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by Rusty Thomas "And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things." (Acts 17:6-8) By God's grace and through the perseverance of some local saints, the city of Waco has been rocked. For one week, Nov. 29th-Dec. 3rd, about thirty Christians took the Gospel of the Kingdom to the gates of the schools. Many schools were impacted, either from within or from without (there were students that took our materials and passed them out in their perspective schools. It created quite a stir). Each day two different teams showed up at University High and Waco High School. Only time and eternity will reveal what transpired during this phenomenal week. Our first day's lesson dealt with the revelation of God's word, the Bible. We passed out several hundreds tracts. The tract was called "The Indestructible Book." We challenged the students with these premises, the Bible and Christianity are not some truths out of many truths, they are the truth with a capital T. Your belief system, no matter how sincere, does not determine truth. God's word is to determine man's belief system. Everyone may have a right to their opinion, but not every opinion is right. Truth is truth, no matter if anyone believes it and a lie is a lie, no matter how many believe it. The second day was America's Christian History lesson. Our message challenged the young people to realize that there are time-honored reasons why America is the most blessed, freest, and most prosperous nation in the long bloody history of man. This blessed condition is not a coincidence and did not happen in a vacuum. Christianity and its Biblical principles were the foundation that supplied the basis for our laws, government, public policy, and our education. In recent decades our nation has denied our godly heritage and as a result our nation is resorting back to the brutal darkness of paganism. We encouraged the young people to return to the God of our Fathers and His Biblical principles, in order to reconnect to the godly root system that has served us so well in our nation's history. The third day sparks began to fly. We noticed the world and its ungodly culture doesn't mind general Christianity, especially, if it remains cloistered in our church buildings. But "Katie bar the door" if Christianity comes out of the closet and applies God's word specifically to the sins, abominations, and perversions that are destroying America. Thus the third day was devoted to exposing the horrible truth that is called abortion. We passed out a beautiful, well-crafted brochure put out by the Missionaries to the Pre-born. It is called "The American Holocaust Photo Display." It provided a Christian defense for showing the bloody photographs of the first, second, and third trimester murders of the pre-born. The brochure is designed to help end the censorship of the American press. The media refuses to demonstrate to the American people what exactly a pre-born child looks like after he or she has been in the hands of an abortionist. Part of the brochure declared we must be "Faithful to Christ." It went on to explain, "Some say our photos are disgusting and hurt our Christian witness. Our response: have you ever seen a pretty picture of a murder? Murder is disgusting; abortion is murder; therefore, our pictures are disgusting. Beyond that, what hurts our Christian witness more-being silent while our neighbor is unjustly killed or exposing the atrocities being committed against our neighbor (Ephesians 5:11)? Our prayer is that people would be moved with compassion for the helpless pre-born when they see these photographs and act to see this bloodshed outlawed. Otherwise, God will use His sword justice and bring retribution upon a nation of people whose hands are covered with blood." Needless to say, the effect was overwhelming. The fourth day dealt with the sin and abomination of homosexuality. Though my team faced some minor altercations, Pastor Ronnie Holmes and his Youth Pastor Joe Rodriguez of Church of the Open Door experienced an uproar and a near riot over at Waco High School. A man who claimed to be a "Christian" with homosexual leanings was outraged. He screamed at the kids to not take the Gospel materials. He was so agitated that he formed a counter-protest. Goths, sodomites, and Muslims came together against the Lord and His anointed. It never fails to amaze me how Jesus divides His friends and unites His enemies. Somehow the media caught wind of this conflict at the gates of the schools and came out to investigate. The first TV report was somewhat disconcerting. They interviewed all the enemies of the cross that publicly condemned Christians who spoke the truth in love to a generation that is lost and dying. The next day all three TV networks and the Waco Tribune Herald, our local newspaper, covered the growing controversy. It made front page news, plus it was the top story on two of the TV networks. These reports were much more just and accurate. It showed interviews with students. One stated that before we came to the school they never discussed abortion and homosexuality. The scene then shifted to a faithful laborer, Tom Brady, who clapped his hands and declared, "Bravo, mission accomplished!" From there, the TV cameras centered in on Pastor Joe Rodriguez who was preaching to about two hundred students declaring these words, "We are here to show you God's love and the truth of His holy word." This declaration went throughout the Central Texas area. It was awesome! The final day of the "God Is Going Back To School" campaign consisted of sharing God's great salvation amongst men. We passed out a tract based on the Ten Commandments that it called "Word's To Live By." This tract challenges people to find out if they are good enough to go to Heaven. In order to know, we lead them through a test based upon God's Law. As they go through each of the Ten Commandments, it becomes painfully obvious that they have failed the test, sinned, stand condemned, and are on their way to hell. As the students came and took the materials, our message was, "Today is the final exam, the final test. This tract asks one of the most important questions in life, are you good enough to go to heaven? In other words, the Bible emphatically teaches that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. How is it possible for sinful man to escape hell and have the blessed assurance of securing a place in God's eternal paradise? We do not want to leave that to chance. This vital issue must be settled in the here and now. We do not want to wait for death to settle it for us." Many eyes grew big as this new challenge was given and the offer of God's saving grace through Jesus Christ our Lord was extended as the answer to the battle for their souls. After the school outreach we prepared to perform the drama "Sammy." Each day we invited the young people to come and witness this anointed production that was written to speak specifically to their generation. We were pleasantly surprised to find that some took us up on the offer. The first night eight souls responded to the call to surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The cast and crew rejoiced to see tears of repentance by those who experienced the tug of the Lord upon their hearts. The final performance was Sunday, December 5th. Pastor Ronnie Holmes gave the altar call to a much greater audience. About thirteen souls responded to the call of God. The presence of God was so thick through the performance and the altar ministry that there were times when I was performing my role as an attorney that I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face. After presenting the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, I had the privilege of bringing a charge to all the young people in the congregation that night. The altar was filled. I looked them in the eye and sincerely repented on the behalf of the previous generations that have failed God, our nation, and their generation. They are bearing the brunt of our folly, idolatry, and perversions. All the spiritual landmarks and boundaries are gone, and their generation is vulnerable to the onslaught of evil and God's judgment upon our wicked and spoiled nation. I pleaded with them to not make the same mistakes, errors, and sins our generation has bequeathed to them. It is time for a gentle revolution, a spiritual, moral, and godly revolution. I challenged them not be ashamed of the Gospel of the Kingdom for it is the power of God unto salvation. The final call was to bring their Bibles back to school, pray, and deliver God's word to the students who are involved in the humanistic temples that banned God's word years ago. From all the reports since then, it appears that many took it to heart and the "Gentle Revolution" is on in the city of Waco.
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