The Scrap Heap

You perhaps recall the story of the blacksmith who gave his heart to Jesus.
Though living a more Godly life, still he was not prospering materially. In fact, it seems that from the time of his conversion more trouble, affliction and loss were sustained than ever before. Everything seemed to be going wrong.

One day a friend who was not a Christian stopped by to talk to him awhile. Sympathizing with him in some of his trials, the friend said

"It seems strange to me that so much affliction should pass over you just at the time when you have become an earnest Christian. Of course, I don't want to weaken your faith in God or anything like that. But here you are, with God's help and guidance, and yet things seem to be getting steadily worse. I can't help wondering why that is."

The blacksmith did not answer immediately, and it was evident that he had thought the same question before. But finally, he said,

"You see here the raw iron which I have to make into horse's shoes. You know what I do with it? I take a piece and heat it in the fire until it is red, almost white with the heat. Then I hammer it unmercifully to shape it as I know it should be shaped. Then I plunge it into a pail of cold water to temper it. Then I heat it again and hammer it some more. And this I do until it is finished."

"But sometimes I find a piece of iron that won't stand up under this treatment. The heat and the hammering and the cold water are too much for it. I don't know why it fails in the process, but I know it will never make a good horse's shoe."

He pointed to a heap of scrap iron that was near the door of his shop.
"When I get a piece that cannot take the shape and temper, I throw it out on the scrap heap. It will never be good for anything."
He went on,
"I know that God has been holding me in the fires of affliction and I have felt His hammer upon me. But I don't mind, if only He can bring me to what I should be. And so, in all these hard things my prayer is simply this:  "Try me in any way you wish, Lord, only don't throw me on the scrap heap."

Is Your Hut Burning?
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the weather, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.   The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.   It is easy to get discouraged when things are going badly. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. 

Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground---it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

Follower of Christ
I had a dear friend, John, who was a member of my bible study some years ago and was just a joy to be around.  He was legally blind had diabetes and a number of other medical issues but always lifted up those that came in close contact with him.  Medically he was told he would never reach 30 years old.  When I first met him he was already in his 50’s.

For a number of reasons and also to be close to his family, he and his wife moved to Alaska.  I was asked to keep a number of his personal possessions for him that he could not move at the time.  He came back for a visit after a while to pick up his things at my house and we were able to reconnect and catch up. 

They had found a wonderful church in Alaska, on fire for GOD, and were reaching out to the community.  We both had been through “Forty Days Of Purpose” at First Baptist Church in  Canton Texas prior to their leaving and felt there was more to being a Christian than going to church on Sunday to sit and listen to a message.  Not that parting the word of GOD is not good, it is and we need more of it, more often.  There just had to be more.  He had found it in his new church in Alaska and I at Round’em Up Cowboy Church, Wills Point Texas.  A Holy Spirit led church that responds to the guidance of our Lord and Savior.

During our visit he told me he considered himself a “Recovering Baptist”.  We had both been raised in the Baptist Church and were long time Christians.  What he meant was that with all the tradition associated with the Baptist Church (as well as with all other religions) we seem to fall into a comfortable mode of not following Christ’s leadership in our lives. We are just there.   There is no action to what some if not most of us do. John and I decided we needed to call ourselves “Followers of Christ”. 

I was told once the word Christian, used in a sentence, is a noun (Person, Place, and Thing).  Being a “Follower of Christ” turns our relationship with Jesus Christ into a verb (Action).
So here are ten things that we need to know as followers of Christ.

Ten Things a Follower of Christ Should Remember

1. Faith is the ability to not panic.
2. If you worry, you didn’t pray.  If you prayed, don’t worry.
3. As a child of GOD, prayer is kinda like calling home, it should be done every day.
4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
5. When we get tangled up in our problems, Be Still, so GOD can untangle the knot.
6. Do the math.  Count your blessings.
7. GOD wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
8. Dear GOD: I have a problem, IT’S ME.
9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.
10.  Laugh every day – it’s like inner jogging.

God's Gifts

What has GOD given you? 
There are Spiritual gifts:
Romans 12:6-8

• Prophecy
• Ministry
• Teaching
• Exhortation
• Giving
• Leading
• Showing mercy (compassion)

1 Corinthians 12:1-14

• Wisdom
• Knowledge
• Discerning of spirits (human, angelic, demonic)
• Speaking in tongues
• Interpretation of tongues
• Prophecy
• Faith
• Working of miracles
• Healing

There are physical gifts:

• Car/truck we drive
• Trailer you pull
• Animals we care for
• Clothes we wear
• House we live in
• Our children
• This church
• The building we are sitting in
• The breath we breath
• Our work
• The money we have to spend, our resources

There are our personal gifts:

• An eye for decorating
• Running a Ranch Rodeo
• Radio Ministry
• Construction

These lists could be endless.

From a book on Cowboy Poetry given to me by some friends I want to read a story from Kim Stafford one of the contributors to the book.  She was talking about “Making Something Fine” and thinking about how things get done well as she traveled across the desert of Utah.
She said:

• The desert does silence very well.
• The moon does a nice soft light on sage very well.

She continued on and after a bit she thought, what do we do well as humans?  It’s the gifts we give that set us apart, and she shared this story.
I was up in Idaho one time and at the end of a program we had a fellow came up with a little package. He said, “When I was a kid, I lived up around Lapwai in that Lawyer Canyon.  I was always the one in the family who had to go sit with Grandma in the evenings, because she got lonely and she lived up in this little side canyon where she couldn’t get TV or even radio reception.  She got lonely in the evenings so I’d go sit with her. I got kind of mad about it at the time, because my brothers and sisters always got to watch TV and all, but she told me stories, and over the years I was glad it worked out that way.
“Then when I came to graduate from high school she gave me this beaded belt buckle, made by an old Nez Perce woman named Viola Morris up there.  Grandma said, ‘Now Dan, I’m going to give this buckle on one condition.  In your life when you meet someone who deserves this beautiful thing, you will give it away without hesitation.”
At that point Dan handed me this little bundle.  I opened it, and it was that buckle.  He said, “I’ve met the person who should have this now, and on the same condition.  When you meet someone who deserves this beautiful thing, you’ll give it away without hesitation.”
“Dan,” I said, “how am I going to recognize that person?”
“Well, he said, “I did.”
Dan had taught her how we get through this life; by sharing the unique and beautiful gifts and talents GOD has given us that are indeed priceless.  What we share can be from ourselves or from the resources he has seen fit to allow us to have for a season.  God expects us to be good stewards in every area of our life.  You are a unique priceless individual made in the image of God, made for God’s service.  Let GOD be your guide to know where your bountiful gifts need to go.

 

In Gods Love

ONE COLD EVENING during the Christmas season, a little boy was standing out in front of a store window. The little child had no shoes and his clothes were mere rags. A young woman passing by saw the little boy and could read the longing in his pale blue eyes. She took the child by the hand and led him into the store. There she bought him some new shoes and a complete suit of warm clothing.

They came back outside into the street and the woman said to the child, “Now you can go home and have a very happy holiday.”

  The little boy looked up at her and asked, “Are you God, ma’am?”
  She smiled down at him and replied, “No, son. I’m just one of His children.”
  The little boy then said, “I knew you had to be some relation.”

As we go throughout our busy days, we are continually met with opportunities to impact others with the words we speak.  Yes, our words influence family, friends, and fellow believers. But it is the man in front of us in line at the grocery store, the woman at the checkout counter, the waiter in the restaurant, the fellow passenger on the airplane, the neighbor across the street who might be your special assignment for the day. Those are the people God brings across our paths who may need a work of encouragement most of all.

Jesus was a very busy man. And yet He was never too busy to offer a kind word to the men and women who crossed His path on a daily basis. He stopped and spoke to the diminutive Zacchaeus perched in a tree to get a better look at the parade of followers. He took a break from His travels to engage in one of His longest recorded conversations with a weary woman at a well with a sullied reputation. He interrupted His schedule to comfort a mother in the funeral procession of her only son. He took time to deliver a demon-possessed man who stood in His way on the shore. He noticed a lame man among many who crowded around the pools of Bethesda waiting for the healing waters to stir. He encouraged the distraught Peter after his denial. He comforted His crying mother as she stood at the foot of the cross. He instructed the frustrated fisherman as He stood watching from the shore.

Jesus noticed…and then He offered words and deeds of comfort and concern.

It appears that each of these incidents in Jesus’ life was an interruption in His packed schedule, but they were not interruptions at all. Each encounter was a divine appointment from His heavenly Father, who controlled the moments of Jesus’ days. Could it be that God is sending us out on special assignment each time we cross the thresholds of our homes? I believe so.

Sharon Jaynes
'The Power of a Women's Words'

A member of the church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.  After two weeks, the preacher decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sittin before a blazing fire.
 
Guessing the reason for his preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.  The preacher made himself at home but said nothing.  In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.  After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still Silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation.  As the one lone ember's' flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.  Soon it was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting...  The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.  Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
 
As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, ' Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon.  I'll be back in church next Sunday.'
 
We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little.  Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.
 
  The Lord is my Shepherd       [ that's a Relationship!]
  I shall not want                          [ that's Supply!]
  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures   [ that's Rest! ]
  He leadeth me beside the still waters   [ that's Refreshment! ]
  He restoreth my soul                [  that's Healing! ]
  He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness   [ that's Guidance! ]
  For His name sake                   [ that's Purpose! ]
  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death                            [ that's testing! ]
  I will fear no evil                          [  that's Protection! ]
  For Thou art with me                 [ that's Faithfulness! ]
  Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me                [ that's Discipline! ]
  Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies        [ that's Hope! ]
  Thou annointest my head with oil                    [ that's Consecration! ]
  My cup runneth over                   [ that's Abundance! ]
  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my Life                        [ that's Blessing! ]
  And I will dwell in the house of the Lord            [ that's Security! ]
  Forever                                          [ that's Eternity! ]  

Luke 9:23
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  NIV

     How many of us would catch our horse and get him ready to go do some work and forget to saddle him up? How’s that going to work for you?  Probably not very well.  Say you do catch something, where ya gonna dally?  Why would you leave home without your saddle?  The day wouldn’t prove to be very productive.

     Everyday we awake we can either take the cross of Christ with us or we can choose not to. If we are to be effective witnesses and servants for Jesus we must always take Him with us. 

     This reminds me of a time when a friend of mine was telling me of a situation where he was telling someone about Jesus and how his life had changed.  The man claimed he still liked going to the bars and hanging out.  My friend said to him, will you be willing to take Jesus with you when you go in?  At that time he handed him a cross and told him everyday to put it in his pocket so he could always be reminded that he was to carry his cross wherever he went.

     That’s the point…  Will you take his cross anywhere you go?  Are you truly following him?  We can live daily, traveling blinded and lost, or we can decide to pass up a day to follow Christ. 

     I’m reminded of the commercial back some years ago, “American Express, don’t leave home without it.”

     Here’s a commercial idea,
“Jesus Christ, don’t leave home without Him.”

I often wonder, “Is my faith where it needs to be?” Yes, even I at times have a lack of faith.  Is this abnormal?  No.  These emotions are very normal and natural and everyone experiences these at different times in our lives.  Remember, the Devil is alive and well on planet earth and his primary objective is to steal, kill and destroy.  If he can convince us that whatever is bugging us is impossible, we have allowed him a foothold in our heart that lacks of faith.  Anytime there is an opening of a lack of anything in our lives, this leaves an area for the Devil to tempt. Remember, he lays in waiting to pounce at the right opportunity.  

     As we begin our new building, surely there are many questions many have.  Are we able to have this building?  Can we pay for this project?  Where will the money come from?  Will this cause a division within the Church?   Will the utilities and insurance increase?  The questions could go on and on?

     Therefore, God knew many of us would run into this problem and he is not abandoning us in our dire time of need.  The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2:13 LB “Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, He remains faithful to us and will help us, for He cannot disown us who are part of Himself, and He will always carry out His promises to us.”  The good news is, when we are weak; He is faithful and will help us through our lack of faith.   Why?  You are a part of Him and He loves you and has given you His promise.  With God a promise is serious and He sticks with it.

     God knew many of us would run into these problems and the Bible tells us a wonderful story in Mark 9.  A man came to Jesus with a very serious problem and Jesus said to him, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes,” and the man cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe…and then realized part of him didn’t believe, and he didn’t try to fool himself or to pretend to be “spiritual” in front of the crowd…he decided to be honest and cried out, “Help my unbelief!”  Once the man admitted his need, Jesus blessed his honesty and gave him the faith he asked for!

Even the apostles had issues with their faith and it was so serious that they asked Jesus in Luke 17:5 “The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith.”  Don’t let it be an embarrassment and deny the one that can help, but call to the one with promise, ask Jesus, “increase my faith.”

     As an old preacher told me one time, “Faith believes something is so before it is so, so that it can be so.”  Matthew 17:20 reminds us of having faith of a mustard seed.  True faith, even a very small quantity, leads to an action of incredible faith.  Continue to live a life based on faith and God’s Word so our faith may be so great that we shall not be so moved by any lack of faith. Great Is Thy Faithfulness. 

Top Hands for Christ
Benny

Not to long ago I was going to pick up my horse from a friend of mine where he had been in training.  As I went to get ole Dollar to load him in the trailer, he balked when I walked him up to it, so I just walked on in and he followed.  When I tied him in the trailer and was about to leave he went haywire and started backing up and making a total fool of himself and broke the rope halter I had on him.  He was easy to catch as always, but wouldn’t go near the trailer again.  I worked with him several times until I was about to run out of breath.  I was becoming restless and he was too when the trainer called on my cell phone.  He reminded me that Dollar does know how to load but that it has been about a month since he was able to work with him.  So work him through the basics and use patience and above all don’t get angry. He will load.  Well, that hit me like a ton of bricks. He told me to use patience. I preach patience but now I have to use it.  So, I took Dollar out and worked him in the round pen and up against the fence then to the trailer where we repeatedly worked on loading and unloading until he was comfortable by freely going into the trailer and standing.  Wow!  What a little patience will do!

     Psalms 27:14 from the Living Bible says, “Don’t be impatient.  Wait for the Lord, and He will come and save you!  Be brave, stouthearted and courageous.  Yes, wait and He will help you.”  I found myself being very impatient that day. I wanted Dollar to load and load right then.  I found myself getting angry.  I forgot that the horse had broken his halter and was freighted and confused.  As I remember the words of the trainer, “use patience and don’t get angry”,  I’m reminded of James 1:19 LB “Don’t ever forget that it is best to listen much, speak little, and not become angry.”  Galatians 6:9 LB, “And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.”  My anger and impatience was not going to accomplish anything constructive, in fact I probably would have been left horseless if not for the words of a man with patience and understanding.  I ran into a problem that day, in fact James 5: 3-4 speaks about that, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials for we know that they are good for us, they help us learn to be patient.  And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.”  God allowed this to happen. We pray for patience and then He sends it to us in such strange ways.   No matter how old we are or how much we think we know we never stop learning. That day God taught me a lesson I will never forget, “What a little patience will do.” 

     By the way, Dollar is loading and unloading fine and I am still learning patience everyday.

 

Pastor Benny

Cheer Up and Look up
Some years ago I made a mess of things and hurt a lot of people. Because of my guilt, I ended a happy, simple relationship with my heavenly Father.  I forgot that I could ask Him to fix what I had broken and seek His advice. Therefore I became very depressed.  Haven’t we all at sometime experienced some form of depression?  Yes, certainly we have. Everyone has felt down, depressed, and lonely.
There is great help in the Bible that we don’t want to overlook.  We have depended upon ourselves to try to solve with no avail.  So let us look at the one who made us and created us.  In Psalms 145:14, we are reminded, “The Lord lifts the fallen and those bent beneath their loads.”  Our loads are to heavy for us to bear alone. We need help from the one who knows us best and what our needs are.  Hebrews 12: 3-4 reminds us that someone else went through a lot more than what we could ever imagine. “If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about His patience as sinful men did such terrible things to Him.  After all, you have never yet struggled against sin and temptation until you sweat great drops of blood.”  The good news is He did that for you.  Let us look at Psalms 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.”  So when you are down, brokenhearted, and lonely tell the Lord and let Him be the mender. Psalm 62:8, “Pour out your longings before Him for He can help.” 
A lot of folks who live in a constant state of depression have come to a place where they think about no one except themselves.  Getting our mind off of ourselves and unselfishly doing something for someone else is a good cure. Keep the faith that we have in Christ Jesus and remember Rom 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”  There is nothing to great or to small for God. So place all your cares (anxiety) upon him.  God loves you and we at Round’Em Up Cowboy Church do too. So cheer up and look up.  Psalms 94:19, “Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer.” 

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Don’t Let a Knockdown be your Knockout

Many a cowboy or cowgirl wonders when they become a Christian why they seem to have no victory in their lives and they stay defeated.  It seems they are not aware that the “Living Word of God” is one of their main weapons to use against any assault from Satan.  We as Christians need to have certain scriptures set in our minds so that when troubles, trails, doubts, worries, fears, or troubled waters of any kind come, we can claim God’s Word.

     The Bible is God’s very breath upon you.  John tells us “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Jesus resisted Satan with the Word. The Bible tells us in James “Resist Satan and he will flee from you.”  How do we come back at Satan?  With the WORD!

     It has been through the Word that Christ has proven to be our help, strength, comforter, and encourager.  The Psalmist tells us, “This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy Word has given me life.”

     No one is immune to troubles, all of us have them.  There is no Lone Ranger Christians immune to anything.  Job said, “Man that is born of a woman is of a few days, and full of trouble.”  The Bible also says, “The good man does not escape all troubles.  But the Lord helps him in each and every one.”  How do you respond when those troubles come?

     Proverbs tells us, “You are a poor specimen if you can’t stand the pressure of adversity.”  It also says, “Don’t you know that the good man, though you trip him up seven times, will each time rise again?  Don’t let a knockdown be your knockout!

     God’s Word is wonderful!  The Psalmist tells us to “wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope”.

     Again he tells us, “Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains!  They will grow constantly in strength”.

     God has so may promises and words of encouragement for His children to claim.  For every problem you may face or every need you may have.  God has an answer, it is a special word for you.  Remember the words of Psalms 138:2-3 LB, “For your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.  When I pray, you answer me, and encourage me by giving me the strength I need”.  Titus 1:2 says “God cannot lie”.

     These scriptures are some that have strengthened me through the years.  It is my prayer that they will be a source of strength to you and your family.  I leave you with two more verses that also bring help and encouragement, Ps 118:14 “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation”. NIV—Ps 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”.  NIV