Training for the Cross - Journal
Friday, January 13, 2012
Men's Bible Study
Our men's Bible study has gotten so big (praise God!) that we are moving it to the Homedale Friends Community Church. Come join us at 6:00 am Wednesday mornings for great teaching and fellowship!
(The church is located at 17434 Highway 95, Wilder, ID.)
(The church is located at 17434 Highway 95, Wilder, ID.)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Good Communication
Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say (Isaiah 28:23).
3 Factors of Communication
1) Feel
2) Timing
3) Balance
* The rate a person is able to move toward perfection rests entirely upon these three factors *
"Feeling" of the Horse
Ray Hunt said, "You can't buy it and I can't give it to you." You can read all the books in the world, have people tell you what "feel" is, and see people that ride through "feel," but you will never have it until you experience it. It can only be achieved between you and the horse. People can help you position yourself so that you and the horse are in a situation to experience "feel," but ultimately it is between you and the horse. If you can't feel when things are perfect, how do you expect to attain perfection?
Often perfection will pass by in a split second and then vanish. A person needs to recognize these split seconds and relieve the applied pressure. It is through receiving relief that the horse develops the desire to stay in perfection; then the seconds can be multiplied to minutes. A 30-minute ride with 2 minutes of perfection is better than a 3-hour ride with no perfection. The 2 minutes may be multiplied. However, the 3 hours without perfection will lead to an unwillingly submitted horse.
True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Human
The title of Tom Dorrance's book is "True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human." The editor Milly Porter stated, "From the beginning of time, history has been sprinkled with individuals who, because of something unique in their personalities, take the very ordinary in their environments and see in it, or do with it, a little more than others seem to have gotten from the same opportunity." Tom was definitely one of these individuals. Tom's teachings, both directly and indirectly have had an enormous impact on people around the world. Tom did not do an incredible amount of traveling putting on clinics, but his teachings have spread like wildfire, through many of his students.
Nearly 20 years ago, Tom said, "It will soon be 27 years since I first met Ray Hunt – that has been another fortunate experience of my life. I have never experienced anyone who could pick up on the slightest clue and build on it in the right direction in such a short time." Ray Hunt, one of Tom's best-known students, took what Tom gave him and shared it with people for over 40 years.
What was it that Tom possessed, that not only helped people to realize how to get along better with their horse, but to live a better life? People who worked around Tom not only said that their horsemanship improved, but they became a better person. So what was it? I believe it was a combination of things. The times that I was around Tom, I was too young to realize and appreciate the gift he had with horses. I just remember him being one of the most caring men I have ever met. He not only had a gift with animals and especially horses, but a gift with people.
Tom had an incredible memory, and a God-given ability to feel a horse and read a person. However, I believe that Tom's greatest gift was his heart. Tom had a soft heart and that is why people and horses were drawn to him. What made Tom truly unique was that he had Christ-like qualities. I do not mean to take away from the legacy of Tom Dorrance, but the reason his teachings were successful, was because it was the way God intended it.
God told me once, "If you have a little piece of God in this world, you will stand out; if you get a little bigger piece of God, you will be set apart; the more of God you receive in this world, the more of you will depart from this world until you are no longer in this world and are with your Father in heaven." Whether a person is a Christian or not, if they possess any of Christ's qualities they will stand out in this world. A person that is humble, caring, patient, unselfish, and trustworthy will easily stand out in the world we live in today.
Tom could communicate with horses, but he had trouble trying to get people to find that same communication. It was only when the person's heart changed that they could find what Tom had been trying to show them. The person had to set aside their selfish ambitions and look at things from the horse's perspective. There were some things however, that Tom could not teach; "feel, timing, and balance." These were the backbone to what Tom tried to get across to people, and without that backbone, they could not progress. Without it, communication between horse and man is very limited.
Feel, timing, and balance cannot be comprehended from intellectual knowledge, but must be experienced. The same is true with God and words such as: revelation, manifestation, and glory. I majored in Equine Science in college and earned a Masters in Equine Science. I have learned anatomy and physiology, reproduction, lameness, conformation, forages, genetics, management, and nutrition. All of these have helped me to understand the makeup of a horse and their character and management, but none of this has helped me to "feel" of the horse. This is something that I will only understand through experience.
We can go to church and learn the makeup of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can read the Bible and listen to sermons to understand the character of God; however, we will never truly know God, until we experience Him. This can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The frustration that Tom experienced in trying to help people communicate with the horse is the same frustration that God has with us. Tom says in his book, "If I could tell people, just go through the motions here, and then they could pick this up and do it, I wouldn't do anything else, but work with people and horses; but there is something more. It is something that has to come in the unity between the horse and the rider."
