"Horseback Preacher"

He left old Alabama,

When he heard Marse Robert’s call,

Off to fight the Yankees,

And he went with them, y’all.

But not to do the killin’,

But as a preacher who could pray,

Serving as a chaplain,

Who wore the rebel gray.

Never owned a single slave,

And knew Christ died for all,

Never doubted what He gave,

God’s judgment to forestall.

Labored till surrender came,

Prayed with dying men,

Came back home to tragedy,

Lost all of his close kin.

And though some tried to make him stay,

To preach and pastor there,

He never felt it was God’s will,

When he bowed down in prayer.

Saddled up and headed west,

But still in mission, see,

To be a circuit preacher,

On the frontier wild and free.

Place to place he traveled,

Saving souls from hell,

And everywhere the cowboy,

He was sure to tell.

Sometimes he trailed the cattle,

Alongside Goodnight strong,

Who gave him change of horses,

And encouraged him along.

At times inside a jail cell,

He’d pray the sinner’s prayer,

With some old sorry horse thief,

They soon would hang somewhere.

And long into his graying years,

He never settled down,

Too long a horseback preacher,

To have church in one town.

And then one cold and windy night,

‘Longside his campfire bed,

He thought He heard the Master speak,

And this is what He said,

I have a greener pasture,

That I want you to ride,

You’ll have to come up higher,

To be here by My side.

And early the next morning,

The cowboys cut his track,

And there beside the ashes,

Knew the preacher won’t be back.

And that’s just where they laid him,

In a grave high on a ridge,

The one whose words they counted on,

From God to their hearts bridge.

Just a good, old hoseback preacher,

Whose days came to an end,

But the legacy he left us,

Through us God will extend.

“How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14, NAS)

Paul’s sequence of salvation is simple but no less profound. Anyone and everyone can be saved. All they must do is call on the name of the Lord. If they believe in their heart and confess Jesus as Lord, they receve God’s promise of eternal life. But their faith is quickened when they hear about it. And how, he asks, will they believe unless they hear someone telling them the story? As powerful as living a godly example can be, everyone who gets saved hears the truth about Jesus from someone. We are all called to preach it.

Lord, send us to tell them, in Jesus ‘name.

Art bu Kenneth Wyatt, used by permission. Thanks, and God bless.