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Singer, husband attract following at various Cowboy Church events |
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Sunday, 04 October 2009 |
 Gwen Sisson/SDN Jessi Flynt performs during a Cowboy Church event at the Lynch Ranch in Maben. Flynt will sing today at the Mississippi Horse Park today as part of the venue’s 10th anniversary celebration By GWEN SISSON
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One of today’s entertainers at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Mississippi Horse Park is growing a reputation for bringing church to the barn.
Jessi Flynt of West Point and her husband, Allen, lead the worship and provides a message for “Cowboy Church.”
While Flynt will be performing a variety of songs at today’s celebration at the Mississippi Horse Park, the music closest to her heart and on her album, “‘Mighty Big Love,” are the songs about God that she performs at Cowboy Church events throughout Mississippi.
“I am a big fan of Jessi’s music,” said Bricklee Miller, director of the Mississippi Horse Park.
“Every time she has performed out here (at the Mississippi Horse Park) she has been great and provided a great message through her music. I have watched her grow over the years and develop her sound that is soft and sweet yet powerful to all.
“Her CD ‘Mighty Big Love’ is my favorite and I find myself singing along whether it is in the car or when she is performing. Personally, her music lifts my soul and is a great reminder of our Creator. My personal favorite is the song ‘Four Days Late.’ It talks about no mater how late you think He may be Jesus is always right on time. They exemplify the word of God in everyday life and I have the greatest respect for them both.” Miller said.
As one that loves horses and does a lot of traveling to horse events throughout the state, Flynt has managed to combine her love for music with her love of horses.
Many “horse” events such as team roping and barrel racing are three day events. Serious competitors travel a lot and spend many Sundays at these events.
Flynt said Cowboy Church is a way to bring church to those who can not attend traditional churches on Sunday.
“Many times ‘Cowboy Church’ can be just the cowboys or cowgirls who are there leading a devotion or singing a few songs,” Flynt said.
“In Starkville at the Horse Park, a HUGE service is held at the three yearly barrel races and usually there are hundreds of people in attendance. Most of these people may be members of Baptist churches (like my husband and I) or Methodist or nondenominational or whatever back in their own hometowns.”
Flynt said the pastor who leads the services at Starkville is an awesome speaker from a nondenominational church in Portersville.
Allen Flynt usually does a short devotion at roping events at the Lynch Ranch in Maben.
And sometimes there is just a time of giving testimonies and singing by those who are putting on the event.
In Hattiesburg, where Flynt sings at several services during the year, a pastor from Poplarville leads the devotion. Cowboy Church is held at events all over the world.
“My husband and I are very active in our home church — Calvary Baptist in West Point — but feel as though this is a ministry for us to be a part of and so we are gone a lot,” Flynt said.
“My gift is used as an extension of my faith because my faith is in Jesus Christ and He is who I sing about. I could use this gift in a lot of ways but because the Bible tells me (in the book of James) that gifts are from God, I want to honor Him with it.”
Flynt said she did not grow up with parents who made church and worship a priority, yet somehow she always knew God had a plan for her.
“When I was in college and everyone was partying and living the way many college kids do, I just sort of felt a conviction about what I did and said and I know God has blessed me for that,” Flynt said.
“I was baptized when I was 20 at my home church and I took that seriously. I am not perfect but I do look to God before I make any decision and my feet don’t hit the floor in the morning before I put my family in His hands through prayer. He helps me each day be who I need to be and I hate thinking about who I was before I turned my life over to Him.”
Flynt said the biggest influences in her life are her grandmother, Faye Littlefield, and her husband, Allen Flynt.
“Both of them have a passion for studying the Bible and I wish I was more like them,” Flynt said. “You never have to worry about either one of them doing the right thing. They just do what’s right.”
The Flynts live on Old Hwy 10 in West Point and just build the house they have dreamed of since they were married in 2002.
Allen is a firefighter in West Point and Flynt taught at West Point High School for six years before leaving in 2008 to raise their two children, write songs, sing on weekends.
“Well, I could talk all day about Allen,” Flynt said.
“He loves the Lord more than he loves me and that makes him a perfect husband. He will say he is no public speaker but in the last two years has answered the call to speak for the Lord and has used his knowledge of the Bible and his own awesome testimony to encourage others to live for Christ.
“He really takes this responsibility seriously and studies very hard in order to understand what God wants for our family. God has blessed me in so many ways but Allen is the greatest blessing,” Flynt says of her husband.
Flynt said her biggest accomplishment is her children.
“I am raising two very happy and very healthy children and I am striving to make them see that I love Jesus,” Flynt said.
“The other day we were on our way to do a Cowboy Church service at a team penning and my three year old asked if we were going to our church. Allen said ‘no’ and Tanner asked why we had to go to a Cowboy Church and not our own church.
“Allen then explained to him that we had to go tell others (who were not in church) about God. My eyes welled up with tears at the thought of my grown son remembering these trips and what his mom and dad did for God.”
The Flynt family is very involved at Calvary Baptist Church in west Point, where Allen teaches Royal Ambassadors and Flynt teaches Girls in Action on Wednesday nights.
The Flynts also sing and lead devotional sessions for the Dugan Nursing Home in West Point on the second Tuesday of each month.
Besides singing and writing, Flynt loves to ride horses. Before having children, she competed in numerous barrel racing competition and she currently has two colts in training.
Allen does team roping and God has used those events to open many doors for the Flynts to share their faith.
And that faith is leading to exciting things musically. Flynt recently discovered that Reggie and Ladye Love Smith will be recording her song “He knows the way Home.”
“My faith is everything,” Flynt said.
“God did all of this! Allen and I take no credit for our new home, the songs I write, the jobs that come up, the song writing success, nothing. We don’t pursue any of this. We do the work and then put it in God’s hands.
“We aren’t ever going to be those people who uproot their family, move to Nashville and start knocking on doors, begging for recording contracts,” she said.
“We are happy when my songs get published, happy when people buy my cds, visit my website, or when an artist records my songs. But if all that ended today we would keep doing all the same things we did before—travel, sing, speak, and try to live for the Lord. What happens with this music is up to God, it is His anyway.”
Flynt said she is close to having enough songs to return to Nashville and record an album of all original material. She said she is excited about the possibilities, but will not make any plans until she is completely happy with all the songs.
To discover Flynt’s original music, catch her live performance today at the Mississippi Horse Park. Musical entertainment is set for 1 to 6 p.m. today.
Other acts performing will be Jeff and Jeff, and the State Theatre House Band and Friends.
For more information about Jessi Flynt, go to her Web site at http://www.jessiflynt.com.
Tickets for the 10th Anniversary Celebration and Fair at the Mississippi Horse Park will be available at the door. Shuttles will also be available.
For more information about the 10th Anniversary Celebration at the Mississippi Horse Park, call 325-9350 or the event line at 325-0508. Also check out the web site at http://www.mshorsepark.com.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 October 2009 )
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