Volume 19 Issue 4 - April 2004

THE GREAT ADVENTURE

"And the Lord God of their fathers sent warning to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy." (2 Chronicles 36:15,16)

The "Great Adventure" has begun. Armed with faith and obedience, our little band of dedicated soldiers of Jesus Christ are currently taking His Gospel of the Kingdom to our nation. We took our first steps of our Walk Across America Prophetic Tour on March 2nd, 2004. We launched out into the deep at San Clemente, CA on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. Little did we know at the time that San Clemente means "Merciful Judge" or clemency. Out of all the places we could have started from, the Lord directed our steps there. It confirmed the vision and mission, affirmed our message, and gave us knowledge of God's guidance as we went forth in His Mighty Name.

Curtis Fenison, our anointed shofar blower, leads the procession, carrying a broken set of the Ten Commandments. As we walk across America, Curtis lifts up his shofar, and gives a mighty blast at key locations along the way. It is a wake up call to the United States of America. It signals to our nation that our days of murdering babies, advocating sodomy, and the proliferating of idolatry in this land are numbered. Or sins have reached heaven and the Lord in His compassion is sending another warning to our sin-soaked and blood-stained land. Whether or not this is His last warning remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, we must return to Him before it is too late.

Trailing behind Curtis is my daughter, Shekinah Thomas, who is carrying a baby's casket. The casket is for a little girl we named "Baby Mercy" who was murdered by the horrific practice of abortion. This precious child gives dramatic testimony concerning America's guilt before God's bar of justice. She supplies ample evidence of our blatant sin against Him and our brutal crime against humanity. Though dead, she still speaks (Hebrews 11:4). Her broken body indicts to our nation that we have broken the commandments of God. We have shed the blood of the innocent and their blood cries out to a Holy God for vengeance. We pray as we walk across America, each step will be a step of intercession. Oh, how we long to give God a reason to show mercy to our nation that is drowning in a sea of blood and perversion.

Following Shekinah and the baby casket, Johnny Benham (12) carries the broken Ten Commandments, and Flip Benham, our National Director of Operation Rescue/ Operation Save America, leads a white horse named JUDGMENT. The message we bring through this living parable is clear. God has already judged in His word that abortion is murder, homosexuality is a sin and an abomination, and every other religion besides Christianity is a lie from the pit of hell. Not very tolerant, according to today's standards, but it is the truth and only the truth can liberate an individual or nation. Our nation can no longer try to make straight what God has called crooked and continue to prosper as a people. There will be an accounting for that which we've done and for that which we have left undone. The divine recompense is probably sooner than most of us think.

Bringing up the rear of this procession is yours truly (Rusty Thomas) leading a donkey called MERCY. It took three days of hardship, danger and toil to figure out this sequence. Initially, we had the broken set of the commandments, the baby casket, the donkey, and then the white horse. The donkey, however, would not cooperate with this arrangement and I was left trying to drag this animal through the busy streets of CA. I was at my wits end and was thinking, if this keeps up, I will not be able to endure this 3000 mile journey. Thankfully, the Lord heard our cry and miraculously intervened. My third daughter, Destiny, is in charge of filming events with the video cam and passing out tracts.

We broke down in San Juan Capistrano. Fortunately, a ranch foreman stopped by and let us stay at a 25,000 acre ranch in order to make our repairs. He opened up a huge field for Judgment and Mercy to romp in. Amazingly, as they were thrown together for the first time, the donkey began to follow the horse around everywhere the horse went. We were not expecting this because all the experts told us that donkeys are smarter than horses and that the horse would follow the donkey.

After viewing this interesting development, we still didn't connect the dots of what the Lord was saying through this unusual behavior. So the next day, we marched in L.A. with me having to drag Mercy all through the downtown area. I was so frustrated. I wanted to kick the donkey in the head. She was wearing me out. Finally, Flip had enough of this and let his horse Judgment by us and as soon as he did, Mercy obediently followed. It was astonishing to witness the transformation that took place in Mercy. The Lord had to use a stubborn animal to teach dumb men the message He wanted us to deliver to America. The final word He wanted to communicate to America was not JUDGMENT, but MERCY.

Thus the message became centered upon a sermon that has burned brightly in the heart of Flip for years now and it is found in James 2:13. "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." Clearly, God desires mercy to triumph over judgment, but the crux of the matter is, mercy cannot be dispensed apart from judgment. The problem with America is two-fold. We have a Church that is footloose and fancy free, dispensing God's mercy and forgiveness to a nation that is not convinced of its guilt, sinfulness, and idolatry. While the culture on the other hand shrieks in terror to be judged for our many sins. The nudie bars, the sodomites, and the pro-aborts we have encountered along the way know only one Scripture when it comes to their depravity, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." Matt. 7:1 And then they wipe their collective adulterous mouths and say, "We have done nothing wrong!" Prov. 30:20

It is only when a criminal is found guilty and faces a dreadful sentence that he can throw himself at the mercy of the court. America, however, demands mercy in God's verdict and pardon from any penalty in order to continue in our sin. That, my friends, is dangerous and must be judged, in order for the true mercy of God to flow once again to our beleaguered land.

Micah, the prophet, gives us God's order that must be reestablished today. "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of the thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8. Can we discern God's priorities here? Where justice is lacking, the love of mercy will be found wanting. Justice is always to precede mercy. If not, both godly attributes will be rendered useless and our nation will resemble the terrible condition found in Isaiah 59:14,15. "And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment."

Yes, God desires to be merciful, but our nation refuses to be just and to judge evil. Therefore the mercy of God stands afar off from us, trailing behind the judgment of God. In God's book of wisdom, Proverbs, the Lord would remind us, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Prov. 28:13. America is covering her sin by calling good, evil and evil, good. She is covering her sin by codifying wickedness into law, abortion, sodomite marriages, ad nauseam. Therefore, instead of confessing and forsaking our many sins, America is forsaking the very mercy of God. This tragic condition is exactly why Jonah declared in the belly of the great fish, "Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy." Jonah 2:8

EDITORIAL IN WACO

Recently I wrote this editorial and sent it to the Waco Tribune to be published. It has been edited and published as a Letter to the Editor. The battle continues to rage on in Waco. Local pastors and saints are making a courageous stand against tyranny and abortion in our home town. Please continue to pray for them and if you are in the Central Texas area, please come out to be with them on Wednesdays from 7-10 a.m. and the local Planned Parenthood death camp located at 1927 Columbus Ave. in Waco, TX.

By the time you receive this month's newsletter, the Church in Waco will have already stormed the City Council meeting requesting that they retract the city ordinance. Legal recourse is also moving forward to challenge this tyranny in the courts. Please pray that the Lord will use these court proceedings to expose the long, ugly history of the unholy alliance between Planned Parenthood and the city government of Waco. This demonic stronghold must be broken once and for all. Our city government must no longer be allowed to use the color of law at the behest of Planned Parenthood to destroy the substance of our liberty.

Recently an article in the Waco Tribune described courageous Christians taking a stand against tyranny as: "Still defiant, abortion foes protest again at clinic despite city ordinance."

Though there is defiance against the rule of law in Waco, the real question is, "Who are the ones defying it?" As Christians and free men, we declare that one needs to look no farther that the City government of Waco and Planned Parenthood to discover the guilty parties. Time and again, our city leaders have become willing dupes for Planned Parenthood. It is they that stand in defiance of the law. In the name of protecting children at school zones, they allow Planned Parenthood to murder children within a school zone.

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.'"

It is our City government that stands in violation of the Constitution of the United States, the supreme law of the land. They refuse to uphold the right to life that is promised to every American according to our Declaration of Independence. Their betrayal of this sacred trust allows Planned Parenthood's reign of terror against the little ones in the womb of their mothers to flourish in the city of Waco. Thus instead of protecting our first and most fundamental right as American, they have decided to further their violations by crushing underfoot our rights to freedom of speech and freedom to peaceable assemble. Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, violates the Supreme Law of the Universe, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." So, who really is in defiance against the law? For every freedom loving American, the evidence points in one direction and indicts two parties, our city government who passed this tyrannical ordinance and Planned Parenthood, whom this ordinance seeks to protect. They are the law breakers. We, on the other hand, are the law keepers. God and history will bear this truth out in Jesus' Holy Name!

UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN! Thomas Family Update

"But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 19:14

While we are walking across America doing a Kingdom work abroad, my lovely, faithful, and courageous bride birthed a major Kingdom, Pro-life work at home. One March 21st, 2004, Torah Grace Thomas was born!

She was 8 lbs.15 oz. and 21 1/2 "long. It was right after we went through the Mohave Desert and arrived in the city of Needles, CA that we received word of her birth. Both mother and child are thriving under the blessings of the Almighty and the loving support of our home church, Church on the Rock.

I was able to hear my daughter's cry through the phone. Tears of gratitude came to my eyes as I heard her sound off in Jesus' Holy Name! In my many prayers for my family, while serving the Lord abroad, I have dedicated this child to the Lord, His Kingdom and to His great salvation. Please continue to pray for Liz and the rest of our children still at home.

Shekinah and Destiny are serving well on this arduous task. They have their moments of being homesick, of crying and of being physically challenged by the heat and the miles we walk, but all in all, they have been enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. They will certainly be road scholars by this journey's end. Brethren, pray for us!

PHOTO GALLERY http://mttu.com/elijahmin   www.operationsaveamerica.org  

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then volumes will be communicated as you check out our Walk Across America website. The photos chronicle our various adventures that happen on a daily basis. Every day we pass out tracts, bear witness to the Gospel of the Kingdom, confront sin centers, declare God's prophetic message through this Living Parable and lead men to a saving grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is very expensive surviving on the road and trying to make ends meet at home. For those of you who are moved by God's Spirit and see the value of the Kingdom work, by all means, please, feel free to give bountifully towards it. Many lives are being challenged, touched, and changed by this outreach, including our own.

MAY THE LORD RICHLY BLESS YOU!!!

In King Jesus' Service

Rusty, Liz, and the Thomas Nation

P.O. Box 3126, Waco, TX 76707 Voice: (254) 836-1037 Fax: (254) 836-4092 Cell: (254) 715-3134

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