Volume 12 Issue 4 - April 1997 A MAN GOD CAN USE But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:2b) In 2 Chronicles 16: 9, we are assured by Holy Writ that the Lord diligently searches throughout the whole earth in order to show Himself strong on the behalf of someone whose heart is perfect towards Him. In light of this awesome truth, I believe Heaven’s challenge to the Church in this hour is, "Go ahead, make my day, and give me an excuse to show Myself strong." In spite of your fears, regardless of the opposition, simply cross the line of obedience where my grace is sufficient and behold the salvation of your God." Though I believe, indeed, in this Holy challenge, preparation is extremely important to all those who would dare yield their lives to answer this noble summons. We must not only be willing to cross the line of obedience, but we must also remain faithful, once we take up our position. There, we will be greeted by three strategic testings that every child of God must face in answering the call to become someone God can use. Those three sticky trial areas are poverty, obscurity, and success. As one who is very familiar with the first two, it comes with a little surprise, that success, in all probability, is the most deadliest of them all. At least, when you’re struggling with the first two conditions, you have sense enough to be humble and completely dependent upon the gracious hand of the Lord. Whereas, success tends to give us a false sense of security that everything we do or are involved with has the endorsement of Heaven upon it. This dangerous mentality runs very deep in some segments of the Church. As a result, the promises of God have become more important in the Church than the nature of God. This may account for the obsession amongst believers that has reduced their faith to health, wealth, and prosperity, while attributes like fidelity, sacrifice, duty, and commitment have been found wanting amongst many of God’s people. I believe it was theologian, A.W. Tozer, who made the profound statement that, "It is doubtful God can use greatly, any man He does not hurt deeply." To many in the modern Church, this statement would be considered heresy, but to those who have borne the brunt of battle in advancing God’s Kingdom, they know the stark reality of that deep insightful truth. So then, who is the person that God can greatly use in His service? The following is a letter written about one of God’s choicest vessel’s, George Whitefield, the great Revivalist Preacher of the eighteenth century, by a man whose name was John Willison . Brother John, it seems, was at first critical of Whitefield, but after witnessing his ministry and coming to know him personally, he had a change of heart. Thus he declared of Whitefield, "I look upon this youth as raised up of God for special service. I see him wonderfully fitted both in body and mind, for going through with his projects, against the greatest discouragement and difficulties. I see the man to be all of one piece. It is truly a rare thing to see one so eminent for humility in the midst of applause; for meekness and patience under reproaches and injuries; for love to enemies; for desire to glorify Christ and save souls; acquiescing to the will of God in all cases, never fretting, but still praising and giving thanks in everything. It is rare to see in a man such a flaming fire for God in the pulpit, and yet most easy and calm when conversing with men out of it; careful not to give offence to any of them, and yet never courting the favor of any. This worthy youth is singularly fitted to do the work of an evangelist. And seeing the Lord has stirred him up to venture his life, reputation, and his all for Christ; to refuse the best benefices in his own country, and run hazards by sea and land...I truly think we ought to honor him, and to esteem him very highly in love for his work’s sake." I found this letter in a book called, "George Whitefield, God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century." While I was ministering in Costa Rica, I devoured each page, prayerfully aware, that this was a man that God had greatly used. In fact, I dare to say, that the Lord, through this yielded servant, sent me a blessed reminder of what God can do through someone totally sold out for the cause of Christ. Even during his own lifetime, many considered Whitefield, "the most brilliant and popular preacher the modern world has ever known." In the wake of his fearless preaching, revival swept the British Isles, and the Great Awakening completely transformed the American Colonies. When Whitefield died at age 55, he had preached more than 30,000 sermons. His audiences ranged from the poor coal miners of England, to the English Aristocrats, to powerful American Statesmen, such as Ben Franklin, as well as to the uneducated oppressed slaves that was a blight upon our beloved land. Regardless of the danger, the rejection of the established Church, the mobs who beat him, the media and artists who mocked, scorned, and vilified him, Whitefield set his heart like a flint to give his life for the Gospel. Surely, his righteous example can inspire each and everyone of us to become a person that God can use in the midst of this perverse and crooked generation. VICTORY IN JESUS "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57) First of all, I would like to thank all of you from the Waco area who participated in the Solemn Assembly and the subsequent City Council meeting concerning the Homosexual agenda in Waco. I wanted you to know that your support and participation was not in vain. With God’s aid, your honoring of God and His Holy Word has literally rocked the powers that be and is responsible for creating one of the most notable City Council meetings in the history of Waco. Like most, I was unprepared for the four spontaneous ovations that erupted amongst God’s people as His Word was proclaimed publicly and without shame by the five anointed speakers. There was no mistaking the presence of the Spirit of the living God as tears streamed down the faces of many of those who were present as the glorious name of Jesus was exalted. I have heard of many who were touched and greatly moved by what they saw and heard on the rebroadcast of that particular City Council meeting on TV. On the other hand, if you have seen the editorial page, you know the liberals in our city went absolutely ballistic. I guess it was their way of giving us a perverse compliment, acknowledging (however grudgingly) the effectiveness of the Church when she stands for the truth. The last I’ve heard, the City Officials have decided to remove all displays from the Public Library. Thus removing another format for the Homosexuals to indoctrinate our children to their perverse lifestyle. This is a partial victory for those of us who have fought to push back this unholy juggernaut in Waco. The best news of all comes by way of a glorious testimony. Apparently, a Christian couple was channel surfing, when they came across the City Council meeting, exactly at the time when brother Darryl Foster was courageously sharing his testimony. The couple froze as they heard brother Darryl cry out to our city ,denouncing the "gay lifestyle" that held his own self in perverse bondage and degradation for eleven long years. Their hearts received hope as Darryl had his wife and three children stand for all to see the miracle that God performed in his life by setting him free from that debilitating sin and abomination. The reason why this couple viewing this on t.v. considered this such a divine appointment was because their daughter (who was raised in a Christian home) just came back to them ,ensnared by the lesbian lifestyle. After the program, the Lord moved upon them to contact Darryl to see if he would come to minister to their daughter. Without hesitation, Darryl came immediately to this prodigal daughter and through his testimony and the power of God’s Word, Darryl gently, but firmly, led her out of the pit of despair into the loving arms of her Heavenly Father. She was gloriously saved and the Lord brought healing to that devastated home. To God Be All The Glory! THE BATTLE COMES HOME "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." (Psalms 34:19) On the heels of these tremendous breakthroughs and victories, my family, particularly, my children, were assaulted by one accident, injury, and disease after another. Spiritually and financially, Liz and I found ourselves at about our wits end. In the ten years of serving the Lord in this great struggle for the soul of America, Liz and I had never witnessed a more prolonged vicious attack come upon our six children. In times past, no matter how great the battle, it seemed there was always a special hedge of protection around our children. This past month proved that a line was crossed spiritually and we covet your prayers for our family. I didn’t question the Lord as to why and wherefore, I just let Him no that I love Him and still trust Him explicitly. Shekinah, our oldest, was hit the hardest. She tripped over a stray dog and fell, smashing her beautiful face with a glancing blow on a concrete step. There was blood everywhere as I rushed her to the emergency room. The force of the blow literally separated her face, so that I could look and almost see her gums through the split in her face. It took a Plastic Surgeon to put her face back together again. Unfortunately, Liz and I can’t afford insurance, so the entire amount falls squarely upon us. Between the Doctor and the Hospital, we now owe close to $2,100.00 dollars. Please stand with us in prayer, seeking the Lord on our behalf to: #1) completely mend our daughter, #2) protect our family, and #3) meet this pressing financial need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Thank you! AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON BY CONGRESSMAN CHRIS SMITH "I personally wish you and your family good health and long life. And while I know Monday’s inaugural was a big moment for you, know that millions mourn the probable consequences of your re-election to a second term. A generation of kids - both here and abroad - are at risk because of you. For four long years you have waged a relentless war on defenseless unborn children - and millions have been butchered on your watch. Only a determined bipartisan in Congress checked your obsession with promoting abortion. You tried, Mr. President, to compel taxpayers to pay for and expand abortion on demand as part of your ill-fated national health care reform. You’ve tried to repeal the Hyde Amendment. Failing that, you sought to weaken it. By pushing the so-called Freedom of Choice Act you tried to repeal modest state laws that require waiting periods and informed consent. You, Mr. President, have authorized the use of human embryos as "guinea pigs" in scientific experiments. You’ve made felons out of peaceful and sincere pro-lifers who pray outside abortion clinics and engage in non-violent civil disobedience - a staple of the civil rights movement. You’ve greased the skids at the FDA for a new baby poison - RU 486. The French Abortion pill doesn’t heal or eradicate disease - it kills infants. And you, Mr. President, have pushed an international right to abortion, both overtly and covertly, at UN Conferences and as a key component of U.S. foreign policy. You’ve demanded that taxpayers provide hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the death peddlers overseas like Planned Parenthood, who undermine and seek the repeal of pro-life laws in other countries. Your Administration demands that countries accept population control policies before they are given desperately needed food and medicines. And last year, you vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban using bogus science and deceitful logic. How anyone, especially a "Rhodes Scholar," can defend sticking a pair of scissors into a partially born baby’s head so as to puncture the child’s skull so a suction catheter can be inserted to empty out the child’s brain? How can anyone support this and then say he is for children? My wife is a former elementary school teacher, and she said recently that if a young student were to stab her doll in the back of the head, alarm bells would go off and we would say that this child appears to have deep psychological problems - and was in need of professional help and posed a potential threat to others. Yet your veto last year continued legal sanction for this gruesome assault on children. I always find it hard to understand how someone who has so much, someone who has been given such an abundance of talent, skill, and opportunity, could use those gifts - and your strategic position as president - to empower abortionists to commit violent acts against babies. As things stand today, you are the Abortion President - and unless you change course your legacy will be Bill Clinton - Abortion President. Mr. President, the Scripture admonishes us to pray for those in authority and we will be faithful to that. As believers we will pray and sincerely hope you reject the culture of death - the abortion culture. While we pray and sincerely hope that you and Mr. Gore will have a change of heart, be certain of this: out of love and compassion for the disenfranchised and the weak, pro-life Americans will bear the burden of this struggle until we re-establish the right to life. We will not be slack in shouldering the responsibility to act decisively. We will cheerfully embrace any sacrifice whatsoever to protect the victims of abortion - both mother and child. Safeguarding children and their mothers from the cruelty of abortion is the human rights cause of our time. Pro-lifers, Mr. President, will never give in, never retreat, and pro-life Americans will never cease in our striving to protect innocent human life. Sincerely, Chris Smith, Member of Congress. GOVERNOR DAVID M. BEASLEY "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." 2 Samuel 23:3 My family and I just returned from the historic gathering in Montgomery, AL, where we participated in the "Save the Ten Commandments" rally. Though the message wasn’t new, (Operation Rescue National has been preaching it for close to ten years now) it was significant, due to the fact it was being heralded by a Governor, an Attorney General, and a godly feisty Judge by the name of Roy Moore. There was a certain trumpet sound given at this powerful gathering. In essence, these men of God made it clear to the powers that be (which included the ACLU and renegade federal judges) that regardless of their tyrannical lawsuits and in spite of their unjust rulings, those Ten Commandments will not be removed, neither will prayer cease. Governor Fob James basically told them it would be a terrible mistake if they doubt his resolve in this matter. Judge Roy Moore challenged God’s people to endure the battle and to not falter. He issued a warning to the effect, "If it’s too hot in the kitchen you may need to leave, but as you go, it will be my prayer that history will forget that you were ever my countrymen." The Pensacola Pastors who are riding the wave of the revival came and closed the meeting with a penetrating challenge to the Church. They declared that long before our government stripped the Ten Commandments from the public realm, the Church had already removed them from our hearts. Steve Hill said, "Some of you will defend the Ten Commandments today and tonight you will be at a bar guzzling beer and go home to watch an X-rated movie. Let me tell you something, my friend, you can do all this and be baptized too, but you’ll still split hell wide open with baptism waters streaming down your face." At one point, a little fifteen year old girl began to sing the theme song for the revival called, "Mercy Seat." The majority of the twenty to twenty-five thousand folks dropped to their knees ,weeping in repentance for our sins and the sins of this wayward nation. I praise God that my family and I had the honor to be in what I pray was America’s equivalent to a Mt. Carmel gathering. Remember, it was at Mt. Carmel, at that one gathering, where God used Elijah to turn an entire backslidden nation back into the loving arms of their Lord. May it be so once again! Arise ,O God, and let your enemies be scattered! The following is the letter Governor David Beasley of South Carolina sent to support Governor Fob James in this battle for the Law of God and the return for righteousness in our land. Brethren, I pray as you read these words, your hearts will be encouraged to know that God is moving in this country. More and more public leaders are taking a stand as you will witness by this little note. February 14, 1997
IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE, Rusty Lee Thomas |