Prayer

Next prayer meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 6th. 9:00 PM Eastern time.

Conference Dial-in Number: (209) 647-1000 (Please disable call waiting first - usually *70)
Participant Access Code: 210743#
Feature Keys: *3 to leave the prayer room
*4 for Conference Instructions
*6 to mute/unmute your line.

General: We enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. We thank Him for what He has done, and praise Him for Who He is.
 
Please do not discuss or explain your prayer requests before praying them. Simply let your requests be made known to God.
 
Prepare for the meeting. There are many good books and articles on prayer; you may want to read something along those lines before the meeting. When You Pray by Chip Brogden is good for starters.
 
Use MUTE (*6) if needed - (interruption by family member, barking dog, need to cough, etc.).

Feel free to email prayer requests, whether or not you will be available for the meeting.

This page will be updated regularly.

Prayer requests:

From Steve K:

I have another Court hearing on July 6th 2011
Please pray and ask God to give me favor in the court room with the Judge, Attorney's. That I might have Victory!
That God will go before me and give me the words I need to speak.
Prayer Request: Summary Judgment Hearing July 6th 2011 1:30pm San Diego Time
So far the LORD has given me favor and I know it is because of all the prayers that God hears because I am not worthy.
Please pray.
God Bless in advance!

From Amanda:

In January of 2010 my husband Bryant was attacked with cancer.  He had surgery and things were "fine" in January 2011 after pressing the doctors to look again they found a tumor behind his kidneys.  He went through Chemo 5 hours a day 5 days a week, and it shrank!  God is good.
 
Last week the doctors decided it's too risky to leave it anymore and Thursday morning he checks into the hospital for a bi-lateral lymphnode disection.  They are going to remove all the lymph nodes in his abdomen, the tumor (that is attached to the renal artery) and if the tumor does not pull away easily, his left kidney.  There are some complications with the lungs due to chemo, but the lungs are healthy.  The doctors exact words were, "This surgery is horrific" and we are going in with our boots on!
 
We are young - I am 32 he is 35.  He is healthy from every standpoint but the surgery is risky.  I ask that if there is time to please remember him, us, our family in prayer.
 
Update: Thank you for the prayers.  He is doing great!  Praise God.  The kidney was saved, surgery went better than expected.  He was in recovery until almost 3am today but now has a room and resting.

From Rusty Thomas:

Getting ready to fly to North Carolina to be a witness for the defense.  God willing, I'll return back home on Thursday, June 30th.  Rev. Flip Benham has been charged with stalking and "disturbing the tranquility" of abortionist, Curtis Flood.  In the last couple of years over a thousand babies have been spared the horrors of abortion in Charlotte.  The powers that be have come up with trumped charges to shut down the Gospel witness at the gates of hell.  Please pray that the Lord's work through His servant Flip will be vindicated.

UPDATE: Guilty!!!

After a week in court, yesterday was the final day of Brother Flip's trial. The day began with what we hoped to be God's intervention. We noticed that one of the jurors during my swearing in to testify on Flip's behalf responded favorably to the oath of "So Help Me God." She was an elderly black woman who nodded "amen." She was at the time an alternate juror. Yesterday, one of the jurors did not report for duty and she replaced juror number 7. Our hopes were dashed a few hours later; however, as the jury unanimously rendered a verdict of guilty against brother Flip.

Closing Arguments of the Defense

Mr. Romain, Flip's attorney, shined the brightest in his closing arguments. He took the statute, which is a bad law (arbitrary and subjective) and broke down the specific language, held it up to the light of testimony of both sides, and we thought did an able job in debunking the state's case.

At one point, he asked a powerful question, "Where is Dr. Harris?" His picture was on the flyer. His house and office were visited. Why was he not here feigning that he was terrorized by the big, bad, bogey man, Rev. Flip Benham? He also pointed out that there were 4 abortionists altogether that were visited during our leadership meeting back in February 2010. Where are the other three abortionists? Apparently, they did not "feel" stalked by Rev. Benham.

Part of the statute speaks of "harassing on more than one occasion." The legal terms that describe harass are "torment, terrorize, and terrify." Mr. Romain asked the jury if they believed Mr. Flood experienced these emotions in response to our outreaches. He proved that Mr. Flood did not respond in a manner that would constitute harassment. Mr. Romain used some of these following statements and questions to prove his points. Others are my own to demonstrate more clearly the collusion between the city of Charlotte and the abortion industry to remove brother Flip from the streets.

Mr. Flood didn't call the police or 911 when he knew we were knocking on the door of his home, while his wife and daughter were there. Why didn't he rush home to protect his family? Why did he stay at the abortion mill and kill more babies till the close of his daily business? A man that "feels" this kind of trauma for his own safety and that of his family and does nothing to immediately to protect them, what kind of man is this? Well, he is an abortionist and the truth is he is not afraid of brother Flip. He is mad at him. Detective Harris, the intelligence office and personal friend of Mr. Flood (who has stalked brother Flip since 2003), concocted trumped up charges after the fact. What was their purpose? They wanted to make brother Flip pay for the "crime" of exposing Mr. Flood's "unfruitful works of darkness" as the Bible commands (Ephesians 5:11).

Mr. Romain also brought up the fact that the timing of the charges against Flip is suspicious. If Mr. Flood was so scared, why did he wait two weeks afterwards to swear out a warrant for Flip's arrest? One would assume that if felt threatened, he would immediately rush to protect his family and business. He did not. Why, and this my opinion, because it took 2 weeks to sit down with his detective friend and figure out a way to charge Flip with a crime.

During my testimony, it was also revealed that I and about 10 others were with Flip every step of the way. We did the same exact things. Why was he charged and we were not? Could this be selective enforcement? If this is the law and we all participated in the same activity, then why is he guilty and the rest remain innocent? Mr. Romain believes the powers that be conspired "to cut off the head." The purpose is to chill First Amendment rights and to frighten Christians to remain silent and inactive while the Devil kills, steals, and destroys.

Towards the close of Mr. Romain's arguments, he compared the 2 flyers submitted as evidence. One was a flyer posted back in 1993 in Wichita, Kansas that called for the murder of the infamous abortionist, George Tiller. The state took this flyer to convince the jury that OSA's flyer was similar and was hoping the same fate awaited Mr. Flood. Mr. Romain pointed out the distinct difference between the 2 flyers. One called for the death of Tiller, the other called for Mr. Flood's repentance. One highlighted Hitler, while the other emphasized Jesus Christ. One called for violence, while ours called for prayer.

Mr. Romain concluded his arguments by quoting the Star Spangle Banner. At the end of our national anthem, as he quoted the "land of the free," he ran through the court room and passed out flyers. When he quoted "the home of the brave," he put his hands out to be arrested for merely exercising his First Amendment rights. It was a powerful and inspiring close.

The Closing Arguments of the State

The prosecuting attorney was a sharp young lady, who for the most part, made the case against brother Flip. In my opinion, she blew it on 2 occasions, when she crossed examined Flip and in her closing arguments. Flip did great job in defending the Gospel witness at the gates of hell. He lifted up the name of the Lord and was able to denounce violence and reveal that all he sought by his actions was Mr. Flood's conversion to Christ. Once saved, he believed that Mr. Flood would quit killing babies and use his skill and talents to promote life and health, instead of death and destruction.

The prosecuting attorney also went through the statute of stalking in her closing arguments. This time, however, to demonstrate that Brother Flip's actions fulfilled the definitions of stalking. She asked, "What was Mr. Flood to think when he saw the "wanted" poster?" Of course, she deemphasized "Wanted by Christ to stop killing babies."

Next, she proceeded to throw Mr. Harris under the bus. According to her, the reason why Mr. Harris wasn't there is because Mr. Flood was brave. You can reach your own conclusion why the other abortionist didn't come forward. She, in essence, suggested that he was a coward who feared Brother Flip to the point he chose to run from this case. If this prosecutor ever failed as an attorney, she has a bright career opportunity with the main stream press. Her spin of the facts were spectacular to behold.

In fact, to prove Brother Flip stalked Mr. Flood, she relied on the fact that Flip never met him until the last court trial. Excuse me, but how can you stalk someone without having any personal dealings with them. She went on to compare Flip as a hunter that doesn't want its prey to know it is being stalked. It was all a part of Flip's elaborate plan to strike fear in the heart of Mr. Flood.

Later, she held up the posters and with a shrill voice loudly proclaimed, "Mr. Benham is calling for the death of Mr. Flood." At this point, I groaned, but thought that was such an outrageous claim, surely, the jurors would see through this lie. Sorry to report that they didn't. Obviously, at this point in the case, she moved from a charge of stalking to now accusing Flip to conspiring to murder Mr. Flood. Of course, there is nothing in Flip's history, actions or writings that would ever lead a sane person to believe such nonsense. Welcome to America's version of Alice in Wonderland."

She also objected to the fact that the flyer stated, "They, (speaking of Dr. Flood and Harris) are involved in obstetrics, gynecology, and murder." She considered this statement hateful to suggest that abortionists are murderers. During Flip's testimony, he did not flinch nor hesitate to respond, "This is not hate, it is the truth." (And people wonder why Flip coined the phrase, "Truth is hate to those who hate the truth."

There were other points made, but not worth mentioning. Mercifully, she ended her rant that painted Mr. Flood as a sympathetic hero who helps women (read: by killing their children) and portrayed Flip as a menacing monster that must be found guilty. The jury bought into this line of reasoning, hook, line, and sinker.

The Judge's Instructions

After closing arguments, the judge chimed in to instruct the jury on how the law was to be applied in this case. They were dismissed to deliberate. The jury contacted the judge with four requests. They were as follows. They requested a hard copy of the statute, the posters, the non-violent pledge of Operation Save America, and permission to eat lunch. We broke for lunch. The judge refused to grant them the statute, but permitted the posters and pledge to be sent back into the deliberation room.

The jury then requested the judge read to them the statute once again. They were marched back into the court room. He went over the same information. They went back into the jury room. About an half an hour later, they came back and rendered the verdict, GUILTY!

The Sentence

The judge sentenced Flip to 75 days in jail, suspended and 18 months of supervised probation. He is to have no contact with Mr. Flood. He cannot even mention him on the OSA website. No more flyers that name Flood. He cannot go near his residence. He has to stay 500 feet from his office and the 2 clinics where he applies his grisly trade. He has to pay $100.00 court cost. He has to pay the attorney's fee. This last penalty will probably prove to be expensive.

Appeal

After the sentencing, we immediately filed for an appeal. Flip is hoping to recruit David Redding as his lawyer. This man served 12 years in Special Forces. He is a man's man. He was the one God raised up to defend brother Flip from the frivolous injunction and lawsuit that the Hebron abortion mill filed against him. Mr. Redding crushed it and that is exactly what needs to happen in this case.

Brother Flip is resolved to go to jail, rather than submit to his banishment from his place of duty to love God and his neighbor, if this case is not overturned. Please continue to pray for him.

Personal Commentary

Though I did try to stick to the facts throughout this report, at times, I inserted personal thoughts. At this point, however, it is time to give full personal commentary. I hope as you have read this report, your heart hurts for the state of our nation. What has happened to the America mind? How can a man who rips babies apart in the womb become a hero and man who seeks to protect them be the criminal? Are we living in an alternative universe?

Tragically, this is one of the many consequences that are associated with bloodguilt. Our nation is defending the indefensible. The Scriptures testify:

For of a truth against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatever your hand and your counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant to your servants, that with all boldness they may speak your word, by stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:27-31).

Notice that God held accountable "both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel" for the slaying of the "Just One." In like manner, abortion is a national sin that has wrought national calamities. Part of these calamities is good has become evil and evil, good. All of us are either complicit or complacent when it comes to the American holocaust. Our nation is staggering under the weight of blood guilt.

Flip's trial is merely adding to the evidence of God's indictment against us. Human nature being what it is we think it "reasonable" to condemn a man like Flip in a case such as this. Why, because the alternative is too unthinkable to imagine. If he is innocent, then what does that mean? Could it be that our nation, the judge, the lawyers, the jurors, the church, the state and the citizenry of America immediately become suspect? This reality is completely unacceptable to the spell that has been cast over the American mind. Therefore, he must be found guilty. Otherwise, we are all guilty! Will America ever accept that verdict and repent? Only God knows (Ezekiel 37).