A Mutilated Teen by Trans Ideology Begs Adults to Stop It

An 18-year-old young woman is quickly becoming the most outspoken of the thousands of people who “transitioned” to the opposite sex and regretted it, and she is now facing a tsunami of hate and opposition for speaking out.

More than 20 teachers and administrators who worked in the Redlands Unified School District, located in California’s high desert, have been accused of sexually abusing students over the last ten years.  Those claims were followed with lawsuits, and millions of dollars in settlements followed the lawsuits.  At a school board meeting last week, self-described “former trans kid” Chloe Cole said the school district wasted the $11 million it had been forced to pay to middle school students who were sexually assaulted by Redland teachers.  That money, she said, could have gone to better causes in the community.  “Instead,” the 18-year-old told the school board, “you’ve enabled this reprehensible behavior by sexualizing your schools.”

Yet the school district, which appears to have a serious, lingering problem with sexual deviancy, is currently endorsing a drag queen story hour at a local library.  Cole and the group Detrans United are currently crisscrossing the country and pleading with trans-obsessed adults to stop their behavior because innocent children are being harmed. Wherever she has an audience, the teenager tells her story: She was first introduced to gender ideology at age 11.  She took puberty blockers at age 13 and underwent a double mastectomy at age 15.  It was her own Northern California school, she says, that convinced her she was living in the wrong body.  “My body,” she told the school board, “was mutilated by an ideological cult before my 16th birthday.”

What the regretful Chloe and others like her are up against is a tsunami of LGBT propaganda, from children’s books and open locker rooms to affirming teachers and after-school clubs. Everyone from school boards to state lawmakers are passing rules and regulations to affirm them, and disapproving parents are seen as enemies and kept in the dark.  

A blistering story by The Los Angeles Blade, a homosexual newspaper, calls Chloe the “right-wing media’s darling.”  Down in the story, the transgender writer speculates the 18-year-old is faking or exaggerating her medical history, being coached on what to say, and demands to know who is funding her cross-country travel and writing her Twitter posts. The story even mocked Chloe for using phrases such as “biological male” and “biological sex” because those are “nonsense words,” according to the Blade reporter Dawn Ennis. Ennis, in fact, is a biological male.  

Despite facing that overwhelming and disapproving opposition, Chloe and two other young people participated in an October school board meeting in Ventura County, California.  When it was Chloe’s turn to speak for two minutes, she pointed out the trans book Call Me Max was given to an 8-year-old Conejo Valley student without a parent’s knowledge, according to a Christian Post story.  “You are placing children in direct harm. Children deserve better,” she concluded.  So the warning from Chloe to Redlands was much the same: More children are being harmed in the name of tolerance and it needs to end now.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Marriage: A God-Centered Institution

Christian couples are often exhorted to put God at the center of their marriage.  They are taught to abide by the teachings of Ephesians 5.25-27, which say, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

Marriage has been at the center of the news recently because one of the most disappointing break-ups of American celebrity.

Just recently, power-couple Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady announced that they were going to finalize a divorce, that has, apparently, been years in the making.  The couple who appeared to have a perfect marriage from the outside-looking-in have decided to call it quits.

Although the exact reasons are unclear, the public has widely speculated that the breakup is the result of Brady’s apparent inability to retire gracefully.  As a CNN article on the subject states:

“The general consensus among the speculators seems to be that trouble arose when Brady announced he was retiring, but then didn’t actually retire. Bündchen’s public comments indicate a worry about Brady’s health playing a dangerous sport and a desire – after years of sacrificing so that he could thrive professionally – for him to spend more time with their family.”

As already noted, this break-up seems unexpected by the standards of the secular world.

Unfortunately, from a Christian perspective, it is not all that surprising.

Given Brady’s previous statements about his indifference to God, it seems unlikely God was at the center of their marriage.  As Brady said in one interview, “‘We’re not Jewish,’ Brady told Leibovich.  ‘But I think we’re into everything…I don’t know what I believe.  I think there’s a belief system, I’m just not sure what it is.’”

If it is in fact true that Brady’s marriage fell apart over his refusal to retire from his dangerous time-consuming career, it is possible that his side of the marriage was doomed by his pride.

Unfortunately, Brady would have done well to heed the teachings of Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”  Instead of walking away from his football career, he decided to put fleeting greatness over his obligations to his family, and it appears he is paying the price for it.

A marriage centered on God is a source of great joy, as Proverbs 18:22 teaches, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”

This advice can be taken in the wrong direction, i.e., as any marriage advice blog will tell you, believing that “as long as you marry a Christian, the marriage will be fine” is a recipe for disaster.  However, by and large, it is the best way to live one’s life.

Brady and Bündchen have money, power, and beauty.  But they don’t have a loving marriage because they have rejected God.  The rest of us should take heed and cleave to God with the same ferocity as our spouse.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Holiest of Nights

It was the night of nights that defines and divides history.  All that came before was a precursor to that which would come that night.  All that came after is the culmination of the great promise that God made to humankind.  The night of Jesus’ birth is the holiest of nights.

Genesis 3:15 is an early reference to what was to come when it says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (KJV).  This verse is part of the curses that God pronounced on Satan and Adam and Eve after their fall into sin.  The seed of Eve would be passed through all of humankind as they would be born to a sinful nature.  The seed that will ultimately crush Satan is Jesus Christ.  It was, therefore, necessary for God to intercede with His Holy Spirit to produce the sinless Jesus through a virgin birth.

This birthday defines history.  Before that day we can see man striving to attain favor in God’s eyes despite their inherent sinful nature.  Some godly men and women would seek righteousness through a salvation that was still a mystery (Romans 16:25).  Some prophets would foretell a savior.  God promised Abraham that he would be blessed, and all the people of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3).  All of history points to that one day in time.

As time passed, the promises continued.  Through Isaac, Jacob and David, the promised savior would come.  The world waits.  They wait for the night.  They wait for the prophecy to be fulfilled.  Scripture is handed down from generation to generation and they wait.  It was an unimaginable proclamation that was repeated over and over from father to son, “therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).  How could this be?  How was it possible?

Bethlehem was the designated location of this astounding event.  “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). And so, it was fulfilled as prophesied.  The angel announced the holy birth. The angels did not sing to the temple priests, nor to the leaders of the world.  They did not sing to the rich or the influencers of the day.  They manifested glory in the skies above those considered among the lowest of humanity, shepherds.  Uneducated, dirty, rough, and poor.  “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them…behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people … born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:9,10,11).

God presents His Son as a tiny baby in a lowly stable among the poor.  The greatest gift in history, the greatest gift of all time and eternity comes to earth in humility.  How can our glorious God have such love for the unlovable?  We are all sinners and undeserving of such a gift.  Receive the gift with the humility which God gave it.  The holiest of holy nights that defined eternity is upon us.  Praise Him on your knees.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Christ-mas Traditions

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  Family traditions bolster joyous feelings.  They ground us as we remember Christmas’ past and the friends and relatives with which we share them.  Has secularism stolen Christmas?  Looking at where our favorite traditions have their roots, Christianity in Christmas is still very much alive and well, even if the world doesn’t acknowledge it.  Several favorite traditions are steeped in Christian belief.

Gift-giving is most widely thought of as the number one tradition of Christmas.  Ask any child and that will be their first answer.  Children circle gift ideas in magazines, stroll websites for ideas, shop on Amazon with or without parental guidance, and drool over toy aisles in the stores.

Around 336 AD, December 25 was established as the traditional day of Jesus’s birth. Gifts were tied into the day because of the Magi’s gifts presented to young Jesus.  An additional story of a fourth-century Christian bishop gift-giver became part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom and other countries.  His name was Saint Nicholas. Gifts were given early in Advent, on Saint Nicholas Day.  This legendary bishop was known to help the poor and needy, especially children and became regarded as a guardian of children.  Now, known as Santa Claus.

Christians adopted the use of evergreen trees as a symbol of eternal life.  The modern-day Christmas tree can be traced back to 15th century Germany.  Americans will decorate 25-35 million live trees this year and millions more artificial trees will decorate many more homes.

Along with lighting Christmas trees, lighting homes inside and outside is a family favorite tradition.  Light is a symbol of Christ, the light of the world, as Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  A friend and partner of Thomas Edison brought us the first Christmas lights in 1882.  By 1895 President Cleveland requested hundreds of multi-colored electric light bulbs for the White House family Christmas tree.  Hundreds of millions of lights will light up the globe this year at Christmas.  Christians are not hiding their light “under a bushel.”

As we embrace these traditions and others that we share, let us continue to find Christ in Christmas.  When there is a temptation to withdraw and shun the gaudy attempts of the world to paganize this holiest season, let us share the love of Christ.  Smile at every Christmas tree and know that the light is Jesus and the tree is His promise of eternity.  As we shop for gifts and give them to loved ones, hold dear the gift of God’s Son, and remember the Magi who followed a great light to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Federal Court Affirms Biden Can’t Force Doctors to Perform Gender Mutilation Surgeries

The other week, a federal court ruled that doctors and hospitals cannot be forced to perform gender mutilating surgeries, echoing a similar recent court ruling in a striking win for religious freedom.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Catholic groups’ free exercise of religion in refusing to perform or insure so-called “gender transition” procedures, citing a prior district court ruling in the same case which found that “intrusion upon the Catholic Plaintiffs’ exercise of religion is sufficient to show irreparable harm.”  

The Religious Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic Benefits Association, and other Catholic entities had sued in the face of the Biden Administration’s threat of “multimillion-dollar penalties” for alleged “discrimination” on the basis of “sex.”  

The Eighth Circuit cited an August ruling, Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra, which noted that Section 1557 under Obamacare “defined sex discrimination to include discrimination on the basis of… ‘gender identity,’” according to a 2016 federal regulation.  The Court of Appeals further pointed out that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has interpreted such “discrimination” to include “sex stereotyping,” which it defines as “includ[ing] the expectation that individuals will consistently identify with only one gender…”  This HHS stance renders Section 1557 as well as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits employers from discriminating against an applicant or employee ‘because of such individual’s…sex,’” potential threats to any doctor or medical group opposed to gender mutilation.  This is despite the fact that, as Becket Law Senior Counsel Luke Goodrich has pointed out, “The plaintiffs are Catholic nuns, clinics, a university, and hospitals who gladly serve ALL patients regardless of sex or gender identity” and “provide top-notch care to transgender patients for everything from cancer to the common cold.”  Thus, the Eighth Circuit upheld a previous district court ruling that “a substantial burden weighs on the exercise of religion” “[b]ecause the interpretations of Section 1557 and Title VII threaten to penalize the Catholic [p]laintiffs for adhering to their beliefs.”

The Court of Appeals also upheld the district court’s ruling “that the [Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA)] entitles the . . . [p]laintiffs to permanent injunctive relief from the provision or coverage of gender-transition procedures.”  Goodrich remarked, “Today’s ruling protects patients, aligns with current medical research, and ensures doctors aren’t forced to violate their religious beliefs and medical judgment.  This is a victory for common-sense, conscience, and sound medical judgment.”  “Gender-transition procedures not only go against many healthcare professionals’ religious beliefs, but can be deeply harmful to patients,” Goodrich continued.

Indeed, many medical experts are decrying gender “transition” mutilation surgeries and cross-sex hormones as unsafe and even as “child abuse.”  For example, the Florida Department of Health has noted there is “a lack of conclusive evidence” for “gender transitioning” and “the potential for long-term, irreversible effects,” and noted that systematic reviews on hormonal interventions “show a trend of low-quality evidence, small sample sizes, and medium to high risk of bias.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Dark Day for Religious Freedom

“Today’s a good day,” President Joe Biden told a cheering crowd at the White House on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 after he signed the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act” into law.  

