We recently connected with Benton Thompson III and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Benton thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I wrote a book titled “Divinely Dysfunctional – Unique on Purpose”. I write Faith based, self-help books. and I see so many people trying to find their identity in others. They want to emulate someone else by copying their behavior or their talent. But the truth is, we are all each uniquely created the way we are on purpose, for a special purpose. By design we were created to function differently than the next person, that’s why our fingerprints don’t match anyone’s who has ever existed. Our fingerprints are our personal identifier. Not even identical twins have the same fingerprints. Because each of us are one-of-a-kind. We were not meant to be copies of anyone else. There are many who feel dysfunctional, ashamed of their past, or present, and don’t believe their life matters. But it does. I wrote this book about some people who were also considered dysfunctional, but yet they were great, because they were made unique on purpose. Greatness is not always measured by the masses, we all have someone in our life that we saw/see as great, even if they were not recognized by the media as such. Maybe it was a teacher, neighbor, someone in our family, or community, and they were great in our eyes. I desire to empower people through my writings to be the best version of themselves and realize that who they are is more than enough. Everyone was not meant to do the same things or be the same way. The Wright brothers, Dr, Martin Luther King Jr., Michaelangelo, Einstein, Beethoven, were all once considered dysfunctional. The world needs all of our individual uniqueness. We are all Divinely Dysfunctional and Unique on Purpose!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

As a little boy, I felt drawn into a personal relationship with God. When I was in the first grade on career day, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said a preacher. At that time, there were no preachers in my family, nor any that I knew. Despite that one declaration, I grew up as a rambunctious young boy, getting involved in as much mischievousness as the next person. I was not an angel, nor a preacher. As time passed, I experienced Religion in various forms. I was a member of a Methodist church, attended and taught at a Baptist Sunday school, went to and graduated from a Catholic high school, attended mass weekly, had several Jewish friends, and declared my love for God in a Pentacostal church. I did become a licensed and ordained minister, pastored a church, and have been on several mission trips around the world. Now I am an author and speaker. Through all this, my focus has been on God, and getting the truth about him out to others. That is the background that I bring to my writing and speaking opportunities. God is not a Religion, nor is he a religious being. God is a relational being. God seeks an individual relationship with each of his unique creations. Religion was constructed by man to organize the masses who share common beliefs. But Faith is personal. To date I have 10 published books: Why Men Hunt, Sons of God, A Five Part How to series, Hear, Trust, Follow, Obey, and Pray to God, Como Oir a Dios How to Hear God, also available in Spanish, Divinely Dysfunctional, and Close – Draw Near, written several magazine articles, been on radio and television, and have spoken in several countries around the world, all with the intent of inspiring others to have a personal relationship with God. My goal is to demystify and uncomplicate the relationship between the God of all creation and us his creation. I have a weekly podcast called “Thompson Truths” that offer simple, practical understanding of Biblical foundations. Additionally, I have partnered with You Version Bible, which is on more than 500 million devices, in more than 1,200 languages around the world, for a 5-day personal Devotional Study titled “Jesus carried Our Sorrows to Victory”. This devotional study shows how Jesus was Divinely Dysfunctional as apart of Gods plan to reunite us with him. In everything I do, I desire to help people strengthen themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My first book, Why Men Hunt – Providers or Stewards, was published in 2002. The subject matter was based on the struggles that I was going through in my personal life at that time. I asked God why does everything always have to be such a struggle, why do we to continuously hunt for what he already has? I detailed my response in the book. The whole process of finding a publisher and getting my manuscript submitted was fairly easy. When I when to get book #2 published in 2004, Sons of God – Bar Abba, it was a slightly different story. The president of the publishing firm that I previously used had left, which had me working with someone with whom I had no prior relationship. Things were a bit rocky at first, but ultimately Sons of God – Bar Abba was published, but I had to preserve through it. Then came book #3, with the same publisher as the first two, and yet they refused to publish my latest work. I was dumbfounded and taken aback. I pleaded my case with them. They felt my content was too radical and would not be well received by their audience. It was their right to refuse, so I left them and found another publisher to take on my project. I believe in my work, and I had to find someone else who would also. I did eventually get that work published, I just stayed committed to my cause and my mission. The lesson learned here was that we must never give up on a dream.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The pivot I had to do was a Paradyme shift that was related to #3 book that I had written and was trying to get published, as mentioned earlier. After a five-year long relationship with the same publisher, I had been using all along, I was faced with abandoning a work that I felt very passionately about or finding a new publisher. I opted for the latter, to find a new publisher. I looked briefly for other publishers who would be willing to take on me and my philosophy about matters of faith that were reflected in my writings. One day I had an Ephinay to start my own publishing company. So, I reached out to a few partners and off we went. I have published six of my books under that label and helped several other authors get their works completed as well. My pivot afforded me a new opportunity to help others like me to have their voice to be heard. As for book #3 and the work that started all this, I eventually got it published as well. The publisher who helped me with my first book started his own publishing company and picked up my project. In 2017, book #3, which had now become book #9 titled Divinely Dysfunctional – Unique on Purpose was finally able to see the light of day some 13 years after my initial efforts. I did a slight rewrite and added some additional characters to the script. This anthological work was the first that I had attempted, and thus it was very important to me. The host of people featured in this work were all considered dysfunctional, yet they each pivoted and persevered onto personal greatness. I also joined them with the completion of getting Divinely Dysfunctional – Unique on Purpose published in 2017. My most recent book, Close -Draw Near was released in 2020.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Bentonthompsoniii.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bentonthompsoniii/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/BentonThompsonIII/
• Linkedin: N/A
• Twitter: twitter.com/BentonTThompson
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCArESOKvXZvPvslRyOdNZ2A
• Yelp: N/A

Image Credits
Hollywood Headshots – Michael Justice