I Choose

O.k.....It's confession time.
It has been a hard season so far, and I find myself wavering between wanting shout out about how grateful I am for God's love and mercy, not to mention His salvation, and simply going to bed, pulling the covers over my head and not coming up for air until we are well into 2016.

Vicki and I have been living among the rubble of renovation in our home for a while now. I know that we are not the only ones who have ever gone through this. But being a "rutter" (someone who has a routine and sticks to it) having all the upheaval is not conducive to my mental health. You see....truth be known, it's me whining about life. I am not going to do that. I am not going to bemoan what is going on. There are a lot more serious things happening out there in the world than me not being comfortable. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn't just come down and pull my "Christian" card, and kick me out of the club. I wonder why He doesn't just thump me on the noggin' and say, "Grow up boy....life IS hard, but look at how I have blessed you,even in the mess. 

So this morning I will be thankful and grateful.
I will start with something that happens every Friday morning between 3:00 a.m and 4:00 a.m.
I get a text message. There in the darkness of early morning, a message ga-ding-a-ding's my phone. I know who it is without looking at it. The message is the same each week, but is a wonderful reminder to me of what is truly important. "God loves you and so do I...Have a good day, and a great weekend." Is that awesome or what? Someone who is starting their day has taken the time to send this to me. Not that I am special or deserving of such a thing, but that God's love is so great that you just can't hold back on sharing it. 

During the morning, I will receive another text message from another friend. They are a high-energy friend who was delivered from addiction. They are so on fire for God, and filled with a love for Jesus that they refer to themselves as a true JESUS FREAK.   Nothing religious about they way they roll. And do they ever roll. From here to Africa on several occasions and are planning another trip in February. Their text message is one of encouragement for who we have become, a realization that we are not a finished work, and excitement over the journey. 

It's being surrounded by people such as these that make me want to get up and move on in my own journey. To not allow myself to be tied down by my own emotional/mental baggage that serves no purpose what so ever except to impede my walk with Jesus.

Even though these two text messages come from two who are younger than me, I want to be like them when I grow up. As John Wimber use to say, "I want to grow up before I grow older." That is exactly what I want for this day, so I choose not to grumble today. I choose not to complain today. I choose not to feel sorry for myself today. I choose Jesus!

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
Vicki and Michael

God on you....

I have the most wonderful memories of Christmas.
God has been good in this area to me and my family.
I am grateful for the good people of Gallant First Baptist for it was they who shaped and loved me and showed me the heart of God, as a young boy growing up in that community.
People like:
W.A. and Geneva Lutes (along with Ronald and Nancy). They had a huge impact on me as a boy.I saw in them what a family should look like. They truly enjoyed each others company and yet at the same time, there was great respect for each other and the role they played in the family.

Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Whisenant. Mr. Whisenant was probably the most humble man I know. When he would lead a prayer at church, it was if heaven stopped to listen to this man pray. It was eloquent or flowery. When Mr. Whisenant spoke to God, it was one friend to another. Mrs. Whisenant was the epitome of the word "gentle". 

Kenneth and Linda Chandler- They were my training union teachers all through my teenage years. I saw what a marriage was suppose to be like. I saw a man who loved his wife and worked hard for his family. I saw God bring two together and make one.

Charles Bryson - He encouraged me to sing. Charles was an incredible talent and was gracious enough to sing at my mothers funeral. Charles was the choir director and really fueled my love of music.

Reverend Lewis Woods - He was our pastor and the one who lead me to Jesus. Back when it wasn't against the law, Bro. Woods came to our school and spoke. At the end of the talk he told of what Jesus had done because of my sin. I sat there heart beating out of my chest, and I knew that I was lost and was very much in need of a Savior. May of 1961, I gave myself to Jesus and I haven't regretted it ever.

