FB Restores Christian Ministries’ Pages

Facebook (FB) has now restored the pages of Christian ministries it says were “incorrectly removed” from its platform for 7-days amid a purge of content that offers “services that aim to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The head of Help 4 Families, a Christian ministry and its sister organization called Living Stone Ministries, which aim to help individuals and families seeking to live in accordance with Christian sexual ethics, said FB removed the organizations’ pages from its platform at the behest of LGBT activists.  Denise Shick, the director of Help 4 Families and Living Stone Ministries, both of which FB recently removed, said in an email to The Christian Post (CP) that the pages were taken down after a report was released by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) that compiled a list of groups and organizations that minister to and counsel people struggling with unwanted sexual attractions or gender confusion.  GPAHE has been pushing for social media giants like FB to ban these organizations — many being Christian — from its platform.  Although the GPAHE report acknowledged that the two Christian ministries create “safe places for individuals and families to openly share their grief and pain about homosexuality” and transgenderism, they were still deemed too controversial to remain on the platform, Shick told CP.

The GPAHE report argues that the views espoused and promoted by these ministries and other groups, such as so-called “conversion therapy,” which, according to the United Nations, is tantamount to “torture” and an “egregious violation of rights.”  

From February 2-8, Shick couldn’t access her account, and her pages were taken down without notification.  Eleven years’ worth of pictures are now gone, she lamented to CP after the ministries’ pages had been taken down.  “If we are offering ‘safe places’ to ‘openly share,’ how is that hateful or extremist?” she asked.  “We offer opportunities for people to share their struggles without condemnation.  That is the definition of love and acceptance.”

Shick is the daughter of a man who told her when she was 9 years old that he wanted to be a woman.  “This implies that what my father believed to be true was true for him.  But my dad actually said that he wanted to be a woman.  The word ‘believe’ means ‘to consider to be true.’  The word want, on the other hand, means ‘to have a strong desire for.’  My dad didn’t believe he was a woman.  He knew he was a man, but he wanted to be a woman.  That desire became an obsession, and that obsession led to much pain for him and his family,” she explained.

The social media giant no longer believes in the right to freedom of speech without censorship, Shick said.  Her ministries notified their supporters and readers via email of the latest developments and have also moved their on-line communications on social media to MeWe.  “For over 200 years, people in the U.S. were free to hold differing beliefs and to speak about them without censure,” Shick added, noting that this has changed because of the efforts of LGBT activists.  “Our voices need to be heard by contacting our congresspersons and senators,” she added.

Following two inquiries from CP, a FB employee with knowledge of the matter said Shick’s pages were “incorrectly removed and [have] been restored.”  Shick later confirmed that both FB pages had been restored.  

FB and other social media outlets are being used broadly and unfettered to promote LGBTQ+ activists’ messages of real hate and even calling for violence, while the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His love is being called hate speech.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Every Christian Needs to Pray for Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has now invaded Ukraine— this large, religious, and democratic country— of which few Christians around the world have turned to God in prayer— especially for peace.

Here are facts all Christians should know about Ukraine:

Ukraine is one of the most Christian countries in Europe.  Of the country’s 43 million citizens, 78% identify as members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church— up from 39% in 1991.  About 10% identify as Roman Catholics.  Only 2% are Evangelical Christians, yet Evangelicals play an influential role in Ukrainian government and society.  In 2021, Christianity Today reported that “more than 500 evangelicals were elected to all levels of government.  One even heads a major city— Rivne, in western Ukraine— as mayor.”

“Ukraine has become the epicenter of a global spiritual battle,” said Pavel Unguryan, coordinator of Ukraine’s National Prayer Breakfast, told Christianity Today.  “Today, as never before, our nation needs unity, peace, and the authority of God’s Word.”

Let’s be praying faithfully and without ceasing for the Church in Ukraine to be brave and bold in their witness for Christ.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pentecostal Nurse Wins $75K Religious Discrimination Case

A health care provider will pay $75,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit involving a Pentecostal nurse whose request to wear a scrub skirt instead of pants was denied.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the practicing Apostolic Pentecostal Christian was hired by Wellpath LLC to provide services at the Central Texas Detention Facility in San Antonio.  After accepting the job in 2019, Malinda Babineaux told a Wellpath human resources employee that she preferred to wear a skirt due to her religious. beliefs.  Wellpath turned down her request and rescinded her job offer.

