by admin | Aug 18, 2025 | James
By Scott HIlgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
Ever seen a rodeo cowboy lose it on a judge for a bad call or a producer he thinks has cheated him?
It can get pretty ugly, lead to fines and bans from an association and can even end in throwing fists, a jail cell and assault charges.
Ugly words escalate a situation quickly and hurt all the people around us including ourselves.
James stresses for us the power of our words, referring to our tongues as the source and, even though the illustration is almost 2,000 years old, uses illustrations we can understand from today—especially horse people.
Using the examples of bits and the rudders of ships, he explains how something so small is capable of steering a horse or an entire boat. We know from Jesus and Paul in other parts of the New Testament of the importance of speaking in kindness and using our voices to share the gospel with others, but James focuses on the dangerous power of our tongues.
James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
We can ruin our entire lives with the words we speak and a single angry outburst. What we say to our boss in a heated moment can mean the end of a job, missed truck and house payments and family leaving us because we can no longer support them; all because we couldn’t control our tongue.
Worse is the harm we can do to others as James describes the tongue as a fire from hell. He makes it clear our tongues are evil and that while we have been able to tame the animal kingdom around us, no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. James 3:1-12 describe all of these concerns about the words we speak.
In a moment of control, we can give praise to God for something good in our lives but then completely ignore God’s importance in our life by using our words to cut down someone else, forgetting we are all made in God’s image.
Our words, according to James, has the power to do as much harm to the people around us the way a single spark can set an entire forest on fire and corrupts what is good in us. One piece of gossip spread to another on the rodeo grounds or at the horse sale can spread, exaggerate and completely destroy a person’s life.
Yes, when we have a saving faith in Jesus, God still sees us as good and righteous despite all of this, but James is telling us how important our words are and the need to be in total control of the words we speak. They either do good all the time or all the good our words can achieve are meaningless if we also speak harmful words.
We need to hold our tongue, think before we speak, and remain silent if our words could do harm.
And to the beginning of the chapter, those of us who teach or preach are warned to be the most careful about what we say because we are going to be judged more severely by God. I don’t know what the looks like but I personally take pressure for that every time I try to teach God’s word at cowboy church or on social media.
James 3:1-12 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
by admin | Jun 19, 2025 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
Even demons believe in God but do our lives demonstrate that we have a saving faith in Jesus?
If you look around during the opening sequence of a rodeo, you can see evidence of faith everywhere. People in the bleachers stand with their hats off and bow their heads in prayer as the announcer often leads a scripted prayer or uses “The Cowboy Prayer” that most of us have heard dozens to more than a hundred times. You can see the rodeo cowboys’ crosses on necklaces dangling out from under their shirts as gravity pulls them free in their forward-leaning positions as they pray. You might see some take a knee on the arena ground and point to the sky after a win or even just a safe dismount or run in a gesture toward God.
But if you walk through the parking lot after the performance, you can just as easily see the sinful side of some of those same cowboys as no one watches their language without the spectators and especially kids around as beer and weed come out. If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll see a handshake that exchanges money or a baggy. Later, some will hook up with buckle bunnies at a bar somewhere or get into a fight. Those are just some of the visible sins that can help create a negative stereotype for rodeo cowboys.
And of course, it isn’t like that with everyone. There’s still a huge family component to the sport but for many, that opening prayer will be the only time that family prays all week.
And also, of course, there are devout Christians in the mix who, like any Christian trying to follow Jesus, struggle with their sins but are dedicated to growing in their faith.
Real faith that leads to action.
And that’s what James is talking about in all of James 2:14-26.
James 2:14-18 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
James is telling us that when our saving faith in Jesus is real, it leads us to carry out “deeds” which are the actions we take as we follow what Jesus and others teach us in the Bible. Helping someone in need, speaking words that lift people up, refraining from anger and immorality.
None of these earn us salvation but they are proof that we’re saved because when our faith is real, we want to be more like Jesus and actually live out what the Bible teaches us. A cross around our necks can show us that we have faith, but how we conduct ourselves shows our faith is alive and real.
Wearing crosses and acknowledging God by pointing upward after a win can show that we have faith, that we at least believe in God, but James reminds us that even demons believe God is real. When our faith has saved us by truly believing Jesus was the son of God, died for our sins and was resurrected so that with repentance and asking to be forgiven of our sins, then we are going to live out our faith.
Just the act of receiving salvation requires more than faith. We have to believe but we also have to take the actions of repenting of our sin and asking to be forgiven.
James puts it bluntly that when there are no actions to back up our faith, our faith is dead. It’s actually as useless as telling a hungry person who can’t afford food, to go find something to eat. If we find ourselves wondering if we are really saved, by looking at our lives and seeing if we have a desire to know what’s in the Bible and that we’re trying to live it out; that can be proof to ourselves that we have a genuine saving faith in Jesus.
If there are actions to back up why we wear that cross or have it as a tattoo on our arm, others can see that our faith is real and alive. It can help others to want to know how to find an eternity in Heaven when they see our faith in action.
It’s okay to wear the cross or have the tattoo, there just are going to be Christ-like actions to back it up when our faith is real.
by admin | Jun 4, 2025 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross Racing to get to a rodeo or stock sale on time, some of us have experienced mercy at the hands of a law enforcement officer who chose to let us off with a warning.
Mercy from God is not receiving a punishment we deserve. Be sending Jesus to die for our sins and take the punishment we deserve, God shows us His greatest of mercies.
James 2: 12-13 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
When James tells us to live like we are being judged by the law that gives freedom, he is talking about the gospel and God’s mercy and grace given to those of us who believe. We repent of our sin with the understanding Jesus died to take the punishment our sins deserve so that if we believe in his life, death and resurrection and ask to be forgiven, we are able to have an eternity in Heaven. God no longer judges us for our sin. That is true freedom, far greater than a cop overlooking a speeding fine and the fact we aren’t wearing a seat belt. We can breathe a sigh of relief that our efforts to get to the rodeo haven’t cost us a couple hundred dollars but true freedom comes in knowing God will receive us into Heaven no matter what mistakes we’ve made because of our saving faith in Jesus.
But if we’ve been shown that kind of mercy, how can we not extend mercy to others instead of our own personal judgments?
Because of the previous verses in James, there’s an emphasis on how the poor are treated and the need for them to receive mercy from Christians, not judgment.
This still extends to all aspects of our life and James is encouraging us to be sure that we show mercy to everyone, all the time. That’s tough to do and why God, who can show endless grace and mercy, will still extend it to us.
We know that even if we mess up pretty bad after we’ve come to a saving faith in Jesus, God will still welcome us into Heaven through His grace. James warns us that even as Christians welcomed to Heaven, there are still consequences from God for us acting without mercy to others.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
What we show others, we should expect to be shown to us.
Would you rather sit in judgment of someone you don’t think deserves to be helped or would you rather honor God, who saved you from an eternity in hell, by showing mercy to someone.
That can be through forgiving a friend or family member who wronged you, helping pay someone’s entry fees who you would rather judge for blowing all his money at the bar the night before or giving money to the man begging at the intersection while the light is red and you’re late now anyway because the cop pulled you over.
Cowboys of the Cross is a rodeo/bull riding ministry that leads cowboy church services at events and maintains an online presence to share the gospel and make disciples among the ranch and rodeo community. They can be found at CowboysOfTheCross.com
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