“Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by human court.  In fact, I do not even judge myself.  For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”           1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Please pray for Flip today as he heads to court today.  Here are the details as written by Rusty Thomas:

You might remember that the week before our national event in Charlotte, Flip was called into court over breaking the sound ordinance, along with other trumped up charges of resisting arrest.  Keep in mind that we had applied for a sound permit and it had been granted.  If that case had been won, it would have seriously hindered our witness during the event.  Instead, after the city rested their case, which looked air tight, the defense attorney that the Lord had provided began to make his move.  He asked how much training the officers had on operating the complex piece of equipment that measured the sound decibel.  They reluctantly explained that they did not have complete training, but only an hour on just the part they needed to measure sound.  He asked if they calibrated it before each use.  They confirmed that to be true.  He then asked for a demonstration.  The sound ordinance stated that the amplified volume needed to be below 75 decibels.  When they had measured the sound that morning at the mill, they had been standing about 10 to 15 feet away and read the decibel at 85.  In the courtroom that day, they were about twenty-five feet away.  As our defense attorney spoke (without any amplification) he asked what the decibel reading was…it was at 77.  At that point, the judge wanted to see the video tape of the arrest, and after watching, dismissed all charges, including resisting arrest.  The judge forcibly reprimanded the police department for bringing that charge.  It was stated to me that she said something to the fact that they had given Flip grounds for a lawsuit against the city.
 
You might also remember Pastor Ronnie Wallace’s adventure as he climbed a tree outside the abortion mill during that same event and stayed there for roughly 10 hours.  He has recently gone to court for charges stating that he “obstructed justice.”  For those that don’t know, Pastor Ronnie is a diabetic who walks with a cane.  He had brought a ladder to the mill so that he could see over the wall and preach to those going into the mill.  This is something he does on a regular basis, but this time the police presence was intensified because of our event.  One lady Sergeant very boastfully stated that the laws had changed that week and she would let us know what we were allowed to do.  She then sent officers to inform Pastor Ronnie that if he would not get off his ladder, he would be arrested.  As they tried to take him off the ladder, he climbed the tree on which he was leaning.  They took his ladder and just began to wait him out.  After a couple of hours, they called the fire department to get him out of the tree.  They were told by the fire chief that their department would not get involved with a man being in the tree.  They stated, “He will come down eventually.”  Our precious children that were present that day began to sing “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he…He climbed up in a sycamore tree to see what he could see…”  They kept calling out, “Zacchaeus, you come down from there!”  Pastor Ronnie would reply, “Nope!  They are gonna have to come get me!”  Knowing Pastor Ronnie’s persistence, some of our folks went and bought mattresses to place around the tree in case he fell.  The police stayed and just began to wait him out.  Then something amazing happened!  Around 7:30, a loud crashing boom was heard as a flash of light hit the air.  The electrical transformer on that block had blown.  This just happened to be during the police shift change, and as Pastor Ronnie witnessed the whole scenario from his perch, he knew he was free to go.  He proceeded to climb down the tree and went home without an officer in sight. 

This is the bizarre, yet delightful story that was told just recently in court in front of a very liberal judge.  Upon hearing the entire story as told by the city and then the defense attorney, the Judge actually threw the papers that stated the grounds for the case over his shoulder.  He then directed his words at the city attorney and told them to stop bringing this kind of stuff before him!  He told Pastor Ronnie that he had every right to preach from a tree!  His question to the city was, “Just what was he obstructing?”  What was interesting, however, is that he told Pastor Ronnie that it was illegal for him to park his car where he did.  He then called over the plaintiffs and “wore them out.”  He basically let them know that they had brought the wrong charges. 

Because the transformer blew that day, the power to the abortion mill was out for three days during our national event!  We did not have to even think of that mill and we could focus our efforts elsewhere!  We want to make sure we give God all the glory for his mighty hand in answering the prayers of the saints and Pastor Ronnie’s courageous faithfulness to preach the Gospel at all cost.