Abusing People With Religion

One definition of religion in the dictionary is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or group of gods.”

I realize the word religion has very personal and varied meanings to different people. Some of us have a pretty negative view of religion and the way we see its practice having hurt people. Others of us see some very good things coming from the practice of religion and have seen these positive practices help us lead our lives well. Perhaps others have not given the word much thought.

I want to be very careful to state at the beginning of this blog that I am speaking mostly about the negative way religion was used in my life and the extremely damaging things that happened in my family because of religion. But I in no way want to offend people in their honest practice of religion who have found it to be a blessing in their lives. I am really talking about the practice of a very destructive and abusive type of religion my father used against the members of his own family in my growing up years.

When I look at religion broadly I view it as a system or structure of activity and beliefs which help to organize and focus the activity of a particular group of people in their relationship to a god or a belief system.

I also see religion as what man does in an effort to gain favor from a god or higher power. Or sometimes even what people do to gain favor from other people. Even people who do not care about them and certainly do not have their best interests in mind.

Christianity is truly unique among religions because at its core it’s about what God did for mankind through His Son Jesus Christ. Not what we have to do to find favor from God but what he did to reach out to us. In my blogs you will notice I make a distinction between religion (largely a set of observances or rules) and relationship – between us and God.

You may ask: “Why does any of this matter to you?”

It matters to me because I have personally observed the practice of religion being misused to hurt and abuse human beings. I have seen religion misused and misapplied to:

-oppress and imprison the human spirit

-cause deep anguish and great distress of heart

-bring about false hope in peoples’ lives

-excuse stealing

-take personal freedoms and peace of mind from people and

-crush and crash people’s lives into despair.

My father used the practice of his religion to justify his horrendous abuse of his family.

That’s why it matters to me!

It matters to me because I was raised in a religion; more specifically my father’s religion. This religion was never about relationship, either with God or the people who were doing the preaching of it. I was raised in my father’s church. My father is Fred W. Phelps Sr., preacher at Westboro Baptist Church.

In sharp contrast to my father’s teaching, the Bible mentions the concept of Good News a fair amount. It was Jesus who was the one who would bring this Good News to mankind. He brought many amazing things to the people of his time that included healing for the sick, the demon possessed, the blind, the lame, and the broken hearted. But over and over again He reminded everybody around Him that He was sent to preach the Good News. When some people were looking for Jesus one day he said “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

The essence of this Good News was very simple. It let people know that there had been a break in their relationship with God, but that Jesus would be the pathway back. And the pathway to God was actually very simple. Jesus asked people to “repent and believe.”

I have thought a lot about what it means to repent. From the original Greek it translates “metanoia” which means to change one’s mind, or change the inner self. Repentance at its core is a changing of one’s very direction in life . . . a change of mind that results in a change of action.

So repenting means to turn away from the path of sin and destruction we have been on and to turn back toward God. A turning away from leading lives apart from God and a turning toward Him. No matter what a big mess we thought we’ve made of ourselves and our lives. Repenting does NOT mean fixing ourselves up and making ourselves “perfect” for God. It’s a recognition we are a mess, and have made wrong choices, sinned and hurt ourselves and others. It’s a recognition that we really CAN‘T change the brokenness in us, and then turning to God to let Him do what only He can do, which is to bring new life and create true change in the human soul and spirit.

The believing part meant to believe in Him. Jesus. To believe he was the Son of God. And believe He was the one who would pay the debt the human race had incurred against God. Sin is something so damaging and destructive God expects restitution to be paid. Because it violates and hurts the people God made.

The counterintuitive part about sin is that it’s actually an offense against God. Because when we sin against other people we are also sinning against the God who made them in His image. We are made to look and act and be like God. Which means we are to be loving, giving, respectful, honoring of others, filled with acts of kindness, fighting against injustice wherever we find it, feeding the poor, taking care of the sick and needy, and to always, always love the ones society says are the most unlovable.

