And Now— for the Rest of the Story of Christian Florist vs Homosexual Activists

Barronelle Stutzman of Richland, WA, announced the legal settlement, saying she has paid $5,000 to Robert Ingersoll, The Tri-City Herald reported.  She also wished Ingersoll, who had been her customer at Arlene’s Flowers for almost a decade, “the very best.”

The agreement allows Stutzman to “preserve her conscience” by not forcing her to act against her Southern Baptist religious beliefs, according to a news release from her attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).  They reached the settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  It also prevents Stutzman from having “to pay potentially ruinous attorneys’ fees,” the release said.  “I am willing to turn the legal struggle for freedom over to others.  At age 77, it’s time to retire and give my business to someone else,” Stutzman said.

Stutzman was subjected to unprecedented judicial persecution for her Biblical views on homosexuality.  The Washington State Supreme Court (WSSC) issued two unanimous decisions declaring the U.S. Constitution does not grant a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people.  The ACLU of WA said. “We took on this case because we were worried about the harm being turned away would cause LGBTQ people.”  Freed and Ingersoll said in a statement, “We are glad the Washington Supreme Court rulings will stay in place to ensure that same-sex couples are protected from discrimination and should be served by businesses like anyone else.”

The ACLU brought the anti-discrimination lawsuit against Stutzman in 2013 on behalf of Ingersoll and Freed.  WA Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued separately, saying the floral artist violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act by declining to provide services based on sexual orientation.  A Benton County Superior Court judge in 2015 ruled that Stutzman must pay $1 in attorneys’ fees and costs to the state, along with a $1,000 civil penalty, for discriminating against the couple.  That judgment still stands.

The two cases through appeals by Stutzman went to the WSSC, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS).  The country’s highest court vacated WA state’s previous ruling and sent it back to the lower court in 2018 for another review.  The WSSC in 2019 ruled unanimously that state courts did not act with animosity toward religion when they ruled Stutzman broke the state’s anti-discrimination laws by refusing on religious grounds to provide wedding flowers.  Stutzman and ADF — in their second attempt to get the case before the SCOTUS — filed a petition for review in September 2019.  SCOTUS in July 2021 declined to take up the case.  Stutzman responded with a petition for rehearing, but she will withdraw it as part of her settlement.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Arrested for Reporting Attacks Against Christians in Nigeria

A Nigerian journalist faces prolonged detention allegedly for his reporting about attacks against predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria and the government’s response.

Luka Binniyat, a Nigerian Roman Catholic journalist and father who writes for the anti-communist Epoch Times, was arrested last week.  Binniyat was arraigned at the Barnawa Magistrate’s Court in Kaduna state.  He was charged with cyberstalking— a charge that critics say is often used in the African country to silence the media.  On November 4, Binniyat informed Epoch Times Africa Desk Editor Doug Burton that he was arrested and urged the editor to “contact all relevant persons.”  Burton elaborated on the circumstances leading up to Binniyat’s arrest and the dangers he faces in an interview with The Christian Post (CP).  Burton attributed Binniyat’s arrest to an October 29 article he wrote titled “In Nigeria, Police Decry Massacres as ‘Wicked’ But Make No Arrests.” The article is part of The Epoch Times’ coverage of the deadly persecution of Christian farming communities in the African country that human rights advocates say have escalated to near “genocidal levels” in recent years as thousands have been killed.

In the article, Binniyat pushed back on Kaduna’s Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan’s characterization of an attack on Christian farmers in the state as a “clash.”  The Nigerian government has long refuted claims by human rights activists that a religious genocide is taking place in Nigeria’s Middle Belt states, where radicals from the Fulani herding community have been accused of invading countless Christian farming communities.  The government has long attributed attacks and reprisals as being part of decades-old farmerherder clashes.

In his article, Binniyat included a quote from a Nigerian senator, who accused the Kaduna government of “using Samuel Aruwan, a Christian, to cause confusion to cover up the genocide going on in Christian Southern Kaduna by describing the measure as a ‘clash’” as opposed to a targeted act of violence against Christians.  “What he [Binniyat] did there is he showed that the commissioner was projecting a false narrative,” Burton explained.  “For this reason, I think the authorities, though they knew they would get pushback for prosecuting a dissident journalist, they decided they had to do it because … they want to shut his voice down.” Burton told CP that the journalist was accused of cyberstalking Aruwan.  Cyberstalking is a federal offense.  “The magistrate ruled that he does not have authority to try the charge of cyberstalking because it’s a federal charge, it’s a federal statute.  So the case will have to be transferred to a federal court.  And so, therefore, in the meantime, he can’t get bail because the magistrate doesn’t have authority to give him bail since he doesn’t have authority over this crime.”  Sources Burton spoke to believe that the prosecution is using a “legal technicality to keep Luka in jail.”  “By having his charges presented first in a lower court, a district court where he was charged, they expected him to be charged with defamation and injurious falsehood,” Burton said.  “These are statutes … in the criminal code in Nigeria and can be tried at the lower court level.”  “But the charge of … cyberstalking is a federal charge that … has to be issued by a higher court,” he continued.  “And so by doing that deliberately, the prosecution knew that bail couldn’t be given, and that is the whole idea.”

Binniyat “texted that he felt like his life was in danger,” Burton said.  Additionally, Binniyat said he had been held for five days in a very “cramped” and “dingy” cell that he described as “uncomfortable.”  Binniyat further alleged that he hadn’t gotten much sleep. Burton maintained that the central claim made by Aruwan highlighted in Binniyat’s October 29 story, that the attacks on Christian farming communities in Nigeria are simply “clashes” between farmers and herders, is widely held and promoted by Nigerian government officials.  “That is a distorted representation of what’s really happening.  In fact, there is a farmer-herder aspect to the violence,” the editor added.  “But that discounts the fact that the preponderance of the attacks are sectarian in … nature.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Back to Prison for Christian Pastors in Iran

Iranian authorities have ordered a pastor from the Church of Iran denomination to return to prison to begin serving a five-year sentence for “sectarian activities,” indicating that Christian persecution might be intensifying after a brief respite due to the spread of COVID-19 that led authorities to temporarily release many people from prison.

Pastor Amin Khaki is now in prison in Karaj, the capital of Alborz Province near Tehran, after last Wednesday’s summon, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported.  Pastor Khaki, along with two other Iranian Christians, Milad Goudarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, stood trial in Karaj in June.  They were charged under a new amendment to the Iranian Penal Code known as Article 500-bis, which deals with “sectarian activities.”  CSW said the three men were not allowed to be represented by their lawyer during the trial.  They were each sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of “engaging in propaganda against the Islamic regime.”  Khaki has also been arrested, charged, and convicted previously.  The three are appealing the verdict.

CSW’s Founder and President Mervyn Thomas said Iran’s actions “send yet another negative message to religious minorities in Iran, and essentially amounts to a criminalization of Christianity.”  Demanding that the three be released, Thomas said, “We refute the charges leveled against Pastor Khaki and his colleagues.”

In a separate case last week, Iranian authorities also summoned Christian converts Sasan Khosravi and Habib Heydari to return to Bushehr Central Prison to serve the remainder of their one-year sentences for “propagating against the Islamic Republic by promoting Christianity,” Article 18 reported.  The two, who started their sentences in February, had been on furlough since March.  

Governed by Islamic law, Iran ranks as the ninth worst country in the world for Christian persecution by Open Doors USA as the regime has relentlessly persecuted Muslim converts to Christianity.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pro-Pedophile Professor Placed on Leave

Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) has acted against a professor who made comments that attempted to normalize “minor-attracted persons”—or as the criminal justice system refers to the behavior—pedophilia.

“Old Dominion University (ODU) has placed Dr. Allyn Walker on administrative leave, effective immediately, from [his] position as assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice,” says Amber Kennedy, a spokesperson for ODU in a statement released last week.  

The non-binary professor’s comments sparked widespread outrage across the nation and on campus.  “I was very surprised and shocked.  I actually didn’t believe it until I saw it on Twitter,” College Republicans president Andrew Lambakis told television station WVEC.  “I’m actually thinking about planning a peaceful protest against Allyn Walker.”

The spokesperson for this taxpayer-funded university said, “Reactions to Dr. Walker’s research and book have led to concerns for their safety and that of the campus.”  Kennedy added, “Furthermore, the controversy over Dr. Walker’s research has disrupted the campus and community environment and is interfering with the institution’s mission of teaching and learning.”

The ODU president also released a statement condemning child sexual abuse.  “I want to state in the strongest terms possible that child sexual abuse is morally wrong and has no place in our society,” said ODU President Brian O. Hemphill.  “This is a challenging time for our University, but I am confident that we will come together and move forward as a Monarch family.”

