Riding a Bull and a Life Lesson.

Psalm 73:26 (New International Version)

My flesh and my heart may fail,

    but God is the strength of my heart

    and my portion forever.

Andy Sherman tells about learning to ride bulls in the rodeo. At eighteen, he told his father he wanted to be a professional bull rider. His father said, "You want to do what? Why would you want to do that?"

Andy said jokingly, "I don't know - I guess I like the hours. You just work eight seconds at a time. That appeals to me."

His father, concerned about the inherent danger, responded, "I absolutely forbid you to do that!" And, at that moment, young Andy instantly knew his life's calling!

The only problem was -- he couldn't ride. Always 7 1/2 seconds away from making the eight-second buzzer, he decided to enter "Rodeo School."

The first day of school he was told to get on a bull. He got on and was immediately thrown off. The instructor said, "Get on another one." He was thrown from a second bull. Then a third. And a fourth. He finally asked the instructor, "Are you going to show me how to ride these things?"

"That's how you ride them," came the reply. "Just get on one and ride."

By the week's end, Andy had climbed on, and been thrown off, about eighty bulls. But he learned how to ride.

Experience can be a great teacher. Unfortunately, there is only one way to get it, and that is to fall a few times until you learn. Like the employer who told her new employee, "I hired you to make right decisions."

"And how do I do that?" he asked.

"Experience!" she answered.

"How do I get experience?" he asked.

"Wrong decisions."

But experience will never come if we are afraid to try. And fail. And try again. And maybe fail again. We may have to "get thrown from a lot of bulls" if we are ever going to learn to ride. But that is part of living a full and happy life!

Dear Lord we pray that we won’t give up when we fail. We pray that we would learn from the failure and become better from it.   Help us to always strive to work to be the best  and by doing so bring honor to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Don't Let a Failure be Final

Hebrews 13:5 (New International Version)

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

    never will I forsake you.”

Many will know the story of how, on New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the annual Rose Bowl football game. In that game a man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California.

Unfortunately he became confused and began running the wrong way. One of his team-mates, Benny Lom, overtook and tackled him just before he scored for the opposing team.

This was during the first half. Everyone was wondering what Coach Nibbs Price would do with Roy Riegels in the second half. During the half-time break Riegels sat alone in a corner, wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, put his hands in his face and cried like a baby.

Three minutes before the start of the second half Coach Price looked at the team and said, "Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second."

Riegels never moved. The coach called him and again he never moved. Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that played the first half will start the second."

Reigels said, "Coach, I can't do it to save my life. I've ruined you. I've ruined the University of California. I've ruined myself. I couldn't face that crowd in the stadium to save my life."

Then Coach Price reached out and put his hand on Riegels' shoulder and said, "Roy, get up and go on back, the game is only half over."

Roy Reigels went back. Those Tech men will tell you they have never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels played that second half.

And isn't that what God does for you and me? Time and again we blow it. We fail. We mess things up. We feel like such a failure. But Jesus is always there. He places a hand on our shoulder and says, "Get up. Don't quit. I am with you. You are forgiven. I love you and I will never leave you or forsake you no matter what!"

Actually, if we were to translate Jesus' words literally, they would read, Jesus said, "I will never, never, never, never, never (five times over) leave you or forsake you," or "I will never, not ever, no never leave you or forsake you."

As the saying goes, the only real failure is not to get up one more time than we fall or get knocked down.

Dear Lord we thank You for never leaving us or giving up on us. We pray that we would never give up and when we do fail that we would get back up and go again. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Lesson from Charlie Brown's Creator

Proverbs 24:16 (New King James Version)

For a righteous man may fall seven times

And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Sparky. At least that's what his classmates called him. He was given the nickname in honor of a comic strip horse named Spark Plug. Sparky hated the name. But name-calling was the least of his worries.

School was tough for Sparky. His favorite subjects were recess and lunch. He failed every single subject in eighth grade. High school was no better. He flunked algebra, English, Latin, and physics. In fact, to this day he holds the record for the lowest physics marks in his school. Sports weren't much of an improvement. He made the school's golf team, but his poor play ended up costing his team the championship.

Sparky was a loser when it came to friendships too. No one seemed to notice him. He was astonished if a classmate said hello. Afraid of rejection, he never asked a girl out. Instead, he devoted himself to the one thing he really enjoyed: drawing cartoons. No one thought they were any good, but that didn't stop him. He practiced on binders and scribblers, and by the time he was a senior in high school, he got up the nerve to submit some cartoons to the yearbook staff.

They were rejected.

After graduating from high school, Sparky wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios inquiring about job opportunities. He received a form letter requesting samples of his artwork. The letter asked him to draw a funny cartoon of "a man repairing a clock by shoveling the springs and gears back inside it." Sparky drew the cartoon and mailed it off with his fingers crossed. He waited anxiously for a reply. Finally it came. Another form letter spelling out rejection.

Sparky was disappointed but not surprised. He had always been a loser. This was just one more loss. Looking in the mirror one day, he smiled with the realization that in a weird sort of way, his life was funny. Almost like a cartoon character. Then a thought hit him. Why not tell his own story? Why not draw cartoons of the misadventures of a little boy loser, a chronic underachiever? He had no idea where his idea would take him.

This boy who failed the eighth grade, the young artist whose work was rejected by his own yearbook, was Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schultz-creator of the Peanuts comic strip and the little boy whose kite never quite flies.

You know him as Charlie Brown.

Dear Lord we pray today that we would never give up. We thank You that You are there to lift us up when we fall. We pray that we would completely trust in You today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Failure or Springboard?

Habakkuk 3:19 (New International Version)

 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;

   He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

   He enables me to tread on the heights.

Concerned about the disintegration of the home and the increased divorce rate, James Dobson, at the time a little-known psychologist of a southern California university hospital, wrote a book in the early '70s in support of corporal punishment entitle "Dare to Discipline."

The popularity of the controversial volume caught the eye of TV talk show guru Phil Donahue. He invited Dobson to appear on his Chicago-based show in 1978. Donahue made the Ph.D. in child development look like a child. Dobson readily admits his performance on Donahue's show was his worst ever. He left the set feeling like a failure. But Dobson's despair was short-lived.

The next day he sought out a 65-year-old advertising agent in a Chicago suburb to discuss the possibility of a national radio program. Doug Mains invited Dobson to his one-man studio in Wheaton, where Dr. James Dobson proceeded to record the pilot broadcast of "Focus on the Family."

What has developed from a disastrous television appearance is nothing short of mind-boggling. "Focus on the Family" is heard on more than 6,000 stations around the world. The 10 magazines Focus publishes reach 2.3 million families each month. Has produced the popular kids program “Adventures in Odyssey” Hear by kids around the world. This past weekend during the playoff football game The aired an ad in prime time while over 50,000,000 people watched explaining John 3:16, to the world.  

Give your plans to the Lord and let Him direct them. Then sit back and watch how God will use you.

Dear Lord today we surrender ourselves to You . We ask that You we be our strength and that we will follow You no matter where You lead us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Failure to being President

2 Chronicles 15:7 (New International Version)

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”


If you think you have failed, remind yourself of the life story of Abraham Lincoln:






Age 22 - failed in business


Age 23 - ran for legislature and was defeated


Age 24 - failed again in Buenos


Age 26 - sweetheart died


Age 27 - had a nervous breakdown


Age 29 - defeated for speaker


Age 31 - defeated for elector


Age 34 - defeated for Congress


Age 37 - elected to Congress


Age 39 - defeated for Congress


Age 46 - defeated for Senate


Age 47 - defeated for vice president


Age 49 - defeated for Senate


Age 51 - elected president of the United States






This is the record of Abraham Lincoln. Throughout his life he suffered many more defeats than victories, but because he never gave up he won the highest office of the land.






Dear Lord we pray that we would have the perseverance to keep trying and not give up. In Jesus’ name, Amen.