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¹ Howdy, boys! It's me, Paul. I'm one of the cowboys God chose to lead this gathering because I reckon it's what he wanted. Timothy says howdy, also.

I'm writing to the big gatherin' of cowboys and cowgirls who make up the church in Corinth as well as all those scattered throughout Achaia taking the outside for God.

² Here's to grace and peace and may they overflow your coffee cup in the name of our Father and of Jesus Christ.

Hung up in the Stirrup

³ If there's praise to be doled out, let us praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God shows us more mercy than we deserve, and comforts us in the hard times. ⁴ He gives us comfort for ourselves, but also so we can comfort others when they get hung up in the stirrup of life. ⁵ If we ride for Jesus, we're gonna experience the same suffering he did during his ride. But his daddy comforted him and he will do the same for us. ⁶ If times are hard on us, it means you're being saved and comforted. If God comforts us, it is so we can pass it along to you. That way, you know you aren't alone when you go through the mesquite and suffer as we do. ⁷ We have high hopes for y'all. We want y'all to share in the suffering because if you share in the suffering, you'll get to share in the comfort that can only come from God himself.

⁸ Listen cowboys and cowgirls, let me tell you a little about the wreck that happened in Asia. It was so rank at times that we just wanted to die. ⁹ We truly felt like God was preparing us for death. It was that bad. But God had another plan. He let us suffer that bad to show us how often we depended on our own strength instead of his. He raises the dead and sometimes we couldn't even raise our heads. ¹⁰ But he pulled our foot out of the stirrup at the last minute before we were dragged to death. He saved us and he will continue to save us until our circle is complete. ¹¹ When y'all pray for us, it helps us! Then we will be able to tell others of how God so graciously saved us and answered your prayers.

Paul's Plans Change

¹² If I can say I'm proud of something we've done, it's been that everything we've done has been with a pure and honest heart. We've put our faith in God's grace, not human understanding. You saw this first hand when we met y'all. ¹³ The letters you've received from us have been straight-shooting and uncompromising. One day, I hope y'all understand, ¹⁴ even if what we say seems like it's coming from left field sometimes. When Jesus comes riding back to get all of us, we hope that y'all can be as proud of us as we have been of you.

¹⁵ I was sure y'all would understand. That's why I planned on stopping by to bless y'all twice. ¹⁶ I'd planned to visit on my way to Macedonia and then when I came back headed for Judea. ¹⁷ Well, we both know it didn't work out that way. But I am wondering if you all think I make plans frivolously or without thought? Do y'all think I make promises and then act like folks who don't keep their word?

¹⁸ Just like you can trust in what God says, you can trust our word as well. ¹⁹ Jesus never seesawed with his yes's and no's. Jesus is the one Silas, Timothy, and I talked to you so much about. Jesus is the "yes" in God's greatest promise. ²⁰ As a matter of fact, Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises. If you're wondering, this is why we say "amen" (which means "yes") after we hear something great about God. Jesus is the trail that takes our prayers straight to the Boss.

²¹ It is God who makes all of us strong and gives us the will and want to ride hard for Jesus. He chose us for this task. ²² He branded us as his own by giving us the Holy Spirit to ride with us and in us. The Holy Spirit was the down payment on all the great things he has promised his cowboys.

²³ Now, with God as my witness, I'm telling y'all that the reason I didn't come back to Corinth was to save y'all from a bad scoldin'. ²⁴ We ain't out to micromanage your faith or be overly critical. We are flanking each other in this gathering. We will be victorious because we work together, not because we work the same.