Champions of Christ

This past weekend, I had the great honor of sharing during the Cowboy Church Service at the Brady Wakefield Timed Event Championship in Ponca, Nebraska. The event celebrate the life of a significant young man and brought close family and friends under one roof to participate in a sport that he had a great passion for. 

I was very fortunate to grow up with Brady. From church goings, to school events, and weekend horse shows and rodeos. He loved to joke around and always carried a positive attitude. To many of us, he was an inspiration.

A while back, I submitted myself this a facebook 24 hour Bible verse challenge. Essentially, I had to post a video on facebook of me saying what my favorite verse was and challenge four others to do the same thing. I challenged Brady to this, and within 10 minutes he posted his video of his favorite verse Jeremiah 29:11. This verse is something that Brady modeled as an individual and as an athlete.

Whether you know it or not, God wants you to be a champion. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “He has a plan for you, plans to prosper.” He wants you in the race pushing toward that destiny. There will be times when God will want you to stretch your faith and take more ground. He has put a fire in each one of us. A desire to achieve our greatest dreams and to be the absolute best.

We all have dreams. Some may want to work in the medical field, others in finance, while some prefer to rope and ride for the rest of their life. Whatever your desire is to do we all want to be successful. However, the road to where we want to be isn’t always going to be paved and well graded with wide shoulders. Instead, it is going to have pot holes, bumps, and bridges that we must cross.  To me, the act of excelling and achieving is rather a process that consists of 3 specific points.

1                .     The desire for greatness

2                .     Expecting the best

3                .     Refusing to quit

As athletes we have the desire to achieve greatness and be the best. This is a desire that has been planted into the entire human race. Each and every one of us in our own way has a desire for greatness.

But what is greatness, TRUE greatness?

To the world, greatness is to exalt over others. This could be in athletics, finances, politics… the general picture here is climbing higher over others most of the time at their expense. The Bible’s definition of greatness is lifting up, helping and loving others without seeking personal recognition or reward. Philippians 2:3-5 says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition.”

Although we have the desire for greatness, we need to expect the best.

This takes me back to a few summers ago when I spent 3 months in Texas doing roping ministry events and clinics. After clinics, we spent the evenings around a camp fire in worship. I can remember Stran Smith was there that night telling everyone who was gathered that there was a time when he was roping a few practice calves where he had been tying several calves in the 9-second range. As he rode back to the roping chute, a little voice cam to him saying, “You’re not putting your heart into this.” It was then that he realized that he had quit expecting the best that he could do. The next time, he backed into the box and roped his next calf in 8-seconds flat. As most of you know, there is quite a difference between a 9-second run and 8-second run. The difference between the two runs is that he through himself into it because he expected the best.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things we hope and expect for.”

If we don’t have great expectations then we have nothing to apply our faith to. Everyone has the choice of living by faith, or living in doubt and unbelief, afraid to launch out into what seems totally impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Are you expecting a faster time? If you are, I encourage you to pull on Go for His creativity and direction. Maybe you need to spend a few more swings roping the dummy, taking the turns a little slower around the barrels to find the correct pockets, or a few more minutes in his word. Expect to succeed and don’t let doubt and fear cheat you out of it. Fear is nothing but false evidence that appears to be real. Faith in God makes the impossible possible but first you have to expect it. God wants to you experience his every best, so go for it!

This brings me to my third point, of wanting and expecting to succeed but the truth is that times get hard and desperation of not seeing progress settles sin. I’m sure that most of you have been in these situations where things weren’t going the way you wanted them to. You have received no time after no time, broken barriers, and knocked barrels. It was in times like these that you wanted to cash it all in and give up. Quite frankly that is just the devil getting in the way. However, Champions of the sport and Champions of Christ, refuse to quit. When times like these happen, we need to dig deeper into His word. We are on this journey with God and pursing our life goal, we have defining moments that determines whether we continue by faith or we quit.

There will be times when the enemy gets in the way, and times that no matter how hard you try it is just not going to work. But here is your chance to win or lose. We will only win if we bring it to the cross. Through constant prayer we establish that He is our strength. He is the might and power to get the job done.

Champions push forward because they know victory is down the road. This maybe the most defining quality of a champion. It’s the challenges, difficulties, discouragements, disappointments, and obstacles of every kind that hit their lives and they get up, get back in the race, and go forward. They have the tenacity to keep pressing forward. A champion is an ordinary person who refuses to quite. One more pray. One more day. One more chance.

Each and every one of you are a champion of Christ, and he will make you the champion of your dreams if you have a desire for greatness first and foremost in his kingdom and then in your field. If you are expecting to be the best and you refuse to quit event when the devil tries to get in your way.

Rodeo and Faith - Dale Hirschman

When was the first time you heard about Christ? When did you receive him as your personal Lord and Savior?
I grew up in church but didn't hear about the salvation message until I was 13 or 14 yrs old. I thought it was a no-brainer to receive Jesus, so I did. While in college I really committed my life to Jesus and started living for Him. I had high morals but no relationship with Him until I got involved in FCA at college. When I became a real Christian it was long enough ago that being a Christian and being a cowboy wasn't hardly heard of. It was at the start of the Christian movement in the rodeo world. At that time a "Cowboy Church" was unheard of.


You accepted Christ early in your career, how did you apply him to your rodeo effort? (Especially throughout high school, college, and all your rodeo travels)
As I was saying earlier being a Christian and a rodeo cowboy was very rare when I started so, I had a tough time at 1st with the two going together. In Eph. 4:1 it says to "walk worthy of the vocation wherein you were called" I figured I was a PRCA bareback rider (not that I was making much of a living at it, but I was trying) so I started to let my light shine at the rodeos I was at and acknowledge Him in all my ways, plus God was moving in other Cowboys' hearts and that's when my 2 worlds started combining. Being a Christian and a cowboy became more common.


Throughout your career, you have had many qualifications to the Prairie Circuit Finals and have won many other events how do you feel Christ has played a role in this?
Any success I've obtain in rodeo was really affected by Col. 3:23 becoming real in my life. My worldly success in rodeo hasn't been as much as I wanted but to pull into a rodeo and compete as an act of worship to my Heavenly Father is a phenomenal feeling and became my goal every time I "nodded my head".


Tell us about your Ultimate Challenge Ministries and what inspired you to start this ministry?
The name "Ultimate Challenge Ministries" came to me once when I saw an add for the WNFR and they called it the "Ultimate Challenge". I thought, "No, it's not because it's limited by physical abilities, demographics, age, etc. However, following Jesus daily is the "Ultimate Challenge" because it's open to everyone, everywhere, at any time and it never runs out. And that became the name of our ministry when we became a registered ministry. I never set out to start a ministry. Another student while I was in college started holding church services at the college rodeos in the Central Plains Region where we were competing and he left the season early so I stepped in and did the last cowboy church service and the ministry started from that. That was in the spring of 1980 and we've been holding them ever since.


Through your ministry, you have the opportunity to share Christ to others, what does this mean to you?
Through my life I've had the opportunity to share Jesus with others. I've got GREAT NEWS to share... I have the love and acceptance of the Greatest Father, the forgiveness of the Greatest Savior, and the help of the Greatest Helper, and the Greatest Purpose to live everyday! I love to encourage people and in that process point them towards a relationship with Jesus.


Can you explain to us the book you wrote The Cowboy Call.
The book I wrote was fulfilling of a life long dream I had to write and illustrate a book. "The Cowboy Call" is a book of short stories/ testimonies about God's faithfulness in everyday life. They are events that I've been a part of or that I've seen. It was written to encourage people in their everyday walk with Jesus. We've gotten quite a few good reports from people about it and I believe everyone in the western world should read it. (just sayin' c: )


How do you and your family stay so connected in the word?
My family and I stayed connected in the Word through nightly family devotions and going to our home church. I personally have committed to read God's Word every day. Some days I read a lot, a lot I read a little, but, I try to read some everyday.


What is your favorite Bible story/verse and why?
My favorite Bible verses: For everyday living I really like Pro. 3; for my Father's heart towards us I love Luke 15 the prodigal son story. I believe it's more about our Father's heart towards us than it is about the son''s failures. The scriptures for tough times I like II Corin 4:8-9 & II Corin. 5:14 (KJV).

There are many young athletes who are just starting their rodeo career, what are some encouraging thoughts you have for them?
For young contestants starting out; Jesus is not a "good-luck charm" He is a real and loving God who wants an intimate everyday relationship with you! And the greatest thing you can do is compete as an act of worship to Him, fellowship with Him in every area of your life, and stand strong for Him allowing your warrior heart to show forth in everything you do.

Faith and Rodeo - Chuck Swisher

 

How did you get started bullfighting? 

My father rode Bulls and retired before I was born and I just got the idea in my head that I wanted to be a rodeo cowboy. I was a skateboarder until the age of 14ish. I made a transition from vans to boots and flat bill caps to cowboy hats. I thought I wanted to ride bulls like my dad but I was to scared. There was a cowboy/bullfighter that was a senior my freshman year of high school and I looked up to him and wanted to be like him. So I followed him around and my parents took me to a bullfighting school and the rest is history.

 

 

Can you share with us your testimony?

 I've "known" who God is my entire life, but I didn't really "know" Him. Grew up going to a Baptist church and as a young kid I was just excited for it to end and lunch to get here. I went to Fallscreek(church camp) when I was about 13 and one night at revival they did an alter call. I wasn't exactly sure what that was but a buddy(a kid I thought was cool) came up and said "chuck you should go down there, heck I'll go with you". So I thought if he's doing it I might as well, plus I wanted to be cool in front of my friends. I walked down to the front and was "saved" said the prayer and cried. But being a 13 yr old kid I didn't really know exactly what that meant. Few years pass and now I'm 21-22 and had some friends ask if I wanted to go to the Riding on Faith bullriding and bible camp. Once again these Friends of mine were the cool guys I wanted to hang out with. So I figured I'll go get to hang out with them, get to fight Bulls which I love and it'll be a great time. Needless to say when I got there it was a bible camp that just so happened to have Bulls at it. Went to church breakfast lunch and dinner and each night was a big sermon. One night we were praising and worshipping and the preacher said "now is the time if you haven't before and you really want to live for the Lord, now is the time." I hit my knees and I knew this time what I was saying. I ask God into my heart I confessed with my mouth and believed it in my heart. Iv never had such a peace come over me like that before. Laughed so hard, cried so hard all on my knees. Ever since, Swish is a Jesus Freak!!

 

How do you stay so connect in the word, especially since you are on the road?

Being on the road as much as we are is hard to have a set pattern of things to do. The good thing is there's a handful of rodeos that will have bible study each night after or church on Sunday's we get to go attend, such as Rodeo Houston. Ted and Linda Weise do bible study every night so it's hard not to stay connected that way. And I challenged myself as I challenged all of you. If God is the most important thing in your life like He should be, then He deserves our first. Which means when you wake up in the morning make facebook, Instagram and social media wait!! God deserves that moment. So the first thing I do is roll over grab my bible and give God my first. I thank Him for the day and read what He has for me that day. I know some days are harder than the others, but what's 5-10 minutes of your morning actually going to hurt? And if you have to be somewhere early set your alarm early and give that 5-10 minutes to God.

 

You have led bible studies and have had other opportunities to share Christ to others, what does this mean to you?

Getting to share my story and getting to share Gods story to people is one of the greatest things ever. I love being able to help people and love people like Jesus did for us. I plan on becoming a preacher some day, not sure when but I have a feeling that God is going to put me with a microphone in front of people to spread His word.

 

Do you have any crazy experiences bull fighting that you would like to share with us?

Every day is a crazy experience in my book. The group of guys we hang out with are all the best and that's because we push each other harder than anyone else. We are always goofing around and making each other better. The craziest or scariest bullfighting experience Iv ever had was probably walking 30 feet down the tunnel of the Thomas and Mack for the NFR. I was so nervous I stood close to the trash can the entire time I was warming up. But once I stepped foot in that dirt it was game on.

 

What is your favorite Bible story/verse and why?

Man this is a hard question. There are so many good stories in the bible, but the one that sticks out to me the most is probably David vs Goliath. David being a young kid having the amount of faith he had to fight Goliath being a 10 ft monster and he wins. It relates to my life just as me in this world. We all have hurdles to jump and hills to climb but we have to keep the faith and believe that God has our back because He does. My favorite bible verse is Romans 1:16. I'm a 11sixer all the way. It says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." I am unashamed and that's how we should all be I believe.

 

Throughout your career, you have won many bull fighting events how do you feel Christ has played a role in this?

I'm smiling big at this question. God has played such a huge roll in my life and my career. If it weren't for Him I wouldn't have done anything. He deserves all the glory. I was dead broke and it was the same time as the Riding on Faith camp and I had a bullfight in Cody, WYO the next week. Barely had enough money to get there and then had to fly to Vegas and drive to Utah after that. I went to the bullfight and my cup literally overfloweth. In my round of the bullfight the kid before me was 90 points and that's pretty huge. I knew I had to do my best to make any money. Needless to say I went 92. Ended up winning the bullfight and making enough money to get me to the next one. That was all God there. So He plays a roll in my everyday.

 

For those who are aspiring to have a career as a bullfighter, what encouraging thoughts do you have for them?

When I started I watched film everyday all day and still do. I had an old VHS tape that I watched so much you couldn't see what was happening because of the grey lines in the screen. Always give your best and if you have a true passion for something and God has your back you can do anything.

 

 

Faith and Rodeo - Candace Lostroh

Can you share with us your testimony? When did you start living all out for Christ?

Well, I always grew up in church.  You could say that I had “religion” but not a “relationship” with Jesus.  I really came to know God and started living for Him in high school.  At our high school rodeos we had some amazing men of God preach on Sunday mornings so I got hear about the real Jesus and how He did everything on the Cross to make me worthy for His love and I didn’t have a bunch of sacraments to complete to be worthy of His love I just had to accept Him into my heart.  What a relief!

 

Could you touch a little bit on the testimony of your marriage.

Kody and I started dating when we were 16 years old and we got married when we were 20 years old. Kody came to Jesus when he was about 14 years old so he kind of helped me along when I decided to leave the religion that I had grown up in and to just focus on what the Bible says.  That’s what I loved about him the most right from the beginning is that he loved Jesus more than he loved me and he saw to it that I grew in my faith.  He is always so encouraging to me in everything that I do.  If Jesus wasn’t at the center of our marriage I’m not sure we’d be happily married today.  Marriage is hard!  Jesus has to be at the center of it to make it work successfully.  We’re also really good at forgiving quickly.

 

What is it that pushes you and your family to dig deeper into His word on a daily basis?

I’ll be honest that sometimes life gets away from us.  I’ll be having a rough week and I’ll stop to realize that I seriously have not picked up my Bible in a few days.  That’s when I’ll try to and get in the Word and pray.  Kody and I love praying with our girls and teaching them about Jesus.  Also, worship music really ministers to me.  If I’m having a bad day or just stressed I’ll start up my worship playlist and my girls and me will get lost to Bethel or Jesus Culture.  Sheridan always has to point out that they’re singing about Jesus.  I love watching God shape their little hearts.  There’s also nothing better than starting and ending your day in prayer.  No matter what God always welcomes me back with open arms when I’ve wandered away from Him or messed up.  He’s so forgiving.

How do you and your family stay so connected in the word, especially since your husband is on the road often?

I’m really involved in our church at Northern Colorado Cowboy Church, so when he’s away traveling I still feel like I have a family around me.  Kody’s always reading books so when he’s on the road he’ll share with me what he’s reading and what it’s ministering to him about.  I wish we were better about praying over the phone, but a lot of times he’s calling me late at night after he’s rode and I’m half asleep.  The question I get asked more than anything is, “how do you deal with him riding bulls?  Don’t you get scared?”  If I stopped to think about what “could” happen for more than a nanosecond, yes, I do get scared.  But God’s Word says to take every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).  I pray for him a lot and I know that no matter what as long as we have God in our lives we have everything we need no matter what comes our way.  I also know that I’m doing my husband a disservice of I’m nervous and anxious for him as he rides because we are one flesh and if he’s not focusing on that then I shouldn’t be either.

 

 

Candace and her family

What is it like for you to share Christ to your children?

My girls are one year old and almost 3 years old and even though they’re both pretty young to fully understand a lot about Jesus and what He did for them, they’re not too young to learn about how much He loves them.  They know that mommy and daddy love them and they can feel that love from us, so we just share with them that Jesus loves them so much and even more than mommy and daddy do.  Our church has an amazing children’s ministry and I love hearing from Sheridan about what she learned in her class after church.  In Odessa’s class they put on worship music for the babies and all I hear about is how much she rocks out when she hears the music, haha! I think that’s just about the sweetest thing to watch is your babies praising Jesus!

 

 

What would you tell other wives of athletes who would their marriage to be more about Him but experience their husband gone often due to rodeo/ bull riding travels?

My ultimate advice is to prayer for your husband. Lift him up to God in his workplace, his faith, his health and just pray that in every area in his life that he will have favor with man and with God.  I also pray to God to change my heart if there’s a particular thing that I want changed in my husband.  I need to look at myself first and see if there’s something that I’m lacking in my walk with God before I start putting my finger on something in my husband’s walk.

 

Tell me about your blog 'Cooped Up Cowboy's Wife' and what inspired you to start it.

I’ve always loved to write and I love getting to share my interests and my faith with others and blogging is a perfect platform to do that.  My good friend, Kirste Wegele and I started Cooped Up Cowboy’s Wife about a year ago and it’s been so much fun.  We write posts on anything from our kiddos, to catching cows, to refinishing furniture, to fashion, and my personal favorite is getting to interview other women out there that live the same kind of life that we do.  We are so blessed that we get to meet some amazing women through this little blog and we’ve become friends with people all over the world who we would have never have come in contact with if it weren’t for our blog.  I also just love getting to encourage other woman.  I’ve seen that so many people in the blogging world think that it’s a competition against other bloggers to get readers or to get the most “likes” but to us it’s not.  We just love getting to help other people get started in pursuing their dreams and it just makes what we’re doing so rewarding! Just go for it and do what God tells you to do!

Faith and Rodeo - Kory Keeth

Kory Keeth, a young professional rodeo announcer, remembers accepting Jesus Christ into his life at the tender age of 11.  With strong Christian influences guiding him, Keeth knew that accepting Christ was something that he needed to do.

 

As a rising rodeo announcer, Kory often finds himself on the road traveling between rodeos and bull riding events. With every opportunity to travel, he views it as a mission field to share Christ. Whether he is on the ranch working or on the road, there is always someone who needs Jesus. In the words of Keeth, “Behind the wheel or in front of the crowd, I speak Jesus. I speak what God puts on my heart.”

 

Although Kory Keeth grew up in a Christian household, he looks up to many other individuals in the rodeo industry who have strong Christian values. Justin McKee, Trey Johnson, and Dale Hirschman all serve as Kory’s Christian influences. Justin has been blessed with a successful career announcing many professional rodeos and bull riding events. When Justin isn’t in the arena announcing, he continues to serve Christ out of his Church in Oklahoma.  Another individual that serves as a role model for Keeth is Trey Johnson. Trey was fortunate to win PRCA Rookie of the Year in 2000. However, it isn’t his accomplishments that inspire Keeth, it is testimony of faith and dedication to Christ to serve one service, one roping, one rodeo, one person and one thought at a time. Keeth also looks up to cowboy minister Dale Hirschman as he encourages Keeth to have a deeper relationship with Christ.

 

As Kory progresses forward in his career, he continues to serve as a Christian example for other young professionals in the industry. His hope is to show others that Jesus Christ is the reason that they get to ride and swing a rope. By speaking life into other young professionals, Keeth’s goal is that they will realize that Christ is missing piece of their life.