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Arena To The Cross Ministry
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Arena
To The Cross Ministry began from a vision God placed in Lynn
's heart in 1987 to
conduct a Barrel Racing Clinic which included teaching the Word of God
in addition to barrel racing. It was held at Over 120 students attended and everyone was tremendously blessed by the event. More than 50 people received their salvation; over 30 received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit; many ministries were birthed; people were healed, delivered, and set free, just to name some of what occurred. Today there are still reports coming in from people who attended the event.
The purpose of this page is to have a place where we can include
devotionals on a regular basis for those of you who have been fed and
blessed by Lynn
& Murray
and Arena To The Cross
Ministry.
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The following was written by our daughter, Jennifer Burgess (formerly Jennifer Mercer). Jennifer has really been "on fire" for God over the last year and we are so proud of her for doing so. Both she and Wendy have a depth in the Word that is so amazing to us since they have been pretty laid back about expressing it. All that has changed now. Wendy is finishing her second year of Bible school in May and Jennifer has started doing services at some of the barrel races. When she sent this to us, we were so touched, we asked her for permission to put it on the website. We believe most of you (if not all) will be blessed and ministered to by it.
The
Merry-Go-Round by Jennifer Burgess I
just felt impressed to share with you all what I have been going through
lately. I want you all to be encouraged by this and to know that
even as we sometimes struggle with life, we are never alone. When
I got home yesterday, I went out and rode and was praying over Lee Akin
and God really started dealing with me on some things. I called my
mom and was telling her about it and she said sounded like I better pay
attention. I keep letting all this stuff distract me and didn't
realize that the enemy was sneaking into my camp. When I started
off trotting on Sassy, she just didn't feel right. God reminded me
of that passage of scripture (John 10: 10) where it talks about the
enemy sneaking in unnoticed into your life. God said sometimes even in
the form of friends. He used an analogy. When I was a kid
and going to rodeos with my parents, we would always go to the fair after the
rodeo was over. Usually, because it was already late the guys running
the ride would sometimes let us ride until we said stop. Our favorite
ride to ride was the Merry-Go-Round. You could hear the music
playing before you would ever see it and we would let the music lead us
to where it was. As soon as we would turn the corner and be able
to see it, my sister and I would take off running to get in line
for it. Even if mom and dad were calling to us, we had already
seen the Merry-Go-Round and heard the music and there was no
turning back, because the music and bright lights and beautiful colors
and the excitement of the ride were more enticing to us then
listening to our parents telling us to wait. So we would get on
and go round and round and round. In our minds we were on a great
adventure in a magical land. But in reality, we were going nowhere
but in a bunch of circles, past all the same sights and sounds each
turn. We
get into life and certain aspects of it become much like this Merry-Go-Round.
We keep getting on and going around and around the same problems
and situations time and time again. But Jesus is standing there
saying “not this time, I have something better,” yet we hear that
all too familiar tune of the Merry-Go-Round and are drawn
right back to it. So this week, this is the place I got to. But
because it was all so familiar and enticing, I didn't even realize I had
stepped away from God. I began to pursue that Merry-Go-Round
life because I heard the music. And God said to me that if I
wanted to get back on that ride and have another go around; if that
is what I wanted to do, then He would not stop me. See I have been
to this place where I am at right now before, heard the music, and
jumped right on the ride. Then I was no longer in control, no
matter how it seemed, because that Merry-Go-round had a set and
unchanging course it was on. And you can't move forward when the
ride you are on just keeps going in the same old circles. God
wants me to push to a higher level in Him and in doing that, it brings
every aspect of my life to a different level. There are things
that I know God has been asking me to do, yet I put it off. Why?
Because I allowed myself to be in pride over those things. I
have not truly let myself and my spirit be broken for Him. I still
hold on to that pride and I can still hear the faint music playing in my
head. I spend my time chasing after relationships with people who
either put a real drain on me and give nothing back, or they themselves
are stuck on that Merry-Go-Round and don't want off, or maybe even
don't realize they need to get off. I let trivial unimportant
things in general day to day living get me off track. I let myself
get so tied up with busy work that I don't make time for the most
important thing in my life. And I think “well God will
understand; He can see all this I have going on.” We begin to
make excuses to justify what we are doing and because we show up in
church, or say “praise God” when we are talking to someone, we fool
ourselves into thinking that we have are not off course and are still in
contact with God. But we are not praying or reading His word and
finding the revelation truth in it. And we really are not listening to
Him when He asks us to go out of our way to share a moment with a total
stranger in the middle of Wal-Mart. And we sure aren't seeking His
counsel regarding where we are going and who we are going there with.
And we sure don’t want to hear what He has to say about the type
of people we allow to speak into our lives. Do you see where I am
going? Understand this, all
of that is the music and it’s pulling you right back in. God
gives us opportunities in our lives, but certain ones are only offered a
few times and then they pass and you have to settle on something else.
His desire is for us to be exceedingly above what we thought we
could do or be, but that opportunity is not always available to us.
Sometimes we have to be at the place where we can see it for what
it is and choose to lay everything else aside, whatever life
we think we have going, and go after what God is calling us to.
You see, before I let myself get distracted, I had been
studying about the different ways that Jesus acquired his disciples in
the Bible. Some of them he walked by and asked them to get out of
the boat. Then there were those who came and asked Him and He told
them what they needed to do first. Then there was Paul, who had
that As
I rode my horse and God began to reveal these things to me, I recognized
the gentle discipline. I cried and I repented; and as I released
it to God, I noticed a change in the way Sassy was traveling. She
began to extend her stride, her feet hit the ground better, and her eye
relaxed. But to me it didn't mean that what I had felt when I
first started to ride her was something wrong with her, it was an
indication that I was letting the enemy in. So I said out loud
that I shut the door I left open to the enemy. I will only pursue
what God puts on my heart to pursue and I will let go of the things that
are in not my pursuit and not of Him. So
my question to all of you today is, “What is your music? What
are you letting keep you from going ahead with God? Do you really want
to begin to pursue that next level of intimacy with Him? Is it
fear? Is it strife among friends or family in the past or present?
Is it relationships God wants you to surrender? Or like in
my case, is it just a matter of pride?” I encourage you face
whatever it is and release it to God. Then get busy doing what He
is asking. Change your ride and sing a different tune.
Want a great, FREE Bible study program? Go to http://www.e-sword.net/ and click on Downloads for FREE software you may use at any time. Once you download and install what you want, you then do not have to be online to use it. It's what we use almost exclusively now.
Our Vision Our vision is for people to meet Jesus and realize that knowing Him, as their personal savior, is the utmost human experience a person will ever have. This vision is for people to know Him through His Word and by personally experiencing Him in their lives, and to understand that the ministry of the Holy Spirit far exceeds any man made religion or doctrines. The Bible becomes very real to us as we experience Jesus through the ministry of the Holy Spirit actually living His life in us and through us. We believe the Bible is the whole Word of God; that it is accurate and complete, it should be interpreted literally, and it is God's will for mankind. We believe Jesus came to Earth as a man, made an eternal covenant with mankind, died on a cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, was resurrected from the dead, and applied His blood to the Holy Of Holies in Heaven, which paid the price for our sins and gives us the right to a full covenant relationship with the Father. He now sits at God's right hand and is interceding for us and He is our Savior and Lord. We believe that we have been commanded by our Lord Jesus to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and that it should be a normal event in the life of all New Testament believers. We welcome everyone from any walk of life whether they are "horse people" or not. Simply those who desire to meet Jesus and have a closer relationship with Him, to really "know" Him and not just to know "about" Him.
Links to other sites in Cowboy Ministry: All Around Cowboy Church - Pastors Sonny & Gloria Rice Arena Of Life - Pastor Ty & LouAnn Jones Amazing Grace Fellowship - Pastor Lynn & Dorett Schaal Christian Cowboys & Friends - Ronnie Christian Cowboy Bistro - Rockin' W Rodeo Ministry - Ted & Linda Wiese IWWOC - Rodeo Cowboy Ministries - Glen & Ann Smith Maranatha Church - Dr. Ronnie & Sandy Trice New Frontiers Cowboy Church of Canton, TX Pastors Randy & Grace Sadler National Christian Barrel Racers Association Pro Rodeo Ministries - Coy and Donna Huffman White Riata Ministries - Candice Myers Willow Tree Ministries - Mary Styer & The Styer Family http://www.cowboychurch.net/ - Directory of Cowboy Churches & Ministries These are just a few of our great friends in Cowboy Ministry. For a complete listing see either the cowboychurch.net or Christian Cowboys & Friends site in the above list. Be Blessed in Jesus name!!!!!!
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