Today on Listen Up – Lessons from life in the Rodeo Ring! What’s kicking in the heart of a cowboy?
Today we take the program to the wide open range of Alberta, and to the
fascinating folks who raise the beef you enjoy. This week we take
a look at Cowboy Culture - its games, its chores, and its
approach to God.
It’s hard to figure out just how much this sport has branded
Calgary – but the fact that locals call this place “Cow
Town” should give you an idea. This is the Calgary
Stampede’s Rodeo Royale – preliminaries to the big event in
summer - and ¼ million dollars is up for whoever can make the
most of man over beast.
Pastor Phil Doan
Former All Around Champion Cowboy & Steer Wrestling Champion and
Pastor of “Cowboy Church” in the Ranchman’s bar!
Address: 9615 Macleod Trail South
Time of Service: 10am Non denominational Gospel Service
*Part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes – Cowboy Chapter
Jim Pippolo
Canadian Professional Rodeo Association www.rodeocanada.com Mark Roy and Denver Roy
Denver’s Dad is in the Alberta
Sports Hall of Fame - and Rodeo is how the family has made its living
– Marc Roy has held several Canadian Steer Wrestling Championship
titles, and been the first Canadian to win World Champion
Gary Rempel
Pick Up Man
Great Falls, Montana
Blaine Virostek
Blacksmith Committee
“The rodeo itself is a sport that has developed from the
pioneering or cowboy culture. As humans, we always like to compete
against one another in whatever fashion. It could be cars, it could be
running, it could be whatever the case may be. And we always want to
show our skill and our intellect and in this day and age, rodeo is a
sport and some entertainment, but there is also bragging rights and
there is also camaraderie amongst the people that do it. Not only the
people that are performing, but even the people that are putting it on,
volunteering. They have a lot of passion around the industry and the
animals themselves.”
Peter Menzies
Journalist, Work Research Foundation Senior Fellow www.wrf.ca
Peter Menzies has been an observer of Alberta for almost 30 years
–, like many here - he came west to find a new beginning and rose
to the top job in Calgary’s newspaper business
“Men respond to masculine imagery. Just look at the films
they watch ad the video games they play. A church that delivers the
message with a masculine accent is going to attract and retain more men.
Many of today's churches have a feminine feel to them. The decor, the
vocabulary and the music are all targeted at a 25-54 year old
woman.
There's heavy emphasis on relationships, family and children. Most men
will not give up their weekend for a female-oriented experience.”
“Howdy and welcome to COWBOY TRAIL CHURCH. We are an evangelical
Christian fellowship committed to reaching those who love the western
way of life for Jesus Christ. If you enjoy Gospel music in the cowboy
style, and enjoy worshipping in an atmosphere of informal fellowship
where boots and hats are welcomed, you will love the open-handed,
open-hearted style of COWBOY TRAIL CHURCH.”
We all long to ride through green pastures with cool water and majestic
mountain scenery but often find ourselves settling for dusty ditches or
arena walls. You’ve heard of a trail that leads to green pastures
with room for all and maybe you think you’re riding toward it
now. The valley you’re riding down is wide and gentle, and in the
distance you can imagine the ground is rising towards the peaks you
long to see. You’ve never actually seen the mountains, but
you’ve heard about them from others, and you know inside that
they’re real and you just want to be sure that you’re
riding the right trail.
If we step out of our imagination and into our lives we often find the
same scenario. Where we are is not where we’re sure we want to
be, and we’re not even sure of where we’re going.
It’s like we’re missing something.
We’re like a lot of folks trying to fill the hole; we buy every
new bit that comes through the tack store and try to get to all clinics
in hopes that someone somewhere can help fill the void.
Good news there is.
We were made to ride the mountain peaks and there is someone that rides along side with us.
His name is God, most folks have heard of him, and a lot of them at
some point have probably even asked for His help. He has made promises
like “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews
13:5) and “For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord,
plans of good and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
(Jeremiah 29:11)
So if all that’s true why are we still riding down the ditch?
The truth of it is that all of us have at some point ridden the wrong
pasture. It’s called sin, missing the mark (Romans 3: 23). It
means we’re not riding on the trail that leads to God. As a
result we’re riding down a trail with no way out and no chance to
turn around. There’s nothing we can do on our own. We can’t
be good enough or do enough to ever find our way out of where we are.
But we’re not whipped. Remember that God promised He’d
never leave us; He’s waiting at the gate with a new trail for us
to ride. He did this because He loved us so much that He sent his only
boy (that’s Jesus) that whoever chooses to ride with Him shall
not be stuck in the ditch, but will ride forever in the mountains.
(John 3:16 paraphrased)
How God did this was by sending Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus paid
our penalty so we are free to ride with Him. We can try on our own to
get out of the ditch, but it won’t work. Jesus said, “I am
the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.” (John 14: 6)
So what do we do?
Admit you’ve been riding in the wrong pasture and can’t get out on your own.
Accept that Jesus through his death on the cross (Luke chapter 23) and
his resurrection (Luke chapter 24) has paid for you the cost of your
sins and taken you out of the ditch and placed you riding with Him.
Ask Jesus to enter into your life and create in you a new life, His
life. (Just like your horse you have to choose to submit to allow
another to be in control and Jesus does this by entering into us and
working on our hearts, which will then lead our minds and our hands.
“Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come to him”. Rev.3:20 )
If this is what you want to do, all you need to do is pray (talk to
God). He’s listening. You can pray something like this:
“God, I’ve spent too long in the wrong pastures and I
can’t get out on my own. I want to ride with you. I can’t
pay the price, but I believe that Jesus has and I accept Your gift.
Forgive me my sins and begin in me my new ride. Father I want you to be
in control and I want to ride with you. Thank you for what you have
done and I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
If you have just prayed this prayer with a sincere heart, then God has
begun His work in you. You may be feeling a great relief, like your
saddle’s been lifted and you’re finally free. If
you’re not feeling like that don’t worry, feelings
aren’t what matters. What matters is what God says, and that you
accept it by faith - like Jesus said, “I am telling you the
truth, he who believes in me has eternal life” (John 6:47)
We at Cowboy Trail Church would invite you to contact one of our
Leadership Team Members so that we can welcome you into God’s
family and help you to grow in your new life with God. You would be
welcome to call Bryn, our Preacher at (403) 638-4254 or Mike McGough,
our Pastoral Care Pastor at (403) 932-1993.
Or, just send us an e-mail to say, “I just accepted Jesus”.
One of us will be in touch with you; to talk with you, and to give you
some materials and information to help you grow in this new life and
ride this new trail that God has now given you.
It might help to know that when you accept Jesus as your Savior, you
are “born again”. The Bible calls this a new birth. Just
like a new baby has to grow, you will need to grow in your new
spiritual life too. How do you do that?
Here are some things you can do:
Find a Bible and start to read something from it every day. God’s
word is like food for your spiritual life. Just like we need to feed
our livestock to keep them growing and healthy, we need to grow
spiritually, we need spiritual food on a regular basis too. If you
don’t have a Bible, we would be happy to send you one –
just ask for one when you call or e-mail us. And if you are new to the
Bible, we would suggest you start by reading a book called,
“John” in the New Testament section of the Bible.
Pray every day. Prayer is having a conversation with God. Talk to him
about the things that are going on in your life, ask for his help, ask
for forgiveness when you sin. Pray for others.
Tell others about Jesus.
Find other Christians to get together with. Find a church that preaches
God’s word, that worships God, and where you can fellowship with
other Christians. (If you’re in our area, we’d love to have
you come and join us at Cowboy Trail Church.)
Get Branded. A brand identifies livestock as belonging to their owner.
Baptism brands (identifies) believers as belonging to God. Baptism is a
new believer’s first act of obedience. Talk to a pastor about
following the Lord in believer’s baptism. (Acts 2:37-41)
Ride your new trail! (PS. There’s a secret to this. See, you
can’t stay on this trail by your own strength. You can’t
change yourself. But Jesus rose from the dead so that He could give us
His life. That’s how we ride this new trail – by asking Him
to ride with us. He becomes a part of us and guides us where He would
have us be.
Peter:
“Short answer, God, guts and girls. In terms of that. Longer answer, it
goes back to sort of Alberta values, integrity, the cowboy way, I guess
they call it. Honesty, integrity, hard work, steadiness, faithfulness,
fidelity, all those things. Old fashioned stuff, but those are still
the values that are taught in the cowboy culture.
Lorna:
“This whole passion for the Calgary Stampede – Rodeo Royal – It’s all
about branding the country, the province with western values. Can you
articulate what those are and why they matter so much?”
PM:
“Independence. Self reliance. The idea that you will take care of
yourself. Nobody else is responsible for looking after you than
yourself. But at the same time, this great sense of community. That
you, at some point, are always dependent on your neighbour. And he will
help you. So you’re self reliant, but you’ll also be self reliant as a
community, which probably gives Alberta – you know – that’s part of
Alberta’s contrarian nature. Right? Like why aren’t you guys like
everybody else? It’s because of this kind of stubborn sense of
independence. I will take care of myself, thank you very much, and we
will take care of each other as a community. There’s a little story I
could tell you about out in Hanna on the high prairie. Out in Brooks.
The farms ranches were so far apart that people could kind of see each
other but not quite. And so they used to have flagpoles that they would
put outside their ranch houses. And they’d put a flag up every day. And
it was a signal to the neighbours that everything was o.k. And if you
didn’t put the flag up, somebody would come and help, cause they knew
you were sick, or you’d fallen and broken your leg or something. And
you didn’t have to like your neighbour. Cause sometimes people don’t
like their neighbours. But your life was in her hands. And hers was in
yours. And you knew that. So you were self reliant but you also built
this sense of trust with each other. And that is an expression of, and
probably a catalyst to that sort of mix between rugged independence and
responsible community.
LD: “You mentioned God is one of those values. Even in all this growth, is God staying in the mix?”
PM:
uh, yeah, I don’t think you can throw God out if you try. God gets to
stay. Whether people recognize it in the mix as much as they used to or
could or should - you know, Calgary’s not, it’s a big city. But
outside of the Jubilee auditorium, not counting the Saddledome of
course, the two biggest auditoriums in the city are churches.”
CowboyChurch in Calgary Ranchman's
Restaurant
9615 MacLeod Trail South, Calgary Contacts: Phil
at 403 882 3239 John Fitz
Herbert 403 652 1377 Starts each
Sunday in the bar: 10 A.M.
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On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
