MAY 1998 Newsletter

WELCOME TO THE GENTLE REVOLUTION

THE LYNCHBURG EXPERIENCE

By Kristene O'Dell
Our mission in Lynchburg was not a clear one. We knew Flip had been unjustly sentenced, yet we still had so many questions that needed to be answered. The more I tried to make sense of things, the more I conjured up images in my head of what might have happened. What followed over the next few days completely dispelled any questions I had over the way things were conducted at E.C. Glass High School.

We began our event with a press conference held at E.C. Glass. There were about 100 of us standing on the sidewalk singing praise songs and holding signs. The sidewalks were a good distance from the enormous building and I noticed we looked like ants up next to the school. They routed the kids out another door and we were unable to get literature to them. As the buses drove by, some of the students gave us the thumbs up, but most of them were yelling, "Pro-choice!"

I did get to view videotape from the original Glass event. Flip was on the sidewalk encouraging the Liberty students who were on their knees praying and singing. Every time I saw different clips from that day, I was more convinced that nothing the least bit intimidating happened.

I had heard the outlandish stories that were going out from the city officials to justify what they had done. They grew bigger and bigger as the weeks progressed. I heard one story that said Flip and John were inside the school, holding kids up against lockers and forcing them to take literature. John supposedly blocked the doors to the school (why?). While we were there, the school officials locked the kids in the classrooms to create fear of us in them. The Lynchburg school administration began to sound more like clinic escorts protecting a lie than teachers educating children.

As the week progressed, we met Pastor Knodel who had gone to the trial. We have enclosed his letter describing what he saw. Pray for him. He is still working on Flip's behalf to speak to the pastors in Lynchburg. Mr. Clark, who is the father of the lead police officer on the scene of the original event, came forward and spoke the truth of what his son saw that day. In his own words, Officer Clark saw an event that honored the Lord. Lisa Lively, a student from Liberty who took part in the Glass event, also came and stood with us. She spoke to us during our rally and encouraged us all. These people were such a blessing to us.

It was a hard week in Lynchburg. Nothing made much sense. If there is still any doubt in your mind as to what happened that day, there is one more thought I can leave with you. There were five high school students saved the day Flip went to E.C. Glass. If it was not an event that honored the Lord, then why did the Lord honor us so greatly? I think He was pleased with what he saw.

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM OUR LEADER

Thank you for the thousands of encouraging cards and letters you have been sending to Faye and me during my stay in the Lynchburg City Jail. Your prayers and financial support have been overwhelming. On Easter Sunday the Lord gave me an opportunity to preach. There were seven who gave their hearts to Jesus! Having the saints join us a couple of weeks ago in the battle here was inspiring. The papers and news media were filled with reports of pesky Christians living out their faith in the streets. You have had a profound effect on this city. When words fail, God speaks in "living parables," and that is exactly what you became.

You all know by now the events leading up to my imprisonment here. I want you to know that the 300 Liberty University students who joined us in allowing their theology to become biography at the E.C. Glass High School represented the heart of our Lord Jesus very well. Every police officer at the trial testified to the well-behaved and respectful manner in which the Liberty students conducted themselves. This is precisely the reason we were acquitted of the "Disorderly Conduct" charge.

The American Family Association has spared no expense to enable us to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the gates of hell. We thank God for AFA and the brilliant attorneys that have come alongside to represent us in courts all over this land. Our AFA attorneys challenged the constitutionality and downright absurdity of the "Parading Without a Permit" charge. We also were acquitted of this charge, and never again will a citizen ever have to request such a permit to assemble on the public sidewalks of Lynchburg.

This left poor Judge Richard S. Miller with only one charge left - "Trespass." As the court testimony of police officers verifies, when we were made aware we were on a private sidewalk by police, we immediately left. That is why there were no arrests made that day and no citations issued. No laws were broken and the Lynchburg Police Department testified to that fact.

We did, however, break an unwritten but very real demonic law and are now suffering the consequences of such a radical act. We dared to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the very gates of hell. That's right! The local government school has become a very potent manifestation of the gates of hell. Since God has been expelled from school and banished from the schoolyard, he has been replaced by an enemy who has come to rob, kill, and destroy.

Metal detectors, police patrolling school hallways, drug-sniffing dogs, drugs, gangs, condoms, and every imaginable form of violence are common sights in our schools today. Kids killing kids at schools in Pearle, Mississippi; Peducah, Kentucky; and Jonesboro, Arkansas, are not just anomalies, they are signs that we are reaping a heart of violence because we have turned our back to Almighty God.

