A TRIBUTE TO LOWELL MASON
A TRIBUTE TO LOWELL MASON
(From a friend)
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Lowell Mason was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on August 14. 1937.
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He passed away peacefully at his home in Carl Junction, Missouri on April 22, 2023. •
His father was a preacher and mother taught piano and voice.
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Age the tender age of 7 he was already singing gospel music!
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In 1946, at the age of 9, he began singing on the radio with Children’s Bible Hour.
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As a child this led to hundreds of opportunities to sing throughout the U.S. and Canada. •
He later attended the Manhattan Bible College and began preaching on the week ends. •
Years later Lowell was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Kerala Christian University. •
In 1954, at age 16, he began working with the Cecil Todd Evangelistic Association.
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This ministry became known as Revival Fires in 1964 and Lowell was vice president for years. •
The Revival Fires TV program was on 154 stations enabling Lowell to sing for millions. •
He married Judith Ann Jones on Feb. 18, 1963.
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On Nov. 16, 1963 Lowell and Judy were involved a head on collision that almost took her life. •
God blessed them with four children: Kelly, Kathy, Duke and Kristy, and 10 grandchildren. •
After Kelly was born in 1964 they bought their first trailer and traveled as a family.
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In 1971 they bought their first motor home.
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In 1992 Lowell and Judy went to Moscow for a Revival Fires Crusade.
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They met a 3 star Russian General which resulted in 4 millions Bibles being sent to Russia. •
Two million of these Bibles were placed in the hands of Russian soldiers.
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Lowell was named “Man of the Year” in Orell, Russia for his support of orphans there. •
Lowell was founder and first vice president of the Christian Church Retirement Trust. •
Lowell was also co-founder and first vice president of a nursing home in Ripley, Ohio. •
Lowell was also the first vice president of the Helping Hands Ministries of Carl Junction, Mo. •
Lowell was also a Real Estate Agent, Insurance Agent, and licensed Auctioneer.
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In 2006 Lowell celebrated 60 years of ministry which included over 500 Revival Meetings, over 5,000 Gospel Concerts, over 350 public school assemblies, over 1,000 performances at Precious Moments, and in addition to all of these commitments, he also found time for hundreds of camp meetings, conventions, and summer camps. Lowell also ministered in foreign countries and logged millions of miles in the air. In the states he traveled over 3.5 million miles by car.
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In 2007 they started the “We Care” ministry which delivered tons of food to needy people. •
In 2013 Lowell was listed in the Guinness World records as the oldest living dwarf.
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In 2013 Lowell and Judy celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in England. They not only were able to visit the Guinness headquarters, but also the grave of Pocahontas. This famous grave is located in Gravesend, a town on the south bank of the Thames River in England. Judy had recently discovered that she was a descendant of this legendary Indian princess who was possibly the first native American to become a Christian.
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Lowell is also mentioned in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement.
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On April 28, 2013 the Joplin Globe featured the Masons with a two page article about their world recognition and a 6” x 8” color picture of Lowell and Judy after 50 years of marriage. •
Lowell Mason Boulevard was named for him at Christ’s Forty Acres.
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This year, 2023, Lowell was honored at the Missouri Christian Convention.
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These are just a few of the many things that God accomplished through the ministry of this remarkable man and his faithful wife!
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Perhaps his greatest earthly honor and tribute comes from his wife Judy. After 60 years of knowing and loving her husband, she still considers him the finest Christian she has ever met!
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In heaven the 24 elders will fall down before God cast their crowns before His throne. They will say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Rev. 4:10-11) •
Lowell Mason will also cast down all of his earthly honors before the throne of God and say with Paul: “I count everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ . . .” (Phil. 3:7-8)
RIGHTEOUS ABEL STILL SPEAKS
Just because someone dies does not mean that they stop speaking! The first person on earth to experience physical death was an obscure shepherd named Abel, yet he still speaks. He lived thousands of years ago before the invention of writing and we know almost nothing about him. Yet he still speaks. We know Abel kept flocks. We know that Abel brought fat portions of the firstlings of his flock as an offering to the Lord. We also know and that the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but not upon Cain and his offering. Sadly, Abel was still a young man when his brother Cain became angry with him and killed him. Several thousand years later the book of Hebrews reminds us: “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speak, even though he is dead.” (Heb. 11:4) Now, two thousand years later than that righteous Abel still speaks. In a world of 8 billion people, super sonic flight, cell phones, and unbelievable technology, this lonely and obscure shepherd still speaks.
LOWELL MASON ALSO STILL SPEAKS
We know a whole lot more about Lowell Mason than we do about Abel. Virtually everyone who met Lowell or heard him sing has a memory of this remarkable man. Most of us are not famous and cannot relate to the many things that God did through Lowell. We have never been on television, produced a record, sung for millions, or seen our name in the headlines. There is no doubt, however, that Lowell’s life will be remembered! Though he is dead he will continue to speak!
It would be interesting to put into print the many memories that people around the world have of this dedicated servant of Christ! Virtually everyone who met him has memories of Mason!
MY OWN MEMORY OF LOWELL
My name is Boyce Mouton. I have learned more lessons from Lowell than I have time to recount. One memory, however, rises to the surface in my mind like cream on milk. I have known Lowell for over 50 years and we have worshiped in the same church for decades. In spite of the many difficulties and hardships which he faced on a daily basis, I have never heard him complain! We have been together for weeks at a time, sometimes in trying circumstances, and I have never heard him complain! This is, as you know, a good example for every Christian for the Scriptures command: “Do everything without complaining or arguing . . .” (Phil. 2:14).
You may think that complaining is an innocent vice that does no harm. You are wrong! Please consider the journey of God’s people out of Egypt for it is like a parable of our own journey in life to
the Promised Land. (See 1 Corinthians 10:1-11) One big problem that kept the Israelites out of Canaan was complaining! Please consider:
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They all passed through the sea and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. •
They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink!
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Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them and their bodies were scattered over the desert.
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These things were recorded to teach us not to do what they did!
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“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” (1 Cor. 10:11)
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WHAT DID THEY DO TO BRING DOWN THE WRATH OF GOD UPON THEM? •
THE ANSWER IS – THEY GRUMBLED AND COMPLAINED!
While they complained often, let us focus on the 12 spies who spent 40 days scouting out the Promised Land. When they returned from exploring the Promised Land, 10 out of the 12 complained. These complainers said: “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Nu. 13:32-33)
Please note that their refusal to occupy the Promised Land was in direct disobedience to God. It seems that the major source of their complaint involved their size. They saw themselves like grasshoppers by comparison with those giants in the land. Let me remind you that while the Israelites complained about their size, Lowell didn’t! Lowell even served as a Deputy sheriff in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma and never complained about his size in comparison to the size of the bad guys. When you trust in God like David did, you consider yourself too little to hit and Goliath too big to miss!
While most of us cannot understand the difficulties faced by a man only 46 inches tall, Jesus understood perfectly what Lowell was going through. Remember! Jesus promised to manifest himself to those who loved and obeyed him. Jesus said: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21)
I believe that God manifested himself to Lowell Mason because Lowell loved and obeyed him!
GOD DOES NOT LIKE COMPLAINING
Please don’t complain! Remember! The most important command in the Bible is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mk. 12:30). God is a jealous God and will not tolerate being disrespected! It is absolutely wrong to be critical of God! The clay cannot say to the potter: “Why have you made me like this?” (Rom. 9:20) God is Sovereign and can make us any way he wants to. God not only knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13), but also determined the exact place on the earth where we should live (Acts 17:26). Complaining about the way God made us is an attack on the Sovereignty of God!
Complaining is also contagious! After the 10 spies gave their negative report it affected everyone! “All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Nu. 14:2-4)
God is not happy when his children complain, and so “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” (Nu. 14:26-30)
Sadly, even after this, the Israelites continued to complain. The next time they complained about the manna God sent to them as bread from heaven. They said: “We detest this miserable food.” (Nu. 21:5) So the Lord sent venomous snakes to bite the people and many Israelites died. That’s when God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it upon a pole. “Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.” (Nu. 21:9) Jesus reminded Nicodemus of this and said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that anyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:14-15)
Fixing your eyes on Jesus is essential to our salvation. Seeing we are compassed such a great cloud of witnesses, we need to lay aside every weight and sin that does no easily beset us and “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Heb. 12:2-4)
Complaining is not an innocent mistake, it is an attack upon the Sovereignty of God! As I have said, regardless of the difficulties Lowell faced, I have never heard him complain!
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Lowell and I once worked together with a church in Grand Junction, Colorado. His gracious hosts assured him that he didn’t need a key to get in their house for there was a keyboard by the garage door. All he had to do was type in the code and the door would open. They didn’t realize, however, that a man only 46 inches tall could not do that. Lowell graciously understood and did not complain. •
We travelled together to Kingston, Jamaica where Lowell was to sing. Removing shoes for airport security was an inconvenience for me, but an ordeal for Lowell. Still he did not complain. •
We went to Jamaica to work with missionary Gilbert Wesley. The church met in a bank building that was abandoned because of all the crime in that neighborhood. People outside of that neighborhood were afraid to even drive through the area let alone stop and worship. Rival gangs killed one another with impunity almost on a daily basis. They even killed Gilbert’s brother who was himself a police officer. Gilbert received money from local businesses to sponsor a Sunday evening Christmas banquet for these rival gangs. The idea that a couple of white foreigners would be able to minister to
these gangs of black hoodlums was considered a recipe for disaster. The chief of police predicted a blood bath and refused to send even one policeman to help. Yet, Lowell courageously showed up, sang for the glory of God, and didn’t complain. The event was so successful that at the next year’s banquet the chief of police came to see for himself what God was doing!
