NORTH CAROLINA REPORT

 NORTH CAROLINA REPORT by Rusty Thomas

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. (Psalm 12:8)

Just returned from a rather interesting mission's trip from North Carolina. Flip Benham, National Director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America, moved there about a year ago. Thus Charlotte, North Carolina has been selected as the chosen site for this year's 2003 national event. The dates are July 12-20, 2003 . Excitement is in the air and a genuine expectation is growing throughout America for this particular gathering of the saints to storm the gates of hell. One entire hotel is booked with another about halfway reserved. There has even been a decent response to the vision and mission from local churches and pastors as well. Flip is pessimistically optimistic.

My purpose for going in at this early date was to start the ball rolling to rehearse our S.O.S. Titanic play so we can perform it during one of the rally nights at the national event. We were also working on putting together a Kingdom Leadership Institute from June 22nd-28th to help train young people to become the next generation of leaders a time like this demands.

Just before I left to go to NC, Flip informed me that he had a little surprise for me on Saturday, May 3rd. Not thinking much about the surprise, imagine my shock when the surprise entailed a few gallant Christians, about 7 to be exact, were going to confront hordes of sodomites at what was euphemistically called "Charlotte Pride."

To the unsuspecting passer-by, one would have thought this gay and lesbian extravaganza was a Christian outdoor service. The name of the Lord was invoked, Scriptures quoted, both Old and New Testament, a same-sex commitment ceremony was performed by a Baptist Pastorette, and sweet gospel hymns were sung. It appears the homosexual agenda is taking its cue from the abortion industry in this regard. It is so much easier to further evil, masked in the Christian religion. The Scriptures warn of this angel of light syndrome and the wolf in sheep's clothing strategy (2 Corinthians 11:14, Matthew 7:15).

We prayed before we left to engage in this event from hell that we would go in a good spirit and faithfully represent our Lord, and His message. It was, however, still heart wrenching and disturbing to witness this abject blasphemy. It is one thing to be a homosexual; it is another thing to demand its acceptance, but it is another realm entirely to invoke the name of the Lord over it. It is simply not healthy to place God's stamp of approval on that which He has declared to be an abomination (Leviticus 18:22).

The homosexual agenda is gaining approval, acceptance, and legitimacy under the guise of love, compassion, and tolerance. Our culture, corporate America, law enforcement, the media, and some aspects of the church have already bowed the knee and kissed its image. They are "in" and those who oppose them are "out." This was confirmed when the police came to guard them from the preaching of God's word. As far as most of the police were concerned, we were the bad guys that needed to be warned and the sodomites were the good guys in need of protection.

Biblically and historically, that is when our Lord has responded in great wrath upon sodomites and upon the cities and nations that condoned this perverted behavior. I don't think it was a mere happenstance that "Charlotte Pride," along with the National Day of Prayer led by a homosexual "pastor" in Washington DC just happened to coincide with the worst day of tornadoes to strike America in our history. 80 tornadoes touched down and several people were killed throughout America.

The Scriptures plainly teach us what the point of contact is that sparks God's judgment upon sodomy. It is when that wicked sin touches the sacred. In Sodom and Gomorrah, we must remember that the Lord displayed incredible mercy to the inhabitants of these cities before He moved upon them in fiery wrath. There was a war and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled in the heat of battle and all their goods were whisked away, along with Lot and his family. The Lord raised up Abraham and 318 men to pursue after them. They attacked and were completely successful in rescuing Lot, his family, the people of that area, and all their goods. Abraham restored it all without taking a reward, lest men should boast that the king of Sodom had made Abraham rich (Genesis 14).

Obviously, the Lord was kind to Sodom and Gomorrah in this instance. Even though, they still paraded their sin of sodomy before Him, He delivered them and restored them back to their land. Unfortunately, the goodness of God did not lead them to repentance (Romans 2:4). They, like America today, probably viewed God's delay in judgment as approval of their wicked behavior. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God's patience came to an end when the cries of the sins of Sodom came before Him. He sent His angels to investigate and to prepare Lot and his family to leave. The sin of sodomy was so pervasive that Lot insisted strongly that the angels find refuge under the protection of his home. The men, both young and old, inflamed with lust, surrounded the house and demanded the men in Lot's house to come out so they could know them carnally. This was the flashpoint. It was this perverted demand that ignited God's pent up wrath.

The sin of sodomy was not content to just defile the natural state of man, it now reached to touch and desecrate the sacred. This signaled the beginning of the end for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Strange weather, indeed, was their lot. The skies rained down fire and brimstone upon the unsuspecting citizens of Perversionville and Abominationtown and they were reduced to ashes.

This same Biblical pattern can also be found in the book of Judges. Judges 19 chronicles in painful detail some of the most despicable acts of human depravity contained in Holy Writ. It centers on a Levite priest and his concubine on their way to the House of the Lord. They stop off to lodge in Gibeah, which was the dwelling place of the Benjamites. Little did this priest know that a large segment of the Benjamites had become sodomites.

An old man saw them in the open square and took pity on them. He decided to be responsible to meet their needs for lodging, food, and drink for the night. Like Lot before him, he knew the Levite and his concubine were not safe to spend the night in the open square. The Bible says, "As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, 'Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!'" (Judges 19:22) Sounds strangely familiar, doesn't it? Apparently, the tribe of Benjamin became Biblically illiterate and forgot what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

The old man pleaded with them not to act so wickedly. In fact, he offered his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine, much like Lot offered his daughters in Sodom, to appease their lust. This, along with Lot, is one of the most bizarre and offensive offers recorded in the sacred text. Perhaps, they knew women would not appeal to the sodomites. Regardless, the old man begged them to not commit this vileness against the man in his house.

The sodomites would not heed, so the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. They proceeded to abuse her through the entire night. The next day, the priests found her dead. He picked her up and brought her home. He then cut her body into twelve pieces, limb by limb and sent them to the tribes of Israel. The tribes were obviously horrified and stated, "No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!" (Judges 19:30)

This unusual telegram produced the desired effect. All of Israel gathered together to confront this abomination. A war ensued, which turned into a bloody ordeal that cost many lives. The end result was the tribe of Benjamin was nearly obliterated. Only six hundred men remained to carry on their names and tribe. It was this devastation that produced the inferiority complex in the tribe of Benjamin, which came to light when Saul was called to be the first king of Israel. Notice Saul's response when Samuel told him it was upon him that the desire of all Israel had come, "Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?" (1 Samuel 9:20,21)

Obviously, sodomy had become an accepted practice amongst the tribe of Benjamin. No one knows how long they co-existed with this horrid condition. What is clear, however, is God's judgment didn't fall on them, until the sodomites demanded the Levite to satisfy their beastly lust. The sin of sodomy attempted to touch the sacred and the tribe of Benjamin was decimated. Is America in danger?

Next month, God willing, we will investigate the false teachings of the homosexual "church." Flip, his sons, some Christian friends and I visited a synagogue of Satan called the Metropolitan Community Church in Charlotte. The wolf in sheep's clothing, otherwise known as a "pastor," attempted to give a "Biblical" apologetic to defend homosexualtiy. To his credit, he did let us speak to challenge their heresies. Prayerfully, you will receive a full report next month concerning this illuminating meeting.