Tag Archives: Jesus

The very first horse whisperer…

April 16, 2010

In the real world of training horses in 2010, every trainer worth their salt is a horse whisperer. All that term really describes is one who speaks to horses using a language they are able to understand, and who also listens to what the horses say in response. Being a horse whisperer means building relationship between horse and trainer.

Just talking...

Just talking...

So, who was the very first horse whisperer? There are as many answers to that question as there are to the issue of which is the best bit or saddle pad. I’m going to undercut every one of those opinions and offer an answer of my own.

The First Horse Whisperer

Imagine you are going to be the grand marshal of a huge parade tomorrow morning. You will be the only equine entry. As you lead the parade, throngs of loud, excited folks are going to line the route and there will be no barriers to keep them from coming right up to the side of your mount and touching him when you ride by.

Not only will the spectators have access to your steed, but they will be throwing things directly in front of you and your equine as you make your way along the parade route. Wow, you think, which of my equines will be able to handle such a task? For most of us, no matter how well our horses are trained, the answer will be – none.

It Gets More Complicated

As you fret about which animal to saddle in the morning you receive a phone call from the parade’s organizers. They have a mount for you – don’t bother bringing your own.

And, just so you know, your parade mount is a two-year old that has never been ridden before… Is there a trainer out there who wouldn’t slam on the breaks right then and there?

The True Story

Easter is recently passed, which followed seven days after Palm Sunday. ‘What happened on Palm Sunday’, you ask? Well, there was a parade!

Jesus Christ took a two-year old colt that had never been ridden, climbed aboard and rode through the streets of Jerusalem. All the people shouted and threw palm branches in front of the too-green-to-describe colt as the parade made its way through narrow streets with no barrier between the crowd and the colt.

If you know of a horse whisperer who worked prior to the parade on Palm Sunday, please email me. Otherwise, I feel pretty secure in saying that Jesus Christ was the first horse whisperer.

Have you hugged your horse today?

Have you hugged your horse today?

Have a blessed day – and go hug your horse!

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Is your account paid in full?

April 2, 2010

There was an episode of Law and Order years ago where a father took the blame for his daughter’s crime and went silently off to prison. The daughter was a doctor, and we watched in disgust as she allowed her father to be blamed in her stead.

Good Friday Message

When we hear stories of sacrifice in the news, we feel deep pangs of shame on behalf of the one who did wrong and profound love for the one who gave all. When the one who benefits repeats their foolish or evil behavior there is no limit to the contempt they deserve. We are appalled; “How could they! Don’t they realize what was given to let them have another chance?”
cross with trees Jesus gave all, with complete knowledge of far greater consequences, than the father on Law and Order. We are saved from condemnation by grace, by unmerited favor.

Will you be one who repeats their bad behavior, even as the image of Christ on the Cross is played over and over on the Good Friday?

The Debt is Paid

Christians the world over should make time today to visit the base of the Cross. As His blood pools in the sand, our accounts are paid in full.

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What’s your freedom worth?

March 30, 2010

History is replete with examples of people who traded their freedom for captivity that came with a promise. The first story of bartering freedom is part of the very first story… Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Evidence that we continue on this same destructive path continues to mount even as the final piece of Health Care Reform is signed in Washington today.

Who Do You Believe?

Who Do You Believe?

Sometimes a Sense of Entitlement Closes the Sale

Eve bought the argument made by the serpent, “Why shouldn’t you be able to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge? Will you accept your status as second-class citizen?” Everyone knows how that story ended. The gate of the Garden barely missed bruising Adam and Eve’s leaf-covered behinds as it closed behind them forever. They sold their freedom for something to which they were not entitled. Oops. Satan lied, they died.

Fear and Laziness Convince Some to Sign the Deal

The captive Israelites in Egypt were elated as Moses led them out of service to Pharaoh and into freedom. Yet, no sooner did the waters of the Red Sea settle quietly over the Egyptian army than they started to whine, “ Who’s going to feed us? “

They knew the answer, they just weren’t sure they liked the terms of the deal. Accepting freedom includes responsibility and faith. They wanted to go back to Egypt to resume life as poorly treated slaves. Not a great life, but at least they knew where to go to work each day and that a bowl of watery soup would be delivered.

What happened to that generation of Israelites that turned its back on freedom? They all died in the desert. Someone lied, they died.

Citizens of the United States Are Selling Their Freedom

You have all heard that unless we study history we are doomed to repeat it. So true. Millions of American citizens are selling their freedom to the government in return for the promise of equality. Eve tried it. Didn’t work out so well there… Others are willing to sell their freedom because they are afraid of being responsible for themselves. They would rather have the guarantee of a watery bowl of gruel than the possibility of the promised land.

A Promise of Freedom You Can Believe

During this Holy Week there is yet one more example of people who sold their freedom because they did not understand the terms of the deal before them.
Jesus rode triumphant into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, hailed as a conquering hero to the Jews living under Roman occupation. The citizens believed Jesus came as a military king, one who would defeat the powerful and deliver them into eternal freedom.

The True Symbol of Freedom

The True Symbol of Freedom

Only five days later Jesus died; a failed imposter in the minds of those who called for His crucifixion. The people of the day were looking for someone to do the work for them, to fix everything, to return them to favored status.

The choice they made was to trade their freedom in hope that someone would make everything nice for them now. When the Garden gate closed, when the waters of the Red Sea stilled, and when sundown came on Good Friday, the foolish had given away their options for freedom without so much as a scuffle. They all died, remorseful of the deal they signed.

Who Do You Believe?

The lie each of these trusted was that a promise of a little today was worth the price of their freedom forever. When you give your freedom away you can never get it back. If it is taken from you by force, you have the possibility of using force to regain it.

Whether you are a Christian or not, the lesson here is to read the fine print before you sign away your freedom. Good deals are defined as those where both sides walk away winners. Are you giving away your freedoms for the promise of a little soup or a place in line at the free clinic?

True freedom comes when we agree wholeheartedly to the only deal offered where both sides win. That’s the deal offered to Christians. Eternal freedom brings eternal life. What may pass for temporary freedom only guarantees temporary life.

Patrick Henry very clearly laid out the choice we all must make:
“Give me liberty or give me death.”

In everything, choose life – choose freedom.

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Yesterday I needed therapy…

January 12, 2010

It was only Monday, but by early-afternoon I was fried. After a weekend of trying to figure out how to find and use copyright free images online, I had searched, copied, registered, signed-up, and still had not one picture to show for all my efforts.

I found a mesmerizing photo of a horse backed up by heavenly light; received permission from the photographer to use the work which was not copyright free… then was unable to find the image again to try and download it. I searched his site without success.

The last straw

Just as I had surrendered to a particular image website, I got an email from Linda Walker who is going to produce our first tiny little video. Her email listed the places I would need to go to find images, music, and sound effects. All of it required me to do just what I had spent the weekend attempting with abject failure. The last straw was a referral to that same site that had just bested me moments before.

I don’t get off-center easily. It is highly unusual for me to feel like I’ve been put into a bind, rushed to do something I am unprepared to do. Yesterday was like that. I sent an email back to Linda and begged off for the day. I went out and called Bo into the barn. I needed therapy.

Yesterday's therapist

Yesterday's therapist

Mistakes used well become lessons

After my time in the saddle on a glorious winter afternoon I recognized why I had become fried. It was, of course, entirely my own fault. No one required me to burn the candle on Saturday and Sunday. That was my own idea.

No one gave me a deadline of becoming adept at image retrieval by today. That was my own idea.

Yes, this is a skill I will have to master in the near term. However, my Boss does not give me work that He does not prepare me to do. He was probably watching me all weekend, shaking His head, waiting for me to figure it out.

The whole thing was my idea. That sums it up.

Finding peace

Have you ever seen a toddler run around so fast you know the only way they are going to stop is when their little fanny hits the dirt? Small children don’t have the coordination to do speed sprints gracefully. I don’t either.

Jesus taught His disciples one last lesson on the shore of Galilee the third and final time He appeared to them after the Resurrection. The seven fishermen had failed dismally to catch any fish after their long, cold, fruitless night on the water.

At dawn Jesus told them where, when, and how to let down their nets. The result was an amazing catch of 153 large fish. So great a catch and yet the net held fast. Jesus even had a hot breakfast ready when they got to shore.

The moral? We fail when we rely solely on our own experience and strength. If we do what we are asked, when we are asked, and how we are asked by God – our success if assured – and there will be a hot meal to sustain us.

I’m back in harness today. It’s a beautiful day. May you all be blessed.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. (John 14:27)

Visit Linda Walker at www.LWVideoproductions.com

Photo taken by Karen Smith, www.topshelfphotos.com

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Five more days till Christmas – life will return to normal

December 20, 2009

The nauseating commercials on television will disappear in just five days. The hypertensive stress of shopping on nerves, schedules and bank accounts will be over. The “what I want for Christmas” conversations will end. Finally, there will be a much-needed break from the disgusting charade of statesmanship taking place in Washington DC over health care reform. Life will return to normal.

In this season…

… we are captivated by celebration of the approaching birth of a Savior. He is already here.

… our thoughts and actions center on our dearest friends and family. They don’t disappear when the Christmas tree goes out to the curb.

… we take a much needed rest from the hassles, challenges and back-breaking labor needed to keep house and home together. Sunday comes every week.

… we make time to watch a heart-warming movie with dear ones. We choose programs with messages of love rather than testaments to computer-generated graphics. Love will always warm more hearts than video games.

… in some homes ‘we’ will be retired; replaced again by ‘Wii.’

… all who make it through to Christmas by biting their tongues lest they say the wrong thing can breathe easy again. They will be alone.

… gifts will be opened, returned, and compared. Tree skirts, now void of gaily-wrapped boxes will look sad and barren. Gifts that truly connect one heart with another don’t come in a box.

What is your normal?

If you behave differently during the Christmas season, perhaps you need a new normal. One that allows you to both give and receive the peace and joy that is the miracle of Christmas.

Christ was born. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Christmas is not a season; it is a melding of spirits. The miracle remains.

As December 25th fades away once more, may you be blessed with a new Christmas morning on the 26th, and at each sunrise thereafter.

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God’s perfect plan… the true date of Christ’s birth

December 13, 2009

The birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated on December 25th by decree of man, being first recorded as Christmas in 354 AD. The date became official in 440 AD.

The actual explanations vary from a desire to compete with the pagan winter solstice celebration, to making Christmas the same date as the local politico’s festival, hoping to sneak it in under the radar.

Whatever the true reason is for the December 25th date, we all know it is just an arbitrary date, not a reflection of the actual birth date of the Messiah.

When was Jesus really born? Most scholars believe it was in the spring. I buy that, too.

Let me share my personal belief about the true date of Christmas and the true date of Jesus’ crucifixion. I will fully admit that I have no proof. I just choose to believe. After all, isn’t that the crux of Christianity? We choose to believe.

In my orderly world I believe that Jesus died on the same calendar date He was born. One event happened on the anniversary of the other. Both are understood to be in the spring of the year. Barring evidence to the contrary, I choose to believe that this is one more example of God’s perfect plans; all of which have unending depth, meaning, and richness, that are sufficient to keep us in learning mode for our entire lifetime.

God’s plan was perfect. Christ the babe was born into the world to save mankind. Christ the Lord rose from the dead on a fresh spring day, with the tender plants a most glorious green as the flocks fed in the fields.

Is it really that big a stretch to believe that those same shepherds, who heard the herald angels bring good tidings of great news, watched their flocks on that same rich spring grass, just three short years earlier than the date the Lord arose?

No matter what the world may say, I choose to Believe.

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On the subject of faith and works…

October 8, 2009

Much has been written on the issue of faith and works; how they interact and which properly comes before the other. Today I’m going to add my two cents.

Oswald Chambers says that to pray for God to purify and make us saints is redundant. Jesus did all that ever needed to be done in that regard by His saving work on Calvary.

Christians are to pursue His face, to pursue relationship with Jesus Christ. Our work is to focus on His eye, ready to act on His next cue whenever it comes.

A horse doesn’t look for its trainer to make it a champion. The horse looks for food, shelter, security, comfort and relationship. This is the horse that makes the trainer proud, that is cherished.

There are those who are so busy doing works for God that they are not pursuing relationship with God. Watching a horse and rider move as if with a single spirit and will is captivating. Experiencing it yourself is even better.

Faith and relationship with Jesus Christ produces the same result, living and acting with a single spirit and will. The person who focuses on works, who prays to be a champion Christian, has missed the point entirely.

“It is easier to be busy in God’s work than to be still and quiet in His presence.” – Oswald Chambers

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Who will be a witness for you?

October 1, 2009

“Suddenly when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.” Mark 9:8

When we appear at the final bar for trial, there will be only one witness called, Jesus Christ. As He said in Luke 11:8-9, “whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”

On a similar theme, in issues between our horses and ourselves, the testimony of only one witness counts, that of your horse. Others may give their opinion about how well you do, but only your horse will give you perfectly direct and honest feedback. Horses never dissemble, lie or flatter.

In matters with and among other men and women, carefully discern which opinions are valuable and which are not. Your success depends on the choice of which witnesses you hear.

Give great consideration to whom your witnesses will be. In the court that truly matters, there is no appellate process.

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