I was extremely blessed when I was asked to write for the paper. I mean, I still have trouble with the verbs and nouns thing that Mrs. Piper tried to drill into my head back in high school in the 70’s! But I will try and do my best.
I thought it would be good for the first column to introduce myself. There may be some in our wonderful community that I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet and wonder who I am. Well, my name is Steve Lindsey and I was born in Patagonia in 1958 into the gentle hands of Dr. Mock M.D. Some of you readers have got to remember Dr. Mock. Gentle and Dr. Mock just do not belong in the same sentence! Gentle he was not, but nonetheless he was the first one in the community to meet me.
I grew up in Canelo on the family ranch, attended Elgin Elementary School and finished up my high school education at Patagonia Union High School, graduating in 1976. I kicked
around for a few years and in 1979 I moved to Benson where I met the most beautiful girl in the world, Naomi Ruth. We married in that same year and started a family. Boy did we start a family!
We had seven children in Benson, then the Lord had mercy on us and in 1994 we moved to Canelo where we had 2 more children. And I count it as a privilege that all our living children reside within a 20-mile radius of grandma, except one who lives in San Francisco, California. We have 14 grandkids on the ground. There have been many aches and pains as we live life, but all in all I have been blessed beyond measure.
In 2006, God called Naomi and me to the ministry and we planted Canelo Cowboy Church on April 16 of that year. For the first ten years we met in the old Canelo Schoolhouse. It is an 800 square foot building and we realized after a time we needed to move, so the church purchased 17 acres of land in Elgin. We built a 3600 square foot steel building there, and that is where we are meeting today.
Today I was studying in II Thessalonians 1:1-2. In verse 2 Paul tells the church, “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul always wrote this in his
letters to the churches, “Grace and peace…” Now grace I can understand. Paul tells us that it is by grace we are saved. “Saved from what?” you may ask. Saved from eternal separation
from God in Hell. Jesus gave His life so you and I could be saved! And that my friends is grace! We didn’t do anything to earn it, He did it because He loves us.
And the greatest thing about being saved is that we can then have that peace that He promised us. That word peace in Thessalonians means this, “A tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Jesus Christ and so fearing nothing from God and they are
content with their earthly lot whatever that is.” Isn’t that beautiful? If we have been saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we can have the peace to know that God is in control whatever our situation. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
Let me know if you need anything! The coffee is always on and we have groceries to eat!
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a new series of columns written by our ministers, priests and spiritual leaders. Steve Lindsey is the pastor at the Canelo Cowboy Church in Elgin. He
can be reached at 520-559-0155 or 520-455-5000