August 2011

Cowboy Fellowship News

August 2011 E-News

Issue 27

Inside This Edition:

Word From The Pastor

Covered Facility Update

Stuff The Bus

The Acts Report

Parent Link

Thank You—Brad Bradshaw

And lots more!

Stuff The Bus!!

Page 2

Word From The Pastor

Like many, I am always looking for good investments. These might be fi-nancial investments, personal investments, spiritual investments, or a host of other things. But is it wise to invest in God? I have come to the con-clusion that it is not! Many take such a view of our creator, they see Him as an investment and this generally leads to what we more commonly call works based religion. We start to believe that if we do things for God He will do things for us. Many attend worship services, tithe, help someone in need, or even witness to a friend because they view it as an invest-ment. “If I do this for God, then I know God will do something for me…” is the thought behind much of what we practice as believers. We read verses like Proverbs 3:9–10 NIV 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine and the invest-ment mentality sets in. We start to think “All I have to do is give God my money and He will then turn around and give me more money…” God however, is not a stock, CD, or mutual fund. He is the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS! We should not focus our lives on investing into God; rather we should focus instead on honoring our King. There is a great difference between investing and honoring; the main difference be-ing that investing is focused on you, honoring is focused on something else. When we make investments the expectation is that there will one day be a pay off, reward, or other positive experience in store for us. However when honor is the goal, the focus is removed from our-selves. We honor our troops when they come home, our parents for 50 years of marriage, our children for making good grades, an employee that consistently goes above and beyond and the list could go on and on. When we do these things we are not focusing on ourselves but our attention, and adoration is all pointed at someone else. This is the way it should be with God as well. We should honor Him rather than invest into Him. When you stop investing in God and learn to instead simply start to concentrate on honoring Him, your life and the Kingdom itself will be blessed beyond measure. I dare you to try it! I hope to see you at church this weekend and I pray you come to honor then King rather than invest in Him.

Pastor Pete

Great strides are taking place with the covered facility so we wanted to bring everyone up to date on what is going on. The dirt work will be done sometime late this week or the beginning of next week and then they will begin installing the piers, and anchor bolts. The actual building should arrive sometime between August 29th and September 2nd. As for Phase 2, for the month of July you all have donated $6,841.50. Thank you for your donations and for continuing to support this vision for Cowboy Fellowship! If you would like to make a donation to our building fund you may do so by clicking here:

Covered Facility Update Page 3

John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this,

that a man lay down his life

for his friends.

A letter from one of our heroes came in this week. HM3 Lawrence Battle writes:

Dear Ms. Johnson,

Thank you so much for the continuing support! We (my fellow shipmates and

Marines) loved the care package and the letters. I’m very thankful to know people

care and support the United States military. You already know my name, Lawrence

Battle, I usually go by Larry or Lare. I am 21 years old and I’m a Californian. I really

miss California! I joined the United States Navy in the summer of 2008 and soon af-

ter left to boot camp in November. After boot camp I went to Hospital Corpsman

“A” school, and Dental Tech School and Field Medical Training Battalion. In October

of 2009 I checked into 2nd Dental Battalion, Camp LeJeune, NC. In January of 2011

I became Fleet Marine Force qualified (I pretty much know the history and how the

Marine Corps works). Since February of this year I have been in Afghanistan for Op-

eration Enduring Freedom, and in May I was promoted to HM3 (Hospital Corpsman

3rd Class or E-4). I should be home in September. I would like to say thanks once

again.

Thank you for all the prayers,

Larry Battle

Please continue to pray that all our service men

and women will come home safely and soon.

Love in His name,

Sue Johnson ~ Ministry Assistant

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Click the link below to send

a letter to an American Hero

The Acts Report

Matthew 25:35

Summer is almost

over and it's time to

begin thinking about

back to school. Cow-

boy Fellowship is ask-

ing it's friends and

members to Help

Stuff Our Bus With

School Supplies. Our

bus is located inside

the foyer of the

church and donations

can be made anytime

the church is open.

All school supplies

will be used to help

less fortunate families

ensure that their kids

get off to school well

supplied with the

s ch oo l s up p l i e s

needed at the begin-

ning of school. Last

year Cowboy Fellow-

ship was able to get all

the needed supplies

for 16 local children

who were referred to

the church for assis-

tance and we also pro-

vided CAM with sev-

eral more large boxes

of supplies for them

to give out as well. If

you can't do the shop-

ping but you want to

help then please make

your contributions by

writing STUFF THE

BUS on your contri-

bution envelope and

drop it in one of our

milk cans at the exist.

Thank you and may

God richly bless you.

P l e a s e c a l l

Odis White at

(210) 275-9800

Jerusalem ~ Atascosa County

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Matthew 25:35

Facebook Link

(Must log in to access)

Page 6

Samaria ~ United States & Mexico (cont on pg 7)

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The Family:

First and foremost we want to say thank you so much to all of you who regularly battle for

our family in prayer. Thank you specifically for praying for Jagen as he has been battling so

many health problems. Although his progress seems to change regularly, today he is doing

very well! After two doctors appointments this week regarding his severe acid reflux and

refusal to eat, he is finding some relief from the pain and is eating more and more food.

Praise Jesus! Kelli and I were blessed to have my parents in town for 3 and half weeks while

our two mission teams were in Tacoma. It was such a blessing and a time of refreshment.

Kelli was able to have more time to invest in her friends, we both got to be a part of the

mission teams, my parents watched the kids so we could go camping at Mt. Rainier and

Jagen & Ry got to know their grandparents! Through the ups and downs we are continually

reminded that God very specifically created us for Tacoma. It is our home and we truly

long to see our city... our neighbors... our friends...understand & put their faith in Jesus!

The Pathway: Sending out an SOS! There are so many details I could share with you about

what God is doing through The Pathway. However, I feel compelled to use this newsletter

to send out an S.O.S to the church in the south. We need your help. We serve a “sending”

God and I am still convinced that God is calling some of you to move your lives to Tacoma

and help us plant the gospel here. We are in desperate need of leadership. We have more

men than women involved in our church but we have a shortage of mature Christian

men to disciple these new believers. We have prayed for God to bring families to be a part

of The Pathway and he has. But we have realized that we need more mature families to

disciple these new believers. Here is the SOS. If God is calling you, please come. We need

you! Our city needs you! Thank you. Prayer: -Please pray for God to send more committed

believers to be a part of The Pathway -Please pray for God to send someone with a heart to

lead worship to serve with us. -Please pray for God to send someone with a passion for

children and family ministry to serve with us. -Please pray for Tommy as he plants the Way

in Seattle -Please pray for a new Community Group leader for Tom’s group -Pray for these

families -The Browns -The Musicks -The Llufrios -Kevin & Annette -Nate & Sequoyia

Page 8

CFY So July has been extremely busy for the Cowboy Fellowship Youth. We left for

summer camp on July 11th, taking 53 people total. The students and sponsors had an awesome week, listening to the messages from the camp pastor Wes Hamilton, prais-ing and worshiping with the Aaron Wagner Band, who was leading us for the week, and even got to have a late night concert with the band Kutless. 4 students gave there lives to Christ throughout the week from our group, and 7 took steps to rededicate themselves to the Lord. It was truly an awesome week, and even more awesome to watch the work that God was doing in our youth. After getting back home from camp on Friday, we barely had 2 days to rest and

then a group of 16 youth and sponsors left for Waco, Texas where we had our sum-

mer mission trip. It was extremely hot, with the temperature being over 100 everyday

of the week, but that didn't stop us, as well as the rest of the over 200 other students

that participated in the World Changers project. 4 houses got repainted and 16

houses got re-shingled, all in a weeks time. Not only that, but the students got to take

opportunities to minister to the community by sharing the gospel with a few indi-

viduals that came up throughout the week, curious as to why all these students were

laboring in such heat. God worked this week in a mighty way, and taught all of our

students the true meaning of what it is to be a servant. Thanks for all the prayer sup-

port and financial support that everyone gave to make these events happen. Check

out the link below to watch a video of summer camp and the Waco mission trip.

CFY Summer Video

Farewell To Our Interns!

