John makes several accusation in his response to my letter, some of which I have answered. First off, had John been honest and forthright with me back in October - November of 2013, we would have, as we always had, agreed to whatever we needed to do to address the issue. From the second email I received from John I suspected we were being misinformed. As to “why” I’ll leave that for you to decide. I surmised it was John Hales that made the offer to buy the back rather than Norman Hales - John’s dad. Why tell us the offer came from Norman when it made no difference who bought it if their plan was to be put into effect. Then in paragraph 3 John confirmed, at least to me, that it was in fact John Hales that made the offer - to sell the back to someone I have been in ministry with for 20 years. In a later meeting between the Alpha board members and me, John Hales himself confirmed the Lord told him to buy the back part of the ranch, so it wasn’t Norman after all.
Neither John nor anyone else has ever asked what our plan to save the ranch encompassed. John is quick to point the finger at me for spoiling their plan to take over control of the property and send the Sweatt’s packing without so much as a T-shirt - as my youngest Son said. Had John bothered to ask the proper questions from the officials in the Zoning department, he would have discovered what we found. Okeechobee County will allow a onetime split of property into 2 or 3 pieces of roughly the same size. Unbeknownst to the Sweatt’s, the property was already divided into *3 parcels but the ordnance would still allow the adjoining lines to be moved around as long the remaining parcels were no smaller than 40 acres each. The ranch is about 138 acres so you can plainly see the math won’t work. So it’s no one’s fault, neither the Sweatt’s nor anyone else that the J&J plan was doomed to failure. Had the plan really originated with God, I believe I can safely say He is familiar with all building and zoning codes and would have presented a resolution agreeable to all parties.
I told the board members I didn’t believe God was telling them one thing and me another. That likely means that one or both of us were wrong. I’ll say it again in case you missed it. We both can’t be right but we can both be wrong. John painted himself into the corner with no reason to do so. Subsequent attempts by John to salvage the plan have only served to exacerbate the matter.
I lived a lie in my teens and twenties so I can speak with some authority about lies and deception. I found it much too confusing to try and keep track of what I told who. Mark Twain once said, “Never tell a lie and you don’t need to remember anything”. That works for me!
*Another deception covered elsewhere.
December 22nd 2013 meeting minutes:
As scheduled, I met with John Glenn around two pm today. Also in attendance were John Hales, Tom Benbo and Elton Boney. John opened with prayer then asked that I catch the guys up on where I was with the plan. I ask if he had shared any of the correspondence between him and me. He said he had not and I said I thought that would have saved us some time as the guys would have a better idea where we stood. I have no idea what John has told them so no telling what they believe. I told them whatever the resolution was that it had to be fair and equal. If we walked away owing then we each owed an equal amount. If it came out even or we had a net gain, it would be equal. John said fair is his plan and the ministry continues without the people ever knowing anything is amiss, which puts the Sweatt’s out. I told them I had been working on a plan and told them we could make the payments - it’s in the letter - until we could determine what the future held. I shut that down when I got John’s letter. None ever ask what the plan was and it doesn’t matter at this point as John wanted no part of “some plan to generate income” and that God had told him “the partnership was defiantly over in every way,” to which we agree. John went through their entire plan just as he laid it out in his letter to us. He wanted to know what the Lord was telling me. I have repeatedly told him I don’t know what the Lord is doing but I know he is not telling them one thing and us something different. HE is not a God of confusion! At some point John Hales jumped in to explain what he said the Lord has told him. He said he was praying about it when the Lord told him to buy the back of the ranch for $4,000 per acre. He said he argued with the Lord that it was not worth $4k per acre but God told him that was the number. As an aside, John Hales says the entire ranch is worth about $3,500.00 per acre including all improvements. At some point after that he said he went to his Dad, Norman, and told him God wanted him to pay $4,000 per acre for the back of the ranch. Norman said God was off by $1,000 per acre but John told him that is what God told him to pay so Norman said he understood. He went on to say it was a miracle and how excited he was. John also said he ask the Lord if he could just pay off the ranch and that God told him no. Tom had pretty much the same thing to say - God told him to buy the front. Eldon said very little but appeared to be in agreement with their side of the issue. Tom and I spoke briefly about how he had come to us when he first wanted to move to the ranch and I said I would have thought this was much more important. He said they did not have their plan together yet and I ask at what point you involve the main partner. Tom hung his head and shrugged his shoulders. John kept asking me what I wanted and I made the statement “it appears I am unable to state our position so as to be understood.” I said 3 or 4 more time during the hour long meeting that if John would share the emails and letters, they would have a better understanding of the issues involved. He never offered to show them so I can only assume he thinks it would not serve his purpose. John’s letter “felt” to me as somewhat of an attack although he says it’s nothing personal. I did ask him as in our last meeting, what had I failed to do that I needed to. His answer was “you were not at the ranch loving people”. I reminded him about the time he and I were standing in front of our building and I was complaining about employs, what he said to me. “Remember, it’s just ministry” and turned and went to his truck. That changed my view from that time forward and I never looked at the people the same. I said “could I not be loving people elsewhere?” John has always taught that ministry opportunities are wherever you are. Two statements were made towards the end of the meeting that stand out, at least to me. Tom said he didn’t have much time as he needed to know so he could make arrangements and that the offer would not long be on the table. John Hales said “knowing what I know now, I will be hard pressed to put any more money into the ranch”. That was said right after he said how much money he had put into the ministry, “$140,000 to $180,000 or whatever it was but it didn’t matter.” John, John and Tom kept coming back to their plan saying it is what God wants. My response “don’t you think God will tell us if that’s the plan?” I detected no anger on their part but there did appear to be a fair amount of bewilderment when I would not come to their understanding. Much more was said but the bottom line is they are waiting on me to give them a plan which God has yet to reveal.
December 23rd 2013 Email from John:
Dear George and Dorothy;
After our meeting yesterday I have been led to write you another letter to answer some of the questions you raised. The first is the same question you asked in our meeting last Thursday, “How did we get here?” From my perspective the answer is fairly simple. Financial pressures combined with relational issues brought us to the point that we were no longer working as a team for the same goal of ministry we started with. As you know, the financial pressures began several years ago when you were no longer able to make the land payments and keep your business going. In the spring of 2006 the Alpha Board voted to lease Freedom Ranch for purposes of building a training center and continuing the church services. The amount was $5.000.00/month which also allowed for my health insurance through the ranch rather than Alpha. Alpha was given a 99 year lease that allowed the tax exemption to be given to the ranch for that portion and Alpha to get a building permit for the training center.
Although you and Dorothy expressed some guilt and remorse over not being able to make the payment, I assured you that you had done enough to make the down payment and that Alpha should begin making the payment. I appreciated your commitment to the ministry at the time and always will. It was clear to me that the Lord was raising up others to help finance the vision he had given me in building the training center. John Hales committed $100,000.00 and Frank Brady committed $50,000.00+ to help Alpha build the building. That money plus the money Alpha had in reserve allowed us to take a step of faith and begin the building. I perceived a distance between us at that time due to the conflict over what type of building (metal or block) we would build. My time was taken up in trying to maintain the ministry and act as a GC in coordinating the subs so I never really pursued what I thought was a rift developing between us. I simply ignored it which, looking back, might have been a mistake.
When we completed the building we also graduated the first class of Faith Based Recovery Support Counselors. Dorothy was among those first graduates and wanted to develop her own ministry. Sometime after that she came to me and wanted to start a women’s class in the building. I encouraged her to start the class, made announcements, and referred women to the class. When it was finished she approached me one day and was disappointed in my leadership and we talked through the issues. That was the only time I remember her being upset with me, and thought we had resolved it. In ’07 we were struggling with the Cracker Cowboy Tours not working out as we hoped and we met with Tom and Verna as well as some other board members at our home to discuss how we could manage to make it financially. By that time Alpha was having some trouble coming up with the $5000 rent each month. During that meeting Dorothy suddenly jumped up and went to the back room crying. You remained seated on the couch and asked Sandi to go “fix your wife”. I suspected that she was upset because Tom and Verna were moving to the ranch to help us make it, but never really pursued that either.
Tom and Verna’s commitment to the ministry brought them here to help us develop the vision in a lot of ways and their fence and barn improvements actually allowed me to make some extra money for the ranch. In addition they were able to contribute financially to Alpha so that we could continue to pay the rent to Freedom Ranch. Things seemed to settle down a bit and I did not sense any kind of problems with our relationship. Sandi noted that Dorothy had quit going to Sam’s with her and grandma, but they continued to talk on the phone weekly and she just assumed that she was busy.
I was going through the knee replacement problems and we were keeping Leo 4 days a week so we to were busy. I didn’t think anything was really wrong with our relationship; we were all just too busy to spend the kind of time together we enjoyed at the beginning.
Although there seemed to be something going on when you and Dorothy were going out with other couples socially every weekend, I considered it to be a good thing that you were all having a good time of fellowship. Sandi and I didn’t really feel left out but did sense that our relationship had become more distant and thought we needed to get together more than we were. At one time Dorothy said she could see what Sandi and I were doing when we spent a lot of time with TR and Gerrie Wilson after the death of their son. It sounded like she found an explanation for the distance in our relationship, but wasn’t really satisfied. Neither Sandi nor I were really aware of how dissatisfied Dorothy was with our relationship until the wedding/craft fair conflict.
The day you and Dorothy came to the house and Dorothy expressed how offended she was by both me and Sandi is the day our relationship ended. Although we had not spent a lot of time together up to that point, both Sandi and I considered you to be friends. After that day it was clear to us that Dorothy, at least, wanted nothing more to do with us as friends much less partners in the ranch. Her accusations hurt Sandi deeply and I have had my hands full trying to break that hate-hurt-hate cycle that destroys relationships. When you came by the house a day or so later, George, I was somewhat surprised by your statement that you did not agree with all your wife had said, and as far as you were concerned, you were still supportive of me, the gospel, and the vision we had here at the ranch. I still don’t know how you can have a relationship with Sandi and me when your wife wants nothing to do with us and said she would not set foot on the ranch again.
Perhaps you are thinking that in time Dorothy will cool off and we can get back to some kind of relationship. But I can tell you that unless there is a substantial healing of the relationship between your wife and us, there is no partnership in the ranch and certainly not in the ministry. By definition you and Dorothy are one, George. She is bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. If her feelings toward us are not what you feel personally, then it is incumbent upon you to lead her in dealing with her own feelings in a constructive way that affirms the gospel for both her and us. In answer to your question, “How did we get here?” it looks to me that your wife hates Sandi and I (for whatever reason) and we have no healthy relationship, much less a working partnership.
The other issue I want to address with you is the matter of “fairness”. In our meeting I heard you say that your priorities were as follows: first, the ministry continues here at the ranch; second that the folks living here have some reasonable security that they will stay in their homes; and the bottom line is that whatever is done toward that end is “fair”. From that I gather you do not see selling the ranch to Tom and Elton, Alpha Ministries, and John Hales as fair. Since that option certainly meets your top priorities, I can only assume you do not see eliminating the $318,000.00 debt you owe as being fair by itself. So my question to you is what is fair? Obviously you think that whatever time, money, and energy you have put into the ranch and developing the ministry here needs to be compensated for in some way. While you had a significant head start on me with the down payment, initial ranch payments, and salaries paid for labor, etc. I’m sure you realize that Sandi and I have at least an equal amount in sweat equity as well as house payments, etc. But the one entity that has far more in the ranch that either of us is Alpha Ministries. Not only did the people of Alpha Ministries give large donations (Hales $130,000.00, Brady $75,000.00, Clemmons $20,000.00, etc.) but the ministry has paid lease payments to the ranch totaling well over half a million dollars. Alpha has put far more into this ranch than either of us and deserves credit for that if we are going to be fair.
I think I know how we got here, George. But the real question is where do we go from here? As it stands now with our personal relationship distant at best, I do believe we need to end the legal partnership we have in Freedom ranch. After that, maybe we can heal our friendship. I still maintain that the sale of the ranch to the parties you met with yesterday is the best way to meet your top priorities. The fairness issue is up to you. Consider what dollar amount you feel is needed for you and Dorothy to be satisfied and I will consider how I might be able to provide it. Time is running out since on December 31 we owe about 1600 dollars in taxes and January first we have a ranch payment of $4078. I will pay $1,000.00 for my house and scratch up half the remaining by the 7th of the month. That means I need about $2339.00 from you to Freedom ranch this week.
I do hope you and Dorothy have a Merry Christmas.
John
Our youngest Son has a few comments about this letter HERE.
