Volume 19 Issue 1 - January 2004 DISTURB US O GOD! "And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." (Luke 5:1-5).
2003 has gone the way of previous years and entered the realm of the past. 2004 has come roaring in to catapult us prayerfully further up and further into God’s Kingdom. It is good to take the time to assess the close of one year and contemplate the advent of a new one. The Lord has faithfully seen us through another year of blood, sweat, and tears as well as the good, the bad, and the ugly. We give Him praise, adoration, and the worship that is due His Holy Name as we now seek His face more earnestly in 2004. The opening poem "Disturb Us O God!" was sent to us by our good friend, Rev Mike Warren, from Rescue Rochester. I believe this message is part of what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to His church in this New Year. For far too long, we have circled the wagons and held down the church fort. We are prone to weak defensive measures and for the most part inept at offensive ones. These are desperate times that call for brave souls who will dare desperate measures in service to their King. The status quo, business as usual, and comfortable Christianity is not going to meet the challenges coming upon America in 2004. The Body of Christ must step up to the plate in our national affairs to be a force of righteousness once again that will the provide the moral, ethical, and spiritual guidance our nation needs. Like Peter, who complained to Jesus, "We have toiled all night and have caught nothing" we must hearken to the words of our Lord and launch out into deeper waters if we are going to see the harvest we are praying for in America. Casual, crossless, and non-sacrificial Christianity will not launch out far from the shores of mediocrity. Thus timid souls will never experience the mastery of our Savior that will come to our aid against the storms that our adversaries will certainly bring against us as we press the crown-rights of King Jesus in our sin-soaked, blood-stained, and perverted nation. It was Thomas Paine who wrote these inspired words to challenge the patriots in his day as they faced their time of testing, "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated." This is the year we should like William Carey, "Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God." We should not settle for dwarfed visions, small dreams, safe goals, and manageable lives. If we are radically saved, lets radically live for Christ. This life is not a dress rehearsal. We have this one opportunity to harness all our gifts, talents, skill, anointing, and calling to let this poor-fallen world know that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. The Thomas Family, Elijah Ministries, and Operation Save America are going to practice what we preach in this coming year. We are going to launch out into deep waters. The deepest waters we have ever known. We are about to embark on our greatest adventure and most arduous task in obedience to our great God and King’s command. Starting at the beginning of March, Flip Benham and I, along with a donkey, a white horse, an aborted baby, and a ministry team will walk across America as a living parable carrying a prophetic message to America. Let me explain how this dramatic, inspired idea came forth. For several months now through prayer and study of God’s word, the Lord had been challenging us to greater heights and depths in serving Him. My Pastor, John Wachsmann, prayed over me a couple of months ago and counseled me that the Lord was about to give us new tools and greater ways to serve Him, the unborn, and the cause of righteousness in our nation. Right after that, the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon my oldest daughter Shekinah in a profound way. One night, just recently, she awoke in the middle of the night weeping as her heart was breaking for the unborn who were being slaughtered throughout America. She came into my room trembling and crying. Through stammering lips she proclaimed, "America has turned into a monster without a conscience. We have to stop acting like abortion is a game. It is a matter of life and death. We have do more to stop the killing of our own babies." As her father, I knew this was not inspired by me. I did not challenge her that day concerning abortion. It was clearly the Spirit of God moving upon her to rise up and defeat this monster that has devoured 1/3rd of her generation. As a result, I began to seek God to determine how to nurture and cultivate that which was stirring within her heart, being careful not to quench the conviction that was evidently growing with each passing day. God used this episode in my daughter’s life to stir our family to seek Him even more for this New Year. We immediately began to formulate strategies how we could advance the "Gentle Revolution" amongst our young to be more effective in the battle for souls, the lives of children, and the future of America. Some of those plans included, God Is Going Back To School Campaign, Abortion Mill Ministry, Truth Tours, outreach at Mel Gibson’s movie "The Passion," a Resurrection Drama, and many other ideas. We really had some really wonderful plans and then the proverb came to pass which states, "Man makes his plans, but God directs his steps." Two Sundays ago, the day arrived that would change all our plans for this year and will most likely change our family, ministry, and life forever. It may sound strange at first, but once all the pieces come together, I’m sure you will agree this "Walk Across America" is indeed the will of God. It all started with a corny movie called "Francis Covers The Big Town." (There may be some of you who still remember the series of movies about Francis, the talking mule.) In the opening scene, the actor Donald O’Conner is walking Francis into New York City. Don’t ask me why, but as soon as I saw this opening scene, I was immediately challenged with the idea of walking across America with an aborted baby in order to cry out against the sin and crime of abortion and to call our nation to repentance. The wheels were turning as I slowly turned to my wife with that funny look that has in the past struck terror in her heart and confessed the hair-brained scheme. There was not a whole lot of response, so we turned back and continued to watch the movie. The next morning I awoke to the most surreal morning I have ever known. Imagine my amazement, when I walked into my living room and there grazing in my back yard were one mule and six horses. I’m 47 years old and never in my life did I ever arise in the morning to behold such a sight As I was trying to make sense of it, the white horse stopped grazing, stood up, and stared at me. It was then I decided, it was just a mere coincidence that I watched "Francis, the talking mule" last night, received the idea about walking across America, and now there just happens to be a mule and six horses in my back yard the following morning. After finding out who owned the animals and leading them off our property, our family sat down to do our family devotions. We, for several years now, have read through the Bible using the OSA Bible reading schedule. The passages scheduled on that particular day just happened to be Zachariah, chapters 9-11. We were doing quite find, until we came to Zachariah 9:9 which states, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Wow! Biblical witness number one. Then came Zachariah 10:3, "Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle." Horse? Battle? Wow! Biblical witness number two. And then the Scripture that sealed it all in my mind, Zachariah 10:12, "And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord." Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, let it be established (Deuteronomy 17:6 and Matthew 18:16). Needless to say, after family devotions, the hair-brained scheme turned into "Thus Saith the Lord." I immediately called Flip Benham our National Director of Operation Save America/Operation Rescue. As we were talking, Flip mentioned he wanted to let some of our leaders share on some of the inspired ideas that they have for the New Year. My response was that it was interesting he should say that and proceeded to share with him what I thought was the mother of all inspired ideas. Expecting Flip to be somewhat skeptical, he instead shared with me a message God had given him from the same passages of Scripture in Zachariah. The essence of the prophetic message was this, "America, when the King rides a donkey, He comes in peace, but when the King rides a white horse, He comes to make war and bring judgment. Repent America and prepare to meet thy God!" Suddenly, all the pieces fell together, the idea for the walk, the horse, the donkey, the aborted baby, and a couple of knuckleheads that were willing to be fools for Christ to deliver God’s prophetic word to America. The demand and sacrifice upon us and our families to fulfill this mission is beyond our comprehension. We only know that God has given us this task and we are in the process of setting our faces like flint towards this great undertaking. Your prayers, love, and support means more now than it ever has before. Brethren, pray for us! Rachel’s Park Memoria lPresents Roe vs. Wade Memorial Service 3 pm. Sunday, January 18th, 2004 Rachel’s Park
Memorial Calling all Christians, Pro-lifers, and men of good will to join us to remember the millions of children who have lost their lives in the American Holocaust called abortion. This January 22nd marks the 31st Anniversary of the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision that established a Covenant of Death in America. The Church of Jesus Christ in Central Texas will gather together to shine forth the Word of Life and seek God to annul this hellish pact our nation has foolishly embraced. Starting at 3 pm, we will gather together at Rachel’s Park Memorial at 4720 N. 19th St. The speakers will include Wes Riddle, a godly statesman that is running for Congress, (his motto is Faith and Freedom) Molly White, the Texas leader of "Silent No More" and Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas of Elijah Ministries. With all diligence, I ask you to plan to be with us on this important occasion and please invite your church, family, and friends as well. Thank you! IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas Church Coordinator, Wes Riddle Campaign for U.S. Congress Founder and Director, Rachel’s Park Memorial
"God is Going Back to School" May 3-7, 2004 If you have been sickened, as we have been, by the expulsion of God from our public schools and His removal from the public square, then let’s do more in 2004. Let’s push out into the deep water and bring Him back to school, and back into the public arena - Ten Commandments and all! This will never happen at the political level – at least not now. But it can happen if a few moms and dads, pastors, students, and teachers join the Second American Revolution to turn our nation right-side-up again, in the Name of Jesus. Let’s move on the offensive and "storm the gates of hell" this year, rather than waiting for them to "blob-like" consume us. It is time for the Church of Jesus Christ in America to begin living up to her rich heritage. It is time for us to not just pray about what we are supposed to do, but to act upon what we already know to do! Our Lord Jesus is calling us to action! It is time for the Word of God to become flesh through foolish little instruments like you and me. We can do this, if we will. On May 3-7, we will be mounting a massive "God is Going Back to School" campaign. During this time, we will be asking teachers to pin a copy of the 10 Commandments on their bulletin boards. We will have them pray with their students before the start of school - a simple prayer for parents, teachers, and their nation. We will also ask them to bring their Bibles and read from them at appropriate times. We will ask Christian students to bring their Bibles to school, read them, and pray before they have lunch. For five consecutive days we will be coming to these great gates of hell (the public school) with literature that will deal with five specific topics – one for each day.
On Thursday, May 6th, we will pass out literature concerning homosexuality — "Homosexuality verses Christianity – Do We Build Bridges or Storm the Gates?" On Friday, May 7, we will pass out literature concerning violence in America — "Why are Kids Killing Kids?" On Friday evening, May 7th, you might consider having a rally at one of the local churches where the students can gather to ask questions. Pizza is always a good help for a great turn-out!
PRAYER FOR AMERICA
CLOSER WALK WITH GOD By William Cowper Oh! for a closer walk with God, a calm and heav'nly frame; A light to shine upon the road that
leads me to the Lamb! Let us determine together to cast off the besetting sins that hinder us from running the race and fighting the battle to extend the Kingdom of God in our generation. Let us return unto our first love and the first works in humble obedience to our faithful Lord and Savior. The Lord richly bless you and prosper you in 2004. Love ya! IN KING JESUS' SERVICE, Rusty, Liz, and the Thomas Nation P.O. Box 3126 Voice: (254) 836-1037 E-mail: elijahmin@ifriendly.com
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