Dear Champion of the Lord and the Preborn,

Soon, Elijah Ministries will be sending out a Media Kit to promote our new book. We are discovering the best way to proceed is to do most of the work for them. The press packet will include the book, press release, questions and answers, author's bio, endorsements, talking points, segment ideas, and story angles.

We covet your prayers as we enter deeper into the fray. In our nation strangled by political and religious correctness, feminism, abortion, and the homosexual agenda, our book will be considered anathema. Even the church will be disturbed by the rebuke and correction the book conveys to those who name the name of Christ.

The following are some of the questions set forth and the answers given. If you find any merit, please pass it on. Thanks!
What are the three marks of Kingdom leadership?

The three marks are as follows: courage, biblical worldview, and vision. When it comes to courage, I remind the reader of two important truths. First, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but doing what is right in spite of our fears." Second, "Courage, as a Christian virtue in its rawest form, is a willingness to die if necessary for the cause of Christ. In other words, if forced to choose between one's life and one's faith, true courage would inspire the choice of faith." Christians must get over the suffering and death issues in order to effectually advance the cause of Christ in our poor-fallen world.

The second attribute for a Kingdom leader is Biblical worldview. In other words, a leader must view the burning issues of the day through the grid of God's word, rather than a humanistic standard. Many Christians in America are more influenced in their worldview by their family background, ethnicity, education, political party system, or other profound influences in their lives. The challenge is to hold up those influences to God's word, if they agree, honor and cherish them, if they don't, they must be disregarded. Only a Biblical worldview can help a leader successfully navigate through the challenges of life by fitting into God's reality, rather than hurling themselves against it.

The third virtue is vision. God's word warns, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" (Proverbs 29:18). Without vision from inspired leaders, people cast off restraint. They wander from God's protective covering and end up in a moral freefall. They become spiritually and morally naked, which makes them vulnerable to enemies from within and from without. Jesus warned that a person can have perfectly functional eyes and yet not perceive reality. Leaders afflicted by this state, end up becoming the blind leading the blind. Thus both leader and follower will fall into a ditch.


What was your primary goal in writing your book?

First, I felt an obligation to pass on to the next generation all the precious truths that I had learned fighting the battle for the souls of men, the lives of children, and the future of our nation. Secondly, the book was written to reform the church to restore America to its righteous foundations. The premise being: you cannot have a tyrannical state, without the church first veering from the truth and thus fail in its mission.


Why did you choose the theme of Christian chivalry and knighthood?

Authentic manhood has been greatly damaged by the rise of feminism in America. It has helped to reinforce in the inherent weakness of men, which are passivity and irresponsibility. I chose the knighthood model to hopefully help men reclaim their masculine identity, manly responsibilities, and return to the male Christian ethic, which places women and children first. In other words, men are at their best laying down their lives for God, family, and country. The goal is to inspire men to move from being predators to becoming protectors, defenders, and proper coverings of women and children once again.

In your book you mention, "The crisis of our time is one of leadership." Explain.

The underlying premise of the book is established upon this fundamental truth: God judges and restores nations based upon leadership. When the sayings and doings of a nation are against the Lord, the consequence is the nation is turned over to weak, inept, and wicked rulers. The culmination of this travesty is discovered in Isaiah 3:12, which states, "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."


How would you describe President Obama's leadership?

Obama is God's man. The Lord placed him as President of the United States. Unfortunately, it is not for America's welfare. He is a sign of God's judgment and displeasure upon a nation that is gone whoring after other gods and the vain philosophies of men. Obama is God's ex-ray into the heart of our nation. He personifies the condition of our civil government that has betrayed their sacred truth by codifying evil into law and defending the indefensible, such as, the evil practices of abortion and homosexuality. He is also the Lord's rebuke to His church that has drawn nigh to God with their lips, but their heart and obedience is far from Him.

Obama claims to be a Christian and yet supports policies that violate the commandments of God. It is the height of hypocrisy and our Lord reserved his hottest anger and most biting criticism against it. America is being subject to tyranny and unjust laws as a consequence of our idolatry. Thus, Obama has become the head of a new idolatrous cult, otherwise known as the federal government.

You also mention, "Life is not a playground. It is a war zone-a clash of worldviews competing for the souls of men and the destiny of nations." Can you further elaborate on this statement?

The battle that rages for the souls of men and the destiny of nations is described Biblically as a war between two seeds, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The seed of the serpent obeys the lies of the Evil One, which keeps them bound to their natural state, which is to be a law and god unto themselves. In other words, they live life based upon their terms, religious or otherwise, instead of the terms set forth by the God who created them and the Savior who died for them. The strategy of this camp for world domination is to adopt the failed agenda of the Tower of Babel, which is to reach into the heavens and vainly attempt to dethrone the God of heaven and earth and replace Him with totalitarian statism. This explains why all the "isms," such as Communism, Socialism, and Nazism, which crush freedom and promote tyranny, all have as their foundational premises the vain philosophies of atheism and evolution.

The seed of the woman, however, repents of being a covenant rebel, humbly bows before the majesty of God, and receives Christ's salvation by faith and publicly declares, "not my will, but thine be done." It is this seed line that underscores the vital nature of our Lord's admonishment, "You must be born-again to enter or see the Kingdom of God."

Patriarchy is a dirty word in today's culture yet you use the term often in your book. What is biblical patriarchy?

You cannot write a book on leadership and avoid the name or its implications for the family, church, and our culture. According to Weldon M. Hardenbrook, "The biblical term patriarchy is derived from two words in the Greek language. 'Patria' is taken from the word pater, father, which means family; and 'archy,' which means, beginning, first in origin and to rule. A 'patriarch' is a family ruler. He is the man in charge." I not only agree with the definition, but also add my amen to Mr. Hardenbrook's exhortation, "But whether we use this word (patriarchy) or not, without its recovery, without its function being made known and its reality working in society, there is absolutely no clear positive way to redeem the male identity."

This particular chapter challenges men to return to their God-ordained position, role, and function to restore divine order and the blessing it provides for women, children, and society.

In keeping with that question, you also wrote a chapter on Biblical femininity. Can you briefly comment on this chapter?

The two main reasons for these chapters are to reveal the inherent weakness within men and women, which is ignored to the detriment of families and society. The other purpose was to point out the confusion generated by the misunderstanding between function and value as it pertains to women.

As stated previously, the sin nature, which manifests in men, typically leads to passivity and irresponsibility. Men are typically passive when it comes to God's righteousness and aggressive when it comes to wickedness. When the going gets tough and manhood is required, men tend to take off and become irresponsible.

For women, the inherent weakness within them is to manipulate, control, and dominate men. The combination of passive males and dominating females has created the sexual confusion that is running rampant in this generation.

In value, Christ loves us all the same. Men are not superior and women are not inferior when it comes to the salvation of the Lord. There is, however, a marked difference when it comes to function and the distinctive roles God established between men and women. The divine order is God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the man, and man is the head of the woman (1 Corinthians 11:3). I know our modern day era chafes against this revelation, but it is true nonetheless. Most of the dysfunction in our families can be traced to ignorance of the inherent weaknesses manifested through gender and violation of God's order in the marriage covenant.

In society we hear a lot about freedom„Ÿ "freedom of choice," "freedom of sexual orientation," "freedom from want." In your book you define freedom differently. What is the correct definition of freedom?

Our Founding Fathers believed that there were two main enemies to freedom, licentiousness amongst the citizenry and tyranny in civil government. Both are manifesting under our watch. Biblically and historically in America, true freedom was not the allowance to do what we want to do, when we want to do it, and with whomever we want to do it with. Freedom in this case leads to anarchy, which unchecked, leads to tyranny.

The freedom they fought and died to secure is the freedom to do what is right. John Adams clearly stated, "Our Constitution was made for only a religious and moral people. It is entirely unsuitable for any other." George Washington asserted that religion and morality were the firmest supports for liberty. Let not any man claim himself a patriot who would undermine them.

You also explore the issue of education in your book. You look at it more from a jurisdictional perspective. Could you explain?

Education in the Latin means to "pour in and draw out." When we examine the condition of our youth culture, I believe it is prudent to examine what is being poured into our children by the state-run schools and what is being drawn out. I believe many of our societal woes, such as, illiteracy, moral depravity, and loss of saving-faith that is running rampant in this generation can be traced back to government schools.

Most believe, however, that the sources of failure in public education are due to lack of money or the need for better teachers. We have spent billions of dollars pursuing this course of action. Has the quality of education improved? Not hardly, and for one main reason, education at its core is not just a matter of money or teachers, it is a jurisdictional issue.

In other words, nowhere in the Bible does God ordain the state to teach our young. Education does not fall within the parameters of their civil functions. The primary government responsible for the education of our children is family government. Parents and not the state are responsible before God to train up their children. When Americans submit their children to the state to educate in their stead, untold damage results: unruly children, parental despair, excessive taxation, and a major issue for the church, 85 % of Christian young people renounce their faith by their first year in college. What other business can remain solvent, if they failed 85 % of the time? And yet most of America and the church refuse to connect the dots between public education and the failure of our families, church, and nation.

In your book, you describe your family. How many children do you have? Do you homeschool? What is life like with so many children?

I am a Kingdom man seeking to raise a Kingdom family for the glory of God. We have a multi-generational vision to advance God's Kingdom in the earth. As a result, we have been blessed with 13 children. From the very beginning, we decided to homeschool our children based upon the teaching found in Deuteronomy 6, which states, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Based upon this passage I state in the book, "loving God is the greatest commandment and the greatest application of this commandment is home education."

Life in the Thomas Nation is never boring. There are many challenges in seeking to raise godly children in today's world, but it also very rewarding when we see them fulfill what the Apostle John wrote, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth (3 John 4)."

How can people contact you?

The best way to contact us is through our website at www.elijahmin.com.

Order your copy of our new book today!

IN KING JESUS' SERVICE,

Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas