Rev. Flip Benham • 10/3/2007
Here is a short report of our Gospel foray into Durham, North Carolina, on the campus of beautiful Duke University last Saturday, September 29, 2007. We were engaging the 23rd annual “Durham Pride” event as homosexual sodomy and perversion took over the entire east campus of Duke and the streets of Durham, NC.
Bill and Jeanette Schultz did a terrific job getting everything in place for us to bring the Gospel of Christ to the “Durham Pride” event at Duke University. The Gospel proclamation was powerful. The folks from Mount Zion Baptist Church (30 precious, spirit-filled black brothers and sisters) were absolutely awesome. They all had Scripture signs and they could preach. Our “one on one” conversations with folks at the booths and on the streets moved mountains of deception. We passed out every bracelet (over 700 of them) we had. The Stephen Bennett tract, “I Was A Homosexual,” was received by many.
One recent convert from Mount Zion Baptist Church shared his testimony with the howling sodomites over the sound system and it brought them to a stunned silence. He shared:
“I was a homosexual. I had hundreds of lovers. Jesus saved me. I tried to make myself a woman. I had the operations to make myself a woman as you can plainly see. I believed what I was doing was right – that God had made a mistake. I had always had a same sex attraction. And yet I knew in my heart that God created me to be a man. I have now repented of my sin – I am a man. God made me a man. Jesus saved me. He will do the same for you. Homosexuality is a sin that will destroy you. Jesus saved me and He will save you!”
Thousands heard this jaw-dropping testimony of the power of Christ!
However, there were those who devised wicked plans to try and prevent the proclamation of the gospel. The Durham police department halted the parade directly in front of our Gospel proclamation, allowing “Dykes on Bikes” to circle their revving motorcycles, in order to drown out God’s Word to those who might hear.
Jesus was glorified, in spite of the continual harassment by the Durham Police Department. Lt. Williams of the Durham Police did the same thing he did last year. He trampled over all of our First Amendment Rights, but he waited to do it until the parade itself. He knew that the piece of ground we received the permit for was not going to be given to us. He simply waited till the last minute and said, “There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Something is rotten in Durham, and it is more than just the ousted and disgraced District Attorney Nifong. Remember him? He was the District Attorney that was bound and determined to convict three white college students on the Duke University lacrosse team for raping a black woman, regardless of what the facts were. He was driven by a political agenda. I now understand the bigoted mindset of the entire Durham District Attorney’s Office and its Police Department. There is an incredible animus toward the public proclamation of the Gospel of Christ there. When you have the assistant District Attorney riding on a float in the Pride Parade – you know that you are in trouble. Christian speech will not be allowed.
What this police department did to prevent the Gospel of Christ from being preached on the public forum of the streets of Durham was unconscionable!
What God did in spite of it was nothing less than Amazing!
