DON’T Matter


Who needs the U.S. Constitution when a mere handful of unelected and unaccountable justices can create their own laws from the bench … conjuring up legislation in the guise of a judgment?  In Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, Justice Breyer invokes the word “Constitution” 103-times (in one form or another) in the majority opinion – yet completely ignores the founding document in this ruling that protects the Gosnells (the baby killing physician of Philadelphia) around the country.

Let’s not forget: The U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade (legalizing abortion on demand) started as a lie in Bryan/College Station in Texas.  In order to challenge the state’s law protecting unborn human life, Norma McCorvey (aka Roe) lied about being gang-raped.  [She actually ended up making a loving plan of adoption for her daughter.]  But lies often shape legislation.  And our liberal SCOTUS has no problem contributing its own falsehoods in defending a so-called ‘right’ that doesn’t exist in the Constitution … or the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.  I would love to know where (exactly) reside the words in the Constitution allowing someone to kill an innocent, defenseless human being.  So supremely arrogant justices make it up with phrases like “right to privacy” and “reliance” (as in women rely on abortion to be equal) and now, “undue burden” that replace the Constitution with judicial (im)moral relativism.

Texas’ HB2 law was passed in direct response to the arrest and conviction of murderer/abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell.  His filthy “House of Horrors” was the result of un-enforcement of existing laws and non-existence of regulations requiring abortion mills to operate with the standards of real medical facilities.  TX moved to protect women.  The SCOTUS moved to protect the predators.

HB2’s requirement of hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory building standards came directly from the Gosnell Grand Jury report’s recommendations:
“If oversight agencies expect to prevent future Dr. Gosnells, they must find the fortitude to enact and enforce the necessary regulations.  Rules must be more than words on paper.  We recommend that the Pennsylvania Department of Health plug the hole it has created for abortion clinics.  They should be explicitly regulated as ambulatory surgical facilities, so that they are inspected annually and held to the same standards as all other outpatient procedure centers.”

HB2 also followed the exact wording of the unconstitutional Roe decision which stated, unambiguously: “... a State may regulate the abortion procedure to the extent that the regulation reasonably relates to the preservation and protection of maternal health.”

So, what was pro-abortion Justice Breyer’s response?  “Both the admitting-privileges and the surgical-center requirements place a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a provability abortion, constitute an undue burden on abortion access, and thus violate the Constitution.”

Not content with ignoring common sense, the left judicial activists of SCOTUS explained why laws were not necessary:
“Gosnell’s behavior was terribly wrong.  But there is no reason to believe that an extra layer of regulation would have affected that behavior.  Determined wrongdoers, already ignoring existing statutes and safety measures, are unlikely to be convinced to adopt safe practices by a new overlay of regulations.”

Well, what more can be said?!  The SCOTUS doesn’t care about protecting minority women in TX; just that abortionists can operate without any barriers.  In TX, the abortion rate is nearly 3Xs higher among black women (22.7 per 1,000 women ages 15-44) than white women (8.1); and more 2Xs as high as Hispanics (10.1).  [see the Radiance Foundation factsheet]  There’s no lack of access to abortion in the Lone Star State. There are 34 Planned Parenthood (PP) abortion/abortion referral centers (in addition to other abortion mills) providing an extremely limited scope of “reproductive healthcare.” Abortion is their money-maker; and they’ll spend millions of our tax dollars to defend it and support candidates who support it.  But there are over 3,000 state-funded comprehensive ‘real’ medical providers made possible through the TX Women’s Health Program.  This initiative delivers the full spectrum of reproductive medical care to even more low-income women … now that the state has defunded billion-dollar PP. 

Many of the same pro-abortion activists who claim that racism exists everywhere else in American life won’t see the obvious racism in the one industry that has targeted, disproportionately, the black community with race-specific birth control initiatives (e.g. The Negro Project) and abortion.  Abortion (nationwide) is the leading killer of black lives … contrary to the fact-less assertions of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Abortion snuffs out 317,547 unarmed black lives in the womb annually.  This is more than all other causes of death — 286,797 — combined.

Minority communities, or any community for that matter, don’t need more deaths.  They need life-affirming resources that value every human being — not wealthy abortion hucksters given license, by supremely wrong justices, to operate their own “House of Horrors.”

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

Monday, July 11, 2016

CA’s License to Discriminate


Earlier this year, BreakPoint writer John Stonestreet shared that the U. S. Department of Education, under pressure from LGBT groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, agreed to create a public, searchable database of Christian colleges and universities that obtained Title IX waivers based on claims of religious freedom.  Stonestreet and others called it a “Christian college hit list” because it will allow LGBT activists to target Christian colleges for harassment and possible legal challenges.  

