From Failure to Success With Our Children

Dr. Ben Carson, born into a poor family and only achieving average grades became a leading pediatric neurosurgeon; Mandy Harvey, deaf at age 18 moved on to become a finalist in America’s Got Talent as a singer; Henry Ford, a many-time failure became an automotive industry titan; Thomas Edison experienced over 10,000 failures with the light bulb and was dubbed ‘too stupid to learn anything’ by his own teachers.

The list can go on and on and similar lists can be made from many areas of life … as in the raising and training of children.  However, many parents, especially Christian parents, see themselves as failures, even total failures, when it comes to raising children.  Sometimes parents do not get involved in their children’s lives.  Their children are left on their own to battle the forces of evil around them, including false teaching at school.

It may seem that all is lost … we have failed.  But, all is not lost.  God is waiting for our call and waiting for us to give our children over to Him.  There is still time and good reason for re-establishing relationships and getting involved in the lives of our children and grandchildren. Pastor Brian Moss in his article, “I Failed as a Parent: Now What?” reminds us of the story of Adam and Eve, “Even God’s kids, who had the perfect parent in the ideal home, rebelled against everything they were taught.”  Then we saw God come and walk with them, relate to them, and ask questions.

The point is: don’t just sit back and let things happen.  Get involved!  Become well acquainted with your child’s school and other decisions in your child’s education.  Have courage and trust in the Lord as you get involved in all areas of your children’s lives. Otherwise, every part of our nation, of our churches, and our children will be destroyed, eaten away by the evil of this world (Joel 1: 2-20).  Lovingly and positively teach the children God has given to your care. Fit them with the armor of God and pray that armor over them.  Then you will see real progress begin in their lives and carry into many generations (Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:6-9).  “He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born” (Psalm 78:5-6).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Sincerely Your’s

“Sincerely Your’s,” a very nice way to end and sign a letter.  When the receiver of the letter reads this, they naturally assume that the writer had every intention of the readers good in mind.  It seems to reflect an honesty, a forthrightness, an openness.  The reader assumes their own benefit has been considered in every way.  Or…could it be that the writer is attempting to throw you off and distract you from the real intentions and the real goals?  In this case, not only is the writer using a false sincerity, but is also sincerely wrong in what is being promoted.

Such is very much the case in all of the recent hyped-up promotion of the LGBTQ+ groups— especially as it relates to gender identity and the teaching of our children. Pressure has been applied to school boards across the country (and many other countries also) to deregulate the use of restrooms, locker rooms, etc.  The goal has been to allow a student of either gender (male or female) to use either and any of these facilities according to their current identity rather than by their God-given gender at birth. This has caused a plethora of problems, lawsuits, and privacy issues everywhere it has been implemented.

Students have been the most affected as they are the ones most often caught in these difficult situations.  Following their school’s leadership and their parent’s non-involvement and non-leadership, students are constantly being confused and embarrassed by this terrible shift in our culture.

However, we are beginning to see some pushback to these very bad decisions and the confusion they have caused.  Some leaders are rightly finding that it is constitutionally correct to require the use of bathrooms and locker rooms for the gender of birth by all.  Apparently common sense, real science, and true morality is coming back into play as everyday citizens are realizing the insincere ploys that have been used against our children and citizens in general.

The importance of knowing the truth of God’s Word and teaching these truths to our children, politicians, school boards, and teachers shows its importance in that when we fall for the lies of the world and neglect to stand firm against them, then the collapse of society and the family is just around the corner.  It is the way of sin every time.  “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ” (Ephesians 4: 14-15).

Teach, encourage, and model before your fellow believers the importance of knowing God’s Word and trusting Him to bring those truths to fruition.  Supply resources for going further and deeper into the individual topics you are facing to help believers study, grow, and become prepared (1 Peter 3:15).  Be certain that, in the end, you can sign your letter of life, “Sincerely Your’s.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Do No Harm

In Psalm 147:3, the role of God as a healer is described with great tenderness.  It says: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,”— mirroring the healing sought from earthly physicians.

