Minnesota Human Rights Act Openly Attacked Religious Freedom

In 2023, the legislature amended the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) to add anti-discrimination protections for “gender identity” but failed to revise the corresponding religious exemption, effectively attempting to remove it.

This year, “gender identity” was added to a list of already protected categories of protections in the MHRA.  “Sexual orientation” was already protected by the MHRA, but the term “gender identity” was added explicitly.  A religious exemption that had already been in place since 1993 “prohibited the state from forcing religious organizations to comply with the anti-discrimination law provisions with respect to protected categories like sexual orientation when those provisions are inconsistent with a religious organization’s sincerely held beliefs,” said Renee Carlson, general counsel for True North Legal.  However, the religious exemption was not updated to include the term “gender identity.”

“While we had hoped it was an oversight, the House Judiciary Chair stated on the record that the omission of those words was intentional,” Carlson said.  “A discussion ensued during the committee where Democratic legislators not only refused to accept an amendment to protect religious organizations, but also called the amendment to protect religious organizations ‘disturbing’ and ‘disgusting’ after hearing a testimony from a diverse group of testifiers.”

By openly failing to include “gender identity” in the previously established religious exemption, the Minnesota legislation openly attacked religious freedom, but the attack does not stop there.  Churches and religious institutions would be directly impacted by this exemption, but so would many unprotected groups served by religious organizations.

“A threat to religious organizations extends well beyond the churches and ministries that the statute protects.  Religious organizations often serve marginalized and underserved communities, such as victims of sex trafficking, homeless families, and youth through programs that help kids graduate high school and even go to college.  These religious entities in Minnesota meet individual needs and fill gaps that the government could never achieve on its own.  To be sure, this was an unprecedented attack on religion and people of faith, but also on the communities that they serve,” said Carlson.

The MHRA could even threaten the existence of some religious organizations whose mission and religious beliefs are inseparable, Carlson added.  “For religious organizations and its members, every decision is inextricably bound up in the tenets of its faith tradition.  Removing statutory protections for religious organizations from the Minnesota Human Rights Act threatened the existence of all religious entities whose missions are inseparable from their employment practices, catechisms, and governance.”

According to Jason Adkins, general counsel at Minnesota Catholic Conference, the religious exemption was put in place in 1993 and had functioned without any problems until the bill introducing “gender identity” protections.  The religious exemption was never meant to compromise anti-discrimination law but was intended to protect the freedom of religious institutions.  The clear religious exemption provides predictability to religious organizations, potential litigants, and others about the scope of the MHRA and the pluralism of values that it protects, including the autonomy of religious institutions on matters of sexual identity.  Anti-discrimination provisions related to sexual orientation and gender identity made it into law in 1993 in part because religious groups did not oppose them due to the inclusion of the exemption.  This clarification of law restores the gender identity exemption and ensures that the MHRA is not used as a sword against faith communities,” said Adkins.

After public backlash, both the Minnesota House and Senate voted unanimously to restore religious protections.

While the restoration of the exemption somewhat protects religious organizations, there are many members of religions working in fields not controlled by religious institutions. Christian workers, including teachers, lawyers, and doctors, fear the need to compromise their religious beliefs in order to do their jobs in a way that respects the MHRA.  “Our big concern is that doctors may be punished for declining to provide treatments they believe are unethical or harmful.  This is not a tenet of a specific religion, but of natural law and universal human rights,” said a medical doctor from the Association of American Physicians.

Despite the religious exemption being restored, legal battles to defend religious freedom are constantly raging in Minnesota.  Still in effect are the new standards requiring state-licensed teachers to affirm students’ gender identities.  After the MHRA tried to effectively remove the religious exemption, new amendments to the Minnesota constitution intending to attack religious institutions have been proposed.

Doug Seaton, a lawyer at Upper Midwest Law, emphasized the constant need for vigilance in an environment where religious liberty is always under attack.  “We have to be constantly fighting these assaults in the dark and bringing them to the light.  This attempt ended in success, but it is a lesson in how eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

God Is Moving with Power in a Russian-Controlled Part of Moldova

A remarkable Christian revival is underway in a Russian-controlled part of Moldova, despite Moscow’s heavy hand.