Well summer is coming to a close, the kids are going

back to school soon, and our interns are returning to

college. The staff took them all out to lunch on Tues-

day, Aug. 2nd, and everyone really enjoyed the fellow-

ship and lunch. Y’all be sure to catch them this Sun-

day or one day next week and let them know how

much their hard work this summer has been appreci-

ated! We have thoroughly been blessed to have them

with us and pray that whatever path God leads them

down, they are open and receptive to follow Him. God

speed Seth, Bethany, and Michael!

*The following are reoccurring

events that take place each

week/month at the same time

unless otherwise denoted:

Church Services - Saturday

Night @ 7:00 PM (discontinued

until the Fall) ; Sunday: @ 10:45

AM

Discipleship Classes - Every

Monday - 6:30 PM

Children’s Play Group Every

Tuesday from 10 - 11:30.

CFY R.E.A.L.M. - Every

Wednesday @ 7:00 unless

otherwise noted.

Living Hope - Every Thursday

@ 7 PM Call Paul @

830-570-4301 for more info.

2nd Saturday Clean Up @ 8:00

Breakfast Provided

Men’s Fellowship Breakfast

Every 3rd Saturday

@ Stage Stop - 8:00 AM

Please Go To Our Website For

Times And More Information!

www.cowboyfellowship.org

Schedule

Of Events

August 2011

Page 9

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3 4

Living Hope 7:00

5

6

Family Game Night

6:30 PM

7 Services 10:45 AM Baptisms Potluck

8

1st John Bible Study

6:00—7:30

9 Play Group 10:00 AM

10 CFY 7:00 PM

11

Living Hope 7:00

12

CFY Youth Girls Lock In

13

2nd Saturday Clean Up 8 AM

Children’s Splashtown 10 AM—4 PM

14

Services 10:45 Saddle Up After the service!

15

1st John Bible Study

6:00—7:30

16

Play Group 10:00 AM

17

CFY 7:00 PM

18

Living Hope 7:00

19

20 Men’s Fellowship Breakfast

21

Services 10:45

Children’s Promotion

Sunday

22

1st John Bible Study

6:00—7:30

23 Play Group 10:00 AM

24

CFY 7:00 PM

25

Living Hope 7:00

Helping Hands

10:30 AM

26

27

28

Services 10:45

Children’s Recognition Sunday

29

1st John Bible Study 6:00—7:00

30

31

CFY 7:00 PM

31

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you nor forsake you.

Joshua 1:5

Page 10

Many Thanks To You

For All That You Have Done

I would like to thank Pastor Pete, the staff of Cowboy

Fellowship, and members of the congregation for all of

your love, compassion, prayers, help, and support during

my beloved wife Sandy’s illness and her passing. It would

have been so much harder without you all. I have been

overwhelmed at the amount of love and caring you all

have shown for us both. I have missed you all the past

couple of weeks and I look forward to seeing you at church

soon.

Sincerely,

Brad Bradshaw

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love

does not know God, because God is love.

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Summer Blast went GREAT this year! We had one student

make a first-time decision to trust God with her life, and

several make steps to a closer walk with their Savior. 130+

students walked through our doors and learned how they are:

Accepted, Protected, Saved by, and Forgiven by Jesus and,

how to Live for Him. The children enjoyed silly games,

creative crafts, fun worship, and great Bible study. The

students also participated in a “Boys vs. Girls” penny collection offering for five mission-

aries in Asia. After a long week and many giving hearts, the girls came out victorious,

resulting in a pie to the face for the boys’ leader, Mr. Mike Vasquez. Fortunately, we

serve an amazing God, so there really were no losers. The children combined to raise

$1,110.28 towards Gospel for Asia. Thank you for all your prayers and support to make

this week a success. If you missed seeing our intern get pied, or if you saw him get pied

and want to see it again, here is the link:

Click to See the Video of Mr. Mike’s Pie in the Face!

Children’s Events in August Family Fun Night

Saturday, August 6

6:30pm—8:00pm

Cowboy Fellowship

Come join us for an

evening of non-stop fun as

families compete in challenges that only last a minute!

Saturday, August 13

10am—4:00pm

Meet at the Waterpark

Children Ages 4 and Up will Move to

Their New Classes

Come Meet Your Child’s New

Teachers At The End Of The Service!

Cowboy Fellowship

P.O. Box 68

Pleasanton, TX 78064

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