Every physician takes The Hippocratic Oath saying, “first, do no harm.”  Although there are caveats to this oath, the principle behind it is to do what is in the best interest of the patient and to do all that is possible to preserve their good health.

Any reasonable person would tell you that prescribing a treatment regimen with unknown consequences and failing to perform due diligence before causing potential lifetime damage to someone’s body are both violations of the principle “do no harm.”  Especially if this is done to someone who is underage.  Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening with puberty-blocking drugs that have been prescribed to underage children who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Even the pro-LGBTQ website for the Canadian Provincial Health Services Authority admits “We are not sure if puberty blockers have negative side effects on bone development and height [in adolescents].“  What makes this more egregious are cases in the United Kingdom like that of Keira Bell who was prescribed hormone blockers at age 16.  She is now embroiled in a lawsuit against that clinic because of their failure to give her proper counsel or care.  In her words: “I don't believe children and young people can consent to the use of powerful, experimental hormone drugs like I did.”

In response to this trend among gender-reassignment clinics, at least six states (Colorado, South Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida and Missouri) have considered legislation to restrict the performance of gender reassignment treatments on underage patients.  Yet, Minnesota is voting on a Trans Sanctuary Bill that legalizes genital mutilation and hormone treatments for minors.

No matter what side of the aisle someone finds themselves, surely the idea of protecting underage patients from potentially irreversible harm is a valid consideration that ought to be given great weight.  This effort to protect children ought to be applauded and encouraged.

In Matthew 18:6 the Great Physician Himself gave a severe warning to anyone who would lead children the wrong way: “…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Conservative Christians Need Not Apply for Government Employment

The Biden Administration has proposed new federal guidelines that would politicize the civil service and potentially bar Christians and others who hold disfavored opinions from government employment.  Critics say the president’s proposal essentially states, “Conservatives need not apply.”

Current federal law deems an applicant “unsuitable” for federal employment if the applicant engages in “knowing and willful engagement in acts or activities designed to overthrow the U.S. government by force.”  But the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposal would strike the words “by force with a collection of provisions that are broad, ill-defined, and over-inclusive,” said a comment offered by Family Research Council (FRC).  “We urge the OPM to withdraw the proposed rule changes.”

Removing the words “by force” renders the rule “dangerously vague.  Such lack of clarity would give the government great leeway in keeping people out of federal employment that it did not like,” Chris Gacek, coalitions senior research fellow at FRC who guided the group’s comment, told The Washington Stand.  “The provisions repeatedly ran afoul of First Amendment norms — and would imperil the rights of clergy and religious believers.”

The Biden Administration admits its new, legally binding employment policy includes “more nuanced factors,” but only punishes “conduct that is not protected by the First Amendment.” Still, FRC objects that the code contains “vague and broad provisions that could target disfavored groups with unpopular beliefs — including groups of religious believers whose beliefs not infrequently challenge societal norms and loyalties.”  For instance, one part of the revised policy would ban acts of “force, violence, intimidation, or coercion with the purpose of denying others the free exercise of their rights under the U.S. Constitution or any state constitution.”

The Biden Administration has repeatedly stated the U.S. Constitution contains a right to an abortion, in contravention of a current Supreme Court ruling.  Further, “the idea that mere speech can be deemed ‘violence’ has gained some acceptance in much of America,” FRC’s comment states.  “Such thinking, if absorbed into OPM legal practice, could transform pure speech into ‘violence,’ ‘intimidation,’ and ‘coercion.’ ”  Yet the underlying action, of engaging in free speech, “does not seem far removed from teaching, instructing, or preaching doctrine — a common practice in churches, seminaries, and schools.”  It would also deny government employment to any applicant who belongs to a group with “unlawful aims,” a term FRC found broad enough to include those who sheltered runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad.

FRC asked Biden officials if a pastor who allows an illegal immigrant to take sanctuary inside his church, or who holds services in defiance of a pandemic order, could be denied government employment.  “There needs to be a precise definition of violence in the rule to preclude such unconstitutional, post-modern interpretations of the law,” FRC continued.  Since the regulation’s current wording does not require criminal conviction, “how does the OPM plan to decide whether state constitutional provisions have been violated?  The request for clarity comes as Democrats classify an ever-widening panoply of actions as acts of “insurrection,” a term legally condemned by the U.S. Constitution. These actions include refusing to automatically mail ballots to inactive voters, automatically registering everyone with a driver’s license to vote — even voting to remove then-Rep. Liz Cheney (WY-R) from her House leadership position.  Using broad definitions of such terminology in the national or state constitutions, Democratic officials have sued to keep Republican candidates — Marjorie Taylor Green (GA-R) and Rep. David Eastman (AK-R) — off the ballot.  Both Democrats’ disenfranchising lawsuits proved unsuccessful.  Yet under Biden’s proposed federal employment guidelines, applicants would never see their day in court.  Instead, the language “would allow hiring managers to reject candidates solely on the grounds of being lawfully critical of government policy,” said a statement spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation (HF) and signed by 41 people representing 35 organizations, including Quena González of FRC. “The terms used in the proposed change, ‘intimidate’ and ‘coerce,’ have become synonymous — wrongly so — in the eyes of some, with vigorous, active speech that seeks to change opinions and federal and state laws.” As a result, “opinions on abortion, the Second Amendment, or climate change, or membership in an association that actively works to change the law on such issues, whatever side of the political aisle they are, could be used by a hiring manager to unfairly reject an otherwise well-qualified, excellent employee.”  

The statement — which calls the OPM regulation “unwarranted and dangerous” — has been signed by former HF President Kevin Roberts, Reagan Administration OPM Director Donald J. Devine, former HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, Leadership Institute President Morton Blackwell, Sandy Rios of the American Family Association, Claremont Institute President Ryan P. Williams, Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance, Jon Schweppe of the American Principles Project, and Jordan Sekulow of ACLJ Action, among others.  

The rule accelerates what critics call Biden’s pattern of politicizing the federal bureaucracy. The White House demanded members of the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) quit and, when they refused, launched investigations into recalcitrant conservatives.  “It’s very clear what’s happening — it’s forcing people out who are not political actors,” a former CFPB employee told the Government Executive website.  “This is being done in a pretty underhanded way and, frankly, they are getting away with it.”

Such efforts stretch back to Biden’s very first day in office, when the president demanded National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Peter Robb resign or be fired. Robb’s tenure did not end for months, and a previous administration’s appointees have typically served out their full terms alongside new members.  Yet in a violation of norms, Biden proceeded to fire both Robb and his assistant, Alice Stock, placing the agency under the leadership of former union lawyer Jennifer Abruzzo.  He then fired the general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Sharon Gustafson, after she refused to resign, as well as Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul and religious liberty/civil rights official Roger Severino.

Biden went on to clear-cut numerous members of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, the National Capital Planning Commission, and to terminate all 10 members of the Federal Services Impasse Panel (which also deals with labor unions’ concerns).  The White House then set its sights on the military, targeting 18 Trump appointees to military advisory boards such as the Air Force Academy, West Point, and the Naval Academy.  Biden also fired members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council and the Administrative Conference of the United States.

Fantasies of depriving one’s political enemies of the ability to earn a living, in the public or private sector, have increasingly consumed the Left.  In 2020, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-D) endorsed the work of the Trump Accountability Project to blacklist “Trump sycophants” from gainful employment.  “In the Biden regime, the new rule could more simply be written as ‘conservatives need not apply,’ ” said HF President Kevin Roberts.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

TX Brings Back X Commandments

Texas is on track to put the Ten Commandments posted back in the classroom.  Tim Barton, president of WallBuilders, told the Todd Starnes Show it’s a “great idea.”  

TX State Sen. Phil King (R) introduced a new bill in the Lone Star State to mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom.  Tim Barton told host Todd Starnes this new legislation seems very logical.  “The Ten Commandments have been the basis of all morals for the Western civilization, for the Western world, really, since the inception of the Western world.  And so, to me, it seems very logical.  There’s a lot of good historic and legal precedent for this as well.  But certainly, from a commonsense perspective, this just makes sense to go back to telling kids basic notions of morality like don’t kill other people,” Barton told Starnes.  Barton also gave a short history lesson on the first textbooks printed in America, which contained over 40 questions about the Ten Commandments at the back of the book.  “It wasn’t until 1980 when an activist Supreme Court determined that, you know, that’s probably been enough of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.  Let’s not do that anymore.  The 1980s, when activist judges said no more.  Well, fortunately, because of the Supreme Court last summer overturning some of the bad precedents, we are at a place where we once again can restore some of the basic moral values we used to teach kids, which includes once again posting copies of the Ten Commandments.”

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Coping with Mortality

In J.M. Barrie’s novel Peter Pan, the protagonist, upon being wounded by the villainous Captain Hook, opines that “to die will be an awfully big adventure.”

While Christians certainly do not view death as an “adventure,” like Peter Pan, we are able to look forward to something beyond this life.  As Christians are taught in Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Without hope in Christ, there is little to look forward to beyond this life.  Unfortunately, this is a fallen world with plenty of suffering and misery.  

As the atheist philosopher Emil Cioran once wrote, “It is not worth the bother of killing yourself since you always kill yourself too late.”  Given the bleakness of such a worldview, it should not surprise us to learn that a recent study concluded that “deaths of despair” from suicide or alcoholism seemed to be closely correlated with the loss of religiosity.  “States that experienced larger declines in religious participation in the last 15 years of the 20th century saw larger increases in deaths of despair.”

This information correlates with the results of a study in 2004 that demonstrated, “Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation.”

The significance of these two studies cannot be dismissed.  While Christians ought to avoid saying that all religions are equally beneficial or equally true, we can take these facts to indicate that there is something about the belief in God that we need in order to survive the world’s darkness.

When Jesus quoted Psalm 36:9 in John 14:12, we read, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’”

In some ways, these studies remind us just how literally Jesus’ words may be taken. Without faith in God, the world seems bleak, indeed.

A recent story about drug addiction in Philadelphia that was published by the DailyMail casts this into sharp relief as it describes the raw horror of the situation: “Addicts are shooting up in broad daylight, hunched over in a stupor or passed out on the streets. Many have raw, gaping wounds in desperate need of medical attention.  And there are needles, syringes and garbage littered across the sidewalks.”

Stories like this are illustrative of why some people are driven to suicide in despair over the horror of the world.  As we are reminded in Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Christians should always take heart in the promise of the world to come and the certainty that God’s plan cannot and will never fail.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Supporting the Family

Proverbs 17:6 passes on the wisdom that “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”

This piece of wisdom literature reminds us of the importance of strong family relations. However, we are not only advised to maintain strong intergenerational family relationships but also within nuclear families; as Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”  God established the family before any other institutions, including the government; it is the most important and foundational institution in human history.

The Bible persistently reminds us that protecting the family is a central tenant of the Christian faith.  Unfortunately, our culture has shifted away from glorifying the nuclear family to vilifying it.  Articles published by Vice under the headline “We Can’t Have a Feminist Future Without Abolishing the Family” are no longer relegated to harmless absurdities.

These are serious propositions being made by thinkers like Sophie Lewis.  Her radical proposition is that we practice “full surrogacy” by abolishing the family.  That means caring for each other not in discrete private units (also known as nuclear households), but rather within larger systems of care that can provide us with the love and support we can’t always get from blood relations.

This kind of dialogue has eroded the status of the family within the Western world. However, there are still those who are pushing back.  Efforts across the nation to support families have ramped up over the last few years.  Although the expansion of crisis pregnancy centers and similar organizations has been met with hostility by those who support Sophie Lewis’ dystopian future, they are nonetheless growing in influence across the country.

As Psalm 127:3 teaches, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him.” Christians have an obligation to support the creation and sustenance of families, not just as a policy matter but in our day-to-day lives.  It is sometimes easy to be bogged down by the rhetoric and politics of the day, but the most important thing for us to remember is the need to live out our values.

In one of his articles, Billy Graham argued, “we must not conform to the world socially. The world attempts to absorb us into its secular society and to conform us to its earthly image, but Christ urges us not to conform. Clearly, He says of those who believe in Him, ‘They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world’ (John 17:16).”

Practically speaking, this means that Christians need to support family-oriented policies while also making sure that they are supporting family values in their personal lives.  As we are reminded in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

HEADS YOU WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE

Rick Hughes on his radio show, The Flot Line, often states, “You were made with two ends; one to sit on and one to think with.  Your success depends on which one you use. Heads you win, tails you lose.”

Thinking is a very important part of who we are.  We all have body, soul, mind, and spirit. And it is the mind that leads the way.  Romans 12:2 instructs, “… be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is.” The mind is the testing and proving ground for correct living within God’s will.

Yet, for many decades we have been handing the job of teaching our children over to the secular portions of our society.  Portions that often reject the reality of God and the truth of Scripture.  We have left our children defenseless in understanding and defending correct thinking.  It is imperative that we systematically teach truth in civics, morality, ethics, and economics, to name just a few.

Joshua 8:34-35 teaches this precedent, “… Joshua read all the words of the law – the blessings and the curses.  There was not a word of all Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly including the women and children, and the aliens who lived among them.”

If we are to live as a cohesive society, we must be established on truth.  Without truth, we float on a precarious ground of quicksand.  For example, teaching that communism is the most fair and best way of living as a society is to teach a lie.  Communism is flawed at its very foundation (rejecting the fallen nature of mankind) and has proven this false hope in history many times.  Also, this belief system ultimately requires those at the top to be the most intelligent, caring, good and selfless individuals, which is rarely (if ever) the case.

A Constitutional Republic relies on truth, justice and the rule of law to limit the powers of civil government.  This holds in check the flaws of even the best leaders.  To disregard good rules to follow feelings of fairness can result in chaos, as we have seen in recent elections and ballot counting.  Straight forward rules consistently followed avoids arbitrary, unjust outcomes.

A large part of our citizenry no longer understands the U.S. Constitution and it’s unique system of checks and balances.  Nor do they understand God’s provision of morality as a protection for us all.  When left unchecked politics tend to follow the tragic nature of sin. Without God’s truth applied consistently, authorities use fear, force, and even hate to rule. With a biblical understanding the rule of law, righteousness, grace and even forgiveness govern the people and their relationships.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Think About It

Some would say that thoughts are somewhat controllable, manageable, or can be held captive.  Certainly, what is fed into the mind helps what comes to the mind.  No one can know another person’s thoughts, which allows a measure of privacy that is necessary given thoughts are produced with little conscious effort.  “I will think about it, let me think about it, I thought it was….” are phrases we use regularly but rarely authenticate.  Can our thoughts alone be held accountable as action?

In the book named 1984 by George Orwell, there are a group of people who are the Thought Police.  Their job is to arrest those who have committed thought crimes. Thought crimes are thinking something ideologically opposed to the Party.  This is done by televisions in people’s homes and reading body language, speech, and facial expressions.  This seemed a far-fetched fairy tale when it was penned by the author in 1949, but has the fairy tale reached reality?

In the UK Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a pro-life volunteer went to trial for praying silently in an abortion clinic censorship zone.  She was criminally charged with violating a local Public Spaces Protection Order last December and was later acquitted of all charges by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

She was not protesting or causing a disturbance of any kind.  She stood with her hands in her coat pocket.  She made no sounds.  Police approached her and asked if she was praying, which she agreed she was.  They accused her of standing in the buffer zone and praying. The court had found her within her rights in her prior trial.  However, she was arrested in March for silently praying again in the censorship zone and then banned from attending prayer services outside of the censorship zone.

This is a case of thought crime, just like Orwell wrote in his “futuristic” book, 1984.

The brain processes some 70,000 thoughts a day using neurons connecting with synapses that travel 300 miles per hour.  It is virtually impossible to control many of those 70,000 thoughts.  There are techniques to control, to a degree, negative or unwanted thoughts. People employ journaling their thoughts, meditation, deep breathing, positive thinking, gratitude, and more.  Those techniques have the possibility of tamping down some thoughts that distract from normal life routines, but they certainly cannot harness all 70,000 thoughts.  If one cannot control their own thoughts, how can the government hope to control anyone’s thoughts … or prayers?

Isaiah 55:8 says, “ ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.”  In I Corinthians 2:11 another verse on thoughts reads “for who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?”  

Today people are hooked into their electronics to such a degree that George Orwell would find several ways to deploy the “Thought Patrol.”  And Christians are being attacked from all directions as Satan seeks to control our thoughts.  The thoughts we conjure are thoughts grown from what we observe, absorb, and accept.  Whether we “think” it or not, there is a war going on for control of our lives, including our thoughts.

Listen: Combat the war by “transforming and renewing your mind.  Do not conform to the patterns of the world.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— His good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pick Up Your Cross—Don’t Hide Behind It

One of the most persecuted Christians in history, the apostle Paul, said: “All who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12 NASB).  Jesus affirmed this when He said: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20 NASB).

So, it’s not a matter of if we as Christians will be persecuted, but rather when and how much is the question.

No one likes being verbally attacked, misportrayed, mocked, and made fun of.  But in today’s increasingly anti-Biblical culture, this has become an all too common occurrence for those who are serious and public with their faith.

Perhaps at no time in American history has it become so unpopular, or personally cost so much, to be a Christian.  As a result, polling shows that many professing Christians have become more silent and private with their faith.  But God hasn’t called us to live our lives under the radar.  On the contrary, Jesus exhorts:

“You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16 NASB).

Sadly, much of the culture is not content with just engaging in verbal and financial persecution, but a part of it is now physically assaulting those they disagree with.

No one likes to be uncomfortable; yet why should Christians expect to live without opposition?  We should stand courageously and uncompromisingly.  And if adversity comes, we should meet it with grace … remembering Paul’s admonition to “…always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15 NASB).

A fondness for comfort can lead to cowardice— a trait denounced throughout American history.  As Samuel Adams reminded the fair-weather “patriots” of his day:

“If you love wealth better than liberty— the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom— go home from us in peace.  We ask not your counsels or your arms.  Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.  May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”

In today’s growing anti-Biblical culture, if we are not experiencing some form of persecution, maybe it’s time to ask ourselves: Are we hiding behind our crosses, or picking them up and following Jesus?

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33 NASB).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Dangerous ’Sled-ding’

Many have enjoyed sledding down a snow packed hill on an inner tube, toboggan, or an old-fashioned sled.  Along with the fun and thrill come some dangers.  Many things can go wrong.  However, the abortion industry has developed a new kind of sled that is proving very dangerous…especially to the unborn.

S.L.E.D. defined:

Advocates for abortion make a distinction between a human being and a human person. A human being (i.e., unborn child), does not qualify as a human person because “personhood” has not yet developed.  Qualifiers lie in at least four basic qualities of life:

S = Size of the being

L = Level of development

E = Environment in which the being exists

D = Dependency of the being

Being “less than” in any or all of these categories places the being in the non-person category, thus disqualifying them from certain human rights such as the right to life.

Breaking the SLED:

How much does size matter?  Certainly, an unborn child is smaller than most born humans…but not all.  A child born at 26 weeks may be smaller than a normal gestation birthed baby— but is just as alive.  How does this test figure into the many varieties of people sizes in the world?  Does this mean that all smaller people are less human than all larger people?  

Looking at the level of development factor we see that people develop at different rates and to less or larger degrees.  So, anyone of lesser development may be killed regardless of size— because they are less of a person?

How about their environment?  The unborn is surviving in a different environment than born people.  Does this make them ‘less than’?  How does this factor figure into the deep-sea diver who, without help, could not survive in the deep?  Really?  Can a 7-inch journey through the birth canal magically transform a value-less human into a valuable person?  Nothing has changed except their location.

And finally, the degree of dependency.  Not only do the unborn depend on others for their survival, but so do toddlers, the injured, and the aged.  At what point do people earn or lose their right to life along the dependency continuum?  If a toddler falls into the lake, do we instantly consider that the toddler has become too dependent to help?  

Certainly, it is easy to see how this view of life expands into many other areas such as skin color, ethnicity, or where one resides.

In her article entitled, “Pro-Life Crash Course” Amy K. Hall quotes, “Steve Wagner formulated this quick defense of the unborn as a human being: If the unborn is growing, it must be alive. If it has human parents, it must be human.  And living humans like you and I are valuable, aren’t they?”

Any way you look at it, it is simple discrimination.  A pro-life perspective is inclusive of all people.  Everyone is considered a human being, a human person, and endowed with God-given rights.  Precious in His sight and known of Him since before birth and even before conception (Job 31:18, Psalm 139:13, Isaiah 44:24, Jeremiah 1:5).

Life can be a slippery slope.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Don’t Wait

“There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11).

There have been earthquakes, famines, and pestilence before and since this verse was penned by Luke causing those who look forward to the coming of Christ to point to such events as a sign that His coming is imminent.  Do we see these signs in 2023?  Should Christians be on alert that this is the beginning of the end times?

On February 6, 2023, at 4:17 a.m. local time an earthquake hit southeast Turkey near the Syrian Border.  The magnitude of the quake registered 7.8 magnitude.  There have been numerous aftershocks as well as a second earthquake on February 20 of a 6.3 magnitude.  It has been estimated that 50,000 people died in Turkey and neighboring Syria.  More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey.  Millions of people were displaced.  Thousands have been evacuated.  Others are sheltered in tents, greenhouses, and train cars.  These people must certainly see themselves as helpless and lost.

A war continues in Ukraine, passing the one-year mark.  On February 24, 2022, Putin launched his self-described “special military operation” ordering thousands of troops into Ukraine.  Thousands of people fled to the open borders of the neighboring countries. Shortages of every kind are evident in the war zone.  Nearly 18 million people need humanitarian assistance with 14 million people displaced from their homes.  Over 8,000 deaths have resulted from the war with men accounting for 61.1% of confirmed civilian casualties and at least 487 children have lost their lives.

Leading up to the year 2017 some biblical scholars and Bible prophecy teachers were watching for a particular sign in heaven.  Revelation 12:1-2 says, “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.  She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.”  On the date of September 23, 2017, according to astrology charts, the sun was in Virgo (clothing the woman in the sun), and the moon was near her feet.  Above her head were the 9 stars of the constellation Leo with the addition of the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars, which totaled 12 stars.  Those stars were to represent the crown on the head of the woman.  Jupiter had spent most of the year in Virgo, representing the child about to be born.  The speculation was that this must be a sign of the coming of Christ because of the prophecy in Revelation. However, it didn’t happen.

It is important to note that when studying prophecy, the Bible in its entirety needs to be held as one truth, and astrology is not a part of scripture.  The return of Christ is something Christians have yearned for since the disciples first preached it.  There will be signs, but “No one knows about the day or hour…so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:35-37).

Until then, Christian, serve others in these times of great peril.  Don’t wait.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel