Thursday, October 30, 2014

Now Thanksgiving Is Not Tolerated Either

For years Christmas has not been tolerated in the public sphere. The Christmas Break we geezers enjoyed in our school days is now "Winter Break." You can buy a "Holiday Tree" or "Holiday Lights," because certainly anyone wishing to decorate their home in December would be offended if their Christmas lights actually said the "C word" on the package. I mean who are they trying not to offend?

Now it appears that the Thanksgiving holiday is also under attack.

I received a promotional email from a company having specials all week the week of Thanksgiving. But they are not "Thanksgiving Week" specials, they are "Black Friday Week" specials. Not Black Friday specials. Black Friday WEEK specials... the important day that week is the Friday.

You might let this slip by if it were a retail company taking advantage of what has become a day for big discounts. But these specials are not on sale items. The company doesn't sell anything. They pay people for their time. The specials are bonuses in that pay. So this is not simply a retailer that extended Black Friday for the whole week. This kind of company could have picked any holiday and made a week out of it. This makes it especially grievous to me that they called it "Black Friday Week" instead of the other choice they could have made to call that week.

Oh, and get this: the email points out that they "will be closed on Thursday November 27th." I wonder why? It's only the day before Black Friday, and that's nothing special is it? No mention that they will be closed for Thanksgiving Day, just "Thursday November 27th."

I have resisted and boycotted Black Friday for twenty years. I always said it would become the Devil's alternative to Thanksgiving and I didn't want any part of it. Now that Thanksgiving, like Christmas, has apparently become an unmentionable day and not tolerated, what happened?

Black Friday is now the reason for the late November season, not that other day. This email I received is simply part of a trend. In time to come, anything going on around that time will become more and more linked to "Black Friday" than to Thanksgiving. Even the football games on Thanksgiving Day (which I also oppose) will soon be called "The day before Black Friday football games."

This is madness. This has gone too far too fast. A time for giving thanks to God for His sustaining blessings has been turned into the exact opposite: a time for shamelessly spending money you don't have, buying baubles you don't need, from godless Chinese commie slave-labor companies you don't know anything about. And now THAT has become the focal point of the fourth week of November.

It's because somebody might be offended if you suggest they should take a day to be thankful. But nobody will be offended if you suggest they take a day to spend like there's no tomorrow. Nobody will be offended... except us thankful Christans, and we don't count any more.

Have a Happy Black Friday if you can now.

VM

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Stress

Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts.

Too blessed to be stressed!

I stopped believing in stress 20 years ago, but some days my faith is really shaken!

VM

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Imparting Our Souls

1 Thessalonians 2:8 - So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Hardly any church member has even the slightest clue how much the pastor cares for him and wants the right things for him; how much the pastor has a vested personal interest in the member's success in life. The member has no idea how much prayer is covering his daily routine, and how much trouble he has avoided due to his pastor's prayers for him. He has no understanding how his pastor has defended him to others that come in with petty complaints regarding their fellow member, and how many offenses his pastor has deflected from going his direction; how much trouble and drama has failed to reach his ears, but was nipped in the bud by the wisdom of a man watching for his soul. He knows not how much energy his pastor has expended in Bible study to be able to say just the right thing at just the right time; how much the member's own personal problems were studied out by the pastor.

Instead he thinks of his pastor like he thinks of his plumber. He doesn't realize he thinks that way, but most church members do. "The plumber is here to do a job, not too much personal in the job, but he's willing to be my personal friend 'on the side' as well. But if he ever makes a mistake or two in my plumbing, I will call up somebody else." And so with the pastor too it goes.

It works for a plumber, because the plumber only imparts to you his time, talents and energies, in exchange for your money. But your pastor has imparted to you his very soul, expecting nothing tangible in return. That ought to mean a lot more to you when the difficult situation comes.

There might be times for a pastor to resign or a member to leave. But there is never a time to dishonor, disrespect or simply cut off or ignore a man who has willingly and lovingly imparted his soul for the benefit of others. Yet that is exactly how it so often plays out. God forgive us.

VM

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Still Not Running

Recently I reported on this blog that I am not running and I do not intend to run. I thought I would take the time to report on the success of my not-running campaign.

I did not run on Wednesday. I did not run on Thursday. Friday came and went without me running, although I was slightly tempted to trot. But I do not intend to run on Saturday or Sunday.

Hillary can run. But that does not encourage me to run. Whenever Hillary (the red-head around the corner) runs down my street, it just motivates me to close the curtains.

Rand can run. The Rand Corporation runs a lot of interesting stuff on their data processing equipment. But that has nothing to do with a potential run for me.

Christie may be running. He appears to have lost a lot of weight. He may be dieting as well as running. Good for him.

Cruz is just cruising. I don't know if he will end up running or just stay in the car on cruise control. At least his car is running.

Both my cars are also running, in good working order.

Is your refrigerator running? Better go catch it !!!

VM

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Some People Who've Mattered to Me

I closed my last post by saying, "Be thankful for those wonderful people that once mattered so much in your life, even if they no longer do."

I'll start. Here are some of the many people who once mattered to me, how I am thankful, and what I would like to say to them if I could find them. They were an important part of my life, even if only for a brief time.

Dear Mrs. Terrill - I enjoyed your "Tiny Tots" Sunday School class. I always looked forward to Sundays. I remember I was so excited to get new "Sunday School socks" so that I could look nice sitting on the rug in your front row. I thank you for the time you invested in my mother over the decades and even now take the time to encourage her when she leans on you. I am glad to hear that you and your family are still serving the Lord and that John and Tim are raising faithful families. I think I will get your address from Mom and write to you.

Dear Miss Cochrane - You recognized my memory skills very early on and took a special interest in me. You challenged me and I thank you for it. I didn't memorize Psalm 23 for that bag of marbles but for the challenge you offered. You got to know all of your Sunday School students personally, visiting each one at their home regularly. I remember you taking me to breakfast at McDonald's one Saturday morning and I cherished the Tweety Bird glass, a memento of our visit. Thank you for making me feel like I was talking to someone who was actually interested in what I was saying and who came down to my level. Even if I was just a four-year-old boy babbling about my square-toed cowboy boots and how I was soon going to get a pair of pointy-toed cowboy boots, you rejoiced with me. You made me matter to you, and for that reason you mattered to me.

Dear Mr. Hope - Twenty years after I last saw you, I met a pastor who knew your name and reported that you were still faithful. I thank you for your hard labor in the van ministry and how you made riding with you fun and exciting - not focusing on fun on the van, but rather helping us look forward to the services in God's house. I thank your for your testimony of purity. I remember in my mind picturing you literally "kick the TV out of the house" as you said, because of the trash it showed in the 1970s. I wonder what you think about the trash on now! I remember your constant smile, unashamed of your missing tooth because you had the joy of the Lord.

Dear Mister - I'm sorry I don't know your name. I could find out from Marge, but it doesn't matter now because you have a new name in Heaven and I will see you there. I always enjoyed your music at church. You could've easily had a lucrative music career, but you used your deep, rich voice to honor Jesus instead. What a testimony! You found out I was laid up in the hospital with a skull fracture and you came to visit, play your guitar and pray with me, even though we had not been to church with you in probably over a year. Your thoughtfulness meant so much.

Dear Miss Crockett - Of all your third grade school students, you were hardest on me because you could tell I needed it. Yes, I am still falling far short of my potential, but just a little closer to it thanks to you. I enjoyed our visit a few years ago in the nursing home and I pray for you to recover fully.

Dear Pastor E.S.R. - I wandered along and found you being faithful and mature, right when I needed to know what that looked like. You welcomed me in with all my youthful ignorance and patiently moved me forward by your example and direct application of God's Word. I must've been like a bull in a china shop, but you just moved all the china out of the way and kept me where I wouldn't hurt anything. Thank you so much. You are appreciated in so many ways and by so many people more than you realize. You don't know how many people I've run into that had kind things to say about your ministry to them.

Dear Pastor Gee - I only spoke with you a few times but I remember it fondly and found your counsel wise, helpful and encouraging. I took your advice and God blessed it greatly.

Dear Pastor Basinger - I hope to see you at the conference in Wisconsin some time so I can thank you in person for your hospitality to entertain this stranger and your later counsel and encouragement through a difficult ministry transition. Your testimony of standing strong though it cost you many friends was a life lesson for me. You faced slander and gossip and responded in the Spirit, not the flesh. Though our time together was the briefest of days while I travelled in Florida, you showed me a glimpse of what the faithful shepherd looks like.

Dear church members and ministry friends from the past - I love you dearly and would do anything for you. I owe you all so much and miss each one. I am in the phone book if you need anything or just wish to say Hi. I praise God I don't have to hide from anybody and I hope nobody's hiding from me.

Dear Pastors I knew in 2012 and 2013 - God always used you to say exactly what I needed to hear, exactly when I needed to hear it. You don't know what a blessing you were and how God spoke through you. I hope I adequately expressed that to you when we said our goodbyes before we moved away.

Dear Michael Anthony Hayden - You will be the one exception to my statement that these are people I am no longer in touch with (since we only see each other once or twice a year). I was backslidden and you would be my friend but refused to join me in my sins. I never told you how convicting that was. There were lines I would've crossed, which would've ruined my life, but I didn't cross because of your influence and testimony. You saved my life and my future usefulness in ministry and you don't even know it. You claim I have been a good friend to you in your hardest times for 22 years, but I simply owe you that and much more for our first few years together. I can't explain how God used you in my life and you don't even realize it, just because you were simply being true to your convictions in spite of pressure. God bless you, Buddy!

I am all choked up now and shed enough tears of thanksgiving today, so I'd better stop here.

I LOVE PEOPLE BECAUSE JESUS LOVES ME !!!

Victor E. Mowery
10-16-2014

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Some Wonderful People Once Mattered to You

This week I heard the news of the apparent suicide of a man who was somewhat known, or at least known of, among fundamental and conservative Christians. His death was over a year ago, but I just heard.

I got to thinking about suicide victims I have known of. Yes, I used the word "victim." I will be the last person to succumb to the "cult of vicimization" in our society today; the last man to call a living person a victim or encourage someone to view themselves a victim. But in the case of a suicide I believe the term is warranted, and I don't need to expand on that here, as it is not the point of this post.

Of the suicide victims I am aware of, it seems their life's legacy is defined by how they died. We remember them as the suicide, not as the person who did so many wonderful things in their lifetime. For example, the man I just learned of overcame serious emotional troubles for years to minister to others and bring them godly joy. He wrote several Christian songs I enjoy. But he will be most remembered for his suicide.

What other form of death do we remember this way? Heart attack or stroke victims aren't memorialized in our memories by their sudden death, but by the events of their life. Even with murder or tragic accident victims, though their death is prominent in our minds when we think of them, it is contrasted with their vibrant lives: "She was so full of life." "He was so gentle and didn't deserve to die that way."

Not so with suicide. Certainly this thinking isn't overt. Their funeral service doesn't focus on their suicide. Nor does much of the public conversation around that event. But it is always in our minds first and foremost when we remember them, for the rest of our lives. In our thoughts, their memory never rises above the level of the suicide.

This ought not to be the case, but I believe it is a symptom of the corrupt minds we have as members of a fallen race.

I am thinking of a pastor whom God used to build a large evangelistic church in the midwest that is still going strong many decades later. This church saturated their region with dozens of church plants that are still going strong. This church trained and sent out possibly hundreds of pastors and missionaries and Christian workers on every level. Additionally this pastor was instrumental in greatly encouraging other pastors around the country and even the world, leading a charge of faithfulness that is still reverberating today.

Ten years or so after resigning and repenting of a moral lapse (which was somewhat romantic but non-physical), this grief-stricken man took the sad shortcut to eternity.

Among those who once sat under his ministry, his name is now the unmentionable name. Among those who even today are reaping the fruits he sowed decades ago, his legacy is swept under the rug. It could be due to the moral failings, but I believe it is more due to the suicide. His legacy seemed slightly tarnished for ten years, but only fully shoved into the closet after his final moral lapse when he pulled the trigger.