Very few foreign journalists are allowed in, but CBN News gained rare access to the Transnistria region.  

The Lord put a burden on Yuriy Semenyuk’s heart to move his family to this volatile region. “In my heart, I really love people, that is my passion to serve people.  I love God and I wanted to do something for Him all my life.  And after a while, God told me, ‘Yuriy, I need you in one place that name is Transnistria.’ ” the pastor of Church of Christ Savior told CBN.

In 2000, Pastor Yuriy, his wife, and 3 children decided to move from their home country in neighboring Ukraine to Transnistria.  The first seven years of ministry as a missionary family were not easy.  “I was targeted by some people from the government, policemen, KGB, and gangsters.  The worst of course was from the gangsters because they tried to kill me, they tried to kidnap my children.  Once I was kidnapped, but praise God, God let me escape,” he recalls.

A home video from May 2000 shows Semenyuk’s first foray into preaching.  Despite ongoing threats, he continued to openly share the gospel, often taking his message to areas controlled by gangs.  “Some of the gangsters became Christian, they became evangelical, their wives became evangelical, so they hated this, so that’s why they tried to stop us,” Semenyuk says.

In 1990, Transnistria broke away from Moldova to establish its own government, currency, and statehood.  And while it’s not recognized by the international community, the breakaway territory became economically, politically, and militarily dependent on the Kremlin.  Russia has about 2,000 troops stationed there.  Moscow’s agents soon began harassing Pastor Semenyuk.  But he was undeterred.  “Each morning, I wake up I say to myself, ‘Yuriy, you are still alive, and you have one more day to preach the gospel, one more day to do something for God's Kingdom,’ ” he says.  

From those humble, and at times nerve-wracking beginnings, Church of Christ Savior today is the largest congregation in Transnistria.  “We have an unbelievable revival,” he says.  “We are still alive 24 years later on the mission field, we are still alive!”  Each Sunday, hundreds pack the church with many hearing the gospel message for the very first time.  Semenyuk says the secret to the church’s growth is simple: “We love God, we try to be very obedient to His Word and to His Spirit, and because we love people, we do whatever is possible to help people.”  

Baptisms are a regular occurrence, and during the week, Church of Christ Savior holds several youth programs for different age groups.  Parents also get their ministry time. And when folks can’t get to church, members often hit the streets of Tiraspol and neighboring cities, holding evangelistic rallies.  Semenyuk says the church often reports signs, wonders, and miracles following the preaching of the gospel.  “For example, it can be cancer, and the cancer disappears.  Or somebody has a problem with their vision and God fixes their vision. Deaf people can hear,” he describes.  “I believe all this power is in the gospel and all these miracles happen because people preach the gospel and God equips us for the gospel, to preach the gospel and make disciples.”

While the majority in Transnistria would rather be part of Russia, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has many residents concerned that war could soon be on their doorstep as well. Semenyuk isn’t afraid.  He plans to stay despite fears of conflict.  “We know our calling.  God told us to preach the gospel and make disciples, so nothing changes, war, or no war, doesn’t matter what kind of situation we face around us, we have the same calling all the time.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

New Law Requires Ten Commandments Be Displayed in All Classrooms

Louisiana has become the first state to enact a law mandating that the Ten Commandments be prominently displayed at all public schools and colleges.

Under legislation that became law on June 18, Louisiana schools that receive state funds will have to display the Ten Commandments “in each building it uses and classroom in each school under its jurisdiction.”  The bill specifies that the text must be presented at the main focal point of a poster or framed document measuring at least 11 inches by 14 inches and printed in a “large and easily readable font.”  It also requires a 200-word “context statement” explaining that the Ten Commandments were “a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.” 

According to the context statement, the Ten Commandments had been included in some of the most popular textbooks in U.S. history published by prominent public education pioneers such as William McGuffey and Noah Webster.  For example, Webster’s “The American Spelling Book” contained the Ten Commandments and sold more than 100 million copies for use by public school children all across the nation.  It was still available for use in U.S. public schools as recently as 1975.

The Republican-backed measure was approved by the state Senate on a 30–8 margin on May 16.  It reached Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk after receiving a final House approval in a 79–16 vote on May 28.  The measure was spearheaded by Republican state Rep. Dodie Horton.  Last year, she successfully led a legislative effort to require the national motto “In God We Trust” to be displayed in classrooms across the state.  While more than a dozen states have enacted laws mandating or explicitly allowing schools to display the phrase, the Louisiana law goes one step further to require signage in each individual classroom.

In 1980, a divided U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) struck down a Kentucky law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, holding that the law signaled the government endorsement of “a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths,” in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.  “If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments,” the SCOTUS’s 5–4 majority wrote at the time.  “However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause.”

In recent years, the SCOTUS appears to have become more open to a less restrictive interpretation of the establishment clause, while placing greater emphasis on the country’s history and tradition.

In defense of her Ten Commandments measure, Rep. Horton highlighted the text’s historical significance, arguing that the bill honors its unique place in Louisiana’s history. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.  The Ten Commandments are the basis of all laws in Louisiana,” she said on the House floor in April.  “And given all the junk our children are exposed to in classrooms today, it’s imperative that we put the Ten Commandments back in a prominent position.  It doesn’t preach a certain religion, but it definitely shows what a moral code that we all should live by is,” she said.

Last year, the Texas Senate approved a similar bill, however, the measure died after the House failed to vote on it before a deadline passed.

A Utah bill, meanwhile, would have required all of the state’s public schools to “display a poster or framed copy” of the Ten Commandments in a “prominent location” in every one of their buildings.  The bill has since been changed to allow biblical principles to be taught as part of school curricula.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Ratcheted-Up Conflict with Hezbollah After Taking Out Hamas

An Israel-based journalist says while Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) hope the intensity of the fighting against Hamas will soon decrease, they are fully aware that more difficult battles against Hezbollah loom.  

The IDF-led rescue of four hostages last week has brought heightened attention to Israel’s war with Hamas, a hope that the end may be near – whether in Israel’s accomplishment of goals or, in the case of the U.S. and United Nations, a ceasefire.  But as Israel buried the chief commander of the successful raid, Caroline Glick – the senior contributing editor with the Jewish News Syndicate – warns of the more dangerous next front in her country’s war for survival.  According to news reports in Israel, the IDF estimates another three weeks of heavy fighting against Hamas in Rafah, Glick said on Washington Watch Monday.  According to the journalist, when the IDF is satisfied with the destruction of Hamas it will turn its attention quickly to another Iranian-funded enemy: Hezbollah.  “We’re already moving forces up to the north where we expect to have a much larger war starting soon,” Glick told show host Tony Perkins.  An estimated 100 missiles and drones were recently shot into Israel from the north – from Hezbollah – Glick said.

After October 7, roughly 60,000 Israelis were evacuated from their northern-border homes as a precaution against their possible kidnapping.  Actual numbers, when available, will far exceed 60,000, Glick said.  “Right now, the assessment in Israel, I think by the public and the leadership together, is that we have to steel ourselves for a much bigger war and a much more difficult war in Lebanon.  The Hezbollah forces are much more powerful than the Hamas forces that we’ve fought at such cost until now.  The only way that Israel is going to be able to allow anybody to come back safely to their home is by massively degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities along the border with Israel, and the only way that you can do that is through a ground operation,” Glick said.  “We’re talking about a very difficult front in the north.”

For now, Hamas remains the focus for Israel, which saw an estimated 1,200 citizens killed and another 250 kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.  If the IDF is correct on its three weeks’ estimate for continued Rafah fighting, the war against Hamas would downshift to lower-intensity fighting, more rooting out of terror cells, more guerilla-type warfare, Glick said.  

