The Principle of Making Things Happen

If you ever read a book where the author spends the first chapter telling you about their divine encounter with God? Then they send the rest of their book telling you how you can make it happen for yourself.

It seems like to me that if God started a move in the author's life without them reading a how to book He could do the same for you!

October 17, 2021 - Sunday

 

An abandoned soul never need justify itself

(7) And abandon soul never need try to justify itself by word or deed. God does that.

The huge, unyielding rock that shelters the soul from all storms is the divine will, which is always there, though hidden beneath the veil of trials and in those most common place actions. Deep within those shadows is the hand of God to support and carry us to complete self-abandonment. And when  a soul has arrived at this sublime state it need fear nothing which is said against it, for there is no longer anything for it to say or do in self-defense. Since it is the work of God, we must not try to justify it. Its effects and its consequences will vindicate it enough. There is nothing to be done but let them unfold. If we no longer rely on our own ideas, we must not try to defend ourselves with words, for words can only express our ideas. So, no ideas, no words. What use would they be? To give reasons for our behavior? But we do not know these reasons, for they are hidden in the source of our actions, and from that source we have received only influences we can neither describe nor understand. So we must let the consequences justify themselves. Every link in this divine chain is unbreakable, and the meaning of what has happened earlier is seen in the consequences which follow. The soul no longer lives in a world of thoughts, of imagination, of endless words. Now these no longer occupy it; neither do they nourish or sustain it. It no longer sees where it is going or where it will go. It relies no longer on its own ideas to help it to bear the weariness and difficulties of the journey. It carries on with a profound conviction of its own weakness. But with each step the road widens and, having started, the soul it advances along it without hesitation. It is innocent, simple and faithful and follows the straight path of God‘s commandments, relying on him, whom it meets continually along this path.

p109 -110.

from Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Worship-Circle

Come and play your instruments with us. Worship Circle is

every Second Friday of the month at 7:00. Come a little early

to tune up.

Giles Brown

Shelton and Samantha's son Giles went home to be with God Sunday, April 24, 2016.  Pray for them and their other boys Ethan and Will.  He was in a motorcycle accident.  He was 21.

Gadsden Vineyard is taking donations at Paypal or at the church. Contact LeNola Bagley.

Making Concrete Fake Stones

https://www.facebook.com/JimBentleyArt/videos/1709579052596920/

34 N, 86 W - You Are Here "Redenecklectic" - Danny Daniels

"Redenecklectic" - Danny Daniels

I want pay tribute to a group of Multitalented, Inspired, and Honest-to-God Artists, writers, singers, graphic creators, dancers, thespians, sculptors, songsmiths, sound techs, vagabond minstrels, bards, and poets, facilitators of worship expressions, like singing, dancing, praying, hooting and hollering, and general 'kaplooyees' of gratitude and joy. They are truly in the Sweet Magic of Emmanuel.

These Seers and Healers live in that parallel place so close as to be called "here", and so far as to go past even what is called 'now'.

The Art they are born into is as old as the soulful cry of a baby child, and as new as the moon of the ocean tides. 

They are carrying on a tradition of the arts that goes back to the days of Celtic kingdoms and Holy Land tribes.

They're educated, but fortunately, intelligent too.

They savor the taste of life at a relaxed pace, but they also can shift into 'rip-roaring' when it calls for it. 

They love the Muse, and the love of the Muse is their Hope and Song.

I love you Gadsden Vineyardites! You're genuine "Rednecklectic"

Saturday September 19, 2015 - The Cabin Fever Tour - WOW!

Thanks to the whole Cabin Fever Tour band. It was better than good, it was anointed, which is what we all are asking for. Anytime we gather if God doesn't manifest we are a little disappointed. We, His people, set the table and wait. We make the date and wait. We are happy to come and tell Him how much we care. We know He loves us. We know it's okay if He chooses not to come and that's what makes it all so real. Will He come this time? It's like walking up to that "girl's front door" and knocking. Is she home and is she going on this date we made? The door opens and there she is. We show up and knock. The door opens and there HE is!

We sure like the way you guys knocked!

Doing The Stuff 101 with Michael Bynum

DOING THE STUFF 101 with Michael Bynum, pastor of Vineyard ReCovery

Wednesdays 6:30p
meets in the Great Hall at Gadsden Vineyard

From Greene Street Letters:
"The meeting will be interactive and participatory. It won't be me doing all the talking while everyone else sits and watches. We will be demonstrating (the show and tell method) how to hear God, how to pray, how to minister to others, and I'm excited about tonight." - MB

***

From the first meeting of DTS 101:
"Asking "Why did you come to this meeting?" The response was unanimous. There is a hunger to know God better, and to learn how to move in the kingdom will of God.

People are tired of sitting on the sidelines watching. They want to participate, to pray and minister...to move outside the walls of the church and become actively engaged in their communities, their places of work and their homes. People with this kind of hunger will surely catch God's attention." - MB

This training is open to anyone from any church that wants to add to their ministry skills. Come and take what you need and then go share the wealth.

Go to Greene Street Letters to hear the audio of the meeting: http://rapha2911.blogspot.com/

First Friday, Aug. 7, 2015

I got to meet some old art students and gave a couple of 5 minute lessons to some young people.

The Cabin Fever Recordings Tour

Coming this fall: The Cabin Fever Recordings Tour

• Where? Gadsden Vineyard Church
• When? September 19, 2015 – 7:00pm
• Who? John and Marie Barnett and crew

*The idea for “The Americana Congregation” came about as a group of friends were discussing the idea for a collective place to share and experience our unique musical styles, influences, thoughts, ideas, plans and general mischief.*

*A place for those outside of the “norm” of the industrial church music machine where style, lyrics and context can be explored, encouraged and enjoyed as we journey off the paved road and follow the path of most resistance.*

*John & Marie Barnett and the Cabin Fever Band, The Americana Congregation, will be joining us for some praise & worship, Americana style. Often called “Roots Worship”, their music is a blend of country, rock, bluegrass, folk, and blues. At its core, it is honest & earthy, and deeply grounded in the Gospel. Many of their songs are featured on the recent CD Cabin Fever Recordings, which is available in the bookstore now.*

The Fog of Stupidity

 The Fog of Stupidity

“Your brother is never your enemy.” – John Wimber

I have seen for years where some people who experience the grace & charisma of God deceive themselves that they don't have to work on their character because God is self-evidently with them & working through them. Gifts are given to the Church because of our generous God, but gifts without character can do much damage. Therefore I've learned to look for people with character rather than people with gifting.." – John Wimber

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” – Matthew 7:1-2 NAS

Recently one of my Christian brothers decided to write an attack on our church and the people I pastor. I went through different emotions as to what I wanted to say to him. I put it aside for three weeks to get some distance from his tirade.

Three weeks later I find myself still full of love for him and others. Others? Yes. Since then other Christians I love have acted in very un-Christian ways toward fellow Christians.

As a pastor I start asking myself did I plant these seeds of dishonor and self-centeredness in my friends? At this point my thoughts are I may not have taught on acting this way but I also didn’t speak strongly enough about these attitudes and actions. So here’s some words to ponder…

We all are ALWAYS have the opportunity for the LORD to take us to His wood shed for some painful disciple. He loves us even as He switches our legs for our own good.

God has chosen to set a kind of Laws of Spiritual Physics in motion in His Kingdom. It doesn’t matter if you and I like them or not they’re still functioning.

Here’s one that we don’t believe:

WE ARE GOING TO REAP WHAT WE SOW. He said to treat others how you would like others to treat ourselves.

My friends who rant against His people or friends that shun His children are going to have a harvest come up in their own lives that won’t be any fun.

My friends must have selective memories. They have lost contact with humility and thankfulness. They have lost awareness of who their Father is. They must be in emotional pain or in a cloud of stupidity that has them disoriented.

I want to shake them and yell in their face, “Stop it! You are attacking your brothers and sisters. You are attacking the children of the High King of Heaven. What craziness makes you think that your thoughts and deeds aren’t going to go unnoticed?”

“Ouch!” you say. Great. Want change?

If you find yourself doing or saying or thinking like a jerk then you’ll have to move into a place of HUMILITY first.

Consider you are nothing but a pile of dirt and breathing for a few minutes on this earth because of God’s goodness. If you throw up self-protection thinking stuff like “I didn’t mean it” or “there’s grace for what I did” then never mind. Go ahead and put a spin on your attitudes and actions. You’re not ready.

If you are still reading then THANKFULNESS should start to over take you next. Maybe even tears. Now you are ready. Now real REPENTANCE is available.

You won’t know if it was real repentance until the next time arrives and you want to rant or shun your brothers and sisters but you DON’T do it.

Want to be great in the Kingdom of God, then be a servant of all. Jesus said that and I don’t think He’s kidding. He says all His children are the “Apple of His eye.” Go stick your finger into His eye and see what happens.

Farewell To Josh and Regine

   Josh and Regine Brady came to help us back in September 2014. We had met them and thought they were great people. They were gracious and came. We can't say enough about how wonderful they are as Christians. They taught many about praying for healing and how to get out there and pray for people outside the church.

   The last ten months went by so fast. They are moving to North Carolina.

   Josh is giving a farewell message Sunday July 5, 2015.

   Thank you Josh and Regine for all your hard work and loving on a people you didn't know.

How We Began by Jim Bentley - June 2005 Time Capsule

Here is another transcript from June 2005. Thanks Debbie Handy for sharing this old newsletter. (I have revised and expanded the original version - JB)  :

How We Began

Jim Bentley, pastor

Before we were Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Gadsden or before we were asked to change our name to Gadsden Vineyard Church by the national Association of Vineyard Churches (now know as VineyardUSA) we were Christians looking for “More.”

In 1980, I was a high school art teacher at Glencoe and Hokes Bluff High Schools. I had been following Keith Green and Last Days Ministry when Keith was alive, and I had also been reading a lot of books.

Looking back, I now know that God was driving me. It wasn’t something of my own initiative. It’s not like I decided one day, “Hey, I’ll just become crazy and change my whole life and make my family, friends, and those at work upset and wonder what’s wrong with me. I think I will just get crazy so that all my friends at church will distance themselves from me and My Sunday school teacher will want to know why I’m putting cartoons up on the wall. You know, I’m just going to be crazy. I’ll try that.”

I was somewhat a normal Southern Baptist member since I was eleven, and then God started this whole thing about being serious. “Why don’t you just quit being part time with your Christianity? Why don’t you go for broke and be a full time Christian all the time and see where that takes you?”

1982  Wayne F., one of the guys I was talking with regularly about a more involved spiritual life, found a Christian Life magazine in October 1982. This whole issue was about a course taught in the basement of Fuller Seminary by some guy named John Wimber called Missions Course 510 - Signs and Wonders. Approximately 200 seminary students (and missionaries who were on furlough) signed up for this class. Wimber taught that God still healed and performed supernatural acts in Third World countries and even in this country and possibly even in this class. Afterwards, Wimber would have a “clinic.” At the end of each class, he would take a few minutes and say something like, “Let’s see if God wants to do something.”

I thought that Wimber was the sanest sounding guy I had ever read. Before, I had always bounced between two places. One place was really emotional and not very thoughtful; the other was so thoughtful that it was really dull. Wimber used both his emotions and his knowledge and made sense while sticking his neck out trying new things. I read the magazine in late October 1982.

1983  On Sunday, January 16, 1983, during the second song of a Meadowbrook Baptist Sunday morning worship service, I was sitting on the third row where we always had sat for the last eight years.  One minute I didn’t want to pray, and the next minute I just had to go to the prayer room. I told Jan, my wife, who was standing up with the hymnal, “Hey, I think I’ve got to go to the prayer room.”

Jan, my first wife, was a very practical person. However, I was not, I was more artistic and let's say emotionally driven at times. I was really like a kite flying around in the sky, so to speak. She said, “Well, go.”

So, I excused myself, went out to the prayer room, and I prayed a couple of sentences. I don’t remember what I prayed, but I knew enough to quit talking. The second I quit talking I heard a sentence come through my mind, the strongest sentence I’ve ever heard, not another voice but a very strong thought. It said, “I want you to start a church.”

Out loud, I said, “I can’t pastor or preach.” I was thinking, “I’m an art teacher.”

Just as strongly as the first time I heard a reply, “that’s not what I said.”

People talk about the glory of God being like a weight. (The Hebrew word for “glory” actually means weight). The only time I ever had a physical experience that matched this experience was when I had my wisdom teeth out and the dentist gave me Valium. At that moment in the prayer room, I had the sensation of being pushed down into the carpet. I felt very heavy and very relaxed at the same time. It lifted off in a minute or so, and I realized that God had communicated with me.

“What does this mean? Should I give up teaching and go to seminary? What do I do?”

I finally went outside and walked around. I couldn’t go back in and sit down. The special guest was inside speaking about how useful Sanford’s education classes were. (I think it was Christian Education Month.)

Everyone I was close to was out of town. My pastor was out of town. My friends were out of town. There was no one there but one guy that knew my trek. I found him at the end of the service and told him what God had said, and he told me that he’d been called and was going to seminary. He said, “You should probably go to seminary. That’s what I’m going to do.” In reality he didn’t go to seminary after he moved to Texas. I guess God was calling him to Texas so that he would get a job in hospital administration.

Later in the spring, I wrote to John Wimber. In the meantime, I talked to my pastor and other pastors, but I was never satisfied with their answers to my questions. However, Wimber replied and wrote me that he was going to be in Nashville in April. He invited me to come and promised to meet with me after the meetings.

So, we traveled to Nashville to Music Row to a church called the Belmont Church. Now, this church had taken out all the pews where the choir had been and had a band set up on the stage. As we entered the sanctuary, the band was singing a Maranatha song called “As We Gather,” a really mellow praise song.

I immediately started crying. The tears just bypassed my mind. It felt like the scene from the movie ET where he said, “Home!” I felt like I had come home, but I had not even met Wimber yet.

Now, that was really weird. What was even weirder for me was this meeting was comprised of 400 or so Church of Christ leaders from non-instrumental and instrumental churches wearing three-piece dark blue or gray suits. I had on my blue jeans and was with my wife and a college student that we had brought with us. A couple from Florida had also been invited to meet John. It was obvious that we were visitors.

Then, this guy came up on the stage. His hair was a sandy blond color that was beginning to turn white; he was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt with white pants and shoes, something like Pat Boone would have worn back then.

I told my wife, “I think that’s Wimber.” I was right.

He talked about healing for a while, and then he said,  “Let’s have a clinic.” That wasn’t too bad. Someone heard the word “arthritis” and maybe the number “nine.” Eventually, nine people stood up and came to the stage for people to begin to pray for them. He told us to watch them and see if we could see what the Holy Spirit was doing “to” and “in” them. I really couldn’t see anything except that maybe one guy was vibrating a little.

I had never been around this kind of thing. I could tell that whatever was happening was important, but I had just not seen anything like this before.

The meeting ended, and we went for supper. Then we came back for the evening session. At the end of the session, John said, “God wants to anoint some of you.” It looked like almost everyone in the session was a Church of Christ minister. He asked everyone to stand. I stood up standing halfway in the aisle because I’m a guy that doesn’t like to be trapped in the pew.

He then said that God wanted to touch many of us in a new way and that there were people here who needed to be refreshed. Then he asked God to send the Holy Spirit. “In Jesus’ name, Holy Spirit, come.”

He took the microphone, put it under his arm, and sat down on the top step of this old stage that had seven or eight steps from the floor to the platform. Everyone was standing, looking around at the other people standing. Nothing much was going on. No music, just us standing and waiting. But waiting for what?

Then from the back of the room, we heard a loud sound, something heavy hitting something like wood. Then the sound was to the side of us. We realized that what we were hearing were people who couldn’t stand up. They were falling backwards into the wooden pews that had no padding. This started moving from the back of the room toward the front slowly, two or three people falling back onto the pews on every row.

When this “effect or whatever you want to call it” got even with me, a guy who was standing in the aisle across from me went nose first to the floor. Now, backwards is one thing, especially when someone is pushing on your forehead hard enough to cause you to lose your balance, but a Church of Christ guy in a three-piece navy suit going down face forward - that’s impressive. That’s really impressive. It was so impressive that his best friend crawled next to me trying to talk to the guy whose face was on the carpet to find out if he was okay. Wimber stood up from sitting on the top step and said in a calm voice, “Sir, God’s with him. He’s okay.”

The friend said back to Wimber, “I just wanted to know what happened to him, see if he’s okay.” Eventually the best friend tried to talk to the guy down on the carpet. I could hear the guy on carpet mumble something. The best friend got up, walked down the aisle, went out a side door, and slammed it shut. By this time the “effect” had spread all over the sanctuary. Wimber told the people standing that they could bless the ones that had fallen back into the pews.

In a few minutes the man who had stormed out came back in and apologized saying that he just had never seen anything like this. I could hear his friend who was lying on the floor next to me say, “I’m just fine.”

After the session ended, I was going to leave because Wimber had disappeared, but the team was still praying for people. We went to our car, but instead of leaving I thought I would make one last try, so I said, "I’m going back inside and see if I can find Wimber." So I went up to one of the people who had come with John from California. I told Blaine Cook that I was from Alabama and was supposed to meet John and Carol Wimber after the session. He told me that they were going to meet at the IHOP restaurant down the street and that I could follow him in my car.

When we got to the restaurant, I told John and Carol Wimber that I was adopting them that night. He told Steve, his assistant, “Give this young man a 100 cassettes of teachings from our church.” (I would listen to them all that summer.)

That was my first encounter. I literally stayed up all night because I had just seen something and really didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t explain it. I told my wife as we were driving home that this was supernatural and that I was pretty sure this was God and not the enemy.

After Nashville, we began a meeting in homes using the Vineyard small group model. We did this until early 1984 and were still attending our home church. Nobody from the church felt impressed to help do what God had asked me to do. Of course, I wasn’t trying to get anyone to leave the church; I was just trying to tell my friends the story.

In fact, I went to a church that was of another denomination to talk to the pastor and one of my best friends who went there about the things that I had seen. The pastor said that he could see that I probably wouldn’t be happy in his church. (Many churches believe the spiritual gifts ended with the first century Christians, and their denomination was one of those.) At the time I didn’t realize that he was really trying to get rid of me.

1984  In the summer of 1984, I attended my first big conference at the Vineyard Anaheim. There were approximately 2000 people from all over the country who attended and a few from outside of the country. The Holy Spirit was very intense in the conference, and that was wonderful and surprising and a little strange all at the same time. I thought that this was normal for the Vineyard movement because I really didn’t have anything to gauge it by. Later I discovered that this meeting was considered the all-time peak anointed conference for two years before and after. I just thought that it was normal for people to be manifesting demonic things over here and for someone else to be healed over there and for others to be empowered in the front or the back of the room. So, I came home expecting this to be the normal thing to happen in my living room each week.

We continued to meet in my living room where we would sing some songs and then invite the Holy Spirit to come. We would sit and look at each other until something happened or someone had an impression. Amazingly, God did at least one thing every week. By January 1985, we were about a dozen folks. We count January of 1985 as a kind of starting date since we got a checking account that month and Nori Kelley and Debbie Handy became our first worship leaders.

In 1986 we rented the Christian Brothers’ building on Sunday afternoons, then moved to an old fitness center for a year, and back to our living room for a year or so. Then in January 1990 we came back to Christian Brothers and have never left. Christian Brothers gave us their building a few years later. We bought the Santos printing company building next door in 2001.

Friends would come by and visit, sometimes a year or so later, and say, “You guys are always changing a little every time we visit.” That is good. Living things are always changing.

Jim taught art in Glencoe and Hokes Bluff schools from 1973-1998. He has a MA in Art Education. He and Jan were married 31 years before her passing. He and Patsy have been married ten years. Patsy is a biblical counselor. They have seven grandchildren and two godchildren.

Time Capsule - June 2005 - Who We Are by Michael Bynum

Debbie Handy found a His Handiwork newsletter she had written in June 2005. It's fun looking back to see what we were doing or thinking about. It's kind of a Time Capsule. Here's an article from that newsletter by Michael Bynum:

WHO WE ARE…

By Michael Bynum

Just who are we as a fellowship? What does it mean to be part of “Vineyard”? Our fellowship is not the only Vineyard. We belong to an association of churches that adhere to a common set of values and beliefs. Now, all vineyards don’t look alike. Neither do they function alike, but they all have the same core values and beliefs.

We believe that the community we call the Gadsden Vineyard Church belongs to God. It is not ours, so He alone should be the source of direction for us. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church”. We seek to not usurp God’s power and plans through our own plans and agendas but do seek His will for our community of believers.

God’s directions are carried out through the church government and leadership whose main responsibility is to serve the people who are committed to the fellowship. We also believe that leaders should have a servant’s heart. The people aren’t there to serve the leadership; the leadership is there to serve them.

The leadership’s authority does not exist so that it can be heavy-handed and rule over the fellowship. Authority’s main goal is to create a safe place where people can meet with God.

(In 2005) Jim Bentley is our senior pastor. Michael Bynum and Kris Catoe are our associate pastors. Our elders are Todd Bagley, Wayne Wimpee, Brook Finlayson, and Clay Rowe. They meet on the first Monday of the month to pray and to hear the needs and concerns of the fellowship.

(In 2005) The board oversees the facilities and the operations thereof. Jim Bentley is the president of the board. Debbie Handy serves as the secretary and treasurer. The other board members are Michael Bynum, Kris Catoe, Todd Bagley, Brook Finlayson, Clay Rowe, Robby Elrod, and Walt Muller. Board meetings occur approximately four times a year. (The dates are posted on the calendar in the kitchen.)

(In 2015 - Jim is senior pastor. Michael pastors Vineyard ReCovery Church. Tommy Puckett and Todd Bagley are assistant pastors. The elders are Todd Bagley, Clay Rowe, Tommy Puckett, Robby Elrod, and Walt Muller. The Board of Directors are: Jim, Todd, Clay, Robby, Walt, Tommy, and Debbie.)

Through commitment to God’s call and the purposes ordained for our church, we encourage our fellowship to be good stewards with their lives, talents, and finances, freely giving away what has been freely given to us. We’ve had some incredible things happen over the last few months, which have driven home the fact that we cannot out give God. So, we are constantly striving to become an outwardly focused. We’re not there yet, but we are working on it and getting better at it.

Matthew 5:13 states that we are the salt of the earth, not the salt of the church. We’re not here to flavor the church but to flavor the world taking out into a broken, hurting world the good news that has a difference in our lives. We seek to do this through a life of loving people.

The gospel message is more than just a formula; the message is us and the changes God has made in our lives through Jesus. It’s not just about memorizing scripture and going to church. When we minister to that broken, hurting world, we need to let God speak to us about the people to whom we are ministering, let Him give us a word for them. We should never assume that everyone is in the same place. So, our fellowship is learning how to hear God more and better than ever before. We are learning how to be equipped so that we can serve others. Thus, the motto of our fellowship is, “Equipping to Serve”.

Our highest priority as a fellowship is the pursuit of God through a lifestyle of worship unto Him, both individually and corporately. Sunday should not be the only time we worship God and read our Bible; we should be worshipping and studying His word throughout the week. We are called to be students of the Word and not have just a head full of knowledge and factoids. We value studying the Word not knowledge’s sake but as a practical guide for our daily lives. The Bible tells us how to live life, and the Holy Spirit shows us when and where we’re supposed to do it.

These are a few of our priorities. No, we are not a well-oiled machine yet, and sometimes we feel like we are flying by the seat of our pants, which is very scary. But, we are seeking God and asking Him what to do next. Over the past 21 years He has never forsaken or forgotten us, and we believe that He will faithfully continue to remember us. He is always faithful to come and meet with hungry hearts who are desperate for Him. - June 2005