The EEOC first sought to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process, but those efforts were unsuccessful.  Then the federal agency took legal action in September 2020, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination against religious. beliefs.  The lawsuit also points out that Babineaux had worn a scrub skirt in previous. nursing jobs, including at a juvenile correctional facility.

As part of the settlement, Wellpath is required to provide back pay to the nurse, along with compensatory damages of $75,000.  The company will also ensure that employees receive anti-discrimination training that includes attire and grooming.  “Under federal law, when a workplace rule conflicts with an employee’s sincerely held religious. practice, an employer must attempt to find a workable solution,” said Philip Moss, trial attorney for the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office.  “This settlement should underscore the importance of employers taking affirmative steps to comply with their obligations under anti-discrimination laws.” 

Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.  Employers are required to reasonably accommodate an applicant’s or employee’s religious. beliefs unless it would pose an excessive burden.

Regional Attorney Robert Canino added, “The EEOC is pleased that in addition to a monetary settlement, Wellpath has agreed to training human resources employee at its headquarters and certain managers throughout Texas on anti-discrimination laws and providing accommodations, including matters related to dress and grooming based on religion.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Appeals Court Reinstates TN’s Down Syndrome Abortion Ban

Pro-life advocates are celebrating another victory in the battle to save the unborn after a federal appeals court reinstated a Tennessee (TN) law restricting abortions based on sex, race, or a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

A couple of weeks ago, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order allowing the law to go back into effect after it was blocked last September.  The court also refused to hear a challenge to the state law until after the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.  Pro-life supporters believe that the abortion case is the most important in decades, saying it could even lead to a reversal of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that invented a right to abortion in the U.S.

CBN News previously reported that TN Gov. Bill Lee (R) enacted “reason bans” in 2020, which gained national attention because it prohibited abortion as early as six weeks and included several other pro-life components.  Currently, more than a dozen states have similar reason bans in place.

[Pro-life] group, Susan B. Anthony List welcomed the court’s recent decision.  “The devastating toll of abortion on minority communities, people with Down syndrome, and thousands of missing baby girls is well-documented,” SBA List said in a statement. “Tennessee’s landmark pro-life laws reflect the overwhelming consensus. of Americans who oppose lethal discrimination against unborn children and want far greater limits on abortion than our national status. quo allows.”

Plaintiffs who oppose the measure include TN abortion providers being represented by reproductive rights groups.  They have argued that the ban was improperly vague, but the court disagreed.  Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney with the pro-choice advocacy group Center for Reproductive Rights, argued that the TN law is “unconstitutional.”  “Pregnant people are the ones best suited to make decisions about their own pregnancies, and politicians should not get to interrogate a person’s reasons for seeking an abortion,” Muqaddam said in a statement.  “These bans are blatantly unconstitutional.”

Down syndrome is a genetic abnormality that causes developmental delays and medical conditions such as heart defects and respiratory and hearing problems.  According to the National Down Syndrome Society, about one in every 700 babies in the U.S.— or about 6,000 a year— is born with the condition, which results from a chromosomal irregularity.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Today’s Middle-Class America

2020 was an anomaly, or so it was thought.  The pandemic was a surprise with the many changes it brought.  2021 was not so different.  People settled into a “new normal” that was anything but normal.  Information regarding COVID remained conflicting and fluid.  Anxiety caused by the pandemic not only affected health, but livelihood and security. Many middle-class Christians in America faced uncertainty as to their ability to cloth and feed their families— perhaps, for the first time.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 regarding not to worry about what you eat, or drink or wear seemed to be for other people, not the average middle-class American Christian.  Getting a good education and working hard equaled financial security.  Forced to choose between untenable job situations and that which felt safe for the family— i.e., vaccination mandates— left feelings of uncertainty.  Frequently, in two-parent families, one or both were affected by job changes in some form.  

Mixed messages about COVID safety, lack of family support due to the risk of spreading variants, left many scratching their heads at what is and what isn’t in the future.  Security seemed elusive.  Well-laid plans were set aside.  Savings and college funds began to deplete. “According to Moody’s Analytics, an economic research firm, excess savings among many working and middle-class households could be exhausted as soon as early next year.”

What is happening to the middle class?  “A two-tier system is emerging in which highly paid professionals … have more options than ever, while middle-income workers often are ordered back to full-time on-site work and might have little choice but to quit,” says an article in Politico.  Specifically, 34% of households earning between $30,000 and $99,999 reported financial hardship, while only 10% of households earning $100,000 or more did.

Jesus encourages us to live each day without worry.  “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33).  Give yourselves over to faith in Christ and a relationship with Him providing a security that will withstand the changes in your physical world.  Trust Jesus to walk with you daily and seek His wisdom in all matters accessing the peace that has no human understanding.  There is no better time to show others our faith and present them with what is most needed of all— the need for the Savior.  

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ” (Philippians 4:19).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Parental Ed Choice & Religious Liberty

The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently heard oral argument in Carson v. Makin— a case out of Maine that presents an opportunity for the high court to continue its recent trend of protection for religious liberty in our public schools and expand educational options for parents and students.

The state of Maine includes some rural areas where the student population isn’t high enough to justify building or operating a public school.  To address this, the state provides a tuition scholarship that parents can use to pay for educating their children at the school of their choice.  However, the program specifically prohibits the parents from using the funds to send their children to the school of their choice if that chosen school is a religious school.  The state justifies this discrimination on a state law prohibiting public funding of religion and a mistaken interpretation of the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause, claiming that parents using their own tax dollars to pay tuition at a religious school somehow establishes an official religion of the state.

The state of Montana also had a mechanism for funding parental education choices that until recently also barred religious schools.  SCOTUS in Espinoza v Montana struck down Montana’s restriction on that state’s school choice program.  The state laws in Montana, Maine, and elsewhere are historically rooted in a period of anti-Catholic discrimination by states when Maine used the term “religion” as a euphemism for Catholicism.  Thankfully, in Espinoza the SCOTUS made it clear, citing its decision Trinity Lutheran v Comer, that when government provides a benefit or program to the public, religious institutions have a right to participate in the program.

Apparently, the state of Maine and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit didn’t get the memo.  While lawyers and judges continually parse the language of case law, the law of unintended consequences remains intact.  

During the COVID pandemic when children were forced to stay home and learn remotely, many parents learned far more than their children.  For the first time, millions of parents were given a first-hand glimpse of what was going on in the classroom.  The result was an eye-opening and sometimes anger-inducing epiphany.  The school choice movement gained supporters across the country from parents in red, blue, and purple states.  Glenn Youngkin won the governorship of Virginia on that issue above any other.

The case of Carson v Makin presents more than an opportunity for SCOTUS to reiterate that it meant what it said in Trinity Lutheran and Espinoza.  It is the chance to take another step toward restoring the original intent and text of the First Amendment’s religion clauses.

Far from the modern secularist stick used to banish religion from public life, it was intended as a shield to protect the proper role of religion in a free and civil society. Moreover, freedom and morality being inextricably linked, the original intent of education was to produce citizens capable of living in that free and civil society.

Consider the Northwest Ordinance, passed in 1787.  Article III states— “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.”

Nearly two centuries after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, our poet laureate Robert Frost described education as “the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence.”

Considering our nation’s cancel culture and the cesspool of social media our children navigate daily, could there be a more essential skill?

Today, Americans have a myriad of educational models: public, private, charter, homeschooling, and hybrids of all types.  Whether parents adhere to the Northwest Ordinance or Robert Frost’s definition of education, the choice is and should always be theirs!

This is a freedom issue.  More freedom is a good idea, and freedom is more than a good idea— it’s our God-given, constitutionally protected right.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A New Day Dawning

It seems everyone loves a beautiful sunset or sunrise.  We constantly see posts on social media of the latest, greatest, most beautiful examples.  They are complete with all the appropriate colors— yellows, oranges, reds, violets, and deep burgundies.  At evening times, they bring restful and relaxing emotions.  At dawn, they awaken freshness and the excitement of a new day with all its possibilities.  We need that feeling every day, God’s new day, His gift to us to share with our world and for His glory.

We are in desperate need of some new dawns for our world today.  Satan’s machine of evil, worldliness, and godlessness has clouded over and hidden God’s wonderful love for us. Many people do not see it anymore.  Neither do they hear it from those who know God personally, but have given up sharing.  Why?  Maybe it’s fatigue or fear of repercussions.  Whatever the cause, the fact remains that many of God’s people no longer share Him openly.  Especially, men.

