Words from the Pastor
Paul tells us in Romans 15:13 this: “May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Isn’t that beautiful? So, Paul here is wanting God to fill the recipients of this letter with joy and peace until it is coming out of every pore in their bodies!! “So that you may overflow…”
I think we have all seen pictures of the flooding in Nebraska this past week. There has been so much rain that the water has run over the river banks and now whole towns are being affected and everything is being touched by this natural disaster.
To me, this is a picture of what Jesus wants the Holy Spirit to do in our lives if we will let Him. Jesus said in John 7:37-39: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Christ’s desire for us is that we will be so full of the Spirit that no matter what happens around us, in us or to us, our God of hope will overflow with hope! What happens when we overflow? Whatever is coming out of us is touching and affecting those that are near us. Our families, our co-workers, our friends and anyone that we happen to come in contact with. The Holy Spirit touches them through us and they can observe that peace and hope that comes only through a relationship with Jesus. Because essentially, that is what we are here for isn’t it? We are here to bring glory and honor to Christ Jesus while we live our lives out on this earth. And as we bring honor and glory to Jesus, people see Him working in us and they want what we have, hope and peace. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:18-19 this: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” Allow Jesus to fill you to overflowing and touch a lost and dying world. We can make a difference in some. All they need to see is His light shining in their dark world.
Please let me know if you need anything. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve
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
Remember, tomorrow we have set-up for Ranch Family Fun Day at 8 am. We could definitely use your help! It only takes about an hour. See you there!
Words from the Pastor
March has started off to be a great month for Canelo Cowboy Church already and we are barely in our second week! Last Sunday we ordained two new deacons, Fred Keys and David Stiffey and an associate pastor, Cisco Baez. I wish all of you could have been here for the service. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and preaching of the word. It is just so good to see how God is moving in our church and in our community! So please keep the leadership in your prayers because the enemy would like nothing more than to tear down what God has been building here for the past 12 plus years.
I Peter 5:8 tells us this: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” In the 7th verse Peter tells us to, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” I know that I wrote those backwards, but I did that for a reason. When are you most vulnerable for an attack from Satan? I find that in my life it is when I don’t give everything to God. When I allow my anxieties and fears to float to the top and don’t allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life. Peter writes here to “Give all.” Some translations have replaced the word Give with the word Cast. In the Greek that pretty much what it is saying! Cast your cares or worries on Jesus! Or as Carrie Underwood sings it, “Jesus take the wheel!!” Don’t allow the cares and the worries of the world to pull you down and take the joy that Jesus so freely gives us in every situation! Be alert! Or stay awake! Do not even for a moment let down you guard and allow the enemy to infiltrate your thoughts! We have the power to resist Satan. Jesus has given us everything we need to have victory in this war, no matter what the battle looks like.
And now read verse 10: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” So after you have suffered a little while, God Himself will restore you, make you strong, make you firm and make you steadfast! God will do this for you because He loves you and wants the best for you.
Sometimes, what we think is in our best interest isn’t. You see, because God has a bird’s eye view of everything that is going on in our lives, He knows when we will need a little extra help. He can see the foolish moves we are going to make even before we make them. But still, He wants only what is good for us and His desire is that we will be strong, firm and steadfast. So, He had Peter write, “After you have suffered for a little while…” Trust Him to lead you. If we keep our minds and hearts on Him, the enemy doesn’t stand a chance when he is sneaking around ready to devour us. Trust Him! Proverbs 3:5 & 6.
Please let me know if you need anything. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve
Words from the Pastor
Well Happy March!! With all the moisture maybe it will warm up here and we will have a wonderful spring with green feed and fat cattle! Pretty soon we’ll be wishing for cooler weather and we’ll be missing the snow. I myself am glad that it doesn’t stay around very long. Someone once said that if you don’t like the weather her in Southern Arizona just wait for 10 minutes and it will change! How true that is. But isn’t it great to know that God will never ever change?
The Scripture tells us in Hebrews 13:8 that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Just to know that He is as sure as the sunrise and sunset and that we can depend on Him should give us the greatest joy ever. But it is so easy to get carried away with all the stuff of the world and get burdened down with things that don’t matter in the long run. Paul goes on to tell us in the 9th verse of Hebrews 13, “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.” So, if we read verse 8 and verse 9 together the writer is telling us that Jesus is the same day in and day out forever and that we need to pay attention to what we get carried away with.
What is a “strange teaching?” Well, according to verse 9 it’s not depending on grace alone for our salvation, it’s depending on “Fluff.” Such as, “You have to dress this way for God to love you. You have to wear your hair this way to be accepted into the Kingdom. You can’t eat that kind of food and be a Christian.” Some religions put a lot of rules and regulations on people to be Christians, but Jesus said that He is the way the truth and the life, not this extra “fluff.”
So, does that mean that we don’t try and change after we become Christians? No, not at all. That’s what the Christian walk is all about, changing from our old self and putting on our new self. Paul told king Agrippa this, “…I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20).” Did you read that? And demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. In other words, change your ways. Stop doing what you were doing and start serving God. Start doing what Jesus told you to do and that is to love your neighbor as yourself. Brothers and sisters, if we could do that then we could start to see a revival in this Nation like we have never seen! If we as Christians could just love as Jesus tells us to love we would see a whole new dimension to what the church could do in the world today! I would love to be a part of that, wouldn’t you? I know that God is working in all of your lives to bring about His will for you and those you can touch for Him. Let Him do that work and see what happens to the darkness around us!
Please let me know if you need anything. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve