March 2005

March 2005

Fighting the Lie
Overcoming the Radical Homosexual Agenda

It is very telling that the enemy (the devil) never ceases his incremental push to bring sin into a human heart and into the heart of a nation. He always works incrementally. Witness his first assault on God's children in the garden, "Did God really say…?" He begins by bringing God's Word into question. He then moves by directly contradicting God's Word, “you will not surely die.” Finally, he calls the very character and motive of God into question, “ For God knows that when you eat of it (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God….”

The devil wants us to doubt God's love and care for us. He wants us to believe that God is withholding things from us because He is afraid we will become like Him – He doesn't want the competition. Yes, the devil, who has come to lead the whole world astray (Revelation 12:7-12) , always works incrementally to obfuscate truth. Slowly but surely, lie by lie, day after day, he creates doubt which leads to unbelief, which leads to disobedience, which leads to curse.

Those struggling with their sexual identity and homosexual tendencies are very aware of this battle. You see, most didn't choose how their sinful nature would manifest itself. They just knew they were always different. They didn't choose to be attracted to the same sex – they just were. The devil is very aware of this and begins whispering into the ear, “Did God really say?”

The conflict and struggle over what God says and the unbridled passions in the wicked heart become almost too much to bear. The mind begins to justify all that the wicked heart conceives. The devil is right there, “You will not surely die.” Over time, the mind begins to accept the lie (I was born this way) and outright contradicts God's Word. This brings with it disobedience and death! “…all who hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:36.

The heart of our nation is incrementally being turned over to a lie. “So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance: truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.” Isaiah 59:14-15. When the truth of God's Holy Word is removed from the battle, all hell is free to rob, kill, and destroy. This is the devil's modus operandi. It is called incrementalism. He has led many hearts and many nations away from God with this calculated treachery. Witness the whole creation vs. evolution controversy in America : Charles Darwin wrote the “Origin of the Species” in 1859 – a lie birthed in the pit of hell. Most saw it for the lie that it was but, as time passed, many intellectuals found it a convenient tool to remove God and His Word from man and his origin. In 1927, the infamous Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee placed God on trial and found Him irrelevant to man's creation and purpose. Evolution and creation were now to be taught side by side in our nation's schools. Both were considered equally valid. But it was never the devil's intention that evolution and creation remain in this pluralistic state. Pluralism is never an end state – it is that middle ground moving from one god and rule of law, to another. It wasn't long before evolution alone was considered the only truly scientific explanation of creation and therefore was the only theory allowed to be taught. Creation was considered a mere fairy tale, and that is where we find ourselves today.

Many Christians have felt that if incrementalism is the way the devil works and wins, then we ought to employ the same method to overcome him and his lies. Witness the way we in the pro-life movement are attempting to overcome the lie of Roe v. Wade. Rather than fight the battle with the truth of God's Word, we have busied ourselves by incrementally trying to overcome the lie of abortion with neat little pieces of legislation: parental notification legislation, parental consent legislation, partial birth abortion ban legislation, ad nauseam. We are trying with all of our political acumen to work toward overturning Roe v. Wade incrementally. We have talked ourselves into believing that “little by little” we can end abortion. Working toward justice, however, is not being just.

Let me explain. During slavery days in the antebellum South, many did not believe slaves to be human beings – a lie from the devil himself. As a matter of fact, the Dredd Scott decision in 1857 rendered our black brothers and sisters as mere “property” of slave owners. The problem was that if slaves were only property, they could not vote. This did not bode well for the South, so it came up with a piece of legislation that made slaves three-fifths of a man for voting purposes.

Seems like progress, doesn't it? Instead of being mere “property” the slave was now considered three-fifths of a man. Of course it wasn't the truth, but it was nevertheless progress, right? Wrong! The devil laughs when we incrementally try to overcome him by our own political machinations. He knows it prevents us from wielding the sharp double-edged Sword of the Spirit, the one weapon he cannot withstand. The Truth of God's Word will always put an end to the lie! The one offensive weapon we have to tear down the strongholds of the devil is the Word of God. It is the very thing Jesus used when He was tempted by the devil. It behooves us to do the same.

We must never incrementally work toward justice. We are simply commanded by God to act justly: “ He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8. In God's eyes, slaves were never three-fifths of a person, they were five-fifths of a person created in the very image of God. The only just thing to do at a time like this is to stand on the Word of God and declare our black brothers and sisters fully human.

If we are to crush the head of satan and his lies, we must unsheathe the Sword of the Spirit. We must stand uncompromisingly on the Word of God! The reason? The Word of God tells the truth about our wretched state, just as it did when Isaiah saw the Lord. He realized that he was a man of unclean lips and needed the mercy of Almighty God to make him right! Justice had to do its awful work before God's mercy could flow. This same thing is true for our brothers and sisters lost in the sin of homosexuality.

This is what the homosexual community needs: the powerful, judgmental, and absolutely righteous Word of God, not some watered down, bridge building, relationship evangelism that tries to meet the homosexual halfway. Those lost in homosexual bondage and lust need the unadulterated Word of God. It silences the devil and his wiles. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We must never doubt the efficacy of God's Word. If we love our brothers and sisters lost in the sin of homosexuality, we must bring the TRUTH that will set them free.

We have to stop trying to build bridges and incrementally overcoming the enemy's lies, and start storming the gates of hell with the truth of God's Word. It will dispel the lie. No more namby-pamby, milk-toasty, worrying about what others may think, just standing absolutely on God's holy writ! This is what Jesus did!

When He was tempted by the devil, He didn't sit down and try to reason with him, and make a deal so that there could be some compromise drawn. He declared war on all the enemy's offers and stood upon the Word of God. This is called storming the gates of hell. They cannot prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ!

VICTORY IN PHILADELPHIA!

Although there was a diabolical attempt by the devil to censor the Gospel of Christ, the saints in Philadelphia stood and when they stood King Jesus stood up for them! They were looking at a possible sentence of 47 years in prison for disturbing the peace of those who practice homosexual sodomy with the Gospel Truth, but all charges were dismissed. What an incredible victory in Jesus!

It is our prayer that Christians everywhere in America will no longer be content to sit by as the mention of Jesus' name is systematically removed from the public square, but will unsheathe the Sword of the Spirit just like the Philly 11, and watch in wonder and with confidence as the Gates of Hell come tumbling down.

Brother Cal Zastrow gave OSA Christians who traveled to Philadelphia for the trial a fascinating historical tour. They saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. What a wealth of Christian testimony and stories.

Firsthand Report from Philadelphia
By Kathy Pavkovic

Ten of us came up from North Carolina to stand with our brethren, and to let the City of Philadelphia and the D.A.'s office know, in no uncertain terms, that their unlawful persecution of Christians will not stand. They cannot do this! It is this city who will be defendants in a court of law for their criminality one day soon! We brought our sound system. We set up in front of City Hall across the street from the Court building where our Repent America brethren were that morning. A police officer told us we couldn't set up in front of City Hall. After some verbal wrangling, we saw this would go nowhere so he suggested we move across the street. On that corner was a very large Masonic lodge. We thought this would be a great idea! We began to set up when the "manager" of that facility told us we had to move. We told him this was a public sidewalk and we had every right to be there. He threatened to "clean" the sidewalk with their water-hoses. We got the police involved, and the Lieutenant told him he had better not do that. Actually, this situation was quite comical, as our video of this event reveals. The preaching began and named the D.A.'s office as the true criminals in this case, as the persecutors of innocent people. We named names and identified who the fascist, anti-American individuals were in this case. We exposed them and their ties to blatantly anti-Christian groups, who are also by default anti-American.

The Police officers were enjoying this. Apparently, they don't like the D.A.'s office either, so we had favor with them. Later we were told we COULD be in front of City Hall, and we did move across the street and continued our preaching, and music. Ante played the convicting and powerful song "Lord Have Mercy" as a last act before we moved across the street. There were many City Officials who heard the whole counsel of God, and many passers-by who heard the Truth. A witch and some lesbians did come by to oppose us a bit, but they were irrelevant. The Spirit of God was dominating that entire area and atmosphere. We were taking dominion. The Lord was having His way and we knew it and felt it. There was nothing the devil could do.

The presence of God came and His anointing. We were able to share the Truth of the Gospel with many passers by. Some lesbians came by to say that they did not live according to the Bible...they lived according to "common sense." The preachers of the Word for the day were: Pastor John Murray, Scott Heldreth, Joel Crumpton and Ante Pavkovic.

The Philly Four (and the seven whose case were previously dismissed ~"The Philly Eleven") came over to us from the Court building after the case was dismissed. Scott Shields, the attorney representing them spoke, as did Michael Marcavage. They gave glory and thanks to our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Then we all sang hymns including the one that they were singing when they were arrested! It was a glorious day!

UPDATE ON LIZ THOMAS – FEBRUARY 18, 2005

Dear Champion of the Lord and the Unborn,

The Lord richly bless you! A few days ago Liz took a downward swing. She became immobile, listless, and non-responsive. Her eyes went back into her head and the situation looked dire. I remember grabbing her shoulders and telling her firmly that there were 11 good reasons (I was referring, of course, to our children) for her to live and not die and declare the wonderful works of God. "Don't give up, don't give in, fight girl fight!"

Afterwards Flip Benham and John Reyes came in and we decided to bring the entire family to see Liz. It had been about 40 days since our children had seen their ailing mom. Since Liz was struggling, I had second doubts about the children seeing her. Flip encouraged me to press on and allow it. It was a good call. Two by two the children came in and as they did the Lord reconnected our children to their mom. For most of them, they had become detached and the suffering of their mom was not quite real. The realness became established and the sweet release of many tears flowed.

It seemed right afterwards Liz began to improve dramatically. In fact, yesterday she stood up and her heels touched the ground. This is the first time in about two months. The doctors and the nurse were amazed. They did not expect this to happen for another two weeks.

Then something extraordinary transpired. Yesterday the doctors came in and said that Liz's skin condition was related to the Lymphoma. I was blown away. For weeks they had told me it wasn't. They claimed it was a form of herpes. I decided to verify this claim. For if this was true, we were witnessing a miracle of a far greater magnitude. Indeed, the doctors verified she contracted what is called Paraneoplastic Pemphigus, a technical name that carries with it a deadly consequence. The skin turns on itself and devours itself. There is a 90% mortality rate. For Liz to be improving under these conditions is even a greater testimony of God's power than we first imagined.

There are two prayer requests as we enter this next phase of treatment. Liz has not been aware of what she has been through for almost two months. She is now awakening and beginning to realize the toll it has taken upon her. She is somewhat frightened by it. Her appearance has dramatically changed and it is now a daunting battle for her mind. She asked me to pray for her because, "The devil wants to drive me crazy." We rebuked that lie and prayed that every thought would be brought under the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Secondly, Liz has taken her second round of chemo. In a few days her system will take another dip. We need prayer that the Lord will carry her through and the chemo will do its awful, yet wonderful work with no ill side effects.

NATIONAL EVENT – DENVER , CO – JULY 16-23, 2005

Hotel information: Ramada Continental Hotel 2601 Zuni St Denver, Colorado 80211 303-433-6677 $63.70 a night (sleeps four) Breakfast Buffet @ 6 a.m. $6.95 per adult, under 10 $3.95 Reservations made after 6-23-05 will be provided on a space available basis. Ask for the OSA block.

Keep storming the gates – Flip