This is precisely the reason that we have entered into the "God is Going Back to School" campaign. It is our desire to bring God back to school, Ten Commandments and all, through the hearts and lives of our kids entering into the not-so-safe confines of the public school. It has become very evident here in Lynchburg that passing out condoms at E.C. Glass High School is OK, but passing out Gospel tracts is likened to an invasion of hate-filled bigots intent on forcing their puritanical dogma down the throats of kids in school.

It appears that we have touched something with the Gospel of Christ that the enemy wants left alone. The public school is now his nasty little domain. If we arrive near his premises with Jesus, he is going to give it to us good. This is why John Reyes and I were sentenced to one year in jail (six months suspended) and a $500 fine. The city attorney said he was sending a message to any other smart-aleck Christian that would attempt to do the same thing.

Why does the enemy want us to stay away from his public school system? He owns it! Through it he can get our kids. Violence was sown into the hearts of our children long before it manifested itself physically in our government school system. The devil does everything possible to weigh down and deter our kids from achieving the God-given destiny for their lives. He does violence to their hearts by robbing them of a biblical and historical perspective of God's working in history. He does violence to our kids by separating them from their parents and playing them into the hands of educators who have no fear of God. He does violence to our kids by teaching them principles in direct opposition to God's principles (premarital sex, condoms, abortion, ad nauseam.)

We have allowed the enemy to sow violence in the hearts of our kids, and today we are reaping the whirlwind of violence that accompanies this utter foolishness.

I write this to you that you might see the ferocity of the battle we are engaged in. My imprisonment had nothing to do with Trespassing, Parading Without a Permit, or Disorderly Conduct. It is about who is Lord of our children. It is about whose laws reign - God's or Satan's. It is about a battle that was first fought in heaven (Rev. 12:7-17) and then moved to the earth (Gen. 3:1-15) and has continued to ravage this planet throughout the pages of history. The battle continues today in the City of Lynchburg, Virginia and in cities all over the globe. It will continue until Christ returns as conqueror. It is our part today to enter into this battle as did the saints who have gone before us and overcame this violent beast by "the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and not loving their own lives so much as to shrink from death." (Rev. 12:11).

This we do at every gate where the enemy is contending. He is robbing our kids of the memories of God, aborting the young, euthanizing the old, stealing destiny and purpose, destroying the family, and filling the earth with violence (Gen. 6:11-13). At every gate we will confront the enemy with the Gospel of Christ, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Though our heel may be bruised (jailed in Lynchburg), we are assured that we will crush his head (Gen. 3:15, Rom.16: 20).

I am looking forward to being with you at the gates of hell in Orlando, Florida, May 31 - June 7. We will give our God an excuse to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or imagine. Fight the good fight, gentle warriors!

OPERATION PUSH BACK

It never ceases to amaze me that if we, by faith, storm the gates of hell, our God pushes the enemy back. He is simply looking for His people to give Him an opportunity to act. This is our part. We must make our theology in the safety of the church house become biography on the dangerous battlefront (the gates of hell). This is always a risky business following hard after Christ. But it is ever so liberating to the spirits of men.

Our biblical mandate: "Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes." Ps. 44:5.

We call this "Operation Push Back." It is our part to follow Christ into battle, continually advancing toward the gates of hell and then pass the mighty Word and works of God into the hearts of our children and grandchildren (Ps. 44:1-4). It is not by our swords that we gain victory over the enemy, it is by the mighty hand of God.

During our conflict on this earth, the enemy of our souls will surely bruise our heels, but we are assured that if we will continue to advance, we will crush his head (Romans 16:20). Once the vision for this battle has penetrated deeply into the hearts of our kids, there will rise up an army for Christ that no enemy can withstand. Even though we (parents) may be removed from the battlefield by wounding or death, our kids will not be waggled or deterred from taking the battle to the gates. They will move further up and further into the kingdom than we ever have. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ.

In Christian love,
Flip Benham
Director of Operation Rescue National

Although I may be in Judge Miller's prison, I am not his prisoner. I belong to Christ and am a prisoner only of His call. I am freer today than I have ever been. Thank God for his indescribable gift (2 Cor. 9:15).

UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE GATES:

GOD IS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL (nationwide) Through June 1998
For a "God is Going Back to School" packet, please call 972-494-5316.

OPERATION PUSH BACK (National Rescue Event) May 31 - June 7, 1998 Make your reservations under the name "Operation Rescue" at the Quality Inn Maingate. Call 1-800-337-8479. We will see you in Orlando!