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My Jail Experience at Yale: Merry Christmas


My Jail Experience at Yale: Merry Christmas

By Flip Benham

We were storming the gates of hell (Planned Parenthood) in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday morning November 19, 2005, when I was arrested for holding a Baby Malachi sign on a public sidewalk across the street from the abortion mill. This was the first time I had ever been arrested for holding a sign on a public sidewalk. I spent several hours in jail and then was miraculously released with a “Promise to Appear” bond. This was amazing because I had no identification and was an “out of state” resident. God, however, has friends in every city. I was asked to appear in court on Monday morning at 9:00 a.m., which meant I was going to have to change my airplane ticket. Danny and Marilyn Carroll graciously took care of this for me.

When I showed up for my court hearing at 9:00 a.m., I was apprised that 9 am really doesn't mean 9 am, but 11 am. They write 9 am on the court appearance document realizing that many people will be late. This gave us a little time so we went over to Yale Law School just up the street. There, Marilyn, Carmen and I walked through the hallowed halls of Yale. It was awesome! We had some “Theft of Thanksgiving” brochures so we thought it would be good to place these in strategic places (where students might read them) to remind them of the rich heritage of our Founding Fathers, and their love for God and His Law. We were thrown out of Yale Law after about 45 minutes of Gospel terrorism.

Unfazed, we then moved to a marvelous cemetery right across the street from the Law School. On its portico, for all to see, were the words, “The Dead Shall Rise.” I wonder how they are going to do that if Jesus hasn't been raised from the dead. Oh well, we spent about an hour walking through the cemetery attempting to read the inscriptions on the gravestones. Some dated back to the late 1600's and early 1700's. Much to our consternation, we could not read most of the inscriptions as weather, rain, and snow had eroded all but the deepest of etchings. It was as if these great monuments to the glory of God and to history were erased by time and erosion. I looked again over at Yale Law School and realized that the very same thing had happened there.

Yale is a school that has forgotten her rich heritage as a college set up in 1701 to train men for the ministry. Ten of her first 12 Presidents were clergymen. That great preacher Timothy DeWhite, a powerful proclaimer of the Gospel of Christ, was also one of Yale's presidents. But this history has all but been erased by time, and by an enemy of the Gospel of Christ, the devil himself. If you haven't noticed, Yale isn't raising up proclaimers of the Gospel of Christ anymore. She is raising up enemies of God. That's right!

Our time was about up as 11 am was nearing, so Marilyn, Carmen and I headed back to the courthouse. It turned out that my case would not be heard until 2:30 p.m. This left me with some more time, so I went out to the beautiful city green just in front of the courthouse in New Haven. It was a cool and cloudy day, and my mind drifted back to our Pilgrim Forefathers and what they must have endured that first winter when they arrived here in 1620. The city workers were decorating the huge tree in the middle of the green. It was just before Thanksgiving and Christmas was in the air. It made my heart sing as I thought about these most sacred of days that should remind us all of our rich heritage and the miracle of the Word of God becoming flesh.

My eyes then focused on two beautiful church buildings to my right. I immediately walked over to visit, but they were just empty buildings. Maybe church was closed on Mondays. I read on the Portico over the large church door that this was the first church founded in New Haven in 1639. Next to that were the inscriptions of two names: Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport. John Davenport was the first pastor of the city of New Haven and Theophilus Eaton was its first “governor.” In George Bancroft's History of the Colonization of the United States, it is written about the founding of the city of New Haven, “After a day of fasting and prayer, they rested their first form of government on a simple plantation covenant, that ‘all of them would be ordered by the rules which the Scriptures hold forth to them.'”

I was touched to my inner most being to think that I was standing on such hallowed ground. But this is history (His Story) that has been erased by time and by an enemy who hates God. I stepped back from the church door praising God and thanking Him for this very special revelation to me. Then I noticed a large banner to the left of the door. That banner screamed, “NEVER PUT A PERIOD WHERE GOD HAS PLACED A COMMA. God Is Still Speaking! My heart sank to the very pit of my stomach. It made me almost physically ill. The enemy is here and he has stolen the history and heritage of this wonderful church and claimed it as his own. That banner is shouting the mantra of the United Church for Christ (an apostate church) which opens the door to universalism (the acceptance of all gods and goddesses, and all lifestyles, and all sin). Another banner read, “It doesn't say, ‘Oh Come some of ye faithful…'”

What we realized at Yale Law School, and what we saw (or could not see) at the graveyard, had happened in the Church of New Haven. Her history was gone - stolen by an enemy of God! I looked up at the marvelous steeple on this church and on top of it, the very top of it, was not a cross but a weather vane, “Tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine!” The downfall of New Haven began here!

I love you all and Merry Christmas,

Flip