Volume 13 Issue 10 October 1998

THE MAN WHO STOOD ON THE CORNER

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." (Revelation 14:13)

In the last two weeks, three awesome warriors of the Lord went home to be with the One they loved and served on this earth. Our loss has become heaven’s gain. Pastor Mike Haley from Oklahoma, Pastor Kenneth Bonner from Chicago, and Waco’s own Lee Leonard, got promoted from the Church militant to the Church triumphant. These were men and women of God whose lives were the message. They lived out their faith, not only in the safe confines of church buildings, but on the streets all over this nation. They were gentle, yet bold in their witness. They were loving, yet did not dilute the truth. They were compassionate, yet did not back down against the tyranny and the injustice that is ruling the day. Brethren, these are saints of God that I truly loved and will greatly miss. Please pray for God’s comfort and arms of love to surround their families during this time of grief. The following is a poem written by the daughter of Pastor Bonner in honor of his homecoming.

Some men have stood in Hollywood, golden trophies in their hands. Others yet, in sports arenas, fans wildly cheering. Some have stood on Capital Hill, our laws to write or change at will.

This man stood on a corner. He stood in rain, in sun, in snow, and in ice. Sometimes in a crowd, sometimes alone. With results on earth as yet unknown.

But the God who sees in secret places has a list of all the unseen faces. Who passed by the man on the corner with his sign, some to live and some to die.

With all your talents, wisdom, and ambitions that are deep within your heart, could you ever hope to be so rewarded now as he? THE MAN WHO STOOD ON THE CORNER.

He now stands on streets of gold, who will stand on the corner?

With the passing of these precious saints, the unborn has also suffered a great loss. All three of these who have given up the ghost and have gone on to their reward were great advocates for those little ones who have no voice. They gave their lives to intercede and intervene on the behalf of those who were being led to the slaughter. During the funeral service of Pastor Bonner, his son, Kenneth Bonner Jr., (who will replace him as the pastor) used his father’s Bible to preach his eulogy. He purposely grabbed his father’s "sword" to brilliantly illustrate and powerfully proclaim to the Powers that Be that though his father has fallen in the battle, his son was there to pick up his sword and to continue the fight. It was moving to witness a son commit his life to follow in the footsteps of a dad who was not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He solemnly purposed in his heart to run the race, fulfill the vision, and to fight the good fight as his father before him. I only pray to God that others who see the "Mighty Fallen" will summon their courage, love, and example and run to take their place. The bottom line is this, the early Church Fathers are dead, the great Reformers are dead, our Founding Fathers are dead, but we are alive. They have faithfully run their lap of the race and have passed the baton to us. Their blessed work is done, its our turn now!

KINGDOM LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

"O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come." (Psalm 71:17,18)

While I was in Chicago saying a temporary goodbye to Pastor Bonner and commending his spirit to the Lord from which it came, the Lord opened up some effectual doors to minister. We went to two abortion mills, one high school, and had the opportunity to challenge about thirty young men at a youth Church meeting. There was a time I would cringe at the mere prospect of having to minister to young people. The pay was bad and there were too many hard hearts and folded arms to compete with. It seemed every youth group I went to had the same theme song, "I will not be moved." Well, that was then, but this is now. I live for the opportunity to challenge, impact, and impart something of God’s Kingdom to this next generation. My message that evening centered on the Scripture above. I used David’s heartfelt prayer as a launching pad to convince these young men of the great need for true godly righteous male leaders to arise and rescue their generation from the perverse spirit of the age that is targeting them for destruction.

I challenged these young men to adopt King David’s understanding of life as it relates to a continuum. Like David of old these young men needed to perceive the divine connection between the past, present, and the future. First of all, David knew the importance of history, what he learned from those godly ancestors who preceded him. He acknowledged that he was taught from his youth the Biblical and historical lessons that would shape his destiny in God. He knew he was the recipient of the time-honored truths, the glorious principles, and the righteous heritage found amongst God's people.

His heart’s cry was to pass unsquandered the strength of this godly legacy to his generation and by doing so, he was determined to secure a godly future for those he would never personally see. Unfortunately, for us and future generations this kind of generational thinking has been erased from our collective memory. We have fallen prey to evolutionary thinking, which essentially believes that that which is past is somehow inferior and that we are superior in revelation and intellect. As a result, the modern Church seems only interested in what is new. Christians run to and fro seeking a new move, a new doctrine and a new spiritual superstar to excite their faith. The Church believes to look back is somehow wrong, we must only look forward, but the hard truth is, if we don’t know where we came from, we will never see clearly to know where we are going. Every boat needs a rudder and every Christian needs to know the sacrifices of those who have gone before us. I don't know about you, but when I study the early church fathers, the martyrs, the reformers, and our founding fathers, I come away with the sense that I am a mental pygmy, and a spiritual dwarf. Their caliber of spirituality, intellect, and courage is inspirational as well as convicting. We would all do well to study their lives, follow their example, and emulate their character. Brethren, we might do well to consider that sometimes the "new thing" that God is doing is raising up men of God like Jeremiah who will cry out to a wayward nation that has lost their way, "Ask for the ancient paths."

A wise man once stated, "Those who don't know their history are condemned to repeat it." I believe with all my heart, that is why God emphasized over and over the importance of building memorials. So, the people of God would remember their history in order to faithfully teach the important lessons of that history to their children. The bottom line is, David understood the relevance and the significance of gleaning the time-honored truths of the past, the glorious principles that make a nation great, and faithfully apply them to the present, thereby securing a godly future for posterity.

In the spirit of that revelation, Elijah Ministries is expanding our vision to start a Kingdom Leadership Institute for young people. Tentatively, we are planning to kick off this venture on Sunday, December 27th, 1998, through Saturday, January 2nd, 1999, in the Bradenton, Florida area. It will be an intensified time of training, impartation, and application to inspire young people with a call to a brand of leadership that is marked by courage, vision, and a Biblical worldview. The Lord has been dealing with me to take the last ten years of my life and ministry and begin to sow it into this next generation. We have, especially through Operation Rescue, committed our lives to pass the cross of Christ to those coming behind us. For me, it was always a blessed by-product of taking the Gospel to the gates, but the Lord is challenging me to take another step. One that will impart the theology, principles, and experience that we have gleaned and seek to pass it to this next generation. We are praying that God will mightily use this to raise up true godly leaders that will be equipped to lead this nation out of the ruin of paganism and back to the righteous foundations of God’s word.

In our next newsletter, I will give further details, if you’re interested in coming or sending young people to participate in the pilot run. I’m planning to do a Kingdom Leadership Institute once a month throughout our nation in 1999. If you or your Church would be interested in sponsoring this event in your city to challenge young people, please give me a call at (254) 836-1037 and we will make the necessary arrangements. Please saturate this endeavor with much prayer. I truly believe it is a strategic outreach that will have a lasting value to advance God’s Kingdom in the earth.

EPISTLE TO FLORIDA

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 John 4)

As I write this month’s newsletter, I’m preparing to return to Florida, where I was privileged of God to witness the birth of many souls into the Kingdom of God and also the birth of a youth ministry. It will be a ministry marathon that will include Church services, men’s meetings , youth groups, leader’s meetings, and plenty of street outreach. We are planning to go to abortion mills, the homosexual "Church," a psychic fair, High Schools, and other assorted street activities. We are also planning a banquet ceremony to honor those young people who were faithful to submit themselves to be discipled and then take what they learned to engage their communities and the enemy with the truths of God’s word. We are praying for a double portion of God’s Spirit to be upon this special time of follow-up in Florida. The following is a letter I sent to the young people to encourage their hearts and to promise that we would be back to help strengthen their faith and resolve to press in and on to that high call and prize, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Dear Champions for Christ,

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." (Hebrews 2:1)

The Lord richly bless you! This memo is written to follow up and to encourage you to press on and to press in to the high call and prize that awaits every champion of Christ. Like the above passage states, there is a temptation to forget the things we’ve heard and to slip back into mediocrity. You must not allow that to happen. There is too much at stake concerning your future and the future of our beleaguered nation. Please call to remembrance the flame that God ignited in your hearts when you first heard the call to battle and received a revelation concerning the enemy that is savaging your generation. There is no question in my mind that God Almighty tapped into your hearts and challenged you to step out of the typical, bored-to-tears, American Christianity into the blood, sweat and tears of Biblical Christianity. It is going to take commitment, vision, courage and a thorough knowledge of God’s Word and history, if you are to be equipped to be the true, godly, righteous male leaders that are going to lead this nation out of the rubble of paganism back to the marvelous light of God’s truth.

Before I left, each and everyone of you made a commitment to meet together once a week to be discipled and mentored, in order to do great exploits for King Jesus. Tom McGlade and John Skorsky are genuine men of God who are willing to make that kind of investment into your lives. These men’s lives are the message you should heed and imitate. Don’t forsake this assembly. It is very important in your training to be agents of change this world so desperately needs.

I hope all of you are making plans to join us in Orlando for Operation Push Back. You will hear and see the physical manifestation of the spiritual battle that is raging for your souls and the soul of America. I dare say that you will learn more in one week on the streets, than sitting in a pew for a year. This is on-the-job training. I would strongly urge you to come for at least some of the time. It will be time well spent.

Finally, I want you to know that I’m praying for you and I’m looking forward to being with you in September or possibly October. Tom will be putting the schedule together. May the Lord continue to fan the flame that He began at our first meeting.

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rusty Lee Thomas

DEPOSITION TIME

"And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." (Matthew 10:18-20)

The Lord in His great faithfulness has raised up a godly attorney to defend us against the Department of Justice and their felonious FACE charge. His name is Rick Nelson from Orlando, Florida. Rick used to be the main litigator with the Liberty Counsel. He has since started his own attorney organization to defend pro-life, pro-family Christians who stand for righteousness in the public square. The main attribute I appreciate about Rick is he first considers himself an ambassador of Jesus Christ and then an officer of the court. This posture will hopefully open up many opportunities to fulfill our opening Scripture when we go to trial in Dayton, Ohio, in April of 1999.

On November 6th, I will be deposed by the U.S. Attorney’s office right here in Waco, TX. They will be compiling evidence that will hopefully find me guilty of being a Christian. I may even qualify as being a cultist according to Janet Reno’s definition. On June 26th, 1994, Janet Reno, the head of the Department of Justice gave this definition of what she considers a cultist to be on an interview with 60 Minutes.

"A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the Second Amendment; and who distrusts big government.

Any of these may qualify a person as a cultist, but certainly more than one of these would cause us to look at this person as a threat, and his family as being in a risk situation that qualified for government interference."

This absurd, irresponsible, and frightening statement came from one of the most powerful leaders in our nation. The very one, who with the full force of the U.S. government, is pursuing Flip and I, along with other committed Christians in Operation Rescue. Though God is not given us a spirit of fear, it is a little disconcerting to realize that this is the mindset of those who wield the civil sword.

Let me ask you, my friend, according to Janet Reno, do you qualify as a cultist? Should you be considered a threat to the legitimate interests of the U.S. government? Should your children be taken away from you because of your Biblical belief system? I know these questions seem ludicrous to any rational thinking person, but not so in a time when rational thought, God’s Laws, and true justice has been replaced by pure political agenda. Is it any wonder why we are considered such a threat to this corrupt administration that defends baby-killers and homosexuality?

Brethren, we are about to step into the lion’s den where the inmates are running the asylum. Our case is not about trespassing at abortion mills. It is a struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, and heaven and hell. It is a battle between the two seeds, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. It’s a clash between the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of the Anti-Christ. It is the conflict between two worldviews, one where God is the center and the other where man seeks to replace Him.

Ultimately, we are assured that Christ is victorious and that He is building a Church that the gates of hell will never stop. We know that our lives belong to Jesus and they have no power over us at all, lest it first be granted to them by our loving Heavenly Father who rules and reigns in the affairs of men. We don’t know whether we will be vindicated or not, but we do know that our future belongs to the Lord and not to the Department of Justice. We also know, the more they prosecute the righteous, the more the Lord Himself will plunder their evil, godless, abominable, and bloody practice of baby-killing! O Lord, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven! So Be It, My God!!!

DOES CHARACTER COUNT?

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:13-15)

Before I leave for Florida, I’m frantically working to send to every Congressman and Senator a copy of our latest tract "Does Character Count?" The response to this tract has been overwhelming and I believe the Lord wants this message sent to our national civil leaders. Enclosed with that tract will be the following cover letter. Please pray that it gets to the right hands and that God’s word would not return void, but prosper where He sends it.

Rusty Lee Thomas

P.O. Box 3126

Waco, TX. 76707

(254) 836-1037

E-Mail: Elijahmin@aol.com

Dear Honorable Representative,

Enclosed is a brochure written to address the serious debate that is raging in America concerning whether or not character counts in our public officials. I hope you will take the time to read it, though I'm conscious of the fact that you are probably inundated with all kinds of other communications that demand your attention. This cover letter is to bring up one important issue not covered in the brochure. It's an issue that I have not personally seen discussed in this national debate. It deals with the personal integrity of our civil leaders as it relates to our national security.

We are all aware of the time, effort, and financing that nations employ to the art of spying. Nations, both friendly and hostile to American interests, invest these resources to spy on us to glean vital information that will further their national interests at our expense. My question to the powers that be is, "If character doesn't count in public officials, then what is to deter our public officials from selling out our national interests? If private virtue doesn't matter anymore, what bolsters civil leaders to resist the temptations of bribes and seduction that nations use to gain the advantage against us?"

I believe it is ludicrous to suggest that there is no connection between a man's private life and his public life. If a man has no personal integrity, no moral restraint, and no sense of a transcendent cause beyond his own selfish whims and desires, then that man is vulnerable to the schemes of our national enemies. He will not have the moral fortitude to stand true and honorable in the defense of this nation. This concept should be self-evident and yet it doesn't seem to be registering in our collective national soul.

I would challenge our national leaders to set aside political agendas and partisan ideology to consider the message we are sending to the world when we as a people don't care if our public officials are void of character. I believe this posture emboldens our enemies and sends the wrong message to our children. The truth is, what we tolerate today, this next generation will embrace. What will become of our future leaders if they follow the example we are setting by our failure to uphold good character as a standard by which men are to lead?

 

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rusty Lee Thomas