Sen. Ron Wyden (OR-D) and several other Democrats in the Senate said the waivers “allow for discrimination under the guise of religious liberty.”  Christian colleges, for their part, said the exemptions are nothing new and allow religious schools, for example, to provide male-only or female-only dorms.  They feared the database would make them easy targets for those who hate them.

You think those fears are overblown?  Well, fast-for-ward to today.

The California State Senate has passed a bill that would make it harder for Christian institutions to obtain religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT individuals, and make state grant money more difficult to obtain while making it easier for students and staff to sue them.  [California is the nation’s largest state and home to more than 30 higher education institutions that possess religious exemptions to federal or state anti-discrimination laws.]  The bill’s author, Sen. Ricardo Lara, claims LGBT students and staff have been expelled or fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.  Lara says, “These universities have a license to discriminate, and students have absolutely no recourse.”  [The fact is: There is no shortage of public and private universities in California to choose from that openly accept LGBT lifestyles.]  The bill, S.B. 1146, requires schools receiving the exemptions to disclose them publicly.  It would also allow religious exemptions only for seminaries or religious vocational training schools, not colleges and universities; therefore, most Christian colleges/universities would, in the end, be unable to enforce standards of conduct based on their faith.

While this challenge to religious liberty currently concerns only California, we all know that what goes on in California … particularly when it comes to matters of culture and law … doesn’t stay in California.

Shockingly, S.B. 1146 has received scant notice in the press, either inside or outside the state.  Julia C. Duin of GetReligion blog, wonders why.  “Where is the secular media on this?” Julia asks.  “If the shoe [were] on the other foot and the state legislature was pondering a bill perceived as anti-gay, don’t you think the state’s largest newspapers, not to mention TV or radio, would be all over it?”

Have the defenders of free speech forgotten the importance of freedom of religion … which is part of the same 1st Amendment?

On his Facebook page, Robert George, the Princeton law professor and past chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, notes a worrisome trend in America right now.  “Many among the liberal secularist faithful,” George writes, “assume that Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others who hold to traditional principles of sexual morality hate those who think and act contrary to those principles.  That’s false and dangerous.  What’s even worse, though, is that many appear to think that they are justified in hating, and even seeking to impose civil disabilities upon, those who stubbornly refuse to accept liberal secularist ideology.”

Question: Isn’t that discrimination?  [That’s called ‘checkmate.’]

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

Friday, July 8, 2016

Christian Web-Based Dating Service Must Service Gays


The Christian dating website – ChristianMingle.com – must now provide dating options for gay people, according to a settlement in a California case.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that two gay men sued the website after they found no options for meeting gay men who profess to be Christian.  The men said the site “arbitrarily and intentionally” excluded gay and lesbian people, which was a violation of California’s civil rights acts that requires businesses to provide equal services regardless of sexual orientation.

On all the Spark Network sites, the first selection when a person sets up a dating profile is “I’m a man seeking a woman” or “I’m a woman seeking a man.”

Under the settlement, the profile selection now reads, “I am a man” and “I am a woman.”  The sites must maintain the change for the next 2-years, according to the WSJ.

ChristianMingle, as well as other sites owned by Spark including: CatholicMingle.com, AdventistSingles.com, and BlackSingles.com, have changed their dating profile messaging.

Question: Why doesn’t an enterprising gay person open a uniquely gay dating site?  Wouldn’t that be of greater assistance to those of that sexual preference seeking a relationship? … just as those sites of Christians, Catholics and Blacks?

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

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Liberals: Torn Between Two Lovers in Orlando


An anonymous writer at PJ Media said this after the Islamic terror attack at a gay club in Orlando:
“I also now realize, with brutal clarity, that in the progressive hierarchy of identity groups, Muslims are above gays.  Every pundit and politician – and that includes President Obama and Hillary Clinton and half the talking heads on TV – who today have said ‘We don’t know what the shooter’s motivation could possibly be!’ have revealed to me their true priorities: appeasing Muslims is more important than defending the lives of gay people.  Every progressive who runs interference for Islamic murderers is complicit in those murders, and I can no longer be a part of that team.”

At first glance, the liberal approach to Islam makes no sense whatsoever.  Generally, liberalism dislikes anyone who has a strong religious conviction that conflict with liberalism … which certainly describes every radicalized Muslim on the planet.

Liberals go on-and-on about a ‘war on women’ while Islam treats women as property.  In many parts of the Islamic world: women are forced to wear burkas or veils; are given clitoridectomies to take the pleasure out of sex for them; can’t leave the house or drive without a male relative; and may be raped or beaten with impunity.

Liberals are obsessed about gun violence (in the U.S.) and often trash our troops when they accidentally kill civilians in war zones.  While in a large minority of the Islamic world (and a majority in many more fundamentalist countries), innocent women and children are considered fair game; and terrorists who murder them in large numbers in places like the Palestinian territories are considered to be heroes.

