THE BENSEL CROSS    
 By Irene Baron August 2021

Mitch Bensel, made a wooden cross for me from driftwood washed upon the banks of the Ohio River below the Ohio falls. His crosses are like no others, not only because of the unique exterior, but also for what they contain inside. 

My cross is twelve inches high. Some buyers order much larger ones. The wonder of all the Bensel Crosses is that many prayers are said over each cross as they are being constructed.

Prayers and blessings in the cross are for healing, protection, and well being for my family and home. 

What is significant to me is that Mitchj Bensel asked Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Immanuel, the Christ, to add their blessing to each cross he constructs.  For the owners of the crosses, the love and sacrifice of Jesus seems to emanate from them. The cross represents a time in our history of Christ’s pure love for all of us. For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. So, when you touch or hold a Bensel Cross, it is His love you feel and what the cross represents. It is just wood …  but the symbol is love. Your faith feels His energy and love. 

When I opened my cross upon its arrival, there was a feeling of joy and goodness. I looked it over and let my hands move over the wooden surface. I saw the “MB” carved into the back to remind the world it was a Bensel Cross. He placed a small medal of the Virgin Mary on the back of the cross. I believe that was an association with my book, “Mary Knew – A Biography of Mary from Ancient Scriptures.” It is a historical narrative book I wrote using Apostle James’ eye witness testimony about Mary’s life. Apostle James was the youngest son of Joseph from his first wife. James lived in his father’s home for some time.

I replaced a picture of Balaam on the wall beside my front door with my Bensel Cross. After putting the cross on the wall, I walked to the kitchen for a drink of water.  Walking from the kitchen, through a corner of the dining room and heading for the adjoining living room, I had to stop. My body impacted a force which was not impenetrable, but let me know it was there.  It felt like the air in the living room had pressure behind it. 

The cross was exhibiting the energy and power stored within it. I believe the prayers Mitch Bensel said, while constructing the cross, were filled with Christian love,  care, and were powerful.  Add to that the requested blessings from God and Jesus, Immanuel, and that cross became a miracle of spiritual love. 

I stopped walking upon feeling the pressure and hesitated.  My first thought was astonishment. I thought, “What?” Then I knew it was the cross. The cross was the only thing that was different in that room. After pausing and taking in that revelation of the power of that small wooden Cross, I stepped into the living room. The power of that cross enveloped me as I walked toward it. It flowed around me. The amount of pressure surrounding me did not change as I walked to where the cross rested upon my wall. 

When I reached the wall, I looked up at the cross and put my head against the wall to see the back of it again. Had anything changed? No. I reached up and put my hand on the front of the cross. I felt energy move into my hand.  THAT CROSS HAD ENERGY that my Holy Spirit recognized. 

Removing it from the wall, I moved my hands over the cross. I placed my right hand on the front of the cross and my left hand on the back. I held it between my hands and felt the wonder of its existence in my home. I traced my hand across it as though smoothing the wood or spirit of the cross and gently returned it to its new home on my wall. 

After that one instance, I had not felt the air pressure power of the cross. Yet when I touch it, the power of the imbedded prayers and blessings are felt with a slight source of pressure/energy against my hand. I assume energy enters my hand. 

Mitch Bensel’s construction of my cross creates wonder and astonishment every day. Wonder, because of what the cross contains inside. Also astonishment that the cross was made for me without my asking for one. It was a gift from his heart from someone who loves God to another Christian. 

I thanked him for the cross. With the power of his healing prayers and the blessings from him and two holy beings, that Cross became, perhaps, one of the most important objects in my home. 

I would like to thank Mitch Bensel for bestowing upon me one of the most significant gifts I have ever received. 

Mr. Bensel receives nudges from God to create such miracles. We all experience nudges in our life and know they are often from the Holy Spirit.  I’m glad he was nudged to create a cross for me. 

A wood burner or flame was used on every wood surface of my cross to make it stand out. When Mr. Bensel finds wood for a cross, he said he doesn’t think about whether it would make a good cross. He said, it’s as though the wood lets him know it is going to be made into a holy cross. That is the final purpose of that piece of wood. It was brought to that section of the Earth for Mitch Bensel to see and ponder. When he is nudged to use any piece of wood for a cross, he said it’s not his thinking that it would become a beloved cross. “It’s the big guy up there.”

 

To order one of these unique crosses, Mr. Mitch Bensel can be reached by email at  mitchbensel@mitchbensel.com. 

They can also be ordered through his Etsy account:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MitchBenselTreasures