ORN April Newsletter 1997

April 1997

"I TELL YA I'VE SEEN EVIL OVERCOME BY GOOD. I TELL YA I'VE SEEN JESUS MOVIN' IN THE HOOD."

It is with hilarity in our hearts that we write this newsletter. We are hearing from across the country about your incredible exploits in the "God is Going Back to School Campaign." As a matter of fact, you are making international news. That's right! The British Broadcasting Company and several others have made trips to visit us here in Dallas in an attempt to discern what is happening with this "God and School thing." They will be visiting many of you, too!

The reports coming in are absolutely amazing. Babies are being saved, kids are being saved, Christian teachers are beginning to speak out, pastors and youth pastors are joining the fray, and the Truth is being proclaimed. School newspapers are filled with articles about what is happening on the sidewalks outside their schools. God has entered back into the battle for the hearts and minds of our kids. He has entered into the equation because you brought Him there.

THE GENTLE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN

In another major event on Saturday, April 12, an estimated crowd of 25,000 Christians gathered in Montgomery, Alabama, to support Judge Roy Moore's principled stand to keep the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. Many in attendance said it seemed like an old Operation Rescue get together because they saw so many fellow rescuers there. This didn't surprise us. But it did surprise and gratify us to see once timid voices for our Lord Jesus Christ rise up and speak with boldness for Him. It was even more encouraging to see the governors of Alabama and South Carolina taking a stand for Almighty God and His law in the face of a renegade federal court system.

At every gate the battle lines are becoming increasingly clear. There is no middle ground. There is no negotiating peace. There is no coalition building. There is no compromising of principle. There is only the steadfast proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord and there is no other. Upon this solid rock we stand - we can do no other!

"THE RETURN TO TRUTH" --- DAYTON, OHIO --- JULY 13-19

Plans are moving along splendidly as we prepare to bring Christians from across the nation together in Dayton, Ohio, July 13-19. Already an abortion mill that has been killing children in the Dayton area for the past twenty-four years closed its doors for good April 12, 1997. PRAISE GOD!

The faithful daily witness of Christians allowing their theology to become biography at this mill over the years has brought these seemingly invincible gates down. Simple Christians serving a Mighty God are having a huge impact as the GENTLE REVOLUTION begins to sweep across our land.

We are bringing the Church of Jesus Christ to the very gates of hell. This is what we do best! We will continue doing it until He returns to take us home with Him. If you are wondering why Dayton, it is because of its proximity to several major cities and because it is the home of abortionist Martin Haskell. Mr. Haskell is the supposed inventor and outrageous practitioner of the partial birth abortion procedure. We call what he does infanticide!

If you are planning a summer trip with your family, please make this one of your stops. It will be a never-to-be-forgotten experience. There will be powerful street activities, dynamic and courageous speakers, tremendous praise and worship, seminars for those with ears to hear and eyes to see, and exhilarating youth events. All will be focused on passing the cross of Christ faithfully to the next generation.

There is not a better way to deposit our rich Christian heritage into the hearts of our kids than to involve them in this great Gospel battle. At the end of every national event we receive countless letters from parents and teens telling us of their renewed love for the Lord and for each other. We are building stones of remembrance (masseboth, from the Hebrew word "to set up") into our children so that they, when launched from the bow of family, will plunge into the bull's-eye (destiny) for their lives.

SPEAKERS AND SEMINAR LEADERS

RANDALL TERRY ---- REV. PAT MAHONEY ---- REV. TERRY GENSMER
MRS. JUDIE BROWN ---- REV. JIM PINTO ---- REV. BRUCE MOORE
REV. KEITH TUCCI ---- REV. RUSTY THOMAS ---- REV. BILL SHANKS
JOE SCHEIDLER ---- JIM ANDERSON ---- REV. FLIP BENHAM

There will be many other great leaders from around the country who will be sharing in the teaching and preaching ministry in the streets.

MOVING FROM WHAT TO WHO

We are moving from WHAT will save our nation to WHO will save our nation. This is a fundamental paradigm shift. We Christians are finally coming to the glorious realization that involvement in the legislative processes of our land is not the "end all" and "be all" of our Christian activity and responsibility.

Yes, we must make our voices heard in the halls of Congress. Yes, we must raise up godly statesmen to run for office. Yes, we must encourage brothers and sisters to become politically active. But, there is no federally-sponsored program that will save us. There is no Legislative Initiative, no Executive Order, no Supreme Court Mandate that will wrest our nation from the hands of the enemy savaging it. There is no WHAT that can save our nation, only a WHO.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." Ps. 127:1

JESUS IS THE WHO!

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Jesus is all the hope we have and all the hope we need. When we bring Him to the gates of hell, those gates are commanded to be lifted up that the King of Glory may enter in (Ps. 24). As Christians are advancing against the gates of hell, the enemy is sounding a massive retreat. He is being exposed for the cowardly liar he is.

THE CRUMBLING OF THE LIE

Dr. Bernard Nathanson lied.
Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) lied.
Sandra Cano (Mary Doe) was lied to.

We know that these three either lied or were lied to because they themselves have told us so. With the exception of the Church of Jesus Christ, there are no three people on earth more instrumental for bringing us into the culture of death (the Roe v. Wade era) than these three.

Today, they are all confessing, professing Christians doing everything in their power to bring an end to the horrible lie savaging our nation. Who changed their minds? JESUS! How did they find out about Him? They learned about Him through simple folks like you who were living out their faith in the streets of our cities.

I will tell you a well-kept-secret. It was when Dr. Nathanson saw the folks of Operation Rescue out in the cold and blustery streets of New York City laying their lives down so that others might live that God pricked his heart. It was when Sandra Cano saw Christians laying down their lives at abortion mill doors in Atlanta, Georgia, that her heart was moved by Almighty God. It was when Miss Norma McCorvey saw the Christians of Operation Rescue up close and personal that her heart became "strangely warmed."

When theology moves from the church house to become biography in the streets, God Himself shows up. "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..." Jn. 1:14

God did not save us by staying in His heavenly sanctuary and praying for us to be brave and strong while passing down instructions that, if obeyed, would bring blessing. No, He came to this world in the person of Jesus to save us from our sin. There was no other way! There is no other way! So why should we attempt to change the battle plan? All we need to do is get the Church of Jesus Christ to the gates of hell, allowing the Word of God to become flesh again.

This is what changed the lives of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Sandra Cano, and Miss Norma McCorvey. God moved close to them through a much maligned organization called Operation Rescue. They received God's mercy and grace through Jesus' death and resurrection. Now they are singing a new song for Him. The truth is being told and hell is hemorrhaging. They are fighting the lie with the Truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and there is no other.

This is Christianity at its best. This is what is causing the enemy to scream "foul!" This is the reason for FACE, Gospel-free buffer zones, Gospel-free bubble zones, unscrupulous lawsuits, speech-chilling city ordinances, unconstitutional injunctions, federal marshals, and extended jail sentences. The enemy is defenseless against the Gospel of Christ. So, he is pulling out all the stops to silence the message that is so devastating to his nasty little kingdom.

Though our enemy is filled with fury, his head is being crushed and he knows it. We are continuing the massive assault on the gates of hell by taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ back into the schools of our land. But there is another gate our God is calling us to bring Him to and we will tell you more about that when you arrive in Dayton.

WOULD JESUS CARRY GRAPHIC PICTURES OF ABORTED BABIES?

The answer to this question is that He already did. That's right! When words fail, God speaks to us in living parables. Jesus spoke in parables when there was no other way to get His point across. He painted pictures for us so that we could see even though we did not perceive and hear even though we did not understand. He did this so that one day a light bulb in our brain might turn on and we would say, "Oh, that's what He meant!"

There is probably no more graphic a picture of God's love for us than when Jesus hung naked on a cross. He was wounded, bruised, bleeding, and marred beyond even looking like a man. Jesus was God's picture of His unbounded love for us. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)

VICTORY IN CONNECTICUT

In a major victory for pro-life Christians all over the country, attorneys from the American Family Association took on our beloved U.S. Attorney General and the State Attorney General of Connecticut over fraudulent and trumped up FACE charges against two gentle Christian warriors. Through thousands of hours of depositions and preparation, these aggressive attorneys took the battle into the enemy's court and won.

Millions in federal and state dollars were spent to remove Carmen Vasquez, Bob Riley, and Marilyn Carroll from the sidewalk in front of the Summit abortion mill, all for naught. There must be something these people are doing that is very dangerous to the State of Connecticut and the United States Government.

They represent the Lord Jesus Christ and are presenting moms and dads with a real choice. Over 500 babies have been saved in the past seven years of faithful sidewalk counseling at Summit Women's Center in Milford, Connecticut.

Keep Pressing the Gates in Jesus Name,

Flip Benham
Director

PS Do not forget about Dayton during the week July 13-19. See you there.