Minneapolis Equity Report Urged Using Somali Muslim Genital Mutilation to “Learn About Their Culture”

How far did Minneapolis and Minnesota go in urging Americans to abandon their values and accept Somali Muslim ‘cultural values’?

A report from the Hennepin County Medical Center that was posted on the Minneapolis Minnesota Department of Health site was titled “caring for women affected by female genital cutting” or FGM, a Muslim practice common among Somalis of mutilating the genital areas of young girls, “Striving for Health Equity.”

The ‘Equity’ report defined the “big hurdle” as, “Muslim (Somali) Culture: Value Acquiescence to Allah as supreme authority” and “American Culture: Value the supremacy of the individual.”

Even though FGM is a crime in Minnesota (for now at least), the report urged American medical personnel to practice “humility” and “cultural sensitivity.”

It warned Americans about “being aware of your values, biases and boundaries” and used as a negative example a previous statement by the medical facility, “This isn’t about respecting someone’s culture – it’s about being complicit in mutilating women.”

The ‘equity’ FGM report was very much about respecting Somali Islamic ‘culture.’

The report urged Americans to practice “humility” and to view FGM as an “Opportunity to learn about their culture and view of health as well as to teach about ours” and warned them to consider “immigrants life experiences which are so much different (and more difficult) than our own.”

When it comes to Somalis, there appears to be no law, only the supremacy of their religion and culture.

 

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

The Slow and Silent Islamic Transformation of the West

Through demographic shifts, and ideological subversion, Islam continues to conquer, in slow motion, the European countries of the West.

What once required 500 years of military conquest now unfolds in just 50 years through immigration and demographics.  Europe’s Muslim population has surged from less than 1% in 1970 to a projected 10 to 14% by 2050.  There are now 46 million Muslims in Europe, out of a total population of 745 million.

Western civilization faces not conquest but replacement through its own democratic processes and ideological paralysis.

This transformation is “silent” not because it’s invisible – the changes are obvious – but because Western societies have criminalized discussion of it.  The takeover operates on two fronts: physical replacement through demographics and ideological conquest through digital warfare.

Muslim numbers in Europe constitute an ever-greater proportion of the total population for three reasons: first, there is continued immigration by Muslims, both legal and illegal, that amounts to about two million a year.  Second, the much higher fertility rates of Muslim women in Europe, as compared to the indigenous Europeans, whose fertility rates have fallen below replacement level of 2.1.  Muslim mothers have an average of one more child than non-Muslim mothers.  Third, several hundred thousand Europeans convert to Islam every year.

Physical replacement requires no invasion – only open borders, welfare incentives, and a fertility differential that guarantees Muslim demographic growth while native populations collapse.

Ideological conquest has weaponized social media on an unprecedented scale.  State actors – primarily Iran, Qatar, and Turkey – invest billions in bought networks and media empires amplifying pro-Islamic and anti-Israel narratives.

Qatar’s Al Jazeera has become one of the largest media organizations in the world, and its journalists are encouraged to spread their pro-Islam, anti-Israel propaganda in every news story.  Qatar’s Al Jazeera media reaches 430 million viewers across 150 countries, systematically shaping narratives against Israel.  The impact is staggering: Fifty percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 now sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis, a complete inversion from previous generations.  Israel is the only country in the world to prevent Al Jazeera from operating within its borders.  In addition to Al Jazeera, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have well-financed government-owned broadcasters.  Muslim editors outnumber Jewish ones on Wikipedia 40 to 1; they have had a tremendous influence on how the world understands the Arab-Israeli conflict, and have prepared tens of millions of Wikipedia’s readers to take a dim view of the Jewish state, while holding up the terror groups — Hamas, Hezbollah, and Hamas — as engaged in legitimate “resistance.”

Al Jazeera has a greater global reach than any media company save for the BBC.  It feeds its audience a steady diet of misinformation and lies that has shaped the narrative about Israel and turned much of the world against the Jewish state.  For all the talk about how “Jews control the media,” the Israeli presence in the media is fifty times smaller than that of Al Jazeera alone.  The Al Thani family that owns Qatar has poured billions into Al Jazeera, its broadcast network and its journalists; Israel simply cannot compete.