The leave announcement followed an earlier statement in which the university said it does not “promote crimes against children.”  “Following recent social media activity and direct outreach to the institution, it is important to share that Old Dominion, as a caring and inclusive community, does not endorse or promote crimes against children or any form of criminal activity,” the statement read.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Taking the Jab or Not

As the COVID virus storms the world with variants and the march goes on to protect the population, so do the demands for vaccination.  Mandates are increasing.  Those in the church and those not in the church are caught up in the undulating wave of indecision regarding “the shot” or “the jab.”  Indecision caused by guilt, fear, pressure from family and friends, mixed messages and more.  People take sides.  Bombarded with endless ads on phones, computers, and televisions, making it challenging to not waver when you want to say “no.”  Celebrities air impassioned sound bites, medical personnel appeal for hospitals and staff that are overwhelmed.  Face it, we all know someone who has died from COVID.

For Christians, the great debate to be shot or not has been present since the 1700’s when the first inoculation was developed for Smallpox.  Though far more dangerous in its embryonic stage than our modern vaccinations, the inoculation did save lives.  It reduced the mortality rate from 15% of those not inoculated to 2% who were.  Matters of conscious versus modern health practices became the topic of pastors and medical professionals alike— and that debate remains front and center today.  Cotton Mather who began the experimentation of inoculation in 1721 was both hailed as a hero and a villain.  His father published a pamphlet entitled “Several Reasons Proving that Inoculating or Transplanting the Smallpox is a Lawful Practice, and that it has been Blessed by God for the Saving of Many a Life.”  His intention was to promote the 6th Commandment— “Thou shalt not kill.”

Smallpox surfaced several more times in the 1700’s and the Christian population was just as divided as it is today with decisions regarding faith, conscience, and medical procedures.  A bold article by Dr. Andrew Wong takes Christians to the mat— “I have heard some Christians say that the pandemic is God’s will, and that God will decide whether we live or die, so they will leave their fate in God’s hands.  I, too, submit my life to God … but I would never have become a doctor if I thought that helping people prevent and recover from illness was contrary to the will of God.”

Franklin Graham has not hidden the fact that he has taken the COVID vaccination; but also, agrees it should be a personal choice.  Therein lies the conflict of conscience. Christians believe that we should help our friends and neighbors, put others first and save lives.  Our “don’t cross the line” becomes the Liberty of conscience and Freedom of Religion.  “The Bible does not instruct us as to whether or not one should receive a vaccine, but it is clear when it comes to the doctrine of the liberty of conscience.  In matters that are unspecified by God’s Word, the Christian is to consider the teachings of Scripture, and remember that all things must proceed from faith and be done for the glory of God.

Let us not trample on the consciences of others.  Let us not condemn others for their decisions of health; instead, let us have faith and walk in love for our fellow man and, at the same time, prayerfully consider what is best for our own personal health.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Prayer to Protect U.K. Churches

A major Christian advocacy group in the U.K. has launched a prayer campaign in response to looming government legislation aimed at banning what is derisively referred to as “conversion therapy.”  If such as ban goes into effect, it might also prohibit clergy from praying for people struggling with same-sex attraction and gender confusion.

The Christian Institute’s (CI) “Let Us Pray” campaign was launched on October 15 and comes as the British government continues to say that it intends to ban so-called conversion therapy, but has yet to define what types of therapy or counseling fall under this label.  Some churches fear the ban will include outlawing prayer.  

“‘Conversion therapy’ is a wide umbrella term chosen by LGBT campaigners.  It covers grotesque illegal assaults such as ‘corrective rape’ and abusive quack medical practices like electric shock ‘therapy.’  But the campaigners want to go much further,” the CI’s prayer initiative website states.  The larger goal of the proposed government legislation, the group says, is for churches and ministries to stop advocating the historic sexual ethics of the Christian faith.  Preaching, pastoral care, and even parenting might get entangled in this new policy.  “It shouldn’t be illegal for Christians to teach their faith, or for people to pray for their friends,” the website declares.  “No-one denies that some people who identify as LGBT have been mistreated in the past and are sometimes mistreated today.  As Christians, we condemn abuse of every kind.  And we welcome LGBT people into our churches, just like we welcome everyone else,” an October 15 post reads.  Should the government criminalize the expression of biblical sexual ethics, it would violate the obligations outlined in the European Convention on Human Rights, the group notes.

The ongoing lack of clarity as to what is being considered under the proposed ban comes on the heels of whether prayer would be included in the legislation.  In June, David Walker, the Anglican Bishop of Manchester, told the Guardian that those who breach the ban on conversion therapy ought to face prosecution, but stressed that he did not mean those engaging in “gentle, non-coercive prayer,” but the kind “where there is a level of power imbalance and a level of force.”

At the root of the divide between theologically orthodox Christians and LGBT activists arguing for such a ban is an anthropological issue about what fundamentally defines a human being.  While traditional churches have historically held that one’s sexual inclinations and actions are not the sum-total or defining features of a person’s identity and that a long-standing scriptural standard must be followed regarding sexuality, LGBT activist groups often assert that any effort to challenge particular behaviors, especially if someone is dealing with unwanted sexual attractions or gender confusion, is tantamount to an assault on “who you are.”

In late March, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a letter to the Evangelical Alliance that he did not want to see pastors face criminal penalties.  “As the Government made clear in 2018, when we first made our commitment to end conversion therapy, we will continue to allow adults to receive appropriate pastoral support (including prayer), in churches and other religious settings, in the exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Johnson said.  He added, “Like you, I do not want to see clergy and church members criminalized for normal non-coercive activity.”

The CI’s director Colin Hart said in a statement that the goals of those pushing for the ban are sweeping.  “Private prayer, evangelism, parenting, pastoral advice, preaching and teaching, church membership, baptism, confirmation and communion would all be put at risk by an overly broad ban,” Hart said, adding that these are among the ordinary things churches do and must not be criminalized.  “We want to protect Gospel freedom. Politicians must not allow activists to exploit concerns about genuine abuse to further their own agendas against Christians,” he said.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pushing Back & Navigating Your Threatened Rights

As personal rights are violated and longtime members of the medical community are punished for their vaccine-related views, an emergency hearing has been scheduled for a federal lawsuit involving the Biden Administration’s mandate that federal workers must get COVID shots.

Liberty Counsel (LC) has filed a massive class-action lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction on behalf of all members of the military in all five branches against Joe Biden, the Secretary of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Mat Staver, LC founder and chairman of the Christian legal ministry, says Biden’s mandates are unlawful, “and they need to be stopped.”  “What is happening … particularly in the military is absolutely shocking, and it is an abuse of our military heroes,” Staver contends.  “No matter how many tours of duty they’ve done, no matter how long they’ve been in the military, no matter how much they’ve sacrificed, they’re being threatened with dishonorable discharge if they don’t succumb to these COVID injections.  It’s absolutely unbelievable.”

Staver says the government is violating multiple laws, and the federal lawsuit, which is filed in Tampa, FL, is asking the court to stop the unlawful mandates.  “We have an emergency hearing coming up November 15th,” says Staver.  “This case will move quite quickly.”

Meanwhile, a conservative legal defense organization in CA that provides pro bono representation in matters involving the exercise of religion and other civil liberties, has launched a new project called “Operation Pushback” in an effort to aid thousands of parents protecting their children from forced COVID shots and thousands of employees purged from the workplace for their religious convictions.  “This is a great challenge facing America to our liberties and to our freedoms,” says Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute (PJI).  In Operation Pushback, PJI is focused on three main components:

1. Recruiting additional attorneys across America to take wrongful termination cases in every state without any charge to the clients,

2. Distributing a flyer that guides employees, parents of K-12 students, college students, and military personnel, and

3. Making PJI attorneys available to appear at speaking engagements throughout the country.

“PJI ’s legal team is already in the process of helping thousands of individuals navigate their rights and take the proper legal steps with their schools and employers, and Operation Pushback will ensure that every person receives the legal help they need,” Dacus asserts.  Now, he says, is the time to close ranks in the fight for religious freedoms.

In MN, an advocate for health freedom thinks a situation involving a surgeon [Dr. Jeffrey Horak] who was recently terminated from his job after speaking to a school board about mask mandates is “the epitome of cancel culture.”  “A person cannot speak their mind, cannot speak from their expert opinion, cannot share whatever their beliefs are and their opinions are without losing their income, their right to work,” says Twila Brase, RN and president/co-founder of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF).

After losing his job, Dr. Horak told the “Fox & Friends” program that he had been asked by the community to speak at a school board meeting about mask mandates.  “I gave my expertise and my professional opinion, and nine days later, my employer gave me an option: Resign or be terminated,” he accounted.  According to Horak, the only information he got was that his views were no longer congruent with that of his employer.  “I’d been there for 15 years,” he shared.  “I was just shocked.  I didn’t know what to do.”

“To be clear, this was a decision that was made by Dr. Horak’s peers who serve on the Medical Group Board, not by Lake Region Healthcare, the community-based hospital where Dr. Horak practiced general surgery,” stated Dr. Greg Smith, the medical group board president in a statement shared on the “Fox & Friends” program.

“A person has a right to have their own life, their own opinion outside of the place of employment without being threatened by a loss of job and income and the right to put food on the table for their families,” contends Brase of CCHF.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

If You Are a Christian and Not Persecuted, Pray for the Millions Who Are

To observe the annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP), churches around the world prayed (Sunday, November 3) for more than 340-million Christians who are persecuted or oppressed because of their faith.  

Marking the IDOP 2021, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern said, “the number one thing persecuted Christians ask for is prayer.”  

“The IDOP is a time set apart to remember all those who share our faith, but not our freedom,” Godfrey Yogarajah, ambassador for Religious Freedom of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), said.  The WEA Religious Liberty Commission launched the first IDOP in 1996, encouraging churches worldwide to dedicate a Sunday in November to pray for persecuted Christians.  “For over two decades, every November, the global Church has united in prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. Today, more than 300-million Christians live in places where they face persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ.  Staggeringly, this is one in eight Christians, globally,” said WEA Secretary General Thomas Schirrmacher.  

Speaking to CBN News, David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, put the number of Christians who are persecuted or oppressed because of their faith in Jesus at more than 340-million.  “Some of those places like North Korea are exceptionally difficult if you’re caught with the Bible, you may spend the rest of your life in prison or even lose your life,” he explained.  “Then there are other places around the world where the Gospel is opposed.  You may be harassed and bothered, so there are any number of ways people can be persecuted for their faith.”  

Behind each number and statistic, there is a human story, notes the World Watch List (WWL), which seeks to identify countries where Christian persecution is most rampant. During the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Christians in India, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Central Asia, Malaysia, North Africa, Yemen and Sudan, were denied aid, the WWL says.  “Christians who abandon a majority faith to follow Christ know they risk losing all support from spouses, families, tribes and communities, as well as local and national authorities.  If they lose income due to COVID-19, they can’t fall back on customary networks for survival,” it continues, adding that the kidnapping, forcible conversion, and forced marriage of women and girls also increased during the pandemic because of increased vulnerability.

Mark Riedemann, director of Public Affairs and Religious Freedom for Aid to the Church In Need, said the most important factors impacting religious freedom today include authoritarian governments, Islamist extremism, and ethnic-religious nationalism. “Several countries in Mainland Asia continue to be governed by Marxist one-party dictatorships,” The Tablet quoted him as saying. “These include North Korea where the policy toward faith groups can be understood as ‘exterminationist’ and China where mass surveillance, including artificial intelligence-refined technology, a social credit system that rewards and punishes individual behavior, and brutal crackdowns on religious and ethnic groups, enforce the state supremacy.”  Riedemann then explained that Africa is witnessing an “extraordinarily rapid growth of transnational jihadist groups, who systematically persecute all those — Muslim and Christian — who do not accept their extreme Islamist ideology.”  Quoting the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, he added that Sub-Saharan Africa “has become a haven for over two dozen extremist groups actively operating — and increasingly cooperating — in 14 countries.”  He further explained that Asia confronts a growing phenomenon of “ethno-religious nationalism,” which promotes ethnic and religious supremacy in some Hindu and Buddhist majority countries in Asia, leading to even greater oppression of minorities.  “India is the most extreme example,” he continued.  “With a population of nearly 1.4-billion, India is both the world’s largest democracy and the country with the world’s largest and most virulent movement of religious nationalism.”  

However, the rampant persecution is not affecting the growth of the Church or the faith of the believers.  “When our sisters and brothers are persecuted for their faith, and they still choose Jesus, the Living Water — this is a miracle in front of our eyes,” the WWL notes.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Churches Across Africa Take Stand Against LGBTQ

In Nigeria, the umbrella body for Christian churches depicts same-sex relationships as an evil meriting the lengthy prison sentences prescribed under existing law.  And in several African countries, bishops aligned with the worldwide United Methodist Church (UMC) are preparing to join an in-the-works breakaway denomination so they can continue their practice of refusing to recognize same-sex marriage or ordain LGBTQ clergy.

In the United States, Western Europe, and various other regions, some prominent Protestant churches have advocated for LGBTQ inclusion.  With only a few exceptions, this hasn’t happened in Africa, where Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran leaders are among those opposing such Biblical compromise.

Ghana, generally considered more liberal than most African countries, now faces scrutiny due to a bill in Parliament that would impose prison sentences ranging from three to 10 years for people identifying as LGBTQ or supporting that community.  The lawmakers proposing the bill said they consulted influential religious leaders while drafting it.  Among those endorsing it are the Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the country’s chief imam.  “We don’t accept murderers, why should we accept somebody who is doing sex in a sinful way?” Archbishop Philip Naameh, president of the bishops’ conference, told The Associated Press (AP).  “If you take a stance which is against producing more children, it is a choice which is injurious to the existence of the Ghanaian state.”

The Christian Council — whose members include Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Anglican churches — considers homosexuality “an act of perversion and abomination,” according to its secretary general, the Rev. Dr. Cyril Fayose of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.  “Homosexuality is not a human right, and we reject it in all uncertain terms,” he declared earlier this year.

In Africa’s most populous country, the Christian Association of Nigeria has threatened to sanction any church that shows tolerance for same-sex relationships.  Such acceptance “will never happen,” Methodist Bishop Stephen Adegbite, the association’s director of national issues, told the AP.  Asked about Nigeria’s law criminalizing same-sex relationships with sentences of up to 14 years in prison, Adegbite said there are no alternatives.  “The church can never be compromised,” he declared.

In Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, Catholic Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins told the AP that Catholic teaching “recognizes in the dignity of every human person.” However, he said LGBTQ people who enter into same-sex relationships are leading “a disordered way of life” and should change their behavior.

Nigeria is home to one of the United Methodist bishops, John Wesley Yohanna, who says he plans to break away from the UMC and join the proposed Global Methodist Church.  That new denomination, likely to be established next year, results from an alliance between Methodists in the United States and abroad who don’t support the LGBT-inclusive policies favored by many Methodists in the U.S.  Bishops Samuel J. Quire Jr. of Liberia and Owan Tshibang Kasap of the UMC’s Southern Congo district also have indicated they would join the breakaway. 

The Rev. Keith Boyette, a Methodist elder from the United States who chairs the Global Methodist initiative, said the African bishops’ views reflect societal and cultural attitudes widely shared across the continent.  “Same-sex orientation is viewed negatively,” he said.  “That’s true whether a person is from a Christian denomination, or Muslim, or from a more indigenous religion.” 

In all of Africa, only one nation — South Africa — has legalized same-sex marriage.

South Africa’s Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, world-renowned for his opposition to apartheid, has been an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ rights.  “I would not worship a God who is homophobic,” he once said.  “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say ‘Sorry, I would much rather go to the other place.’”

 

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

Christian Employers Sue Against Covering Gender Transition Surgeries

Christian Employers Alliance (CEA), a nonprofit representing Christian-owned businesses and protecting religious freedom in the workplace, is suing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for issuing mandates the group argues would require religious employers and providers to pay for and perform, respectively, gender transition surgeries.

The HHS mandate was issued in May by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, invoking its responsibility for enforcing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act “protecting the civil rights of individuals who access or seek to access covered health programs or activities,” a responsibility that includes prohibiting discrimination “on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The EEOC mandate, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requires employers with over 14 employees to “provide employee health plans or health insurance coverage that cover gender transition surgeries and services, such as medical procedures to transition a biological male to a transgender female or to transition a biological female to a transgender male” and “requires coverage for other gender transition services such as supportive counseling/psychotherapy and cross-sex hormone therapy and treatment.”  

The EEOC’s mandate has been “for many years now misinterpreted and improperly enforced,” argues the lawsuit filed on behalf of CEA in U.S. District Court of North Dakota’s Western Division by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).  The EEOC’s misinterpretation and improper enforcement of Title VII “force[s] religious employers to pay for and provide health insurance coverage for gender transition surgeries and procedures,” according to the complaint.  The lawsuit challenges HHS’ “reinterpretation of ‘sex’ in federal law to include gender identity, thereby forcing religious healthcare providers to physically perform or facilitate gender transition surgeries and procedures, contrary to their deeply held beliefs.”  “Many religious employers — including the Christian Employers Alliance and all of its members — hold sincere beliefs that gender transition surgeries and procedures are morally wrong and contradict their beliefs that God purposefully created humans as either a biological male or female and that a person’s biological sex is immutable,” said ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman.  “By misinterpreting and improperly enforcing federal law, President Biden has far overreached his constitutional authority, to the detriment of people of faith across the country.”  Per the Constitution’s religious freedom protections, Bowman said, “The government cannot force Christian employers to pay for, or physically perform, harmful medical procedures that contradict their religious beliefs.”  

In the lawsuit, ADF likened its case to a similar lawsuit by the Religious Sisters of Mercy that was likewise filed against both the EEOC and HHS and decided by the same court in January, but has since been appealed by the federal government to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. ADF argues that the court, which “permanently enjoined the EEOC and HHS” from enforcing their mandates on the Religious Sisters of Mercy, should issue “a similar declaratory judgment and permanent injunction” for the CEA.  “Employers and entrepreneurs, like many Americans, are growing increasingly concerned by rising costs that can be blamed in part on oppressive government mandates,” said CEA President Shannon Royce.  “These gender transition mandates greatly exacerbate this problem by threatening religious employers with punishing fines, burdensome litigation costs, the loss of federal funds, and even criminal penalties,” she continued.  “Additionally, the mandate creates a unique quagmire of concerns for religious healthcare providers by forcing them to speak positively about gender transition procedures even if they disagree.”

ADF’s legal argument is that the mandates violate both the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), as “HHS currently recognizes no RFRA exemptions under its interpretation of Section 1557 except those ordered by a court.”

The government, meanwhile, argues that the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County last year, which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on sex applies to sexual orientation and gender identity, should be applied to the mandates.

 

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

Another Canadian Pastor Jailed

A Canadian pastor, who was arrested the other week for reportedly violating COVID-19 health orders, spent an extra night in jail after police said he wouldn’t be released unless he agreed to stop preaching in church.

Pastor Tobias Tissen of Steinbach, Manitoba, was detained by police during a traffic stop on October 18th.  A warrant for his arrest was issued in May over a health order prohibiting outdoor gatherings of more than 5 people, Fox News reports.  Tissen’s bail hearing was originally scheduled for October 19th but was pushed back after he learned about the restrictions laid out by authorities that would prevent him from performing his pastoral duties.  “They had these conditions that I wasn’t allowed to attend any gatherings that were in contravention of COVID-19,” Tissen told Fox News.  “And that would automatically prohibit me from going to church and preaching.  And I could not agree with that.”

The pastor had avoided police for months before his arrest, only making appearances at his Church of God Restoration.  His church, along with several others, have filed lawsuits against Manitoba over its extreme COVID-19 restrictions.

Tissen says police are attacking church leaders in a “fight between good and evil, and they’re targeting those public figures that are in the lead who are fighting against the evil.”

While awaiting his release, the pastor said he prayed and reflected on the darkness that has come over mankind.  “In Ephesians, it says that we’re fighting against spiritual wickedness in high places and principalities and powers,” he explained.  “That’s it, right now, what we see. And they’re after all of us who are giving to God what belongs to God and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.  But now, Caesar wants that which belongs to God.  And as Christians, we just cannot.  We cannot comply with that.”

Following his arrest, Tissen received an outpouring of support from religious leaders.  “What’s happening in Canada should concern freedom-loving people everywhere,” shared evangelist Franklin Graham.  “It is extremely disturbing as it relates to pastors and churches being targeted.  Earlier this month the Canadian Prime Minister announced some of the world’s strictest COVID-19 vaccine mandates.  Be sure to pray for Pastor Tissen and his church.”

Another Canadian pastor who’s been arrested, Artur Pawlowski, tweeted, “When authorities do this kind of things we know that the judgment on the land will be very severe!”

And Pastor Henry Hildebrandt with Church of God in Ontario wrote that preachers aren’t being arrested for committing crimes, rather for the sake of the Gospel.  “Two pastors sitting in jail, IN CANADA.  Don’t get callous to this reality.  Not for criminal activity, but because they refuse to follow unlawful, unconstitutional, and—most importantly—unbiblical public health mandates.”

 

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

Words Matter

Abraham Lincoln once asked— “How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg?  Four.  Saying that a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”  Words matter and further, how we define words matters.  This applies to us and to others who are working to trip us up in our beliefs and in our understanding of God’s Word.

We read in 2 Peter 3:16— “His (Paul) letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”  Using the example of “racism” we see quickly how this tactic is used to distract, confuse and re-direct an issue to something else.

The use of the word “racism” (in itself) is meant to skip from truth to error without many even noticing.  The truth is that there is only one race— the human race.  Within the human race there are many ethnicities, cultures, and national origins— but all one race. You may be thinking, “Well, we know what they mean.”  But, do we?  Racism indicates actual different lines of being, of origin.  It automatically brings into question God’s creation of all humans as one race of people that God loved enough to redeem by the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ.  We must always adhere to the one God in His one Word and not deviate.

