Another child has died in a pool drowning. I was writing about this yesterday and then, later on, I see that news. Unbelievable. Kid "somehow" got into the pool area, gets into the pool, dies. Again, every single year we go through this nonsense in this area. Lots of homes have pools in the back yards, replete with kids, some of them with very small children that don't know how to swim. Recipe for disaster. If I had small kids, I simply would not have a house with a pool. I don't have a pool anyway. They're a lot of work to keep clean and keep the ph levels balanced and keeping algae out of them.
Besides the fact I already have enough water being used on the property.
The pirates are at it again - well they never stopped, I should say they're back in the news again. This time, 19 sailors are captured on a chemical tanker ship carrying some sort of poisonous chemical used in making antifreeze. Nice. I'd like to see another raid of one of these pirate-held ships and see a good outcome - they die the sailors live and everyone excepting the pirates go on with their lives.
Yesterday, an old friend that I know from my missionary days wrote me a message on my Facebook account. Says Bill Lowery is doing services at a renowned Atlanta church. I write him back and tell him that I have absolutely no respect, whatsoever, for Bill Lowery and that he is a piece of garbage whose god is money.
I know, harsh words, but the name brought back vivid, vile memories of being under the "leadership" of a man whose actions caused no small amount of grief for unknown amounts of people - I say that because the implications of some of the things he has done are far-reaching. I started looking up this guy - he is STILL at it? The last I heard, he had bought a dude ranch in New Mexico and was doing some sort of cowboy stuff.
Come to find out this dude is living HERE, in Arizona!! I could go into the amazing amount of things that he did to me personally, but it would take too long. I'll relate just one of them, and this isn't even the worst of it.
I was preaching in a shopping mall in Decatur, Illinois. Long story short: I was arrested for trespassing on private property. Went to court/trial, I lost, but not really, I spent the time in the court room preaching as I had no defense and didn't really care. The judge was nice about it but still gave me a $200 fine if I recall the amount correctly. We - there was another guy with me that had also been arrested - were in jail and the ministry was taking up offerings for us so we could be released.
Bypassing too much information to go into, when I got out, I went up and asked Bill Lowery about these offerings and was he going to pay these fines with that money? Yes, was his rely. I asked him several times after that to ensure I wasn't going to end up in jail again for contempt of court. He told me it had already been paid.
Skip forward several years, I'm back in Illinois visiting a friend. I get pulled over in my pickup for having a busted headlight. I'm sitting in 10 degree weather waiting for these police to write me the ticket and I'll be on my way. Instead, I'm taken to county jail and then the next day hauled down to Decatur some 150 miles away. The sheriff that was transporting me remembered me from the incident at the shopping mall. He told me that my actions had created quite a stir and that one of the officers had actually quit the force because of the things I had told that officer who had claimed he was Christian.
I get down there, eventually get before the judge: 2 bench warrants for same thing, contempt of court, the fine had never been paid. I call Bill Lowery - he happens to be at the main headquarters in El Paso with the entire world's leaders that had come in for a conference from, yes around the world. Instead of dealing with this himself, he puts me on speakerphone. I begin to relate the story of what Bill Lowery had done. A huge argument erupts from the leaders to the point that I couldn't tell what was being said. I called Lowery a liar and a thief who had taken money that was specifically donated for my jail costs and used it for himself.
I have to tell you, I wanted to hit that man, hard, several times. I was glad we were not face to face or I would have also gone to jail all over gone for aggravated assault.
Last night, I find this guy has started a ministry in Tucson. I speak to some people that are at what used to be his old ministry and they say he is still banished from that ministry and has no part in it whatsoever, even though he was the founder of it. The reason? Money. It was always about money. The guy is a used car salesman with minister's clothing on. This is confirmed by people that know him the WORLD over.
I wonder what kind of scam he is using now and look into the website. It all looks good "on paper", but once you know a person and that person does the same thing, over and over for decades running, you know there is more to the story. Well, Lowery has his personal cell phone number posted on the site! Yes, I called it. He was sitting in a room with the pastor of that church, they were going over notes just before the service was about to begin. I wondered why he even bothered to answer the phone with that kind of impending schedule going on. I spoke to him, he didn't recognize me. He WOULD remember my name, oh yes. I started in on him, he actually hands the phone over to the pastor.
So, I started telling the pastor about his past. The pastor informs me he has known him for 36 years. Yes, well not like I and others that were WITH him know him. It went on for awhile - the man said he would call me back, love to discuss with this guy this person preaching in his church.
Yes, it stirred up old memories.
BAD memories. Like the time I went to the airport here in Phoenix to pick him and his assistant up. My ex-wife had been in a serious car accident and was in a hospital not 3 miles from the airport. Note that she had been with the ministry for something like 15 YEARS at that point. This guy? "I don't have time to go see her". I got mad. Then, we're leaving the airport, he tells me he needs the car. Huh? It was a ministry car, yes, but they had given it to me to use while she was recovering from the accident. This guy wants me to pull over and - do whatever - to get home. I was appalled. I got REALLY mad. I took the keys out of the car, I was going to throw them into the desert, if he could find them, good for him, if not, I didn't give a damn. Again, another situation where I had to walk away from this guy because I was infuriated. His assistant, a man I knew very well, got out and apologized for Lowery's stupidity and handed me enough money to take a taxi home. Lowery was just going to leave me STRANDED there. ASSHOLE. Not sorry to say it. Again, that's just one OTHER story, I could go on.
I am going to revisit this with this "man". He picked the wrong state to move to and try his shit in. I live 100 or less miles from him now. Not that I'm going to DO anything, isn't worth it. I am going to be calling him. He will have to get his cell phone number changed and will have to keep it off his website.
Anyway, the work day looms, I'm outta here.
ben
3 comments:
Pray for him, Ben.
Sounds as if he is going to have a lot to answer to the Lord about, and I hope he repents and becomes a TRUE follower of Christ.
Pray for his conversion, friend.
He may have been an inspiration to you and perhaps some of his words were true Ben BUT he only talked the talk. He never walked the walk.
As for this pool drowning stuff? NOTHING makes me crazier then finding out you or someone else cannot swim as you know I am ALWAYS by the water. I have saved my share of drowners. I have lost a few too. Nothing makes me sadder than watching folks drown. It is senseless and avoidable. I have nightmares about the ones who sunk before we got to them...Worse, imagine having to choose between who you could save and who you couldn't? Horrible. Night. Mare.
In fact, that is a massive hot button of mine. If you can't swim then you can't tag along and it is NEVER negotiable.
Peace brother,
Bobby
To be quite honest about it, I have a hard time doing anything but despising the man. He has caused so many people so much grief - and is totally unrepentant about it, it's hard for me to pray for him.
As for drownings - it always kills me to hear about a little kid drowning because - whatever. There is no good reason for it especially in a swimming pool in your own back yard. It's already happened here once this season, I hope not to hear about it again, unfortunately the numbers will probably climb as they always do.
In your case, you are in a completely different arena in talking about the ocean. I have seen more people being yanked out to see in rip tides. The only thing that saved them was the fact that lifeguards were on duty and already were prepared for these people not knowing how to get out of a riptide and being carried out to sea with it.
I absolutely cannot fathom getting into an oean without knowing how to swim. I really can't not knowing how to swim anyway. How do you get to be an adult and can't swim? I'm not judging such people, I'm just VERY curious. I still remember the day I was a little kid and jumped into the deep end of the pool. It took me an hour to get up the courage - I was like 4 years old - and - I never looked back. I also taught my son how to swim at an early age, he loves pools, the ocean any body of water where he can swim. I've spent a lot of time on east coast beaches as a young kid, and as a young adult on various beaches in Florida, but haven't been in quite a long time. My son wants to go back to LA or San Diego area and visit the beach. No funds for that right now, but perhaps sometime in the future - hopefully before summer is out.
I'll give you big kudos and a pat on the back for saving people from their own shortsightedness in almost drowning. I've done it once - the only real time the "opportunity" arose and it was very dramatic. I can't even imagine having to pick and choose who to save and who not, but if it were an adult and a kid to pick from, then the answer is pretty easy.
ben
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