Study Desk

Even Isaiah stated, "The descendant of David's crown will come and rule over the outsiders. They will give their faith and hope to him."

But listen close, food doesn't have anything to do with faith. Eating something doesn't bring you closer to God or vice versa.

If a cowboy with a weaker faith thinks something is wrong, and you intentionally encourage him to do it anyway, that is a sin. It's not just a sin against him, but again Jesus.

To one, the gift of faith is given and to another it is the gift of healing others.

If I had the power of God, could speak mighty words with supernatural knowledge, and had faith that could make mountains march, but if I didn't show love to others, I'm worthless.

Love never gives up, always gets back on, never turns loose of faith, is forever hopeful, and never, ever, quits.

There's a lot of stuff that will end up tromped in the dirt, but these three things will endure forever: faith, hope, and love. And the best of 'em is love.

Here's the problem, one fellow wants to sing a song. Another says he has a truth to reveal. Still another guy starts talking in a language only one other person can understand and he interprets it. The point to worshiping with others is so everyone benefits. When everyone benefits, then everyone grows in faith.

And if he didn't come back, then everything we've told you is a farce . . . and so is your faith.

And if Jesus is still dead, then so is our faith. If Jesus is still dead, then we are still guilty of our sins and will pay for them in full.

Stay alert and keep both feet deep in the stirrups. Tie hard and fast to your faith. Be courageous and be strong.

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.

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.

The Good Book once stated, "I said it because I believed it." That pretty much sums up our faith.

It was great to see another cowboy, but it was even greater to hear how y'all had encouraged him to ride with faith and courage. He passed along what y'all said about wanting to see me again. He also told me how sorry y'all were for the things you'd done. And finally, he told me y'all are really ready to ride for the brand now and help me in this gathering. When I heard this, I was ecstatic.

Y'all are top hands in many ways—faith, speaking, knowledge, being neighborly, and loving folks. Now I want you to become top hands in giving.

We don't include another cowboy's work in our tally book. We stand on what we've done. What we want is your faith to grow so our gathering will grow as well.

So I suggest you test yourselves to see if your faith is true. If you don't realize Jesus lives in you now then you have failed the test.

We both know a cowboy is made right with God by his faith in Jesus, not by following the code of Moses. Both of us believe in Jesus and are right with God because of it, not by following the Code. You can't be right with God by following rules.

"So if we try to be right with God through faith in Jesus, and on the day of judgment we find out we should have obeyed the Code, would that mean Jesus caused us to sin? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!