Canelo Cowboy Church

Words from the Pastor
I want to welcome you to the May 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?
Fred Keys made a statement last week and I thought it was very profound. He said, “Death is a door, you decide what’s on the other side.” Isn’t that great? In other words, it is in your power to know where you will spend eternity. Because no matter what people say, you are going to live forever! You will live forever in either heaven or you will live forever in hell. It is your choice. We are all immortal and we are all going to live forever either in Heaven with our Savior Jesus or in hell with the enemy of our souls.
Paul writes in the 3rd chapter of Philippians about what he did to get ready for Heaven. In the first 3 verses he is talking about the religious Jews of the day that are working their way to Heaven by doing all sorts of stuff on the outside. Then in verses 4-6 Paul writes about how much confidence he could have in the flesh just because of his past. Then, in verses 7-14 he talks about what he actually does. Here’s what he said: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
See, everything that Paul did from the time that he met Jesus on the road to Damascus until the moment when he was writing this letter to the church at Philippi was for God’s glory! On that day when Paul met Jesus he saw that door and he decided that he was going to live forever in the presence of Jesus and that he was going to take as many people with him as possible! And that’s the same choice you and I have brothers and sisters! We can serve Jesus with all of our hearts and make Him Lord of our lives, we can barely squeak by with our “fire insurance” or we can go to hell. It’s our choice. I personally want to strive to serve Jesus with all of my heart and share the Gospel with as many people as I can so that they know the truth about my Savior Jesus and have the chance to make Heaven their home too! But no matter what we choose it is our choice. Jesus gives it to us but He also gives us our own free will to make that choice or not.
I pray that if you don’t know Jesus that you will find Him. And if you do know Him that you, like Paul, can serve Him with all of your heart and press on. If you don’t know Him and you want to, just take a moment and tell Him you want to know Him. Just tell Him that you know that you are a sinner and that you know that He died for your sins. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart and live. Easy as that. Then please, let someone know of your decision. We want to rejoice with you!
God Bless You! Let us know if we can do anything for you. Naomi and I sure love all y’all! -Pastor Steve

Today marks that special day when all across the United States of America (And the day has been adopted by many other countries) people are celebrating their mothers. The 2nd Sunday of the month of May is a special day that was set aside in 1914 as Mother’s Day. It is a day in which mothers are celebrated for being just that, mothers, moms, mommies or whatever you call her. Each one of us feel that their mother is the very best and that no matter how old we get we can always count on our mother’s love. Some of us have lost our mothers but we can still remember the love that she showed us even when we weren’t deserving of it. I sure remember my mom showing me that type of love. Even when I was so underserving, she still loved me unconditionally. Kind of like God does to us every day. He shows us that unconditional love and forgives us our wrongs, just like momma.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is discipline, both with our moms and with our Heavenly Father. I mean by the time we reach the age when we should know better, and can legally be on our own, our moms quit whipping on us, but how many of you still get the look from your mom and know that it is time to straighten up? I know that Naomi can still give the look and the kids understand just exactly what she is saying with her eyes! And you know what? God has eyes also. He sees what we are doing and even more than mom, God knows our thoughts and our intentions. He knows when we lie, cheat or even think things that we shouldn’t. So, as we grow in Christ we should be more sensitive to His Spirit nudging us towards doing what is right because Gods “look” can be even more severe then moms!
Colossians 3:1-3 says, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” In other words, you aren’t the same as you were in the past. If you know Christ as your Savior you need to be seeking things in Gods Kingdom, not things on this earth. I am not saying that we need to quit our jobs and sit around and pray all the time! No, we need to go to work and share His love with our co-workers. We need to get involved in our community and show the love of Jesus there. We need to show His love in our homes, to our spouses and our children and our children’s children. We need to show our love in the same way our mothers show their love to us. Like Jesus does. Not based on what we do, but because we are the Kings kids!
Happy Mother’s Day!
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