Dear Cross of Glory Family and Friends,

 

I have once again some sad news to pass on.

 

Our brother in Christ, Al Binks, passed into greater life earlier today. At around 9:00 this morning, Jean found Al in the other room of their home, struggling to breathe. He had vomited… and was non-responsive. Jean immediately called the paramedics and a fire truck arrived shortly thereafter, whisking Al to the hospital. While on the way, Al’s heart stopped… and paramedics could not resuscitate him. Carin Davis, Al and Jean’s daughter, called me around 10:30 this morning to share with me the news.

 

I went to the Bink’s home right away. So many of the family members were already comforting Jean. The overall sentiment was one of sadness to be sure… but thanksgiving to God for Al’s life and impact. Now as I sit here at Cross of Glory, in our Fellowship Hall, at the very table Al had so many men’s breakfast times with the fellas of our congregation, Jim Mueller and Don Schwemmer, Mike McClune and Ken Keefer, I am both humbled and challenged to be a better Christian because of Al.

 

You know the story. Al and Jean Binks have been members of Cross of Glory for about as long as anyone in our church. Al’s background was Missouri Synod Lutheran, but when the Muellers invited the Binks to Cross of Glory in the mid-1960s, the Binks changed Lutheran affiliation. Al was born in Oak Park, Illinois right outside of Chicago. In 1965, the Chicago Bears drafted unparalleled running back Gale Sayers to the team. In the mid 1960s, Cross of Glory could not have drafted a better addition to our church than Albert Merle Binks.

 

Al, married to wife Jean for 58 years, was a quiet, gentle strength in the Bink’s family… and to our Cross of Glory one. The first Sunday I pastored Cross of Glory back in 2005, Al and Don Schwemmer, with friend Bryan Nordin, were fixing a broken sprinkler line on our grass out front. Over the years, I came to expect Al’s help whenever there was a property need at church. Always a strong man (maybe going back to his days tending bar… or given his proud military service in the Army) I marveled how in his eighties, Al could throw around heavy Fellowship tables for our annual Cross of Glory yard sales. Though it remains to be seen whether we physically will be in our church sanctuary for Christmas this year, we will always remember that Al Binks was forever our usher at our Cross of Glory Christmas Eve services. And who could forget, Al… ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS… attending church? He would often take a snooze on the comfortable couch in our Fellowship Hall AFTER worship (instead of during my sermons…  yikes) while Jean puttzed around in our church kitchen into early Sunday afternoons.

 

There’s a Scripture passage, “Faith comes by hearing… and hearing by the Word of the Lord. With as much unmatched faith as Al Binks had, we are tempted to believe Al did not have ANY hearing problems. I find it interesting that a year to the day that our sister in Christ Bea Varney passed, also with hearing issues, Al passes into greater life.

 

Please remember Jean in your prayers. Hold unbelievably talented and giving children Carin Davis and Steve Binks (keep policemen especially in your prayers these days) close to heart. Remember the grandkids and extended family members in upcoming times. As funeral plans materialize, I, we, will let you know about them.

 

But most of all, honor Al not with tears, but with a resolve, a resolve to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ. Honor Al by honoring all the more the Lord and Savior Al revered, loved and served. It is because of Jesus that AL Binks lives ESPECIALLY now. It is because of Jesus that we too can be encouraged.

 

Though it seems fitting to end this correspondence with a Louis L’Amour quote given Al’s love of Louis L’Amour novels and Westerns in general, something about riding off into sunsets, let’s just say that Jesus throws our sin as far away as East is from West. This time of passing into greater life is not so much about sunsets as it is about sunrises!

 

“On the first day of the week while it was still dark, the sun rising, the women went to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away. ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead?’ the angel asked. ‘He is not here! He is risen! He is risen indeed!'”

 

God’s Peace and Joy!

 

Pastor Mike Lemke