Tag Archives: Military

The Need for Military Chaplains

The Southern Baptist Convention recently noted the value of US military chaplains even here at home — in the wake of the second Fort Hood shooting:

“This tragic event highlights the critically important ministry of chaplains,” Doug Carver, executive director for chaplaincy at the North American Mission Board, said. “They are able to minister immediately in situations like this, even before churches can respond, because chaplains are there in the military community as soldiers themselves.

“The armed forces don’t see chaplains as pastors in uniform. They see them as members of the family,” Carver said. “The culture in the military is so close-knit that when a soldier is hurt, that means a family member is hurting. Military life is family.”

Carver’s point is an important one: Chaplains are not Read more

VA Chaplain Ends 42-Year Career

A local paper, repeated at the Stars and Stripes, highlights the fascinating story of 91-year-old VA Chaplain Ben Vegors, who has served at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s chapel for more than four decades.

[Over the years], he’s helped many men and women recover their faith as their bodies recovered from the effects of military service.

“Here in the chapel it’s been a real good thing,” said Vegors, his voice rich with the memory. “I’ve directed hundreds back to their churches.”

The story starts much earlier, with his conversion in 1940 and his service in B-24s during World War II. Read the full story here.

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US Air Force Academy Hosts Wiccan Priestess

While the US Air Force Academy is regularly accused of being dominated by Christianity, its support for other faith systems routinely goes unnoticed or unpublicized (even by its own Public Affairs, apparently):

Selena Fox, who calls herself a Wiccan priestess, was recently hosted by the USAFA chaplains. (She’s holding a chapel coin.) They took a hike with some local pagans up to Falcon Circle, formerly known as the LZ, an “outdoor chapel” area created with some intent to host earth-centered religious adherents a few years ago.

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Commentators Cite Military Chaplains after SCOTUS Prayer Case

John Ragosta, Paul Finkelman and Steven K. Green, “legal scholars and historians who participated as amicus” in the recent Greece prayer case at the Supreme Court, struggled to understand what the Supreme Court intended to mean by its ruling:

The court fails, though, to explain what this means, an issue that the dissent takes up. Should prayers occur before the public is invited into the room? Should prayers be directed only at the board? Should the members themselves take turns invoking prayers, making it clear that they are personal and not “official” prayers?

These scholars missed the obvious issue that Read more

Vermont ANG Chaplain Serves All Beliefs, No Beliefs

An Air Force article highlights US Air Force Chaplain (Maj) Michael Medas, a Roman Catholic Priest who has joined the Vermont Air National Guard.

The article notes that Medas, like all chaplains, serve the entire military community, regardless of the beliefs any individual may hold:

As a military chaplain Medas provides religious services to all Air Force personnel. He has worked with faiths including Catholicism, Judaism and non-faith beliefs such as Atheism. The primary goal of an Air Force Chaplain is to support all members of the Air Force not only in their Read more

Can You be Both Gay and Christian?

Update: Dr. Mohler’s column was actually part of a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary e-book published the same day as, and as a response to, Vines’ book.  The 100-page SBTS e-book is available for free here (PDF).

The other contributors are: James M. Hamilton Jr., professor of biblical theology; Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies; Owen Strachan, assistant professor of Christian theology and church history; and Heath Lambert, assistant professor of biblical counseling.

Mohler’s chapter provides an overview critique of Vines’ argument, while Hamilton primarily addresses Old Testament claims, Burk deals with New Testament claims, Strachan looks at the church history assertions and Lambert answers the question whether there is such a thing as a “gay Christian.”

As human sexuality has become a more commonplace topic in the recent few years, a substantial part of the conversation has covered the nexus between Christianity and homosexuality.

At its root, Can one be a homosexual and a Christian?

Jars of Clay lead singer Dan Haseltine caused a firestorm when he tweeted statements that were interpreted as either ambivalent about or supportive of homosexual marriage. The topic gained more steam with the recent publication of a book by self-described homosexual Christian Matthew Vines.

Dr. Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary responded, noting foremost that there are many who describe themselves as Christians who are yearning for a way to rationalize their faith and an endorsement of homosexuality:  Read more

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