Preaching on Longmire

It’s one of the highest-rated shows in television today with over 4 million viewers each week.
But you need cable or satellite TV to watch it.
What is it?
Longmire and it airs each Monday night on the A&E Network (Arts & Entertainment).
And if you happened to catch last week’s (Aug. 19) episode, you might have recognized someone with local roots. In fact, his photo was in the Cottonwood County Citizen just a week earlier.
Yes, Windom’s own Dewey Moede, who heads up For God’s Glory Alone Ministries in Albuquerque, N.M., earned his literally 15 seconds of fame on the popular TV show, portraying a preacher officiating at a funeral service.
While the show’s base is in Sante Fe, N.M., the scene was shot at the city cemetery in Las Vegas, N.M.
Dewey said that before he was ever considered for the part, he was already a fan of the show – “It’s my favorite show,” he says – calling it a “modern-day Gunsmoke, where Walt Longmire is Matt Dillon and if you break the law, you’re going to jail. But yet there’s the tender side to the story that Gunsmoke always had. And there’s a moral to the story.”
So, how in the world did he ever land the part?
Well, Dewey already was quite comfortable in front of the camera, having done a Christian TV interview program on a local station in the Albuquerque area for the past few years. But it was quite by chance that he was asked to audition.
“It came completely out of left field,” he confirms.
A pastor friend, Steve Freeman, called him and told him about the opportunity. However, Dewey quickly dismissed the idea.
“Yeah, right, Steve. Like there’s any chance of that happening,” Dewey recalls.
But, as he does with every decision, he prayed and God spoke.
“God told me to call, so I called and they said, ‘Would you please come right now and audition for this part,’  ” Dewey says, noting that as a longtime fan of the 1960s TV Western, Gunsmoke, he always wanted to be in a Western. “And I said, ‘Could you please send me the script, so that I know it matches up with my Christianity.’ They sent me the script and it was very well written and it was just a short message to be read at a graveside. So, I said, ‘OK, Lord, I’m going.’  ”
But rather than reading the lines in the script, Dewey asked to read another passage that God had laid on his heart. They said, ‘Go for it,’ and two days later he got the part.
Again, Dewey’s national cable television debut lasted all of about 15 seconds, but it was an experience he greatly appreciated, for a couple of reasons.
“What this experience showed me was that God gave me the desires of my heart to be in a Western because Longmire is a modern-day Western,” Dewey explains. “God does give us the desires of our heart if we’re walking with him.
“The other reason I really believe God had me do this was that it was a tremendous time to share Jesus with all these folks. The questions they asked and how they interacted with me was just a complete blessing and the reason that God sent me there.”
Dewey also got to meet the star of the show, Robert Taylor, who stars as Walt Longmire. In fact, Taylor sent Moede a note after the show.
“I can tell that man has a very good heart and he thanked me for coming up and told me to keep doing what I’m doing. I was just blessed by the whole experience,” Dewey said.
“What was a blessing was that they used some of the words that God had given me and that message went out over the TV. Wherever God’s Word goes, it’s never void. So, for those words to go out, let it be for God’s glory alone.”
Still, it was a small personal goal that Dewey had hoped to one day accomplish.
“As my friend said, ‘Off the bucket list – movie star!’ We had a good laugh.”
Are his acting days over? Maybe, but maybe not.
Through his radio interviews over the years, Dewey has become good friends with Alan Autry, who portrayed “Bubba Skinner” in the 1980s TV drama In the Heat of the Night. Autry now produces Christian movies and someday Moede may have a chance to be in one of his movies.
Likewise, Dewey has become close friends with Tom Lester, who portrayed “Eb” on the 1960s and ’70s sitcom, Green Acres. Dewey spoke with him recently and learned Lester is presently putting together a group to produce a movie remake of the 1960s sitcom Petticoat Junction.
This article was printed in the Cottonwood County Citizen Windom, Minnesota. Written by Dave Fjeld  https://windomnews.com/