Canelo Cowboy Church

Words from the Pastor
God’s Amazing Grace! I am not sure how many of you read the new verse this month at on the front page of this bulletin, but just in case you didn’t you can read it now! “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 4:6-9).” For it is by GRACE you have been saved brothers and sisters! Not anything that we have done but it is all about Him! Jesus is the one that has brought us salvation and raised us up with Christ and seated us in the Heavenly places! Now probably there are quite a few of you that are saying, “If I am in a Heavenly place right now it sure doesn’t feel like it! Pastor, living in these circumstances that I am under feels the opposite of Heavenly!” and maybe that our problem. Maybe we shouldn’t be living UNDER these circumstances, maybe we better pray until we are living above them in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus!
I learned an important lesson this week…again. I learned, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, that it’s not all about me! Now there’s a new revelation, right? A couple that Naomi and I have known for years needed comforting and I didn’t want to go because it brought back memories of what we had been through 18 months ago when we last our daughter. But the Holy Spirit brought this Scripture to mind: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ (2 Corinthians 13-5).” Do you see what that Scripture is saying to us? God comforted us when we were going through the most difficult time in our lives, now we need to comfort others who are enduring the same thing! This abundant life that Jesus is allowing us to live in Him isn’t to be hidden under our beds, it is to be used to share with others and give them hope! Our trials and our testings are there to make us strong in our faith and once we are strong in our faith, we need to share that faith and our hope that is built on Jesus with others.
And guess what, sometimes we don’t need to say anything. All we need to be is a sounding board for others. Sometimes all they need is a hug and someone to listen to. All we need to do is to be available to go.
There’s a song we used to sing when I was a little kid and it went like this, “Lord send me here am I send me. I want to be greatly used by Thee. Across the street or across the sea here am I oh Lord send me!” Across the street or across the sea…are you willing to go and to do what the Holy Spirit asks you to do? I pray that I am.
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
And just like that we are done with March and April is upon us! The older I get the faster that time goes slipping, slipping. slipping into the future. And I know that this next statement is EGO (Extraordinary Grasp of the Obvious!), but we are one day closer to eternity than we were yesterday. Isn’t that exciting? Are you ready? Have you put your things in order down here on this earth and are you ready to meet Jesus? I hope so because I really do want to hang out with each and every one of you in Heaven! Now the only affair that needs to be put in order is your relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not know beyond a shadow of a doubt if you’re going to Heaven or not you and I need to talk!
Talking about a relationship with the Lord, David sure had one, didn’t he? I was thinking about David’s Psalm 121. It is so beautiful. And I really like it in the KJV. It’s really lyrical in the KJV: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” Isn’t that amazing? David, a man’s man, a warrior, a giant slayer knew that he could not do anything if he didn’t rely on the Lord. And David also knew that the Lord would never leave him, never take a nap and would be his keeper always! And you and I can claim the same thing brothers and sisters! Jesus will never ever allow our foot to be moved!
You might say, “Well David sure messed up and David paid for it for a long time. Just read the story of Bathsheba and Uriah. God wasn’t watching out for David then!” but was that God’s fault? Did God make David look at Bathsheba and lust after her? Did God make David kill Uriah? Was that God’s fault at all? No, in no way was that God’s fault. David looked and lusted and acted on that lust. In the book of James he tells us this: “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:13-15).” So see, if you are tempted, just remember where your help comes from. It comes from Jesus. He is your author (He wrote your story), and He is the perfecter (He has already been there, done that and got the shirt. If we just look at Him and not on our circumstances, we will finish the race) of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). “Lord, help us to allow You to work in our lives and take control of everything that You set in our paths.” Amen.
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
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