Mr. Vivian Phillips - Mr. Phillips was instrumental in creating a love for the Bible in me. He did odd jobs around the house my parents rented (we rented from Mr. Phillips) so I had a lot of contact with him. I remember him sharing stories from Scripture and questioning me as to what I believed. Mr. Phillips did not treat me like a "little boy" but rather as a pupil.

Reverend Don Gentry - Brother Gentry showed me that the body of Christ was larger than Gallant First Baptist. When I was in the 7th grade, Bro. Gentry would show up at Alma Hinson Jr. High every Monday and load all us "Gallant Boy's and Girls" up in his car. We would then drive to a local church and visit. Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Church of God, Episcopalian. We visited them all, one a week. The pastor, priest, Rector would share with us the beliefs and traditions of that particular faith. We even visited St. James Catholic Church as well as Temple Beth Israel. Pretty heady stuff for a young boy from the country, but it made a huge impact on me and how I viewed the Body of Christ. It was much more than our simple church in Gallant. 

I guess the one man who had the greatest impact on Vicki and I would be Rev. George Creel. Vicki and I were coming out of a long 7 year journey of being away from God. We knew we needed to go to church for the sake of our children (or at least that is what we were telling ourselves) but we didn't know which one.
Vicki's mom kept after us to visit Central United Methodist and hear Bro. George. Well we did and the rest is history. Never, never, never had we ever heard anyone teach the Bible like this man. I remember the first message I ever heard him preach, I sat there dumbfounded as the Word of God poured over me. From then on it standard practice to take Bible, Notebook, Pen with us to each service. 

I am a blessed man and during this Christmas season I think back to all these people and so many more I did not have the time to mention. I truly am a composite of each of these folks as they gave of themselves to me.
I carry around a little piece of their spiritual DNA that has helped me to see God in a way that I probably would have missed. During this time, I am very grateful for the spiritual heritage that God has given to  me throughout my life. Now, I pray that I give away pieces of my Spiritual DNA to others that God would work in the them the same as He has worked in me. 
I am blessed.

Merry Christmas...
God on you.....
mb

Early Morning Thoughts

Acts 1:14
They all met together and were constantly united in prayer.....

Maybe it's because it's the Christmas season....
Maybe it's because the year is almost over....
But whatever the reason, I find myself thinking back over this year. Over the past few days, I have taken out my journals and read back through the events that have taken place in 2015.

The death of loved ones, and friends....
Some of the death's were tragic and should never have happened...
A life gone to soon. A family left to grieve.

There were many who came to know Jesus this past year. I celebrate those and pray daily that they may continue to walk out this new life that has been given to them.

But I guess the one thing I find myself thinking about this morning are the people who make up the core leadership of Vineyard ReCovery Church. There seems to be a genuine love among us, for each other and for Jesus. That is something we could never manufacture on our own. It is a gift from God to a people who truly realize how broken we are....how in need of a Savior we are.

It has been a blessing to me to watch this group grow over the past 2 3/4 years. To see them reach out each week to the hurting and marginalized that come through the doors. To watch them pray and minister to those in need. Not because they have to, or feel some sense of religious obligation....but because the love of the Father burns within their own hearts. Such love can never be contained or held back. It must be demonstrated and loosed to be effective. What better way to demonstrate than by helping others. 

VRC isn't my meeting.....I don't own it....I have no rights to it. Oh, God called me to start it, but that is the extent of my call. The meeting truly does belong to God. We simply gather each week to see what He wants to do on that particular night. We come each week expecting to meet with Him and experience His touch and goodness. The funny part in all of this, we, the core leadership, come each week expecting to receive from him ourselves. We don't come and stand back as spectator's to a God movement. No! We come with our own baggage to be healed...to be forgiven....to be restored. To lay down our own grudges that may have popped up. To rid ourselves of our own unforgiveness that may have formed in our hearts. To cast aside anger, bitterness and any jealousy we may have allowed to take root in our hearts. In other words, we are all in this together, and there isn't any religious pretense on our part. If anything, we are working toward being as transparent and open as we can be.

Oh, we are not the perfect fellowship by no means. We truly are a work in progress, and that's o.k..
Phil Strout, National Director of the Vineyard Churches, made this comment at a Regional meeting in Guntersville back in 2013. Phil said, "We should never ask each other 'How's your church?' Instead, we should ask, 'How's your soul?'" I think that is such a powerful statement. It's not about counting nickles and noses in our meetings, but rather the condition of the hearts of those who attend. The real measurement of any church is not the number who attend, the size of the budget or the number of programs that are offered....no, the measure of any church is the quality of people that are produced. 

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas.
From the "B's" in Attalla!
Vicki and Michael

God on you...

Rapha Part 2

Psalm 119:130
The unfolding of Your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.

Yesterday was a day of firsts.......
Seventeen years ago, I went to Rapha as a volunteer.
I taught Bible studies in the afternoon....
Then I taught Bible studies at night.....
After a while, I was moved to morning devotionals....
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was there to teach the word.

Since I left Rapah back in February of this year, I have remained connected to the program and the men. I would drop by every week to see who was new to the program and to introduce myself to them.  About a month ago, the men started to ask me why I am not teaching a Bible study now. Part of my answer was that God had not released me to. Not sure they understood what that meant, but it was the truth.

Last Friday, I was at Rapha taking with one of the staff members when they told me, "We sure do need you here teaching a Bible study." The moment they said this, God told me, "Now is the time". So without hesitation I responded, "Do you have an opening in the afternoon?" "Yes we do...Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." I chose Monday.

So yesterday, I returned to Rapha the same way I first arrived....
As a volunteer.
We had eleven in our first Bible study and they were eager to listen.
Some took notes....
Some asked questions...
It was good to be back.
Where is this all going?
I have no clue, nor do I wish to look ahead.
I am very content to simply be afforded a place to teach the word of God.

The Rapha guys have come to the last two Saturday nights at Vineyard ReCovery....
Maybe God used those visits to open a door for me at Rapha. Whatever is going on behind the scenes, I am grateful for the opportunity to plant some "Jesus" seeds in their lives.

If anyone ever understood the workings of God's grace, It is me.
I fully understand how I am not qualified to do what God has given me to do.
I understand how limited my understanding of His Word is.
But I also know that He has given me the ability to simplify the Word.
To not complicate it,but to keep it simple for all to understand.
That has been the greatest asset I possess that has served me well over the years.
Here again...I fully understand that it is nothing that I possess on my own...in my own strength or ability, but fully comes as a gift from God. 
Payday for me is when someone comes up after a teaching, who may not have a church background, and says, "You know...I understood what you said." 
That is what I want to bring to everyone who is present when I am teaching.
To simply point the way to Jesus, and say, "Here is the source of life...real life...that you have been searching for!"

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
God on you.

Rolling Through The Weekend

Busy weekend....
Great weekend....
One that you could drink from for a while, but realize that it's Monday and you need to keep moving forward.

Friday Night:
Vicki and I made our way to Centre for Celebrate Recovery. I had received a call from Donnie George asking me if I could come and speak. I've been going up to CR Centre for 11 years, speaking and teaching, but Friday night was a first. They have been going through the leadership material for CR and Donnie asked me if I could teach a lesson from the book. I told him that whatever he needed I was willing to take a shot at it. The material was emailed to me and it was off to the races. I was to teach on "Seven Reasons We Get Stuck In Our Recovery." The reasons ranged from "Not working the principals properly" to "No support group". At the end when ministry time arrived, people flooded the front receiving prayer. A sight such as this is payday for me. I will never tire of seeing folks come to Jesus for healing.

Oh yeah, one last thing....
Randy and the Worship band knocked it out of the park. The music was high energy, yet was sprinkled with songs that were intimate and lead us into God's presence. 

It was a great start to the weekend.

Saturday Night:
We held our annual Candle light service on Saturday night. Always a special time for me, as we the VRC family gathers to celebrate the true light that has come into our time and space. The evening was made even more special by the return of Debbie Handy. Debbie has been battling some health issues and has not been able to be with us. But there she was, with her husband, Lanny, coming up to the stage to take her place at the piano. During our worship set she sang "Light Of The World" which only made the evening even more special. 

The message was on the truth that even though Jesus came to this world.....
Even though He is called THE light of the world....He came to us individually to reveal himself. In Matthew 5, He refers to those who follow Him as being "LIGHT". We are called to reflect Jesus back to a world that doesn't see or know Him.

As we sang "Silent Night", the room as darkened and the candles were lit. That darkened room soon was bathed in candle light. "Silent night.....Holy night....All is calm.....All is bright." For a brief moment, the things of the world fell away and the presence of God manifested in our midst.

Afterwards, there were many hugs, handshakes and Merry Christmas' all around. It was a good night.

Sunday Morning:
Saturday afternoon I received a call from John Richey, pastor of Northside Baptist Church. John had come down with the crud and wanted to know if I could fill in for him. I told him that I would be honored to do so. Part of my call is to do such as this...fill in. Since our church meets on Saturday night, I am always available on Sunday if the need arises. I always look forward to speaking at John's church.

The people are.........
Well, they just make you feel at home when you're with them.
Small country church....
Feels like family....
Not stuck on proper order or pomp and fal-der-ral. But truly do love Jesus, and each other. 
There is a freshness to the honest and simplicity that is found in this church.
No false pretense to who they are or how they worship.

Sitting in my chair last night, I found myself feeling grateful that God would allow me to be a part of three totally different fellowships over the last three days. To see Him reflected in each of those meetings. To see people respond in each of them to His word and His promises. Things may be messed up in our country and in our world, but I found that God still has a people that He is working through. Thank you, Lord.

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla!
God on you....

Christmas To Me

Christmas to me?
The beginning....
A child is born....
A child like no other....
Watching the child grow to manhood...
The promise of hope wrapped up in this child....
The reminder that hope is not an anxiousness, but the slow steady movement of God at work.
Hope is the foundation that lays hold of His promises and does not waver even when it appears that nothing is happening.

I guess you could say that hope and faith are brother and sister.
Cut from the same cloth, these two are the glue that holds us to God. Hope is the ability to see beyond reality and understand that things are not out of control but rest securely in the hands of God.

Christmas to me?
It's family....
Both blood and spirit kin...
These have become my Christmas presents...family..
The ones that I love and that I feel the love returned.
I have two blood sons...Chad and Joshua.
In them I see the faithfulness of God. I see God being true to His word. I see these two men, and I think back to a night long ago at Central United Methodist. The boy's were five and three, and Vicki and I knew that we were ill equipped to raise them. Oh we could parent and keep them healthy...but I'm talking about bringing them up as God would have us do. We took them both down to the front and sat them on the altar and prayed, "Lord, we need your help. We are giving our sons to you if you will show us how to bring them up under your word. Sounds drastic, but God has honored that prayer that was prayed that night.

Christmas to me?
Orange slices and cashews....
Mom always splurged and bought these wonderful delights whenever we went to town during Christmas....
Christmas is also the memories of a meal we use to have at Gallant First Baptist the Saturday before Christmas. We would gather in the fellowship hall, it would be all decorated. People would be gathered around the piano singing Christmas carols...It was a spiritual family foundation that God gave to me when I was a boy.

Christmas to me?
Caroling....
During our time at Central Methodist, the young adults...wow! I guess I'm no longer a young adult. I would fall under the category of Gezzer Adults. Anywho...we would meet up and go around to all the members of Central who were not able to physically attend church. We would sing Christmas Carols and visit with them. It was a special time that I will never forget.

Christmas to me?
Come and go communion on Christmas eve. We started this many years ago when we first came to the Vineyard. Todd Bagley has taken up the mantle now. There was something extra special about the room when everything was set up for the communion. I have never felt such peace before. Families would come to receive communion and a prayer of blessing before they left to celebrate their own family Christmas.

Christmas to me?
Listening to Tennessee Ernie Ford's THE STAR CAROL album. It was my Mom and Dad's favorite album. Found it on CD some years ago, so I won't even go into all the memories it brings up. Suffice it to say that with the opening strains of Joy To The World, I am transported to a time long, long ago.

I guess I will stop here....
I could go on and on but here is a good ending point.
If you're free this Saturday night, we will be hosting our annual Candle light service at Vineyard ReCovery. Meeting starts at 7 p.m.. Why not join us and create some new Christmas memories?

God on you....
Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
Michael and Vicki

Some Can See Him....Some Can't

Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

He wasn't born in a palace, surrounded by servants to meet his every need.
His birth wasn't proclaimed throughout the land by royal heralds.
His parents didn't occupy any ruling position in the government.
Yet He grew to be the only one who could defeat sin, death, hell and the grave.

He came for every man and woman. King or pauper....Queen or whore...because He knew that "All had sinned and fallen short of His Father's glory."
But the way He came to this world is still a mystery.
Plainly spoken of and written about in the ancient Scriptures....the religious rulers of the day could not see the truth. In the passage above from Micah, not only is the town given where Jesus would be born, but the location within the town.....Ephrathah. That's like saying that Jesus will be born in Gadsden, Alabama over in mill village in Alabama city. But they couldn't see it.

Who saw such prophecy?
The Magi......the wisemen...those who studied the heaven's and saw THE star that would lead them to the place where Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child lived.
A group of shepherd's huddled together on a hillside in the dark of night. They never expected to be the one's who would be the first carriers of the "Savior" message. 

So there in a stable in the town of Bethlehem....
Amidst the smell of urine and dung.....
Was born the one we call Jesus...
Immanuel.....God is with us.
Stepped out of heaven's realm to become one of us.
Leaving behind the glory and splendor of His father, Jesus took on the mortal flesh that you and I carry around daily.
He grew to walk among humanity...
He saw death up close and personal...
He experienced the twisted logic and dark hearts of those who practiced religion instead of relationship.
He saw the gratitude and tears of those who received back their love ones from the dead when He spoke life.
He watched the silly, wobbly dance of healing as those whose legs and ankles no longer worked. When Jesus spoke healing to those twisted limbs, the dance began. But it was a dance of gratitude and amazement that such could take place.

With all of these things rolling around in my brain, how could Jesus have had such a birth as He did? Because He came to those who were sin/sick. He came to heal. He came as one of us. He came for the common man and woman. Those who had been marginalized by society and by their own lot in life. 
The leper...
The whore...
The tax collector...
The oppressed....
And the list goes on and on...
Like Jesus said, "The healthy don't need a doctor...I came for the sick."
Funny part about the statement "the healthy don't need a doctor." He wasn't actually talking about spiritually healthy. He was talking about those who were deceived and thought themselves to have no need for this Jesus.
Don't ever doubt that we can deceive ourselves.

Revelation 3:17 speaks of such self deception that can even be found in the church.
Speaking to a church in Laodicea, Jesus says, You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." It kind of hard to realize your need when you have surrounded yourself with the things of the world that feed the old sin nature. Jesus came to rip the veal and cover off the human heart so we could clearly see our need for Him and salvation from the destruction that comes when we reject Him.

Maybe we all need to take a spiritual Step #4 during this Christmas season.
Maybe we need to make a fearless and searching inventory of our hearts to see if we have allowed the world to creep in and blind us to the truth. In fact, maybe the greatest gift we could receive this Christmas season would be the healing that only Christ can bring to blind hearts...deaf ears...and muddled brains.
What do you think?

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
God on you...
Michael and Vicki Bynum