Fatherhood

I want to welcome you to our June Ranch Family Fun Day.  I know that today is Father’s Day and I do understand that you could be celebrating in some other way, but I’m stoked to have you here hanging out with us at Canelo Cowboy Church.

What do you think of the new building? Pretty cool don’t ya think? No pun intended!

Being a father is not easy!  I know; Naomi and I have nine wonderful children.  None of them came with any instructions!  We just did the best we could, and boy oh boy did I make mistakes.  However, God knows and He was able to fix my stupid.

You know, no matter what you think, you have a Heavenly Father that loves you and He wants to help you make it through whatever struggles you may be going through right now.  As an earthly dad, I want to help my children and make sure they all have what is good and have everything that they need.  It’s part of being a dad.  It’s in your heart to do good for them.  And if we as dads want that for our children, then I can guarantee that our Heavenly Father wants to do good for you and have a relationship with you even more!  He sent His Son to die on a cross for you so you could have a relationship with Him.  Because of His love, you can spend eternity with Him. He loves you more than a fat kid loves cake!

It’s my prayer that we, as a church, can minister to every one of you.  Someone brought to my attention this week the fact that the church is the people.  That’s you and me; not the building or the grounds, but us as folks.  It’s made up of folks like us that are just plain and simple.  The Bible calls us the Bride of Christ!  His church.  But you must be born again by the Blood of Jesus Christ before you can truly be the Bride!  So please, join us today.  If you’ve never made that commitment please do.  Don’t leave here without making that decision for eternity.

God Bless You!  We sure love all y’all!

Sunday School

It seems like it may be an afterthought but I assure you that it is not. Today a vision that I have had for a long time came to pass and that is a full blown Sunday School program at Canelo Cowboy Church. We have classes for every age group from one to one hundred. I want to thank Dianne, Jeannie, Sandy, Elaine, Julie, Alisa, Judy, Roland, Dennis and Juli for making this happen. We need to train our children in the ways of the Lord and a good solid Biblically based Sunday School program can help the family structure do just that. I’m thrilled to see this coming to pass at Canelo Cowboy Church! I am so blessed to Pastor here. I’m constantly amazed at what such a little church is getting done for God’s Kingdom!! I am one happy camper and to God be the glory!!

May Ranch Family Fun Day

I want to welcome you to the May Ranch Family Fun Day (RFFD). God has been so good this last month and has blessed us more than we deserve that’s for sure. Take a look at the new building and all that’s been accomplished! We’re hoping to occupy that building SOON! Please be in prayer about it that it can happen if God’s willing! We can always use a helping hand if you want to lend it, or money if you’d like to donate to the cause. When it comes to prayer, helping and money, I always figure the more the merrier.
Well the weather’s starting to warm up. In a couple of months the rains will be here and we will be able to start the cycle of life all over again, at least for the ranchers. Everyone should be getting all of their branding done and hopefully everyone has enough water to take them through the dry part of the year. It’s like this every year and the cowman should be used to it but I guess he’ll still worry about the weather and the market prices. That’s just the way it is I suppose!
But have you ever stopped and wondered to yourself, “Why do we worry?” I mean Jesus told us our Heavenly Father is going to take good care of us just like He does the sparrow! He says that all of the worrying in the world won’t add a fraction of an inch to your height or make you live longer! I received a text from a beautiful young mommy this last week and she quoted Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” See, Jesus said that if we trust Him, He will give us perfect peace! And we can have this peace as a church body! All of us working toward one thing. All of us pulling in the races toward a common goal.
This common goal is achievable folks. No matter what it looks like on the outside this common goal can be ours.
Are you wondering why Paul writes in this verse to be thankful? Because if we really truly believe that God is in control of our circumstances and that He’s working all things out for His glory and for our good then we can be thankful for everything that comes our way. We can learn, as Paul did, to be content in every situation (Philippians 4:12). Lord, hasten the day!
God Bless You! Let us know if we can do anything for you. Naomi and I sure love all y’all!

10th Resurrection Day Sunrise Service!

This is Canelo Cowboy Church’s 10th Resurrection Day Sunrise Service! We feel blessed that you have come to join us so early in the morning! 10 years! That’s a decade folks! I wonder how many of us were at the first service we held in Canelo? Y’all been putting up with me for a long time!
As you look around at the new property you can see that the building project at is moving forward! The new building is progressing and things are changing all around us materially. But greater than that I hope you see change on the inside of you and I. What I mean is, that we as followers of Jesus Christ should see Him at work in us every day and I hope that we are growing Spiritually. As that old black preacher once said, “If you is what you was, then you ain’t!!” What he was saying is that as a Christian we should be changing and daily growing in the Lord. Things that used to bother us no longer bother us. Temptations we once gave into we no longer give into them. We don’t need to kick our wives and yell at the dog. Why? Because our lives are being filled by the Holy Spirit and we are being renewed daily!
At Canelo Cowboy Church, we don’t “do” religion. We believe that having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. We also know there is an abundance of churches out there that you could have attended today, so we are glad you chose to attend here! God may have something special that He wants to speak to your heart about. My prayer is that you will allow Him to speak to you and you will listen to His prompting. If you need to talk to a person please find me or someone that knows what a personal relationship with God is and share with them. We’d love to hear from you!
We have great music, fellowship, and food! If you hang around with us for very long, you’ll learn that’s how we roll! Please let me know if you need anything. Naomi and I love you all!

Great is Thy faithfulness

I’ve been thinking about the old hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” The lyrics say, “Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou for ever will be! Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me!” You could google the song when you have a chance and read the rest of the lyrics. I think they will bless you and maybe you can relate to the writer and his relationship with his Father. This is what we are talking about when we say that we at Canelo Cowboy Church don’t have a religion, we have a relationship with Jesus.

You might be thinking, “What’s the difference between religion and a relationship?” If you look in the Gospel books in the Bible, you’ll read about how the Pharisees and the Sadducees took issue with Jesus. They weren’t impressed at all with how He raised the dead, healed the sick, made the lame walk, made the deaf hear, made the blind see and all the other wonderful things He did. They weren’t interested in why He did it, they were interested in if He messed with their religion when He did it. Did He heal on the Sabbath Day, did he do all the things He did in accordance with their interpretation of the law, their religion!

We don’t want to be religious here at Canelo Cowboy Church folks! We want to be free to allow the Spirit to work in our lives and allow God to use us as He sees fit. God doesn’t need to do things the way we think He should. We cannot put God in a box and tell Him He needs to do things the way we think He should. We want to be able to have that relationship with Him and to say “Great is thy faithfulness” no matter what He decides needs to happen in our lives! He desires a relationship with us and it’s really quite simple if we just trust in Him to lead us.

Pray for that kind of relationship, would you? I want to be like Jesus and only do what I see the Father do and only say what I hear the father say. Now that’s a relationship!

Please let me know if you need anything.  Pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all.