It was our sin that created a huge break in our relationship with God. (And of course did the same in our relationships with people.) Believing in Christ and accepting His payment for our sin debt sets us right with God again. Forever! Jesus took on all of humanity’s offenses against God in one day by hanging on a Cross. It was the Roman world’s equivalent of the electric chair. Hanging on a cross was punishment for the worst of people who committed the most heinous of crimes. And it was not even allowed to be used against people who were privileged to be citizens of Rome. An innocent Jesus hung on that cross in between two criminals that day. When He accomplished the work of repairing our relationship with God it was done. Finished! Forever!

We just need to believe in this amazing gift offered by Him. And accept it. Just accept it. Not try to pay for it, not try to figure out a way to repay Him, not try to figure out a way around the gift, but just RECEIVE the gift! And maybe say thank you! Because the gift includes our being forgiven. For every sin we have committed and ever will commit!

Many people throughout the ages have struggled to understand why God would do this for us. Why he would just choose to pay for the results of our sin himself and set us free to be back in a relationship with God. It was too “easy” as far as some were concerned. It didn’t fully account for the ugliness of our sin. As a human race we struggle when we see others whose sins we think are worse than ours “get off scot free.” It boggles our minds that God would do the paying for the sins we have committed both great and small.

And that leads me to my father; and his teachings. My father’s approach to sharing “good news” was always dogmatic, extreme, void of humanity, and not good news at all. And it was filled with abuse and hatred. My father’s teachings were so contrary to the true teachings of the Bible. In fact my father’s religion was very bad news for his family! And for everyone else!

His version of the “good news,” at least the version he foisted on anyone not part of his church, was that God really didn’t love us because we had sinned. He wanted everyone to believe, because he believed it himself, that God had a big score card hanging over each of our lives and once a wrong had been committed by anyone he was out to get us. This happened to be completely wrong about what Jesus accomplished for the human race on the cross. Jesus cared about sin. A whole lot more than my father ever did. Jesus’ death didn’t show that sin didn’t matter or that it and its consequences could be swept under the rug.

This is what my father seemed to live in fear of. That somehow if there was a God who paid for our sin Himself that it meant sin would be viewed by us as no big deal. Far from it! Jesus showed that sin was so damaging and so wrong that restitution had to be paid . . . and HE paid for it Himself. With His own death. And it is a good thing because God was the only one who had the ability to pay for our sin.

The thing that is interesting about what Christ did on the cross by paying for our sin was that it was a gift TO all of mankind. But to receive the gift it had to be accepted BY each one of us personally. And Christ never forced his gift of love on anyone. What my father didn’t understand was that Jesus was the bridge between us and God. And Jesus’ gift would put us back in a restored relationship with God.

My father also didn’t understand the powerful effects Jesus’ death would have on our individual lives. Jesus’ death would allow God to make profound changes out of our brokenness. Because Jesus’ power and love were going to actually make us new people from the inside out. It is one thing to create something beautiful. That truly does take amazing creative power. But it takes far more to take a once beautiful masterpiece that has been broken and destroyed and bring it back to its original form . . . and then make it even better. That is what Jesus did on the cross. He took broken and destroyed people and would make them into people who were wonderful and new. That was something my father never, ever understood.

One thing that can be said about Fred W. Phelps Sr. is he made his god very clear. For example, I know that his god was a god of hate. The Bible says “God is love.” My father didn’t really understand this about God. I think for him the fact that God could truly forgive sinners and love people just the way they were was “too good to be true” so in his mind it just couldn’t be! Based on my father’s consistent preaching I believe he balked at the idea that this free gift of love and mercy was something God wanted to give to the human race. He just could not believe God wanted to give this gift to broken, messed up people. And who sinned constantly; against God, and against each other.

What my father did was rewrite the Good News of God’s grace and mercy. And made it fit with his own thinking. My father exalted himself and his view of god above the teaching of the Bible. He insisted that his god only save those whom he wanted saved. He hated the idea of offering God’s grace to anyone other than those to whom he (my father) wanted to offer it, which were those in his family and a handful of others who submitted to his twisted view of god.