Why is a suicide victim's memory overshadowed by their death? As I said, I believe it is due to our fallen nature. We more easily recall the negative, and naturally focus on the negative, than on the positive.

I believe the same thing happens when a relationship ends among the living. People happily married for years, who end up divorcing, tend to remember their spouse as the sorry individual they divorced rather than the wonderful person they enjoyed for so long. Friends who part on bad terms remember not the love that once united them but the issue that divided them. People who leave a church focus on they ways they believe they were hurt, rather than the eternally mattering things in which they were helped. A former pastor is remembered as "that guy who did..." rather than that man God used to win souls, restore and strengthen marriages and families and change many lives for the better.

I am not excusing divorce, division or the immorality or pride leading up to any of these things, any more than I am excusing suicide. I am just saying that the individuals involved in any of these are so much more than the single event (or series of related events) that wrongly comes to define them. They are complex people with many victories, defeats and draws in their own life's battles. They are people no more wicked and no more righteous than any other, apart from Christ. They are people who CAN be remembered and cherished for their victories, even if their defeats are more prominent and recent in our minds. We can celebrate their "life" without focusing on the manner of their "death."

This is part of overcoming the world. This is part of rejecting worldly lusts. This is part of renewing our minds. This is part of being thankful.

Be thankful for those wonderful people that once mattered so much in your life, even if they no longer do.

VM

Sunday, October 12, 2014

I Don't Mean to Be Mean

I Don't Mean to Be Mean
Bluegrass song for female vocal
Words and music by Victor E. Mowery
October, 2014

Your letter arrived with postage due
And then you called collect,

To beg of me to marry you.
Hey, what did you expect?

I don't mean to be mean,
But just look at yourself.
You're bouncing checks.
You've wrecked your health.
Tuck in your shirt
And wash your jeans.
Look, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

Your car's a mess, just like your life,
But you still wonder why

The only girl who'd be your wife
Just dee-vorced her sixth guy.

I don't mean to be mean,
But just figure it out.
You look like Jabba
And smell like trout.
Go brush your teeth.
And floss between.
Hey, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

Your disability check don't look so great
When you're paying on your pawn.

Or your rent-to-own, ripped leather sofa set
When it's kicked out on your lawn.

I don't mean to be mean.
But just pay your way.
Why's it so hard
To get to work each day?
Pay real bills first
With hard-earned green.
Man, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

I told your mom to stop bailing you
Out of that jail downtown.

She's the reason you're like you are.
She's raised Bozo the Clown.

I don't mean to be mean.
But it's time to get real.
You have no future.
You never will.
You think your life
Is a drama scene.
Look, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

Hey, it's just worth sayin'.
Don't mean to be mean.

VM

Friday, October 10, 2014

The Closing Passage as America's Glory Fades?

Malachi 3:15 - And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

The closing passage of the Old Testament describes the sad situation in Israel just before God goes silent.

Does it not also describe the current sorry situation in our own wicked nation? Will God's response be similar? How can God continue to bless America when we call evil good and good evil?

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

MARANATHA !!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

For the Record, I Do Not Intend to Run

Just to clarify all the speculation and rumors I may have (or may have not) heard of a potential run (or lack of run) on my part, let me state for the record and definitively, I am not running and I do not intend to run.  I appreciate the support of those who have (or have not) encouraged me to run, but running at this time is not on my agenda.

A run such as has been suggested (or left completely unsaid) is very time and energy consuming.  It takes its toll on the mind, emotions and even the body.  It can be very costly as well, even in ways other than financially.  After three microseconds (give or take but probably less) of serious consideration and deliberation, and (zero) consultation with (completly un)trusted advisors, I feel such a run is not in my best interests at this time.

I do not intend to run in 2014, 2015 or 2016, though circumstances may (but most likely won't) change.  I will leave my options open whether to run (or not) at some point in the future.

Thank you for your support (or lack of support) in this matter and your respect (or disdain) for my decision not to run.  I hope this statement clears up any confusion that probably did not exist on the matter of my running.

Sincerely,

Victor Mowery, Non-Runner(-at-this-time)