A group of Soldiers at Fort Bliss, Texas, was busy with readiness training — but their chaplains were right there with them:
“In the Army we talk about readiness,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Doug Downs, 2/1 AD chaplain. “In all different ways, folks have to be ready. Spiritual readiness is just as important for soldiers who are getting ready to, or who will potentially go to war.”
The chaplains provided a variety of services Read more
Last Monday was Veteran’s Day. Pentacostal preacher Kenneth Copeland hosted David Barton, a self-described “expert in historical and constitutional issues,” and they lit the fires of controversy by addressing the issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the Bible. Citing the King James Version of Numbers 32:20-22, Copeland says
…”If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, and the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return…and be guiltless before the Lord, and before the nation.”
Any of you suffering from PTSD right now, you listen to me. You get rid of that right now.
You don’t take drugs to get rid of it, it doesn’t take psychology; that promise right there will get rid of it.
Copeland continues, explaining, in essence, that PTSD is Read more
President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Russell Moore recently spoke to the New Orleans Seminary and said Christians should advocate for the Gospel — and religious freedom:
The apostle Paul provides a model for how pastors and other Christians are to maintain “the centrality of the Gospel and the defense of religious liberty at the same time,” Moore told the seminarians.
Preaching from Acts 26:24-32, Moore said Paul both defended his religious freedom and proclaimed the Gospel…
“Paul here understands that freedom itself is not enough,” Moore said. The freedom Paul sought — and Christians today should seek — “is a freedom to do something … the pushing and the pressing and the pleading of the Gospel,” he said.
While some have advocated for Christians to abandon the political realm — an attitude of which Moore was even accused — Moore clearly says Christians have a duty to advocate for religious liberty.
Moore also had words of warning for military chaplains: Read more
Several news reports over the past few months note that faced with growing concerns from its chaplains, the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board — which sends chaplains to the US military — has updated its guidance in light of the repeal of DADT and the open service of homosexuals in the US military:
“Our chaplains want to uphold the authority and relevancy of Scripture while continuing to serve in a very diverse setting,” said Doug Carver, the retired Army major general who leads NAMB’s chaplaincy efforts. “We believe these updated guidelines will help them do that while still sharing the love and the hope of Christ with everyone.”
In short, SBC chaplains must conduct every part of their ministry in accordance with the Christian faith — which reflects the “historic, natural and biblical view of marriage…” The specificity and clarity was praised by retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.
The guidelines also seem to specifically call out marriage retreats, like the US Army’s Strong Bonds: Read more
US Senate Chaplain Barry Black recently made waves for his daily prayers scolding the US Congress during the government “shutdown.”
Though it was just as newsworthy, another address by Chaplain Black — himself a former US Navy Chief of Chaplains — was lost in the simultaneous hubbub over Michael Weinstein and his meeting with the US Air Force.
In his address to the Heritage Foundation in April, Chaplain Black noted plainly that Christian doctrine might one day be considered “hate speech:”
Military chaplains…may have problems Read more
A US Army article from Fort Carson, Colorado, discusses a marriage enrichment seminar led by the chaplaincy which emphasized the value the Army places on strengthening and protecting the marriages of its troops:
Chap. (Maj.) John Jensen, brigade chaplain, 3rd ABCT, said the purpose of the seminar was to help strengthen each couple’s marriage.
“These marriage seminars encourage Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein penned half of a pro/con debate for the local Colorado Springs Gazette regarding the presence of “so help me God” in the USAFA Cadet Honor Oath. Weinstein boils his argument down to this:
Removing those words from the published oath does nothing to change [cadets’ First Amendment] right [sic].
In balance, however, if the removal of those words affects not the First Amendment rights of believers, why would the presence of those words affect the rights of others? Weinstein fails to justify his call for a change.
In one respect, Weinstein’s premise seems to be correct: No religious Read more
In a fascinating case, the Conservative Baptist Association of America has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs, essentially alleging that a VA chaplaincy training program is intentionally preventing them from sending chaplains to VA and military medical centers:
The actions of the Secretary within the San Diego VA-DOD CPE Center establishing a secular, humanist and holistic religion which excludes mainstream Judeo-Christian beliefs discriminates against CBAmerica Chaplains, prevents them from practicing their religious beliefs, have forced them out of the program and will, if not corrected, prevent future CBAMERICA Chaplains from completing the program and practicing their faith in the health care facilities serviced by the program.
The VA-DOD CPE Center is responsible for preparing chaplains to serve in military and VA medical facilites around San Diego.
The lawsuit (PDF) relies on the experiences of two CBAmerica chaplains, Read more