Schedule

Hi y'all,
Welcome to the Cowboy Valley Church blog site. If you visit us often you will notice I only update when necessary. And on this day it is necessary to update the blog site. We meet the 2nd and last thursday of each month, though at times if there are 5 thursdays in a month messes up this plan of mine. Either way, we get together to do church, hang out as friends and enjoy the opportunity to be part of the cowboy family. We welcome all who desire to know God and know each other. Coming into summer we always take July and August off to regather ourselves and get rested up for the fall season. Normally we don't plan much but this summer much is happening. Our daughter qualified for the High School National Finals Rodeo in Gillette Wyoming. Jessie is traveling down there with great friends of ours the Chevalliers along with her great friend Candace Chevallier. They will be down there for about 18 days. Once done they will be heading north where we will meet up with them for the Canadian High School Finals Rodeo in Virden Manitoba. We are really excited about this trip as it is close to Brenda' hometown of Morden MB. So the grandparents, cousins on both sides of our family will be attending along with Brenda's brothers and our kids too. While there I will be co-hosting Cowboy church with the Baker family who are well known for doing Cowboy church in Manitoba. Our service will be Friday night at about 7:30. Later on in August I will be heading to Armstrong for a little Britches rodeo as the announcer and also host Cowboy church at that event.
So for taking the summer off, we are really off and running across Western Canada.

talk to you soon

God bless

Cowboy Pastor Blair

Giddy up and go

Hello all,

As many of you know even though I am a pastor for the Cowboy community I am still a cowboy in training. One of my goals is to become a proficient and confident rider. Over the winter both my daughter Jessie and I trailer her horse up to our friends place to rope cows. This is a great environment for Jessie in prepping for High School Rodeo, and for me to learn how to ride better each time I go out. For those who have been reading these notes over the last three years or so have come to know my love of horses but have also learned that I have had some real run INS early in life with horses which resulted in an unhealthy FEAR. Though this fear to work with and ride horses is really a thing of the past for the most part, the whole riding thing is still coming slow until a few weeks ago. It was Sunday afternoon, I was riding that famous Reining horse Chex, the crazy stud who tried to spin me off last spring, and in a moment of complete bravery, and courage came a defining moment in time and I found myself doing something I had been dreaming of doing. There I was free at last, as if I was flying in the air with no wings, wind in my face, and no obstacles, just me and Chex loping at last together. Whew, that was an amazing moment! There I was being watched by my daughter as I was loping in a circle, and hoping that I can remember how to stop, but finally I was doing it, and man was it a lot smoother then trotting. My first thought was this, why didn’t I try this earlier? What held me back? Can I actually be that stupid? Not really! It was a combination of things, confidence; I found my center of gravity finally, I was understanding all of my movements on Chex and the messages I was sending him were not so mixed anymore, I was translating my commands properly to my body and Chex understood what I wanted out of him, it was also faith, a leap in the right direction, and finally, the biggest thing, over coming my fear. I told my friend Sandy last summer that I wasn’t too sure if I could ever get this thing together, and she told me “no Blair you will get it right, it will just take some time, and I have more patience than you realize, so don’t worry I am here to show you how.” She was right, and wow I listened! Even though I am have so much to learn I feel as though I have taken a leap of faith that has put me on the next level of learning to ride.Coming to know God is very similar to my story up above. Maybe you have an unhealthy fear of God that needs to be worked out, and the only way you can do that is get into the saddle and overcome that fear; or there are days in which you don’t feel like you will ever get this thing right, and you are not sure if it will be worked out, but God is saying to all of us these words right now…. “No (your name) you will get it right, it will just take some time, and I have more patience than you realize, so don’t worry I am here to show you

Welcome to Cowboy Valley Church Blog

Cowboy Valley Church is centered on the Cowboy community that is made up of family, friends, who share the cowboy way of life. Our desire is to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ so that this wonderful community will discover their purpose in life, God's will for everday living, and to know Jesus personally as a friend, a Savior and as the Cowboss of our souls. To know Jesus is to know life, and the cowboy community have the deepest desire to know life to it's fullest. It is Jesus's desire to lead people away from the trail of wandering to the trail of wonder, in relationship, hope, faith and a depth of love that is bigger, wider, longer, and higher than any grazing fields of grass.
For those of you who are curious, this picture was taken at the St. Anne Ranch in Trochu Alberta. This has been part of my extended family for several decades and it is the first homestead of the town of Trochu Alberta. It is now a designated Heritage site for the Province of Alberta. Amazing spot in the coulee. check it out.

Happy Trails


Blair

Superman Story

Hello all, Superman story

I was thinking about an event that took place when I was about 3 years old, or at least that is what I was told how old I was. We were back on the farm in Alberta, and my Mom had decided to take us there once again to show my brother and I off to all of the family because we such good looking boys. LOL! Did I ever mention, my Mom was part of a family of 11 kids? Ouch! Anyways, it so happens on this day Grandpa had his horse out of his pen and by the farm house. Mom had told me that my little brother was crawling around the ground and I happened to be walking behind Goldie the horse. What happened next was something out of a modern day cartoon scene. As I happen to be walking behind Goldie, my brother decided to crawl underneath the horse…not sure where the parents were at during this defining moment for me but the next scene shocked my Mom, Goldie spooked, and as he spooked I happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. As my Mom described the event she said she looked up and I happen to be flying like superman across the ground. Not sure what damage there was, Mom never said, but there was something that was firmly implanted in me other then a hoof print, and that happened to be the fear of being near a horse especially behind one. For many years I lived with a fear that I never understood. I remember as a kid I could hardly touch a horse for fear of something happening to me…..duh, ya think? The fear was real. I don’t remember the event but I lived with a fear. It was not until I had my own horse when I was a teen that this fear subsided overtime, though every time I walk behind a horse, or see any sign of horses hind starting to rise, you will not see me any where near the ass end of a horse. I still live with that fear in some ways, but I think the fear is a healthy fear or a respect for the power a horse truly has.

As I share this story I am reminded of some words that Jesus spoke Jn 4:18-21 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Fear is an interesting character trait for all of humanity. Fear can lead to punishment, such as a thief who fears the judge passing down the verdict for his crime, or we can have a healthy fear such as fear for higher authority such as the government, not to be afraid but to simply respect it for it’s authority over us. If we have ever been hurt by someone or were faced with an event such as mine when I was a child, fear can stand in the way of achieving life’ goals, or over coming that fear can literally grip our heart and cause us to live in fear for the rest of our lives. My fear of a horse has slowly subsided because the love I have for them. The love has overcome the fear. Jesus has come for us to know his love, and if we know his love, we too can overcome our fears.

Hello all,

Recently I came across an article describing multiculturalism in our country. Since I can remember we have always been taught to accept the diverse cultural dynamics of our land. In this article, the author had a great and valid statement,” We live in a country that spends billions promoting multiculturalism while one of Canada’ greatest cultures is not only right here but to paraphrase the immortal words of Will Rogers---they met our forefathers boat”; the North American Native. People, who have walked, rode, hunted, planted and lived on this land for thousands of years. Often discounted as unwanted, or not like white man; the tenacity of this nation has proven to all of Canada that our native land has something very special. Most western magazines pay homage and respect to the natives of North America and often express a respect and admiration for native culture and how it has shaped our land; articles of horsemanship, artistry, and a love for the land and horse. Drawing from these writings and related articles I have concluded that both the Cowboy and the Natives of our land share common ground….
1.Horsemanship
2.Respect for the land
3.Stockman
4.Connected to the land through the Creator(Manitou)
5.Story tellers,
6.Colorful outfits,
7.Artistry, paintings, sculptors, carvings
8.Hunters
9.Musicians
10.Dancing

The bible speaks of common ground between two other nations, the Jew and the Gentiles. Jewish people were the chosen nation of God, this resulted because of a promise that God gave to one man thousands of years ago because of his faith in God, but one problem, the Jews over time stopped following God. And as a result he sent Jesus to the land to save the people, but not just the chosen few, but all mankind and this includes the Gentiles. Gentiles are basically everyone who is not of Jewish descent. The common ground is this, both Jew and Gentile who call on God to be their Savior will be saved. Amazing, you don’t have to be part of a special or chosen nation; every one is welcome to know God. Knowing this truth brings to light that God does not show favoritism, or neglects the unwanted. On the contrary, he has made it clear that all nations are welcome to come to heaven and know the creator for eternity. I have included a small verse that speaks to this, it says “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile -- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Here is modern day version of those words….”there is no difference between the Natives and the Cowboys, the same Lord is Lord of these nations and richly rewards the Natives and Cowboys who call on him…” Cultural differences disappear when we discover the common ground in which we stand on.

Me and the Bull

Me and the Bull Story
One summer when I was ten I was enjoying hanging out with my Grandpa
on his farm in central Alberta. I remember very clearly my Uncle came
up to Grandpa informing him that their bull had escaped his pen and
was on the loose on the south field, primarily the grazing area for
the cows. Immediately my Grandpa informed my uncle to saddle up Goldie
the horse and he would take his truck(72 GMC classic Truck, very nice)
and meet him in the South field. Once there Grandpa drove up to where
the bull was. I remember this so clearly, being small I could not see
that far out of the window, I remember opening the door to follow my
grandpa out onto the field, when I opened the door and climbed out I
came face to face with this bull. Imagine this, small 10 year old
boy, 2000 pound bull, who would win that battle? He was huge, with large horns and gave me the eye and stared me right back into the truck. I did what most little kids do, screamed, got back into the truck. A few seconds later the bull was on the run again, but this time my uncle was chasing him down, the GMC truck right behind him subsequently the bull was chased into a water hole and was brought back to his pen. What a mess, my uncle was responsible for fixing three or four sections of fencing the bull ran through. This was one of those moments in life as a little kid I was faced with something huge, more powerful then me, showed no signs of mercy and I had no control over it. The only prudent thing to do was to listen to Grandpa and ensure I did not get in his way or the bulls. I came across a story this week in which Jesus had to face a bully named Satan. In this story Jesus was all alone in a desert, once there he was tempted to deny everything he represented not once but three times. Each time the bully tried to deceive him misquoting words from the bible to trip Jesus up, and in each case Jesus refuted this bully and in the end Jesus won that battle. Simply, he got on his horse and chased the bully down. All of us have to face many challenges and trials that may bring fear or temptation and in the end we must be willing to stand against it and win.