“No, it’s not, said some conservative groups, who see the law as another opportunity for leftists to force their nontraditional ideology onto people who respect societal and religious norms.

“Today is a dark day for religious freedom,” Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins said in a statement:

“President Biden has now unleashed one of the greatest assaults on religious freedom in modern history.  The principles of our First Freedom, guaranteed in our Constitution, that he swore to ‘preserve, protect and defend,’ are now in even greater jeopardy.  These founding principles have been challenged for seven years since the Obergefell decision, and in cases involving Jack Phillips and others.  In signing the (Dis)Respect For Marriage Act into law, Biden has succumbed to the temporal forces of the culture rather than the transcendent principles of our nation’s Constitution.  As Bible-believing Christians, we understand that whether by the White House, the Court, or by the Congress, truth cannot be altered -- nor will our commitment to that truth.  Marriage is an institution created by God for the well-being of men, women, children, and society as a whole -- it cannot be redesigned without impoverishing them all.”

The FRC specifically warned:

“The law will now accelerate and intensify the already-existing attacks on religious liberty (by creating a private right of action); legislatively cement antifamily policies harmful to children; make faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies a greater target for frivolous litigation, curtailing or ending their ability to help children find homes; threaten the tax-exempt status of adoption and foster care agencies (and other vitally needed non-profit organizations, whether religious or secular); and tacitly vilify millions of Americans who believe in natural marriage by labeling that belief as ‘sex discrimination,’ tantamount to racism.”

“Catholic charities and schools will likely end up in court soon,” warned Brian Burch of CatholicVote.  “Business owners likewise will be shamed and sued.  This is all part of the plan.”  Burch noted that the law was “rushed” through Congress after the election “so that public accountability would be limited.  The law did nothing to change same-sex ‘marriage’ in the United States,” Burch said.  “Instead, the new law allows LGBT activists to unleash a new round of legal attacks on faith-based organizations and conscientious citizens who hold fast to the time-honored truth about marriage.”

“Don’t forget who voted for this -- every Democrat in the Senate, along with 12 Republicans,” Burch noted.  “In the House, 89 Catholics (74 Democrats and 15 Republicans) voted to redefine marriage and expose our religious organizations to a flood of lawsuits.  When asked to include a simple amendment that would ensure Catholics would not be targeted, these politicians ignored us.”

CatholicVote is urging Church leaders and Catholic business owners to “hold fast. Refuse to surrender!  Support the legal groups that will be called upon to defend anyone challenged under this new law.  Fight for every inch...”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

US State Department Betrays Nigerian Christians

For Christians, Nigeria has long been one of most violently abusive countries in the world.  At the same time, the country also persists in mistreating atheists and other religious groups as well as non-radicalized Muslims.  But Christians, in particular, continue to suffer brutal abuses, massacres, and terrorism.

Genocide Watch has reported that in Nigeria, more than 6,000 Christians were killed in 15 months (January 2021-March 2022), while 45,644 died in the course of 13 years.  For those who are concerned about religious freedom in the world, it was a great relief when, for the first time in December 2020, the US Department of State (USSD)—under the leadership of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC).

The BBC reported a surge in attacks on Christian churches and believers in 2021. However, tragically and without explanation, this vital designation was abruptly removed, almost immediately after the inauguration of Joe Biden, in November 2021.  And now, adding insult to injury, as of Friday, December 2, 2022—when the most recent religious freedom designations were declared—Nigeria was once again entirely ignored by Biden and company.

The de-listing of Nigeria’s CPC designation amounts to an outrageous betrayal of an already brutalized Christian community.  And it forebodes multiplied death squads, torched villages, churches and farmlands, and thousands of disabled and homeless refugees.  By definition, USSD states that CPC-designated countries have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom” during the reporting period.  

The International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) defines particularly severe violations of religious freedom as “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, including violations such as torture, degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, abduction or clandestine detention, or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.”

According to Voice of America: “A report by the US-based Christian persecution monitoring group Open Doors shows the number of Christians killed in 2020 increased by 60%, mostly because of Islamic violence against Nigerian Christians.  The study says more than 2,200 of 4,761 Christians killed around the world in 2020 died in Nigeria because of radical Islamists.”  They report International Christian Concern’s estimate that “50,000 to 70,000 Christians have died in violent attacks in Nigeria over 18 years, mostly carried out by Boko Haram terrorists or arms-wielding gangs.”

Meanwhile, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was outraged by the refusal of USSD to designate Nigeria as a CPC in 2022: In a December 2 press release, they wrote, “The US Commission on International Religious Freedom finds it inexplicable that the US Department of State did not include Nigeria or India in its latest designations of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), turning a blind eye to both countries’ particularly severe religious freedom violations ...”

Frank Wolf, who currently serves as a USCIRF Commissioner, called Mr. Blinken’s failure to apply the CPC label to Nigeria “sorely disappointing.”  Mr. Wolf, who served for decades as a Republican member of Congress from Virginia, was the author of the 1998 bill setting up the CPC designations.  He reiterates, “Congress should exercise its oversight authority to ensure religious freedom is a policy priority in Nigeria & support appointing a Special Envoy for Nigeria & Lake Chad Region.”  The present Chair of USCIRF, Nury Turkel, a Uyghur refugee and human rights attorney, bluntly declared, “There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognize Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they each clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs.”

In 2021, Former Chair of USCIRF and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins clearly explained the significance of the CPC designation and its subsequent removal:

In a move that rocked the international community, the President’s State Department decided to drop Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.” Nigeria, where more Christians are killed than anywhere else on the face of the planet, American leaders have suddenly decided to turn their backs and walk away.  Most human rights groups, religious and non-religious, were aghast.  The situation is the worst it’s ever been, and it’s deteriorating by the day.  If America ignores what’s happening there, it will only excuse Nigerian leaders who do the same.  International pressure is one of the only weapons the world has to stop this slow-motion war.  In short, the CPC designation makes possible the application of economic sanctions as a form of penalizing rogue regimes.  So, after other non-economic policy options—meant to end particularly severe violations of religious freedom—have reasonably been exhausted, an economic measure generally must be imposed.

