Study Desk

So, don't look at Apollos and me as anything more than cowboys who've been put in charge of teaching you the mystery of how to ride for God.

But as for me, I don't give two shakes whether you like me or agree with what I do or say. I ain't gonna let you judge me. I won't even judge myself.

Now, cowboys and cowgirls, this is how Apollos and I ride for the Lord. We do this so you can see God's way in action. That's what the Good Book means when it says, "Don't do more'n what you're told." If you follow this, you won't be bragging about riding with any cowboy except Jesus.

Instead, it seems as if God has put us cowboys on display to the movers and shakers of this world to be made fun of. We are on display for men and angels alike to gawk at. We walk and there are whispers. We talk and eyes roll in disgust. We ride and folks throw rocks and laugh.

But don't think I'm trying to make you feel bad about yourselves. I'm warning you what real cowboying for the Lord is like.

That's the reason I've sent you Timothy. He is like a son to me and I've taught him nearly everything I know. He will help you ride for Christ while I'm out teaching others to do the same.

Y'all walk around proud like banty roosters, but you should be bawling your eyes out for letting this happen in your outfit. Some real men should take this fellow and send him down the road.

It ain't my job to judge outsiders, but I can sure pass judgment on those who ride for God's outfit.

I know some of you used to do those things, but you sit in a new saddle now. It's been oiled and washed clean and so have you. Y'all are holy now. You've been made right with God by asking to ride for Jesus Christ and be guided by the Holy Ghost.

I know some of you are thinking, "Food was made for the stomach and the stomach was made for food." But just because this is true doesn't mean you should stuff yourselves like gluttons or use your body for sexual things God never intended. Don't use your bodies for your own pleasure, but for the will of God. He gave you your body so give your body to him.

God raised Jesus's body from the grave and he will do the same for you if you ride for him the way Jesus did.

Don't you know your body is the saddlebag for the Holy Ghost? You wouldn't throw God's great gift in the dirt and stomp on it, so don't do it to yourself either.

God paid too much for you to use your body like trash. You honor or dishonor him with every action.

To the rest of you, God hasn't given me anything explicit to pass on, but it's safe to say that if a cowboy who rides for the Lord has a wife who doesn't believe, he must not divorce her if she's willing to stay married.

And if a cowgirl who rides for the Lord is married to an unbeliever, she needs to stay married if he's willing.

Don't be wishing things were different for you. Don't wish you were with someone else or that you lived someplace else. Live how God has you right now.

Clipped pickles don't make a cowboy for God. Doing what the Boss says is what makes a cowboy of God.

God paid a terrible price for you, so don't tie-on to the world's ways.

All of you should stay like you were when God came for you.

If you have a wife, don't try to get a divorce. If you don't have a wife, don't go looking for one.