Cowboys for Cops initiative gets relaunch after rough start to year for law enforcement

Cowboys for Cops initiative gets relaunch after rough start to year for law enforcement

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

The month of January was bad for law enforcement. More than a dozen officers lost their lives in the line of duty with minimal coverage or follow-up, particularly in the case of an officer murdered in her home.

A year and a half ago, when similar incidents were occurring frequently and there was a negative focus on policing in general in the media, Cowboys for Cops was started. It was the name given to a special weekend particularly in the PRCA in which contestants were urged to where blue. We hijacked it as a hash tag and turned it into an ongoing initiative encouraging cowboys and bull riders to ask the police they encounter at events and on the road, how they can pray for them. They’re encouraged to take selfies with the officers and use the hashtags #CowboysForCops and #CowboysOfTheCross to help this initiative spread. The rodeo and bull riding community has more opportunity to connect with police than the average person. No, not because we get in trouble all the time, but because we’re at large and public venues which means a police presence becomes necessary. That means we have a great opportunity to be an encouragement to these men and women who risk their lives to protect us.

But let’s look at some Biblical reasons this initiative is important.

We know throughout scripture that praying for one another is seen as important. The following verse from Ephesians is just one example of why that’s important

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

By choosing to pray with these officers, we are simply living out biblical illustrations of what the Christian life looks like. Daily prayer is a significant part of that. Most people, even if they do not believe in God, will not be offended if you ask how you could pray for them and it can become an easy way to talk to someone else about Jesus.

But more importantly, what I want us to see how easy it can be to carry out a simple verse from Galatians in which we’re shown the need to carry each other’s burdens.

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Just knowing someone cares about you and is willing to pray for your needs can ease a burden and leave a person feeling encouraged.

As we gather more photos from cowboys and bull riders interacting with police, we’ll share them to social media but also to the website www.cowboysforcops.com and encourage you to point officers to the site. Think of how encouraging it can be for them to see different pictures of you guys caring enough about them to pray for them. Through pointing others to the site, one person’s simple act of praying for an officer can go a long way to encourage even more when they see these photos.

You can also help by sharing this post and encouraging others to do this. We most recently had a chance this weekend (Jan. 25 and 26) to pray with one of the officers providing security at the Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association Finals in Murfreesboro, TN.

In the photo is Finalist, Tim Taylor with MTSU Police Officer Jason Hicks. Officer Hicks joined us in the locker room for cowboy church Saturday night and afterward, a couple of us prayed for him. He is hoping to lead a team of youth on a mission trip to Guatemala. Officer Hicks then turned the tables on us by asking how he could pray for us.

Indiana Bull Rider Tim Taylor with Middle Tennessee State University Police Officer Jason Hicks. Hicks was prayed for in the locker room at the SEBRA National Finals after cowboy church on Jan. 26 as part of a relaunch of the Cowboys for Cops Initiative.

Indiana Bull Rider Tim Taylor with Middle Tennessee State University Police Officer Jason Hicks. Hicks was prayed for in the locker room at the SEBRA National Finals after cowboy church on Jan. 26 as part of a relaunch of the Cowboys for Cops Initiative.

If you find it too uncomfortable praying with an officer on the spot, it’s okay to commit to pray with him after, but we do encourage you to try. It means even more and no one expects us to pray perfectly or have all the right words to say. It’s the action and intent behind it and God knows what’s in your heart as you stumble through it.  The officer does too.

 

If you’ve ever worked with cows, horses or your family, you’ve probably experienced anger

If you’ve ever worked with cows, horses or your family, you’ve probably experienced anger

Anger is almost always a sin and it can come from our pride.By Josh McCarthy / Cowboys of the Cross

If you have ever worked with cows, horses, or family, I’m willing to guess you’ve let
your frustration show in various ways when things didn’t go exactly how you wanted them to.
Anger is one of those “acceptable” sins in our society. If we display it in moderation it’s fine; in
fact, our culture may even praise us for lashing out blindly at someone or something that dares to offend us. Let me specify here that when I say “anger,” I am talking about sinful anger, not
righteous anger. Examples of righteous anger are given in the Bible, such as God’s anger about sin. Sometimes we experience righteous anger about our own or our brother’s sin, but we need to take care to consider whether such anger stems from recognition of our own unrighteousness in the presence of a holy God, or simply our own wretched pride. Anger that originates in sinful motivations is still sinful, whether or not it appears to be justified on the surface.

Sinful anger is our “natural” anger. It’s what you feel when you think the judge made the
wrong call about you marking your bronc out. It’s what you feel when those cows want to keep
fighting you on which direction they should go. It’s what you feel toward that horse that won’t
keep his foot up so you can nail on that last shoe. It’s what you feel when your kid’s good-for-
nothing dog blows up the herd fifty feet from the corral gate, after you specifically TOLD him to
leave that disobedient so-and-so in the pickup.

I’m not saying that these things aren’t frustrating, but how we handle these problems tends to show us what’s going on in our hearts – which is the
heart of the issue.

Our hearts want to tell us we are the center of the world and I’d bet if you thought back to
times when you let your anger show or even just had those angry thoughts, you’d agree the
reason had something to do with things not going exactly how you had them in your head.
Another way to put it would be to say your pride put you in the place of God in that moment.

I’ve been there more than a few times. I’ve cussed out a bunch of cows that I was trying to
gather up because it didn’t go exactly my way – and did it go any better after that? Nope! Losing your cool while working with cows and horses usually just creates more work. But more
important than how your temper affects the animals – and people – you work with, is the fact
that you are allowing sin to have a stronghold in your life.

So how do we combat the sin of unrighteous anger? One of the primary adversaries in
this fight is our own pride. We need to realize that God is God and we are not. If we look to Scripture, Romans 9:20 for example, we are shown our place before our God. Seeing Him
correctly lets us see ourselves correctly, humbling ourselves before Him.  Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

As we walk with Christ, we are called to recognize His rule and reign over every part of
our lives, even as our sinful flesh seeks that honor for itself. Paul, in Galatians 5:16-26, tells us to walk by the Spirit and in so doing to suppress the desires of the flesh, such as fits of anger.

Keeping our anger in check not only helps in all aspects of our daily lives, it most importantly
honors the God who saved us. As Christians, this is what our whole lives should be focused on
anyways: His honor, not our own.

Galatians 5: 16-26  16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

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