May 2001 Newsletter

May 2001 Newsletter

Reclaiming the Streets of Wichita at the Gates of Hell!

We pray that you are planning to join us in Wichita, Kansas this July 15-21 as we call the Church of Jesus Christ to allow her theology to become biography once again at the gates of hell. The eyes of our nation were riveted on Wichita, Kansas ten years ago as the abortion battle waxed hot during the steamy summer of 1991. Pastors and church congregations throughout the nation joined together in a grass roots revival to speak for the unborn and for forty-five incredible days, the abortion industry in Wichita was teetering on the brink of utter collapse. It could not contend with the Church of Jesus Christ. Theology had become biography, and Satan fled!

God had commanded us to take down the high places - the local abortion mills. In abject repentance we presented our bodies to Him as living sacrifices out of obedience and worship. He honored our humble sacrifice. He promised to give us every foot of land upon which our feet had trod and we were moving forward in the power of His Spirit, but there were giants in the land! .

We were pressing the gates of hell and we were prevailing in Jesus' Name. Thousands of Christians made their way to Wichita to speak for those who could not speak for themselves. Yes, the Church of Jesus Christ was rising up, but then the enemies of God began to stir. Federal Judge Kelley threatened every pastor in Wichita with jail time, a possibility of losing their churches and church schools, and civil suits from which they would never recover. He threatened Christians from out of town that if they were to show up in Wichita and live out their faith in the streets, they had better bring their toothbrushes with them because they were going to jail!

Yes, the threats of our enemy (not Judge Kelley but through Judge Kelley) frightened us enough to keep us from doing what we should for our Lord and His voiceless children. We've been wandering for ten years, but now we have been brought back to the very place where God called us to fight the battle and take the land. It is time to finish the work God has called us to do: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10.

Reclaiming the Streets of Our Nation at the Gates of Hell!

St. Louis, MO - The saints in St. Louis and the surrounding area (Granite City) are courageously reclaiming their streets as they confront the gates of hell with the Gospel of Christ. The abortion industry is beside itself as gentle Christians continue to live out their faith in ever increasing numbers outside these "high places" where little children are sacrificed. Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church, the church that hosted our national event in St. Louis last summer, has caught the vision. Theology has become biography outside the fortified Planned Parenthood killing center. The saints in St, Louis are having church at the gates of hell. Hell is hemorrhaging!

In Granite City, Illinios, Daniel and Angela Michael of Small Victories are experiencing some huge victories at their local abortion mill, "Hope(less) Women's Center." God has raised up the Tim & Al show on KJSL radio in St. Louis to come alongside them and help raise up an army. Tim and Al have done more in the past seven months to expose the wickedness of the abortion industry in St. Louis and Granite City, than has been done in the past 28 years. On April 18, 2001 they held an "ultrathon" during their morning show to raise money for Daniel and Angela to buy a sonogram. This device will show abortion bound mothers what their little baby girls and boys look like. They needed $5,000 and raised well over $20,000. God is so good!

Tim and Al have made it very clear that standing in the gap on behalf of preborn children is not optional. It is the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ. They have called pastors to come to the gates of hell and bring their congregations with them. They have not been hesitant to publicly mention the names of those pastors who have been contacted and have not responded to the call. Not a bad idea, eh? Because of the willingness of Tim and Al to make a clear trumpet sound from the platform of KJSL, many gentle warriors for King Jesus have joined Daniel and Angela at Hope(less) Women's Center. We have a promise from God Himself in Psalm 24 that the gates must be lifted up that the King of glory may enter in.

Rochester, NY - Incredible news! The Genesee Hospital of Rochester, a 114-year-old institution, announced that it would be closing its doors for good in July 2001. This pro-abortion, pro-assisted suicide hospital has been the target of a persistent Christian pro-life witness for the past 15 years.

For 15 years, a Christian presence of focused prayer, worship, Bible reading, demonstrations, rescues, pleadings with administration, boycotts, literature distribution, and public proclamations has occurred at this hospital. Jerry Crawford has proclaimed the truth there daily for the past seven years, and Rescue Rochester adopted the sidewalk in front of the doctor's office building as its office space! The hospital campus housed two abortion mills and the hospital had as its associate chief of medicine Dr. Anthony Quill, a nationally known assisted suicide advocate and practitioner.

