Has the pastor and his congregation lost their minds?
Listen up, Mr. Fred Phelps, our Lord Jesus Christ came to save the lost, not condemn them! And you are there with your daughters and the congregation that you lead doing exactly the opposite — condemning those who actually needs His forgiveness, comfort, and love most.
Did you think that by doing this that you are the light and salt of the earth?
Did you think that by doing this, that people who have never come to experience the forgiveness, love and peace that our Lord Jesus Christ will come to know Him truly?
Did you somehow skip past the teachings in the Gospels about the woman who was caught in the act of adultery and our Lord Jesus Christ said to those accusing her, saying “… He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7)?
During His ministry on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ sat and ate with the social rejects, taught forgiveness and that He was sent to the sinners not the righteous (Matthew 9:10-13, Luke 5:27-32).
Yes, that’s right, that’s including us who aren’t righteous at all! We might aspire to be holy as our Father in heaven is holy, but we certainly aren’t perfect. Read what the Word says:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Romans 3:23-24
We are ALL sinners and are saved (justified) only by God’s grace! And because we have been given this grace so freely by God, we are to share it freely too.
And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Matthew 10:7-8
Dear Fred Phelps, I come to you as a brother-in-Christ, and beseech you this: that while it is good that you hate the sin as our Father in heaven hates sin, but love and go to those who are lost as our Lord Jesus Christ did. Harassing a poor family in their grief and condemning those soldiers who now serve in Iraq is un-Christian and a shame to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Instead of condemnation, pray for their deliverance!; instead of condemnation, reach out with love and compassion!; instead of teaching condemnation, preach repentance!
We are called to be the light that shines atop the hills and the salt of the earth, and not to be judges. Judgment is reserved as God’s right, for He alone is holy and righteous to judge us.
Teach repentance, have compassion for them, and love them as Christ Jesus taught us.
Shabbat Shalom.
Picture taken from Associated Press.
Tags: Compassion, Condemnation, Forgiveness, Grace, Judgment, Love, Mercy, Repentance, Sin, Westboro Baptist Church
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There are so many “Churches” that are actually store houses for hell than messengers of salvation. God’s words concerning them are true: “You have blasphemed my name among the Gentiles” [Romans 2: 24].
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This family (it’s a literal, blood kin family, not really what most people would call a church) is just a bunch of attention whores. They like to be in the spotlight. No amount of reason is going to convince them of the err of their ways.
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Dear Sidharth, HighwayBlogger, Casey:
Thank you for your comments.
I just want to put a note out about this when someone told me that I sound like I am condemning them: I am not condemning these people, I am pleading to them with a mix of chastisement as a fellow Christian to be discerning.
Condemn the sin by all means as God hates sin, but as I said, have love and compassion for the lost and preach the kingdom of God and repentance. Imagine God carrying a placard condemning us of our sin instead of having love and compassion for us and sending His only begotten Son to atone for our sins, aren’t we all still lost?
They have a humongous log in their eyes that only they can remove from their eyes themselves.
Shabbat Shalom, everyone.
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Insane… utterly insane. I wouldn’t even use the word Pastor on him. Such a disgrace to His Kingdom.
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I don’t think Christians should be picketing against ANY type of sin because WE ARE ALL GUILTY!!! Period! Those people (and us) are not any better than those they condemn. Why make a spectacle? The fact is we ALL have sin it’s just that ours may not be as visible. But if people COULD see into our hearts, and see those hidden sins, then would they make a spectacle of that?
There are sins that are seen and hidden, and these people are doing this because they can SEE it, but what about what they cannot see in themselves? What if we picked their pride, their lack of love? What I’m saying is it’s no different! Seen or unseen, we should not be picketing anyone because of their sin. Yes I believe we should gently telll them/correct them because truth is truth but not put them on display to ridicule them when we stand just as guilty. If these people looked to themselves and realize that they are just as guilty, they mighty be humbled.
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I saw this story and I was shocked too.
I have a new post called Greed you might like.
How are you doing?
Lance
http://www.lancessoulsearching.com -
Shabbat Shalom to you, Isaiah:
Unfortunately, this is what this dude is known for and the more attention he gets for his antics, the more he continues to produce new ones. In fact, it was about this time last year that he and his family were planning to protest at the funerals of the little Amish children who were brutally gunned down at their schoolhouse. Phelps and his gang have a long, sordid history of this sort of shocking behavior. This so-called “church” is in desperate need of prayer and deliverance.
Sad, sad people.
Have a good weekend, all!
~Free
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Dear Ed, Carol:
Well said, well said indeed!
Carol: I very much agree with you. All of us are not without sin and guilty many times over. Without God’s love and our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, we won’t even be saved and be bound for the hell fire! So who are we who have received this free gift of grace?
We have done nothing, absolutely nothing, to deserve being saved! It is GRACE!
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” — Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
We have done nothing deserving and righteous in the eyes of God that we might condemn others. In fact, if we do condemn others as they do, we are worse off!
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Hello Lance, my brother!
How have you been? Thank you for visiting and asking after my well-being. I have been doing alright, albeit a little busy at work.
I’m going to head over and read the post soon. Thank you for letting me know, and I apologize for not visiting recently due to my busy schedule.
God bless and keep you, brother.
Shalom!
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hiya Free!
Woah, that is sick! Why do they choose to protest at funerals and so on? Aren’t they aware that they aren’t doing God any favors by shaming His name thus?! There are so many more ways to lift our voices and preach God’s Good News to all, yet they choose to do it this way!?
Someone send them to “I am an attention seeker” rehabilitation classes please!
God bless, and Shalom!
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hiya King’s Kid:
Apparently he’s already been asked to pay the $11 million owed, but some have also reported that he could be covered under the First Amendment and so totally escape punishment.
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If you would like to see a video of me spitting in the face of Shirley Phelps, check it out here!
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