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Anti-abortion activist plans to demonstrate against Waco's 'gates of hell'

 
Rusty Thomas sent a copy of the following article about the upcoming Word In Warfare event, "Word At The Gates" that appeared in the Waco Tribune-Herald. "The gloves are off, the dragon is being drawn from tha lair, and the battle is waxing hot in Waco. Keep us in your prayers. IN KING JESUS' SERVICE, Rusty"

We certainly join in prayer and encourage other Christians to lift up the Thomas "Tribe" and saints in Waco before the throne of God regularly as they storm the gates of Hell with the Sword of the Spirit! The gates of Hell cannot stand when Jesus, the King of Glory comes through. Hallelujah!

WacoTrib.Com
A Product of the Waco Tribune-Herald Waco, Texas

Anti-abortion activist plans to demonstrate against Waco's 'gates of hell' 

By TERRI JO RYAN Tribune-Herald staff writer

The Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, known for more than eight years in Waco as an anti-abortion activist, is branching out in his Christian crusading against what he said he sees as other evils swirling around him.

Reversing his previously announced plans to leave the area after the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, Thomas told supporters last month that God has more use for him in Waco than in North Carolina, headquarters of Operation Save America, a Christian-based anti-abortion organization.

"To celebrate our staying, we are putting together an outreach in Waco called the 'Word at the Gates,' " he wrote supporters. A rally will take place at 7 p.m. March 19 at Church on the Rock, where he will be preaching a sermon in preparation for the "Word in Warfare" outreach he plans for the following morning.

At 9 a.m. March 20, 10 teams of at least five "prayer warriors" each will go to a different "gates" of the city to demonstrate.

"Team members will need to be able to read articulately, pray, hold signs, pass out tracts and some need to be prepared to minister the Gospel of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ," Thomas wrote.

His selected sites are Baylor University, Waco High School, the ALICO Building, Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church From the Heart, Lake Shore Baptist Church, the Islamic Center of Waco, Planned Parenthood, Waco City Hall, Waco Police Department and the adult video store off Interstate 35 North on the way to Hillsboro.

"I have spied out the land," Thomas said, quoting from Numbers 13, the Bible account of scouts dispatched by Moses to scope out the land of Canaan while the Israelites wandered in the Sinai desert after the Exodus from Egypt.

Thomas, who heads up his own organization, Elijah Ministries, is still the second-in-command to Operation Save America chief Flip Benham, also a minister. Thomas works locally through Waco's Church of the Rock, where his Rachel's Park Memorial to the unborn is located. He said he has the support of its pastor, the Rev. John Wachsmann.

As a minister of the Gospel, Thomas said, he is compelled to seek the salvation of the lost from the fires of hell. "We are involved in a spiritual battle," he said.

Rick Ellis, leader of Waco Right to Life, said the announced targets are "strategic in a spiritual sense" as Baylor and Waco High are gates of education and play major roles in shaping young minds; city hall and the police department are the gates of secular authority; the ALICO Building represents the gate of commerce, because it is Bernard Rapoport's "wealth and power (that) keeps Planned Parenthood open."

Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church and Lake Shore Baptist Church represent the false religion of acceptance of sin and the idolatry of "tolerance of child sacrifice, and unbridled lust without consequence," Ellis added. "Islam is a false religion, which does not worship the same God as does Christians."

Among those declining to comment on the impending demonstrations are:

* The Rev. Dorisanne Cooper, pastor of Lake Shore Baptist Church, who has voiced opposition to the tactics of local anti-abortion advocates in the past.

* The Rev. Nathan Stone, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waco, which was targeted by anti-abortion protesters Sept. 11, 2002, when the congregation hosted a "Day of Unity prayer service and Friendship Dinner" with the Islamic Center of Waco.

* Doug McDurham, a leader of the city's Community Race Relations Coalition.

Collectively, they cited a desire not to fuel the flames of Thomas's rhetoric nor feed his local notoriety.

"All this disturbs me greatly," said Buddy Sipe, executive director of the Greater Waco Interfaith Conference. "This is diametrically opposed to everything we stand for." He wanted to reserve further comment until he'd had a chance to confer with other local religious leaders, he said.

Lori Scott-Fogleman, a spokeswoman for Baylor University; Dale Caffey, spokesman for the Waco Independent School District; and Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis said as long as Thomas and his troupe don't block public rights of way or create a traffic hazard, they are within their rights to exercise their free speech.

Thomas said he must preach at the mosque because he is "concerned about the condition of (their) souls." Although he criticizes the Qu'ran, the Muslim holy book, he has never read it, he admitted. "It is not the word of God."

Muslims, Jews and others who do not accept the lordship of Jesus Christ over their lives are "part of the Anti-Christ system in this world" and must be told the truth of salvation before it is too late, he said.

According to the president of the Islamic Center of Waco, Al Siddiq, "As long they use public property we can't do anything, but if they step on mosque property we will use all means within the law to get them out."

Demonstrations by Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals against Texas mosques have been on the increase since Sept. 11, 2001, said Mohamed Elmougi, chairman of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Actions such as Thomas' planned prayer event "doesn't do anything more but widen the gap between Islam and Christianity." Elmougi said. "The louder voices today, I'm afraid, are the fanatic, the unreasonable and the hateful. They shouldn't be allowed to represent Christianity or America."

Elmougi argued against counter-demonstrations. His faith community has an old saying about such contentious people: "You do not have to answer every barking dog."

The Rev. Charley Garrison, pastor of Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church From the Heart, said he won't be at the church the morning of March 20.

"We have been described as a homosexual church, but I think the opening sentence in our purpose statement is a more accurate description: 'We are a people unified in our belief that God affirms and delights in the diversity of all people,' " Garrison said.

He is more interested in dialogue than in debate, he added. "Debate raises blood pressure; dialogue raises consciousness," Garrison said. "Debate erects barriers; dialogue builds bridges. Debate tries to convince others of a point of view; dialogue tries to understand other points of view. Rusty doesn't appear to be open for dialogue - only debate."

Terri Jo Ryan can be reached at tjryan@wacotrib.com or at 757-5746.

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