Rodeo Mom’s

 

It kinda began with her,

Thinking it’d be cute,

To see her little boy,

On an mutton in the chute.

 

Then she raised a monster,

With Rodeo on his mind.

From calves to steers and bulls

He learned to rope and ride.

 

Now she hauls a 3-horse slant.

It’s her Hilton up on wheels.

She’s given up fancy dinners,

Wears her boots instead of heels.

 

She can rosin up a rope,

And video every run.

Balance entries and events

Feeds and waters with the sun.

 

Her weekends fill with extra chores

And her vacations, entry fees.

A relaxing night at home

Is PBR on TV.

 

She helps him enter every weekend

Is there to watch him every time

She’ll hold her breath every run

and prays during every ride.

 

But she’s part the reason for success

In his life and rodeo

She doesn’t always get a buckle

But you should still all know:

 

When there’s a task to get done

She always heeds the call.

So here’s to all the Rodeo Mom’s

They’re a cut above them all.

Moses’ mom saved him from the hand of Pharoah (Ex 2), sure it was by sending him down the river in a basket…but still. Timothy’s mother and grandmother were commended for their faith (2 Tim. 1). Mary doesn’t get a ton of press in the Gospels, but in Luke she is shown as treasuring all the things in heart that Jesus would do (Luke 2.51). Rodeo Mom’s are cut from the same cloth.  Mother’s poses a strength and courage that goes often unseen and uncelebrated. This weekend I saw Mom’s opening gates, stock contracting, loading and moving cattle, saddling horses, and still doing all the things that most Mom’s do on a daily basis, like feeding kids, enforcing nap times, and supporting their kids at something they love. It was then that I understood that Rodeo cant go on without Mom’s. They are some of the toughest people in rodeo. They witness their kids compete, coach them in their events, watch them fall down or buck off, see them struggle yet are fiercely loyal and supportive. Thanks to all the Mom’s of rodeo guys and girls who put you through torment and frustration and put extra responsibilities to an already overloaded plate.  Thanks for driving all over the state, sacrificing normalcy 40 weekends of the year, and supporting your cowboys and cowgirls with all you can muster.  Know that we love and appreciate you!

Happy Mothers Day!

Traveling Partners

A few years ago, I traveled with a guy to rodeos that would fall asleep with his mouth wide open. He snored so loud that everyone else in the car couldn’t sleep, and the driver just wanted to bang his head against the wheel of the truck hard enough to inhibit his hearing. Like clock work, the moment his head fell back in the back seat, he would be zonked out. Since the rest of us weren’t going to get an ounce of sleep on the trip anyhow, we decided to make a game of it. The moment he would fall asleep, we would began throwing spitballs at his open mouth, seeing who could hit the target first. When the first one would go in, we just wouldn’t stop. After an hour of killing time by shooting baskets, his mouth would be full of paper wads and our life would be full of joy. Whether its leaving someone in the bathroom of a truck stop, taking pictures of them drooling, or taping them to the seat, traveling partners are part of what makes rodeo fun.

For some guys, their traveling partners know them better than their wives do. Every month in ProRodeo Sports News, there is a page asking questions to a contestant, his traveling partner, and his wife, to see who knows them better. The results are sometimes shocking.

Traveling partners make the late night drives, the taxing travel, the monotony and the celebration that much more fun. If you had to rodeo alone, so much would be missed.

The same can be said for our faith journey. Too many times we try to go it alone in our walks with God. I don’t know where we got this from but it certainly doesn’t appear to be from scripture. Elijah’s ministry wasn’t running full bore until Elijah came along. Paul had Barnabas and then Silas for his travels. Moses had Aaron (Ex. 4.14ff.), and just like Paul, we get to ride in the backseat during their journeys.

Aaron would accompany Moses at some of the most important times in the history of Israel. He was there when they performed the miracles of the plagues before Pharaoh to leverage their release (Ex. 11.10). When God explained the Passover, Moses and Aaron were there (Ex. 12.1). Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron to tell them to get their people and leave Egypt (Ex. 12.31). The Israelites took their complaints to both of them, when they wished they had died in Egypt than go on this little getaway (Ex. 16.2). It was Aaron who held up Moses hands to bring victory as they fought the Amalekites (Ex. 17.12). Like the unnamed individual, who after a bullfight, helped me set all the watches at the Kearney, Nebraska Walmart to go off at three in the morning…we were real rebels! We also got a 12 pack of Mountain Dew and 2 boxes of Gushers.

