The Royal Interview: Hurt in the Church

By Bev Forrest

The Royal Interview is a fabled allegory in which His Majesty reveals the state of the Church. Using various vignettes or tour stops through His Kingdom, the reader will experience a moving adventure.

It is His Majestys desire that His subjects walk in communion with Him, living joyously and responsively to their King. Tragically, however, His Majesty reveals that much of His Kingdom is consumed by fights and quarrels, discordant notes, division, and self-centered motives. Being touched by selfish desires and vain conceits, many Kingdom subjects leave His Majestys Kingdom embittered and broken.

Yes, His Majesty yearns over His Beloved, the Church. He is ever calling out to her:

Let us examine our ways and test them, And let us return to the Lord. (Lam 3: 40)

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449760298

Bev Forrest

Bev Forrest has long had a passion for His Majesty and His Bride. She has taught many Bible studies over the years and in 2001 became a certified Christian Conciliator trained by Peacemaker Ministries International. Bev is married to her husband, Gary, for 50 years; they have 3 children and 8 wonderful grandchildren. With her husband, Bev teaches in churches – helping Christians learn how to biblically handle conflict as an opportunity to glorify God, grow to be more like Christ, and serve others. Further, they assist churches by coaching and mediating with those in the church trapped in unresolved conflict.

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Copyright © 2012 by Beverly Forrest.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-6030-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6031-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6029-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012912924

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/06/2012

Contents

Part One

A Kingdom Inner View

Chapter One I Won’t Go!

Chapter Two A Wounded Heart

Chapter Three Enter My Kingdom… Please

Chapter Four Forest of Fellowship

Chapter Five Meadow of Peace

Chapter Six Jungle of Blessing

Chapter Seven Valley of Healing

Chapter Eight Mountain of Wisdom

Chapter Nine Keeper of the Heart

Chapter Ten Place of Darkness

Chapter Eleven Enter My Kingdom… Please

Chapter Twelve I Will Return!

Part Two

A Personal Inner View

Chapter One I Must Go

Chapter Two Joyful Expectation

Chapter Three The Welcome

Chapter Four Forest of Fellowship

Chapter Five Meadow of Peace

Chapter Six Jungle of Blessing

Chapter Seven Valley of Healing

Chapter Eight Mountain of Wisdom

Chapter Nine Keeper of the Heart

Chapter Ten Place of Darkness

Chapter Eleven Just Begun

Chapter Twelve Together Forever

Dedication

From, Through, and To

His Majesty

And He died for all, that those who live

should no longer live for themselves

but for Him who died for them

and was raised again.

—2 Corinthians 5:15

AND

To His Beloved Bride

Arise, my darling,

my beautiful one, and come with me.

—Song of Solomon 2:10

The Royal Interview was birthed out of the author’s great concern for the state of affairs in the Church. This fabled allegory is a love letter to a Church broken and flawed. It is the author’s hope that those who left the Church will find their way back into a fellowship of loving and forgiving Christians.

Acknowledgments

In thanksgiving for the gift of my awesome family:

My husband of fifty years, Gary.

My amazing children: Kevin, Chris, and Kim—and their chosen spouses: Katrine, Kate, and Joshua.

Eight of His best grandchildren: Alex, Sophie, Jack, Annie, Charlie, Ellie Sue, Izzy, and Coop.

With gratitude to those of you who have walked with me faithfully through my ongoing growth in Christ:

Annie, Peacemaker Ministries, Janie and Dan, Elaine and Steve, Jim and Marianne, Diana and Bill, Cindy and Steve, Pastor Eric, Pastor Dave,

and so many others…

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Chapter One

I Won’t Go!

No, she said. I won’t go. With defiance growing in her voice she repeated, I won’t go!

The old editor looked with kindly eyes upon his young reporter. He remembered her days as an intern—her passion, her optimism, her energy—the sparkle always resident in those clear, brown eyes. She’d brought life to the newsroom, and it had had an effect on all his staff. He’d noticed how heads would turn to watch her slim form pass by. There’d been something wildly innocent and compelling in her soft, attractive features.

In those days the editor had discovered his young intern to be a quick learner with unquestioned gifts that held the promise of an astute interviewer and a brilliant writer—one with a sensitivity to the faces and stories of humanity. He’d placed her under the tutelage of some of his most seasoned reporters. He’d had great plans for her. She’d become the daughter whom a confirmed old bachelor had no business wanting.

Her face came into focus again. He wondered what had caused her to abruptly quit her position the previous year, and after he’d wooed her back with this created position what Pygmalion-like transformation had occurred, where her spirit had gone. He was unable to penetrate the cold shell that imprisoned her vitality. He knew her reporter passion was there, the gift was there, but death seemed to reign where life had once been. What had happened? How could he help her?

Jenny, he said carefully, this could be a great story…

The young woman shook her head. What’s to be gained by visiting that kingdom of self-righteous, arrogant subjects? She slammed some papers on a desk. What’s left to say? We all know they’re long on preaching and short on integrity. They hurl epithets and judgments with the best of them and call it love. Why go? Her dark eyes smoldered with emotion.

Puzzled with her hostile response, the old editor murmured, But his majesty has never issued a personal invitation to be interviewed—and this invitation includes a tour of his kingdom.

She seemed to reconsider. Did you say a personal invitation? A tour of his kingdom?

The old editor gave a tentative smile. The invitation had your name on it. His majesty specifically asked for you.

Me? Why me?

The editor had no response. Silence settled over them, as the young woman carefully considered the interview.

Chapter Two

A Wounded Heart

The young reporter went home to prepare for the upcoming assignment, unable to determine why she had agreed to such an impossible interview.

Her thoughts traveled from his majesty to his kingdom and predictably came to rest on Jacob—always Jacob and his betrayal, lies, and deception. Will I ever get him out of my mind?

There was no escaping the remembrance. Jacob had been the first kingdom subject with whom she’d chosen to have a deep relationship. It wasn’t that she’d had any bias concerning kingdom subjects. She’d always just considered them people with a peculiar philosophy—a fringe group whose passions ran unrestrained and undisciplined. What was that to her?

However, she had entrusted Jacob to turn her savings into a promised bonanza. He had never been shy about speaking of his allegiance to his majesty, and she’d been willing to overlook this quirk—this eccentricity of choice. She’d allowed Jacob into the inner circle of her friendships, where trust was the agent that bound them. How could he have looked into her eyes at the same time he was using her? How could he have given voice to a depth of committed friendship, to an integrity forming the foundation of trust? It wasn’t just that she’d trusted him with her money; she’d trusted him with her heart.

Jacob had never admitted his guilt or restored her money or reputation. She could live without the money, but the issue of her lost reputation was a toxin to her peace of mind.

He’d hidden the truth behind a wall of secrecy he built and fortified with the aid of other kingdom subjects. The obfuscation of truth had resulted in a kind of leeching poison, polluting her life and other relationships. Embarrassed by all the innuendo and misunderstanding of the whole situation, former friends avoided her. The accidental contact she had with them was as tense and dangerous as navigating a minefield. Without a home for her heart, she was isolated, like a stranger on foreign soil unable to speak the language. No one really wants the truth! she thought.

She recalled her editor’s caution years earlier: Men do not so much hate an evildoer or evil itself as they hate the man who calls evil by its real name. She could see where others would rather deal with the illusion of truth than truth itself.

Her runaway thoughts wandered like a sailboat blown by stormy winds. She recalled her determination—following Jacob’s betrayal—to have nothing further to do with his majesty or his subjects. Even now, as she thought of his majesty, Jacob’s image rose before her eyes.

Familiar nausea grabbed at her stomach, and she felt as if her chest and throat were stuffed with some substance. Her frame tightened as if her muscles had received a command to come to attention. Rigid anger began to build within; she surprisingly welcomed a growing sense of anticipation at facing an adversary—one she would get to challenge this time. There was no way his majesty would fool or trick her. Jacob had stolen her innocence, but it would be replaced by caution and prudence—even healthy cynicism. If his