Bob Owens Passes Away
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 7 months ago
By now most readers have heard about Bob Owens passing away. Apparently he was very troubled and yet didn’t seek help. Folks, please seek help when things seem this bad.
He leaves behind family, and for this I’m very sorry and hate to see what happened today. Col. Douglas Mortimer (reader) and others have exchanged mail with me on this, and while there are very mixed emotions, including my own, in my opinion there is no mortal sin. I’m not Roman Catholic. When Jesus paid it all on the cross in the vicarious atonement, that means all, sins past, present and future for His chosen people. If Bob knew Christ, he is with the savior as we speak.
Bob was an enigma wrapped inside a riddle, and I never quite knew what he was going to say or what position he was going to take. He and I butted heads on open carry and well as other things. That doesn’t diminish his life’s work, and I simply don’t take disagreements that seriously. Life is too short to lose friends over disagreements.
I don’t believe in the phrase “rest in peace” (RIP). There is work in heaven, just without the sweat of the brow. I hope Bob is working and worshipping right now.
On May 10, 2017 at 12:54 pm, Jack Crabb said:
While I am happy that I will no longer have to see references from that right-leaning statist copsucker, it is a shame that anyone is so troubled that they feel there is no alternative to killing themselves.
I hope that Bob knew Christ, also.
On May 10, 2017 at 9:23 pm, Ned said:
Peace be with his family. Pretty sad.
On May 11, 2017 at 7:32 am, Fred said:
Rest in Peace Sir…
On May 11, 2017 at 8:05 am, Fred said:
I pray he knows Jesus. I’ve said some bad, but true, things about Mr. Owens. The last few things I said were disparaging. LORD forgive me.
Shows that one never really knows do they? We had no idea that he was troubled. Sad.
On May 11, 2017 at 12:13 pm, Col. Douglas Moritmer said:
I’m of two minds about this subject and have been for a long time, not really concerning Bob Owens, but suicide in general, and as a Christian. First, I’m not a theological scholar, only some boob who became born-again in 2010, and I still struggle with a lot in my sin nature.
Yes Jesus paid it all on the cross. Everything. However you can also “walk in Christ”, and “walk in the flesh”. 1/2 of me says that even suicide can be forgiven. However the other 1/2 says that a person “who walks and lives in Christ” wouldn’t take their own life. Then I go back to the first point that yes, Jesus can and will forgive you for suicide.
I’m sure this is a debate that can go on until the Day of The Lord….. But if a person is truly in Christ, would they take their own life???
On May 11, 2017 at 1:15 pm, Jack Crabb said:
Col. Douglas Mortimer said: “But if a person is truly in Christ, would they take their own life???”
That is the exact same question I have, sir. I have had struggles, as has everyone, but I cannot fathom knowing Christ yet still thinking there is no other alternative but to take one’s own life.
On May 11, 2017 at 1:56 pm, Herschel Smith said:
But you could just as well ask “why would David have Uriah killed and steal his wife?” And yet David was called a “man after God’s own heart.”
Tread carefully down that road. It’s filled with mines that could blow the legs out from under you.
On May 11, 2017 at 2:37 pm, Fred said:
1 Cor 6 comes to mind. We have responsibilities but Jesus saves us. Although showing an outward pursuit of righteous living is important to spreading the Gospel and being an example in which Jesus might say “Well done” it is Christ who calls us to Him.
Read the whole chapter in the context of this posting.
On May 11, 2017 at 4:41 pm, Joshua Smith said:
I think it’s important to place suicide into a proper context of mental health. I like to use diabetes to draw a picture for people who may not think about mental health the way I think it ought to be.
Diabetes is a disease. Type I diabetes is unavoidable, and in any case Type II is no less a disease than Type I. No one tells diabetes patients their suffering will go away if they just “get right” with the Lord. Their insulin production (or lack thereof) isn’t a “heart problem.”
Yet time and time again I have heard these phrases uttered to those with mental diseases or other mental health problems. So, for example, secondary messenger systems downstream of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine receptors can no more be corrected by “walking with Christ” than a pancreas can be persuaded to produce more insulin by handling rattlesnakes.
The point is, people who commit suicide almost universally suffer from one or more mental diseases. I don’t know Bob Owens’ story, and it’s not my business. But it is probable that he was mentally ill. Assuming he accepted Jesus Christ into his heart as his Lord and Savior, Bob is no less deserving of the blood sacrifice paid by Christ than he was of his second amendment rights.
Mental illness doesn’t look in real life like it does in the movies.