"Many 'insiders' told us that we had picked the wrong target when we began to expose the killing that was going on at the hospital," said Mike Warren, director of Rescue Rochester. "They said the hospital was too well financed and that it was too well connected. Well, we plan on continuing a pro-life presence and proclamation at this hospital until they close and lock the doors this July. The administration's decision to shut down the hospital proves that we serve a Mighty God whose Word is true and who answers the cry of his people. One person with God is a majority!"

It was at this hospital two years ago that saints from around the nation came and proclaimed the love and power of the risen Lord Jesus on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. Yes, theology became biography. The Word of God moved from the church house and became biography in the streets of Rochester. The presence of the risen Christ flooded the whole block surrounding Genesee Hospital during Operation Save America in April 1999.

The preaching and worship ushered in the presence of Christ and the battle between two seeds became manifest there on the sidewalk. It was so manifest that one college journalist who came to report the story became undone at His presence. She received Christ in tears right there on the sidewalk. Heaven continued to touch the earth as we saw police officers and the hospital's chief of security touched with the Gospel. Some of the officers had tears in their eyes while listening to the proclaimed truth. A local neighbor of the hospital stopped his car, got out, knelt down, waved his hand, and pretended to shoot at the Christians living out their faith at the gates of hell. He admitted to police that he was pro-abortion. He was arrested after officers found an arsenal of weapons in the trunk of his vehicle.

"All of our efforts these past 15 years were not focused on closing the hospital," said Mike Warren. "Our desire was to see Genesee Hospital turn from promoting and defending the taking of human life through abortion and euthanasia to a hospital that would become a true defender of life."

New Orleans, LA - This Easter Rusty Thomas and I were privileged to join the saints in New Orleans as they stormed the gates of hell under the creative and inspired leadership of Rev. Bill Shanks. It was six years ago, during Holy Week 95, that we held our national event in this city that had become the murder capital of our nation. Two weeks before the event Bill held a press conference in Mayor Marc Morial's press office. The mayor was supposed to do the conference but when he heard that the radical Rev. Shanks was in the building, he fled to the police station. The media was all there, however, and when the mayor didn't show up, Bill got behind the mayoral pulpit surrounded by the American flag, the state flag of Louisiana, and the seal of Louisiana and made a powerful proclamation:

"Our city has become the murder capital of this nation. The senseless shedding of blood will stop in the city of New Orleans when we stop shedding the blood of our innocent children in the womb. We are asking the city of New Orleans to shut down the abortion mills in our city and witness that peace will return to the streets. There is not a police force large enough to stop the spirit of murder that is savaging our city, but there is a King, whose Name is Jesus, who can and will bring peace."

"Glory!" - Bill Shanks

The Scriptural foundation for this statement was Hosea 4:1-2: "Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: 'There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed." Yes, bloodshed always follows bloodshed. If you sow bloodshed in the womb you will reap it in the streets.

Another Scripture that helps us in the understanding of this principle is found in Ezekiel 35:6: "…Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you." Blood is coursing through the corridors of our schools, work places, and streets because we are shedding blood in the womb. A spirit of murder has been loosed upon our land with Roe v. Wade from which we have no defense. No federal program, no amount of education, no amount of money, no police force, no army can save us from its savagery. Our only hope is in the repentance of the Church of Jesus Christ and calling upon God to heal us. There is hope in nothing and no one else.

Yes, Jesus is our hope and His power was born out during the seven days the Church of Jesus Christ allowed her theology to become biography in the streets of New Orleans that Holy Week in New Orleans, 1995. All eight abortion mills in the city closed their doors for the entire week. The praising, praying, preaching Church of Jesus Christ took over the streets of New Orleans, and for seven glorious days there were no murders in the streets. The police were absolutely astonished that Brother Bill's prophecy proved true. The murder rate in April plunged 50%, and the murder rate for the year 1995 dropped 17%.

The New Orleans Police Department became our fast friends as they saw the Jesus who lived in our hearts. They escorted us everywhere we desired to go in the city and, on our last day, they turned on their lights and sirens as we were departing the city. I asked Chet Gallagher, a policeman in Las Vegas for 20 years, what was the meaning of the sirens and lights. He told me that that was their way of saluting us. We praised God for the favor He had given us in New Orleans!

Today, New Orleans has only four abortion mills left due largely to the efforts of Rev. Shanks and the saints who are continuing to storm the gates of hell of the local abortion industry. Rusty and I joined them at the Causeway Women's Clinic on Holy Saturday where Brother Bill and a gathering of about 150 gentle warriors were doing spiritual warfare. It was awesome as Brother Butch Berget cranked up the praise and worship over the sound system that was on a stage right next to the abortion mill. The preachers preached, the prayers prayed, the singers sang, the counselors counseled, and the gates of that horrible place were lifted up that the King of Glory might enter in. The battle is being won as Christian's are living out their faith in the streets.

The Arrest of James Kopp and HBO's "Soldiers in the Army of God"

The media will attempt to paint every Christian who loves life and lives out that belief in the streets of their city, as wild-eyed, lunatic fanatics bent on shooting abortionists and blowing up abortion mills. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nevertheless, James Kopp will be the abortion industry's trophy and the media's tool to brand all pro-lifers as violent. It doesn't matter whether Mr. Kopp is innocent or guilty. He is simply another human tool to be savaged by the abortion industry and its most willing dupe the media to promote the murderous lie called "choice."

Shortly after Mr. Kopp's apprehension, HBO aired "Soldiers in the Army of God" on Sunday, April Fools day to 'pile on' gentle Christians living out their faith at abortion mills. HBO interviewed Paul Hill, who premeditatedly murdered two people at an abortion mill in Pensacola, Florida. It allowed him to spew his heresy from jail as to why it is justifiable to kill abortionists. They also interviewed Michael Bray, who torched an abortion mill and wrote a book about killing abortionists. The two other main characters in this piece of yellow journalism were very strange, very dangerous, and unknown to those of us in the streets. More than likely they were media plants. They were portrayed as sincere lunatics who believed that God was calling them to shoot an abortionist or blow-up a mill - they were just waiting for the right time to do it. I was stunned!

We would never have allowed these people a platform from which to speak. Michael Bray and Paul Hill have become enemies of the cross of Christ! We have confronted them both personally in their error and their sin. They are Barabbas type insurrectionists and murderers. Both however, played well into the media's hands. They were played like a drum to paint, with a broad brush, every gentle Christian who lives out his faith at an abortion mill as a potential murderer. Just what HBO had in mind. All the while it painted those in the child killing industry as poor, innocent victims of Christian bigotry. The whole program was a lie and a sham.

The unholy union that exists between the abortion industry and the media has been a difficult giant for us to overcome. It uses the instrument of shame to move Christians off of the streets and back into the church house. Lawsuits, injunctions, imprisonments have not worked but this false propaganda has caused even our friends to turn against us. We must however, be like our Savior before us and despise the shame of the cross. He has called us to daily pick it up, and continue to storm the gates of hell. He will go with us.

Pat Robertson Fails Preborn Children and His Lord

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday, April 16, Pat Robertson said, that the leaders in China who are forcing women to have abortions are "doing what they have to do." He went on to say that the United States should not interfere with China's policy. "I don't agree with it, but at the same time, they've got 1.2 billion people and they don't know what to do. If every family over there was allowed to have three or four children, the population would be completely unstable."

I called his personal secretary on Tuesday morning to see if this could possibly be true and she sent me a quick clarification of what Pat had actually said. Pat apologized for any misunderstanding of his unrehearsed comments on Wolf Blitzer Reports and went on to say, "The Chinese Government has by law restricted birth rate to one child per family. Given their situation, intelligent family planning reflects an obvious necessity; however, I am unalterably opposed to the policy which would result in forced abortions or sex selection."

My heart sank as I read the words of his interview with Blitzer. It sank even further as I read his clarification. Finally, in an interview with Paula Zahn on Wednesday night, April 18, to clarify his clarification, I discerned where our brother was coming from. He has bought - hook, line, and sinker, the lie of population control. He also has an economic interest in China and has been a huge supporter of her as Most Favored Nation (MFN). He has not acted honorably toward God's Word because he believes there is too much at risk. He has forgotten that he risks far more by being ashamed of the Word of God. Love calls us to confront our brother in his sin, to rebuke him frankly (Leviticus 19:17). Please contact his press secretary, Angell Watts at (757) 226-2450.

Pat is a wonderful man of God, but he is clearly wrong in his position on China and the slaughtering of her preborn. We must love him enough to tell him the truth - the wounds of a friend bring healing.

Looking forward to seeing you at the gates of hell in Wichita.

Flip Benham,
Director