God tried to get people to have closeness with Him by going through the motions. He gave Moses a list of laws and told him exactly what they must do to have closeness with God. However, unity could not come through willpower or head knowledge; it had to come through the death of Jesus Christ uniting us to the Father. By accepting Jesus into our hearts we become children of God, uniting us with the Father. Then the Holy Spirit is able to communicate the will of the Father, and He is able to direct and lead us. God leads us through the Spirit, and we are able to experience Him in greater ways the more we operate through the Spirit.
If Tom could have gotten everyone to operate through "feel," instead of willpower, they could have had the unity that Tom had with horses. However, many people had the habit of operating through willpower. People would come to Tom and he would show them what was holding them back from "feeling" of the horse. They could feel what Tom was talking about, and experience closeness with their horse when they were with Tom. It made sense and felt good, but when they left his clinics they would slide back into their old way of trying to make it happen. When they were in the clinic environment it was easier to operate through feel, but when they left and returned to their jobs, the environment changed. They then had trouble keeping the soft "feel."
This is no different than our lives with the Lord. If we go to someone who is living their life through the Spirit, they can show us what is holding us back from "feeling" the Lord. When we are with them it is easy to operate in the Holy Spirit. However, when we leave and return to our jobs we find ourselves in a different environment and slip back into our old way of doing it by our willpower.
This is why Scripture tells us: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). God knows that it is hard to walk in the Spirit when we are baby Christians. That is why He tells us to assemble together. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). God tells us when we are babies we need milk, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). This should be the job of our pastor; a man that is acquainted with operating in the power of the Holy Spirit and can help us mature in Christ. If our pastor is only teaching on the character of God and is not helping us experience God (soft feel), our lives will often slide back into operating through our own willpower.
Tom was probably one of the greatest people to learn how to experience a soft feel from, because Tom always operated with a soft feel. The results were evident with any horse that he worked, as well as the people that he helped. Tom did not just talk about the power of having feel, timing, and balance; the evidence could be seen through what he could accomplish. I did not get an opportunity to spend time learning about "feel" from Tom, however, I have learned a great deal from people that have spent time with him. It is from these people that I have seen the powerful results in their horsemanship and they have helped me experience the results that can come from "feel." It is easy to see if someone is operating with feel, timing, and balance, because it will be evident in what they can accomplish with their horse. The same is true for someone who is operating through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). Jesus told them they would do "greater works than these" because He was going to the Father and was going to send the Holy Spirit.
In Acts Jesus told His disciples, "For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit came on the apostles, and they began to speak in other tongues "as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4). The men that had just crucified Jesus were at the Pentecost and were in disbelief of the power of God working through the Holy Spirit. Peter stood up filled with the Holy Spirit and in a few paragraphs Peter's words cut through their hearts and they asked what they must do. Peter told them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Scripture says that over three thousand were saved that day.
We may think that we have a tough crowd to try to get saved, but I am fairly confident we will not come across a crowd as tough as the people at the Pentecost. These were radical religious people who had just crucified Jesus. However, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and with God talking through him, his words pierced their hearts. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).
The Holy Spirit brings power to our lives, and if we are walking in the Spirit, God's power will be evident through us. "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers" (Acts 16:5). People were drawn to the early disciples because they could see the power of God on them. People were drawn to Tom because they could see the power of a soft feel. Scripture says, "That we will judge them by their fruit." "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:19-20). Jesus told His disciples when they received the Holy Spirit they would receive power. I am not talking about selfish power, but power for the kingdom of God. Jesus told them they would do greater things than these. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead and that is what the disciples did once they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the disciples also possessed a supernatural love that only comes from God and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the power that is available once we have learned to become united with God and walk in His spirit.
People were drawn to the disciples because the power of God was on them. People wanted to know what was different about them, and the disciples told them it was Jesus and the Holy Spirit living through them. They wanted to become born again and receive the Holy Spirit. In this same manner people were drawn to Tom, and wanted to learn how to "feel" of the horse.
In order to have unity with our horse, we need to learn how to operate through a "soft feel." If not, we then try to do it through our own willpower. The same is true with the Lord. In order to have unity with Him, we must learn how to let the Holy Spirit operate through us. It is when
we are not continually striving to know God more, and lose the hunger for His presence, that we find ourselves trying to do it by our own willpower. If we want to know how to be united with our horse, we wouldn't go to someone who has only read books on horse behavior. Instead, we would be drawn to someone who attains unity with their horse and can communicate with them. Then they could help us communicate with our horse and eventually gain unity. The same is true in our spiritual life. When we are baby Christians, we need to make sure that we find people that are not only familiar with the character of God, but have experienced God and are acquainted with walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. People that communicate with God can help us communicate with Him and eventually we can gain unity with our heavenly Father. We can gain True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Man.
God Bless,
Wade Black
(exerpt from "Returning to Eden - True Unity & Willing Communication" by Wade Black)
3 Factors of Communication
1) Feel
2) Timing
3) Balance
* The rate a person is able to move toward perfection rests entirely upon these three factors *
"Feeling" of the Horse
Ray Hunt said, "You can't buy it and I can't give it to you." You can read all the books in the world, have people tell you what "feel" is, and see people that ride through "feel," but you will never have it until you experience it. It can only be achieved between you and the horse. People can help you position yourself so that you and the horse are in a situation to experience "feel," but ultimately it is between you and the horse. If you can't feel when things are perfect, how do you expect to attain perfection?
Often perfection will pass by in a split second and then vanish. A person needs to recognize these split seconds and relieve the applied pressure. It is through receiving relief that the horse develops the desire to stay in perfection; then the seconds can be multiplied to minutes. A 30-minute ride with 2 minutes of perfection is better than a 3-hour ride with no perfection. The 2 minutes may be multiplied. However, the 3 hours without perfection will lead to an unwillingly submitted horse.
True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Human
The title of Tom Dorrance's book is "True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human." The editor Milly Porter stated, "From the beginning of time, history has been sprinkled with individuals who, because of something unique in their personalities, take the very ordinary in their environments and see in it, or do with it, a little more than others seem to have gotten from the same opportunity." Tom was definitely one of these individuals. Tom's teachings, both directly and indirectly have had an enormous impact on people around the world. Tom did not do an incredible amount of traveling putting on clinics, but his teachings have spread like wildfire, through many of his students.
Nearly 20 years ago, Tom said, "It will soon be 27 years since I first met Ray Hunt – that has been another fortunate experience of my life. I have never experienced anyone who could pick up on the slightest clue and build on it in the right direction in such a short time." Ray Hunt, one of Tom's best-known students, took what Tom gave him and shared it with people for over 40 years.
What was it that Tom possessed, that not only helped people to realize how to get along better with their horse, but to live a better life? People who worked around Tom not only said that their horsemanship improved, but they became a better person. So what was it? I believe it was a combination of things. The times that I was around Tom, I was too young to realize and appreciate the gift he had with horses. I just remember him being one of the most caring men I have ever met. He not only had a gift with animals and especially horses, but a gift with people.
Tom had an incredible memory, and a God-given ability to feel a horse and read a person. However, I believe that Tom's greatest gift was his heart. Tom had a soft heart and that is why people and horses were drawn to him. What made Tom truly unique was that he had Christ-like qualities. I do not mean to take away from the legacy of Tom Dorrance, but the reason his teachings were successful, was because it was the way God intended it.
God told me once, "If you have a little piece of God in this world, you will stand out; if you get a little bigger piece of God, you will be set apart; the more of God you receive in this world, the more of you will depart from this world until you are no longer in this world and are with your Father in heaven." Whether a person is a Christian or not, if they possess any of Christ's qualities they will stand out in this world. A person that is humble, caring, patient, unselfish, and trustworthy will easily stand out in the world we live in today.
Tom could communicate with horses, but he had trouble trying to get people to find that same communication. It was only when the person's heart changed that they could find what Tom had been trying to show them. The person had to set aside their selfish ambitions and look at things from the horse's perspective. There were some things however, that Tom could not teach; "feel, timing, and balance." These were the backbone to what Tom tried to get across to people, and without that backbone, they could not progress. Without it, communication between horse and man is very limited.
Feel, timing, and balance cannot be comprehended from intellectual knowledge, but must be experienced. The same is true with God and words such as: revelation, manifestation, and glory. I majored in Equine Science in college and earned a Masters in Equine Science. I have learned anatomy and physiology, reproduction, lameness, conformation, forages, genetics, management, and nutrition. All of these have helped me to understand the makeup of a horse and their character and management, but none of this has helped me to "feel" of the horse. This is something that I will only understand through experience.
We can go to church and learn the makeup of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can read the Bible and listen to sermons to understand the character of God; however, we will never truly know God, until we experience Him. This can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The frustration that Tom experienced in trying to help people communicate with the horse is the same frustration that God has with us. Tom says in his book, "If I could tell people, just go through the motions here, and then they could pick this up and do it, I wouldn't do anything else, but work with people and horses; but there is something more. It is something that has to come in the unity between the horse and the rider."
God tried to get people to have closeness with Him by going through the motions. He gave Moses a list of laws and told him exactly what they must do to have closeness with God. However, unity could not come through willpower or head knowledge; it had to come through the death of Jesus Christ uniting us to the Father. By accepting Jesus into our hearts we become children of God, uniting us with the Father. Then the Holy Spirit is able to communicate the will of the Father, and He is able to direct and lead us. God leads us through the Spirit, and we are able to experience Him in greater ways the more we operate through the Spirit.
If Tom could have gotten everyone to operate through "feel," instead of willpower, they could have had the unity that Tom had with horses. However, many people had the habit of operating through willpower. People would come to Tom and he would show them what was holding them back from "feeling" of the horse. They could feel what Tom was talking about, and experience closeness with their horse when they were with Tom. It made sense and felt good, but when they left his clinics they would slide back into their old way of trying to make it happen. When they were in the clinic environment it was easier to operate through feel, but when they left and returned to their jobs, the environment changed. They then had trouble keeping the soft "feel."
This is no different than our lives with the Lord. If we go to someone who is living their life through the Spirit, they can show us what is holding us back from "feeling" the Lord. When we are with them it is easy to operate in the Holy Spirit. However, when we leave and return to our jobs we find ourselves in a different environment and slip back into our old way of doing it by our willpower.
This is why Scripture tells us: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). God knows that it is hard to walk in the Spirit when we are baby Christians. That is why He tells us to assemble together. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). God tells us when we are babies we need milk, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). This should be the job of our pastor; a man that is acquainted with operating in the power of the Holy Spirit and can help us mature in Christ. If our pastor is only teaching on the character of God and is not helping us experience God (soft feel), our lives will often slide back into operating through our own willpower.
Tom was probably one of the greatest people to learn how to experience a soft feel from, because Tom always operated with a soft feel. The results were evident with any horse that he worked, as well as the people that he helped. Tom did not just talk about the power of having feel, timing, and balance; the evidence could be seen through what he could accomplish. I did not get an opportunity to spend time learning about "feel" from Tom, however, I have learned a great deal from people that have spent time with him. It is from these people that I have seen the powerful results in their horsemanship and they have helped me experience the results that can come from "feel." It is easy to see if someone is operating with feel, timing, and balance, because it will be evident in what they can accomplish with their horse. The same is true for someone who is operating through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). Jesus told them they would do "greater works than these" because He was going to the Father and was going to send the Holy Spirit.
In Acts Jesus told His disciples, "For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit came on the apostles, and they began to speak in other tongues "as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4). The men that had just crucified Jesus were at the Pentecost and were in disbelief of the power of God working through the Holy Spirit. Peter stood up filled with the Holy Spirit and in a few paragraphs Peter's words cut through their hearts and they asked what they must do. Peter told them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Scripture says that over three thousand were saved that day.
We may think that we have a tough crowd to try to get saved, but I am fairly confident we will not come across a crowd as tough as the people at the Pentecost. These were radical religious people who had just crucified Jesus. However, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and with God talking through him, his words pierced their hearts. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).
The Holy Spirit brings power to our lives, and if we are walking in the Spirit, God's power will be evident through us. "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers" (Acts 16:5). People were drawn to the early disciples because they could see the power of God on them. People were drawn to Tom because they could see the power of a soft feel. Scripture says, "That we will judge them by their fruit." "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:19-20). Jesus told His disciples when they received the Holy Spirit they would receive power. I am not talking about selfish power, but power for the kingdom of God. Jesus told them they would do greater things than these. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead and that is what the disciples did once they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the disciples also possessed a supernatural love that only comes from God and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the power that is available once we have learned to become united with God and walk in His spirit.
People were drawn to the disciples because the power of God was on them. People wanted to know what was different about them, and the disciples told them it was Jesus and the Holy Spirit living through them. They wanted to become born again and receive the Holy Spirit. In this same manner people were drawn to Tom, and wanted to learn how to "feel" of the horse.
In order to have unity with our horse, we need to learn how to operate through a "soft feel." If not, we then try to do it through our own willpower. The same is true with the Lord. In order to have unity with Him, we must learn how to let the Holy Spirit operate through us. It is when
we are not continually striving to know God more, and lose the hunger for His presence, that we find ourselves trying to do it by our own willpower. If we want to know how to be united with our horse, we wouldn't go to someone who has only read books on horse behavior. Instead, we would be drawn to someone who attains unity with their horse and can communicate with them. Then they could help us communicate with our horse and eventually gain unity. The same is true in our spiritual life. When we are baby Christians, we need to make sure that we find people that are not only familiar with the character of God, but have experienced God and are acquainted with walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. People that communicate with God can help us communicate with Him and eventually we can gain unity with our heavenly Father. We can gain True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Man.
God Bless,
Wade Black
(exerpt from "Returning to Eden - True Unity & Willing Communication" by Wade Black)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
40 Days to the Trainer Bible Study
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand (Matthew 13:10-13).
Join us tonight at 7 pm for the "40 Days to the Trainer" Bible study, at Homedale Friends Community Church, 17434 Highway 95, Wilder, ID. Everyone is welcome!
For more detailed information, see the Bible Study page by clicking HERE.
Join us tonight at 7 pm for the "40 Days to the Trainer" Bible study, at Homedale Friends Community Church, 17434 Highway 95, Wilder, ID. Everyone is welcome!
For more detailed information, see the Bible Study page by clicking HERE.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
40 Days to the Trainer
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Come join us for the "40 Days to the Trainer" Bible study! We will be meeting Tuesday evenings at 7 pm, at Fran Lane, Wilder, ID. Everyone is welcome!
The "40 Days to the Trainer" Bible study uses horsemanship, ranch roping, rodeo, and stockmanship parables to help us hear the Lord better, to fan into flame and direct our spiritual gifts, and to find the line we were predestined to travel. The goal of this Bible study is to set a solid foundation in a believer's life of "who they are in Christ," and help the believer draw closer to becoming one with Christ. Just like with a horse, the best way to become one with God is to set out to do a job together.
For more detailed information, see the Bible Study page by clicking HERE.
Come join us for the "40 Days to the Trainer" Bible study! We will be meeting Tuesday evenings at 7 pm, at Fran Lane, Wilder, ID. Everyone is welcome!
The "40 Days to the Trainer" Bible study uses horsemanship, ranch roping, rodeo, and stockmanship parables to help us hear the Lord better, to fan into flame and direct our spiritual gifts, and to find the line we were predestined to travel. The goal of this Bible study is to set a solid foundation in a believer's life of "who they are in Christ," and help the believer draw closer to becoming one with Christ. Just like with a horse, the best way to become one with God is to set out to do a job together.
For more detailed information, see the Bible Study page by clicking HERE.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
College Course & Certificate
"Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life." (Proverbs 4:13).
Stop by Martin Black's booth at the Jordan Valley Big Loop Rodeo (May 20, 21, 22) for more information on the new College Course & Certificate program offered by Training for the Cross, LLC.
Training for the Cross offers a new College Course and Certificate Program in Applied Animal Behavior & Livestock Skills!! Four separate classes: Horsemanship, Roping, Stockmanship, and Rodea Style Branding, offered beginning Nov. 1st, 2011. For a detailed syllabus and description, see the College Course page by clicking HERE.
Stop by Martin Black's booth at the Jordan Valley Big Loop Rodeo (May 20, 21, 22) for more information on the new College Course & Certificate program offered by Training for the Cross, LLC.
Training for the Cross offers a new College Course and Certificate Program in Applied Animal Behavior & Livestock Skills!! Four separate classes: Horsemanship, Roping, Stockmanship, and Rodea Style Branding, offered beginning Nov. 1st, 2011. For a detailed syllabus and description, see the College Course page by clicking HERE.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Willing Submission
"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart." (Job 22:21-22).
"Willing Submission" or "Seeking Relief"
1) The horse chooses to do the job.
2) Set it up so the horse would have it no other way than to do what you want to do.
3) Horses are driven by comfort. Make it comfortable to do the job.
"Make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy" (Ray Hunt).
4) In this way the horse and person become partners. The horse has a choice.
5) Requires patience, timing, and feel.
6) A person can ask a lot more of a horse once they have submitted willingly.
7) Willingly submitted horses try to please their riders.
In order for you and your horse to move together in perfect unity to accomplish a job, the horse must first act with "Willing Submission." My definition of "Willing Submission" is: When a request is made the horse willingly performs the task requiring little to no pressure; it is the horse's idea. After initial contact the horse performs the task on a loose rein and with no leg pressure. If it is truly the horse's idea we should not have to drive them to do the job.
To achieve Willing Submission with my horse, I start with what I call Stage 1 (stopping the inside front foot and walking the other feet forward around it). When a horse stops driving forward with the inside front foot and walks the other three feet around the inside front foot with willing submission (loose rein and no leg pressure), they have totally submitted their driving factors/life to us. If they were driven by self-preservation, or seeking comfort and companionship away from us, their hindquarters would be driving them forward. We can disengage the hindquarters, but the driving factors are only submitted when the inside front foot stops moving forward. In Stage 1, the hindquarters will step sideways and then the outside front foot must step forward, then the hindquarters, then the outside foot and so on. If the inside front foot moves back or sideways, you have too much pressure on the rein. If the inside front foot moves forward, you have too much life and need a little more rein pressure.
Willing Submission can be applied to our lives. Once we have learned to totally submit our driving factors with willing submission, then the Lord can give us direction. Often even though we may want direction and be seeking direction, until we have totally submitted our driving factors, it is difficult to hear the Lord speak. When we attained salvation we achieved Stage 1, we totally submitted our driving factors with willing submission. We were no longer driven by our self-preservation and seeking comfort and companionship anywhere but "in" Him. We had total confidence in Him and our energy (motivation and determination) was pointed entirely to Him. It was at that moment that you were in perfection. You were cleansed from all your sins and they were as far as from the east is to the west; "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalms 103:12).
However, just like a young horse it does not take long for those driving factors to come back in and start driving us away from the Lord. No, the driving factors must be resubmitted and resubmitted and resubmitted all day every day until they no longer come back in. That is what we have to do with our horse and that is what the Lord showed me I must do with my life, to be a true disciple. Once the Lord showed me this concept of how limited I am to do a job with my horse when they have not submitted their driving factors, I began to realize how much I was limiting God in using me as a true disciple. Oh sure, we can contain our self-preservation with a strong mechanical foundation (going to church, reading our Bible), but we will never be a true disciple until we get rid of our self-preservation and seek Him for comfort and companionship daily.
The most important thing is to learn how to submit your driving factors. If you are like I was when the Lord started showing me this, it is going to be very difficult. Although I tried to read my Bible daily and attended church whenever I could, I was amazed at how much I operated in my self-preservation (thoughts of I, me, we, or us). Just like our horse, we need to learn how to submit our driving factors. The tough part is to try to stop the forward motion, to stop your driving factors from driving your mind away from God. God showed me that I need to do this the same way I get a horse to do it.
When I first begin to teach a horse to submit their driving factors it is all mechanical. A horse that has never been touched before I will rope around the neck and whenever they turn and face, pointing their driving factors to me (Stage 1), I will give them relief. Eventually they learn that they cannot breathe unless they have their driving factors pointed to me (this is what the Lord did to me). Then I work closer and closer, decreasing the energy and increasing the confidence in me, teaching the horse to keep their driving factors pointed to me. Then I put a halter on them and teach them Stage 1 (submitting driving factors) with a halter. Then I wrap the lead rope around my saddle horn, put the flag over the horse's withers and ride to their tail. The horse is snubbed to my saddle horn and cannot get away. When I bring the flag into the horse, the horse's self-preservation tries to drive the horse away, but he hits the end of the lead rope and submits his driving factors. Eventually as the energy decreases, confidence is gained and the horse is no longer bothered by the flag.
The horse also learns that under high stress situations when self-preservation is at its highest, they can always submit their driving factors and get relief. If I do not have a saddle horse, I will tie them to a solid post and drive them forward until they hit the end of the rope and do Stage 1 submitting their driving factors. I then give them relief when they turn and face me. I pet them between the eyes, walk around straight behind them and do it again. Eventually as the energy decreases and confidence is gained, they learn to submit their driving factors and trust me in their blind spot. They learn to stop the forward motion and pivot around the inside front foot before the slack even comes out of the lead rope. It is easy to see how Stage 1 brings direction (suppleness through the poll and loin) in this drill. Apply the same concept when you get on the horse's back.
A person can apply the same concept of getting the horse to point their driving factors to you, in the round pen. Brian Neubert explains this very well on his website and there are several people that have "round pen ministries" relating getting a horse to "turn and face" to our life with the Lord. The parable is that the round pen is the world, we are the horse and God patiently waits in the middle. God applies slight pressure when we are focused on the distractions of the world (outside the pen) and we get relief when we turn our focus to Him. The end result is our driving factors pointed to God and no longer seeking comfort and companionship with the world. The round pen ministries are a great demonstration of how we can find peace and contentment in this life, through submitting our driving factors. They are a tremendous tool for bringing people to the Lord and work wonders; our ministry however is focused more on the next step. Now that we have submitted to the Lord, how can we learn to ride in absolute perfection where horse and person, man and God truly become one? Now that we have submitted in the round pen, how do we stay submitted once the gate is open?
Ask the Lord to give you a solid post to keep your self-preservation from having a runaway. Just like your horse, the more times you can keep your driving factors submitted, the more confidence (faith) can be gained in God and the flags will soon have no effect.
When working with a horse that is filled with self-preservation I like to work with them in a solid round pen. Do the same thing with your mind during the early stages; build a strong round pen for your mind. The more people that you put around yourself that are seeking the Kingdom of God, the easier it is going to be to keep your mind from running off. The more time you keep your mind on Him, wanting to know Him, the Holy Spirit will begin to decrease your energy and increase your confidence in Him. Once you have a solid Stage 1 with willing submission, peace and direction will follow right after. Treat your mind just like the horse's hindquarters. Our mind is constantly in self-preservation, running off and seeking comfort and companionship away from the Lord, if we let it. Learn to double your mind. Ask the Lord to give you something to double your mind around. Pray to the Lord, "Lord my mind is running off; give me something to double it around." Think of your favorite Scripture, or something He has shown you in the past. Start praising Him and thanking Him for everything He has given you. Ask Him to remove your self-preservation and wash you of your sins. Do whatever you have to do to keep your mind on Him. As your focus begins to shift from self-preservation to feeling the comfort and companionship of the Holy Spirit, just continue to think about Him and the presence of the Holy Spirit will get stronger and stronger. Pretty soon your mind will become totally submitted, you will be at total peace and your mind will become consumed with the Lord. This is what it means to have a solid Stage 1; totally submitted driving factors. Once a person learns to find this place on a daily basis, your life will never be the same again.
Learn to submit your driving factors, be softened by the Holy Spirit and then receive direction like Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Elijah fell before the Lord a helpless wreck, fully submitted his driving factors and then the Lord spoke to him. If you are tired of waiting on direction from the Lord, instead of waiting on the Lord to get through your driving factors, try totally submitting your driving factors, laying everything at His feet.
Here's a Quiz to help you check your progress in attaining Willing Submission:
The thoughts in my head and desires in my heart naturally line up with the Bible (New Covenant) (Hebrews 8:10).
All day I am about my Father's business (Luke 2:49).
In every thing I do, I work at it with all my heart as if working for God, not for man; because I know it is from the Lord that I will receive the reward of my inheritance (Colossians 3:23-24).
I serve only one master, I do not get caught up in the world and worry about money (Matthew 6:24).
I look to my heavenly Father and only Him, nothing is tying me to this world (Matthew 19:21).
My focus all day is to store up for myself treasures in heaven, not on earth (Luke 2:49).
(excerpt from "Foundation for Perfection: A Guide to Discipleship" by Wade Black)
"Willing Submission" or "Seeking Relief"
1) The horse chooses to do the job.
2) Set it up so the horse would have it no other way than to do what you want to do.
3) Horses are driven by comfort. Make it comfortable to do the job.
"Make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy" (Ray Hunt).
4) In this way the horse and person become partners. The horse has a choice.
5) Requires patience, timing, and feel.
6) A person can ask a lot more of a horse once they have submitted willingly.
7) Willingly submitted horses try to please their riders.
In order for you and your horse to move together in perfect unity to accomplish a job, the horse must first act with "Willing Submission." My definition of "Willing Submission" is: When a request is made the horse willingly performs the task requiring little to no pressure; it is the horse's idea. After initial contact the horse performs the task on a loose rein and with no leg pressure. If it is truly the horse's idea we should not have to drive them to do the job.
To achieve Willing Submission with my horse, I start with what I call Stage 1 (stopping the inside front foot and walking the other feet forward around it). When a horse stops driving forward with the inside front foot and walks the other three feet around the inside front foot with willing submission (loose rein and no leg pressure), they have totally submitted their driving factors/life to us. If they were driven by self-preservation, or seeking comfort and companionship away from us, their hindquarters would be driving them forward. We can disengage the hindquarters, but the driving factors are only submitted when the inside front foot stops moving forward. In Stage 1, the hindquarters will step sideways and then the outside front foot must step forward, then the hindquarters, then the outside foot and so on. If the inside front foot moves back or sideways, you have too much pressure on the rein. If the inside front foot moves forward, you have too much life and need a little more rein pressure.
Willing Submission can be applied to our lives. Once we have learned to totally submit our driving factors with willing submission, then the Lord can give us direction. Often even though we may want direction and be seeking direction, until we have totally submitted our driving factors, it is difficult to hear the Lord speak. When we attained salvation we achieved Stage 1, we totally submitted our driving factors with willing submission. We were no longer driven by our self-preservation and seeking comfort and companionship anywhere but "in" Him. We had total confidence in Him and our energy (motivation and determination) was pointed entirely to Him. It was at that moment that you were in perfection. You were cleansed from all your sins and they were as far as from the east is to the west; "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalms 103:12).
However, just like a young horse it does not take long for those driving factors to come back in and start driving us away from the Lord. No, the driving factors must be resubmitted and resubmitted and resubmitted all day every day until they no longer come back in. That is what we have to do with our horse and that is what the Lord showed me I must do with my life, to be a true disciple. Once the Lord showed me this concept of how limited I am to do a job with my horse when they have not submitted their driving factors, I began to realize how much I was limiting God in using me as a true disciple. Oh sure, we can contain our self-preservation with a strong mechanical foundation (going to church, reading our Bible), but we will never be a true disciple until we get rid of our self-preservation and seek Him for comfort and companionship daily.
The most important thing is to learn how to submit your driving factors. If you are like I was when the Lord started showing me this, it is going to be very difficult. Although I tried to read my Bible daily and attended church whenever I could, I was amazed at how much I operated in my self-preservation (thoughts of I, me, we, or us). Just like our horse, we need to learn how to submit our driving factors. The tough part is to try to stop the forward motion, to stop your driving factors from driving your mind away from God. God showed me that I need to do this the same way I get a horse to do it.
When I first begin to teach a horse to submit their driving factors it is all mechanical. A horse that has never been touched before I will rope around the neck and whenever they turn and face, pointing their driving factors to me (Stage 1), I will give them relief. Eventually they learn that they cannot breathe unless they have their driving factors pointed to me (this is what the Lord did to me). Then I work closer and closer, decreasing the energy and increasing the confidence in me, teaching the horse to keep their driving factors pointed to me. Then I put a halter on them and teach them Stage 1 (submitting driving factors) with a halter. Then I wrap the lead rope around my saddle horn, put the flag over the horse's withers and ride to their tail. The horse is snubbed to my saddle horn and cannot get away. When I bring the flag into the horse, the horse's self-preservation tries to drive the horse away, but he hits the end of the lead rope and submits his driving factors. Eventually as the energy decreases, confidence is gained and the horse is no longer bothered by the flag.
The horse also learns that under high stress situations when self-preservation is at its highest, they can always submit their driving factors and get relief. If I do not have a saddle horse, I will tie them to a solid post and drive them forward until they hit the end of the rope and do Stage 1 submitting their driving factors. I then give them relief when they turn and face me. I pet them between the eyes, walk around straight behind them and do it again. Eventually as the energy decreases and confidence is gained, they learn to submit their driving factors and trust me in their blind spot. They learn to stop the forward motion and pivot around the inside front foot before the slack even comes out of the lead rope. It is easy to see how Stage 1 brings direction (suppleness through the poll and loin) in this drill. Apply the same concept when you get on the horse's back.
A person can apply the same concept of getting the horse to point their driving factors to you, in the round pen. Brian Neubert explains this very well on his website and there are several people that have "round pen ministries" relating getting a horse to "turn and face" to our life with the Lord. The parable is that the round pen is the world, we are the horse and God patiently waits in the middle. God applies slight pressure when we are focused on the distractions of the world (outside the pen) and we get relief when we turn our focus to Him. The end result is our driving factors pointed to God and no longer seeking comfort and companionship with the world. The round pen ministries are a great demonstration of how we can find peace and contentment in this life, through submitting our driving factors. They are a tremendous tool for bringing people to the Lord and work wonders; our ministry however is focused more on the next step. Now that we have submitted to the Lord, how can we learn to ride in absolute perfection where horse and person, man and God truly become one? Now that we have submitted in the round pen, how do we stay submitted once the gate is open?
Ask the Lord to give you a solid post to keep your self-preservation from having a runaway. Just like your horse, the more times you can keep your driving factors submitted, the more confidence (faith) can be gained in God and the flags will soon have no effect.
When working with a horse that is filled with self-preservation I like to work with them in a solid round pen. Do the same thing with your mind during the early stages; build a strong round pen for your mind. The more people that you put around yourself that are seeking the Kingdom of God, the easier it is going to be to keep your mind from running off. The more time you keep your mind on Him, wanting to know Him, the Holy Spirit will begin to decrease your energy and increase your confidence in Him. Once you have a solid Stage 1 with willing submission, peace and direction will follow right after. Treat your mind just like the horse's hindquarters. Our mind is constantly in self-preservation, running off and seeking comfort and companionship away from the Lord, if we let it. Learn to double your mind. Ask the Lord to give you something to double your mind around. Pray to the Lord, "Lord my mind is running off; give me something to double it around." Think of your favorite Scripture, or something He has shown you in the past. Start praising Him and thanking Him for everything He has given you. Ask Him to remove your self-preservation and wash you of your sins. Do whatever you have to do to keep your mind on Him. As your focus begins to shift from self-preservation to feeling the comfort and companionship of the Holy Spirit, just continue to think about Him and the presence of the Holy Spirit will get stronger and stronger. Pretty soon your mind will become totally submitted, you will be at total peace and your mind will become consumed with the Lord. This is what it means to have a solid Stage 1; totally submitted driving factors. Once a person learns to find this place on a daily basis, your life will never be the same again.
Learn to submit your driving factors, be softened by the Holy Spirit and then receive direction like Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Elijah fell before the Lord a helpless wreck, fully submitted his driving factors and then the Lord spoke to him. If you are tired of waiting on direction from the Lord, instead of waiting on the Lord to get through your driving factors, try totally submitting your driving factors, laying everything at His feet.
Here's a Quiz to help you check your progress in attaining Willing Submission:
The thoughts in my head and desires in my heart naturally line up with the Bible (New Covenant) (Hebrews 8:10).
All day I am about my Father's business (Luke 2:49).
In every thing I do, I work at it with all my heart as if working for God, not for man; because I know it is from the Lord that I will receive the reward of my inheritance (Colossians 3:23-24).
I serve only one master, I do not get caught up in the world and worry about money (Matthew 6:24).
I look to my heavenly Father and only Him, nothing is tying me to this world (Matthew 19:21).
My focus all day is to store up for myself treasures in heaven, not on earth (Luke 2:49).
(excerpt from "Foundation for Perfection: A Guide to Discipleship" by Wade Black)