The Left has gone so insane over imaginary violations of “gay rights” that liberals are in favor of driving Christians out of any profession that caters to weddings; and they insist that women have to use the bathroom with men because the less than .2% of men who “feel like” women would be uncomfortable using the men’s bathroom.  Meanwhile, there are a number of Islamic countries where being gay is a crime with jail or even death as the penalty.

So, how can liberals continue to turn a blind eye to all of this?

According to Evan Sayet, it has to do with the liberal emphasis on “indiscriminateness.”  Liberals believe that indiscriminateness is a moral imperative; that the only way to be moral is to not discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil, better and worse, truth and lies … because your act of discrimination (discriminating between these things) might just be a reflection of your personal discrimination, your bigotries.  They believe that indiscriminateness is a moral imperative because its opposite is the evil of having discriminated.  They believe that indiscriminateness of thought does not lead to indiscriminateness of policy … which often leads the modern liberal to invariably side with evil over good, wrong over right, and the behaviors that lead to failure over those that lead to success.  Why?  Very simply: If nothing is to be recognized as better or worse than anything else, then success is de facto unjust.  There is no explanation for success if nothing is better than anything else and the greater the success the greater the injustice. Conversely, and for the same reason, failure is de facto proof of victimization; and the greater the failure, the greater the proof of the victim is, or the greater the victimization.  Once you understand this facet of liberal thinking, many of the illogical things that liberals believe make more sense.

This worldview makes it extremely difficult for liberals to deal with Islam in a rational way. They are unable to admit that among religions, Islam has a unique problem with terrorism, violence and rape.  They are not capable of admitting that there is a particular risk to bringing in Muslim immigrants.  Even when a Muslim tells everyone he’s killing people because of his religion, liberals can’t acknowledge his motivation … because to do so would mean that they’d have to admit Islam has issues.

Until liberals can get past their “indiscriminateness” blind spot when it comes to Muslims, we can expect them to keep blaming anything and everything other than religion for the horrible things radical Islamists do.

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

Monday, July 4, 2016

Happy Independence Day! … from what?


Today, Americans celebrate Independence Day … in a variety of ways.  Many have taken extra time off from work and are traveling; some are taking a special opportunity to visit family; and others just stay home.  There is a lot of BBQs going on all across the country; there are fireworks, parades and all kinds of celebrations which have become traditions in the United States of America.  We celebrate this holiday because of what happened 240-years old in 1776.  We celebrate the actions of people we only know about because of our history books.  We celebrate that these people had the gumption or gall or courage to break the existing hold of Europe on these wilderness colonies that had struggled to survive and were being choked by rules and unfair burdens by the king of England.

They were pretty specific in the Declaration of Independence.  If you read through the document [which I encourage you to do] you find oppression, abuse, removal of rights, false justice and punishment.  You find a precisely stated set of charges against the king and their justification for separation from the rule of a king.  Their charges are that the king is not fulfilling his responsibility to be a protector of the people; and worse … that he is abusing his distant subjects.  Their declaration was to break free of the strangle hold of a tyrant.

Interestingly, we celebrate the day of declaration – not the day it was actually achieved.  I guess if they had lost their struggle we would not be celebrating at all … and this not be a holiday.  We would now be subjects of the queen.

But, we celebrate the ideal of the prize that was worth everything to the men that would sign the document; something worth risking wealth and even life to gain.

Listen, again, to the first sentence in the Declaration of Independence – it is a whopper.  It is long, and I imagine that it would make an English teacher wince.  It reads: “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”  It sets the stage for the rest of the document, basically saying when things are bad enough people have to take action and force a separation.

The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable [unchangeable] Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now, 240-years later, we still enjoy the freedom that the Declaration of Independence called for on behalf of the colonies and future citizens: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so grateful that God had me enter this world in the USA. There are a lot of less comfortable places in this world where there is little or no freedom. Places where life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are a pipe dream.  For some on this planet the biggest goal is to have life … with little hope for much else.

But listen: The struggle for independence is still going on today.  In our nation, the battle over religious freedom is growing; and I would suggest that if we don’t join the battle, we will continue to see our rights and freedoms redefined and denied.

Our nation’s founders obviously were much more open to the leading of God than many of our politicians and judges today.  The battle over our spiritual freedom continues as well.  We all struggle over right and wrong every day.  We decide over loving ourselves and loving our neighbor, and we probably don’t win as many battles as we could.  In fact, I fear that we don’t struggle or battle at all.  We just choose self and ignore others … and let sin and personal desire guide our selfish choices.

God offers us the help we need, it is not always as easy to find as we want.  It takes real effort and control to listen to the Spirit.  It takes even more to follow the Spirit’s leading.

