A cowboy in church

[woodywilliams]

A cowboy in church

One Sunday morning an old cowboy entered a church just
before services were to begin. Although the old man
and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans,
a denim shirt and boots that were very worn and
ragged. In his hand he carried a worn out old hat and
an equally worn out Bible.

The church he entered was in a very upscale and
exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and
most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen.
The people of the congregation were all dressed with
expensive clothes and accessories.

As the cowboy took a seat, the others moved away from
him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him. They
were all appalled at his appearance and did not
attempt to hide it.

As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher
approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor.
"Before you come back in here again, have a talk with
God and ask him what he thinks would be appropriate
attire for worship." The old cowboy assured the
preacher he would.

The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services
wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat.
Once again he was completely shunned and ignored. The
preacher approached the man and said, "I thought I
asked you to speak to God before you came back to our
church."

"I did," replied the old cowboy.

"If you spoke to God, what did he tell you the proper
attire should be for worshiping in here?" asked the
preacher.

"Well, sir, God told me that He didn't have a clue
what I should wear. He said He'd never been in this
church "

[Skeeter]

Very cool!

Skeeter

[Swede]

This definitely hits home.

Thanks

[Buckrub]

That preacher never had read the 1st half of the 2nd Chapter of the Book of James, I'm guessing.

[ozark]

If only? Church goers attended to worship and learn.

[Kevin B.]

ozark said:

If only? Church goers attended to worship and learn.

AMEN!! And sometimes it seems as is the preacher is catering only to the folks who are "going through the motions". I am disappointed in the many churches (all denominations) in my area that I have visited in an attempt to find some folks that I have something in common with. Two years and 1 month ago, I did an about-face in life and turned away from 25 years of wreckless living that just about brought me total ruination and death. (in fact I did die in an ambulance en route to ER from a "reaction" to fentanyl, but a shot of Narcan snapped me out of it).
I finally got sick of it. I had had enough. I was the epitome of the "self-will run riot" kind of life. I was miserable. I was a walking dead man. Living like an animal. Only using the lowest (survival) part of my brain and it was constantly malfunctioning. In my total emptyiness, I cried out to God. He'd been waiting. No bolt of lightning. No thunder. I didn't start jerking and making sounds. I felt nothing. But each day He gave enough realization of His Love to keep me asking for it again the next day. Been doing it every since. I know Him as a very real Person. He changed my life. That was two years and one month ago. Hadn't picked up a bottle of cheap vodka or a fistful of pain pills since that day in a Memphis drug rehab. I'm happier than I have evr been in my life. I know why I'm here. And I know that it matters that I am here, if to no one else, to Him.
Please don't even ask me why I said all of this in reply to that last post! What was the post? Oh yeah, something to the effect of people going to church for the wrong reason. Many do. But I really believ that God wants us Christians to hang around one another. I don't fellowship enough. I tend to want to be alone more and more. Which probably ain't bad. Oh well. I'm ramblin' Thanks for listening. Kevin