Untitled Page

Allen: If somebody asked you if your house is in order or if your life is in order, you could ask yourself and think about it and develop your own point of view; or you could go to God’s word on it. I recently had God show me some things about being in God’s perfect order! It starts with you and your family being involved in a local church! (Before we get started I want you to know that God’s perfect order doesn’t mean that you think your perfect or you are without sin or don’t make mistakes. It means that you are following after God’s perfect plan. You are still going to have your struggles but you will struggle a lot less with sin if you are in God’s perfect order.) Your home has an order of accountability to it. As husband and father, God requires me to be a spiritual leader at home. I’m responsible to help them develop their relationship with the Lord. I should be looking out for them at all times keeping them in the middle of the road and out of the ditches on the right or left. Having a church home plays a huge part in doing this, especially if you have children. The friends your children choose to hang out with can either encourage them to go on with the Lord or can pull them away from Him without even knowing it. The same applies for us!

Clay: Allen is right! When I first made the decision that I was going to pursue a relationship with God I started hanging around the guys that I knew were Christians. I was rodeoing really hard back then and I started going to cowboy church at the rodeos. From there it progressed. The pastor at the rodeos, Coy Huffman, lived in Arizona also and started coming out and doing Bible studies at my house and Allen’s house. That was kind of my first experience of going to church services. It seemed like every week or so I was going to a Bible study or Church service. We were trying to grow and learn and I was pretty comfortable around the people I knew. When I started trying to find a church around my home, it was a little harder for me because I didn’t know anyone. As time has gone on I have learned more and learned what the church is all about. Now for the last five years I have been a member of the Silverado Cowboy Church in Weatherford, TX and it seems that everyday I get just a little deeper understanding of the importance of being in a church family. My kids and my wife and I feel so connected to that church. Through good times and hard times your church family becomes your extended family. They are there to help, support and encourage you! Everyday I get more and more attached to my church family!

Allen: Like Clay said, Early on I was fortunate enough to meet Clay, Rickey and Jake. By us all being young men in the Lord it was huge to be able to feel accepted by them. Being able to read the bible together and grow spiritually together just knowing that they believed like I believed and knowing that they cared was a real safe feeling! I think lots of times as we grow as Christians you kind of feel like you are alienated a little bit. Sometimes people look at Christians as though it is a special group and no one else can get in, when in fact it is the other way around. People have a tendency to shun you away from their group or activities. That is why having some really close, like minded friends, is really important. Just like the plan God had for me and Clay in finding our friends, God always does things according to His perfect plan which has a perfect order to it. Every family has different needs. Some people are kind of intimidated by bigger churches but sometimes they have exactly what your family needs! Bigger churches might have more resources like marriage counseling, singles classes, and youth programs! Getting plugged into a church and getting active in it gives us support to carry through with God’s plan!

Clay: There are lots of churches and denominations out there. I found the church that we go to by listening to the pastor of the church, Dave Simmons, at some rodeos where he was doing ministry. I got to know him and he helped me by getting some different materials that really helped me to learn and grow a lot. I felt that he was the one God was using in my life to be instrumental in helping me! So I started attending his church. Some people jump around and go here and there but I feel like for me I want to stay hooked in the same spot. I have been going there five years. A lot of people go to church to get something out of it and we are supposed to but we are also supposed to be a part of “giving ourselves” to that body to be part of what God is doing!

Allen: The enemy has a strategy for pulling us away from Jesus. He gives us lots of excuses for not going to church. For example: to busy at work, need to rest, need to stay home with my family, too many hypocrites in church, or the church just wants my money. If he can keep you out of church he can go to work on your family. When I was talking about divine order it starts with us being accountable to our pastor or spiritual father. We receive revelation, which is revealed truth from God through our pastor. So many times I’ve been in church and thought the message was just for me. I’ve heard many people say this! This is such a confirmation about how God speaks to us! The important thing to see here is that we have to be there so He can do it! The Holy Spirit interprets the message to each individual as He needs to, that is God’s way of getting through to us! Then we can receive the word so we can teach our families. That order, when done right, helps God bless our lives and keep them showing fruit. I would say pray first and then be open minded about the church you attend!

Editors Note

During this month’s Pressing On I realized something very important! As Clay and Allen said there are many types of churches. Throughout this months conversation with them I realized how important it is to have those choices. Due to article length I didn’t have a chance to go into it but I noticed Clay likes to as he called it be “Fed” God’s word through the messages. Allen seemed to feel more at home with the worship side of things. The great thing about the two men was how they expressed that church is not just for us but it is our way of pleasing “worshiping” God! What is great is that each has their own way of doing that. This shows how God knows us and meets our individual needs. Allen and Clay would like to encourage you find and get plugged into a “BIBLE BELIEVING” church and watch God go to work in your life!

