Paul, though courageous in his service to Christ, also knew to be a faithful man of God, the better part of valor is to flee somethings in this life. He warned young Timothy, his son in the faith, "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Timothy 2:22." In other passages, Paul exhorted us as Christians to flee fornication, idolatry, and the love of money. Thus a faithful man is not only known by what he is faithful to, but also what he is fleeing from. I dare say some men of God have been taken captive by sexual immorality and the allurement of the riches of this world. Once it takes them over they lose their prophetic edge, seek to please men, instead of the Lord who bought them with a price, and will tickle men’s ears with what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear.

Paul who initially started out as a great persecutor of the faith, became its greatest champion. The one who fought the most vehemently against Christianity became its greatest advocate. Paul was a fighter. His entire life was defined by what he fought for or against. First he fought for Judaism against Christianity, but once God knocked him off his high horse, he gave his life to fight all comers that opposed the Truth, the Life, and the Way. As stated before he declared that he had fought "the good fight of faith."

Paul fought so valiantly, in fact, the powers of darkness knew his name. The book of Acts records this remarkable admission by demonic forces, "Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded (Acts 19:13-16)." Paul was not content to have his name just recorded in the Lamb’s book of life, he pressed on in the battle till his name was known amongst the enemies of the cross and the powers of darkness. Would to God that men would arise with this same fight, determination, and godly goal today.

Every where Paul went the principalities, powers, and the rulers of darkness took note. They in full array threw at him all their unholy arsenal, yet Paul continued. He fought with the beasts at Ephesus (Acts 15:32). While he fought, God established a vibrant, flourishing Church in that area. Demons, government powers, and a host of difficult situations could not stop this man.

Paul lists in detail the great struggles he endured as he fought to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom. "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)." And yet in the midst of this war, Paul would confess, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:8-11)."

The Church today for the most part has lost the language and reality of war, battle, and the great struggle for the souls of men, the lives of children, and the future of the world. What we call spiritual warfare today pales in comparison to the reality faced by the Apostle Paul and the early Church. It is not that demons have changed or the world system that is in rebellion to God’s loving rule has changed. What has changed is Men of God’s response to these enemies.

In light of this, we must seek to rededicate our lives to become and then raise up in our stead faithful men. As the Apostle Paul challenged Timothy, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2)." Our lives must be spent to inspire others to follow hard after Jesus by fleeing from those sins that so easily beset us. Lastly, let us put on the Armor of God once again and take off the party tunics stained with impurity, moral cowardice, and apathy. Let us, by God’s grace be men of God whose lives are defined by what we are faithful to, what we are fleeing from, and what we are fighting for. Even so, Lord Jesus, let it be for your glory!

PRISON MINISTRY UPDATE

"For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death." (Psalm 102:19,20)

Last night I took the plunge and began the weekly outreach at our local youth prison. What I initially suspected was made manifest as I entered the pod. Young boys and men all trying to keep up a tough facade desperately trying not to be perceived as weak or vulnerable to the harsh conditions that surrounded them. About 1/3 of the pod came into the room with me. Apparently, to get them all, one must bribe them with snacks. I told them that was not my style, but promised them a healthy, sound, and Biblically nutritious meal that will feed their souls, rather than candy to feed their flesh.

One by one I had the young man tell their tale. Afterward I asked them what was the common theme they all shared. They all came from broken homes with violent, missing in action dads, who either abused or molested them. Thus the abused became the abusers, the molested became the molesters, and the violated became the violators. Though they were indeed victims, I challenged them to reject the mentality of victimization that seeks to rob them of taking personal responsibility for their own sinful actions and crimes. We read Jeremiah 31:28-30 which states, "And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge."

After about 30 minutes of this the outer shell began to dissolve and they began to open up. I challenged them that unless there is a major change in their lives through repentance and faith, they will be condemned to repeat the same wretched pattern of their fathers before them. (The sins of the fathers are passed to the children). Then I had them take a good look around and mentioned this might be the highlight of their lives, lest they truly are transformed by the Gospel of the Kingdom. We discussed what it means to be a man of God, anger, sexual immorality, and a host of other subjects. They all requested prayer and kept me there for an hour past my scheduled time. They all seemed hungry for masculine Christianity.

Most of them had prayed to receive Christ, but there was a definite lack of discipleship, worldview, and mentoring training. God willing, the Lord would be pleased to use me to make this investment into their lives.

"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter." (2 Corinthians 7:10,11)

Yesterday was my second visit into the youth prison. I'm finding some of these young men were raised in Church. Of course, none of them led into Church by their fathers. It was either their mothers or grandmothers that tried to instill some semblance of Christianity in their impoverished souls. Not a one had a father to get up in their face and bust them up with loving discipline. Thus they are angry and want to strike out against the world.

I sat down with three of them one on one and then ministered to two other young men separately. As they told me their sad tales, I challenged them on true Biblical repentance. I warned them that belief in God is not enough. They must exercise faith and repentance, which are both gifts of God to be saved. I told them that demons believe in God, but are still lost, walking in darkness, and are condemned.

We discussed true conversion as opposed to false conversion, true repentance as opposed to worldly sorrow. I asked them if they are sorrowing after a godly sort which leads to repentance and salvation or are they sorrowing according to the world's way. In other words, are you more sorry that you got caught and are suffering the penalty of your sins and crimes or are you sorry that you offended God's holiness and sinned against Him?

Unless they got this right, I warned them of becoming religious hypocrites in which Jesus reserved his hottest anger and biting criticism. You can't just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. You can't just be a Christian on Sunday and live for the world, Satan, and sin the rest of the week. Otherwise, you will become just like the Pharisees, righteous on the outside, but on the inside full of dead man's bones and everything unclean. You can't just draw nigh to God with your lips and then withhold your heart from Him.

All of them seemed to respond well to this loving rebuke and asked for prayer. Please continue to pray that God will use my feeble attempts to transform the lives of these young men.

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (Psalms 14:1)

Just recently, Elijah Ministries collaborated with some local Churches and our local AFR radio station to sponsor this ad in the Waco Tribune. Annually, Planned Parenthood puts on their indoctrinational drive called "Nobody's Fool" to secure future clients at their birth control/abortion business. They target children from 5th to 9th grade. They attempt to teach them the irresponsible message they euphemistically call "safe sex." My message at the event was "there is no such thing as ‘safe sex’ because there is no such thing as safe sin." Besides, a condom cannot protect our children from a broken heart, let alone the ravishing affects of premarital sex, such as, STDs, pregnancy, and AIDS. The following is the paid ad.

As concerned parents and community leaders we wish to share our thoughts about Planned Parenthood’s Youth Conference known as "Nobody’s Fool" planned for July 26th at the Waco Convention Center.

As parents, we recognize that our children are wonderful gifts from God. As such, it is our duty and responsibility to help guard their hearts and minds and prevent them from being exposed to unhealthy teachings and immoral lifestyles. We are encouraged as parents by the wise teaching of Proverbs 22:6 "to train our children in the ways of God and when they are old they will not depart from this teaching."

We believe it is our responsibility as Christian leaders to share with parents who may be planning to send their children to the Planned Parenthood "Nobody’s Fool" our concerns and insights of what we believe your children will be exposed to at this conference. We know from past conferences that Planned Parenthood has a hidden agenda. They are our nation’s leading provider of abortion services. It is our belief that their true agenda is to teach children and adolescents inappropriate sexual lifestyles that generally will lead many into acting out such behavior and then encourage them to turn to Planned Parenthood for birth control or abortion services without parental consent.

"We are not going to be an organization promoting celibacy or chastity." Faye Wattleton, Past President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Los Angeles Times.

"If your parents are stupid enough to deny you access to birth control, and you are under 18, you can get it on your own. Call Planned Parenthood." Planned Parenthood advertisement in the Dallas Observer.

Planned Parenthood has a proven track record of not only promoting pre-marital sex with children as young as ten years of age, but in their book "Unequal Partners," written for Planned Parenthood by Sue Montfort and Peggy Brick, they promote sex between young girls and older men as a healthy and normal relationship. Please visit Planned Parenthood’s website: www.ppgnnj.org/manuals.htm  for more information about the book "Unequal Partners."

Thesidious plan is to teach your children sexual activity and how to conceal e statements and others clearly speak for themselves. In our opinion it reveals that Planned Parenthood seeks to replace or undermine the role of parents when it comes to their children’s sexual activity, use of birth control, intercourse and abortion. Their insit from parents.

It will be a drive aimed at getting your kids sexually active and in need of their services. Protect your children’s hearts, minds and their future. Don’t send your children to Planned Parenthood to learn about their sexuality. Teach them at home or organize a parents’ group at your church to teach abstinence and purity, and to save their heart for marriage.

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rusty, Kendra, and the Thomas Nation