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) operates through seemingly independent channels: media outlets, NGOs, political parties, and mosques.  Through “patient extremism,” MB branches present violence as “resistance,” casting genocidal vows as “anti-colonialism,” thereby recruiting Western progressives.  The MB has taken in Western “progressives.” MB members have a tremendous presence everywhere in the Islamic lands, and in some non-Islamic lands as well.  It runs a huge network of schools, including in the West, that in many cases hide their links to the MB.

Perhaps most insidious is Wikipedia manipulation.  With 6 billion monthly visits, pro-Palestinian editors outnumber pro-Israel editors 40-to-1 on relevant articles, ensuring systematic bias in humanity’s largest information resource.  The Arabs know that Wikipedia is where most of the world now goes to find out, not just the current news about a subject, but also the history of conflicts, including the Arab-Israeli war. Their Wikipedia editors outnumber pro-Israel editors 40 to 1; the Israelis have not provided enough resources to pay the same number of editors as the Arabs.  They need to be persuaded to devote more money to hiring more recruits in the never-ending Battle of Wikipedia.

Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York’s mayor symbolizes the transition from cautious immigration to actively reshaping American policy.  He is the first Muslim mayor of America’s largest city.  Mamdani is determined not just to be the mayor of New York.  He wants to shape American policy toward Muslims and Israel at the national level, intending to continue his policy of defending Islam and Hamas, and of attacking, in every conceivable way, the Jewish state that he accuses of “genocide.”

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

When Christian Leaders Fall - How Should We Respond?

For decades, Philip Yancey was one of the most trusted voices in American Christianity. His books on grace, doubt, suffering, and faith in a broken world sold more than 15 million copies and found their way into churches, small groups, hospitals, prisons, and living rooms across the globe.  Yancey had a rare gift: he could speak honestly to believers wrestling with pain without surrendering truth, and he could speak to skeptics without sounding defensive or hollow.

For many, What’s So Amazing About Grace? was not just a book—it was a lifeline.

That is what makes his recent admission so devastating.

In a statement to Christianity Today, Yancey confessed to an eight-year extramarital affair, calling it a “personal devastation” and acknowledging that his actions contradicted everything he taught about marriage, faith, and obedience.  He described remorse, repentance, and a dependence on God’s mercy, while announcing his retirement from public ministry to focus on rebuilding his 55-year marriage.  His wife Janet, speaking honestly about trauma and devastation, asked for prayer while clinging to grace.

The news landed like a punch to the gut—not only because of who Yancey is, but because of what he represented.

So now the hard questions begin.

What do we do when Christian leaders fall?

Do we discredit everything they wrote?

Do we excuse the sin because of their influence?

Do we rush to forgiveness without truth or to judgment without grace?

And perhaps most uncomfortable of all: What does this reveal about us?

The Danger of Thinking “It Could Never Be Me”

One of the clearest lessons in moments like this is also the one we resist most: no one is immune to sin.  Scripture does not hide this truth.  David was a man after God’s own heart—and an adulterer. Peter preached boldly—and denied Christ three times.  Paul called himself the chief of sinners even after decades of ministry.  The Bible’s honesty about human frailty is not accidental; it is a warning.

The danger is not merely sin—it is confidence.  The quiet belief that longevity, knowledge, success, or public respect somehow insulates us from temptation.  When Christians begin to believe their theology protects them more than vigilance, they are already drifting.

Yancey’s confession should not lead us to smug distance—“How could he?”—but to sober reflection: Where am I unguarded?  Where have I mistaken reputation for righteousness?

Temptation rarely arrives loudly.  It creeps in through isolation, secrecy, fatigue, unchallenged patterns, and the belief that consequences will never reach us.

Does Failure Erase Truth?

Another painful question follows quickly: Does Yancey’s sin invalidate his work?

Critics—especially non-believers—will call Christians hypocrites, pointing to moments like this as evidence that faith is fraudulent.  But that misunderstands both sin and truth.