	Pressing On with Allen Bach and Clay O'brien Cooper as told to JD Malone April 2006 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
The Importance of Church Family Allen: If somebody asked you if your house is in order or if your life is in order, you could ask yourself and think about it and develop your own point of view; or you could go to God’s word on it. I recently had God show me some things about being in God’s perfect order! It starts with you and your family being involved in a local church! (Before we get started I want you to know that God’s perfect order doesn’t mean that you think your perfect or you are without sin or don’t make mistakes. It means that you are following after God’s perfect plan. You are still going to have your struggles but you will struggle a lot less with sin if you are in God’s perfect order.) Your home has an order of accountability to it. As husband and father, God requires me to be a spiritual leader at home. I’m responsible to help them develop their relationship with the Lord. I should be looking out for them at all times keeping them in the middle of the road and out of the ditches on the right or left. Having a church home plays a huge part in doing this, especially if you have children. The friends your children choose to hang out with can either encourage them to go on with the Lord or can pull them away from Him without even knowing it. The same applies for us! Clay: Allen is right! When I first made the decision that I was going to pursue a relationship with God I started hanging around the guys that I knew were Christians. I was rodeoing really hard back then and I started going to cowboy church at the rodeos. From there it progressed. The pastor at the rodeos, Coy Huffman, lived in Arizona also and started coming out and doing Bible studies at my house and Allen’s house. That was kind of my first experience of going to church services. It seemed like every week or so I was going to a Bible study or Church service. We were trying to grow and learn and I was pretty comfortable around the people I knew. When I started trying to find a church around my home, it was a little harder for me because I didn’t know anyone. As time has gone on I have learned more and learned what the church is all about. Now for the last five years I have been a member of the Silverado Cowboy Church in Weatherford, TX and it seems that everyday I get just a little deeper understanding of the importance of being in a church family. My kids and my wife and I feel so connected to that church. Through good times and hard times your church family becomes your extended family. They are there to help, support and encourage you! Everyday I get more and more attached to my church family! Allen: Like Clay said, Early on I was fortunate enough to meet Clay, Rickey and Jake. By us all being young men in the Lord it was huge to be able to feel accepted by them. Being able to read the bible together and grow spiritually together just knowing that they believed like I believed and knowing that they cared was a real safe feeling! I think lots of times as we grow as Christians you kind of feel like you are alienated a little bit. Sometimes people look at Christians as though it is a special group and no one else can get in, when in fact it is the other way around. People have a tendency to shun you away from their group or activities. That is why having some really close, like minded friends, is really important. Just like the plan God had for me and Clay in finding our friends, God always does things according to His perfect plan which has a perfect order to it. Every family has different needs. Some people are kind of intimidated by bigger churches but sometimes they have exactly what your family needs! Bigger churches might have more resources like marriage counseling, singles classes, and youth programs! Getting plugged into a church and getting active in it gives us support to carry through with God’s plan! Clay: There are lots of churches and denominations out there. I found the church that we go to by listening to the pastor of the church, Dave Simmons, at some rodeos where he was doing ministry. I got to know him and he helped me by getting some different materials that really helped me to learn and grow a lot. I felt that he was the one God was using in my life to be instrumental in helping me! So I started attending his church. Some people jump around and go here and there but I feel like for me I want to stay hooked in the same spot. I have been going there five years. A lot of people go to church to get something out of it and we are supposed to but we are also supposed to be a part of “giving ourselves” to that body to be part of what God is doing! Allen: The enemy has a strategy for pulling us away from Jesus. He gives us lots of excuses for not going to church. For example: to busy at work, need to rest, need to stay home with my family, too many hypocrites in church, or the church just wants my money. If he can keep you out of church he can go to work on your family. When I was talking about divine order it starts with us being accountable to our pastor or spiritual father. We receive revelation, which is revealed truth from God through our pastor. So many times I’ve been in church and thought the message was just for me. I’ve heard many people say this! This is such a confirmation about how God speaks to us! The important thing to see here is that we have to be there so He can do it! The Holy Spirit interprets the message to each individual as He needs to, that is God’s way of getting through to us! Then we can receive the word so we can teach our families. That order, when done right, helps God bless our lives and keep them showing fruit. I would say pray first and then be open minded about the church you attend! Editors Note During this month’s Pressing On I realized something very important! As Clay and Allen said there are many types of churches. Throughout this months conversation with them I realized how important it is to have those choices. Due to article length I didn’t have a chance to go into it but I noticed Clay likes to as he called it be “Fed” God’s word through the messages. Allen seemed to feel more at home with the worship side of things. The great thing about the two men was how they expressed that church is not just for us but it is our way of pleasing “worshiping” God! What is great is that each has their own way of doing that. This shows how God knows us and meets our individual needs. Allen and Clay would like to encourage you find and get plugged into a “BIBLE BELIEVING” church and watch God go to work in your life!