Well, we have a Cowboy Church now in Huntington. I don't know how it started or who the pastor is. A typical pattern revealed itself in just a few weeks: a new paint job on a building, a sign (Living Waters Cowboy Church), the black deco of a horse and a cowboy with his hat off kneeling at a cross, and then, a full parking lot (with mostly pick-ups btw).
What does God think of "specialty churches?" How about a Sports Church? What about a Hunting Church? A Fishing Church? A Computer Church?
Doesn't the "specialty" take away from the One who is to be the focus...Jesus?
Bro. Adrian, the Cowboy Churches that I have encountered, (3 different ones in the last 10 years) have all come out of local SBC Churches with their blessings and none ever lasted over a year or two. There does seam to be one over at athens that was progressing well the last account that I had. If that fits their schedule and lifestyle I guess it might be all right. By the way, I never did like the smell of HORSE in Church any way.LOL
ReplyDeleteI want a NASCAR church.
ReplyDeleteThere would be lots of flies, too, heh Bro. Marlin?!
ReplyDeleteNascar church????
Ladies and gentlemen, open your Bibles! Green flag, message begins! Yellow flag for talking during the sermon! Black flag for speaking false doctrine (or pulling an Awana lesson out of your Bible :) Checkered flag for being saved & then straight to the winner's circle.
No champagne though. Just the Lord's Supper.
Yes, I've lost my mind.
I like the Nascar idea. In My younger, much younger days, I ran race cars, the high bank dirt track version. I was about 25 years of age I drove a 55 chevy. Won a few races.
ReplyDeleteThe Nascar circut now have their own Chaplin who travels and stays with them. How about that for a private "Church"
I'd kinda like to be the chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys...
ReplyDeleteThat would be a cowboy Church for sure. LOL.
ReplyDeleteWoot Woot! Go Dallas Cowboys!
ReplyDeleteAs much as that would be nice, I'd much rather be the chaplain for the LSU Tigers football team. That way, we wouldn't have to wonder whether or not anyone would be talking about sports "at church" today. We would already know for sure.
LSU church! YAY!!!
ReplyDeleteBar None Cowboy Church between Henderson & Tatum has been going for several years now and reportedly runs in the thousands. The site says they are interdenominational, but I am pretty sure they have an SBC connection. They affiliate with the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches which in turn is connected with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
ReplyDeleteHere is a clip from their web site:
"Cowboys, cowgirls, or anyone who enjoys the western culture in any way, even if you just like good old western movies or country music, will enjoy Bar None Cowboy Church...We are committed to reaching the cowboy/western culture and those who love it for Jesus Christ."
Same ol' same ol'. Just giving someone the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't enough for the Holy Spirit to work with, so we need an angle. If you judge by the "results", I guess it works (although I haven't figured out whether they're going for church or the barrel races).
Let me quote something I heard at a rodeo once in Hamburg.
ReplyDelete"Our Gracious and Heavenly Father,
We pause in the midst of this festive occasion, mindful and thoughtful of the guidance that you have given us. We would ask today, Lord, that you be with us in this rodeo arena as we pray you will be also with us in life's arena. As cowboys, Lord, we don't ask for any special favors in this arena today. We only ask that you will let us compete in this event, and in life, as You did for us. We don't ask that we never break a barrier, draw the steer that won't lay, draw around a chute fighting horse, or a bull that is impossible to ride. Help us to compete in life as honest as the horse we ride; in a manner as clean and pure as the wind that blows across this Texas country; so when we make that Last Ride, that we know is inevitable, to the Country Up There.. Where the grass is green and lush and stirrup-high and the water runs clean and clear; You will tell us, as our Last Judge, that our entry fee's are paid. We ask these things in Christ's Name."
I didn't know whether to keep my head bowed or laugh... so I did both.
As did I. You would have to be hear to hear the sound of his voice.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago, we had a request for letter to the Cowboy Church in Lufkin. Of course, I recommended that we respond by saying that the individual could join there on statement, but that we only granted letters to churches of like faith.
ReplyDeleteThe individual did join on statement and I think he has hard feelings about it until this day. But as pastor, you must recommend what is right, not what will always make someone happy.
I just don't care to get into researching how every non-denominational or specialty "church" came into existence. Do you any of you???
ReplyDeleteMe neither.
ReplyDeleteNeither do I.
ReplyDeleteAs spoken from the mouth of the pastor of FBC-Lufkin on the witness stand (as a fact witness), "Cowboy Church is a nondenominational ministry sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention."
ReplyDeleteThe following is an exerpt from an article on Cowboy Churches. It really constains nothing new about these churches, nor do I harbor any ill will against them. But the few I know of in the area are fairly weak on doctrine and will meet & fellowship with those who are of false doctrine. The Lord will judge in the end.
ReplyDeleteArticle:"But this isn't a typical rodeo. It's an outreach ministry of the Cowboy Church of Ellis County, which has grown from about 300 to 2,200 members since it began nearly nine years ago. The church about 30 miles south of Dallas now bills itself as the world's largest cowboy church.
The movement is about 40 years old but has grown rapidly in recent years, especially among Baptists. The Midland, N.C.-based Cowboy Church Network of North America, supported by the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Missions Board, has started dozens of churches in 12 states and Canada since 2003.
The Baptist General Convention of Texas has launched about 140 cowboy churches since 2000 — the first in Ellis County. The congregations now perform about 10 percent of all baptisms among the group's 5,700 churches statewide, officials said.
"It appeals to you because it's 'come as you are,'" said Chris Maddox, who attends the Cowboy Church of Ellis County. "You don't feel judged based on how you're dressed, how you talk, how you look. We're not asking somebody to be something they're not."
Churchgoers wear cowboy hats and jeans, sing hymns accompanied by a country band and get baptized in horse troughs. Churches vary. Some have Western-theme sanctuaries; others meet in barns or on rodeo grounds, some on weeknights." (end of article)
The fact is, if it's non-denomininational, then it is not Baptist.