by admin | Mar 24, 2026 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
Anyone who gets on the back of a bull or a bucking horse knows they only have so much control over what is about to happen when that chute gate opens. Anyone who runs a cattle operation knows they only have so much control over their operation to affect the prices come market day.
In the Book of James, James wants us to understand it’s God who is in control and it is Him we need to recognize is in control of those outcomes, including a 90-point ride or a buck off and a record market price or a devastating wildfire that burns through the pasture.
James 4:13-17 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James offers some pretty strong words to make us think about our place in our own plans when we have no knowledge about what tomorrow is going to bring.
Wildfires have been raging through Nebraska recently and we’ve seen them burn their way through Texas multiple times in recent years. Just a year ago, I found myself grabbing what I could and feeling my own home with the glow of an approaching wildfire in the night sky. I had been watching television and expecting to get up the next morning getting ready to do cowboy church at a rodeo. Instead, I spent the night in a friend’s spare room waiting for word on whether or not my home survived. Praise God, the high winds we were having shifted the fire north into an unpopulated area until it was brought under control as the winds finally gave up.
It’s a helpless feeling but a hard reminder that, good or bad outcomes, God is in control. James tells us that it is His will we should be seeking in everything we do. He doesn’t call it sin, but instead, choosing a harsher word by calling it arrogant and evil for us to boast to others about our plans.
What makes it arrogant is to think we can control our outcomes. That doesn’t mean we don’t work hard toward an outcome. It doesn’t mean we don’t plan out how much feed we think we might need to pick up to make it through until the spring pasture greens up enough to move the cattle. We plan these things with understanding that we are only here for a short time while God has been in control for generations before us and for as many generations as this Earth has left. We need to seek and follow God’s direction through each decision we make.
He ends the section of scripture with a warning that knowing what God wants us to do and ignoring it is sinful.
by admin | Aug 11, 2025 | Behind the Bucking Chutes
By Daryl Skeeter Spaulding / Cowboys for Christ, special to Cowboys of the Cross
To be a cattleman or cattlewoman, you must be an efficient multitasker.
Think about all the skills you have learned from hands on experience or continue to develop to be good at what you love doing. To be successful in this industry you wear many aprons, such as land and water manager, part time veterinarian, equipment operator, carpenter, mechanic, meteorologist and conservationist. Also, being a student of new ways of doing something means reading and studying, which is the goal you are striving for.
Living life with this mindset of continual learning has a Biblical principle to it. It reminds me of a passage
of scripture. The verse is 2 Timothy 2:15. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a
workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV)
In my study of this text, I so appreciate the insight I get from multiple study Bibles I keep on my
bookshelf. When it comes to our approach to the Bible we should, read it, study it and memorize it.
The Bible – God’s inspired Word- is our only conclusive source of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding
ultimate realities. Correctly handling the word of truth is likened to a furrow being plowed straight for
planting and then harvesting a crop with a combine. The good workman must be accurate and clear in
his or her exposition of God’s Word, keeping to the road themselves and making it easy for others to
follow.
Another example of being a good cattleman is that you’re always learning to become
better than the day or year before and the reason to be in the Word is to have that better and best
relationship with Christ. That way you know in your heart the day-to-day decisions you make are the
right ones, no matter what the world is telling you contrary to the truth revealed in God’s Word.
The text calls us beyond a casual approach to the scriptures. Developing an attitude to learn so we can
grow into a deeper knowledge of God is sure worth having. The foremost thing you will find is that you are loved; yes, you. From that knowledge as the most fundamental truth, growing in Christ will take on new meaning. Ultimately, that’s an eternal goal worth striving for.
We take seriously what’s important to us, not a single cattleman with money invested
into their land or herd takes a casual approach to their operation. We receive a reward for stretching
ourselves when it comes to achieving growth. I believe it’s important to have knowledgeable resources
to draw from for your business in one hand and a Bible for growing in obedience to Christ in the other
hand. God bless you as you continue to do both.
by admin | May 22, 2025 | Behind the Bucking Chutes
By Daryl Skeeter Spaulding / Cowboys for Christ chaplain
The greatest rancher of all time in the Bible was King Solomon. His kingdom stretched many places surrounding Israel. He had the command of the entire region and a multitude of personal staff that no other ever achieved. How would you like to manage and feed that bunch?
Let’s have a look at how he did it. We find it in 1 Kings 4:22-26. “Solomon’s daily provisions were thirty cors (5 ½ tons) of the finest flour and sixty cors (11 tons) of meal, ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice foul. For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides. During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their fig tree. Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses”. (Bold letters and parentheses are added.)
That’s a lot of livestock, not to mention the waterfowl!!! Plus, all wheat and corn for the refining of flour and meal. Solomon was a ranching and farming mogul. It would have been a sportsman’s paradise. He both grew/raised the daily provisions and imported it from the countries under his influence. The definition of “daily” is what really struck me.
But what really made Solomon such a great man? This guy was about 20 years old when King David placed him on the throne. And now King Solomon was in charge before David passed. There are some indicators in Scripture that Solomon was not David’s first choice for his replacement. Being 20 years old with the world setting on his shoulders, does not exactly breathe confidence. This young King knew this as well. Solomon had a dream when God asked him a question. 1 Kings 3:5-15.
Starting with verse 5 we read— At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him,” Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for- both wealth and honor – so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” Then Solomon awoke-and he realized it had been a dream.
This is what made King Solomon so great!!! He wanted wisdom from Almighty God above anything else. I want my heart and attitude to be like this and I hope you do as well. Wouldn’t this attitude be great for every government official?
But let’s start with ourselves today. The first thing is to have a relationship with Almighty God through faith in Jesus Christ, reading the Bible daily and finding a good fellowship at church to do life with. All of this will lead to the wisdom we need to live a life pleasing to God.
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