THE LONE HEIFER

Howdy Partners...are ya ridin' alone...or are you with your posse? If you are ridin' alone...it may be IM-POSSE-BLE to make it in this rough and tumble world.

QUESTION: What does Giacchino Rossini...Kikola Rimsky-Korsakov, The Green Hornet (aka Britt Ried) and Kato (Bruce Lee) all have in common?

ANSWER: The Lone Ranger

That's right...the Lone Ranger (played primarily by Clayton Moore)!! Rossini wrote the William Tell Overture (part of it used as the theme for the Lone Ranger)...Korsakov wrote Flight of the Bumblebee (part of it used as the theme for The Green Hornet)...The Green Hornet...aka Britt Reid is the grand-nephew of John Reid (aka The Lone Ranger)...and Kato (Bruce Lee) is the counterpart to Tonto (the Lone Ranger's sidekick). NOTE: Even though he is known as the LONE Ranger...he really was not A-lone.

Our tale begins on January 30th 1933 on the radio at WXYZ Detroit Michigan and spread throughout the country via television and movies. The story was created by George Trender and Fran Striker.

The story is that a troop of Texas Rangers were ambushed by Butch Cavendish (the bad guy)...and a spy within the Rangers (named Collins). All of the Rangers (except John Reid) were left for dead. Reid's childhood companion...TONTO (played by Jay Silverheels) found him and nursed him back to health.

NOTE: Tonto was a Potowatome Indian. He was a childhood friend of Reid who had once saved him. The word KEMOSABE...is what Tonto calls Reid. It means either FAITHFUL FRIEND...or trusty scout.

Reid was now...the LONE Ranger. They buried the Rangers...and then went after the bad guys. Reid took the leather vest off of his brother (who was also one of the dead Rangers)...and made himself a leather mask to "hid his identity.

The Lone Ranger...Tonto...and his faithful steed Silver...set off on a journey that continues on to this day...righting injustices and dealing with evil. The Lone Ranger had a silver mine (he was a rich man)... where he had another confidant making an endless supply of SILVER bullets (his trademark). The reason he used silver bullets was to remind him of how precious and expensive firing a gun was...and how when dealing with a human life... that he should shoot sparingly.

What does THE LONE RANGER...have to do with us...THE LONE HEIFERS? Well...if you are a true RUMINATOR...you don't chew alone. Say what?!? I know...you are thinking that it is you and Jesus...because you got a good thing going (Tom T. Hall song). I know...you're thinkin' my relationship with God is a private, personal thing. I know...you're thinking that your "religion" is like a mystery novel...and only you and God know "who done it".

Well...."A firey cow with the spped of light...a cloud of dust, and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver." "Return with us now to those thrilling years of yesteryear...THE LONE HEIFER rides again."

Christianity is not an individiual sport. You really do need each other as you stumble along in this rough and tumble place called the world. There is a bad gang of ambushers like the Cavendish gang... that are out to lay you low in the wilderness. Unless you have someone who has your back...you may be in deep cow patty.

"Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope (D.B.R... nothing more...nothing less)..without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to STIMULATE ONE ANOTHER...to love and good deeds, NOT FORSAKING our own assembling together (the herd), as is the HABIT (a bad one at that) of some...but ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER; and all the more as you see the day drawing near (His return). (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Now this is not talking about "church attendance". You can attend church all day long...and that does not make you a Christian...anymore than going to McDonald's makes you a Big Mac...or standing in a garage makes you a car. Also...going to church does not make you part of an interconnected body of people. Some of the most isolated places in the world are churches. People use these edifices (things that we call churches...but the "church" is really the people)...as HIDING PLACES.
Sometimes we use a "church" as a place to salve our conscious for momentary relief of our sin patterns until next time...or we hop from church to church...or even worse from one spiritual high to another.

We can be LONE RANGERS in the midst of thousands of people. God has called us beyond ISOLATION into COVENANT with one another. He has called us into what is known as KOINONIA. This thing called KOINONIA (coin-oh-knee-ah)...is a Greek word that means...(1) fellowship (2) communion (3) communication (4) sharing life around something in common. The root word for KOINONIA is KOINE' which means..common. For example...there is the Classical Greek language...aka the hoity-toity language of the educated and refined...then there is what the bulk of the New Testament is written in... the KOINE'...the COMMON Greek Language. This is the language of the street people...the average everyday man/woman.

God has called us to SHARE LIFE IN THE SON. In the First Epistle of John...we see the heartbeat of God for KOINONIA. NOTE: The word epistle is a word that means LETTER...not to be confused with an APOSTLE. Epistle is NOT the wife of an APOSTLE. (Sorry...I've used that joke ever since I've heard it back in 1970..and I still find it amusing...unlike those of you who have heard it multiple times)

I JOHN CONNECTION

Verse 1: "What was from the BEGINNING, what we have HEARD, what we have SEEN with our eyes, what we BEHELD and our hands HANDLED, concerning the WORD OF LIFE--

NOTE: Notice the commonality circling around the WORD OF LIFE. This is what we have IN COMMON or in KOINE'.