Professor Johann Williams of the University of Kent, says it this way, “We have a new elite that uses not racism, but anti-racism to invent differences between people which it exploits for its own ends.”  This is a good example of the Left attempting to re-define and confuse in order to distract us from the false assumptions from the beginning.  They use the word “anti-racism” to define what is, in actuality, the very definition of racism (if you call a tail a leg…).  This ruse is used over and over in many avenues of thought politically and spiritually.  If we are the ones the Apostle Peter refers to as, “ignorant and unstable people,” then we will be easily fooled to believe what is untrue.  Worse yet, we may teach others the same falsehoods.  Just consider Critical Race Theory (CRT) and what it is doing to distort and re-define real history— only to promote political goals that destroy rather than teach the real facts of history.

What is the Apostle Paul warning us about when he says, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)  Just as in the days of the first Christians, we have “super apostles” today (2 Corinthians 11:6; 12:11).  Those who put on an air of superiority and master the skills of public speaking, word-smithing, and advertising, to bend our minds away from the truth and accept what they are promoting instead.  To guard against this, always return to origins.  Sometimes, this is simple and other times difficult and time consuming, but always worth the effort.  Help others to search for truth.  Lead the way in doing the hard work of finding truth and speaking it boldly.

“For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough … For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ … their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:4,13,15. Also see Galatians 1:6-9)

 

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

Preserve the Sanctity of Confession

Nothing is more sacred than someone’s religion.  While it may be unfathomable to a secularist, the religion of a faithful believer is based on an unshakeable belief that the fate of one’s existence depends on their theology.

For a Roman Catholic, the quality of their faith partially depends on the confession of sins— especially “mortal” ones— so they can unburden their souls.  Although the Catholic practice of confession is rejected by protestants, reformed versions of this idea can be found in many Christian churches based on James 5:16, which teaches, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

The sacred and discrete nature of confession in the Roman Catholic faith has existed since 1215 AD when Canon 21 decreed:

“Let the priest absolutely beware that he does not by word or sign or by any manner whatever in any way betray the sinner: but if he should happen to need wiser counsel let him cautiously seek the same without any mention of person. For whoever shall dare to reveal a sin disclosed to him in the tribunal of penance we decree that he shall be not only deposed from the priestly office but that he shall also be sent into the confinement of a monastery to do perpetual penance.”

In short, Catholic priests cannot disclose anything that is confessed to them.  This “Law of the Seal of Confession” is mean to allow Catholics the safety to confess and repent for the heinous sins they have committed so they will experience God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Much like attorney-client privilege, this assurance of secrecy is absolutely necessary to achieve the purpose of confession— which is to allow Catholics to unburden their souls. Otherwise, no one would confess their worst sins to the priest.  This practice is not unique to the Roman Catholic Church; variations of it can also be found in almost every denominational branch of Protestantism with similar rules of secrecy.

Unfortunately, this integral component of faith has come under attack as an Australian governmental commission demanded in 2018 that “laws concerning mandatory reporting to child protection authorities should not exempt persons in religious ministry from being required to report knowledge or suspicions formed, in whole or in part, on the basis of information disclosed in or in connection with a religious confession.”

The French government is now continuing this trend by adopting similar recommendations.  It will not be long before such demands become the new norm.

Although the United States currently protects religious liberty through the First Amendment and robust case precedent intended to preserve the free exercise of religion, these demands are certainly headed for the United States.

Although the reasoning of the Australian and French governments makes intuitive sense, the result of implementing their recommendations would be the steady creep of government interference into the confession booth for all crimes— no matter how petty. This will affect all Christian denominations that practice any variation of confession and will make it legally permissible for the government to exercise its influence over matters of the human soul that it has no authority to touch.

This is the line in the sand; once it is crossed for this “exception,” the authorities will be tempted to cross it again and again as they slowly ebb away whatever sanctity remains. If even one crime is taken to the police, then it will destroy the sacred idea that confessing one’s sins to God can be kept solely between a parishioner and their priest/pastor.

Luke 16:10 wisely states: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much...”  The inverse of this is also true, “Whoever cannot be trusted with very little, cannot be trusted with very much.”  Similarly, if those who are most in need of confessing their sins cannot trust their priest or their pastor with their greatest sins, then they will not feel safe to confess their smallest ones, either.

Without being assured of the priest or pastor’s absolute discretion, the purpose of confession ceases to exist because no one in their right mind will ever again confess their sins.

 

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