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

Friday, July 1, 2016

Orlando’s Murderer Was a Gay Democrat Islamic Jihadi


In the wake of the Orlando ISIS bloodbath, an Islamic terrorist named Mateen (a closeted homosexual, according to friends and ex-wife), registered Democrat and admitted Islamic State jihadi enters a “gay” bar wherein, reportedly, he regularly cruised for random homosexual hook-ups, and slaughters 49 “infidels.”

The secular “progressives,” rather than addressing the cry – Allah Akbar – twisted themselves into tiny little knots of self-righteous indignation to somehow blame American Christians, Republicans and the NRA.  They want to ban guns.

No thanks.  While we’re at it, perhaps we should ban beer steins and put an end to drunk driving.

Listen: One thing and one thing alone is responsible for the deaths of 49 club-going revelers – precious souls, each – in Orlando.  It’s the global menace of Islam according to Matt Barber (founder and editor-in chief of BarbWire.com): “A despotic socio-political system based on the incoherent and pseudo-religious ravings of a warring tyrant who, as even the Quran concedes, was a murderous anti-Semite and anti-Christian misogynist and pedophile, hell-bent on world domination (Islamic caliphate).”

In reality, Christ and His followers love the LGBT-identified community enough to tell them the truth about a sin-centric lifestyle that leads to emotional, spiritual and, an assortment of STDs (increasingly prevalent to the lifestyle, even resulting in physical death). Christians pray that each and every person who identifies as LGBT might come to repentance and salvation through Christ Jesus, who is the only Way to eternal Life.

By contrast, Allah (the deceiver) and his followers kill homosexuals – not out of hate … though it is hateful … but out of “compassion.”  They actually believe they’re being compassionate by killing “gays” because the Quran and the imam’s tell them so. (Mateen most likely targeted his fellow “gays” in an attempt to reap absolution from Allah for sodomy.)  Even after the horror of Orlando has become better known, the liberals have refused to acknowledge the scourge of radical Islam.  Rather, they prefer, for both political and spiritual reasons, to vilify Christian “homophobes,” Republicans and the NRA.

Even beyond the Orlando slaughter, homosexuals continue to be (at this moment) “lawfully” executed in Saudi Arabia, Iran and dozens of other Muslim nations across the globe.  Muslim nations summarily hang, stone and behead both Christians and homosexuals.  We’re all persecuted – sinners and saints (one and the same) – and will only become more so as incompetent Western leaders like President Obama and Secretary Clinton tout Islam as a “religion of peace.”  [If this is “peace” can you imagine what “war” looks like!]

Islamic Shariah Law [coming to a community like yours] requires the persecution of all non-Muslims.  Curiously, it’s the same cowardly leftists disingenuously accusing Christians of “anti-gay hate” (stateside) who remain silent while homosexuals are regularly executed by Muslims both abroad and, as of Orlando, right here at home.

This is due to the fact that orthodox Christians, who are spiritually imbued with the love of Christ, are perceived as soft targets by both progressives and Muslims; while radical Islamics, who are spiritually imbued with the hate of Muhammad, are not.

Listen: Christ is Truth; and Truth is the enemy of “progressivism” … just as Truth is the enemy of Islam.  They each derive from the same antichrist spirit.  For the liberals: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Muhammad taught, and the Quran stresses, that a central tenet of Islam is to convert, enslave or kill the infidel.  On the other hand, Jesus taught His followers, who are called Christians, to “do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31); that, “You shall not murder.” (Matthew 19:18); and that we are to “love [our] enemies and pray for those who persecute [us].” (Matthew 5:44)  It goes without saying that those who do not follow these teachings are not Christ followers.

Indeed, while many may claim to be “Christian,” the word only applies to those who are justified in Christ, spiritually reborn and regenerated through the super-natural work of the Holy Spirit.  The true Christian walks in Christ’s steps through faith and obedience.

Terrorism and the hatred of persons are in direct disobedience to Christ.  Yet they are in direct obedience to Muhammad.

Whereas “Muslim extremists,” that is, faithful Muslims, kill people extremely – “Christian extremists,” that is, faithful Christians, love people, including their enemies, extremely.

While Christianity brings eternal life to those choosing to surrender to Jesus, who alone is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6), Islam brings eternal death to those who surrender to Allah, who is “the best of deceivers.” (Surah 3:54)

And so, to those in the “LGBT” community, Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton, the New York Times and other progressives who have smeared (and continue to smear) Christian Americans in the blood of 49 souls who died at the hands of ISIS in Orlando, know this: We don’t hate you.  We grieve with you and are praying for you in this shared time of national tragedy.  We love you.  And we forgive you … because you know not what you do.

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