Cowboys of the Cross

Welcome to Cowboys of the Cross: your resource for Christian cowboys. Cowboys of the Cross has been providing cowboy church for the rodeo and cowboy community for more than 15 years. The website is your source for stories of faith and encouragement as well as devotions and news and information affecting cowboys of faith. Cowboys of the Cross leads cowboy church at rodeos and bull ridings in both Ontario, Canada and across the north and southeastern United States. 

To support the mission

Cowboys of the Cross is a full time ministry shepherded by Scott Hilgendorff (His testimony can be found below). Like other missionaries, Scott relies on the generous support of private donors to carry out the work of the Great Commission within the rodeo and cowboy culture. Donations are managed through LifeSong Family Church in Lewisburg, TN. To give online, please click the button, selecton online giving and please choose Cowboys of the Cross from the dropdown menu. To give via mail, please make checks payable to LifeSongFamily Church but include a note that it is for “rodeo ministry.” Donations can be sent to LifeSong Family Chuch, 1041 S. Ellington Pkwy
Lewisburg, TN  37091

Not all fathers are perfect but there is One who is

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

There’s a sad reality that not all of us had great fathers and while this may not be universal, it certainly is common that most of us want to make our fathers proud.

As toddlers, we test our parents and look to our fathers and mothers to set boundaries for us.

Many of us as we grow up look for our father’s approval either with good grades, doing well at a sport or handing him the right tool as you work on a car together.

I’m sure there are studies out there that debate back and forth how this is learned social behavior or that it is innate behavior that we are simply born with.

Because of my faith, I believe God made us that way.

And He didn’t do it to set our fathers up to fail. Jesus was the only perfect person to walk the Earth and while as children, we can develop high expectations for our parents, we can also suffer tremendous hurt and disappointment.

In rodeo, I get to know some amazing fathers out there and I get to know some cowboys whose fathers have utterly failed them. There are plenty of rodeo cowboys out there competing not for their father’s approval, but to prove something to themselves about their own strengths and abilities.

Whether we had the ideal father who rarely let us down, a father who abused us, a father who just couldn’t get it right all the time or if we had no father at all, God wants us to have a sense of belonging to a father who is perfect and will love us unconditionally.

Ephesians 1:3-6 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Strength: Cowboy Tough, God Honoring

Part Four, Where our strength comes from

A special series from the Cowboys of the Cross

A deeply personal moment to offer a message of hope

My father passed away this winter and I’m sharing here a couple of the personal moments from what occured in the hopes they offer encouragement to others and in an effort to poin to the good of God’s love and plan even in what feel like our worst moments. The video below especially has a story I hope you will share with others you think might be encouraged.

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter for Stories and Updates

 

Simply email us your name, email address and the word “subscribe” and we’ll send you the monthly stories and encouragements not found here

 

Email: cowboysofthecross@gmail.com

Contact Us

 

Phone: 865_293_2668

 

Email: cowboysofthecross@gmail.com

 

Mail: Cowboys of the Cross, 3710 Warden Branch Lane, Gatlinburg, TN, 37738

New devotions/teaching right here every other Thursday

Where to find us

Sept 2,3, Kensgington, GA, cowboy church at a rodeo with Skeeter with Cowboys for  Christ

Sept 8,9, Dalton, GA, cowboy church at a rodeo with Skeeter with Cowboys for Christ

Sept 23, Baileyton, TN, Bull Riders and Outlaws bull riding, cowboy church with Scott

Scott is found at events sanctioned by the Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association, the Outlaws and Bull Riders Association, the National Cowboys Association.

They can also sometimes be found at PBR Velocity Tour events, International Professional Rodeo Association events  and others.

In all your ways...

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths — Proverbs 3:6
A Cowboy of the Cross believes God comes first and strive to follow His leading from a desire that comes from the knowledge of the cost of our salvation, paid for by Jesus Christ through is death on the cross. Through a saving and repentant faith in Jesus and the knowledge of his resurrection, we know God has forgiven our sins and will take us home to Heaven when our time here is done. Through God’s grace, we’ll get through the mistakes we make and grow more like Christ with study of Scripture, time in prayer and learning to hear God and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

How we treat our animals or handle a loss shows our hearts

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

How we treat a drive thru worker when the wait is long or the order is messed up.

How we handle a person trying to merge in front of us in heavy traffic.

What we do with our shopping cart when we leave the store.

How we treat our animals, the ones that are worth the least, or nothing.

How we spend the drive home after we’ve bucked off or missed our catch at the rodeo.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Thankfully, through repentance, seeking forgiveness from God and a saving faith in Jesus, God will no longer condemn us for the words, thoughts and actions that come from our hearts.

Once saved, God begins to change us through the Holy Spirit in us and though we’ll never be perfect, we begin to change how we handle ourselves and each other in this life.

How we respond or navigate in each of the described situations can be a good heart check as we try to work out our salvation or want to see just how far we still have to go to be more like Jesus.

If someone asks at the rodeo why you’re a Christian, do you have an answer?

If someone at a rodeo sees your cross necklass or the Bible verse written on your vest or someone asks you at the ranch while you’re reading a Bible as you eat your lunch, “Why are you a Christian?” are you ready to give an answer?
Is that answer going to come from thoughts and ideas you have about God or is it going to come from truths you know right from Scripture? Your answer will do one of three things: point someone to a real truth about salvation through Jesus Christ, point them completely away from Christianity altogether that leads them to eternal suffering or provide an answer about having ‘faith’ and being ‘good’ that gives them false hope that still leads to eternal suffering.
What kind of hope do you have for yourself? Is it one grounded in the truth of what Jesus did for us on the cross with a repentant heart and a secure understanding of a saving faith in Jesus? What kind if hope do you want to offer others?
1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Telling others about Jesus so they can know him should motivate you.

Meet our Teachers / Preachers and Site Contributors

Keith Miller

Keith Miller

Keith Miller grew up in a strict Amish home in Indiana until discovering the freedom of an independent relationship with Jesus Christ. As a bull rider, he met his wife Natalie and together, they have a daughter Gracelyn and have settled in Westport, Indiana. Keith...

read more
Scott Hilgendorff

Scott Hilgendorff

Scott heads up Cowboys of the Cross, a ministry dedicated to bringing cowboy church to rodeos and bull ridings across North America but with a focus on discipleship. The ministry evolved out of Riding for Christ Ministries, the name which Scott operated under for more...

read more
Josh McCarthy

Josh McCarthy

Howdy! My name’s Josh McCarthy and I compete in saddle bronc riding in the PRCA and I’m the youngest of five from northeastern Wisconsin.  I grew up in a Christian home and went to church every Sunday. I accepted Christ into my life when I was little but I didn’t...

read more
Jim Bull

Jim Bull

I grew up always praying before meals and hearing that our friends that passed were in heaven. However, I never felt I knew who God was and definitely didn't have a relationship with Him. I lived my life thinking if I seemed like a good person, then I must be a good...

read more
Jesse Horton

Jesse Horton

I was 'raised Christian.' I can't remember a time before I was 10 years old that I wasn't a church-goer, though I remember several years of my teens where my family didn't attend church. I confessed my sin and my need for Christ when I was eight years old, but I do...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest