Volume 16 Issue 10 - October 2001 THE BASIS FOR TRUE PATRIOTISM "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." (Daniel 9:3-19) "In vain would the man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, (Religion & Morality) these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens." -George Washington "Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. THEY BRING THE JUDGMENT OF HEAVEN UPON A COUNTRY. AS NATIONS CANNOT BE REWARDED OR PUNISHED IN THE NEXT WORLD, THEY MUST BE IN THIS. BY AN INEVITABLE CHAIN OF CAUSES AND EFFECTS, PROVIDENCE PUNISHES NATIONAL SINS, BY NATIONALCALAMITIES." -George Mason, Founding Father of the USA. In the aftermath of the brutal, cowardly attack against our beloved, but beleagured nation, there is rising a renewed sense of patriotism. Everywhere one looks, there is a plethora of American flags waving throughout the land. In fact, a worker at our local abortion mill proudly waves her flag from her car as she drives in to kill little American citizens. Porno shops and Men’s clubs chime in as well by displaying "Old Glory"from their marquees. The streets of America are inundated with signs and billboards that declare, "In God We Trust and United We Stand." Everyone from our President, Congressmen, and even media anchors are now speaking in pseudo-spiritual language to aid our nation that is in the throes of grieving for our great loss. Yes, all of a sudden America has become patriotic and incredibly religious. The questions that remain are, is our patriotism rooted in American history and is our religious expression grounded in truth? I would submit that we have been weighed in the balance on both accounts and we are still found wanting. The following is an article written by Dr. James White. It is written with clarity, zeal, and with a major dose of truth the Church and our nation needs in this desperate hour. He is a true patriot of America. One that does not condone the sins of our nation, but one who lifts up his voice like a trumpet to show America her sins (Isaiah 58:1). He is one of the few who calls America to the only sure basis of true patriotism and that is a return to the true and living God whose name is Jesus of Nazareth. As you read this article, please remember the words of the Father of our nation, George Washington, who declared that no man could be a true patriot in America if he would subvert the word of God. All the flag waving, and singing of "God bless America" is not sufficient to replace this truth. "America has all of a sudden gotten very religious. There are vigils and candlelight prayer services on every corner. People who hadn’t said "God" except in profanity for years are all of a sudden very pious and reflective. Radio personalities who were focused upon tax cuts or some other political issue on Monday, September 10th, are now mulling over the role of "evil" in our world. The past week has turned the landscape upside down in many ways, to be sure. Lest anyone think this new religiosity is a reason for rejoicing for Christians, it most surely is not. Oh yes, we are hearing old Christian hymns being sung. Ostensibly Christian churches were full this past Lord’s day. But there is no such thing as "partial Christianity," nor is there any such thing as a Christianity that stands side by side with Islam, or Judaism, or Buddhism, and says, "We worship one God under many names." And surely, there is no Christianity that does not speak of repentance from sin. The new religiosity of America has two basic foundational pillars: there is one God, unknown, but addressable under any variety of religious epithets, who has revealed absolutely nothing of objective value regarding His will, regarding worship, or human behavior; and second, this God has no wrath; knows nothing of sin nor judgment; and hence, any person who dares to say that God would punish a person, or a nation, is a glowing heretic to the new American religiosity. The problem is easily seen: Christians believe, fundamentally, of necessity, that there is one true God. This true God is not Allah. This true God is not Krishna. This true God is not the god of Joseph Smith or Buddha or the Sikhs or the Bahais. Our God went to great lengths to differentiate Himself from all the gods of the peoples and religions that surrounded His ancient people, and that for a purpose He Himself proclaimed: He seeks true worship, worship based upon a knowledge of who He is in reality, based upon His revelation to man. He does not grant to man the freedom to make images of Him, to worship Him in a manner that pleases the creature rather than the Creator. God is particular about His worship. His worship is intimately, vitally connected to truth. Without truth, there is no worship of the Christian God. And the truth revealed by the Christian God in the Scriptures is without question when it comes to the matter of His law, sin, rebellion, punishment, wrath, and judgment. One of the most amazing things to observe is the willingness shown by "evangelicals" to jump right onto the "We shall never utter a word about wrath or sin or punishment" bandwagon. Is the remnant so small that almost no voices will be raised to cry out against this foolishness? To withhold the truth about sin and judgment out of fear of man’s opinions and feelings is to make the cross of Jesus Christ a travesty! There is no cross, there is no sacrifice, where there is no sin, no offense that demands forgiveness be wrought through His perfect sacrifice! The person who refrains from speaking of sin and judgment to "win" a person over is doing so through unfaithfulness to the very gospel itself! And to what has such a person been won over? Where is the gospel when there is no sin to be forgiven at Calvary? But it is right here that the new American religiosity clamps its hands over its ears and refuses to hear. America wants God’s blessing. America wants God to protect us from more horrific visions of airliners flying purposefully, relentlessly into our national monuments. We want God to be near us as we board our aircraft. We want Him to protect us from the horror of thinking about what it was like when the towers collapsed. We want Him to guide our military and allow us to flex our muscle and launch our missiles with impunity. We want a blessing God, a caring God, who simply panders to our wants and whims. This is the "God" of the new American religiosity. But what America does not want is a God who is holy, who is just, and who has revealed His will concerning how we, His creatures, are to live. America is a land soaked in blood. We glory in violence. We are so selfish, so bound in our avarice, fornication, and sexual lust, that we murder our own offspring in the womb (or at birth as in partial-birth infanticide). Our hands are covered in blood, and yet we think lighting a candle and lifting them up while mumbling "God Bless America" is going to bring God’s favor? Listen to the words of God to another nation that likewise was "religious" but refused to hear the word of repentance: "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood." (Isaiah 1:15). Is America so arrogant, so utterly self-absorbed, so diseased by religious liberalism and philosophical subjectivism, that she thinks she can ignore all of history itself and demand from God blessings when she refuses to repent of her evils? Do we really need to be reminded that Planned Parenthood has killed more little children in our land in the week since the attacks than died in the attacks themselves? Are we so blind? Surely the scourge of abortion would be enough to warrant the unleashing of the wrath of God, but there is so much more! We are a nation on a crusade—a crusade to wipe from our history books every vestige of our former religious past. The religion of scientism, with its chief idol in the person of Darwin, has become enshrined in our very governmental policies. There is no creator, we are told, to express His law for us in the first place. We want to banish God and His law from our courtrooms, our schools, our every public institution. If God says it is wrong, we celebrate it. Every form of sexual debauchery is found in the land. The airwaves are filled with programs that exalt fornication and adultery. Major film stars are lauded for the most sinful lifestyles. Homosexuality is not only turned into an acceptable "lifestyle," it is made a political right, a political force, a test-case for being properly "tolerant." The list goes on and on and on. The widow and orphan is oppressed, while the nation indulges in every creature comfort, sits back in its luxury, looks about upon the bounty of the land, and says, ‘Ah, what the labor of my own hands, my own intelligence, my own insight, has accomplished.’ Religious liberals may mock our "literalistic" reading of the Bible at this point, preferring to simply label us "fundamentalists" and ignorant, but the fact of the matter is, they know they could never win a scholarly debate on whether the Bible actually teaches that these things are sins which must, inevitably, bring God’s judgment upon a people. They know that is exactly what the Bible teaches. They are just embarrassed by it, and hence seek to suppress that truth. As I said, Christians who believe the Bible are an unpopular lot today. If they speak in accordance with the Word they may well find themselves being called "unpatriotic" and "judgmental.". In fact, given that the new orthodoxy demands of us the confession "Everyone is God’s child" over against such clear biblical teaching as John 1:12 (remember how Christians refused to say "Caesar is lord" and died as a result?), we must be ready to "count the cost" in engaging in formal, cultural "heresy" by speaking the truth. We need to realize: this new American religiosity can take on the same kind of fanatic zeal that kept the hi-jackers’ hands steady all the way to their end. May God grant His people the strength to proclaim loudly God’s demands upon a wicked nation, and may He be pleased to bring repentance and revival in a land where darkness reigns." - Dr. James White "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever." -Thomas Jefferson THE WARNING "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from my mouth, and give them warning from Me." (Ezekiel 3:17) Brothers and sisters, I must confess that I’ve struggled about releasing this article, especially as the wound to America is still tender. I know some, if not many, will consider me to be unpratriotic, judgmental, or perhaps misrepresenting the Lord and His word at such a vulnerable time. Though I cannot determine people’s reaction, I do believe it is important to continue to cry out and warn our nation, even though most will not hear and refuse to see. I know the Lord would not have dealt with me thus, if He didn’t intend for me to be faithful to deliver what He spoke to me in the night season, Saturday, July 14th, in the year of our Lord 2001. May God temper His word with grace, season it with salt and motivate it by His great love. The following is the preface that gives the background for "The Warning." "As Flip read the article, The Warning, today, September 19th, he thought in his mind that he was reading a commentary by Pastor Daniel Thompson from Wichita on the horrific attack against America. Imagine his surprise when he realized that this article was not written after the fact, but before it. He saw that it was written not by Daniel Thompson but by Rusty Thomas - and - that it was initially given to him on Saturday, July 14th, 2001, the day before our national event commenced in Wichita. Due to the pressure and busyness associated with a national event, Flip tucked the article away and never thought about it again until today. As you read this article, it is clear the Lord was warning our nation specifically long before we went to Washington DC." The other night I came to our temporary home in Wichita tired to the bone. I fell into a deep sleep. During the night the strong hand of the Lord came upon me. I tossed and turned the entire night as Scripture after Scripture kept coming to my exhausted mind. The Lord impressed upon me the profound significance of Operation Save America coming back to Wichita for the Summer of Mercy renewal. He told me in certain terms that this upcoming week is set for the rise and fall of many in Wichita and America. Lives, careers, and eternal souls will be weighed in the balance. Depending on how they respond to His Word and warning will determine God’s blessing and judgment upon the souls of men. He went on to speak to my heart the Scripture found in Acts 17:30, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent." For over thirty years God has patiently put up with our rebellion, idolatry, and disobedience. He has exercised longsuffering toward a wayward people and a nation that has abandoned Him. Those days are swiftly coming to an end and now there is an urgency and a command of repentance that must be heeded or else. The remedial judgments of the Lord upon this nation of harlotry will increase in frequency, intensity, and with precision. Especially upon those who claim to be Christians with their mouths, and yet by their actions uphold the corrupt system, defend unjust laws, and facilitate the death of the innocent through abortion. Our Lord in this hour is removing the neutral zone that has created a nation of hypocrites. The gray areas are being removed and now black and white will once again emerge. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, "If you are not for me, you are against me, if you are not gathering you are scattering." "If you have not done it to the least of these, you have not done it unto me." (Matthew 25:45) "Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and don’t do the things I tell you?" (Luke 6:46) "They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work." (Titus 1:16) There is a line being drawn in Wichita, those who are on the Lord’s side step over, and those who refuse then continue to serve Baal’s idolatrous system in America and suffer the consequences. It is time to stand up and make your ultimate allegiances known. The Lord sees and is watching over His Word to perform it. "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of (America) which your fathers served…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The following are the Scriptures that the Lord impressed upon me the other sleepless night in Wichita. If they are the result of my imagination, Wichita, America, and the souls of men that are complicit (regardless if they claim to be Christian or not) with child-killing in America have nothing to fear. But if Operation Save America is bringing God’s prophetic mantle, the true Word of the Lord, and God’s urgent warning then like Elijah of old, "If I am a man of God, then let fire fall from heaven and consume you." (2 Kings 1:10) There will be answer from heaven in God’s time if we do not repent and do what is right before Him in this crucial hour. It may not be a literal fire, but divine retribution will be meted out. This I solemnly warn you! God has had it with our duplicity. This we will learn to our blessing or to our demise. God will not and cannot be mocked! Jesus warned His generation, "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." (Matthew 23: 34-36) We have shed much innocent blood in America. Atonement must be made if the land is to be cleansed of its pollution. Civil government has the responsibility to exercise God’s sword and shed the blood of those who shed innocent blood (Genesis 9:6, Numbers 35:33). If civil government refuses and betrays their sacred trust as we have done in America, then God Himself must step in and perform His justice. He cannot deny Himself. Over forty-five million children have been put to death illegally in America. You run the numbers and tell me according to God’s Word what it will take to cleanse our land. The Scriptures cannot be broken. Repent! "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (I Peter 4: 17) It is not George Tiller, Planned Parenthood, NOW, or NARAL that is the primary problem with abortion in America. It is not what these organizations and people are saying and doing that perpetuates the American Holocaust. It is what the Church of Jesus Christ refuses to say and do that prolongs this heinous sin against God and this brutal crime against humanity. Repent! "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences." (2 Cor. 5:11) I believe God is giving His Word and warning through Operation Save America in Wichita, KS. If resisted, disregarded, or opposed by the Church, State, or any person there will be a direct response from heaven. God will make it plain who is truly approved by Him, regardless of our rhetoric and politically correct platitudes. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and our God is a consuming fire. "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you." (2 Chron. 19:2) This word is sent to President Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Mayor Bob Knight, and all those who claim to be Christian and Pro-life in civil government. God will not allow you to halt between two opinions any more. "And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word." (I King 18:21) God’s anger is waxing hot against the duplicity of His people who legitimize that which He considers an abomination. You must decide now who is your Lord, Jesus Christ or the American State and whose laws you will uphold, "Thou shalt not kill" or Roe vs. Wade. There is no neutral zone! Repent! "Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp. and said, ‘Whoever is on the Lord’s side, let him come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him." (Ex. 32:29) The line is being drawn in Wichita. Whoever is on the Lord side stand with God’s word, warning, law, and righteousness. To those who refuse, I now quote Peter Marshall a former Senate Chaplain, "Serve Baal and go to hell." THE TAX MAN COMETH "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8) As I write this newsletter, Elijah Ministries and the Thomas Nation are completely out of debt. Through much prayer, hard work, and miraculous intervention, the word of the Lord contained in Romans 13:8 has come to pass. We prayed that particular Scripture for a year and a half and God gloriously answered. We very much want to remain debt-free. This month we received our tax bill for our land and house. The total is $2,269.04. On December 4th, 2001, our ninth child is due, Jeremiah "Flip" Thomas. Add to the financial needs associated with Christmas for such a large family, plus the fact that we will probably be home for awhile, and you can perhaps relate to our concerns about remaining debt-free. It has been a long time since we have requested any help from our mailing list. We live by faith and of course God has been most faithful to this ministry and our family. If you will, please consider our need before God and if you can help to alleviate the pressing financial burden, we would certainly be grateful. Obviously, our message, work, and ministry is not a popular one. We don’t have people and churches banging down our doors to get involved or to support the work. We are however encouraged by the leadership and saints at our home Church, Church on the Rock, Waco. They have been stalwart, though I’m sure some of them still struggle with our message and ministry. We don’t have many churches who invite us in to preach because they cringe at the message of God’s warning to our nation and call to repentance. Therefore, ours is not perceived as a positive ministry. Though Biblically, if we had eyes to see, the redemption of souls, the reformation of the Church, and the restoration of America is extremely positive. Our monthly newsletter is the primary source God has used to meet our needs and we are most thankful to those who have been faithful to support us on a monthly basis. Your love, prayers, and support has produced a harvest all over our nation and may you richly partake of its reward on that Great Day! IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE, Rusty Lee Thomas P.O. Box 3126, Waco, TX 76707 Voice: (254) 836-1037 Fax: (254) 836-4092 Cell: (254) 498-5100 E-mail: elijahmin@ifriendly.com Websites: http://mttu.com/elijahmin |