Following the recent USSD decision, Tony Perkins concludes, “To ignore the record of a government that tolerates—if not endorses—religious persecution in Nigeria and India makes it clear that religious freedom is not a priority for the Biden State Department.”

In short, this latest USSD decision regarding 2022 CPC designations is an unfathomable betrayal.  The vile human rights situation in Nigeria—despite weekly reports of killings and kidnappings aimed at Nigerian Christians, their leadership, and their churches—continues to be blatantly ignored by America’s leadership.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Christian: Hold Your Ground

Cruel words can be damaging.  Proverbs 12:18 says “The words of the reckless pierce like swords.”  Our culture should not equivocate between the harm caused by “mean words” and actual violence.

To be clear: This is not strictly a problem of the left.  Conservative Christians often decry the leftist coddling of the American mind.  However, this same group of people has joined in the leftist tendency to tacitly censor “controversial” ideas by fleeing them as fast as they can.

This tendency leads us to laugh unironically at the truth behind such biting parodies as the Babylon Bee’s recent “Man Becomes Missionary To Remote African Village So He Doesn’t Have To Share Gospel With Coworker Brad” headline.  While this is not the same as outright censorship of free speech (which is the left’s preferred tactic), they say that art imitates life, and this satire is indicative of the right’s own unwillingness to engage with the ideas of its opponents.

The fact that this trope exists flies in the face of the very purpose of free speech!

The First Amendment’s protection of free speech had a very specific intended purpose as outlined by James Madison who wrote in a 1791 article that “whatever facilitates a general intercourse of sentiments…is favorable to liberty.”

This is not an argument for tolerating uncensored obscenity (the Bible teaches in Ephesians 4:29 that we should avoid “unwholesome talk”) but rather an argument that Christians must remain engaged with American secular culture— including its absurd attempts to redefine words as “violence.”

Christians are often admonished to be “in the world, but not of the world” but this mentality risks creating a dangerous habit of avoiding the secular world.  Christians do not need to be afraid of the pagan and the profane.  We simply must avoid being entrapped by their charms.

As the Bible teaches, Paul famously used the pagan idols of the Greco-Roman world to give a staggering speech preaching the Word of God:

“Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.  For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’  Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands” (Acts 17:22-24).

Continuing to engage with even the most absurd versions of cancel culture is crucial because ignoring twisted ideologies will not stop them.  It is not enough to simply write articles or comment in social media describing the overblown leftist notion of “harm” as absurd.

Christians must seriously engage with these opinions, both intellectually and emotionally, when they hear them shared by their acquaintances.  They must not simply cloister themselves in their church communities and leave whenever leftism gains traction in an institution.

Listen: Christians must use their First Amendment rights to engage with these concerning ideologies before it is too late.  As Isaiah 41:10 promises: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

High Stakes for Free Speech Case @ SCOTUS

Last week, a Christian website designer is at the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) challenging a Colorado anti-discrimination law that prevents her from serving couples based on her Biblical beliefs.  If she wins, religious freedom experts say it will shore up protections for people of faith that have been challenged as recently as last week when the Senate approved an LGBT marriage act.  Many faith-based groups believe that measure will erode First Amendment safeguards for those with Biblical views on sexuality.

SCOTUS heard arguments in designer Lorie Smith’s case, 303 Creative v. Elenis.  “I’ve always wanted to create custom artwork for weddings, ever since I was a little girl,” she told CBN News.  Smith left the corporate world to create her own business and pursue her passion for creating designs for specific causes.  Given her traditional beliefs, she hesitated to include weddings after seeing how the state penalized baker Jack Phillips for refusing to create a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding ceremony.  In 2018, Phillips defended his religious views at the high court and won.  The justices, however, ruled narrowly, saying hostile statements made by state officials towards Phillips violated his free exercise of religion.  Smith’s case centers on the larger free speech question and the constitutionality of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law.  The state maintains wedding vendors must serve all ceremonies.  Smith argues that violates her First Amendment rights.

Religious freedom expert and Becket Law attorney Lori Windham says the ability to hold religious and political views is at the core of Constitutional protections.  “This is an artist who wants to offer her services, and so it’s a really intrusive and dangerous thing to tell an artist ‘you have to create something.  You have to speak.  You have to use your expression to celebrate something you don’t believe and we as the government can come in and make you do that,’ ” said Windham.

Colorado’s stance, however, is that the case is about equal access in the marketplace. David Cole, national legal director for the ACLU, which submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Colorado, says the law simply requires businesses to serve everyone regardless of protected characteristics and does not limit speech.  “Lorie Smith is fully free to choose what websites or services she provides to whom as long as she does not make the choice to open a business to serving the public,” he said.  “Once she makes that choice to take the benefits of serving the public, the economic benefits of serving the public, then and only then is she subject to Colorado’s law and has to serve everybody equally.”

Smith’s legal team disputes that framing.  Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Kellie Fiedorek told CBN News, “Colorado agrees that she serves everyone regardless of sexual orientation and she simply seeks to choose messages that are consistent with her beliefs.”  Fiedorek says a win for Smith is a win for people of all beliefs who want free speech protection.  “This belongs to the LGBT graphic designer who doesn’t want to be forced by the government to criticize same-sex marriage, for example,” she said.  “All of us have beliefs and values that guide and inspire our lives.”

After six years of pursuing her case, Smith has endured severe backlash, including lost business and even death threats.  What keeps her going, she told CBN News, is her faith and the support of many, including those with different views on marriage.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Naughty or Nice

A warm blanket throw, a cup of hot chocolate, are you ready for some schmaltzy Christmas movies?  

For decades Hallmark Channel has been the go-to favorite for Christmas movies.  It could be trusted for wholesome content and a feel-good experience.  In the last three years, beloved by millions, the network has caved to culture wars.  Executives of Hallmark Channel’s parent company began seeking the production of holiday movies with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters.  “We are continuing to expand our diversity,” Michelle Vicary, Crown Media’s executive vice president of programming, told thewrap.com, a website covering the business of entertainment and media.  “We are looking at pitches for LGBTQ movies” … leaving millions of conservative viewers crying in their hot chocolate.

Hallmark’s roots came from the religious cable channel American Christian System known as ACTS, one of the initiatives from the Radio-Television Commission started by the Southern Baptists.  Programming included evangelical and conservative Christian groups with speakers such as Jerry Falwell and James Kennedy and children’s programs including Sunshine Factory, Joy Junction, and Davey and Goliath.

In 1993 ACTS was renamed the Faith and Values Channel and began adding secular programming.  Liberty media eventually took control, and the name was changed again. Odyssey was born in 1998 and by 2001 the channel rebranded to the Hallmark Channel which started adding its own original programming. 

Far from “faith and values” now, is their new featured 2022 movie “The Holiday Sister.” The storyline includes a workaholic bachelor who babysits his niece and nephew for the holidays and falls in love with the next-door neighbor, Jason.  For many conservatives, the commercial teaser will chill their hot cocoa.

Riding into the media space to save Christmas movie enthusiasts is Great American Media. Former CEO of Hallmark Media, Bill Abbott acquired it in June 2021.  This season the network will launch 18 new inspiring, original Christmas movies.  Dozens of the beloved Hallmark stars have jumped over to the network, including Candice Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar (child star from Wonder Years).  Viewership of their first holiday movie of 2022, Destined at Christmas, that premiered October 22 broke “all network ratings records.”  It has broadcasted three times and earned a million viewers.

The Christian viewer has a voice— a voice that determines content.  The window is narrowing quickly on what believers can watch in a “what would Jesus” do conscience.  If Jesus can’t sit with you in comfort watching the screen, that programming has no place in a Christian home. We must maintain our view.  The LBGTQ will never be satisfied, they will continue to devour our media until only the crumbs are left.  

I Corinthians 7:2 reminds us “because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man (male) should have his own wife (female) and each woman her own husband.”(ESV) Choose between naughty and nice this Christmas.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The End of the World as We Know It

Ever since the atomic bomb was invented, humanity has been collectively humbled and horrified by its power and destructive force.  It is rumored that upon witnessing a nuclear test, Robert Oppenheimer, one of the bomb’s creators, solemnly quoted the Hindu text Bhagavad-Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Experience has taught us that the effects of a nuclear bomb are utterly monstrous.

The destructive force of the atomic bomb has brought about a realistic means of bringing to life the horrifying images described in apocalyptic visions like Zechariah 14:12, which says, “[for the enemies of Israel] their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.”  In an earlier age, the horror of the bomb was only imaginable in the most awful of prophecies. Now, it is a frighteningly simple reality. 

The world has been reminded yet again of the fragility of its relationship with the power of the atom as the Russo-Ukrainian war continues to rage.  Ever since the shelling of Ukraine began, the world has watched with bated breath wondering, not only whether a nuclear weapon might be deployed by Russia but also whether Ukraine’s nuclear power plants would maintain their integrity in spite of the shelling.

The Guardian recently reported that Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said, “The complete and simultaneous loss of off-site power for Ukraine’s nuclear power plants shows that the situation for nuclear safety and security in the country is becoming increasingly precarious, challenging and potentially dangerous.”

It is hard to hear these stories without conjuring images of the end of the world.

It is fascinating to realize that our increasingly secular culture loves to watch movies about the apocalypse.  Many of these films focus on the effects of nuclear radiation. Movies like Fukushima 50 (2020) and the Day the World Ended (1955) focus on the real and imagined horrors of nuclear power.

Interestingly, visions of the end times that were once reserved for eschatology (the theological study of the end of things) are now becoming a core part of the American media diet.  Popular films like I am Legend (2007), World War Z (2013), and Rampage (2018) also tell stories about monsters emerging as a result of some kind of mutation to terrorize and destroy the humanity that remains.  In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not be surprising to see if many future apocalypse films, like those listed above, continue to focus on pathogenic diseases.

Nonetheless, in spite of these anxieties that preoccupy our culture, Christians ought to remember the New Testament admonishments of Matthew 6:25-27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

It is true that Christians must be vigilant for the return of Christ.  Nonetheless, we should not fear for our lives or the safety of the world.  We should not be swept up in the hand-wringing of our atheist culture.  Instead, we ought to remember that our final end, our eschatology, is to serve our King and to be with Him in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

As Joshua 21:45 reminds us: “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Just as God kept His promises to Israel, He will also keep His promises to those whom He has taken into His Kingdom.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Am I Your Enemy?

One of the most emphasized virtues in the Bible is to love the truth, and to tell the truth.

We are commanded: “Speak the truth to one another” (Zechariah 8:16) and promised that whoever “speaks truth in his heart” will be blessed and live with God (Psalms 15:2). Jesus Himself declared “I am … the truth” (John 14:6) and asked God to “sanctify them [the disciples] in truth” (John 17:17).

Today it appears that Paul’s once rhetorical question from Galatians 4:16 (“Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?”) has become an accurate descriptor for a large segment of the culture.  This is especially true with social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, who regularly ban or block users for sharing Biblical truth.

Consider the case of PragerU.  They explain that their videos promote “what is true, what is good, what is excellent” (a quote from Philippians 4:8).  They have garnered a staggering two billion views, often featuring a presenter giving a Biblical perspective on events in the news.

Despite this popularity, YouTube actively restricts more than 100 of their videos.  They censor their videos that are pro-Israel, anti-abortion, pro-Ten Commandments, promote two genders (male and female), condemn persecution of Christians, and other such topics.

But PragerU is not the only one being censored for telling the truth.  Candice Owens, a black Christian commentator and civil rights leader was cut from Facebook for sharing statistics proving that the presence of a father in the home is one of the most accurate indicators of poverty in the black community.  For sharing evidence affirming what the Bible teaches, she lost access to her account.

