Out Our Way:

Out our way, one thing Goliath and I have learned over the years is that trails have a start and a finish - and that they always lead somewhere. Of course, you have to take that on faith, for when you are on the trail, you generally only see a small part of the whole. As noted last week, to a cow the trail is just that small part she is treading at the moment, but the drover knows there is more and a destination.

Now, for many people who have never read the entire Bible, they only know a few places along the "trail," and often have no real conception of the overall trail and perhaps no idea where it is going. If "Sunday School" stories are about all you have known, it is time to take a ride to the top of the ridge and check out the trail in its entirety. It will show you where the trail began and also why ... it will show you where the trail ends and what destination you are going towards ... and it will show you where you are at the moment. That is called "perspective," partner.

At one time I was unaware of the "trail" and so only had a vague idea of God at work at various moments in history. But as I learned to look at the trail as a whole - see how it all fits together - I began to realize that none of this is arbitrary. Now I am beginning to trust God really does "have this" - and I am not wandering without direction or purpose, but along a carefully blazed trail that leads to the "green pastures and still waters" of the Kingdom.

So let us begin the Covenant Trail at the trail head. The book of Genesis - which mean "the Beginning" - begins with Hebrew poetry describing the creation of all that is. It tells us two important facts: 1) That creation was not an accident and 2) You are also not an accident.

In the Creation account, we are told that we are created in God's image. That means we share some characteristics with God but more importantly, the word " image" refers to a representative of God. Recall in Psalm 8:6 we are told we were created "a little lower than the angels." Now, an angel is a servant of God, and so are we. As we read in Genesis, we are created as God's caretakers and stewards. We are responsible for the wellbeing and welfare of the world.

The tempter came as a "snake in the grass" to test humanity. God had given us free choice - but also a relationship with Him. The "Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil" is sometimes misunderstood by non-scholars as refering to science and education. But they do not understand the ancient language or culture for the "knowledge of good and evil" was an ancient euphemism for " knowing everything." Omniscience. In short -- to be equal to God. That is impossible, of course, but that doesn't keep people from constantly trying to replace God with self. To do that you have to reject God and the relationship God offers.

Though some people may think they are gods, they are not. No one is perfect but God. By the way, the word "perfect" actually means "complete or whole."

Even the best of us messes up because we are all imperfect. Historically, the greatest tyrants and monsters have been those who think themselves above all others in wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. "My mind is made up regardless of the facts" is the word of the potential Hitler, Stalin or Mao.

That is why this tree is forbidden. For to "eat of its fruit" is to give into the lie that we can replace God with self. Read your history and note that all the tyrannies began with that concept of anarchy against God. " God is for lesser men," said Napoleon as he led France to near annihilation. So said Hitler as the Third Reich rose and fell. So said Stalin and Lenin and Mao as their "worker's paradise" fantasy became gulags and concentration camps and the murder of millions.

Adam - the man - and Eve - the Mother of humanity - accepted the lie and lost the Garden. The creation they were to bless and enjoy forever was lost and in its place the consequences of human folly. But God did not give up, and the rest of the scripture is the story of God seeking to help humanity regain what they had thrown away. But first they had to realize what they had lost and that was - and still is - a painful process.

But this is only the beginning of the trail. We took a wrong turn. God is blazinng a new trail that will lead us back, but we have to first go through some rough territory. This is the "Covenant Trail." A hard road at times, but the only way home.

When Charley and I pushed pairs and bulls, there was surely some resentment. Charlie warned me that sometimes a bull or even a cow would turn and charge in frustration and anger. But he also reminded me, if we didn't handle the charge and keep pushing them, even against their will, they would starve or die of thirst in the barren high pastures where they wanted to stay.

A cow and a bull are marvelously made, but rather limited in intellect. I can't really reason with them, so I yell, and snap my rope and ride Goliath at them to force them to go in the way and along the trail that will be their salvation from a terrible death. It is not a kindness to let them go their own way and die. Once you grasp that, you begin to grasp God as the Celestial Rancher and His servants as his cowhands, determined to save the herd and get them home. Read Genesis and then push a few bone headed cows. You will quickly begin to understand the theology of the Bible in the simple reality of cowboying.

No wonder there are so many "cowboy churches" around these days. Maybe Christ as the "Celestial Cowboy" speaks as clearly to the American soul as the Hebrew shepherd spoke to Israelites. Come and ride with us on the Covenant Trail and see the Cowboy Gospel on the Covenant Trail.

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John Bruington and Goliath pushed cows with Charlie for six years on the Hi-Line. Cowboy theology is just a Montana way of declaring God's truth and we hope you will ride with us on the Covenant Trail and discover it for yourself.