Warning, there will be some bad language as I quote from a group in this post. I saw a very disturbing image today. The Westboro Baptist Church, which by the way is the NAME of a non profit group and not affiliated with that church, is a very disturbed group of people. Like the 11th -13th century crusaders of the Catholic Church, they have completely missed the point of the Bible, and I have some doubt if they have even read much of it. For those that don't know who they are (as I did not.) the WBC is a small non profit that stages protests against gays, jews, and anyone else they see as not following the morals of the Bible.
Despite any differences I may have with their views or methods, the thing that actually disturbed me the most is the image I saw of one of their protests. The woman in the picture had a shirt on that said God Hates Fags .com. and was holding 4 signs, one of which said God Hates Israel.
GOD IS LOVE. God LOVES all of his children. He does not accept sin, but he loves even the worst sinner. Anyone, no matter what they have done can turn to him, and if they are sorry in their heart for what they have done, be redeemed and welcomed home. That is the whole point!
I posted on facebook earlier today that I am so tired of people on both sides of politics calling the other names. It's infantile and useless, but this.. this is so so much worse. To tell anyone that God hates them shows such a complete lack of understanding of what Jesus taught that is makes my heart hurt for them.
No matter how moral you try to be, how hard to are trying to follow Gods rules, you HAVE made mistakes, you HAVE done things wrong. No one person is any better than another. Telling someone you hate them, is never going to make them see your point of view. Telling someone that GOD hates them, is NEVER going to help them be saved. In fact, it is more likely to drive them away from God and deeper into sin which is one of the things we are told most clearly to guard against.
Is not hating your brothers and sisters a sin? I sin. On an almost (if not completely) daily basis I make mistakes. I snap at my children, I worry, I fear, I eat too much, I don't take care of all the things I aught to, I don't do everything I do for the purpose of serving God and his children. I sin. And yet I am allowed to teach bible classes and serve in my church. What makes my sin so much less vile than anyone else to God?
Just because you think someone else's sin is "worse" than yours does not make that perseption true. Proclaiming that God hates any of his children... I have a feeling that one is going to be especially hard to explain though.
This "church" has taken it to an extreme. But I know it is something I have to remind myself of regularly too. I am just as likely to sometimes think myself "higher" because I am trying, actively, to follow God and I know so many "Christians" that done seem to be trying very hard at all. So I do fall into that same trap myself. Just because it's a lesser extent doesn't make it a lesser sin.
So for now, I will try to focus at all times on the thought that GOD LOVES all of his children and I need to treat them the way I would treat Jesus if he were standing at my door right now.
Matthew 25:45 KJV Then shall he answer them, saying , Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And in the reverse, if I do it for the least, I do it for Jesus. So tonight, I will pray for the WBC for all my brothers and sisters that are lost in any way. For those that don't believe, for those that have been misled to believe false teachers, for those that think they believe but do nothing that Jesus tried to teach them to do.
And I will pray for myself, that I will be able to keep my own mind open. That I will be able to accept everyone that I come in contact with. That I will recognise that they are Gods child and my sibling. I will prey that I will be able to be meek, peaceful and loving in all situations. ( I am not meek and accepting by nature. So if you are reading this, pray for me in that too.) And that I will be made aware of all my own sins so that I can continue to work on correcting them day be day. It's a never ending project. But, I do love my projects.
Despite any differences I may have with their views or methods, the thing that actually disturbed me the most is the image I saw of one of their protests. The woman in the picture had a shirt on that said God Hates Fags .com. and was holding 4 signs, one of which said God Hates Israel.
GOD IS LOVE. God LOVES all of his children. He does not accept sin, but he loves even the worst sinner. Anyone, no matter what they have done can turn to him, and if they are sorry in their heart for what they have done, be redeemed and welcomed home. That is the whole point!
I posted on facebook earlier today that I am so tired of people on both sides of politics calling the other names. It's infantile and useless, but this.. this is so so much worse. To tell anyone that God hates them shows such a complete lack of understanding of what Jesus taught that is makes my heart hurt for them.
No matter how moral you try to be, how hard to are trying to follow Gods rules, you HAVE made mistakes, you HAVE done things wrong. No one person is any better than another. Telling someone you hate them, is never going to make them see your point of view. Telling someone that GOD hates them, is NEVER going to help them be saved. In fact, it is more likely to drive them away from God and deeper into sin which is one of the things we are told most clearly to guard against.
- Matthew 18:6 NIV But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
- Mark 9:42 NIV "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
- Luke 17:2 NIV It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Is not hating your brothers and sisters a sin? I sin. On an almost (if not completely) daily basis I make mistakes. I snap at my children, I worry, I fear, I eat too much, I don't take care of all the things I aught to, I don't do everything I do for the purpose of serving God and his children. I sin. And yet I am allowed to teach bible classes and serve in my church. What makes my sin so much less vile than anyone else to God?
Just because you think someone else's sin is "worse" than yours does not make that perseption true. Proclaiming that God hates any of his children... I have a feeling that one is going to be especially hard to explain though.
This "church" has taken it to an extreme. But I know it is something I have to remind myself of regularly too. I am just as likely to sometimes think myself "higher" because I am trying, actively, to follow God and I know so many "Christians" that done seem to be trying very hard at all. So I do fall into that same trap myself. Just because it's a lesser extent doesn't make it a lesser sin.
So for now, I will try to focus at all times on the thought that GOD LOVES all of his children and I need to treat them the way I would treat Jesus if he were standing at my door right now.
Matthew 25:45 KJV Then shall he answer them, saying , Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And in the reverse, if I do it for the least, I do it for Jesus. So tonight, I will pray for the WBC for all my brothers and sisters that are lost in any way. For those that don't believe, for those that have been misled to believe false teachers, for those that think they believe but do nothing that Jesus tried to teach them to do.
And I will pray for myself, that I will be able to keep my own mind open. That I will be able to accept everyone that I come in contact with. That I will recognise that they are Gods child and my sibling. I will prey that I will be able to be meek, peaceful and loving in all situations. ( I am not meek and accepting by nature. So if you are reading this, pray for me in that too.) And that I will be made aware of all my own sins so that I can continue to work on correcting them day be day. It's a never ending project. But, I do love my projects.
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