February 24,1997
Dear Br. George:
The scripture says, “You have not because you ask not,” and it also says, “Come boldly unto the throne of grace.” Christ desires that we approach him with confidence, presenting our needs and desires and believing that he both hears us and answer our prayers when it is in our best interest to do so and in a way that glorifies him.
Several years ago, before we moved to Morristown, while we were
attending church at Rogersville, I was asked to tell a children’s
story. Apparently, at least judging from the comments of others,
I have been blessed by the Lord with a talent for telling children’s
stories in a fashion that inspires them with a better knowledge
of the Lord.
When I tell a children’s story, I think of what lessons of
Christ the adult portion of the congregation needs to understand,
then I phrase these lesson in a manner that children can understand
and appreciate. Thus, all my stories are actually adult sermons,
clothed in a garb of interest to children but of universal appeal
to adult listeners as well. Thus, I catch adults unawares with
lessons of Christ that speak to the heart of men and women, as
well as boys and girls. This is a gift from the Lord and I take
no credit to myself for this ability.
On this occasion, I was profoundly disturbed by the behavior of
a friend towards his wife and children. He was physically abusive
toward her and demeaning and deliberately humiliating toward his
children, while, at the same time, profession to be a sincere
Christian and taken to be such by a majority of the congregation
who were captivated and deceived by his outward demeanor and exterior
of joviality and a sunny disposition. The typical Mr. Nice Guy,
the whited sepulchre Christ spoke of in the gospels, inwardly
filled with dead mans bones while outwardly presenting an appearance
of humility and piety, living a lie, and deceiving many.
I have come to dearly love this brother for the Lord has enabled
me to see beneath his exterior piety into his inner most being
and find there a frightened little boy, peaking out at the world
with fear and apprehension, not knowing how to be kind and tender,
yet desiring compassion and understanding for himself, but refusing
it and turning from it with disdain as typical of men who desperately
desire sympathy but are afraid to show a weak side, therefore,
they and he disdain the tender feelings and exude unnatural confidence
which the world accepts as the reality of the man.
But I knew better. He was desperately afraid and hurting at the
same time. I took the opportunity of the children’s sermon
to speak to this brother of love and forgiveness. As if he were
the only person in the whole congregation, with the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, I developed a children’s story just for
him in the hope that maybe the Holy Spirit could impress him with
hope and confidence in the Lord sufficient to trust himself to
his tender compassion.
Several years ago, I expanded this story into the accompanying
newsletter which I entitle “The Oak and the Rose.” This
is the children’s story that speaks of adult sexual abuse,
cruelty and humiliation, of wounds, bruises, a false self-confidence,
of emotional devastation, broken families, shattered hopes and
dreams and restoration of all things through the ministration
of the Lord. This children’s story is very much for adult
men and women and offers hope of emotional and physical restoration
for broken relationships and marriages, of masculine love and
tenderness, of Christ’s forgiveness and healing, of hope
of a better life through Christ.
This story can be read on several levels and speaks to both men
and women from a variety of backgrounds. My X brother-in-law received
a copy of this letter which lead him to open his heart to my sister
and expose past wounds and hurts to the healing balm of the Lord.
How many other men have been affected by this same letter, I will
never know until eternity, but I believe it has such a powerful
witness for men and women today, that it needs a wider distribution
that I can afford.
I would like to scatter this letter like the leaves of autumn
to men in every corner of this great country that some, at least,
may see the error of their ways, repent and seek the Lord for
the restoration of broken human relationships, their relationship
with the Lord and the shattered relationships within the family,
for it is primarily the man, husband, and father who shapes the
relationships within the family and makes a success of family
living. It is to men that our wives and children look to represent
Christ, to model his character of love, to demonstrate his unconditional,
self-sacrificing love, his tenderness, compassion, mercy, long-suffering,
self-restraint, forgiveness, hope, joy, chivalry, love, and all
the other manly virtues God has assigned to us.
But so many men have failed to see Christ in their own father
that they have lost sight of the privileges and responsibilities
devolving upon us to represent Christ to our families, to the
church, and finally to the world, that they need instruction in
how to be loving fathers and husbands and encouragement that Christ
will aid them and us in this most important task for the final
days.
Christ desires men to resume their rightful place with in the
family as his representative, bringing their wives and children
to the throne of grace to receive blessings from Christ that he
eagerly awaits to shower upon us. But how many men even know of
their privileges and responsibilities? Very fee, and fewer still
have the courage to make themselves vulnerable through the humiliation
of seeking forgiveness from those whom they have wronged.
This letter is a small step toward healing many broken relationships.
I need your help to disseminate this letter far and wide. To print
1000 sets of this letter will cost $950.00. Will you contribute
$950.00 to Homeward-Bound Family Services without expectation
of a tax-deduction, for we still are not incorporated, with the
expectation that many men may hear the Lord’s gentle invitation
to repent and turn to him before it is too late.
Many men will never enter a church and fewer still will hear a
sermon such as is contained in this letter, but like the adults
who listen to my stories who do not realize that they are hearing
a sermon and, therefore, are not in a defensive posture but open,
so, many men, receiving this letter, may be open to the invitation
of the Holy Spirit.
Br. George, I need your help, now to disseminate this letter to
1,000 men. This is a small beginning, but all things begin small,
and, as the Lord blesses will grow as our faithfulness grows.
How can I present this request more forcefully then I already
have? I have written to you in the past because I have a brotherly
love for you and your soul. I desire that you may grow in grace
and a knowledge of the Lord and that you may disseminate this
knowledge to all with whom you come into daily contact through
your work, in your ministry in the church, and in your home affairs.
Please do not wait until you can deduct this amount on your income
tax return to receive a few dollars of additional refund. The
Lord’s work cannot wait for tax-deductions but must be accomplished
now, while people will listen to the gospel.
The final copy of this newsletter will be printed by a commercial
printer on glossy paper as many of the popular magazines are printed,
thus the resolution of the color photographs will be more intense.
These photographs are an essential ingredient of the effectiveness
of the message contained in the printed page for they catch the
eye and speak, through the testimony of nature, of God’s
love. I believe the most effective recipients of this message
and the ones who posses the greatest influence in living the gospel
message herein contained are the ministers of our denomination.
I am already developing a list of the ministers in the Southern
Union conference for another purpose and can use this mailing
list as a beginning for the distribution of this letter. As I
develop the company, I encounter many men, in both religious and
secular positions, who can benefit from its message.
The company is developing slower then I anticipated because of
the problem of the Laodicean condition of the church. My standards,
for members of the board of directors, are high for I desire to
associate with the company only those individuals who love the
Lord and are already serving him wherever they live. This type
of person is difficult to find for the vast majority of our members
are sound asleep or do not want to consider the prospect of actively
hastening the Lord’s return to disturb their carnal slumber
or security. However, I am broadening my search for qualified
directors and, with the Lord’s blessing, will yet develop
a company that will bring glory to the Lord.
May the Lord bless you for your faithfulness in serving him. Please
do not wait too long before answering this request. Many men are
hungering and thirsting for the gospel invitation and not a few
may pass into eternity before we can act. Your brother in Christ.
Allen A. Benson
PS. The brother refused
this invitation.