Additionally, Facebook has closed dozens of Catholic websites (with a following of nearly 8 million).  They also blocked a Gospel song called “What Would Heaven Look Like,” which called for unity among various people groups.  (Facebook claimed that the song had “political content” and deleted it.)  There are many similarly ridiculous examples.

The fight to be able to openly disseminate truth has led the White House to set up a website to report instances of censorship, because, as the page explains: Social media platforms should advance freedom of speech.  Yet too many Americans have seen their accounts suspended, banned, or fraudulently reported for unclear “violations” of user policies.

Some state legislatures have begun considering legislation that would allow citizens to take legal action when Christian or conservative principles (such as pro-life) are targeted.

May the nation return to a point where, along with the psalmist, we ask God to “Lead me in Your truth and teach me” (Psalms 25:5).  When this happens, we will no longer consider those who proclaim Biblical truth to be enemies.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Biblical and Practical Basis of Morality

1 Timothy 3:2, a verse in one of the pastoral epistles, explains that certain high-ranking officials of the church must be “above reproach, faithful to [their] wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.”

This standard for Christian morality has been incorporated into the biblical understanding of promiscuity (and its sinfulness) for thousands of years.

“Promiscuity” is defined as “having many sexual partners.”  Given our culture’s endorsement of the so-called free-love movement, it is rarely discussed today. Unfortunately, people have not only become desensitized to it, but they have also begun to glorify promiscuity, even going so far as to write award-winning pop songs that are literally titled “Promiscuous.”

Although promiscuity refers to a particular kind of sexual immorality, it is related to many other forms of immoral sexual behavior.  Historically, the definition of “sexual immorality” was taken by the Catholic Church to cover a number of practices under its umbrella, (e.g., masturbation, fornication, pornography, homosexual practice, adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union).

Although the Reformation has corrected the Catholic Church’s legalistic approach by re-introducing the Biblical foundations of these ideas, Protestantism has correctly maintained the biblical view on many of these practices.

Even as the Bible’s unchanging truths about sexual morality have remained fixed, the American culture has shifted to now condone the writing of articles like this one from the Huffington Post titled “5 Promiscuous Things Women Do That Are Actually Empowering.”

The kind of person who writes articles like this probably also rejects the notion of God-given morality as “superstitious.” Unfortunately for them, what they may not realize is that, while behaviors like promiscuity are immoral in the eyes of God, they also have damaging consequences in the earthly realm.

This has been no more evident than with the recent monkeypox outbreak. Unsurprisingly, the practical measures that have been introduced to curb the outbreak have included advising the general public against engaging in promiscuity.  This is one of the beautiful things about adhering to biblical morality: One need not wait on declarations from the Centers for Disease Control to know the most healthy and moral way to live their life.

In truth, the whole monkeypox outbreak could very well have been avoided in the first place if our culture had stronger norms against promiscuity.  This is not to say that contracting monkeypox is a punishment from God.  We should not ostracize or punish people simply for contracting the illness.

We know from the Bible that there are many cases in which innocent people suffered afflictions such as blindness without having done anything wrong (John 9:1-7).  It is possible for someone to contract monkeypox through no fault of their own, (e.g., because of non-sexual skin-to-skin contact or because their spouse was unfaithful to them).

Nonetheless, the point remains that biblical morality is most often one of the best safeguards against avoidable negative consequences, both in this life and the next.  Our bodies are not our own, they are a gift from God for our embodied soul.

As 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

CYCLICAL FATIGUE

Perhaps you, like myself, have enjoyed the sights and wonders of a View Master stereoscope. Did you have one as a child?  I did and loved it!  I well remember popping in the round disc with seven stereo pictures on it— in duplicate.  I enjoyed wonderful sights, animals, people from around the world in a virtual format, and it was in 3-D.  

But what happens when there is only one disk to be viewed?  Of course, the disc can be repeated round and round endlessly repeating the same set of pictures over and over. Eventually, as great as the pictures are, the tendency is to lose interest of the “same old-same old.”

It appears that our country is trapped in a similar scenario of the same old-same old. Think about it.  How many revolutions of “emergency COVID” cycles can we go through until people start getting bored of the mandates, vaccines, and masks?  Or how many times can we listen to the name calling going round and round?  Democrats calling Republicans “extortionists, terrorists, anarchists, hostage takers, arsonists, and more.  This is especially true as we watch our jobs dissipate, prices of everything skyrocket, and the education of our children fall to deplorable lows.  Plus, underneath it all is the war on Christianity and morality in general.  

It is a fact that when a person gets caught up in attaining the rewards of this world, they soon find themselves in an unending cycle— reaping that which no longer satisfies. Even giving to entities in need does not really fill the void.  These become short-sighted attempts to justify what has been gained.

In Luke 19:1-10, Zacheaus has found himself in just such an endless cycle.  In fact, when he first meets Jesus, he attempts to justify his stature in life by giving half of his possessions to the poor and, to make right any cheating he has done in the past. Eventually he does find salvation.  But that does not come through generosity or kindness in trying to counter-balance his sin.  It comes through his encounter with truth, honesty, and love in the person of Jesus Christ.  Only then he finds his sin eradicated by belief and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice.

Our government has found itself in the vicious circle of giving away other people’s money and control through continual, never-ending emergencies that only it can take care of on our behalf.  If Washington had its way, our “state of emergency” would never be in the rear-view mirror.  We all need to do our part returning to truth, honesty, and the real love of Christ in our own lives and that of our nation.  

Let us continue to support and ultimately elect those who understand these principles, not those who continually try to justify their existence through never-ending cycles of emergencies and superficial attempts to counter-balance sin.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Love Thy (Political) Neighbor

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are inherently evil just because of their party affiliation. Nonetheless, fractures over party lines have created a kind of rhetoric that is inevitably dangerous.