For much of the world, the focus is the number of deaths among Palestinian civilians being used as cover by Hamas against IDF troops.  The U.S. asked the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an Israel-Hamas hostage deal, increasing pressure on Israel, its top Middle East ally, to better protect civilians.  The U.N. Security Council passed a Gaza ceasefire proposal that was drafted by the U.S. The vote was 14-0.  The draft was approved by President Biden and was the result of almost a week of negotiations among the 15-member council, NBC News reported.  

Israel claims it’s doing all it can to protect civilians, most of whom it says are Hamas sympathizers, or worse, active participants against Israel in the war.  

Following the rescue of four hostages from a Central Gaza holding place Biden said, “We won’t stop working until all the hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached.  That is essential.”  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will continue to pursue war goals of destroying Hamas’ war-making capabilities, securing the release of all hostages, and ensuring there is no continuing threat to Israel from Gaza.  

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Revised Casualty Numbers Deflate Pro-Hamas Claims of “Genocide”

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that casualty numbers coming out of Gaza have been highly inflated – calling into question the entire “genocide” narrative.

As recently as March, the AP reports, the Gaza Health Ministry claimed over several days that 72% of the dead in the conflict were women and children.  But an independent review of the numbers reveals the real number was around 40% – still tragic, but remarkable since Hamas has been using women and children as human shields.  Tim Graham of Media Research Center (MRC) points out that until about three weeks ago, the AP and other legacy media outlets were simply parroting Hamas numbers.  “It is so commonplace for them to simply suggest that they got their casualty counts from a ‘health agency’ and not a terrorist group,” Graham tells American Family News.  It was three weeks ago that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revised its data on Palestinian casualties in the Gaza war, reducing the number of women and children killed by almost half.  The AP has been more realistic with the count since then, notes Graham.  “Well, it should always be welcomed when the AP decides it’s not going to simply accept the numbers of a terrorist group,” he adds.  He says the Biden Administration had been parroting the Hamas numbers as well, giving life to its genocide narrative – which is now much less marketable.  “The president has been constrained because a large chunk of his Democratic Party base is pro-Hamas.  That is embarrassing,” says the MRC spokesman.  “That’s embarrassing for Biden, and it’s embarrassing for the pro-Biden press.”

In like fashion, Lela Gilbert of Family Research Council says the new numbers may be inconvenient for the Biden Administration, which she argues was hoping higher numbers could help pressure Israel to declare a cease fire.  Dems trying to ‘clean house’ pre-election “[The Democrats are] looking at the election that’s coming up,” Gilbert explains. “They want this war out of the way … they want to clean house and just get everything in order before the election gets to be focused upon by everyone.”  And she finds irony in the argument that the Israel/Hamas war might have been done and Hamas eradicated by now if the Biden Administration hadn’t been so meddlesome.  “Israel has no interest in staying at war for all these months and months, but they had to slow down, they had to change their plans, they had to move around,” she points out.  “… I think they would have been much more efficient and probably had less casualties [had the Biden Administration not interfered].” 

But Gilbert contends Biden was swayed by his far-left pro-Hamas wing.  “At first it seemed like Biden was taking the right position after the horrors of October 7.  But then he started seeming to turn around and become hostile, actually, in recent weeks.”  And like Graham, Gilbert detects the influence of a left-leaning mainstream media.  “A lot of the news agencies are very anti-Israel,” she laments.  “You always see them focus on anything they can find that Israel might have done or misdone.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Biden Pays “lip service” to Israel’s Survival

President Biden is being taken to task for lecturing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how to fight a war and for paying “lip service” to Israel’s battle for national survival.

It’s common knowledge that Biden hasn’t been the friendliest president when it comes to U.S.-Israel relations.  For example, during a recent interview published in TIME Magazine the president was asked if Israeli forces have committed war crimes in Gaza. His reply?  “It’s uncertain.”  And when asked during the same interview if Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political reasons, Biden answered: “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

Gary Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, has served on the board of Christians United for Israel.  “President Biden has not lifted one finger to try to end the war between Ukraine and Russia,” he exclaims.  “The United States has made no peace efforts; Biden has done nothing to encourage Ukraine and Russia to sit down and figure out a way to prevent the world from tripping into a nuclear conflict.  So, he is in no position to lecture Bibi Netanyahu or anybody else about how to fight a war.”

According to Bauer, Biden is openly interfering in the political process in Israel.  “There’s an undeclared war on BiBi Netanyahu trying to undermine him, trying to force the Israeli government to call an early election in order to get a new government that would be more malleable to the demands of Joe Biden,” Bauer tells American Family News.  “And the reason they’re doing this is that the Democrat Party, with each passing day, becomes more and more anti-Israel.”

Caroline Glick, a journalist and former advisor to Netanyahu, serves as a senior contributing editor at the Jewish News Syndicate.  “The United States is presenting what is essentially Hamas’s position from [a few] weeks ago as Israel’s position,” said the author and national security expert in a recent podcast.  “It did it at an hour that Israel couldn’t respond.”  It presented it as a fait accompli.  “It’s not Israel’s position,” she continued, “because it’s calling for Israel to capitulate to all of Hamas's demands.  It’s providing Hamas with the protection of two state sponsors that the United States values and upholds as fairer than the state of Israel.”  The Biden Administration, she said, played a “deeply dishonest and incredibly hostile” trick on Israel.  “Here we are, fighting a war for national survival, [and] Biden pays lip service to that battle while seeking, in the most obscene way, to undermine it and to hand victory to Hamas,” she lamented.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Authority of Parents

Reprint of May 1, 2023 Posting

Proverbs 22:6 teaches Christians that parents are to “start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.”  Christians are taught that children are the crowning glory of their families.  Parents are responsible for their children and will answer to God for their performance as parents; as Ephesians 6:4 admonishes: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

Even though Christians everywhere understand these biblical truths, it seems that the government of states like Washington are determined to undermine parental authority. One of the first and most basic principles taught in business schools is that one’s responsibility must match one’s authority.  Unfortunately, a bill proposed by the Washington legislature would undermine the parents’ authority while doing nothing to lessen their responsibility in the eyes of God.

As one conservative news site reported:

“The legislation passed on a party-line vote ‘would not allow teens staying at licensed youth shelters or host homes to undergo ‘gender-affirming’ surgery without parental approval.  Nor would it allow other parents to hide children.  But it does clear the way for children between ages 13 and 18 to stay at these facilities without their parents’ knowledge for an indefinite time while seeking services related to gender dysphoria and gender transitioning.”

This bill is one of many similar bills that are currently sweeping the nation; in Colorado a recent proposal would allow children as young as 12 years of age to seek out “gender-affirming” care.

Considering these developments, it is truly stunning that the right and the left are not able to agree, regardless of agenda, that the right of parents to oversee the development of their children ought to be absolute.  If the Amish have the right to inhibit their children in obtaining a high school education, then it would stand to reason that parents would have a right to know the whereabouts of (and medical history) of their under-developed minors.

This is nothing but a continuation of the government’s encroachment on parental authority in many aspects of life.  It is continuously astounding how frequently the government proposes solutions that do little to nothing to solve actual problems.

This phenomenon has a long history and can be observed in the profound dysfunction of Child Protective Services (CPS)— an entrenched part of the government’s regulatory processes. Although there is ample evidence suggesting that CPS investigations are largely ineffective and likely to increase the unhappiness of the families affected by the investigation, they persist in being a part of the landscape of American regulation.

Proverbs 17:6 teaches that “children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”  How can that ideal of the family be fulfilled when the state tells children they can make “grown-up” decisions— the consequences for which the parents will still be ultimately responsible?

There is certainly a place for the state to preserve the lives of children.  Even so, as Christians, we must reject the notion of allowing the state to invade the sanctity of the family and our God-given responsibility for our children.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

From Failure to Success With Our Children

Reprint of April 28, 2023 Posting

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

Reprint of April 26, 2023 Posting

“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

Supporting the Family

Reprint of April 14, 2023 Posting

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

Reprint of April 12, 2023 Posting

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

Pick Up Your Cross—Don’t Hide Behind It

Reprint of April 7, 2023 Posting

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