Where are God’s mighty men who stand up to speak, who sit and teach, who walk forward to lead the way?  Do we need to get back to solid training and practice in the use of the armor that God has provided?  Is your church providing the opportunities for these?  Have you put out the call for leaders and other men of valor to join together and begin groups for this purpose?  With trained leaders, your church can sponsor groups to study God’s Holy Word together verse by verse.  Discover together the possibilities. Feed your men the meat of God’s Word and watch them grow.  As your men brainstorm ideas to reach out to more men, do not be overly afraid of letting them try new things. Even a misstep can be a wonderful learning experience to grow from.

The world is doing its best to “sissify” men in general and eliminate Christian men in particular.  It is time to stand up to the tiger, to stand against the wiles of the Devil, to believe God can.  Our men need to be re-fit with God’s armor: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the footwear of readiness, the shield of peace, and prayer (Ephesians 6:10-18).  Then we can stand against the devil’s schemes and bring Christ to this lost and dying world.

2 Samuel 3-5 reads, “The God of Israel spoke,…‘When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.  Is not my house right with God?  Has He not made with me an everlasting covenant?’”

David had his “mighty men” (2 Samuel 23:8-12).  Do you have yours?  Have you begun their deliberate and specific training?  Have they been issued their armor and begun the training in its use?  Are they, along with you, ready for battle?

Pray that the young and old alike will step forward.  Remember Caleb, “I am today, eighty-five years old!  I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.  Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day” (Joshua 14:10-12).

Christian men, let us give our world, our churches, our families a new day dawning!

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

Feds Track Religious Holdouts

A little-noticed announcement by an obscure federal agency divulged the Biden Administration’s controversial plan to document every federal employee who has requested a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The federal government’s plan to track its most trouble-making and defiant federal employees is troublesome enough, all by itself, but what caught the attention of Heritage Foundation legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry is the tiny agency that appeared to be the first one to admit it. That agency, she says, is the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA), a legal office headquartered in D.C. whose role is assisting court officers who work with court defendants.  

The announcement by the PSA, describes a “notice of a new system of records” that will collect “religious accommodation requests for religious exception from the federally mandated vaccination requirement.”  The agency states it plans to create a records system in the “context of a public health emergency” to maintain a “safe and healthy environment” for PSA employees.  It is allowed to do so, the agency further states, because President Biden signed Executive Order No. 14043 that requires all federal employees to get “The Jab.”

On the same day the PSA announcement was posted, Perry and a second Heritage legal fellow, GianCarlo Canaparo, dropped that bombshell in a legal story published by Heritage news outlet The Daily Signal.  The same-day timing suggested Heritage had been tipped off about the controversial plan, though that is unknown, and Perry has not said how she learned about the posting.  Regardless, four days later, Perry and Canaparo reported in a second Daily Signal story that 19 more federal agencies were planning to create (or had done so already) similar tracking lists of religious exemption requests from their own employees. Those bigger and more-powerful agencies include the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of the Treasury, among others.

An ‘Orwellian’ government Perry tells American Family News the personal information to be collected includes personal details about religious practices, and background information such as past addresses and your maiden name, and she likens that government intrusion to the villainous Soviet KGB and the feared East German Stasi.  “It is truly one of the most aggressive, Orwellian attempts,” Perry says, “to segregate and blacklist conservative Americans, religious Americans, faithful Americans, that we’ve ever seen.”

The federal government’s civilian workforce is estimated at 2.1-million of which an estimated 90% had received “The Jab” when the deadline to comply with Biden’s executive order hit on Nov. 22.  If that number has now hit 95% compliance, that would mean approximately 105,000 federal employees did not comply and at least some of those federal workers can now expect to be added to a list noting their religious exemption request.

Meanwhile, a federal judge on January 22 blocked Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees, but it appears the federal government’s planned database is still moving forward. Reading from the Federal Register announcement on his AFR radio show, Abraham Hamilton III pointed out the federal agencies are not keeping track of federal employees who submitted a medical request.  “You don’t have to be brilliant, or any type of genius, to recognize what’s happening,” he warned ominously.  “All that you need to be able to do is know a little bit about history.”  Any time a powerful government has kept a list of people it views as troublesome, Hamilton went on to say, the population did not witness religious freedom and personal liberties grow.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Grassroots Efforts Halts Construction of a Planned Parenthood Abortion Facility

A grassroots campaign in upstate New York has shut down construction of a Planned Parenthood (PP) facility.  The activist group Brighton Residents Against Violence to Everyone, known by the acronym BRAVE, has stopped construction of the planned 6,500-squarefoot abortion center in Brighton, a suburb of Rochester, NY.  

With the support of Reprotection, a women’s advocacy organization served by the Thomas More Society, BRAVE prevailed in its efforts to prevent the construction of the facility.  A January 10, 2022 email from attorneys representing the Town of Brighton informed BRAVE that the town’s attorneys had “received confirmation that Planned Parenthood terminated its lease with Westfall Medical Realty and will not occupy the South Clinton Avenue, Brighton premises.”

Missy Martinez-Stone, CEO of Reprotection, said, “The Reprotection team congratulates the activists in Brighton on their victory, and we look forward to taking this precedent-setting lawsuit to other cities and towns across the country.”

Tom Olp, Thomas More Society Vice President and Senior Counsel, noted that BRAVE focused on the negative impacts a PP abortion facility would deliver to a community and took those concerns to the town’s planning board, the existing medical facilities in Westfall Medical Park, and area residents.  When site plan approval was granted without any consideration of those concerns, BRAVE filed suit.  “By tying these concerns together, the group’s attorney filed a proceeding in late August 2021 against the Brighton Planning Board and the applicant, challenging the approval of the project,” Olp explained.  “The lawsuit focused on the site plan approval process itself, including the lack of a meaningful review by the Planning Board of the many issues that an abortion clinic can bring to a neighborhood community.  The lawsuit questioned whether surgical facilities are a permitted use within the zoning district.  It also raised the question of waste disposal, as well as deleterious secondary impacts to the community character.” 

“Under the advice and assistance of Reprotection, the lawsuit also challenged the proposed facility’s compliance with wastewater regulations and the lack of consideration of impacts to the town’s water supply,” Olp said.  “Reprotection provided information about Environmental Protection Agency regulations, as it related to Planned Parenthood’s increasing promotion of the ‘at home’ abortion pill.  BRAVE included that information in a challenge under the newly adopted New York constitutional amendment guaranteeing every citizen the right to clean water.”

Olp complimented BRAVE’s holistic approach to the litigation, as well as the campaign that included 127 appearances by 62 different individuals before the Brighton Planning Board and other town meetings, letters to 80 doctors with offices in the medical park, studies on implications for the areas law enforcement operations and traffic and six weekends of neighborhood door-knocking campaigns.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Planned Parenthood Abandons Legal Challenge to Abortion Ban

In a major and historic victory for the right to life, Planned Parenthood (PP) is dropping its lawsuit over the city of Lubbock’s abortion ban, ensuring that the ordinance will remain in effect and ending the months-long courtroom battle over city’s abortion law.

The Lubbock, TX ordinance, which outlaws abortion within city limits, was approved by the voters on May 1, 2021, and took effect on June 1, 2021— ending access to abortion in Lubbock and forcing PP to halt the provision of abortion-related services in the city. PP sued the city last year to halt enforcement of the ordinance, but a federal district court dismissed PP’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.  PP appealed that ruling, but announced last week that it was dropping its appeal and ending its litigation over the ordinance.

The Lubbock ordinance marks the first time that an abortion ban has survived court challenge in the United States since Roe v. Wade (1973).  The ordinance is structured in a manner similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which outlaws abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, but prohibits state officials from enforcing the law, instead authorizing private citizens to sue those who perform or aid or abet illegal abortions.  By adopting this unique private-enforcement scheme, the city of Lubbock made its ordinance immune from pre-enforcement lawsuits because neither the city nor its officials have any role in enforcing the law, so they cannot be subjected to lawsuits that challenge the constitutionality of the ordinance.

Mark Lee Dickson, Director with Right To Life of East Texas and the founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, said: “We are thrilled that Planned Parenthood has dropped its lawsuit against the city of Lubbock, which was meritless from the outset.  The city has no role in enforcing this abortion ban, so it cannot be sued by those who oppose the ordinance.”  “We have said from the beginning that the abortion bans we have drafted are bulletproof from court challenge, and we are pleased that the litigation over Lubbock’s ordinance has proven us right.  We will continue our work to enact similar ordinances in other cities throughout the United States.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

(Pop)cultural Christianity

What does it mean to “be a Christian” in American culture?  Likely something very different from what the Christian forefathers practiced!

A recent article exploring Kanye West’s understanding of Christianity popped up on Summit Ministries’ website.  It concluded by saying:

“We began by asking, ‘What is Kanye’s Christianity?’ because his worldview does not fit neatly into any category of Christianity.  But, when we realize that every one of us holds a Christian worldview that has, to some extent, been shaped by our assumptions, perhaps we should end by asking, what is our Christianity [emphasis added]?”

In essence, the article argues that, despite pointing to an objective truth, individual experiences of Christianity are highly personal.  In Kanye West’s case, his experience of Christianity as a billionaire rapper is inherently distinct from the experiences of almost any other human being on the planet.

Of course, there is always a temptation to say that Christian practices ought to be fixed in stone, that they should be esoteric and almost inaccessible.  However, Jesus’ death and resurrection were supposed to end the separation between humanity and God’s holiness.

Matthew 27:50-51 teaches that Jesus’ death was enough to end the separation between God and humanity; this is exemplified by the tearing of the veil separating the holy of holies in the temple:

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.”

Contrary to secular belief, Christianity is not a wooden religion that refuses to evolve with the rest of human culture.  It has a rich history of dynamically responding to cultural changes and contemporary matters to spread its message.

One such example is John Wycliffe’s revolutionary translation of the Bible into English to establish a source of Christian authority that would replace the discredited Catholic Church.  Wycliffe’s translation was appropriate for a particular time and place in history, but it would not have been possible until people began to question the authority of Church leadership.

Ultimately, yes, the practice of Christianity is highly contextual, which means it is also highly personal.  But the basic truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection must always endure.

If Kanye West is able to spread a popular understanding of the basic tenets of the Christian faith through his music and celebrity, then he is merely taking part in a historically sound Christian practice of using new media to convey the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Things We Gain and Lose

Romans 8:22-23 says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”

This “groaning” is the result of our desire to see ourselves and our fallen world reunited with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Where Adam sinned and caused humanity’s relationship with God to be fractured, Jesus lived a sinless life and His death on the cross served as the inauguration of the spiritual reunification process for humanity and the Trinity.

Because of this fallen world, humanity suffers in its separation from God.  Part of this suffering is the fruitless striving and yearning that is never satisfied because, for everything we gain, there is something that we lose.

This is true in the economic principle of opportunity cost and is also true of the technologies we are introducing into the world.  For every benefit that comes from technology, there is a concurrent downside.

Take computers as a good example.  Computers are demonstrated to cause near-sightedness as well as carpal tunnel syndrome, not to mention the dangers of leading a sedentary lifestyle. This is one example but there are many, many, more.  

This is further exemplified by the introduction of the latest “revolutionary” technology: the Internal Revenue Services’ move to require taxpayers to use facial recognition technology to pay their taxes.  As an article from CNBC explained:

“Starting in summer 2022, if you need to login to the IRS’s website to access the Child Tax Credit Update Portal, get your tax transcript, or view a payment agreement with the agency, you will need to create an account with a third-party identity verification company ID.me.”

This may be a well-intentioned effort to prevent identity theft.  It might also be a means of tracking citizens and gaining national data using people’s names and faces.  Either way, it is but one more step in the slow process of decimating anonymity and erasing what was once an unappreciated privilege of many societies: the ability to control what other people know about your life.

Privacy is dwindling, and we are no longer able to control access to our own information. Our grades from college stay on our resumes, every traffic ticket or misdemeanor is accessible, people can find old posts on Facebook and LinkedIn decades after they were posted, and now we have to give up just a bit more of our privacy to gain access to our taxes.

This is a far more insidious loss of freedom than anything else.

Let’s go back to taxes for a moment.  What if your lawyer needs to access your tax transcripts?  What if you need your fiancé to get information for you from your taxes while you’re away from the computer?

This may not seem like much, but it is these little administrative changes that cause the greatest loss of freedom.

Of course, what’s a little less freedom in the name of security?

Actually, quite a lot.  As Ben Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”  Even if the quote has been taken out of context, the essential meaning is the same.

Everything has a price.  Every advancement has a trade-off.  This is the nature of the fallen world in which we live.  As Christians, we should recognize this fact and push against it.

John 11:26 promises, “whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.”  In the end, what matters most is that we never trade away our belief in Jesus Christ for anything else.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel