Letter from Pastors in Tulsa

 Letter from Pastors in Tulsa

Below is a letter we received from several Pastors in Tulsa, Oklahoma concerned about the upcoming "Operation Restore Justice" event. We have included Flip's letter in response to these men of God.

March 19, 2003

Rev. Philip L. (Flip) Benham
Operation Save America
P.O. Box 740066
Dallas, TX 75374

Dear Rev. Benham,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We, the ministers of the gospel representing these churches listed below, on hearing of your planned Tulsa event, felt the need to contact you in advance, expressing our comments and concerns, for your prayerful consideration.

First, please note that we are all strongly pro-life, and have been involved in a variety of pro-life activities through the years. Many members of our respective churches are significantly involved with local crisis pregnancy centers, have prayed and demonstrated at the local abortion clinic, and have, in many other ways, put feet to our convictions about the sanctity of life.

From our pulpits and through other means, we have addressed the heresy being preached by Carlton Pearson.

We also agree with you in strongly questioning the decision by Rhema to revoke Mark Holick's credentials.

Nevertheless, we're troubled by the tone of your planned "proclamations" scheduled for March 27-29. We have no opposition to citizens of Tulsa expressing themselves in front of a Tulsa abortion clinic, if it is done respectfully and in a Christ-honoring manner. However, to publicly reprove Rhema or Higher Dimensions (and ORU, though we do not know what your agenda is there), begs several questions:

1. Have you been invited by the church in Tulsa, or are you coming of your own volition?
2. have you walked out Matthew 18 with Rhema and/or with Carlton Pearson - i.e. have you addressed these things privately?
3. Is a public, media-covered demonstration similar to taking your case before unrighteous judges, as in a lawsuit? (1 Cor. 6:1-8)
4. How do public disputes like this adorn the gospel of Christ for unbelievers who witness them?
5. If you are coming to Tulsa to call the church to repentance, isn't doing this publicly similar to spanking a child in public? Would you agree that public discipline is not appropriate for children? Church discipline is not the business of the community at large, just as discipline of a child is not the business of anyone except the parents (of course, this analogy assumes that the church in Tulsa is "your child," which it clearly is not).

In summary, your proposed events strike us as someone coming and trampling in a vineyard that the Lord has entrusted to us. While you may feel you have eased your conscience, we know our community, and we sense that people will only be hardened and further polarized in their positions.

Even though we clearly resonate with your abhorrence of abortion, and admire your strong public stance on behalf of life, we do have the concerns outlined above. We would ask you to reconsider whether or not it is wise to hold these planned demonstrations. Please consider how these actions might bring reproach on the body of Christ (which is already here and at work in this city) and how it might make more difficult the work of very credible pro-life ministries already hard at work in Tulsa.

In service of the King,

XXXX XXXXXXXX, Elder, XXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX
XXXX XXXXXXXX, Elder, XXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX
XXXX XXXXXXXX, Elder, XXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX
XXXXXX XXXXX, Pastor, XXXXXXX Church

Below is Flip's response:

March 23, 2003

Gentle Warriors for Christ
In Tulsa, Oklahoma

Dear men of God,

Thank you so very much for your quick reply to our announced arrival in Tulsa this next weekend. I just received your letter via email this Sunday morning, March 23. It is my fault that I did not reply to you sooner. I did not even have time to view the emails sent to me this past Friday. Please forgive me.

For your information our mission at ORU is simply to expose the students to the reality of abortion and the fact that abortion is a Gospel issue. It can be solved only as the Church of Jesus Christ takes the battle to the "gates of hell."

Your letter and rebuke are well received. Please allow me to answer your points quickly.

1. Have you been invited by the church in Tulsa, or are you coming of your own volition?

We have not been invited by any church in Tulsa to bring the Gospel of Christ to the gates of hell (your lone abortion mill). I pray that you will join us in bringing the praying, proclaiming, praising, Church of Jesus Christ to the abortion mill this Saturday morning. God willing, we will be there at 7:00 am. I am truly looking forward to meeting you all there. I would be very happy to meet with you before Saturday if that is your desire. I will be in town on Thursday afternoon. I believe I will be speaking in several of the classes at ORU that afternoon - at least I hope this to still be the case.

2. Have you walked out Matthew 18 with Rhema and/or with Carlton Pearson - i.e. have you addressed these things privately?

Your point in ensuring that the steps of Matthew 18 were followed is well taken. These must be followed in applying church discipline. However, the public nature of this sin is such that all parties are aware of what is at issue. It is already public, and it is causing some of the lambs (pastors of RMAI) to stumble. This requires a public rebuke (Galatians 2:14; 1 Timothy 5:19-20). Rhema cannot say with its lips that it is pro-life, yet reveal by its actions that it will punish any minister of the Gospel ordained by RMAI if he dares bring the Gospel of Christ to an abortion mill. This is blatant hypocrisy! It is public already. Love demands that this sin be confronted (Leviticus 19:17) and repented of. As for Carlton Pearson, we are simply another public rebuke that Jesus is sending to this man to bring him back to Himself.

3. Is a public, media-covered demonstration similar to taking your case before unrighteous judges, as in a lawsuit? (1 Cor. 6:1-8)

No, it is absolutely untrue that this has anything to do with taking your case before unrighteous judges as in a lawsuit. We are a public rebuke. See further elaboration on this in point number 4.

You are right, however, that we are planning to have a press conference at the abortion mill on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. We will be stating the reasons we have come to Tulsa. We believe it is imperative that the people of Tulsa, beginning with the Church, repent of the innocent blood being spilled in her streets.

If 2 Chronicles 7:14 means anything at all, it is a call for God's people to repent - not the lost! It is difficult to comprehend how the church in Tulsa and her people can sit idly by while little children die. "… they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it…" Jeremiah 5:28. I have enclosed for you the theology of bloodguilt and What it Means to be Pro-Life in 2003. At your request, I will prayerfully reconsider this press conference.

4. How do public disputes like this adorn the gospel of Christ for unbelievers who witness them?

Do not worry about unbelievers and what they may think. We must Fear God! His children are being slaughtered just down the street at Reproductive Services. Love your neighbor as yourself, brothers. What would you do if they were taking four-year-olds into that building and killing them? Your reaction might be a little more than, "I am supporting a crisis pregnancy center, preach pro-life sermons, and do demonstrations at Reproductive Services."

Just so you will know, we never do demonstrations or protests at abortion mills. We bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the very gates of hell as a public proclamation. Many, many folks have been won to Christ as a result of our bringing the theology of the church house to become biography in the streets. Norma McCorvey the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade gave her heart to Christ as a result of our public witness. I had the privilege of leading her to the Lord and baptizing her. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, founder of NARAL, and Sandra Canoe, the Mary Doe of Doe v. Bolton have also given their hearts to Christ.

I mention these names because they were the three people most instrumental in ushering us in to Roe v. Wade. They are now confessing, professing Christians doing all they can to undo this horrible Supreme Court decision. It was Christ who changed their minds and hearts about abortion. Don't make a judgment too hastily brothers! Literally thousands of precious lambs, some seeking abortion, some working at the mill itself, and some merely passers by, have given their hearts to Christ as a result of our public witness.

As to how we deal with heresy or other troublesome and often embarrassing cover-ups in the church itself. The last thing I would do is allow what the world thinks or perceives to direct my action. Though this may be tempting, it is the Word of God that needs to be our guide and our judge. If we are in violation of what God has commanded, and it has been brought to our attention again and again, public rebuke is in the offing. We might as well deal with our own sin forthrightly and in a Godly fashion. Of course it is humiliating, but let God be true and every man a liar. If we would stop covering-up our sin and openly confess it, maybe the world would see how seriously we take God's Word.

5. If you are coming to Tulsa to call the church to repentance, isn't doing this publicly similar to spanking a child in public? Would you agree that public discipline is not appropriate for children? Church discipline is not the business of the community at large, just as discipline of a child is not the business of anyone except the parents (of course, this analogy assumes that the church in Tulsa is "your child," which it clearly is not).

Spanking a child in public is not the best-case scenario. It is, however, sometimes necessary. Ask any dad. The problem is, that if it is done in Tulsa today, we may end up in the not so benevolent arms of Child Protective Services. When sin is recalcitrant and public, we are not talking about hidden sin here, public rebuke is often the remedy. Jeremiah and almost all of the prophets were sent to the house of God. Judgment begins there does it not? How long have you known that little children were being slaughtered just down the street from your church? Why is it that you do not have a presence at the mill everyday that it is open? Didn't God say somewhere in His Scripture, "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30?

Concerning your closing paragraphs gentlemen, your hearts are revealed in your words. The reproach to the body of Christ already exists at 6136 E 32nd Pl, Tulsa, Oklahoma. I would urge you to read Martin Luther King's, "A Letter From a Birmingham Jail." I had the privilege of spending several days in that jail with hundreds of other Christian brothers and sisters because we laid our lives down in front of abortion mill doors to save the lives of children. It was there that we all read Rev. King's letter. I believe you would be very surprised that your comments reflect exactly the comments of some others in that city. Please read it.

A.W. Tozer probably stated it best, "We love the old saints, missionaries, martyrs, and reformers; our Luther's, Bunyon's, Wesley's, Asbury's, etc. We will write their biographies, reverence their memories, frame their epitaphs, and build their monuments. We will do anything except imitate them. We cherish the last drop of their blood, but watch carefully over the first drop of our own."

Gentlemen, what will you do with me? I eagerly await your reply.

In Christian love,

Flip Benham
Director