Truth does not become false because the messenger fails to live it perfectly.  If that were the standard, Christianity would have no teachers left—and no Scriptures worth reading. The power of Yancey’s writing was never that he embodied grace flawlessly, but that grace itself is real, necessary, and undeserved.  In fact, his fall tragically underscores the very message he spent a lifetime explaining: we need grace because we fail—even after years of faith.

That does not excuse sin.  Grace is not permission.  Repentance is not public relations. Trust, especially in leadership, must be rebuilt slowly and carefully, and sometimes not restored at all. Stepping away from ministry is not punishment—it is wisdom.

But we must be careful not to confuse moral failure with doctrinal falsehood.  The gospel is not weakened because its messengers are broken; it exists because they are.

What Repentance Actually Requires

Still, grace does not mean the absence of consequences.  The Christian response is not blind defense nor public stoning—it is truth, accountability, and humility.

Real repentance is costly.  It means exposure instead of secrecy.  It means relinquishing platforms, not protecting them.  It means rebuilding trust privately rather than performing remorse publicly.  Yancey’s decision to retire from public ministry, rather than demand instant restoration, matters.

And it raises a necessary question for the wider church: Do we create environments where repentance is possible or only where image is protected?

Too often, Christian culture rewards productivity over holiness and influence over integrity.  Leaders are applauded for output, not guarded for health.  That is a systemic problem, not just an individual one.

What We Can Learn—If We're Willing

This moment forces the church to slow down and reflect.

We must learn to:

Take temptation seriously, regardless of age or status

Build real accountability, not performative transparency

Separate the truth of the gospel from the failures of its messengers

Respond to sin with both clarity and compassion

Resist the urge to defend “our side” instead of honoring God

And perhaps most importantly, we must remember that Christianity does not claim Christians are better people—it claims they are forgiven ones in need of daily grace.

Non-believers may call this hypocrisy.  Scripture calls it reality.

The tragedy of Philip Yancey’s fall is real.  The pain to his family is real.  The damage to trust is real. But so is repentance.  So is mercy.  And so is the warning to every believer who thinks they stand too firmly to fall.

If we listen carefully, this moment can still teach us something holy about humility, vigilance, and the grace that meets us not when we succeed, but when we finally tell the truth.

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

A Generation Yearning for God

For years, we have been told that Gen Z and Millennials struggle the most with apathy, mental health, anxiety, depression, loneliness – and the list goes on.  While everyone hopes we will take up the mantle of running society well, many have lost faith in future generations.

For decades, studies and data trends showed that each generation tended to be less religious. They’ve grown more cynical and hostile toward faith and its influence on society.  Yet over the past five years, that trend has stalled.

According to Pew Research, the number of Americans who identify with a religion has remained at 70% for the past five years.  What’s most encouraging is that the majority of that demographic were young people, especially young men.  Another Pew Research report released last year also shows that the decline of Christianity in America is slowing.

There has been a recent rise in spiritual commitment, interest and faith activity.  Studies show that the younger generation of men are running to church at a higher rate than ever.

“Church frequency is another improving trend among Millennials and Gen Z in the U.S.,” according to a recent Barna study.  “While overall church attendance trends have been flat in recent years, the return to church among the next generation stands out as a powerful sign of rising openness to faith.”

“Among Gen Z men, commitment to Jesus jumped 15 percentage points between 2019 and 2025.  Millennial men saw a similar spike of 19 percentage points,” according to Barna.

Skeptics might dismiss this as a fad, saying it won’t last.

At the beginning of this year, Passion 2026, a Christian movement that hosts an annual conference for young adults was held.  From the floor to the rafters, there were people who wanted more from life than likes and follows.  People who wanted purpose and meaning.

In the arena with over 45,000 other young people, lights bright, music low, there was nothing but the voices of thousands pouring out their hearts and worshipping their Creator.

Can you imagine the change, the impact, the transformation our society would see if this many young people experienced true freedom and passionately pursued faith?

Young people crave community and authenticity.  They are forging a new path.  They are actively seeking the truth for themselves, and they aren’t letting it stay within the four walls of a building.

So, what’s driving what appears to be a revival of faith and religious freedom?

Possibly, it’s the seismic shift in favor of religious freedom taking place in the law and the courts.  And these positive changes to the law are having a big cultural impact.

Over the past decade, First Liberty has secured several landmark victories at the U.S. Supreme Court that are causing a massive change in religious freedom, sending out wave after wave in a ripple effect being felt across the country.

Is it a coincidence that at the same time the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the right to religious expression, more people have begun to share their faith publicly?

Whether it’s in the workplace, schools, sports, city hall, the halls of Congress or local public parks, Americans are getting the message that prayer and religious expression should not be hidden.  In addition to being legally okay, people everywhere are recognizing that it’s simply good to express our faith in public.  That freedom is what America has always been about.

George Washington said, “Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.” That is exactly what we are seeing today in America: a movement in which more and more young Americans are boldly sharing their faith.

Some have called this new wave of radical faith and determination a Fourth Great Awakening.  They may be right; only time will tell.

So, we need not lose hope.  Young Americans have more freedom to express their faith today than they’ve had in 50 years, and they are not being shy about it.

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

Policy Changes Aim to Make Religious Freedom a Priority in the U.S. Military

The President’s Religious Liberty Commission recently held an important hearing in which it heard testimony about the attacks on religious freedom happening in the military. However, even considering the many challenges that religious service members face, it’s not all bad news.  Big things are happening in favor of faith in America’s military.

In the past few months, the Trump Administration made important changes to prioritize religious liberty for our service members and veterans.

The White House published its National Security Strategy (NSS), underscoring the importance of protecting the First Amendment rights of those who fight and serve to protect us.  “The purpose of the American government is to secure the God-given natural rights of American citizens,” the document states.  “The rights of free speech, freedom of religion and of conscience, and the right to choose and steer our common government are core rights that must never be infringed.”

In December, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced reforms that restore the freedom and importance of military chaplains.  “In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers,” Sec. Hegseth said in a video posted on X.  “There will be a top-down cultural shift, putting spiritual wellbeing on the same footing as mental and physical health, as a first step toward creating a supportive environment for our warriors and their souls,” he added.

The U.S. Department of Justice also issued new guidance that the Department of Veterans Affairs will no longer require employees to offer abortion services to veterans.

But why is it so important that service members’ expressions of faith are protected? Because “religious liberty is a very foundation stone of American security,” explains First Liberty Senior Counsel, Chris Motz, writing for First Things.  “Throughout its history, faith has been the sinew binding America’s might,” Motz continues.  “In recent memory, this pillar vanished.  Outright religious discrimination in the armed forces has been well-documented.”

Motz points to a 2023 Heritage Foundation poll, which reported decreased trust in the military among a vast majority of active-duty service members.  80% of those surveyed said their confidence waned because of policies aimed at forcing woke ideology on troops.  70% said that politicization would make them less likely to encourage their children to serve.

Motz, however, says the administration’s approach and policy changes offer hope for the future of religious freedom in the armed forces.  “In reclaiming faith’s urgency, the 2025 NSS articulates a framework that offers the world not dominion, but a model, a nation strong enough to defend liberty—especially religious liberty—and wise enough to seek peace,” Motz concluded.

In his recent testimony to the Commission, First Liberty Senior Counsel Mike Berry shared from his experience as a constitutional attorney and an officer in the Marines, saying “since the founding, our leaders have recognized that spiritual fitness strengthens our military.”

Religious liberty is in the DNA of America’s military.  Faith has played a central role throughout our nation’s history, back to the Founding Era when George Washington requested chaplains to support the Continental Army in the fight for independence.

Today, religious exercise in the armed forces is still going strong.  A congressional report found that approximately 73% of all military service members identify as people of faith, and they attend religious services weekly or more at twice the rate as their civilian counterparts.  The men and women who serve in uniform continue to draw strength, courage and inspiration from their faith as they fight for the rights and freedoms that we cherish so dearly.

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

Are We Listening?: Rightly Dividing God’s Prophetic Word

Paul’s admonition to his protégé, Timothy, offers wise counsel to followers of Christ still today: Rightly divide the Word of God.  The challenge throughout the Church Age has been to remain true to God’s Word—contending earnestly for the Truth it reveals in order to hand down the faith once delivered to future generations of saints.

The key to applying that wisdom lies in approaching the Word with fear and trembling—and without preconceived ideas sprung from the mind of man.  That is especially true regarding the End Times.

Without besmirching the position of those who hold non-Pre-Tribulational and Pre-Millennial viewpoints, my experience is that most of them were taught to come to the Bible with a framework already established.  For the Amillennialists, that tends to be an expectation that any prophecy dealing with Jesus’ Second Coming should be spiritualized.  Some go so far as to say that although the First Advent prophecies were fulfilled literally, none of the Second Coming prophecies will be fulfilled in the same manner.

The same is true of Post-Millennial advocates.  They elevate the role of the Church to the point that they believe the Church will usher in a golden age of peace, righteousness, and holiness on the earth—forgetting that while those characteristics should mark individual Christians and the Bride of Christ as a whole, the still-unrestrained Devil will continue to deceive and devour until Christ commands that he be confined for 1,000 years.

At the heart of the disagreement between the various eschatological viewpoints lies the Millennium. We have addressed the theological variance in those perspectives, but suffice it to say that anyone who simply opens the Book and reads God’s prophetic revelations will tend to come to a Pre-Tribulation, Pre-Millennial understanding.

Plain Sense Meaning

The golden rule of Bible interpretation is this: If the plain sense makes sense, don’t look for any other sense, lest you end up with nonsense.  This method of interpretation makes a few key presumptions:

1. God intended to communicate with mankind.

2. In addition to His revelations about Himself and His plan of salvation, He provides prophetic insights into what lies ahead in His plan for the Ages.

3. God wants everyone who opens the Bible to have access to His truth—regardless of their education level or pedigree.

Those presumptions play out in a clear pattern of understanding.  Let’s explore each in turn and be encouraged by God’s lovingkindness and self-disclosure.

He Knows How to Communicate

Ours is the God who speaks.  Unlike the mute gods of wood and stone, and the false demonic gods who cannot gaze into the future, the living God speaks authoritative words that convey His power and intentions: “For as the rain and the snow come down from Heaven, and do not return there without watering the Earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

He revealed His intentions through His prophets.  And, He sent His only Son to testify to the truth—namely, the Gospel of the Kingdom (John 18:37).  Over 1,600 times in the Old Testament alone, the writers prefaced their God-ordained remarks with, “Thus saith the Lord.”  Paul affirmed Him as the Source of the sacred writings handed down from on high: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The question is not whether God communicates, but whether we hear His voice—and are listening.

He is Close, and Will be Found by All Who Seek

Too many Christians have been infected by the same insidious poison that infected the ancient Israelites, metastasized throughout the Catholic and Orthodox churches, and spreads like a cancer even today.  People believe that only men with lofty titles or advanced degrees can understand the Word of God.

Things got so bad in the Medieval period that merely owning a Bible (especially one printed in a language the common people could read) was a capital offense.  Priests lorded over their congregations—isolating them from their actual Lord and Savior.  Bibles were chained to the altar of the church, lest some inquisitive parishioner dare to take and read for themselves.

In such an environment, biblical understanding was limited, and abuses abounded.  That is one of the reasons Martin Luther and others instigated the Reformation.  We can rejoice that today the Bible is the most-published book in human history.  Over 5 billion copies have been printed and distributed, in virtually every language in the world.  The message of the Gospel—foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those who are saved (1 Corinthians 1:18)—can be understood by a child.  It can be communicated to people who are illiterate.  And it continues to be studied and pondered by men and women with multiple advanced degrees.  In short, it is for every sheep who will hear the voice of the Shepherd and respond in believing faith.

He Reveals Things to Come

God seems to delight in revealing what lies ahead.  This is not only a source of encouragement and blessing for us, it is also a clear demonstration of His omniscience and power.

We can be encouraged by the fact that none of the pathologies of this world are a surprise to God.  He foreknew them, just as He foreknew the fact that mankind would require a Savior.  That is why it was His intention from the foundation of the world to offer salvation through the shed blood of the Lamb—His only begotten Son (Revelation 13:8). So, even as the world grows darker around us, we can be assured that God is still in control and that He will orchestrate every stray thread into a beautiful tapestry to His own glory.

The LORD God rightfully boasts about His foresight and power.  Contrasting Himself with the deaf, mute, blind, and dumb gods that mankind fashions and follows,  He mockingly challenged the false gods, saying, “Let them come and tell us what will happen.  Tell us the past events, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome, or tell us the future.  Tell us the coming events, then we will know that you are gods.  Indeed, do something good or bad, then we will be in awe when we see it.  Look, you are nothing and your work is worthless. Anyone who chooses you is detestable” (Isaiah 41:23-25).

As Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is a God in Heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known… what will take place in the last days” (Daniel 2:28).

In addition to revealing what will take place, God also chose to provide warning signs for those with eyes to see.  I’m reminded of the rumble strips cut into a road as it is nearing an end, or on the edges of the highway.  Woven into His prophetic Word are signs that can be recognized.  It’s as if God was absolutely determined that there would be ample indications that His patience will not abide forever and His Son is coming soon.

Jesus expressed great disappointment that the supposedly religious Jews He encountered were oblivious to the Signs of the Times.  Reminding them of age-old signs of nature evident in the color of the sky in morning or evening, He said: “Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3).

I believe the Holy Spirit is faithful to guide you into all truth.  Jesus promised as much: “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:13-14).

I can attest that there is a great blessing in coming to the Word of God with no preconceived notions, no skeletal preformed “outlines” or man-made eschatological systems.  When I began studying God’s prophetic Word, the basic outline of what lies ahead was plain enough to see: Jesus promised to return, reign upon the Earth, and institute a thousand years of peace, righteousness, and holiness.  Some nuances and details remain mysterious, but some of them have become more obvious over time— like the provision for the regathering of the House of Israel from the four corners of the world.

Having said that, there are points at which any student of Bible prophecy can be stumped.  This too is recognized and recorded in Scripture.

For example, when the Ethiopian eunuch was returning to his home country after coming to Jerusalem to worship (marking him as a man loyal to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), he was reading from the book of Isaiah (Acts 8).  The Bible does not clarify whether the man was Jewish or Gentile, but the lack of specificity (contrasting with the account of Cornelius in Acts 10) suggests that he was likely Jewish.  Led by the Spirit, Philip had traveled from Jerusalem down the desert road toward Gaza. The Spirit then commanded him to approach the eunuch and ask, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  The eunuch’s answer, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” offered an opening for Philip to share Jesus with him.

Because Philip was obedient to the Holy Spirit and willing to engage, the eunuch accepted his offer of illumination and was saved that day.

 

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

Attempting To Usurp Sovereignty Over Death: Cryonics, Euthanasia, and the Oldest Lie

Alcor, established in 1972, describes itself as “the world leader in cryonics and preservation science.” Perhaps, like me, your initial reaction went something like this: huh?  At first glance, cryonics seems the polar opposite of assisted suicide.  Alcor isn’t trying to hasten death but to cheat it altogether. Instead of ending life early, Alcor seeks to develop the medicine and technology to not merely prolong it, but to revive those who have already passed.  Again:  HUH?

Cryonics, in plain terms, is the low-temperature preservation of a human body (or sometimes just the brain) after clinical death, in the hope that medicine centuries from now will be able to cure whatever killed the person and restore youthful health.  As one of its pioneers, Dr. Ralph Merkle, admitted, “Cryonics is an experiment.”  Alcor itself frames the practice less as medicine and more as an emergency bridge to a tomorrow that hasn’t arrived yet.

The story of Alcor began in heartbreak.  In the 1960s, Fred Chamberlain watched his father suffer a massive stroke and die.  Unwilling to accept that verdict as final, Fred and his wife Linda founded Alcor. In 1976, they made Fred’s father Patient #1 as he was suspended in a dewar of liquid nitrogen, with his family still waiting for a resurrection science might one day grant.  Fred himself was cryopreserved in 2012.  Linda, now in her late eighties, still guides the organization.  Alcor’s own website frames this as a tale “driven by love and determination.”

From a purely secular viewpoint, that framing is understandable.  Love for a dying parent, determination to defy the grave — who wouldn’t feel the pull of such emotions? But I am not a secular observer, I am a Christian.  This means I am bound to see this story through the lens of Scripture.  And when I do, something else comes into focus far more clearly than love or determination: fear.

It’s not merely a matter of grief, but perhaps terror of death.  Not just sorrow, but rebellion against the very boundary God Himself has set.  The driving force behind Alcor is not ultimately love — it can’t be. After all, it bears too much resemblance to the ancient, serpentine whisper, only rewritten in modern scientific language: “You will not surely die.”

To be fair, love and determination likely have their role to play.  However, Scripture is unflinching: “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  Death is not a malfunction to be engineered around; it’s the wage of sin (Romans 6:23), the divinely ordained and inevitable gateway through which every soul will pass to meet its Maker for better or for worse.  To freeze a body in the hope that future technology will raise it is, at its core, an attempt to seize control over the one appointment no human being can reschedule.

This brings us back to euthanasia.  On the surface, the two movements look like opposites — one hastens death, the other tries to reverse it.  Yet they drink from the same cup: A false conviction that God (if He’s even acknowledged at all) has no rightful claim on the timing of one’s exit.

Euthanasia’s marketing is slick: “autonomy,” “dignity,” “compassion.”  Give people control over their final chapter.  Begin, the pitch goes, with the terminally ill.  But follow the principle to its logical end and every restriction collapses.  If so-called bodily autonomy is absolute, then no age, no diagnosis, no degree of despair can be allowed to limit it.  The lonely teenager, the bankrupt breadwinner, the elderly woman afraid of being a burden — all are eligible for the same lethal injection.  Cryonics is merely the mirror image.  Instead of pulling the plug early, it refuses to let the plug be pulled at all.  Both are acts of high-tech rebellion against the sovereignty of the One who numbers our days.

Unbelievers facing mortality without Christ tend to react in one of three ways.  Dismissal — “When you’re dead, you’re dead; eat, drink, be merry.”  Defiance — “If death is inevitable, at least let me write the terms.”  Desperate bargaining — pouring billions into longevity research, neuralinks, or liquid nitrogen … anything to postpone the reckoning. All three postures flow from the same root: refusal to bow to the God who holds life and death in His hand.

In the end, whether through euthanasia or cryonics, these are not triumphs of human hope but towering monuments to human unbelief — an icy altar erected by those who would rather stake eternity on the cold singularity of engineered death or the fantastical dream of an earthly resurrection than bow before the coming King.

That King, who will soon split the skies in glory, has already settled the matter with sovereign finality for every soul made in His image: apart from Him there is only the second death — everlasting, conscious torment.  But to everyone who repents and believes the gospel, Christ has already sworn with an oath: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.  He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

Believers do not escape physical death (yet), but we will never taste the second death. While the world clutches at frozen corpses and silicon dreams, we await the trumpet, the shout, the sudden blaze of glory when this corruptible body puts on incorruption and death is swallowed up forever (1 Corinthians 15:54).  So, those who consider euthanasia and cryonics may have fear behind their decisions, but the Christian has nothing to fear. We have our victory sealed by the blood of Christ.  His children are permanently written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  For those who rightly fear His name, there is truly nothing else to fear at all.

So let the faithless build their altars of ice and their capsules of poison.  But may those of us who know the risen Christ refuse to stay silent.  Every life is precious to God, from the womb to the final breath.  It is not ours to discard or to hoard against His decree.  And may these strange new industries remind us that this decaying world is not our home. We are strangers here, with hearts fixed on a city whose builder and maker is God.  And as Christ’s people, neither euthanasia nor cryonics should have any appeal.  One defies our Lord; the others seek to pull us away from Him.  One robs us of our earthly mission, the other of our heavenly dwelling place.

So, we lift our eyes to the clouds, for our redemption draws near.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

 

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

The Church Cannot Impact the Culture If We Conform to Rather Than Confront Sin

Corinth (Greece), is the place of judgment where the apostle Paul stood trial 2,000 years ago.  It’s from this very city that Paul preached the Gospel without shame.  Paul spoke of how Christ was crucified for our sins—and the people were transformed.

Ancient Corinth was a city known for its debauchery, drunkenness, and prostitution.  The city was so full of sin that there was a term to “Corinthianize,” which meant to live in drunken stupor.  Into this mess walked a tent maker named Paul, who changed everything when he planted the church.

It says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

He was describing Corinth and its culture.  Paul loved the people enough to tell them the truth and wasn’t afraid to confront sin using the power of the Gospel in love.  1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

What was the result?  The Corinthian church exploded.  Prostitutes became believers, and idolaters became worshippers.

What’s the parallel today?  When the church looks like the culture and doesn’t call sin “sin,” the culture wins.  Corinth was corrupt, and the Gospel conquered.

Today, the world is corrupted by sin, but the Gospel still conquers.  Paul was arrested and brought before the Roman proconsul Gallio for persuading men to worship God contrary to Mosaic law.  Gallio tossed the case, effectively making Christianity legal throughout the empire.

What the enemy meant for evil, God used for good.

One of the most beloved scriptures in the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 13:4-6: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.”

Be encouraged that the same Holy Spirit that transformed Corinth can transform you or anyone who needs the love and hope of Jesus today.

 

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

Trans Instructor at OKU is Fired for Flunking Student’s Viral Bible-based Essay on Gender

A transgender graduate instructor at the University of Oklahoma was fired after she failed a conservative student’s Bible-based essay response to an article on gender stereotypes.

Samantha Fulnecky, a 20-year-old junior, penned the provocative essay in late November and presented a faith-fueled argument against the liberal belief in multiple genders — though she neglected to formally cite the Bible.

The psychology course’s instructor, graduate student Mel Curth, who uses “she/they” pronouns, was officially removed from her position following widespread backlash and an investigation into Fulnecky’s religious discrimination claims, according to a statement Oklahoma University posted on Monday.

“Based on an examination of the graduate teaching assistant’s own statements related to this matter, it was determined that the graduate teaching assistant was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper. The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the university,” the school wrote in a statement.

Curth was originally placed on leave after Fulnecky’s essay went viral and the university had already ruled that the failed essay would not impact Fulnecky’s final grade in the course in early December.

The assignment asked students to write a 650-word response to an academic article examining whether conformity to gender norms was associated with popularity or bullying among middle school students.

In the essay, Fulnecky argues that she doesn’t believe that there are more than two genders because “that is how God made us.”

“Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth,” Fulnecky wrote.

“I live my life based on this truth and firmly believe that there would be less gender issues and insecurities in children if they were raised knowing that they do not belong to themselves, but they belong to the Lord,” she added.

In her feedback to the student, Curth said that she neglected to address the prompt and relied more on “personal ideology” than “empirical evidence.”

She also said that Fulnecky’s assertions were “at times offensive.”

“To call an entire group of people ‘demonic’ is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population,” Curth wrote, before noting the slew of contradictions in Fulnecky’s essay.

“You can say that strict gender norms don’t create gender stereotypes, but that isn’t true by definition of what a stereotype is.  Please note that acknowledging gender stereotypes does not immediately denote a negative connotation, a nuance this article discusses,” she added.

Ryan Walters, the conservative Oklahoma state schools superintendent who left his post in September, celebrated Fulnecky as “an American hero” for tackling “the war on Christianity.”

Oklahoma state Rep. Gabe Woolley (R-98th Dist.) also presented Fulnecky with a “citation of recognition” from his office.

“This was the right decision.  As I said from the beginning, this individual should never have been employed at a public university — particularly in a human sciences role — when he rejects the fundamental biological reality that there are two genders,” Woolley wrote in a scathing response to Curth’s removal.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel