Words from the Pastor
I want to welcome you to the March Ranch Family Fun Day (RFFD). It’s so great to see you all here! And I hope that you have brought a friend with you. Everybody needs to know Jesus and what’s a better way to find Him than in a rodeo arena?
How many of you have been by Planet Fitness and seen their advertisement as a “Judgement Free Zone?” Isn’t that great? I haven’t ever been inside of Planet Fitness before but I hope that this is true! And I hope that this is the way that Canelo Cowboy Church operates also. I really do believe it is.
I always tell everyone that these RFFD’s are Judgement Free Zones because it doesn’t matter how good you are in your event, we’re just here to have fun! And everyone is here to help everyone else I believe. We’re all pulling ropes, sharing a better way to throw a loop, letting someone know how they may be able to shave a few seconds off their barrel or pole run…because that’s what we do.
But is this the case in everything we do? James tells us in his epistle that we can’t be a person that judges others by the way that they dress or how much money that they have, we have to look at each person through the eyes of Jesus. James 2:8-9 says this, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” Favoritism James says. Holding someone in higher esteem because they look the same way we do. Or they fit into our circle better. Or they aren’t homeless and on and on and on.
Remember John 8 where the religious leaders of the day brought a woman that had been caught in adultery to Jesus trying to trap Him by telling Jesus she needed to be killed? And Jesus simply bent down and wrote on the ground. Finally, He stood up and said in verse 7, “But let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone (John 8:7).” I certainly would not be able to cast a stone! I sin each and every day. And I think that each one of us do. So, who could do the stone throwing? The only one that could throw the stone was Jesus, and He had mercy on her!
On down in the 2nd chapter of James verse 13 he tells us, “There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.” That is pretty straight forward isn’t it? God will not show mercy if you haven’t shown mercy to others, and He will show mercy if we have sown mercy to others, very plain and simple. The dictionary defines mercy like this: “Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.” And if we know Jesus as our personal Savior, isn’t that what God has shown us? There is no reason that I could ever deserve God’s mercy. It is all about Him and His love for each one of us. It is about His Son dying for us on the cross so we could have eternal life with Him. So please, for Jesus’s sake, show mercy. You will be rewarded later!
God Bless You! Let us know if we can do anything for you. Naomi and I sure love all y’all! -Pastor Steve