Wes Bowker

2010-03-01T01:30:00.001-08:00

Censorship : "A Little Dirt Won't Hurt?"

2009-12-06T04:10:00.001-08:00

Unless you've been living underneath a massive rock, you are most likely familiar with how out of order and hysterical today's society can be. Whether you spend sixty seconds on the internet, watching television, or listening to the radio you are immediately reminded of how lax and lop-sided our morality has become. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the entire world is atrociously beyond redemption, but you have to admit that we've let so much slip through our fingers. The following is part of a mini-series of lessons I've put together in an attempt to crystallize a few contemporary spiritual issues that are rarely addressed in our homes and congregations. I am no collegiate scholar, nor minister by profession, only a simple-minded guy with a simple understanding of God's standards for Christ-Like living. Discussion is both welcome and encouraged. Lets help each other.

Part I : Censorship - "A Little Dirt Won't Hurt?"

As I began to approach this series, I initially thought addressing censorship would be something close to a walk in the park. Not until digging into countless web pages and book pages did I soon realize how utterly GIGANTIC of a topic it was amongst spiritually and politically minded Americans. And so, being that the point of this lesson is to map out the issue as biblically and briefly as possible, this will not be an exhaustive guide to all that is censorship.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a censor to be "an examination in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable". All over the world there are activist fighting against even the very existence of censorship. Their argument usually goes that you should not enact any law nor impose any principle that would limit free expression ncac.org. I can see why this is important to an extent, since I am currently enjoying the freedom to write an article relating to Christian values. When it comes to free expression, I completely sympathize.

However, in order for us to call ourselves Christ-Followers, we need to realize that putting on Christ through belief and baptism binds us to a life of higher standards. This is not to say that we always succeed, but the key is to constantly be seeking that which is good and righteous. Christianity is a faith of the mind and of the heart. We have a choice in everything we do. Jesus constantly taught that sin came from within our own desires. We all have different struggles, because we all desire different things. All Satan has to do to get us to stumble is convince us to do whatever it takes to obtain what we desire.

So, now you are wondering what my little rant has to do with Censorship. Taking liberals and religious radicals both into consideration, how do we know where to draw the line? Could the answer be as simple as hearing what God says? I'd like to think so (2Tim.3:16)! If you own a Bible, I'd encourage you to turn to Romans 12:2, this says "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Translate it however you like, but it all boils down to a challenge for Christians to raise the bar on every aspect of our lifestyle. What do we put in our minds? What are we looking at? What are we listening to? Hopefully, what ever answer you may have, it honors God and his will for you to strive for perfection. This may mean turning off that "R" rated movie. It may mean meditating on what type of message our favorite song conveys. Perhaps it means not browsing over to our favorite webpage. If it fulfills a desire that pulls you further from God, Stop It!

Matthew 5:30 says "If your right hand causes you to sin then cut it off!" Why? "Because its better to lose one of your body parts than for your whole body to cast into Hell." It isn't saying that dismembering yourself physically is the only solution. However you can substitute "Right Hand" with whatever it is that gets you in the mindset to seek after unrighteous desires. Censoring what you and your children see and hear everyday will ensure your focus to be "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." (1Cor.15:58). If you are curious about whether a movie,album, television show, or video game is appropriate I would highly suggest checking pluggedinonline.com.
This is a great resource for guiding your recreational choices as a family or even to understand what your children are listening to, playing, or watching. In the end though, it is up to you to discern what doesn't honor God in your life.

Let the government censor or uncensor whatever media they want. That doesn't make something right or wrong in the eyes of God. My best friend recently made a comment saying that "Government funding doesn't make Pornography art." It also doesn't make profanity poetry, violence an educational documentary, and the list continues. What should we do when we come in contact with one of these? Romans 12:9 says "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."

In closing, every little choice you make matters. Be responsible, hold yourself accountable for yourself and the people around you. Even if it isn't the popular thing to do.....

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
-2Tim 2:15

Wes Bowker mp3 Store !

2009-11-24T08:53:00.001-08:00

>>> My Dearest Friend <<<

2009-01-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

My Dearest Friend

My dearest friend, we tripped and fell
On broken glass and rusted nails
We stood there screaming at the night
They pushed us down and stole our fight

The years have passed, still here we stand
We hide the scars beneath our hands
Although we lost what we called home
This world is not where we belong

Not one could understand the strain
We underwent, We overcame
No cheating on the test of time
We broke away, they broke our spine

Invert the image on the page
You'll see the music in our veins
The men we were have all but died
And now we're locked in for the ride

In the end I pray we'll find
Some explanation for our time
My dearest friend, I hope you see
How much of you is part of me

-Wes Bowker

"A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity."
-Proverbs 17:17

The Balance

2008-08-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

In time all things will pass away
The man whispered to his wife
As she lay beside him sleeping
In their bedroom late one night

He struggled first to crystallize
The meaning of his words
Although she couldn't hear him
In silence he rehearsed

Resisting thoughts so negative
Disheartened by default
His mind began to float away
Where wondrous things are lost

The world seems so majestic
To new un-weathered eyes
Still the luster of a planet
In time begins to die

The beauty of a woman
Or the girl that she once was
Transposes to a memory
Her form returns to dust

The sun however golden
Though it may radiate at noon
The beams of light degenerate
In the presence of the moon

The man who sat in darkness
Began to change his view
The ground outside now covered
With early morning dew

He dwelled too long on sadness
His mind was almost numb
Perhaps good things must pass away
For better things to come

-Wes Bowker

ACCIDENTAL MAJESTIC

2008-05-15T03:13:00.000-07:00

Accidental Majestic

Let me sway, let me sway
In this sad, but sacred bliss
My personal Oblivion
This controvert abyss

I will say, I must say
That I chose not to live on
Yet refused to merely fade away
From this canvas I was drawn

I betray, yes I've betrayed
My own thoughts as they transform
Not blinded by the filth of Earth
Now tangled in the thorns

So I pray, Oh I pray
For an unprecedented shift
Into existence fresh and true
For my life to be a gift

Let me stay, God let me stay!
Within your plan I second guessed
No accidental majesty
I'm conserved...
I'm secure....
I'm blessed.

-Wes Bowker

Exodus 9:16 "But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."

The Great Wall of Glass

2008-05-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

The Great Wall of Glass

Three dimensional panic, my tears burn like sulfur
These are the days that make us or break our hearts
Rivers of icy water walk through my jagged veins
My eyes roll back to watch my mind fall apart

Hypothetical instances of happiness in the future
Chemical imbalances that make my spirit shiver blue
The dead lie below us, yet death comes from above
Under this mask I’ll remain the person you never knew

Transfigurations of obsolete obstacles shine
You can’t tell what I’m thinking, never faltering perturbation
Chivalry is underrated, and romance has been closed down
Is it my own repulsive greed yearning for delicate eloquent inspiration?

Sanity disconcerted, capsized and launched out the window
There will be no peace on this night; I choose to sleep it away
I choke up, desensitized, trepidation crushes my body
Spiraling quivering in deductive seduction of my ghosts of clay

Intimacy has been mummified beyond my ability to repair
Cryogenically frozen to resurrect and rectify at a later point in time
The throbbing in my head continues to chew on my fallible judgment
I’ll rip my eyes out for the fear of seeing things in the wrong light

My stomach has been ripped open by vampiric butterflies
Pains of the unsolvable predicaments shred apart my chance of rest
There is no longer enough earth to support my angel winged stance
I retire to a fiery baptism of change; I surrender my heart from my own chest.

-Wes Bowker

Intercession

2008-05-15T02:58:00.000-07:00

Intercession

Sadness creeps in, over the course of frozen time
Beware of things you cannot change, therefore I fear my mind
I suffer this concussion of what some call endless sleep
For I’m now here, dead to the world, and the prizes that I keep

I suffocate in loneliness, although I know He’s there
Sometimes I feel quite fistular yet swallowed by His glare
An interlude of broken thoughts, keep me busy for the time
Am I Cain or am I Abel, where shall I draw the line

I undertake these feelings, unearthing the non-suches
Or is such what it seems to be, that I have found a Duchess
I fear my heart may petrify, in waiting for that moment
A pestilence that I abhor, a transparent component

I propone the estrangement of thoughts that fault concede
If we choose to speak the truth, will truth spill out accurately
In knowing this, I remain trapped, discouraged and despondent
Repelling what I truly feel, haunted and nonrespondent

-Wes Bowker

Illuminate, You're Too Far Gone

2008-05-15T02:55:00.000-07:00

"Illuminate, You're Too Far Gone"

Life itself cannot know what it brings
Until it too looks back on those
Things it lost and dreams that cost a lifetime
But were sadly never achieved

I would rather shave my eyelids off
Than to look upon you again, my friend
Because I love you that much, so stay in touch
With the world falling apart around you

Hate is not a word that I know
But understand what's reaped is sewn
Into the grass, along with snakes and birds
Farewell to sweet redemption

I've been imitated, and have imitated
Have loved, and have been loved
I have photos of the things I've lost, and ruined
And photos of when you were born

I smell sex and candy
Like an ancient glass of wine
To strong to drink, but easy to think
That I would if I only had time

I wont preach again, I say
Until I know exactly where I am
In life, in state, at any rate
Growling songs about where I've been

Illuminate, you're too far gone
From things you'll never see
Like joy, and truth, and telephone booths
Isolated, waiting for your call

Now is the time to activate
Every plan that has failed up until now
Sidewalk chalk and religious talks
Are my weakness, and yes, my vow

All I know, is all I know
See thats not much at all
But I do know a good thing when it comes
But more importantly when its gone

-Wes Bowker

Warrior Incognito

2008-05-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

Warrior Incognito

In my pocket is a pound of change
And the keys to my own heart
If this life is just a game
I choose to pause and restart

In this caffeinated cathedral
We pray for one last fix
And drain the veins of our potential
Like a clockwork magic trick

I am a warrior incognito
Disguised in cowardly attire
A samurai of self-control
Pouring kerosene on the fire

A vampire on a tanning bed
Molotov cocktail in the flesh
Sins like grenades to the heart of God
I'm sure to catch my death

In truth I am a car wreck
Fidelity at an all time low
Since your rope didn't break my neck
Perhaps I'll finally grow

-Wes Bowker

Aphasia

2008-05-15T01:03:00.001-07:00

Aphasia

A love that grows cold
was never love at all
Yet only mere attraction
That stumbles to a fall

The death of a thrill
that once breathed human sighs
Pains of unsatisfaction
The quest for a new high

Is happiness love
Or do the coincide
The placement of a feeling
That prophets can't describe

Searching for the answers
the seven deadly sins
have nothing to do with love
yet only of the skin

Step back and view life
The apex of seascapes
The lyric to exsistence
is lost on eight-track tapes

Reflections From a Broken Heart

2008-05-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

Reflections From a Broken Heart

Something inside of me snapped
The night she walked away
A little bit less than being depressed
Thats what my friends would say

Or maybe it is depression
An unhealthy state of mind
The loss of love or lack there of
And the torment that I hide

My mother says that I should eat
Attempting comfort with a grin
My heart is cold, so I've been told
More than my body is wearing thin

My thoughts are living in the past
When I could wear a smile
I'm in that place, I see her face
And stay there for a while

Jesus loves me, this I know
A fact I can't deny
He spoke the truth, I am the proof
That real love never dies

I know that she's not coming back
My eyes cry tears of blue
For to return, would be to learn
There's not much to come back to

-Wes Bowker

Knowledge

2008-05-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

Knowledge

Midnight Fades as sunlight gleams
Absorbing life from morning dreams
Screaming secrets into the dark
Inviting God into your heart

The music is the beat of life
Days are numbered so take a wife
Take a ride to somewhere else
The world is numb, express yourself

Old souls pass into another realm
Whether the stairway to Heaven, or the gates of Hell
Young souls are dying until the day they're dead
Which explains the blackbirds circleing overhead

Wisdom is weighed, by the words you display
And the knowledge you're capable to convey
And the lack there of, subtracts from love
Comfort is snug like tight fitting gloves

No need to feel glum, for life is spinning on
Some need to turn right, some choose to act wrong
My mind is set up like the mind of a child's
My eyes are painted, and my heart is tiled

-Wes Bowker

YESTERDAY, TODAY, OBLIVION

2008-05-15T00:53:00.000-07:00

YESTERDAY, TODAY, OBLIVION

Smiling, we stand on a porcelain bowl
Seconds of daylight are numbered
As are the days of lost souls

Running, we slowly stroll down the boulevard
Where the creatures breathe only neon
And dine on credit cards

Spinning, taken by pleasures of the flesh
Right where the demons want us
They are the things that shall not rest

Revolving, we are spoon fed evolution
Trying to pawn the One Creator
for things that can not be proven

Falling, we danced upon that porcelain
Temptation breaks us, in like manner
we surrender to the sins

Screaming, our minds forever haunted
We are given what we asked for
It is not the thing we wanted

Smiling, we stand on a porcelain bowl
Seconds of daylight are numbered
As are the days of lost souls

-Wes Bowker

This Epitome

2008-05-15T00:43:00.000-07:00

As the night grows darker

I take a long bitter look at myself

Everything I wanted to be is nothing that I am

I want to be lonely if the pains of joy are such as they are

I don’t want you to know my name

If you are going to make a mockery of who I am

Things like this make me cry from time to time

Having the canon called isolation fired into my spine

As the leaves fall down gently in autumn

So does my spirit when reaching to be hopeful

There are days that I hate life, I pray that God would take me away

But I conform for fear of being exiled from society

Why would I even care?

To be locked away from everything is what I always wanted

No one will ever die anyway, a truth quite difficult to grasp

Either they will be punished eternally or not

Life on Earth is its own type of punishment

Laced in with scarce rewards here and there

My dreams were thrown away accidentally

But who ever wanted to throw hopes away on purpose

I can clearly see all that I wish to call my own

However, they continuously dangle just out of my reach

I need a happy life; I want a simple life at home

With that I would be content, never asking for more

As much as I desire a wife, and the peace that she would bring

No woman would ever give her life to a man with no feeling

Because I sit here without laughter, and I stand without a smile

Sweet dreams I have been chasing after, are now a burning mound of memories

At the end of everyday, I retire to my bed alone

Just me, the dark night ambiance, and my pillow

I don’t want to sleep alone, or be alone anymore

During the darkest, coldest, and loneliest moments of the day

-Wes Bowker

Sparkle and Burst (Most Things Are Shiny)

2008-05-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Sparkle and Burst (Most Things Are Shiny)

When angels of destruction
Fill the pantheon with wrath
And the mystics of deduction
Look down upon me and laugh

The damned will shiver in their skin
And the saved will praise His name
Then I shall dangle from this cliff
In question of my own fate

My conscience then it will depart
Things will go just as rehearsed
Fall to my knees at the judgment seat
Waiting to either sparkle or burst

Until then, I'll do my best
To be less foe than friend
Into flames below or pearly gates I'll go
For now and to no end

-Wes Bowker

The Sleepy Hollow Incident

2008-05-15T00:30:00.001-07:00

The Sleepy Hollow Incident

Fingers interlocked, hold still

As the parade passes us by

A sudden jolt of diplomatic disdain

For once, obligated to comply

She knows I chose not to possess

Her heart against her will

And lukewarm lovers will find another

Setting fire to window sills

I ripped my mask away to find

That behind it hid nothing at all

Only stoic stimulations of passion

As fragile as a porcelain doll

Say farewell to the classics

Inoculation how sweet your sting

An ice cold glass of scopolamine

Shall rectify my dreams

No need to second guess

The path that street lights lead

Not as much breath left in my lungs

But theres pavement beneath my feet

Tonight I leave Sleepy Hollow

I dont want to lose my head

Haunted by memories of a girl

Whose love for me is dead

-Wes Bowker

She Wore Black In The Snow

2008-05-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

She Wore Black In The Snow

Frigid late December cold
Black veil hiding her face
They gave her roses she could hold
Shouldering snowflakes

Somber as if in a dream
The lackluster of the night
A Polaroid of gothic scene
The question she could not fight

Is there a God she often thought
In the hours she stood there silent
Looking down, her husband gone
From a dispute that had turned violent

It didn't seem His ways were just
While leaving her alone
She never had shown signs of trust
Her silhouette in sepia tone

Now in that very instant
The moon had cast a light
At first her heart resisted
The comfort of the sight

God whispered do not turn away
My child for I am here
My love for you will never fade
Draw close and I'll come near

A tear rolled down her frozen face
On that December snow
Icy roses now replaced
By reassurance she could hold

-Wes Bowker