Volume 18 Issue 5 - May 2003

SCHIZOPHRENIC LAW

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capability of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and every one of us to government ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

-James Madison,
Fourth President of the United States
and Chief Architect of the Constitution

Scott Peterson has recently been booked on two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and son, Laci and Connor Peterson. The double homicide charge has thrown the pro-abortion crowd into a state of panic. You see Connor was an unborn child in the womb of Laci at the time of his unfortunate demise. Pro-abortion groups, like the Morris County NOW organization are up in arms and voicing opposition to the double murder charge. Case in point is this quote by their President, Mavra Stark. Stark stated, "If this is murder, well, then any time a late-term fetus is aborted, they could call it murder."

This particular murder case is troubling to those who support abortion on demand on two counts. It first reveals what the abortion industry and its advocates would prefer to remain hidden, the humanity of the baby in the womb. This is especially grievous to them when the media, the law of the land, and the state that enforces the law acknowledges this truth. It calls into question what has been purposely censored for over thirty years since the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision. If the child in the womb is a human being, a person, like you and me, then the law of the land should protect its life, just like it does for us all.

This concept was even acknowledged by Harry Blackman, the Supreme Court Justice, who penned the tragic ruling in favor of abortion. He wrote, "The appellee and certain amici argue that the fetus is a "person" within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well-known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment." Based upon this premise, the abortion industry has a vested interest to remove the notion of personhood as far from the unborn as possible. If they fail, as they surely must, then the whole basis of Roe vs. Wade collapses about them like a house of cards.

History records in bloody detail what happens when certain people groups are denied personhood. Laws that once protected human life were removed by judicial fiat. As a result, the vulnerable and weak became a prey to injustice bent on their extinction or enslavement. This was true with Nazi Germany who denied the personhood of Jews in Hitler’s death camps. It is also true when it comes to American slavery that denied our black brothers and sisters were fully human in the Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision. Thankfully, we all now condemn that godless, unjust, ruthless, and merciless legacy. America stands united with one voice that declares, "They were wrong back then!" The problem is, can America say that we are wrong today? Prayerfully, the Scott Peterson case will be used to convict us all with indisputable evidence that abortion is a grave sin against God and a brutal crime against humanity.

The second problem the abortion industry and America must contend with in the Scott Peterson case is the glaring lack of a singular standard as the basis of law. It exposes the inconsistency, the hypocrisy, and the schizophrenia that has made a mockery to the concepts of law, justice, and civil government. Law in America has become a Rubik’s Cube that we twist and turn to further our political agendas. It is no longer a fixed standard that secures justice for all.

It was Blackstone, the inspiration behind the Declaration of Independence’s statement, "The law of nature and of nature’s God," that historically gave America her source for law. Blackstone stated, "Upon these two foundations, the law of nature (the eternal laws of good and evil) and the law of revelation (found only in the Scriptures), depend all human laws. That is to say, no human laws should be allowed to contradict these." Roe vs. Wade and its evil fruit of decriminalized murder and its assault against the very basis of law bears witness to what happens when we allow human law to contradict God’s law. It always ends in disaster. We simply cannot continue to violate the eternal laws of right and wrong and thrive as a people.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave this apologetic on law by stating, "...There are two types of law, just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One not only has a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that, ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’ Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.’"

According to these reputable men, the Holy Bible, and history, the law of God is the basis for all human law. It is binding upon all people, at all times, and in every nation. It is the law of God that reveals true reality in this universe and contains the righteous, holy character of the God of the Bible. The law of God defines for us the way the world should work and how man is to fit within its context to be blessed. The law of God ultimately reveals for man His desperate need for a Savior, Jesus Christ, as mankind rejects and violates God’s commandments routinely.

America must relearn that neutrality is a myth and that someone is indeed legislating morality. The question is, whose premise of right and wrong, whose ideas of good and evil, and whose philosophy of morality under girds the laws of the land? As God alone is the only lawgiver, the choice before man is either to uphold or to break God’s law. If we continue to break God’s law, it will eventually break us. This is the hard lesson of history and is the present day battle that is raging for the souls of men, the lives of our children, and the future of our nation. America we must repent, end Roe vs. Wade, return to the God of our Fathers, and the Biblical principles that made us a great and mighty nation. For the truth is, apart from the law of God as the basis for all human law, there is no way for America to experience "liberty and justice for all."

TULSA REPORT

Here is a report from Tulsa that will be very encouraging to all of you who participated in and prayed for our mission of confronting and calling out the Church of Jesus Christ in that city. Many brothers and sisters are being raised up to storm the gates of hell. They are, for the most part, college students at Rhema and ORU who are answering God's call to be a voice for the voiceless. Hallelujah! Bill and Ruth Darr, our host family in Tulsa, submitted these reports.

Brother Flip,

Ruth will be providing a "more formal" review of activities in Tulsa, I just wanted to say hello. Thanks to you and all the other wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ for an unforgettable weekend. You heard the Macedonian call. Ruth and I miss all of you so much. There is something about Scriptural obedience that tightly binds believers together.

Flip, I have to tell you about the college young people from both ORU and Rhema. Although, we weren't extended the welcome at Rhema that was desired, there were some students that were praying and watching our behavior. You, of course, met Lars and heard his testimony at lunch on Sunday March 30th.

Then, on April 7th, we had the first formal meeting of OSA Tulsa at our home. Of the 18 in attendance, there was Lars and 7 of his friends from Rhema and Rebecca and 3 friends from ORU. There was instant camaraderie of purpose and a game plan was set for praise, study, and abortion mill activities. We agreed to meet every Monday night for preparation and Saturday mornings for presentation. Also, some are going to the mill during the week. The effort at this time is the primary group will go on Saturday and others will go during the week with a minimum of two if at all possible.

Watching God work in the hearts of college age young people, while their hearts are tender and open, is an incredible thrill. That God would honor Ruth and myself in someway encouraging and touching their lives is humbling.

Thanks again to all who heard the call. Those from Kansas, North Dakota, Florida, Texas, North Carolina-and anyone else I missed. The Father used you to bless us for that wonderful weekend---and it's ongoing.

God Bless, Bill Darr

This is from Ruth:

We met at our house for the first time on Monday, April 7th. There were 18 of us. Nine from Rhema, four from ORU and others. We got acquainted and shared ideas and decided to meet every Monday night at our home. The Rhema kids have been studying the development of a baby, one through nine months. They want everyone to know the development of the baby so they can share with pregnant girls with knowledge and wisdom.

On Saturday, April 12th, we went to the abortion clinic. There were 9 of us who were there 8:00 AM until 9:45. The ORU group arrived right behind us and were there for one hour. There were also 7 Catholic people there praying and we got to know them. There were very happy to have others praying with them. The clinic was closed but that gave us an opportunity to answer a lot of the kid's questions, show them where to stand and fill them in on where to hand out the literature. Our local CPC gave us some excellent handouts.

On April 14th we met again at our home. We had told the kids that we were going to be their support group and we wanted them to be the leaders. They led in praise, worship, prayer, and decided to come together as the ORU group and Rock for Life group, but we were all Operation Save America. Lar's sister, Lana, assigned some to make pamphlets to pass out, some to find out more about the Doctors who are doing abortions, getting information on Planned Parenthood in the Tulsa area, getting information to radio stations to announce our meetings, and things they will all do over the summer as they go their different ways, and how we will come back strong in the fall.

Through the week several dropped by the abortion clinic at different times.

April 19th we went again to the abortion clinic. Lar's and Lana's dad and little sister joined us. They had driven down from Michigan. We had 13 people and met a lady who joined us, who heads up a 24 hour a day "Hope Line". She said she had asked God for a way to reach the girls before they came to the abortion clinic. She said that most of the calls are from girls wanting an abortion and asking questions.

We will be meeting again tomorrow night.

I also want to let you know about an editorial in the Urban Tulsa Weekly. This is a very liberal paper that is available in restaurant lobbies. A lady wrote in about her daughter seeing the horrible pictures of the aborted baby and she was "Protesting the Protesters". The Editor of the paper responded with this note: "Freedom of speech can be a troubling thing. But just like this war has interrupted the "normal" life to which we have become way too accustomed, the violence of abortion also breeds much inconvenience in our everyday lives. Christ didn't preach earthly comfort. His life was anything but that. It is the job of prophets to take us out of our comfort zones. If you feel bad, just imagine how those babies felt."

God Bless, Ruth Darr

WORD AT THE GATES MESSAGE

"For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." (1 Cor. 16:9)

Though we took a lot of heat concerning this Christian outreach to our city, the Lord did indeed grant me an effectual open door to minister His Word. The door opened recently when I had business at the County Commissioner’s office. While there, I made it a point to greet my old friend Commissioner Gibson. We greeted each other and it was then that Commissioner Gibson invited me to speak at his weekly luncheon gathering. He asked me to speak specifically on our Word at the Gates project. He told me it had become a hot topic of debate in our city and he thought it prudent for the leadership in his sphere of influence to hear from the horse’s mouth, as it were, the true intent and purpose of our controversial event.

On Monday, April 21st, the meeting commenced. There were judges, city council members, school board members, business, and religious leaders present. I began the meeting with a disclaimer that declared I didn’t know what they expected from the speech, but forewarned them that I was a Biblical, Gospel, Kingdom man. I made it known that there was not a politically correct bone in my body and that I have no sensibilities towards that mentality whatsoever.

From there, I expressed my incredulity at the firestorm reaction to this Christian ministry. The Waco Tribune covered the event, without an invite, and implied that what we did on that day was equivalent to promoting hate crimes. From their journalistic spin, you would have thought that I was Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Adolph Hitler all rolled into one. In talking with a police Lt. from my church about this mischaracterization, I made the comment that isn’t it interesting the furor over gentle Christians going to certain key locations in the city to simply read God’s word aloud.

I further explained that I find it interesting that some churchgoers would consider our actions cultish, while those outside the faith would conclude we’re just wild-eyed fanatics. My only response is, we are not radicals or a cult. It’s just the standards of Biblical Christianity have been so lowered and contaminated by the American pagan culture that if one attempts to live out our Lord’s teaching and example, the world and most Americanized Christians think we must be a fanatics. In other words, the Church has so abandoned the gates of the city and become so irrelevant in the culture that if Christians decide to show up, this is unacceptable behavior. One that may be soon punished as a crime, if we don’t repent as a nation.

The Word at the Gates consisted of ten teams of about five members each who publicly read the Scriptures at strategic gates in our city. We read through the book of Psalms, Proverbs, and the entire New Testament. The gates we addressed with the authority of God’s word represented the business community, the political community, law enforcement, and academia. We also went to the major sin centers and demonic high places. We stormed the gates at a porno shop, Planned Parenthood, a homosexual "church," an apostate pro-abort "church," and a Mosque.

The vision and mission of this outreach can be found in Psalms 24:7-10, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah."

Gates in the Scripture refers to the seat of political authority, the seat of judicial authority, and the seat of commerce. We went to these different gates to press the Crown Rights of King Jesus and to hold these gates accountable to the authority of God’s word. Some have indeed questioned why and what is the meaning of this? How many believe that we are in a state of conflict, even within our own hearts and souls? There is indeed a battle raging for the souls of men, the lives of our children, and the future of our nation. The Lord has given us one offensive weapon in this battle as Christians and it is called the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

The Bible teaches us that mankind has three different enemies that we must contend with or be destroyed. They are Satan, sin, and an illegitimate world system. These enemies create deep pits for mankind to fall into due to our rebellion against our Creator and then comes up with vain philosophies, false religions, and government programs to try and bail us out. It is a vicious circle of futility apart from the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

These enemies exploit three primary areas of human existence and relationships. They are the wars that rage between the races, gender, and social classes. Satan feeds upon our sinful bias and prejudices to ferment hostilities amongst the races. Some make a lot of money and garner political power pretending to end racism, but only succeed in advancing its poison. The battle of the sexes rages in America to the point that we have men trying to become women and women trying to become men. America is a gender blender of sexual confusion that has produced perversity, disease, and death. All because we have forgotten the issue is not what we can be as men and women, but what God created us to be as men and women. The class envy ploy pits the rich against the poor. The temptation of the rich is to condescend, develop elitist attitudes, and shut their bowels of compassion towards the poor, while the poor cultivate destructive jealousies against the rich. The poor think that their salvation is tied to the decline of the rich and believe me there are political pundits that fuel that lie in order increase their base of support. Only Jesus Christ can heal these breaches that separate, divide, and conquer.

Biblically, the battle comes down to two crucial areas that have been fought since time memorial and still rages today. And that battle centers on who is Lord, who is the Sovereign, and whose laws should govern in the affairs of men. When men believe that civil government is sovereign that has paved the way for every tyrannical regime that has produced murderous oppression amongst those they have claimed to serve. When men have rejected God as Sovereign and believed that individuals are sovereign this has produced anarchy, which inevitably leads to chaos and confusion. Historically, anarchy always precedes tyranny. Therefore, it is in America’s best interest to acknowledge what is true regardless of our acknowledgment or not and that is God is Sovereign and that He rules and reigns in the affairs of men. There is no basis otherwise to secure liberty for future generations.

I ended the meeting with the battle between the two seeds, the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:15). I challenged them to honestly discern what camp they may be in. The seed of the serpent sounds like this, "My rights, my body, and my choice. I’m going to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and with whom I want to do it with, and nobody is going to tell me what to do, not even God." The Seed of the Woman declares something far more wonderful, "Not my will, but Thine be done."

I pointed out to them that Satan first attacked God and seduced man on the basis of God's Law, "Yea, hath God said"? This strategic fiery doubt concerning God's command tragically appealed to Adam and Eve to be a law unto themselves. The lying promise of the Adversary, "Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," is responsible for the battle that continues to rage over the issue of whose laws should govern in the affairs of man. It is vital that we discern the deadly deal Satan offered our first parents. He wasn't just trying to sell them on the concepts of good and evil. His ultimate objective was to convince them to determine good and evil for themselves. This treacherous act catapulted man to believe that he is god, the master of his own ship, the lord of his life, and the one who determines good and evil for himself apart from the objective truth of God's Law. Man has been eating from that lawless tree ever since and the bitter fruit of it can be clearly seen today in our nation's pursuit of removing God as the source of law. Based upon these truths and many others besides, my intent of going to the gates with God’s word was to remind our city that we are either going to build our lives upon a solid rock or on sinking sand and there is no such thing as neutrality (Matthew 7:24-27).

IN KING JESUS' SERVICE,

Rusty, Liz, and the Thomas Nation

E-mail: elijahmin@ifriendly.com  
Websites: http://www.mttu.com/elijahmin
http://www.rachelsparkmemorial.org
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org
http://www.jesusisthestandard.org