Verse 2: "And the LIFE was manifested (revealed) , and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to YOU the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us."

NOTE: This LIFE...was now being shared...not hoarded. It was something that was isolated just for a select few.

Verse 3: "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, THAT you ALSO may have FELLOWSHIP (koinonia) WITH US; and indeed our fellowship (koinonia) is with the Fatehr, and with His Son Jesus Christ."

NOTE: Notice the expansion of this thing called FELLOWSHIP. Now it is with them, with us, with the Father and with the Son.

Verse 4: "And these things we write, so that our JOY may be made complete."

NOTE: The cause and effect of this sharing in common is COMPLETED JOY...it is like the gap in the circle is complete. So many times us LONE RANGERS stay out of the loop for many various reasons. We don't like the people within the circle...we don't like getting close with others...because the closer others are...they might discover our faults that we have hidden so well. We may have to admit that we need help.

COMMERCIAL: If Ist John has caught your attention...if you are in the area...you can attend THE RUMINATOR SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS...where we are studying the First Epistle of John verse by verse. We start at 9:00 A.M. at Smyrna Assemblies in the Fellowship (koinonia) Hall.

Now...I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT CHURCH ATTENDANCE...however that is part of the mix.

Years ago...I heard a teaching by Bob Mumford that resonated with me...and still does. He talked about the Three C's of Commitment. Over the years I have seen that these three C's...can be applied to every area of my life. All three C's are good and necessary...but they reflect different levels of committment to our jobs, or marriages, our "church" attendance, our inter-personal relationships with other believers, etc. It seems to me that you can have each one of these individually...but to walk in true KOINONIA... to walk in a richness of relationship...to break the LONE RANGER MENTALITY...you need all three.

THE THREE C'S OF COMMITTMENT. NOTE: Only you and God knows your level of commitment to a job, a place, a person, a church, God, etc. You may be at various levels with multiple things.

C #1= Community: This is where we have something in common. It may be a marriage. It may be a job situation, it may be a structured place of worship (a tangible building/edifice), a common cause (whatever it may be). Many people attend a church...with community mindedness. They know Jesus (they could be a new Christian or a long timer). I have noted (through watching my level of committment) that the Community mindset tends to flit around. As long as I'm getting what I want out of the relationship...I'm happy...BUT if I don't like something or I am made to feel uncomfortable...or if something better catches my eye...or if there is a new wave of "the Spirit moving somewhere else"...I'm outta here. This could be the level where you are when you first get married. Your are committed to your husband or wife....and as you start your walk together...you grow closer and closer...and go deeper into your commitment to one another. Community is a good thing.

C# 2= Communion: This is a deeper commitment to whatever you are committed. You get married... you make adjustments to personalities...you break through the tough times together. You don't just up and run the first time there are hard times or conflicts. In a church sense...you know that you belong to a group of people, you may give your money, time, sweat, etc...but if you don't let a little KEMOSABE action into your life...you may keep a little back... but the more you press in...and open up...what you have in COMMON (koine') strengthens.

C#3= Covenant: This is the strongest...and it incorporates the community and communion aspects. You have opened up...allowed yourself to be planted...rooted. When the strong winds blow...when the conflicts comes...when trouble brews...you are linked together with fellow believers. The Steeplechase...the Church Hop...is no longer an option. NOTE: This is not to say that God may move you to another location...but you will not be running...you will be sent. (See the booklet by Edwin C. Cole called Entering Crisis and Leaving).

Where can a Lone Ranger find fellowship. There are multiple places within the body. Everybody does not have the same levels of needs...or opportunities. There are areas where you may have an interest of like minded believers. It could be a worship team, theater groups, missons, childrens ministry, etc. It could be a Sunday School class like the Ruminators where we eat, praise and worship, shared prayer requests, listen to teaching of the Word, interact. There needs to be some kind of interaction not only at church but at least by phone call, card, letter, etc...and of course meeting within a HOME SETTING. There needs to be a stimulation to love and good deeds...and this cannot take place in isolation. In isolation...you are vulnerable like a sheep outside the sheepfold...and a ravenous wolf is waiting to devour you. We tend to place ourselves into SELF-ISOLATION...because of something someone said or did...or something that someone DIDN'T say or DO. We have become OFFENDED...and we will teach the offender a lesson by withdrawing to ourselves and God (Remember Me and Jesus got a good thing going...Me and Jesus got it all worked out).

As you...leave the gathering of the saints (within the four walls of a church building or within the wall of your home)...I hear the sounds of...."Who was that masked man?" "Why...that was the LONE HEIFER."

CUE THE MUSIC ROSSINI'

Love and Non-Isolated Kisses
Rodney "The Lone Hefier" Boyd