Fred Phelps

Fred Phelps is dead?  Good!

Did you ever have a thought like that one?

I did, once. Mine was a guy I knew in high school. Not a friend, by any stretch. His name was Greg Owens. In high school, I took his spot in the select choir. (As a result, he became a pain in my life from that point on.) Actually, he gave it his spot away, with his drug abuse and all around bad behavior. I just happened to come along at the right time to fill the open spot.
Greg was a drug abuser. If there was a drug on the list, he probably abused it. I lost track of him after graduation, and that was fine with me. However, a mutual friend continued to have some contact with Greg. I heard from this friend that Greg had killed himself, and would I like to go with him(and another high school friend) to the funeral. I'm not sure why, but I decided to go.

People there were sad, I was not. People grieved, I did not. In fact, the only reason I was there was so that I could go to lunch with my other friends following the service. I didn't really care that Greg was dead, and I didn't really think God cared either.

In Acts 7:54 - 60, we read:

 "When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep." The next verse says that "Saul was there, giving his approval."

Saul...The apostle Paul. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul authored much of the New Testament. He wrote the book of Romans, viewed by many as Paul's statement of his faith.

Paul wrote in Romans 3:22-23

22 "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

All? I thought we were talking about Greg Owens...and Fred Phelps.

And then we read in John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Whoever?

None of us are worthy, not Fred Phelps, not Greg Owens, not me.  But, God loves us anyway. Thanks be to God!

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."(Ephesians 2:8, 9 NIV)