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Rick & Connie Binkley-2 · Brewing Better Marriages

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I've been for you.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm for you.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to Brewing Better Marriages from T South Dakota with Philip and Debbie Sanders.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_04: If these podcasts have been a help to you, pass it on to others and let us know with an email.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_04: Also include any questions you might have on the subjects that we cover.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_04: Again, today we're back I wanted to say back in the studio, but uh our studio is our living room.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_04: And so if you hear some extracurricular noise, somebody slamming a door in a basement or a dog barking or a truck going by, something like that, uh, you'll understand because our studio is our living room, first of all.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_04: Second of all, I want to put out great kudos and thank you to my brother-in-law, Cal Dennison, for he takes these to his uh recording studio and kind of tries to clean things up.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um Thank God.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_04: Well, you know, uh I usually clean the house here.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Excuse me.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, this Debbie, we're on the air.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_04: I just wanted you to know that.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: Anyway.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_04: Anyway, we're back here today with Rick and Connie Binkley, our second um uh uh phase of this interview with them.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_04: And last time we talked about where they were from, what their younger life they were involved in, and how that they became involved in the ministry.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_04: Brother Rick was talking about his parents getting saved, changing their entire home life, how that they were involved in the churches and work days, et cetera.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_04: Man, that's a great thing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um it's almost a lost, uh lost art in churches in the 21st century.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_04: People committing, they commit more to they know how to commit to jobs, they know how to commit to golf.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_04: Did I say that?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_04: They know how to commit to sports, they know how to commit to, you know, whatever their hobbies are.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_04: But when it comes down to committing to work days, fellowships, et cetera, we just kind of think that that's a, you know, that's really not needed.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_04: But thank you, Brother Rick, for for emphasizing that.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: And uh because that's a great need.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_04: And and that was even before you were in the ministry, wasn't it?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_04: Correct.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_04: So today uh we're gonna step from that point.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_04: We talked about how that they met, and you know, he had to tell what he knew and remembers the dress she had on.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_04: All I remember is the look in Debbie's eye as she went and got the mail at OBI.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, I'm rhyming now.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so go on, continue.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_04: So now we're gonna talk about um what God's what has God done in your life uh since you met?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, you guys met, you got what year did you get married in?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_04: We got married in 1987.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_04: And um that was a marriage by God, there's no doubt.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we're intimately involved with you guys, and that was uh a God ordained thing.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_04: Um you can start there, or if you want to say anything about your marriage and things, that's fine.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_04: But uh we want to go on with what God's done in your life since you guys have gotten married, and either one of you can jump in here and and give a start on it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we both ended up going to Free Gospel Bible Institute and graduating from there, and uh our relationship was deepened.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_05: Her mother was a praying mother, a godly mother, and I've always teased her about chasing me, running me down, and tripping me in.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_05: She caught me.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_04: And she always You know, that must have run in the family that was coming next.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_05: But after we graduated, was it two weeks, sweetheart?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: Three weeks later.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: We got to be able to do that.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_05: Three weeks later we got married.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_05: And that was in 1987, and so we've been married over 39 years.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_05: Praise God.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_05: Praise the Lord.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_05: And so uh after we got married, we went back to the home church where you were pastoring.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_05: We helped there for uh about a year and evangelized, and when we was home, we helped out there in the home church doing whatever and uh working with the young folks.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_05: Let me say a great asset.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_05: Well, thank you.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_05: It's our joy to sit under your ministry and learn.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_05: You've you've imparted so much into our our lives, and um we appreciate that so much, Brother Sanders.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_04: How about you, Connie?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_04: You got anything to say about those years?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it was culture shock.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: Needless to say.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_05: Different cornbread.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, different kind of wages of cooking, had to learn how to make deer.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_04: You know.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: You didn't make it, you cooked it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: I cooked it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you know, I'd always tell Debbie, Lynn, Debbie had never eaten fried okra.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Debbie had never had brown beans, uh, and she'd never had biscuits and gravy for breakfast.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_04: But then God saved her and brought her to, you know, she's her always statement about all that is.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: In the north you bake, boil, and broil, but in the south you fry, fry, fry.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_04: Hallelujah.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: And get fat, fat, fat.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Has an effect on us.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_04: So in that transition, Connie, learning a new culture, um, did you struggle with some of that?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I did, but the Lord helped me, and my sister helped me a lot being there.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: Our first year really helped.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_04: Praise God.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: What was what was what was the the the paramount thing that you struggled with?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I wanted to do something for God's really bad.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and you feel like you're so little and what you're doing isn't important.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: But you um just keep going, keep praying, doing what's uh, you know, is available to do.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: And it wasn't long till God called us to Hodginville, and I thought, man, this is quick.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess God heard my prayer.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: You know, Deb, uh, I think back now about you have quoted so many times by Elizabeth Elliott.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's exactly what I was thinking.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: I was bitten ready to raise my hand so many times.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: I have uh told women, I said, Elizabeth Elliott said, when you don't know what to do, just do the next thing.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: God will take care of you if you just do what you know to do.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: He'll meet you there.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I've had to apply that in my life so many times.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's proven true here too, you know.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_04: But you had a you had a great husband that would help you get through things.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_04: And I know Brother Rick was the same way.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, those southern fellas, yeah.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_04: They just really Yeah, we just put our arms around you and led you into okra and led you into biscuits and gravy and led you into fry uh deer meat.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: I taught my mother how to make biscuits after uh we were after I was married, and we were evangelizing, and a a woman taught me, uh Pastor's wife, and I went home and showed mom it was pretty pretty easy recipe, you know.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: And so we kind of laughed about that, but she was a northerner and they you just you had toast for breakfast, you know.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: She cooked a lot.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, they ate we ate at home mostly, but it was different cooking, and it wasn't all she wanted to do.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: That she didn't just you know cook all the time.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's true.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, y'all had toast for breakfast.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, help us Lord today.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_04: So um what you know, you talked about going to Hodgeville and taking the church there.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_04: Uh give us a little insight about the first uh years or the transition.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_04: Rick, you'd never pastor before.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_05: No, sir.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_05: I've um always just did whatever I could in the home church and try to make myself available.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_05: And of course, you and I have had many discussions and and talks through the years, and I remember sharing with you about my desire to just felt like there was more God wanted of my life, and um I wanted to seek God's will, and that's one reason I went to Bible school to find God's will for my life and make myself available if God could use me.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_05: And it was there, God certainly did some great work in my life, and then um after we graduated and got married and and we was at a camp meeting, we were standing with a group of preachers and one of them commented, brother Lloyd Shoecraft, commented about a church that was looking for a pastor, and immediately when he said that, God touched my heart.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_05: And from there my name got put in and I was contacted and we went and started preaching and for the over thirty-eight years now.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_05: Hey.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_05: Boy, it don't seem like it's that long.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_05: We're working just finished 38 full years, started into our 39th year a few weeks ago.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_04: Well, y while you were there, uh some things happened in your life, and of course, being related, um, they're kind of intimate um to you and to us, and others may go through some of these things.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't I don't want to pull things out that um uh maybe you've got prayed through or something.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_04: But um you've had some and and let me tell our listeners, this may even go a little longer uh today, or we may uh do a conjunction with the next podcast.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_04: But uh how many children do you have?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_04: We have three children, one daughter and twin boys.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_04: And uh your daughter is in the ministry.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, sir.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: And where's that at?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_04: They're pastoring in Florida.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, good.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_04: Uh they have children?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_04: They do.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_04: I have two precious grandchildren.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_04: How does it feel to be a grandma, Connie?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_03: Great.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_04: Does it make you feel like you're an old lady?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I'm gonna tell you that gray hair, and and I've heard you, you know, going up and down steps and things, moaning and groaning, and you know, uh I just want to tell you that you you're a granny.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: Well, who took a walk this morning at seven?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-oh.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_04: Well, it's back to the scriptures and but uh you have two sons and Cassia is pastoring, or her husband is, and she's helping him in Florida.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_04: What what town?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: Largo.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_04: Largo, Florida.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_04: And um then your sons, uh they're twins, right?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: Evan and Ethan were born born in 1992.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: And um it was a challenge.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: That was probably, you know, one of the most hardest challenge in my life, but I don't want to call them a trial.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: They were not a trial.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I now some of my kids, I think no, go ahead.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: You know, but they uh Evan had spina bifida, which we found out halfway through my pregnancy, and of course that affected Ethan, and um they were in the same sack, so it could have hindered hurt Ethan too, you know.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_03: But they came six weeks early, thank the Lord they were fine.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: And uh Evan did have to have surgery though, multiple surgeries, and and the Lord's brought us through it, drew us closer to each other, you know.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: We were determined this wasn't gonna separate us, but it was gonna help us to draw closer to the Lord and lean on him, and it continually just put it in his hands.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: He was he God gave us scriptures, preachers, and his spirit to help us.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: And um about about can do you know about how many surgeries that Evans had?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_04: Fifteen.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_04: Fifteen surgeries, and he's what?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_04: Thirty-three years old.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_04: Thirty-three years old.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_04: Once that's almost one every other year.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, when he was younger and he's growing it, things went wrong, you know.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: But God has brought him through it and uh kept his hand on both their lives, called him to preach and just totally uh he is she a what you call it, he is paraplegic.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, from his waist down basically in a wheelchair.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: And but he's doing well right now.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: I'll tell you what.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_04: I love being around that guy.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_04: He has such a good attitude on life.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_04: He's he's just uh always Rick, how did all this affect you?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_04: We've heard it from Connie, and maybe not in detail, but that's okay.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_04: But how'd this affect you?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_04: It's a very difficult time of our life.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_05: Um they didn't give us much chance that either one would survive.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_05: And of course, they asked us um about abortion when they wanted to abort the babies, and we told them definitely no.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_05: And uh God had a purpose, God had a plan.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_05: And I've sit back now and I look and just how God just miraculously has used their lives and given us opportunities to be a witness for him, and their lives have touched multiple people across our state, um around the world.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_05: Ethan has been on uh I don't know, multiple, multiple trips and preaching youth camps overseas.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_04: Um Ethan attended uh Ozark Bible Institute.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, sir, he did.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_04: Graduate was he the four-year student?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, sir.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: And then Evan went through uh Andersonville theological seminary online and he got his bachelor's.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's great.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_05: Praise the Lord.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_05: Both of them making outstanding preachers covering for us today at home.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_04: And um now most of that comes from an influence from their Uncle Philip, right?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: A little bit, maybe.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what kind of influence, but continue.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: When you hear Debbie clear her throat like that, she's feeling conviction.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_04: All right, back back to your children and uh Ethan and Evan.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_04: Man, I tell you guys, they're they're just an inspiration and have been.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: But uh what kind of just just kind of share with the audience the struggles that you went through when all of this came about in your life.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not asking you to to be, you know, uh I know there's some things that are just personal.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I remember the one of the first things that really helped me was when one of my cousins' wife sent me a letter and said, Connie, Evan has a perfect soul, you know, and he may not have a perfect body, but a perfect soul.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: And boy, I just took that and went with it to teach, to train, to do something for God.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, he may be disabled, but honey, we all have disabilities and challenges, and we just do what we can do with it until God heals us.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, both those boys play the piano.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Not only do they preach, they they have musical abilities, sing, uh um trumpet, Ethan, what drums, guitar, piano, yes.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: The Lord's blessed them abundantly and used them.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I homeschooled them and uh made sure they learned two instruments apiece.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_04: So did you have any frustrations?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: Many times I call my mom, you know, Lord, I just need to hear your voice, you know, give me a word of encouragement, you know, and she did, and cry in the closet, you know, go cry on Rick's shoulders.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_03: But again, not on place them in the hands of God.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know, Lord, they're in your hands.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_05: How about you, Rick?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I think Brother Sanders, um him going through so many surgeries and and literally would spend weeks at a time in a hospital um changed uh sometimes my ministry.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_05: Sure.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_05: We stayed in Ronald McDonald House there at the children's uh place hospital in Louisville, and I had the opportunity to minister day after day after day to families that would come to me and I would go over and pray with them and for their children.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_04: Those of you that haven't been around Rick much, um the greatest aspect of his ministry is hospital visitation.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_04: He's he just has a touch for that.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_04: And um even nursing home, touching older folks, it's been commented.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_04: Davey and I have talked about that, and how that this is now you say that uh about him being in the hospital so much, this probably helped form you being able to do that.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_05: And we also worked for a number of years as a chaplain in the hospital there locally.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_05: Um but the opportunities that God just gave us was just amazing.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_05: Um people getting saved, turning their hearts over to Christ and just you know, it's just so many hurting people.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_05: And when you hurt together and you're able to point them to Jesus and point them to the one that's able to bring healing physically and spiritually, uh it was a great, great opportunity.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_05: But that was some hard times because being away from my congregation, my church, folks, and then trying to take care of the church and trying to take care of uh Evan.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_05: Uh you know, it's uh but God used that for his glory and we're still reaping the benefits.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_04: Praise God.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_04: Praise God.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_04: We may we may pick up with this uh on the next podcast.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_04: We may even do four uh with the Binkleys.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_04: But uh uh having been intimately as a family involved in this, uh we can see the the positive impacts that God for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and do of his good pleasure, do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_04: Well, do you have anything to say right now, Deb?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, an old preacher used to always say life can make you bitter or it can make you better.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's up to you to make that choice.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we've obviously seen from these last two podcasts that it's made the Binkleys better.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_04: Amen.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_04: Praise the Lord.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, thanks again for joining us.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_04: We want to say thank you uh for doing that.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_04: We hope these are blessings to you.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_04: And uh until next time, uh contact us.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_04: Let us know that you're listening.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_04: Even just say, hey, I enjoyed the podcast.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_04: And the best way to contact us is probably through our email, which is sandersministries at gmail.com.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_04: That or visit our website and leave a comment.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_04: The website is sanders-ministries.org.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_04: Until next time, thank you very much for joining in.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_04: Pass these podcasts along to somebody else that you think they'll be a blessing to.