But just like every traveling partner, sometimes he causes Moses some headaches. It was Aaron who led the uprising and the creation of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32). Aaron’s family, who were vital to Israel’s worship, was completely out of control (Lev. 10). It was Aaron who teamed up with Miriam to oppose Moses when they got jealous of God speaking through him (Num 12). Like the IHOP fight that my partner started, or the time I ended up in an arm wrestling match with our waitress. Some of your best friends get you in the most trouble.

A few weeks back I tried to burn a couple brush piles. My help ended up having to take care of their own chores so I was left with the decision of burning on my own or scrapping the whole deal. Calm spring days in Kansas are rare, so I decided to take advantage of the still air and burn. The moment I lit the pile, the wind shifted. I saw the smoke swirl, the flames grow, and felt the heat increase. I immediately called a buddy of mine at the fire department and said: “Its not out of control yet…but it will be soon! Come quick!” They got there in 10 minutes had it contained in two and were gone soon after. In those ten minutes, I fought the grass fire by myself, burned my leg, and got very frustrated. When the Fire Department showed up, I felt God saying: “This is why you don’t start fires alone…this is why you don’t fight fires alone.” He was pointing out my ministry and discipleship style of being a lone ranger, doing it on my own.

How many people walk into churches isolated every Sunday? How many people are serving alone? How many are trying to follow Jesus but neglecting relationships? How many are doing ministry with out partnering with others?

God gave us community, partnerships, traveling partners, to make the journey more fun, to bear each other’s burdens, and to challenge each other, and keep us going. When we work in isolation, walk in isolation, and worship in isolation, we miss out on all these gifts of relationship that God has in store for us.

Who’s your traveling partner? Who’s doing ministry alongside you?

The Animated God Finale

 

Growing up, I always wondered what it was like to climb down on a bull.  To feel the potential energy contained in their muscles, to feel adrenaline pulsing as you lower yourself down on him in the chute.  Baxter Black told his son: “The difference between a mechanical bull and a real one is the feeling you get when you look down!”  The curiosity is something I dwelt on, but now that I have firsthand knowledge, my prediction, my thought of what it was like, was way off.  When something is that close, when you can see it, touch it, feel it, and all an arms length away, what you thought was close to reality, turns out to be a faint whisper.  Yahweh’s attributes were real
in the OT, but were high def. on the cross!

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Colossians 1.19-20

The attributes of God were on display throughout the life of Christ, but never more clear than in his death and resurrection.

It was on Calvary, the Son of God hand’s were fixed to the cross, his power seemingly absent. During his ministry people exclaimed, “He does all things well” (Mark 7.37), now while on the cross he was mocked, “Be saved others, but he can’t save himself.” (Mark 15.31) Three days later, it was the power of God that left the tomb empty.

It was on Calvary, where Jesus face was looking down from the cross, displayed the blessing of God. During his ministry, Jesus face was before the outcasts and the downtrodden. Speaking in parables about the blessed Kingdom of God, preaching sermons that began with words like “blessed are you” and “the kingdom of God is like…” Now upon the cross, beaten and bloodied, what had been a blessing to this world, hung there as cursed (Deut. 22). Three days later, his face would appear before his disciples again. Some would recognize him and others wouldn’t, but it was no doubt that blessing took on a whole new meaning.

It was on Calvary, where the long nose of God, his patience with humanity was shown. Patience is that line between love and anger. Nowhere was God’s love and anger put on display more vividly in the work of his Son on the cross. God’s justice and his wrath mandated that sin be punished, therefore a sacrifice was needed. God’s love offered forgiveness and relationship, therefore a sacrifice was provided. In the cross we see his patience on display, understanding that the “fullness of time had come”, sin was to be taken away.  Jesus offered both the sacrifice as needed and the sacrifice provided.  Our sin was placed on him, as he took our place as needed. God’s love and our sin put him there.  God had been patient with man, but his anger toward sin couldn’t wait any longer.  Thank God for the sacrifice provided.

It was on Calvary, where the eyes of Jesus fell upon those gathered at the foot of the cross. Just as Yahweh’s eyes searched for those committed to him, Jesus eyes wandered from his elevated perch.  During his ministry, Jesus looked into many people’s eyes, studying their attitudes and actions. The beaten and shamed eyes of the Samaritan Woman, the curious yet confident eyes of Nicodemus, the blind eyes in John 9, the proud eyes of the Pharisees. From the cross, he looked out and saw the condemning eyes of the Jewish Rulers, the dutiful eyes of the Romans, the tear-filled eyes of the women. Some renaissance painters used the cross in their paintings as a division line, placing believers on one side and unbelievers on the others. They used the cross in art in the same way that it works in eternity. But on that day, Jesus eyes from the cross scanned the crowd, the criminals, the soldiers, and knew what was in their hearts. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing!”

It was on Calvary, the ears of the Son of God heard both taunts and desperation in the same way the ears of Yahweh heard the cries of his people. During his ministry cries of desperation rang out from the crowds: “Son of David Have mercy on Me!” Upon the cross, the shouts rang out in his direction: “Come down from the cross and save yourself!” and “He saved others but he couldn’t save himself!” But amidst the taunts, he heard the cry of distress: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” A call came from a fellow condemned. The cross is where the desperate come to call out.

It was on Calvary, where the nails rested between his radius and ulna. The arms of Jesus, stretched out and fixed to the patibulum, saving men like the arm of the Lord had in the Old Testament. During his ministry, he reached out to people, offering salvation from blindness, muteness, deafness, and paralysis. On the cross, he saved us not from the physical that brings death once, but from the spiritual deficiency known as sin, that causes eternal death. With his arms stretched wide, Jesus displayed God’s arms of salvation.

On Calvary, God’s attributes were manifested in the death of Jesus Christ. His eyes, ears, hands, arms, face, and nose were all on display as Jesus bore the nails, the sins, and the cross and gave up his life.

It was the Invisible God made flesh, animated before His people.

 

 

 

Midnight: Champion Bucking Horse

The Books We Read

Midnight: Chamption Bucking Horse by Sam Savitt

I am of the opinion that very rarely is anyone remembered in a vacuum.  In the rodeo world, Tuff Hedeman and Lane Frost will be forever linked.  Tuff and Bodacious, Ty Murray and Hard Copy, Michael Jordan/Scotty Pippen, Bird/Magic, Jobs/Wosniak…you can probably think of many others.  Very rarely is anyone remembered solely, but our interconnectedness is what makes legends and history.  Sam Savitt wrote his book Midnight: Champion Bucking Horse, a fictional account based on history, about the collision course between two great figures whose connection would make them legendary.  Before Tuff/Bodacious, Lane/Red Rock, Shivers/Yellow Jacket, Freckles/Tornado, before bullriding ruled the sport, legendary saddle bronc horses met up with legendary hands.  Midnight met Pete Knight 4 times in their career, with the unridden-in-his-career Midnight coming out on top every time.  This book sets the course for their meeting in Cheyenne in 1930.

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Rodeo Photos

Lucas and I were walking through R Bar B last year checking out the inventory.  Near the entrance Russ, the owner, has nailed up some old rodeo photos.  I could stare at old rodeo photo’s for days on end.  Everyone of them is a little bit different.  Is the stock raring up or kicking out? the steer low or high headed? the loop going to catch or slide off? the rider in position? are the bullfighters in position?  what is going through each persons mind? what are the connections between the people in the photo? Amidst photos of rides and runs and rodeos, there was one that stood out.  The photo that we both studied for sometime was of 8 cowboys standing in front of a chute.  From the looks of their attire, it was the late 70’s or early 80’s.  Seven men stood in their pearl snaps and wranglers, but one stood out.  It was Lucas’ uncle Doug who fought bulls during that period.  He was decked out in baggies and face paint.  Traveling partners and friends, who rodeoed together and supported one another on their quest and played major roles in each other stories.

A few years back, Baxter Black wrote a commentary on a photo taken by Jim Fain of bullfighter Wacey Munsell making a save.  To this day, it may be my favorite article that I have ever read.  He captures the stocism of Munsell, the chaos of the event, and the action of the picture with his words.  If you get a chance, take a moment to read it (here).  I love each and every picture because of their minute differences and the stories each one tells.

A picture might show a guy before the biggest ride of his life.  At the NFR, with thousands of dollars down on the ride, 100’s of thousands of miles driving all year to get to this point…the picture is taken.

The image might be of another time when rodeo wasn’t as organized or professional as it is today.  Riders getting on animals to win $2 or a suit.  In the middle of a pasture with only bragging rights on the line.  Check out all the guys in the backgroudn watching him make a ride,  A simpler time where it all began.

It could be of a bullfighter risking his body to make the save…

a wreck in process…

or a winning loop…

but every picture is different and tells a different story of how the subjects came to be captured.  Each and every image tells a story, a journey that every cowboy takes in rodeo.  The picture is but a slice of an entire string of events that brought them to that point and will be shoved backward as new images come to the front.  Each picture is part of the tale.

I am fascinated by the stories rodeo photo’s tell.  Almost as much as the story that is being played out all over the world by God.  In the same way that I am blessed to be part of some fun rodeo pictures, I am greatly honored to be part of the pictures of God’s work in this world.  Each image tells a story of what God is doing or has done.  Sometimes we are a central figure in the picture, sometimes a blurry face in the background, but our placement in the frame makes the work no less real.

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?  What, after all, is Apollos?  What is Paul?   Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task.  I planted the see, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field, God’s building.  (2 Cor. 3.3-9)

Paul is writing to the Corinthians a letter about unity.  One of his main ways of fostering unity is to remind them of the journey that they are on together.  Part of what gives rodeo photo’s their uniqueness is not only the action, but the people in the picture.  The background, the foreground, the blurry and the focused.  Together, rodeo cowboys are journeying together, buddying-up, traveling the country, chasing those white lines.  Paul reminds the Corinthians of the awesome journeys happening in their church, the awesome pictures being captured, if their unity can remain in tact.  He is certain that we all have role.

Who are you partnering with today, to capture the images focused on the work of God?  Are you seeing his action and involvement  clearly?  Do you recognize his handiwork?  Is there  a bond that needs to be forged in unity, to celebrate God’s activity?  We are all part of God’s plan of redeeming the World, let’s journey together…

My distress fell upon the Ears of the Lord

“Moment of Impact”
Cushenberry Memorial Bullfight 2010

His horn ripped through my shorts and slammed into my hip.  That is when I came back to reality.  The bullfight had started out bad and now gotten to the point where it was both embarrassing and painful.  He scooted me through the dirt with his forehead firmly planted into my waist.  The only thing I knew to do was yell. Just prior to this my head had met the base of his horn and the blow had dazed me, but wasn’t enough to knock me out.  I was just delusional enough to try one more pass at him.  He didn’t bite on the fake, and his head hit my hip and pinned me to the ground.  I didn’t have all my faculties, but was able to yell the words: “Get me out, Get me out!” I wasn’t but 20 yards from the fence and I knew help was there.  It wasn’t my proudest moment, but as my drawers filled with dirt from being pushed by his head, I thought it might be my only chance for salvation. My call didn’t fall on deaf ears, as a couple of the guys jumped in and pulled the bull off of me. In the same way that my buddies were waiting with attentive ears for my (inevitable) call of trouble, the Lord’s ears are attentive to those in distress.

The ears [hb. ‘ozen] of the Lord have heard from people in the darkest of places and in the worst of times. Israel during their wandering in the desert wailed [hb. baka] to Yahweh because the wanted bread to eat.  They even wondered why they had left Egypt (Num. 11.18).   The Lord heard with his ears all of this wailing. As Sennacharib, King of Assyria, surrounded Jerusalem, “caging” the people in their city like birds (Sennacherib’s Prism) and threatening them with his words and armies, Hezekiah begins a simple, desperate, and powerful prayer like this: “O Lord…give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God…” (2 Kings 19.15-19; Isa. 37.17)  The most powerful army in the world has camped probably about 200,000 strong, just outside the walls of the city with conquest and capture on their mind, a despairing situation to say the least, for Hezekiah and his people. Israel’s struggles, as told and personified by Jeremiah in an acrostic poem, depict a nation at the end of its rope.  Hunted like birds (Lam 3.52), weighed down with chains (3.7), and mangled by beasts (3.10-11), Israel is having a rough go of it and soon their land will be destroyed by the Babylonians, and their people deported and conquered.  Jeremiah writes of their struggles: “I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit.  You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” In the deepest pits, the most dire straits, the darkest hours, Yahweh’s ears are listening for the cries of his people.

David was one who truly understood what it meant to be heard by the ears of the Lord.  When he called out, he was heard.  Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel 22, is David’s praise song about the goodness and faithfulness of God. It starts out “I love you O Lord…” (Ps. 18.1)  With the entangling cords of death (4) and confrontations of death (5), David was under duress many times in his life.  From his state of distress, he calls out to the Lord.  The word for distress, sar, is the same word used in Numbers 22.26, where the Angel of the Lord stood in the narrow path, blocking the way of Balaam and his donkey. It brings up the image of having nowhere to turn, of being squeezed and constricted.  Have you ever been squeezed, crushed, or confined? Bills stack up on your table that financially you can’t swing? Ever been hurt or betrayed by family members or friends?  Fired from a job? Failed a test? Lost someone close?  Ever worry about your kid? Cancer found in someone close? Ever been in a place where it felt like life was dealing a crushing blow or you were being squeezed like a toothpaste tube?  David knew this feeling all too well.  Whether on the run from King Saul, his son Absalom, hiding in caves, living amongst his sworn enemies, on the run, in battle, or leading a people, David knew distress (both from his own doing and from others).  This is a song about the deliverance of the Lord.  David writes:

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into his ears.”  Psalm 18.6

David cried out for help [hb. sawa] during this distress and His cry fell upon the listening ears of the Lord. It wasn’t a foreign thought for David to be heard by the Lord.  Psalm 5, 17, 28, 34, 71, and 116 reference the Lord hearing David. Every time the Lord’s ears hear words of desperation from David in the midst of a struggle. With words of rescue, mercy, and deliver, David implores the ears of Yahweh for intervention.  The ears of the Lord are listening for the cries of His people.

When have you cried out to Him?   Maybe it has been recently.  Cancer, bankruptcy, death, foreclosure, job loss, betrayal, abandonment, divorce….in the midst of our distress we have a God who hears us and our cries. When times of struggle arise, there is one who hears our calls.  The one who saved David from attacks, Hezekiah from Sennacherib, and the Israelites from starvation, is the same Lord who listens to our calls of distress.  Let us call out to His ever-listening ears.

Failure is part of the Journey

Terry Holland aboard Mr. T.

At Kemper arena in Kansas City, Terry Holland had his first real shot at the big time.  He had drawn the bull Y-93, a great big red bull with large upturned horns.  His usual trip was a few jumps out and around the right.  The bull had a tendency to pull riders down into the well, inside the spin, which would usually bring the rider into contact with the horns of the bull.  This was Terry’s first real big PRCA rodeo and he was looking to win it, but doing so would require him to master Y-93.

A few jumps into the ride, Terry found himself down in the well.  His temple made contact with one of the bulls massive horns and he was knocked unconscious.  He remembered someone telling him that bulls wont hit a stationary target, that like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, they wont see something that is stationary.  To this advice, Holland says:

It’s amazing how perfectly still you can lie when you’re knocked unconscious.  I wasn’t twitching a muscle, yet Y-93 spun around, spotted me, and gathered me up with those big horns of his before the bullfighters could get there.   He threw me across Kemper arena. (Terry Holland, What a Ride, 47)

His first big rodeo and this is the experience he had.  Later on in his career he would compound fracture his leg, begin the year 2nd and finish just outside of the top 15 (those who would make the finals), break his collar bone, fracture ribs, and be let down many times in the sport of rodeo.  But in all these things he said this:

I came to realize there’s a Y-93 in everybody’s life.  Sometimes a person draws that bull again and again.  He dislocates a collarbone, hits you smack-dab in the middle of the nose, breaks your leg, or takes the little bit of money you have and leaves you empty, devastated, and alone in a San Francisco hotel room.  After frustration knocked me to my knees, reality seeped in.  Yes, it is happening.  And through the muddiness of loss, truth pierced my heart.  I love my work and it doesn’t love me back.  I need something that loves me whether I’m winning or losing.  It dawned on me. I’ve got it.  And I’ve had it all along…Starting that day, I took him with me for the rest of y bull riding career and I continue to take him with me each day.  Things became different from then on.  More importantly, I was different.  Even when I failed. (74)

I can’t help but wonder how many men in scripture viewed themselves as failures.  Certainly Jeremiah, Elijah, David, Moses, and Peter come to mind.  There are probably many more.  Failure seemed to be a big part of these men’s lives.  Failure not necessarily in their walk with God, although sometimes (think Bathsheba with David, and the campfire with Peter), but failure in the tasks given them on this earth.  Jeremiah wasn’t that great of a preacher by worldly standards, no one listened.  Elijah spent a lot of time hiding in a cave because people were chasing him.  Moses, as far as leading a people, wasn’t very good a keeping them happy.  But then again, none of these were the things that these men we asked to do, they were asked to be faithful to God in all that they did.

I can relate to these guys.  I have failed at many things.  Failure is a common part of life.  Many (and i) would point to the last couple years of my life as one repeated failure after another.  A meeting with Y-93 that was constant in my life.  The sad thing is that I will fail many times more in this life that God has given me.  But I know that each of these men grew closer to God after their failure.  The refused to let their failure define them.  The Bible says:

“You see, at just the right time, when were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5.6-8)

While we were failures (failing to live up to God’s standard, called sin), He sent His son to die for us.  Our failures are erased, scrubbed out, removed.  Failure is not final in God’s eyes.  Terry Holland is thankful for that.  I am thankful for second, third, and fourth chances.  Opportunities to give God the glory, chances to live for Him, and the gift of salvation.  Failure is just part of the Journey.

The Searching Eyes of the Lord

Jimmy Schumacher inventor of the walking clown barrel

“Wisdom comes from good judgment, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”  The cowboy proverb is never truer than when you get a bunch of college guys together.  One night during spring semester boredom had set in.  We headed out to Lucas’ house, built a bon fire, and ideas for entertainment began to swirl.

Lucas had come to posses a bullfighting clown barrel.  As with most things that come into his possession, zebu’s, musket’s, miniature horses, vehicles, it was known only to him how it became his.  The rest of us just knew it was cool.   Late one night around the campfire, the clown barrel was brought up as a form of entertainment.  We weren’t really sure what we were going to do with it, but it was steel, round and in close proximity to a hill.  I can’t remember who it was that climbed in first, and I can’t really remember who suggested we roll down the hill, but it was probably Lucas on both accounts.  As we hauled the barrel up the hill, there wasn’t a single ounce of pause in our brains that we were about to embark on one great night.  Matt jumped in the barrel atop the hill.  With a short countdown, the rest of us gave him a shove.  As the moonlight reflected off the barrel careening down the hill, we were mesmerized at the pace in which it rolled.  Then we noticed the moonlight reflecting off the creek at the bottom of the hill.  The barrel was not a flotation device and as it splashed into the cool waters of the creek, we who were on top of the hill sprinted down to the bottom attempting to free Matt from the clown barrel as it came to rest on the bottom of the creek.  He got out, no one died, it was a good night.  Needless to say our judgment may have been poor that night.  Dorm life is just as detrimental to good judgment.  Taking a shot to the back with a water-ballon launcher form 15ft away, chair-jousts at 2 in the morning, office chair racing on asphalt, in a place of higher learning, wisdom can be scarce as jackalopes.

Judgment is the ability to make a decision about something, good or bad, the capacity to take information and make a decision.  Often times we think of God’s judgment as a negative thing, which it very well can be.  But God’s judgment can be a favorable one as well.  Scripture speaks of the eyes [‘ayin] of the Lord [Yahweh].  The eyes of the Lord is His judgment of man’s actions.  The Lord looks at what we do, what we offer, what we live, and makes His judgement.

The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth (2 Chron. 16.9; Zech 4.10) searching, watching, and observing the attitudes and actions of humanity. They act on behalf of those committed [salem] to Him. This Hebrew word for committed, salem, is the word for completeness, wholeness, and lavish.  A heart that is lacking nothing undevoted to God. Think about Noah, in Genesis 6, he found favor [chen…grace] in the eyes of the Lord because of his righteousness, blameless actions and his relationship with God (Gen. 6.8-9).  It was King David (1 Kings 15.5) and great Kings of Judah, like Asa, Jehosophat, Joash, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah.  Kings that led their people in truth and commitment to the Lord.  They did good in the eyes of the Lord.  The stood for truth, acted on their faith, and walked with the Lord.  The were judged as having done good in His eyes.

His eyes not only judges things as good, but see the wicked as well (Prov 15.3).  Seven times in Judges the people of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord.  They served the Baals, forsook God, and sinned against the Lord.  The Kings of the Northern Kingdom did nothing but evil in the Lord’s eyes.  They served other gods, prostituted themselves in idol worship, trusted in other nations, and refused to listen to the prophets.  They did so much evil in the eyes of the Lord, Amos would prophesy about them: “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom.  I will destroy it from the face of the earth—yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob.” (Amos 9.8)  The Southern Kingdom of Judah managed to do right in God’s eyes for many years, but their ultimate down fall was disobedience as Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord (Jer. 7.30-8.3)

When God looks upon this earth, when His eyes wander over this planet, what does he see and what will his judgment be?  When His sight falls upon us, will He see truth (Jer. 5.3), those who fear Him, hope in Him (Psalm 33.18), and those who are righteous (Ps. 34.15)?  Men like David and Noah.  Or does his eyes fall upon the wicked? Those that bow down to other gods, that place created things above the Creator, that take advantage of and exploit their neighbors? When it comes to us, are we serving the Lord faithfully? Are we honoring the Lord with our service, our work, our family, our worship, our life?  When God looks upon our actions will he judge that it is good, or does He watch in horror as we are careening down the hill of sin with nothing to stop us?

Looking Where You Land: Bronc Bustin’ and Water Walkin’

Dougie Aldridge on a Bronc
photo by Kara Hackney

My saddle bronc career was short-lived and plagued by lack of talent.  Others were made for it.  This month’s Western Horseman Magazine contained a picture of a young man being lifted into the blue sky by a powerful and picturesque paint horse.  His spurs were up in the neck of the horse and his hand held the split reins out in front of his tucked chin and eyes fixed on the neck of the horse.  He was in the middle of the corral so I assumed this was an unplanned bronc ride, which is partially what amazed me at the pose which he such on such a quick notice.  This picture will forever go down as one of my favorites and also the exact opposite of what my bronc ride looked like.  I will spare you the complete story (partially for fear that I may someday need a story to tell here) but it was my first time on a saddle bronc horse.  After a few hours of training (it seemed shorter than that as I was lowering myself into the saddle), my horse was in the chute and a friends Association Saddle rested on its withers.  I measured out the correct amount of rein and fished it through my quivering hand and fingers.  When I lowered myself into the saddle, I couldn’t get my feet into the stirrups on account of two reasons: 1) I was holding my hack rein with my right hand, my left hand is virtually worthless in all endavors and 2) my legs were shaking so bad it was like trying to get a drink of soda through a straw while jumping terraces in a Ford Fairmont…too much movement and to small a target.

I finally got situated and nodded my head.  Even at half speed on the video the ride only lasted a second.  We barely made the end of the chute gate as partners, when the horse and I made for our separate ways.  I came off to the right, landed on all fours, and crawled around the edge of the chute gate.  My first words were, “Did I make the whistle?”  What can I say, I was ambitious.  After talking with the instructor, he wasn’t surprised I hit the ground so quickly.  He said, “You landed where you were looking!”

I get the opportunity to fight bulls at a lot of camps and schools and one thing I have seen for certain…”You always land where you look!”  In Matthew 14, without tying himself ot a large herbivore, Peter gets this same lesson.

Jesus sends the disciples ahead of him on the sea while he dismisses the crowd (Matt 14.22).  The disciples hop in the boat and head across the sea while Jesus goes away by himself to pray (14.23).  When he finishes his devotional time, he catches a glimpse of the boat, out a ways from the shore, struggling against the wind (14.24).  Jesus wraps up his prayer time and heads out at 3 a.m. to catch them on the lake (14.25).  His disciples freak (as anyone would probably do), but Jesus gives them a pep-talk to calm them down (14.26-27) and here’s where the story gets really good.

Peter, doing the thing that Peter always does, speaks up and says to Jesus: “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” (14.28)  The disciples in the boat have to be getting their phones out to put this on vine or the cultural equivalent.  You can almost imagine them elbowing one another: “Would you get a load of Peter?”“; This guy…smh!”; “He’s joking, right?”  They have seen him speak up at the wrong times before but this is all kinds of stupid.

Then Jesus tells him “Come!”  and Peter’s world suddenly gets a lot bigger because his trust got a lot bigger.  How often is it that the box we live in is that size because our faith has never been challenged enough to move them.  So Peter toes the water, then steps, then walks (14.29).  Things are going well UNTIL…

“Peter saw the wind, and he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out “Lord, save me!”  He looked where he landed.  His eyes moved from the task at hand, to a place to land.  I don’t really know what Peter was looking at, the insurmountable waves and wind, back to the boat, down at his feet.  Some have said it was the sheer fact that he took his eyes of Jesus that caused him to sink.  I can’t really say that from the text, but I do know from personal experience that when your eyes come off of the task at hand, things start to go wrong.  Jesus catches his hand as he is pulling a “Jack Dawson” and sinking in the lake, and says “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

The greek word that Jesus uses for doubt, distazo, is only used on other time in scripture.  Matthew uses it at the very end of his book, when he tells of the resurrected Jesus visiting the disciples on the mountain.  Standing there before them was Jesus, still some doubted.  Both times, people are standing in front of the Son of God who is actively proving who he is and that he can be trusted, yet doubt comes into the picture.

How has Jesus shown you that he can be trusted?  What words or experiences has he given to show you that he is capable?  When is the last time you stood before him, saw what he was capable of, and trusted him?

I learned my lesson the hard way of looking off a bronc, but have been more hard headed when it comes to Jesus.  It took Peter a couple review lessons to get it as well.  Make today the day when you tuck your chin, set your spurs, and keep your eyes focused on him and him alone.

Bull Names

Crooked Nose of Harry Vold

Names convey so much about their bearer. At the point in Hondo where Angie Lowe learns the man sleeping on her cabin floorK is the famed Calvary rider, Hondo Lane, she views him completely different.  When the Spaniard, in Gladiator, takes of his helmet and reveals himself to be Maximus, the leader of the Free Companies, the movie takes a different turn.  Names carry with them, history, character, and personality.  When the Regulators hear the name Buckshot Roberts, they marvel at the fact that “he’s killed more people than small pox” and you can hear the tension in their voices.  A name has the ability to convey a lot about its bearer.

In Genesis 1-2, God’s character is revealed in not one, but two names.  Each name used in a way to highlight His array of attributes.  In Genesis 1, ‘elohim is the Creator who is all-powerful.  Genesis 2 introduces the LORD, Yahweh, who is close and personal, who does things kind of the way we do them.  When God is dealing with man directly, Adam in the garden, Israel in the desert, the prophets in Jerusalem, the name Yahweh is used showing His proximity to man.  Yahweh breathes and forms (Gen 2.7); He walks (3.8) and speaks (2.18).  It is no coincidence that this name was given to Moses by God at the burning bush (Exodus 3.14) to tell Pharaoh who is now calling the shots and will be with Israel: Yahweh.  When God is triumphing over enemies, when creating, and ruling the earth, the name ‘elohim best describes Him.  ‘Elohim created [hb. Bara] from nothing (1.1) and made (1.26) man in his image; He blessed (1.28) and provided for man (1.29).  God has revealed Himself to man in these two names, and more adequately than in one name.

The two names of God, as He introduces Himself, as ‘elohim and Yahweh provide a glimpse of all the things He is as our relationship plays out.  Yahweh cares about our problems…and ‘Elohim is powerful enough to do something about it.  ‘Elohim’s power is displayed in the “hands” or the “arm” of Yahweh. The two names show with greater completeness the character and personality of the God we serve.

When you think about God, which “name” are you more drawn too?  An all-powerful ‘Elohim side of God, or a more personal Yahweh side?  Which is easier to worship, a close Yahweh or a transcendent ‘Elohim?  How does God, being both powerful enough to deal with our problems (‘Elohim) and personal enough to be in relationship to us (Yahweh) change the way we think about Him?  Two names for the same Entity (Person).  I for one am thankful that His names cover the expanse, the depth, the character and personality of who our Heavenly Father is: both powerful and personal.