The Transgender (Homosexual) Lifestyle: A Military Chaplain’s Perspective

On June 30, 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that transgender service members in the US military can now openly serve their country without fear of retribution.  If transgender service members can openly serve without fear of retribution, are military chaplains allowed to “openly” serve with biblical conviction without fear of retribution (see National Defense Authorization Act)? According to the Constitution, yes, but according to opponents of religious liberty for Christians, no!

The transgender, homosexual propaganda that is manifesting itself within society is hostile towards Christians. The Armed Forces ultimately reflect the culture from which they are drawn. Nevertheless, Christians should expect hostility (2 Timothy 3:12). Around the world, proponents of Islam are beheading Christians who will not accept their vile religion, while in the US, Christians who decry sexual immorality (bestiality, fornication, homosexuality, and transgender) as a sinful practice are ostracized and publicly vilified as unloving bigots who are infused with hate. This can be concurred as recently an Army base abruptly cancelled a prayer breakfast that Read more

Dear Military Religious Freedom Foundation: Remove one Bible, thousands will take its place

bible2by Sonny Hernandez

On Friday, April 8, 2016, officials at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) removed a Bible from a display table that venerated prisoners of war and Armed Forces service members missing in action. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, who spearheads a disreputable, anti-God advocacy group called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), was the culprit behind the unprincipled legal demands that caused officials at WPAFB to capitulate.

WPAFB officials didn’t need to Read more

The 2016 AFRC Chaplain Corps Conference Disaster

conferencev2by Sonny Hernandez

On April 18-21, 2016, the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) Chaplain Corps Conference commenced in Chicago, IL. The theme of this aforementioned conference was “soul care” and “moral injury.” The keynote civilian speakers for this event were: Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock and Dr. Jonathan Shay, who were publicized as being world renowned experts in the field of moral injury. Unfortunately, there were Air Force chaplains that left the conference who experienced “moral injury” after being forced to listen to Read more

There are No Atheists In (or Out of) Foxholes: A Military Chaplain’s Perspective

I. Introduction

In 2013, United States Air Force Chaplain (LtCol) Kenneth Reyes published an article that cogently chronicled the historical and aphoristic phrase ‘No atheists in foxholes.’.[1] Immediately, the article was lambasted with an incendiary campaign that demanded the extraction of Chaplain Reyes’s post. Michael (Mikey) Weinstein from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) was expeditious in reviling the article by demanding its removal which subsequently led to the Air Force removing its publication. Weinstein called the article a “bigoted and religious supremacist phrase” and lauded himself with victory once the Air Force removed the article.[2]

Weinstein’s vitriol was not surprising since he does not win in litigation; he is forced to rely on coercion. However, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) interposed by persuading the Air Force to consider the transparent constitutionality and recurrent legal threats from the MRFF,[3] which eventually caused the Air Force to reinstate the article.[4] Victory for religious freedom and a loss for Weinstein!

Chaplain Scott Reyes’s article is a wonderful military depiction of perseverance that every member of the Armed Forces can relate to, especially if they have served during times of conventional, asymmetric or globalizing warfare. If a member of the Armed Forces is held captive during wartime operations as a prisoner of war (POW), apart from strategic interdictions and a battalion of ground forces, what else is a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine left with? Faith! According to George MacDonald:  Read more

Gospel Competency: An Imperative For Military Chaplains

by Sonny Hernandez

As a military chaplain, I have been privileged and blessed to serve the nation’s finest men and women who have endured laboriously for the defense of freedom. There is an exponential amount of men and women from around the world who have coalesced to serve selflessly and honorably against all enemies foreign and domestic. The sacrifice of family separation, elongated deployments, and all of the cataclysmic experiences of spiritual warfare can lead to many adversarial effects. Some of those aggravated effects are: depression, anger, sadness, hopelessness, family troubles, divorce, drunkenness, sexual immorality (bestiality, adultery, fornication, and homosexuality), attempted suicide and even death. This is why competent, Bible-believing military chaplains are imperative to provide Gospel-centered preaching and counseling to those who serve in the Armed Forces.

There are always going to be incursions on military chaplains who believe Read more

The Top 3 Military Chaplain Fallacies

by Sonny Hernandez

Serving in the United States Military Chaplaincy is a solemn responsibility of servility and intrepidity. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is an indicative that subjugates Christian believers to willfully evangelize and make disciples. A military chaplain must have a true affinity for the lost (unconverted), and possess a love that is implacable for the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen that they serve. A military chaplain must exercise their constitutional right to faithfully and expositionally teach and preach the whole counsel of God’s special and propositional revelation. Why? Military chaplains that never evangelizes, soft-peddles truth, willfully omits the name of Christ in prayer out of fear of offending others instead of God, substitutes Scripture with psycho-therapy, and cares more about their career than Christ are not examples of holiness and Christ-centeredness; they are examples of hypocrisy and childish-conceits.

A military chaplain must also be willing to persevere and remain steadfast when the culture has increasingly become execrable against God. There will always be impediments against military chaplaincy. In fact, there are exponential stumbling blocks that will attempt to thwart a chaplain’s ministerial fidelity. If a military chaplain prays in the name of Christ a complaint may eventually arise. If a military chaplain does not embrace Read more

Faithfully Responding to a Michael (Mikey) Weinstein Attack

by Sonny Hernandez

When conservative Bible-believing Christians in the Armed Forces are vilified because of their constitutional right to exercise the tenets of their faith, it is impossible to mitigate the issue. Michael (Mikey) Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) is importunate when making denigrating rhetoric against anyone in the Armed Forces who will not concur with his beloved self-conception or obscured beliefs. It can easily be deduced that the MRFF is not amicable towards religious liberty for conservative Bible-believers who are not ashamed of Christ and His Gospel. Nevertheless, Christ will be proclaimed! This is why Bible-believing Christians must know how to respond as this article will now cogently explain:

I. Comprehend Your Audience

Michael Weinstein of the MRFF masquerades as a defender of religious freedom for Read more

Mikey Weinstein Fails to Intimidate Air Force Chaplain (Video)

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein continues his self-declared “war” on Christians in the US military, but he is finding it increasingly difficult to coerce US troops to accept his demands.  Much of the military has discovered the best response is simply to stand up to him. Weinstein’s only tool is intimidation, and when it fails, he is toothless.

In an apparent effort to play to the July US Supreme Court decision on homosexuality, Weinstein recently claimed in a blog and subsequent interview that he would “prosecute” chaplains if they preached something that did not pass his muster [formatting original]:

If chaplains believe that they MUST publicly and visibly preach to their troops a message that their LGB comrades are sexual-deviant “sinners” because of their “choice” to be gay, then these views are fatally noxious and totally destructive to unit cohesion, good order, morale, and discipline in the armed forces.

Despite Weinstein’s attempts to restrict the free exercise of US troops, chaplains are free to preach the tenets of their faith — and they have continued to do so.

In fact, just a few days prior to Weinstein’s ultimatum, Air Force Chaplain (Capt) Sonny Hernandez spoke eloquently and forcefully on the Gospel during Read more

1 5 6 7 8