MR. BENNETT I HARDLY KNEW YE-

MR. BENNETT I HARDLY KNEW YE-

“I was in tears and asked how he found out about the ministry of Stephen Bennett Ministries. He told me he was at a 'gay' pride parade in Texas this summer and someone handed him our 'I Was Gay' tract. He kept it and held on to it as his only source of hope, until he could get up the courage to call the ministry. Well, that planted seed this summer paid off. We prayed together and he rededicated his life on the phone." (The words of Stephen Bennett to John Reyes of Operation Save America - Dallas following OSA's 2003 outreach to homosexuals at the gay pride parade.) For the entire story see: <http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/streets/tx/fruit-cometh-forth.htm>

Sadly Stephen Bennett seems now to have forgotten the fruit that comes forth when men and women of God take the Gospel of Jesus Christ out of the churches and into the streets. In his latest release Mr. Bennett reveals that he “is troubled by the methodology“of the Philadelphia 11. He says their actions are “[not] what Jesus would have done.” Flip's response follows Stephen Bennett's article.

Flip's response to Stephen Bennett:

Stephen Bennett is wrong here! This is what other pro-life ministries do to those of us who take the Gospel of Christ to the abortion mills, "I agree with your message - I just don't agree with your methodology." Sound familiar?

The Philadelphia 11 did nothing but speak the truth in love and sing a hymn before they were rudely interrupted by the "pink angels," then arrested by the Philadelphia Police Department, prosecuted by the Philadelphia City Prosecutors, and piled on by the United States Department of Justice. That old line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid keeps coming to mind when Butch blew up a safe and the money was scattered to kingdom come. Sundance looked at Butch, when all hope of recovering the money was gone, and asked, "Do you think you used enough dynamite, Butch?"

This was a set-up from the get go. All of the legal fury from hell was unleashed. Every “legal” apparatus the devil could muster was brought down upon these precious Christians and was used, to shut them up! Not only was the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ silenced at the Philadelphia "Outfest," but it sent a chilling message to Christians everywhere that Christianity will not be allowed in the streets while sodomites are practicing and strutting their stuff.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Stephen, we are not here simply to lead those lost in homosexual bondage to Christ. As wonderful and essential as that is, there is a cultural war going on. It is the war between two seeds, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15 ). One is the truth, and one is a lie. One brings life, and the other brings death. One makes us free, one makes us slaves.

We are here to proclaim that the seed of the woman (Jesus) is the true King. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the One who makes us free. He is the one who calls homosexuality an abomination. He calls it a sin! It will lead directly to hell.

Homosexuality destroys those who practice it, and it destroys nations that approve of that behavior. We are presently immersed in a battle for the very life of our nation. The violent homosexual agenda is forcing its doctrine of death down our throats through the courts and the media. It is rapidly winning acceptance (tolerance) in America . It cannot stand unopposed!

“Those who forsake the Law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.” Proverbs 28:4. The Law of God is rapidly being forsaken in America . Abortionists, homosexuals, adulterers, pornographers, ad nauseam, are being praised while our culture continues down the slippery slope to utter moral degradation.

We must fight for the life of our nation in the strong Name of Jesus. We must resist those who forsake God's Law – not tolerate them in the name of compassion. Homosexuality is a lie, a trap, and a snare! It leads young men and women into sexual bondage. It leads to death. We must love them enough to tell them the truth. This is exactly what the Philadelphia 11 did.

Their methodology on that day in October when the eleven of them allowed the theology of the church house to become biography in the streets of Philadelphia was to unsheathe the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). Not a bad methodology when one considers the alternatives.

Stephen, you are in danger of making your conversion experience into law. Because you came to Christ in the manner that you did, therefore everyone else must come the same way. Not so my young friend. You have constructed for yourself the “either/or” fallacy, while the Truth is “both/and.” You are also in danger of misrepresenting the Gospel of Christ and those who are truly fighting the “battle between two seeds.”

The Gospel that Jesus preached, the Gospel His disciples preached, the Gospel that we preach is not just a Gospel of personal salvation. It is far more than that. It is the Gospel of a King and a Kingdom where God's Law reigns, moving into a kingdom where the devil reigns. One brings life, the other brings death. Neither kingdom will tolerate the other. One will bruise the heel, the other will crush the head.

It is a violent battle between these two seeds. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Matthew 11: 12.

When the tiny little army (11 people) approached the Philadelphia “Outfest” where there were thirty thousand strong standing in blatant rebellion to the Word of God, they dared to unsheathe the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). For that act of biblical obedience they are now being crucified by the laws in our land. Is it too much to ask that we stand with them?

In Christian love,

Flip

We are, all of us, born with a sinful nature. Though none of us may choose the outward physical manifestation that our sinful nature may take (fornication, adultery, murder, homosexuality, etc.) we are, nevertheless responsible for it.