It`s a Cowboy Christmas... - Fellowship of Christian Cowboys

The Official Publication of The Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc.
december 2012  Cañon City, Colorado  Volume 23 - Number 12
It’s a Cowboy Christmas . . .
In the arena, the farm, and the mall;
We celebrate the best Gift of all,
Christ is born.
Chad Masters and Jade Corkill 2nd round of the 2011 WNFR
PRCA ProRodeo Photo Mike Copeman
He holds victory in store for the upright.
Proverbs 2:7
See the Chad Masters
National Finals Rodeo
Story on page 3
Line Rider
THE LINE RIDER is digitally
published monthly by the
Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc.,
3125 Maple Lane, Cañon City, CO 81212.
Membership: $45.00 suggested donation
The Line Rider e-newsletter free with
membership.
All rights reserved. No part of this
magazine may be reproduced except
with the written permission of the
Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc.
Editors:
Lynne Schricker & Linda Scholtz
Designed by:
Esprit Graphic Communications, Inc.
Kennewick, Washington
The Line Rider editors retain the right
to edit submissions for content and
space constraints.
Contents 8 december 2012
Feature Articles
3
10
11
12
CHAD MASTERS TESTIMONY
... nothing can break your heart like the NFR.
steer
by David Crumrine
Make a difference for God.
Registered Chapters
Find your local chaper of the Fellowship of Christian
Cowboys or start up your own.
HEADS uP... Whats up with FCC?
Summer's Youth Ministry Report
By Ronnie Moyer and Tilt James
This is family learning together to do life together...
monthly columns
5
8
A Western Woman's Heart
Love Unexpected and Undeserved
by Davalynn Spencer
Funny how truth can come all wrapped up in fiction.
Where I'm Led
A Ride In The Park
by Dale Livingston
“Wow, I never knew a horse could feel like this.”
14
Bible Study
Studies in I John: The First Love 1 John 4:16b-21
by Cory Young, FCC Board Member
By this love is perfected with us...
15
Down the Road
Be Not Afraid
by John Kissel
I can still hear the turning of the old windmill...
in this issue...
In this issue:
Whether you’re on the road to the
National Finals Rodeo or on the road to the mall,
December is all about celebrating the gift of Life, Jesus Christ.
We pray this issue will help enrich your life with
the presence of Jesus this Holiday Season.
Chad Masters Testimony
Events: Team Roping (Heading)
Born: 2/3/1981 Nashville, Tenn.
Joined PRCA: 2001
PRCA Career Earnings: $1,228,740.00
World Titles Won: 1 (2007)
WNFR Qualifications:8 (2003-04, 2006-11)
Current Residence: Clarksville, Tenn.
2011 world standings place: 4th
2011 Wrangler NFR place: 5th
2011 Wrangler NFR earnings: $64,471
2011 earnings: $150,013
Wrangler NFR average titles: 1 (2006)
Tour Finale titles: 1
Championship: 2003
Tour Finale qualifications: 11
Professional
2012 Highlights - with Clay O'Brien Cooper
• Won the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo
• Won the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede
• Won the Dodge City (Kan.) Round-Up
• Won the Walla Walla (Wash.) Frontier Days
• Won the Norco (Calif.) Mounted Posse Rodeo
Career Highlights
• 2011: (Partner Jade Corkill) Won Rounds 9
and 10 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
and placed in four other rounds. Won the
American Royal Rodeo (Kansas City, Mo.); the
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo; the Greeley
(Colo.) Independence Stampede; the Wild Bill
Hickok Rodeo (Abilene, Kan.); the Sisters (Ore.)
Rodeo; the Norco (Calif.) Mounted Posse Rodeo;
the Franklin (Tenn.) Rodeo, with Josh Patton
Personal
5-8, 155 ... Single…Hobbies include movies and training horses ... Attended Jo Byrns
School in Cedar Hill, Tenn. … Got involved
in rodeo through his dad, Bobby, who roped
calves. Started team roping at age 8 … His
father trains horses now, but worked for Pepsi
for 30 years. His mother, Debbie, also aided in
his success by opening the roping chute every
day during practice. She works at the post
office … Rodeo competitors he most admires
are Speed Williams, Trevor Brazile and Kevin
Stewart...Owns a ranch in Lipan, Texas, with a
house, barn, arena and a couple of sheds ... His
primary competition horse is the 13-year-old
gelding I'm A Two Eyed Con "Cody" ... Underwent surgery on March 26, 2008, to repair a
torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered at the
Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo; he also
had a strained medial collateral ligament and
two cracks in his kneecap. Was in first place
in the PRCA World Standings at the time of the
surgery, having won RodeoHouston with Jade
Corkill four days earlier.
I grew up in Adams, Tennessee. My dad was a calf roper.
I have been break-away roping since I was about five years
old. We started team roping when I was about eight or
nine. I have been going wide open since then.
I went to church most Sundays as a kid. I know I was
saved and believed in God, but the first time I got baptized
was probably because the other kids were doing it. I think
there are others too, who can probably relate to also doing
that as children growing up in church. There have been
several times in my life though, where I had a major step
of recommitment to Him. One was a defining experience
with Christ about the age of 22 at a team -roping church
camp at Tim Ross’s. At this particular roping, if you went
to church, you got to rope for free or for a small fee. Though I was saved, I really once again committed myself to Christ during the sinner’s prayer when they
prayed with us at the end of the service. It became really personal to me there. I
am thankful for all the times He shows up in our lives to prove He is real.
Even as a believer, I am not perfect day in and day out. It’s not that I try to do
wrong or have done anything awful. The reason I can share my testimony though,
is because of mentoring I have had from other godly men in rodeo. Men like Allen
Bach, who has instilled in me that living right and doing right has more of an influence on people than you think. Men like Trey Johnson who has an impact on shining the Light of Christ to those in rodeo. Growing up, I was taught not to hang out
with people who aren't in church. My question was though, “How are you going to
change their lives, if you aren’t their friend?” Trey has been a great example to me.
When he meets people he just becomes their friend. That has been a huge model
for me on how to impact lives for Christ. Most cowboys would have their guard
up to someone who just comes to “preach” to them without living and being with
them, just like Jesus did with regular people.
In my eight journeys to the NFR, I have been privileged to learn a lot being around
other godly men. I also got to team rope with Clay Cooper and that opportunity deserves more than just saying, “He’s a great guy and it’s been great for me.” People
for more, please visit www.christiancowboys.com
Chad Masters and Jade Corkill 2011 WNFR 9th round
PRCA ProRodeo Photo/Mike Copeman
3
ask me all the time what it is like to rope
with Clay. I tell them it is like getting
to hang with your favorite movie star
or famous athlete. Being partners with
this guy is like something you always
dream of as a kid, but actually, you
don’t even dream of it because you have
no idea it could happen. It has been
an inspiration to be around a man who
will never say a negative thing about
anyone, or their horse. I have learned
about a Christ like and professional attitude watching Clay and Trey, and men
like them as godly role models. If they
miss, for whatever reason, they have no
anger, no jerk of the rope, no snatching
of the horse. They have a consistent
godly attitude when they ride out of
the arena, whether they win or miss.
There is zero difference. That attitude
has made a huge impact on me, in that
it is not life or death every time you
rope. It is gonna be ok. I may not get
a check, but I get to do the life I love, I
am still healthy, I still get to come home.
It might change my pocketbook or my
goals of what I need to do to win, you
still can learn from it, you still know
what you need to work on. You learn
you might have had the wrong mindset,
or wrong approach.
I have had heartbreak before in my
years of rodeo, stuff like a broken collar bone or knee surgery, whatever…
but nothing can break your heart like
the NFR. You realize you rodeoed all
year … and as short as that arena is…
it can feel like the longest one of all if
you miss and have to ride out. But it is
still ok. Every year that I have gotten
to go, I have had a chance to do what
I love. Sometimes I’ve done good,
sometimes I haven’t. I don’t ever just
4
ask the Lord to win…. that’s not my
deal… still the Bible says, “Ask and you
shall receive.” I have always thought of
rodeo as a hobby that He allows me to
do and there are more important things
in life. I am learning that I can ask and
believe weeks before, in preparation,
long before I get in the box at the rodeo.
Every time I have just trusted Him and
know He is going to help me through it,
I have clarity. The last thing I am thinking about before roping, is the roping.
I am just calm and relaxed when I have
intentionally given it to Him. I wish I
could say I did that every time. I want
to do that consistently.
What I want to learn is, if things start
going good, not to just think it’s about
what I did or how I made it happen. It’s
not that I don’t think I need Him, but it
seems I constantly have to learn that,
in myself, I can’t make anything happen, though I can try and be tough all
I want. I am learning not to put it all
on myself, but to keep on trusting Him.
When I trust Him, He gives me clarity
and free’s up my mind to focus. I can be
confident because HE is going to help
me. So, for me, “asking” is not just a
last second quick prayer for God to help
me.
My dad and I were talking before I
drove to Las Vegas this year and he
said, “I know that everybody has a plan
for you at the NFR.” He is right. I get
so much advice a month or so before
the Finals about what horse to use, the
kind of rope I need or the way I should
swing the rope, that I sometimes shut
my phone off. I am fighting enough in
my own head without all the extra stuff.
I honestly wish everyone could go there
The Line Rider and do good, but what Dad and I talked
about was not making it all such a big
deal. There is so much pressure though,
that if you lose perspective it can build
up to be more than you can handle. Of
course, I am so thankful to go and the
NFR is a big deal. We love going and
think it is a big deal for the privilege to
go. Yes, it is so exciting to go and all of
us want to win and be a world champion. I feel very fortunate to go and don’t
take it for granted one bit. I always
remember there are others who are so
talented that could be there also.
With all the glamour at the Finals, so
much going on, and the speed of each
performance, there is a lot that can get
you distracted. Yet when you really
narrow it down, it is still a roping box,
it’s still a steer, and it’s still a chute. It’s
still team roping and you can’t forget
your are there to rope. With all the
activity you are a part of, you still have
to rope. If there was anything I could
ask believers to pray for, it is that all
the contestants have a clear mind, that
He would calm nerves, and relieve the
stress. There is no telling how many
people would do great there, if they
could keep their focus.
The year I won the world championship, as I got on the interstate to drive
to Vegas, I passed an old sign. At the
bottom it said, “In God We Trust.” God
put that sign there just for me. God
kept bringing that to my mind during
every round. Whenever I got nervous, I
would say it over and over to myself, or
I would turn it around and say, “God’s
got this, I don’t have to worry about it
and I am roping through Him. It's true,
In God We Trust."
december 2012