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We worked together again for a camp meeting in western New York. At that time Lowell had so much difficulty walking that he used an electric tricycle. While going up a ramp his tricycle turned over and injured him, but he didn’t complain. As I recall the honorarium he and Judy received for coming to New York didn’t even cover their expenses. This happened many times in the course of their long ministry, but still Lowell didn’t complain.
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Lowell was an excellent driver and was even able to drive cars, vans, and motor homes with a standard transmission. It was extra trouble, of course, for extensions to be installed so he could operate the gas, clutch, and brakes. But still he did not complain!
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Instead of complaining, Lowell focused on the promise that In Christ “We know that all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)
PAUL AND SILAS AT PHILIPPI
Our text about not complaining comes from a letter to the Philippians which Paul wrote from prison. When Paul and Silas were at Philippi, as you know, they were unjustly beaten and imprisoned. At about midnight they were in the inner prison with bleeding backs and their feet fastened in the stocks. Instead of complaining, however, they were praying and singing hymns. The other prisoners were listening, and surely the jailer was listening too (Acts 16:22-25). More important than that, however, God was also listening!
Singing and praying compose an important part of spiritual warfare. The weapons of our warfare, as you know, are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). The hymns and prayers of Paul and Silas God literally destroyed the prison and caused the Jailer and his whole household to be baptized into Christ on that very night.
Yes! Singing praises to God is powerful! When Jehoshaphat, for example, was at war with the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, he sent singers out in front of the army to sing and praise God for the splendor of his holiness (2 Chron. 20:21-23). In response to these songs God set ambushes against the enemies of Judah and gave Jehoshaphat the victory! While singing and praying lead many to Christ, complaining never does!
Even though Paul’s letter to the Philippians was written from prison it is filled with 16 references to joy and rejoicing! Paul not only prayed for them with “joy” but was “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:3-6)
LET US REPENT AND PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS
Red Foley was a famous singer who sold over 25 million records. His 1951 hit, Peace in the Valley was among the first Gospel recordS to sell over a million copies. At the time, however, he was not a Christian.
Here is the way that Wikipedia describes his death and his confession of Christ: “On September 19, 1968, Foley appeared in two Opry performances in Fort Wayne, Indiana, sponsored by the local Sheriff's Posse that included Billy Walker and 19-year-old Hank Williams, Jr., son of his long-time friend Hank William. Williams Jr. noted that Foley was somewhat slower than usual that day and had no appetite. Before the second show, according to Walker, Foley came to his dressing room and Walker shared his faith in Christ: Foley said, "Do you think God could ever forgive a sinner like me?" He began to tell me all the rotten things he had done in his life, and I looked him in the face and said, "Red, if God can forgive me, He can forgive you." I prayed with Red. He went out, and the last song he sang was "Peace in the Valley". He came over to side of the stage and said, 'Billy, I've never sung that song and feel the way I do tonight.' Foley suffered respiratory failure that night and died in his sleep, prompting Hank Williams, Jr. to write and record (as Luke the Drifter, Jr.) "I Was With Red Foley (The Night He Passed Away"). According to the song, which charted that November, his last words were, "I'm awful tired now, Hank. I've got to go to bed."Foley had sung "Peace in the Valley" at Hank Sr.'s funeral. Foley was interred in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville.”
Red Foley is dead, but he still speaks. Here is a poem that he wrote that has touched the hearts of millions. It is a prayer that every one of us needs to pray!
“Today upon a bus, I saw A lovely maid with golden hair; I envied her - she seemed so gay -
And oh, I wished I were so fair. When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle, She had one foot and wore a crutch,
But as she passed, a smile. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two feet - the world is mine.
And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who served me had such charm;
He seemed to radiate good cheer, His manner was so kind and warm.
I said, "It's nice to deal with you,
Such courtesy I seldom find." He turned and said, "Oh, thank you, sir!"
And I saw that he was blind. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine; I have two eyes - the world is mine.
Then, when walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do,
I stopped a moment, then I said: "Why don't you join the others, dear?"
He looked ahead without a word, And then I knew; He could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine; I have two ears - the world is mine.
With feet to take me where I’d go, With eyes to see the sunset’s glow, With ears to hear what I should know: I’m blessed indeed, The world is mine;
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.”
Paul wrote to the Romans: “I consider that the sufferings of this life and not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18)
For many years Lowell Mason “believed” this promise was true. Now he “knows” it is true!