Baptist Turned Buddhist Chaplain to Deploy

The Military Times papers have now picked up on the previously noted story about Army Chaplain (Lt) Thomas Dyer, a former Marine and Baptist pastor who converted to Buddhism and joined the Army National Guard (as published in the Tennessean).

The most recent article did have some interesting (and sometimes controversial) comments.  For example, despite the accusations that Chaplains can never evangelize, the article does provide the qualifier:  Read more

Atheists Object to Commander’s Blessing

Organizations who oppose religion in public life (including the military) generally dismiss as ‘ludicrous’ the assertions that their goal is to scrub all vestiges of religious expression from government institutions, like the military.

American Atheists recently undermined that defense when they decried President Obama’s use of “God bless you” in his address to school children yesterday.  The logic was particularly disturbing because it is the same as some activists who oppose religious associations in the military– Read more

Do Christians in the Military Serve the Kingdom?

S. Michael Craven is the President of the Center for Christ & Culture.  His ministry emphasis is on living Christianity in the face of modern cultural challenges, with the goal of applying Christianity to all aspects of life.  He “works to equip Christians with an intelligent and thoroughly Christian approach to matters of culture in order to demonstrate the relevance of Christianity to all of life.”

In an August 17 article, Craven writes about seeing his son leave for the Marine Corps.  Near the end of the article, he writes an intriguing paragraph on Christianity in the military Read more

The Christian Impact on a Military Career

Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF) highlights an interesting article from Col Al Shine (USA, Ret), describing what a Christian life should look like in the military.  It should impact every part of your life and profession:

“Jesus is Lord”
     …will be reflected in your integrity.
     …will affect your attitude.
     …will be a source of strength and guidance.
     …will affect how you fight.
     …will add a dimension of ministry to your life.

The evangelism associated with living a Christian life in the military Read more

Jewish Chaplain Serves Diverse Crowd

US Army Chaplain (Lt Col) Avi Weiss has previously been profiled here.  The Defense Department has a new article out that notes the challenges he experiences not only as a Jewish Chaplain serving all faiths, but also as a Jewish Chaplain serving the unique aspects of the Jewish faith.

Like all chaplains, he serves Soldiers, civilians and family members of all faiths, but the wide variety of Jewish traditions among his faithful adds an extra level of complexity.  Weiss is personally “very traditional Orthodox,” but many of the military members he serves are not. Read more

1 553 554 555 556 557 608