by admin | Apr 12, 2018 | Testimonies
My life began on June 4, 1949. I was born in Enterprise, Alabama. My mother, Grace Wilkins, was a God-fearing woman. She always told us to listen to that small voice inside of us and it would tell us right from wrong. That voice was Jesus Christ!
Well, every time I was going to do something wrong, I heard that voice saying, “Don’t do that!”
Mom used to get us dressed and take us to church every Sunday. Even if she didn’t have a clean dress to wear, she would take us and come pick us up. My dad had a bad habit of drinking alcohol and he would not go to church but he never stopped us from going. When I was 15 years old, my dad got sick. Me and my brother Glen helped daddy cut firewood and sell it to pay bills until he just couldn’t work anymore. He had drank so much his kidneys and liver were shutting down.
He died that year and he was only 37 years old.
On his death bed, a pastor friend of his lead him to the Lord and he got saved! After dad died, we went to live with my mom’s mother and father. They lived in New Brockton, Alabama. So me and my three brothers and my sister went to school there. I got saved that year. I knew I wanted to see my dad again in Heaven.
Well, mom had never worked and she tried to find a job but it was hard. Me and my older brother worked and went to school. I had jobs like picking cotton, stacking peanuts, loading fertilizer our of a box car at the old depot in town, washing oysters at the oyster bar and delivering papers; anything we could do to make a dime. But during that time, I learned to buy and sell things like horses, saddles and tack.
I looked at the successful people and I looked to the poor people. I noticed the people that were living for the Lord were blessed more that the people living for the devil. The people living for the devil were getting sick, paying fines and getting locked up, wrecking their cars and dieing young. I also noticed the boys that were disobeying their parents were always getting in trouble. The people that lived a God-fearing life were being blessed with health and riches, so I never drank alcohol, I never smoked cigarettes, never did drugs and always listened to my mom. I didn’t want to let her down.
I am now 66 years old and I am in great health. God has blessed me with a great son and daughter and four grandchildren. I used to eat lunch on 20 cents a day when I was 15 and barely got by. Now I have six million dollars of property with houses and land in 12 states.
But the most important thing I have is salvation in my Lord, Jesus Christ. For you see, we are only passing through this world, going home to be with our Savior, Jesus. I wish every young person would listen to that small voice inside them to do that which is right. For we are all on trial every day on this Earth to decide where we will spend eternity: Heaven or Hell. I pray that everyone will choose Heaven. For God gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins so all could have eternal life.
Love Gary Wilkins
Gary has owned Horse World Saddles and Tack since 1979 and currently lives in Boyd, Texas.
Written, summer, 2017
by admin | Apr 10, 2018 | Testimonies
Hey everyone, my name is James Douma. I have been involved with the rodeo for the past several years. I am a full time firefighter in Ontario during the week and used to ride bucking horses on the weekend. I am married to an amazing woman named Jenn and together with our family, we led cowboy church for a few seasons in Ontario with the Rawhide Rodeo Company.
Growing up I figured I was your every day average Christian. I grew up in a Christian home, read my Bible, prayed every day and attended church every week. Life was great. My family did all kinds of things together. We camped, went fishing, hiking, we built all kinds of forts and tree houses together. We even took care of the livestock and farm chores together.
When I was in my early teens my parents started experiencing difficulty in their marriage. We ended up selling the farm and moving to a small town in hopes that the lighter work load would help patch things up. That didn’t end up working and a year later they split up and my dad moved out. It was a major shock to me and my siblings. Things just started to fall apart from there.
At 17 I started going to school (we were homeschooled up until then). I started hanging out with fairly questionable peers mainly because I didn’t really have any Christian friends. Slowly my morals and values started to slip and I found myself saying and doing things I had always said I wouldn’t.
I felt my parents really didn’t care about us anymore, even though deep down I knew they did, so I stopped caring about everyone and everything else but myself. My relationship with God at this point was limited to a quick prayer before food and bed, if I even remembered, and attending church out of obligation.
In the summer of 2009, my poor choices and actions finally caught up with me and ended up nearly costing me the only thing that mattered to me, my relationship with my girlfriend, Jenn.
To my absolute disbelief she forgave me for my indiscretions and together we decided to try and make things work. The only problem was we had no idea where to start. It was at this point in our discussion that my brother, who I hadn’t talked to in weeks, called me up and invited us out to his church. Reluctantly we agreed to come out Sunday.
I found that the people in this church accepted me for who I was, even though many knew of my history and the way I had been treating others. Their support along with actually hearing and applying the sermons to my life helped me want to change. I started praying and reading my bible more regularly and started to make friends who would build me up instead of tearing me down.
It wasn’t long before Jenn and I became members of that church. For the first time in many years things started to look up.
Since recommitting our lives to God and His plan for our lives we have had many ups and downs, struggles, temptations and joys. Living for God and trusting in His promises has given me joy and peace like I have never experienced before. Even though I continually let God down, He forgives me and blesses me so richly. I have found committing my life to God is tough, but following my own will and trying to do things on my own is a whole lot harder.
by admin | Apr 10, 2018 | Testimonies
Michael Damien Moore is a bareback rider from Athens, TN and the nephew of rodeo producer Mike Moore. Originally from Alaska, Michael has started leading cowboy church, largely at rodeos in the ‘south’. The hat he is wearing in the photo was his father’s. You’ll see why that’s important in a minute. This is his story…
From a young age I knew something had been significant about my life. I was saved around eight years old when my Sunday school teacher asked who believed in Jesus. I remember raising my hand and being called to the front of class. I knew Jesus died for my sins – not that I knew how real death really was – and that he was raised to life again. That’s the best I could remember and that it felt like my conscience was following me around telling me to wonder literally, what would Jesus do.
I also felt set apart like I was apart of something greater than myself that was not just an association. I later found out we call this being sealed by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit truly was a comforting person that time in my life, through Him I asked many questions and sought these answers up until I would get distracted fighting with my brother and sister while my mom tried to raise us alone.
I just want to say this as forward as I can, my dad killed himself while I was home at the age of Four in Cowparas Cove TX. My dad, Marvis “Buster” Moore, was stationed at Ft. Hood as the 142nd Signal Battalion Command Seargeant Major. He was well respected and he was my hero. This event has stuck with me my entire life but I have truly given this burden I carried for so long over to Jesus Christ. With the help and leadership of the Holy Ghost I have learned to address the issues that had stemmed from being fatherless.
I’m 28 now and God has been so good to me as a son. His chastening proves that he cares how close I am in Him and in fellowship. God has given me hope through His Son’s blood and the Holy Spirit’s restoring power to carry on. I am just merely a sinful man that belongs in the mire of my disobedience and sinful flesh to wallow in, yet I am saved and have promise in Jesus’ name. I believe that He died for my sins, was resurrected in three days and seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again.
It’s been a long life, more had followed after my dad’s death with institutions and programs for troubled youth and juvenile detention and medications. I mean the list is endless. At the age of 18, I had even attempted to take my own life. However, I realized not long ago that I have a heavenly Father who I know, and that knows me. In every situation, my God has given me the endurance I need. I hope to use my experience to help someone in need. I started riding bulls and bareback broncs because my dad did all three rough stock events, but I hope through rodeo I may spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and get other cowboys to leave their old self behind with all the drunkenness, lust and strife to become a new creation in Jesus Christ. I have sinned no less than you and deserve the same consequences, I just want everyone to believe that there is salvation and no condemnation in our Lord Jesus for those that believe in Him. We have been forgiven.
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