In one particularly shocking instance, a recent comment was made on The View by Sunny Hostin that breached all bounds of decency.  Hostin said the Republican agenda is so opposed to women’s “self-interest” that for women to still vote GOP is “like roaches voting for Raid” …  referring to the bug killer.

On the flip side, an opinion piece published during the height of the COVID pandemic in September of 2020 described Democrats as sheep writing, “Maybe the Democrats should change their party symbol to a sheep instead of a donkey.”

As Christians, we should immediately understand the problem with this kind of rhetoric, even if we ourselves identify with one or the other politically.

In Luke 6:27-29, Jesus teaches a radical lesson on love: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.  If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.”

While this passage is not a call to pacifism, it is a call to avoid treating others with contempt simply because we believe they have wronged us.  Christians here are warned against the dangers of hate and the dangers of responding “in kind” to their persecutors. The worst possible outcome from such a negative response is that, in addition to the injuries suffered at the hands of the other individual, one would also morally injure their own soul.

The people we disagree with are not animals— they are not roaches or sheep.  They are not subhuman.  They are not objects without moral worth.  Rather, they are real, thinking, breathing, feeling beings that are no less deserving of respect than those we consider to be part of our “in-group.”

This kind of arbitrary partisanship risks another Civil War and flies in the face of the Greatest Commandment— the Love Command.  As Matthew 22:37-40 teaches, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Democrats are not inherently evil, and neither are Republicans.  Even though the results of our most recent election cycle are sure to engender feelings of anger and frustration on both sides of the political spectrum, we must all approach one another with the respective and dignity that each human being deserves as a reflection of the image of God Himself and His Creation (Genesis 1:27).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Let’s Continue to Talk Turkey: We Still Have Much to Be Thankful For

Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to count our blessings:

“I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonders” (Psalm 9:1 NASB).

As Americans, we have more reasons than most to be thankful.  Yet even though we are blessed to live in the greatest country, anxiety seems to be more common than thankfulness.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.  Social media is frequently credited with the current rise in anxiety and depression:

Among teens who use social media the most (more than five hours a day), studies show a 50% increase in depressive symptoms among girls (35% among boys) when their symptoms were compared with those who only use social media for 1-3 hours per day.

In fact, a Pew Research study found “One-in-five teenage girls—or nearly 2.4 million—had experienced at least one major depressive episode.” (July 2019)

Why is anxiety reaching epic proportions?  Because rather than find out why God made each of us and then seeking to fulfill that specific purpose, too many are busy comparing their own lives to those of others:

A March 2019 report in Experience, an online journal published by Northeastern University, found that two-thirds of respondents experienced pangs of ‘social media envy’ while scrolling through their feeds (most likely to provoke that envy: posts about traveling).

As one 21-year-old college student bemoaned, “I feel like I need to measure up to some kind of standard that’s like Instagram-worthy.”  In fact, posting on Instagram has become “surrounded by so much angst” that one user candidly acknowledged, “I miss posting things I love and care about that just don’t bring in the likes that my other photos bring in.”  To combat this comparison anxiety, Instagram announced it would begin hiding from public view the “like counts.”  But not surprisingly, a new study found this approach isn’t improving self-esteem.

We don’t need to hire consultants or conduct polls and studies to find the real solution: thankfulness.  As the Scriptures urge:

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB).

Thanksgiving Day is a good start, but Americans should be thankful more than just one day a year.  As the Apostle Paul reminded us, this should be our way of life:

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15 NASB).

Now that Thanksgiving Day has passed, remember to keep saying thanks for all that God has blessed us with.

“I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High” (Psalm 7:17 NASB).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

To Grandma’s House … Will You Go?

Celebrations of Thanksgiving are predicted to come closer to mirroring pre-Covid 2019. More parades and community events, as well as more families traveling are back. Some differences that families will face are increased food and gasoline prices, continuing health concerns, and flight conundrums.  Is it worth the perceived hassle and expense to travel to loved ones this Thanksgiving?

The joy of planning and preparing to travel to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving may be just a little diminished this year from the years preceding 2019 and the sleigh that takes you there is pricey.  Families may linger over their travel budget pricing travel by car compared to traveling by plane.  Is it worth the extra days of travel to drive?  What about gasoline prices, loss of wages while traveling, bored kids in the car, extra stops to rest weary parents, and on and on?  There is no easy answer when you consider hotel stops, extra food, and snack breaks.  Costs accumulate while driving a family across the country.  Experts predict that gas prices will hold steady with an average of $3.60 a gallon.  Many family SUVs cost over $100 a fill-up.

Hotels rates are high with an average of $217 a night.  That is 28% higher than in 2019.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ grocery prices rose 13.1% over the past year— the largest increase in more than 43 years.  The price of those favorite snack foods we take in the car and consume during Thanksgiving football games are up 19% with beverages coming in just under at 18.1%.

Air travel has not succeeded in smoothing its turbulence.  Summer travel found higher prices, canceled flights and fewer “non-stop” options.  Average domestic round-trip airfare is hitting $373 per ticket— an increase of 24% since 2019.  Fares are rising quickly.  For a family of four, that’s a considerable cost.

Many families will also weigh their plans against health issues and the continued concern over Covid.  Exposure within large groups, groups of people gathering from different locations to a single location, and the usual cold/flu season are considerations for making plans.  While the airport and packed conditions of an airplane may feel like a risk to some, others see restaurants and hotels as potential hazards.  Home food delivery is a billion-dollar industry and remains strong post Covid.  As high as 56% of restaurant customers have restaurant food delivered so they don’t have to leave home.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all that God has provided.  It is a time for friends and family to gather and enjoy each other and bless each other.  I Timothy 4:4 reminds us “everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” 

In the face of inflation, political strife, and recovery from the last two hard years, it is important to look at the abundance that remains in our lives and thank God for our many blessings.  Whether the sleigh carries you to Grandma across the country or to the neighbor next door, Thanksgiving is a time to stop and give thanks.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

ALACRITY

Do you know this word?  This should help.  “Alacrity: “cheerful readiness, zeal, willingness.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2022).  The Latin, alacritas = lively, joy, power. These definers cause one to wonder if the overwhelming Christian response to other people, bad news, needs, or difficult circumstances aligns well with this attitude.

The Apostle Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:9-16, “Love must be sincere … cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.”

Perhaps the spirit of alacrity can also be found in the words of Abraham Lincoln writing one hundred and fifty-nine years ago, “… our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal … It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced … that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (November 19, 1863 – dedication of cemetery at Gettysburg, PA)

We have just come through a highly divisive time known as midterm elections.  Often more harm is done ahead of Election Day because of the relationships that have been severed— than the healing we hope might occur because of the election results. Subsequently, many are left tentative in their spirit, others emboldened for the wrong reasons.  Some want to back out and hide away.  Others look to lord-it-over others because of victories.  Yet others are ready to fight and further injure a bruised nation.

It is incumbent upon us, the Body of Christ, to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and the examples of our spiritual forefathers to be ready and willing to now take up the banner of both our spiritual duties and national duties in order to be able to further these causes into the years and decades ahead.  To rise to the needs of our church body and the needs of our nation and communities in filling the gap – the gap of untold stories – the gap of leadership to which Christ has called us and empowered us to fill.  His Good News needs to go forward into all the earth.  His love needs to be seen, felt, and understood by our neighbors and friends as they see it lived out in our lives.  His truth needs to be heard, but also explained so that the world will see His omniscience.

In humility, courage, faith, truth, grace, goodness, mercy, kindness, justice and righteousness— may our world experience Christ the Lord through us as we touch their lives with Him.  In this season may every day and holiday truly be another Holy-day in the world.

“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

It’s About Time Salvation Army

The Salvation Army has at long last dropped contentious racial material from its website following inquiry from a conservative activist group.  

Last year, reports emerged that the Salvation Army (SA) had asked its white members to seek forgiveness for racism.  Following public controversy, the group backed off of that stance and claimed to have removed racial materials from its training manuals.  That material, however, remained on the website for up to ten months following that incident, before being taken down after an inquiry from Color Us United as to whether the group still adhered to that material, per North Carolina Business Daily.  The SA then removed the remaining racial materials from its website.

“The Salvation Army left their racial content up on their website for ten months after last year’s controversy — despite claims to have removed it from their curriculum.  And only now it was removed in response to our public campaign.  The Salvation Army should be committed to become a race-blind organization that denounces the racist DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) program, not just hide web pages as a result of public exposure,” Color Us United President Kenny Xu told the outlet.

Following the controversy, the SA saw its public image take a nosedive and it struggled to find volunteers for its Red Kettle campaign— known for its bell ringing representatives soliciting donations during the Christmas season.

The SA claims its materials and position was misrepresented, asserting that “[e]lements of the recently issued ‘Let’s Talk About Racism’ guide led some to believe we think they should apologize for the color of their skin, or that The Salvation Army may have abandoned its Biblical beliefs for another philosophy or ideology.  That was never our intention, so the guide has been withdrawn.”

“The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church,” the organization’s website reads.  “Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God.  Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Jesus Wasn’t a Socialist, But a Savior

Throughout the Bible physical realities are used to teach spiritual lessons and vice versa. In fact, Jesus (Himself) often reveals the way the heavenly world works through analogies to earthly things.  Believers can therefore draw practical and political guidance from the lessons of Christ’s ministry— but must always recall that these things are correctly interpreted only if they bring truth that sets people free (John 8:32) … which was Jesus’ ultimate objective.

Sadly, some today are trying to improperly politicize Christ’s life to justify their own political talking points through blatantly false misrepresentations.  For example, at the Democratic National Committee’s August 2019 meeting, Reverend William Barber claimed the Bible advocates socialism:

“When we embrace moral language, we must ask, Does our policy care for ‘the least of these’?— Does it lift up those who are most marginalized and dejected in our society? — Does it establish justice?  That is the moral question ... If someone calls it socialism, then we must compel them to acknowledge that the Bible must then promote socialism, because Jesus offered free health care to everyone, and he never charged a leper a co-pay.”

First of all, we would endlessly rejoice if God miraculously healed anyone—or everyone—who might be hurt, sick, or dying.  However, it seems ridiculously naïve for a pastor to suggest that we legislatively demand “Jesus-care” in accordance with a human sense of justice.  It also reveals a stunning ignorance of both history and Scripture to compare a failed economic system responsible for the death of millions throughout history to the loving acts of restoration performed by our Savior.

Jesus didn’t come to institute a free healthcare policy for the Roman Empire— but rather to use His miracles to reveal the more important purpose of healing the spiritual man.  As He affirmed:

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home’” (Mark 2:9-11 NASB).

There were even times when, to demonstrate a higher purpose, Jesus refused to heal someone.  Just ask Lazarus.  He wasn’t healed from his sickness; He died from it— only to be raised from the dead specifically to reveal “the glory of God” (John 11:40).

There were also times when, even though there were people in need of physical help, Christ placed the emphasis of His ministry on other things, saying:

“Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for” (Mark 1:38 NASB).

Jesus’s “socialistic” heath care plan didn’t even carry coverage for His own physical crucifixion— nor was the apostle Paul spared from his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-19).  Jesus clearly did not come to provide free healthcare without a co-pay for all.

Expanding further, Jesus routinely refused any kind of forced redistribution of wealth under the guise of charity.  For instance, when Judas lobbied to take Mary’s gift and redistribute it to the poor, Jesus rebuked him:

“Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.  For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me” (John 12:5-8 NASB).

Listen: Jesus wasn’t a socialist.  (See especially His teachings in Matthew 25 on the talents, and in Luke 19 about the minas.)  And we must never forget that the spiritual healing He provided for us was not free: He paid for it with His own life, and then made it available to us through our own individual repentance, not through equal redistribution.

As believers, we are certainly called to help the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40).  But that’s not socialism.  That’s Christian ministry by individuals.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel