Volume 19 Issue 8 - August 2004

“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14)

As of this writing, our Walk Across America Team has traveled over 2400 miles. What seemed impossible has now become reality. The first and major goal has been accomplished by the grace of God. We have walked from San Clemente, CA. to Columbus Ohio to host our national event. Volumes could be written on what transpired in that wicked city. Each day we took the Gospel of the Kingdom to the streets and sin-centers of Columbus. Demons manifested, city officials were in an uproar, and the police were out in great numbers as gentle Christians confronted the culture with “Thus saith the Lord.”

As we walked into the city several brothers and sisters greeted us with banners, flags, waves, and cheers. It seemed like a dream. Our hearts were warmed and our spirits lifted as we marched right up to city hall. It was at this gate the church set up for the week to do Father’s business with Columbus. No church would open their doors to host us, so we set up in the city square. The salt was out of the shaker and the light of the world came out of our buildings to proclaim, “There is another King, one called Jesus!”

Saturday, we held a press conference and shared with the folks our vision and explained the living parable that contains God’s prophetic message to America. The sodomites, the pro-aborts, and scores of police officers were on hand to hear the message. That night we held our first rally. Sunday morning we went to the gate of the Lord’s house (Jeremiah 7:1-110).

The team I led visited World Harvest Church. The Pastor is Rod Parsley. The people and the leadership were surprised and somewhat offended by our presence, signs, and message we lovingly, but firmly brought to them. Mostly, our appeal to them was a Macedonian call, “Come help us,” by joining with us on the streets of Columbus. We preached that abortion will end in Columbus and America when the church decides it will end and not one second sooner.

We challenged them to quit hiring Republican, conservative mercenaries to fight the battle that only the Church can win. This is our battle and this is our mess. The gates of hell will always prevail against the Republican Party, the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court. It cannot, however, prevail against the Church of the living God. How many more children will die and become raging sodomites until the Church arises to take her rightful position in the battle for the souls of men, the lives of children, and the future of our nation?

Sunday evening we held a Solemn Assembly. Men of God led the Lord’s people in prayers of repentance. The Church on the streets took ownership and responsibility for the sins of our nation that has reached heaven to endanger us all. The six particular sins we confessed and repented of were: Our failure to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, the compromise, apathy, and syncretism of the Church of Jesus Christ, the failure of men of God to live out their God-ordained purpose, the fear of man and a man-pleasing, and the failure to lift up God’s law which is the standard that is binding upon all men, at all times, and in every nation.

On Monday morning four teams took to the streets as a public proclamation. Three teams went to the death camps and one team was an overpass team stationed over the main interstate freeways. Tens of thousands of people driving by witnessed the prophetic rebuke. Different signs were located in sequence at strategic places along the interstate. The signs read “What Kind of Nation?” “What Kind Of City?” “What Kind Of Church?” What Kind Of Man?” “Would Allow This!” The last signs were graphic pictures of aborted babies. Needless to say this slowed traffic and caused quite a stir.

Monday afternoon we met back at city hall to hold the Emancipation Proclamation ceremony for the Unborn. Flip Benham, national director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America, gave the historical backdrop concerning this document. I had the privilege of reading aloud this prophetic decree. Afterwards hundreds of people signed. That evening I preached the following message.

“I had a different message prepared for this gathering, but once again, we make our plans, but God directs our steps. The message was called, “The Gospel of the Kingdom, Invitation, Proclamation, Command, and Warning!” It was a great message; too bad you can’t hear it.

The Lord, I believe, has another word to bring tonight. Strangely, this word is not necessarily for our benefit, but for a people yet to be born. This word is to future generations who will prayerfully survive the calamities that are sure to come upon our nation, lest we repent. This seems unlikely since our generation, unfortunately, doesn’t have the moral, sacrificial character to hold back America’s slide into perdition. We have eyes, but we do not see, we have ears, but refuse to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, and we have hearts, but are we correctly responding to God in this desperate hour? If we were honest souls, the answer would be a resounding NO!

Our generation is a lost generation that knows not the Lord and yet we still take up His name upon our lips. Many go to church and sing songs to Jesus, but in their thinking and in their lifestyle they are functional pagans, void of a Biblical worldview. Many in America say they know God, but their works deny Him (Titus 1:16). Our nation is so drunk on the spirit of the age and so blinded by our lust that we can’t perceive that we are drowning in a sea of blood and perversion. Worse yet, even if we do know it, it seems not many are willing to muster the courage to sacrifice to turn the tide of evil before it is too late. God’s wrath is upon us and our children will pay the price for our folly and idolatry.

So this message tonight is for those who perhaps survive God’s judgment upon this spoiled, wicked nation. Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 58:12, and 61:4. The word of the Lord comes unto us saying, ‘And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in…And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.’

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what portends for America’s future, if we continue to butcher our babies, sodomize each other, and call good, evil and evil, good. Ruin and desolation will be America’s lot. Out of the ash heap, however, needs to be a generation that will arise to repair the breach, restore the right paths, and rebuild our nation in righteousness once again. The Psalmist declares, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do (Psalm 11:3)?” For one thing, the righteous who survive can get their face back into the Bible, study His blueprints, and rebuild the foundations.

For tonight’s purpose I want to look at three crucial foundation stones that must be restored if America is ever to again enjoy the righteous fruits of liberty, freedom, prosperity, and peace. Number one, God is Sovereign, not man! God is the ultimate authority. He rules and reigns in the affairs of man. He sets up kingdoms and He knocks them down. He raises up the poor and needy and causes them to reign in life as princes, and sends the rich away empty handed. He kills and makes alive. He wounds and brings healing. He is the dreaded Sovereign Lord of the universe.

Our Founding Fathers believed this to be true. Benjamin Franklin reminded those present at the Constitutional Convention who were embroiled in a bitter dispute over the Constitution that God rules amongst the nations. He said, ‘I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?’ He went on to exhort the Convention to open each meeting of Congress with prayer, beseeching God to bless, grant wisdom, and direction to establish America.

Sinful man, as God’s creature, is duty bound to humbly submit to God’s ultimate authority found in the sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. It is the Word of the living God. The Bible states, ‘And Jesus answered him (Satan), saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Luke 4:4).’ Notice that Jesus did not say Christians should not live by bread alone. No, not Christians, but man is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The entire human race is held accountable to God’s word. His word is therefore binding upon all men, at all times, and in every nation. No one is exempt from the authority of God’s word, for every man will be judged by God’s word.

America, for the most part, is either ignorant of this truth or outright rejects this truth. Thus our nation is left with only two foolish options. Either the state is Sovereign, which leads historically to tyranny, murderous regimes, and atrocities, or the individual is sovereign which leads to anarchy, confusion, and chaos. Only One Nation Under God can safeguard individual liberty on the one hand and the rule of law in society on the other hand. Only the revelation concerning the Sovereignty of God can uphold the delicate tension between authority and liberty.

The second foundation stone concerns the great theme of the Christian faith, which is liberty. Jesus died to set the captive free. Whatever you may struggle with tonight, no matter how strong the addictions, no matter how thick the chains of sin and bondage, our Lord has the power to shatter the darkness to liberate your soul. 2 Corinthians 3:17 declares, ‘Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ It starts by delivering us from the sinful nature that rages from within to defeat all forms of tyranny from without. This, the Bible and history both can attest.

America has lost the understanding of what is the nature of true freedom. Only a God-fearing, self-governing, and moral people can establish and retain freedom. Listen to this quote by our second President, John Adams, ‘We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.’ The religion he references here is not just any religion, it is the Christian religion.

Robert Winthrop, another great statesman from the nineteenth century, drives home the same truth, ’All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they have of stringent state Government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or the bayonet.’

The freedom that Jesus died to secure and the freedom that our Founding Father’s bequeathed to us is not the freedom to turn our liberty into licentiousness. We are sadly mistaken, if we think American freedom empowers us to do what we want, when we want, and with whomever we want to do it with. True freedom is the power to do what is right. It is God’s enabling to do as we ought. This is why the Bible warns in Galatians 5:1, ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.’

America needs to be reminded that there are two enemies to freedom, lawlessness amongst the people and governmental tyranny. We are committing both as I speak. Proverbs 28:2 teaches us, ‘For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.’ When a nation casts off God’s commandments and falls into a moral freefall, it automatically creates an environment for civil tyranny. The more lawless we become, the more civil government grows in power. The more we cast off moral restraint, the more rules, regulations, licenses, and laws will suffocate our freedom. Why? Because we lose the moral fortitude to properly handle our freedoms. Future generations will need to rediscover these truths to once again realize that only men steeped in God’s knowledge, wisdom, and understanding can prolong the health, soundness, and vitality of a nation.

The final foundation stone, at least, for this message, is the true nature concerning the term Separation of Church and State. This phrase does not appear in our founding documents nor in the First Amendment. And yet, if the Church of Jesus Christ comes out of the politically correct closet, the forces of darkness ram this hellish doctrine right down our throats. Especially, if we try to reintroduce the knowledge of God back into the public life of our nation.

To set the record straight, the civil government of the United States has no business whatsoever in interfering with the Church of the living God in spreading His Gospel of the Kingdom. On the other hand, neither should the Church run the State. Unlike Muslims who love to use the sword of civil government to coerce people by deadly force into their dark religion, Christianity must reject that heresy. We have the most powerful sword of all to bring about the conversion of men’s souls. It is called the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the word of God.

Christians must never take up the sword of civil government to force people to submit to the Christian faith. Religious tyranny is just as bad or even worse than civil tyranny. One just happens to wrap his oppression with religious garb, while the other wears a black robe. As Christians, that form of tyranny must be condemned along with the rest. Our Pilgrim Forefathers fled from England to escape that kind of religious oppression and we do not want to see that revived in our day.

However, in stating this truth, that does not mean we are to separate Christian principles from our civil government nor should we remove the knowledge of God from the public life of our nation. This is the root cause of America’s woes. John Quincy Adams, our sixth President, gave this profound quote and may it pierce the darkness of the lie called Separation of Church and State as currently propagated, ‘The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.’

It is in God’s word alone that we find the true separation of Church and State. The symbol of God’s authority in the Church are the keys to the Kingdom. The Church has the power through binding and loosing to advance God’s loving rule in the earth. The Church is to wield the sword of God’s word to conquer the evil inherent within men and set the captive free.

The symbol of God’s authority in the State is the sword. It is to be wielded to punish the evil crimes of men (as God defines evil) and protect those who do good (as God defines good). They are indeed separate entities that God established for His pleasure and for mankind’s benefit. The bottom line, though, in this whole debate comes down to this truth, there is a true separation of Church and State, but there is no separation of any individual, family, church, or civil government from the authority of Almighty God. Romans 13:1 settles the issue once and for all, ‘Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.’”

Tuesday morning we stormed the gates of hell, the local abortion mills. For the week, we know that at least 10 children were saved because the Church spoke for those who could not speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8,9). Later that day about three hundred saints showed up at the United Way. Once again this charity organization defunded the Boy Scouts for taking a stand against homosexuality. Plus they decided a while back to remove the option for people to designate where their funds are channeled. We publically rebuked their policies and lo, and behold a couple of days later we read in the local Columbus paper that they restored their former policy of allowing people to choose where their funds will be spent. It's amazing what happens when God’s people engage our culture with God’s word.

Tuesday night was one of the most bizarre nights I ever experienced. We were planning on having a showdown similar to Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Flip held up to America a picture of a live baby and the Roe vs. Wade decision and asked America, “How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord is God, then serve him, if Baal be god, then serve him and go to hell.” He also held up marriage over against the homosexual agenda and the Bible over against the Koran and asked the same question. We were intending to burn the Roe decision, the homosexual flag, and the Koran (Better these lies burn now, then America burn later). The city, however, was so afraid, they did everything possible to deny us a burn permit. At one point, we were surrounded by one hundred and fifty police officers with their stun guns crackling, ready to strike us, if we dared burned those lies from the pit of hell.

What happened next is unbelievable. One of our guys picked up the empty pot which we were going to use to burn these hellish items and began to walk around. Several saints followed. The police decided they were going to follow as well. For the entire evening, from about 8 pm. to 4 am. the police on foot, bicycles, and vehicles followed an empty pot around the city of Columbus. Our prayer and preaching spots along the way were powerful! God’s presence was certainly amongst us, but oh, how foolish became the city officials and the police.

On Wednesday morning we continued our street activites. That afternoon Flip and I tag- teamed in the afternoon seminar to train Christians on how to minister to Muslims. That evening, we finally worked out the burn permit and we held the modern-day showdown as planned. Surrounded by police, pro-aborts, sodomites, and angry Muslims, we burned the Roe Decision, the homosexual flag, and the Koran. A suspected Muslim terrorist was in the crowd taking pictures. That evening we also proclaimed a New Declaration of Dependence Upon God. Utilizing some of the language of the Declaration of Independence, Flip formulated a new document which I read aloud at city hall. Several hundred people signed the document. We gave an invitation to the police to sign as well, but not a one of them had the courage to break ranks with this increasingly anti-Christ government they serve.

Thursday morning we went out to the highways and byways once again. Our pulpits were the sidewalks in front of the abortion mills. Once again, the pulpits were aflame with righteousness. Later that day, we met back at city hall to hold a Memorial Service for Baby Mercy. This precious child was murdered by abortion and though dead, she had volumes to speak to Columbus. Through many tears, Christians filed past her coffin granting her the dignity and worth she never received in this life, all the while asking, “Where are her parents, her family, and her loved ones?” Once again, we invited the police, pro-aborts, and sodomites to view America’s illicit affair with death. There were only a few takers and most of them mocked.

Before I share about my arrest on Friday, I want to first mention the Lord has raised up an unbeatable evangelistic team. A Gospel partnership was formed in Columbus between my newest daughter, Torah Grace, and David Lackey, our OSA leader from Birmingham, AL. David, who loves children, held Torah through much of the events that transpired. He would casually walk up to pro-aborts, police, and others to share about our baby, her name and what it means which would lead right into a Gospel witness. One of the pro-aborts prayed with David to repent and receive God’s salvation through Christ and many others were impacted as well. Torah’s life verse is Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” At four months of age, her name and the destiny it carries has already been used by God for His glory and His great salvation amongst men!

On Friday, once again, we showed up for the battle on the streets of Columbus. Later that day, we met back at city hall to hold an Ecclesiastical Court. The Church of Jesus Christ came together to hold the Supreme Court in contempt of God’s Court. We reminded them that they were not supreme, but there is a higher court before whom every justice would one day bow their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We read off the six treacherous decisions that the Supreme Court rendered that has unleashed the forces of hell upon America. Those decisions became the actual charges we brought against them. After we read the charges, we pronounced God’s ruling by stating, “It is written.” God’s word was then proclaimed to make null and void their wicked rulings. We then proceeded to have the young people rip up those evil, unjust decisions and throw them into a bin to be burned. As the flames shot upward, we declared those rulings were no longer binding upon us, our children, or our nation. Little did I know at the time, but the heat was about to get turned up on us.

Right after I lit those papers on fire as Flip preached on, the police asked me to come aside. I knew instantly they were going to arrest me. I told my friend, Gib, to secure my Bible as they handcuffed me and took me away. They told me our burn permit ran out twenty minutes ago and that I violated their "open burn" policy. The scene became surreal. The top brace of the police came, fire engines, swat, snipers, federal agents, and the like swarmed upon us. They charged me with two different charges. One was violating their open burn ordinance and the other was operating a criminal tool. The criminal tool was the lighter. Both are class 1 misdemeanors. Each carries the maximum penalty of a thousand dollar fine and 180 days in jail.

The police placed me in a paddy wagon to be interrogated by fire marshals. Many of the brethren came by, including some of my children, to encourage my heart. On the way to jail I witnessed to the arresting officers. The Lord gave me great favor. While I was being processed some of the sherrif’s deputies went out of their way to help me. One made a phone call on my behalf to find out exactly what I was facing. They did not do this for the rest of the prisoners. Some even went as far to say the charges against me were “chump charges” or were “politically motivated.” I guess the city wanted their pound of flesh.

About an hour after being locked in a holding cell, a federal marshal came into the jail. Apparently, he had business there. Suddenly, the federal marshal interrupted the entire police process by literally shouting my name three times. I heard my name, but could not for the life of me think he was actually calling for me. Finally, one of the inmates said, “I think he is calling for you.” I walked up to the window in my cell and sure enough the federal marshal looked into my eyes and with genuine sincerity gave me a thumbs up. I couldn’t believe it. Naturally, everybody in the holding tank was now curious why a federal marshal would encourage me in jail. The Gospel floodgates burst open and the witnessing opportunities abounded.

Shortly after that incident, a drunken Hispanic man came into our cell like a raging bull. He punched the walls and staggered about yelling in Spanish. After a while, he calmed down a little and became concerned as he sobered up a bit and realized what he had done. In a drunken state, he lost control of his car and drove it into a home. Whether or not someone was injured, I don’t know. Anyway, he stopped roaming about the cell and looked around for someone to help him. His eyes met mine and he came to sit beside me. I immediately folded my hands in a prayer posture and said the name Jesus Christ in Spanish. I then proceeded to put my arm around him as he bowed with me in prayer. I know the presence of God touched him and so did everyone else in that cell. This man, though we were separated by language, was transformed by the power of prayer. The cellmates literally saw the raging bull become a peaceful lamb in the presence of God. As the prayer ceased, the troubled man in front of the entire cell, gave me a hug. Once again God moved to open more doors to witness.

As the sleepless night dragged on, a young black man with the Jamaican dred locks came in. He was ticked to the max. He just stared holes into the walls. Suddenly, he looked my way and a smile came across his face. He said, “I can’t believe you are sitting across from me. My live-in wife and I were just talking about OSA and what you were doing in our city.” In fact, he was planning on visiting us at city hall before he was arrested. I spent two hours sharing the Gospel, the Walk Across America vision, the racist agenda of Planned Parenthood, and challenged him to accept Christ. I told him, “it was there for the taking,” and he replied, “I’m taking it!”

It was during this witnessing opportunity that the situation became a little disconcerting. Unbeknownst to me, across the way was a white supremacy follower. As I exposed the racist agenda of Planned Parenthood, he became seriously agitated and threatened to kill me twice, right in the cell. I told him that I was ministering the Word of God, but though that word was sweet to the taste, his threat turned the Word of God sour in my stomach. Looking him in the eye, I by sheer faith, suppressed the fear and resumed ministering God’s word. He calmed down and what the enemy meant for harm, again, God used to open more doors.

There is much more that could be shared, but not enough room. After the national event, we spent a week in Warsaw, OH. We participated in a Pass the Salt Camp Meeting, a Christian man’s ministry headed up by Coach David Daubenmire. To find out more about this ministry, go to www.minutemenunited.org. It was just what the doctor ordered and God moved in powerful ways. The bottom line is about a hundred or so committed Christians took up the mantle and challenge to continue to storm the gates in Columbus, OH. Perhaps next month I’ll share more in depth of what transpired at the camp meeting. It was just wonderful to be reunited with our family and to train men of God in the battle for the souls of men, the lives of children, and the future of our nation. To God be all the glory! Brethren continue to pray for us. Our tentative date to complete our Walk Across America in Washington DC is Saturday, August 28^th. You are most certainly invited, if you can make the trip.