July 1998 Newsletter

Returning From Operation Push Back

We have just returned from one of the most glorious yet heart-rending events I have ever been involved in. Operation Push Back was glorious because I was finally free from jail and reunited with my family and with gentle warriors taking the Gospel battle to the gates of hell in Orlando, Florida. It was glorious because our host church, Good Shepherd Free Methodist Church, was the church where I surrendered my heart to Christ 22 years ago. It was heart rending because I was put back in jail again (only for three days this time) as the City of Orlando unfurled the rainbow-colored gay flag and proudly flew it from 363 city poles throughout the city. It flew the entire month of June despite the fact that city hall received calls nine-to-one against flying the sodomite flag. It was heart rending because for the most part the Church of Jesus Christ, the light of the world, hid in her well-trod caves of sheepish docility praying that she would be allowed to survive just one more day.

PERVERSION IS IN - CHRISTIANITY IS OUT

It appeared as if the entire city leadership of Orlando had determined to shake its fist in the face of Almighty God and His law. Literally hundreds of policemen were assigned to guard, without charge, its four child-killing centers. Purveyors of child pornography (Barnes & Noble, et al.) were granted free reign and police protection without charge. The courts issued an incredible injunction that virtually prohibited the Gospel presentation within 1,000 feet of an abortion mill or Barnes & Noble Book- stores. When city hall was asked if the Christian flag could be flown in the streets, the response was absolute: "The Christian flag is a religious symbol and therefore cannot be flown because of the separation of church and state clause in the United States Constitution." God help us!

GODLESS QUOTES FROM CITY AND NATIONAL LEADERS

Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood said, "We find ourselves in an awkward, difficult, and even painful situation over this (the city's support and endorsement of homosexuality), but having mutual respect is so very important." Mutual respect is now placed above speaking the truth in love.

Orlando City Attorney Scott Gabrielson said, in reference to his adamant support of the gay flags, "You've got to treat different viewpoints equally. You cannot suddenly cut somebody's message off because you don't like the message." A few days earlier the city had obtained an injunction aimed directly at Operation Rescue that prohibited crosses (designated as "signs on sticks") within 1,000 feet of child-killing centers or Barnes & Noble Bookstores. Talk about cutting off somebody's message!

President Clinton painted gentle Christians this way as he endorsed Gay Day in Orlando: "As Americans, we can be proud of our diversity. Striving together, people of different ethnicity backgrounds, races, beliefs, and sexual orientation have contributed to the success of our nation, reflecting the profound truth that this rich diversity is one of our greatest strengths. But we must face the reality that sometimes our differences divide us; sometimes the voices of hatred and prejudice drown out the harmony in our national life..."

Apparently this great desire for diversity and mutual respect does not include the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One can hear the hissing of the enemy in the words of Mayor Hood, the Orlando City Attorney, and President Clinton. The homosexual flag is proudly flaunting itself on official flagpoles while Christians are being vilified as the voices of hatred and prejudice.

Sodomite flags parade but the cross of Christ is removed. It was removed by means of a very mysterious injunction that was placed in my hands on Monday morning, June 1, the very first day of our public proclamation. Incredibly, this injunction remained in effect for 7 days. Precisely the number of days we would be in the streets. It basically forbade free speech by Christians within 1,000 feet of child-killing facilities and Barnes & Noble Bookstores. Surprised? All eight gentle Christians arrested during the seven days of Operation Push Back were arrested for violating this unconstitutional and wholly ludicrous injunction.

OPERATION PUSH BACK

For months we had been planning "Operation Push Back" as a means to confront the enemy who has been robbing, killing, and destroying with impunity in the streets of Orlando. We would confront him with the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the gates. Our theological underpinning was Psalm 44:1-8, specifically verse 5 "Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes." We believed that that when we bring the battle to the gates of hell that those gates must be lifted up (Ps. 24:7-10) that the King of Glory may enter in. When we allow our theology to become biography, God shows up and fights the battle for us. After all, it is His battle and we are simply the ones privileged to bring Him into the fray.

Our desire was to bring the Gospel of Christ to three gates in Orlando: the four child killing centers, the two Barnes & Noble Bookstores, and finally to Walt Disney's tragic kingdom. The willingness of a city or a nation to live at peace with child killing, child pornography, and homosexuality is a sin that cries out to heaven. With Almighty God as our secure fortress, we brought the Gospel to these three gates and let the chips fall where they may.

The results were astounding! There were 12 confirmed salvations. Six mothers chose life for their babies. The abortion mills in Orlando were silenced as the city experienced one of the safest weekends for unborn children that it has known in a long time. Barnes & Noble was exposed for the peddler of child pornography it is. Many customers vowed never to return. Disney got a huge dose of truth by land and by air as the Church of Jesus Christ brought the Gospel to its gates. We rented an airplane and had it circle the tragic kingdom with a giant banner: JESUS CAN FREE YOU FROM YOUR LIFESTYLE. Gospel witnessing teams invaded by land and shared the love of Jesus with many.

This is what Operation Rescue is all about. Even our enemies are beginning to acknowledge this fact. We are the wheels that bring the Church of Jesus Christ to the gates of hell. This is the one thing we do. We bring the wonderful theology in the church house and allow it to become biography in the streets. The enemy fears this more than anything else. That is why we have been vilified, enjoined, sued, and jailed more than any other Christian group in America.

Listen to the words of Mike Doughney, director of BARF (Biblical America Resistance Front) at a press conference held in front of the Good Shepherd Free Methodist Church in Kissimmee, Florida, on Sunday morning June 7, 1998:

"Since last July, when we first began documenting Operation Rescue's visit to Dayton, Ohio, we have been following them through various cities including their last visit to this area in December and their visit to Washington D.C. in January. We noticed early on that to understand OR, we must have a broader focus, to include the churches and organizations that the ideology and people in this group come from. So we attended the huge Promise Keepers rally in Washington, DC, followed by a series of events in Florida including the "Reclaiming America for Christ" conference hosted by Fort Lauderdale televangelist D. James Kennedy. We can say with confidence that Operation Rescue shares with these large groups, and even with large churches and organizations right here in Orlando, exactly the same ideology and worldview; the only difference is that Operation Rescue puts theology into practice, or in the words of Flip Benham, turns theology into biography. We wish to commend the Orlando police force that, under difficult circumstances, successfully executed a near zero tolerance policy against Operation Rescue."

Mike, who desperately needs Jesus, has seldom spoken more truth than he did in those few lines. Like Caiaphas before him, who spoke true words but did not do it of his own volition (Jn. 11: 49-52), so he spoke truth though it was not on his own. BARF may be found on the Internet at http://www.barf.org.

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." I Cor 1:27-29

MEDIA BLINDNESS AND BIAS

There was a huge media presence every day of Operation Push Back. On Sunday, June 7, the Orlando Sentinel ran an article entitled "Disney Gay Protest Fizzles." The article focused on the small numbers of Christians (there were over 200 of us) but gave brief mention of the real fizzle. "Gay Days" at Disney has packed the theme park to capacity the past six years but this year's crowd was only half of the previous year. Disney spokesperson Bill Warren noted that the park was not filled to capacity. One of the Disney people trailing our witnessing teams inside the park (22 people on several different witnessing teams made it in) reported "that only about 50,000 people showed up." It looks like "Gay Days" was the real fizzle.

The Sentinel article went on to say, "The predicted showdown between protesters and gays fizzled to a few polite conversations." What was the media expecting? Instead of violent eruptions, they saw Christians confront sinners in their sin with the love of Jesus.

THE CITY OF UNCONCERN

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." Ezek 16:49.

The City of Orlando would just as soon that we had not come to confront her gates (the gates of hell). The reason? She desires peace above all else. She is a microcosm of what is wrong in America. She is a sign of God's judgment upon us all. Her unconcern stems from the fact that the prophetic voice of the Church of Jesus Christ has been and remains silent. "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say, when there is no peace," Jer. 6:13-14.

The standard of Christianity has sunk so low that anyone who lives out the Gospel in the streets appears radical. If Operation Rescue had not come to Orlando, there would have been peace. There would have been no SWAT teams, no Mobile Command Units, no squads of police teams, no horse units, no undercover detectives, no federal marshals, no media frenzy nor would there have been police helicopters patrolling and guarding every abortion mill and Barnes & Noble in town. There would not have been hundreds of policemen guarding the gates of Disney's tragic kingdom. The people of Orlando would have conducted business as usual. There would be no news stories about wild-eyed Christians saying that there was something terribly wrong in the city. There would simply have been peace.

Yes, there would have been peace, but at what price? Perversion is now main stream in downtown USA. It is all right to kill little baby boys and girls in their mother's wombs but it is not all right to show pictures of their horror or speak for them. It is all right to use little children as sexual toys and then sell their pictures for a profit, but it is not all right to speak up for them and protect them. It is all right to sodomize your neighbor, but it is not all right to say that that kind of behavior is sin bringing with it death to those who practice it and death to a nation that approves of that behavior. Yes, Orlando, you can have peace so long as you promise never to speak the truth. Truth has indeed stumbled in your streets. But it did not stumble for 7 days in June, 1998.

NATIONAL INJUNCTION

My friends, time is running out. We are on the verge of a national injunction that will set up Gospel-free "bubble zones" around every abortion mill in this country. That’s right! As a result of the NOW vs. Scheidler verdict in Chicago, of which Operation Rescue is a co defendant, this federal judge now has the authority to enjoin every Christian from venturing near an abortion mill, public sidewalk or not. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has courageously represented us in Chicago and is presently appealing the ruling, but this does not preclude the judge from issuing a national injunction.

The battle is on and it is more furious than ever: "…He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short." (Rev. 12:12). The United States of America has, in the past three months, filed two federal lawsuits against Operation Rescue and several individual Christians for our Gospel proclamations in Dayton, Ohio, last summer and Washington, D.C., this past January. Our nation appears hell-bent to remove every last vestige of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the streets of our cities. It has already done this in our public schools with disastrous results.

Our privilege and duty is to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the gates of hell through the lives of our Lord's precious saints. Please pray that God will grant us wisdom and courage to respond to this latest attack of our enemy.

Looking forward to seeing you at the gates soon.

Your brother in Christ,

Flip Benham