My father’s abusive use of religion was unique to his own pathology and it was dark and evil. I know my father’s god condemns, intimidates and enjoys crushing the life out of human beings. Based on my father’s teachings I know his god can hardly wait to destroy the world, and will take delight in doing so. I know that his god has no compassion or love. And I know what his god did to the man who was supposed to be my Daddy.

Fred W. Phelps Sr.’s hateful god leaves the world with no hope and, if my father had his way, hundreds of millions of Christians all over the world would be denied their Savior and their salvation today. I am so thankful that the god of Fred W. Phelps Sr. is not my god and not my savior, and not the true God of the universe. My God announced ‘Peace on Earth. Good Will to Men’ the day His Son was born to a virgin here on the earth and this statement represents great hope for all human beings!

Here are some examples of religion from the church where I was raised. The following excerpts were taken directly from a website of Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), my father’s church:

My father’s church website showed this:

“You should be so happy we are here. We're spreading the Good News that not everyone will go to Hell. You should be happy that we're here to preach at all, since all you get from the countless so-called "preachers, priests, rabbis, imams, and other spiritual leaders in this nation is a bunch of syrupy, unscriptural psycho-babble. We tell the truth. We aren't interested in persuading you to change -- that's God's business.”

I say:

This statement ignores or denies the work of hundreds of thousands of pastors who faithfully minister to their people with a right teaching about God and His love.

My family does NOT tell the truth. They lie about God’s nature. God is Love. And they misrepresent the Good News. The Good News is good for all. Jesus said “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.” (John 3:16) My father just could not fathom that WHOEVER believed in Christ could be given this gift. Perhaps for my father, the fact that there was a “whoever” made it not good news anymore. But the “whoever” is the best news! Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Period!

My father changed the ‘whoever believes on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ to ‘whoever attends my church, submits themselves completely to me and does what I tell them to do has a chance at salvation if I decide they do.’

And when my family says “We aren’t interested in persuading you to change – that’s God’s business” they stand in stark contrast to the apostle Paul who said: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” Paul knew there would be people who needed help coming back to God and he provided them a loving helpful way to do that. I wonder why my family doesn’t also want to help people come to God. What a privilege that is and how much my family is missing in not choosing to love and help others!

My father’s church website showed this:

“We at WBC are blessed by our Creator with the ability to discern the signs of the times. While the remainder of the world’s population will be overtaken by Christ’s return … as one who is come upon by a thief in the night, it is not so with us.”

I say:

There are millions who know Christ and who correctly discern the signs of the times, and I am one of them. And all of us who know Him are enthusiastically looking forward to His return!

Examples of my father’s church picket signs, meant to condemn the world outside their church:

“Topeka: City of Bastards”

“God Is Your Enemy”

“God Hates You”

“Thank God For Dead Soldiers”

“Thank God For September 11th”

“Too Late To Pray”

“Thank God For IED’s”

“Thank God For AIDS”

“Planes Crash God Laughs”

I say:

Sometimes when I read my family’s posts I wonder if they even understand the character of God at all. God says in His word “He (the Lord) is patient with you, not wanting ANYONE to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

If God’s heart is for all to come to Him, why would my family say otherwise? To what end would they spread such untruths about such an amazing, loving God? Do they think God’s love is finite and there is not enough to go around?

My father’s church website showed this:

When asked the question: But what does one have to do to truly and honestly repent?

“So, the blunt answer to your question is that you have no power to “truly and honestly repent”. If the power of God — “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power,” (Psalm 110:3) — works in you, as one of the gifts of grace, you will “truly and honestly repent”. That is the beginning and the end of the Scriptural teaching on that narrow point.”

I say:

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus gave a simple command that had a huge blessing connected with it! He told us to repent – turn from our sinful ways, and believe in this truly Good News. Jesus told us He would give us a way back to God. For eternity! And Jesus gave us a brand new way of living while we were still here on earth. Really good news!

My father’s church website showed this:

Dead Phoenix Priest

Thank God for one wounded, and one dead priest!

“One priest was shot and killed and another wounded at a Catholic church Wednesday night near the state Capitol, a Phoenix police spokesman said.” (AzCentral)

I say:

Why would my family laud the death of someone who may have been serving and loving the Lord? They ask no questions and learn nothing of this person’s beliefs or character. They choose to speak in a belittling way of someone made in the image of God and dearly loved. Why would they choose to dishonor God and this person in this way?

My father’s church website showed this:

How Long, Simpletons?

June 7, 2014 Tracy Morgan was in a horrible accident in New Jersey, and is currently in ICU: http://news.yahoo.com/tracy-morgan-intensive-care-6-car-crash-112302799.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/comedian-tracy-morgan-injured-car-crash-nj-state/story?id=24039407 http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/07/showbiz/tracy-morgan-hospitalized/

GodSmack!

You may be wondering what’s up with all the links? Well, the GodSmack is for both Tracy and all his “good friends” as well as these evil media mutts.

Here are the applicable verses for this hour, and if Tracy has a bit of hope the only message for him is to repent of his simplistic approach to all things important and eternal.

Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Yeah, all these media mutts think they are great theologians who get to tell everyone what to believe! Proverbs 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

I say:

I am not sure if my family doesn’t like comedians but to say God is the perpetrator of evil and “Godsmacks” people to hurt them and hurt their chances of coming to Him is not the least bit true. God draws people to Himself in a variety of ways while always honoring their free will, a gift He gave them by the way. If my family knew anything of God and His ways they might hope God would use this injury to draw this man to Himself through the circumstances of his injury. THAT would be perfectly consistent with God’s character. But to see the wreck as something God could only use for a person’s harm is to miss the amazing ways God works on behalf of mankind for their good every day. Every single day!

It’s interesting that my family sees others in society in the same way Jesus viewed some of the religious leaders in his time. Some of the Pharisees of that day came up with so many additional rules for the people (over 600 additional laws) that it had become impossible to follow them.

Certainly Jesus had reason to say “woe” to those leaders who would not enter the kingdom of God themselves but would choose to keep other people from getting that same opportunity! What surprises me about my father’s church website is that they see others as the Pharisees and not themselves. My family may see others as attempting to open the door into the Kingdom of God and invite others in as if that is some terrible crime; while they themselves tell everyone that no one gets in to heaven but them! So if this is their stance what does it matter to them if others are trying to draw people to God?

My family has committed the sins of hatred, cruelty and lack of love often, in the name of God, and claims it’s a form of righteousness and is a loving thing to do. Hatred and cruelty are not righteous acts so my family should expect no favor from God for those acts.

- - - - - - end of excerpts from my father’s church website

The oppression stemming from religious abuse is astonishing, staggering, crushing, and confounding to those who suffer from it. Twisting truth has this effect.

The origin of my family’s behavior is solely the pervasive training they received from their father, Fred W. Phelps, Sr. Unfortunately, as some have suggested, my family and their church are not fakes. They truly believe what they preach. They are dead serious, but horribly deceived and misled by the false teachings and religious abuse which have permeated their hearts from their birth. My father was the perpetrator of this abuse. Sadly, this will not excuse them in the end.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERY VICTIM OF RELIGIOUS ABUSE HAVE TIME AND OPPORTUNITY TO HEAL SO THEY ARE ABLE TO OVERCOME THE EFFECTS OF ABUSE AND LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT THE LORD. THE LORD WILL RESTORE THE HEART OF EACH PERSON WHO SEEKS HIM!

The behavior of my family’s church is characterized by cult-like qualities; the propagation of wrong teaching, deceitfulness, fear-mongering, exclusivity of salvation, fraudulent use of God’s Word, and presumptive arrogant claims of great things: exclusivity of knowledge and special insight from having received ‘special ability’ that no one else in the world has.

My family may believe the “great things” they are doing will get them God’s favor. In contrast, the God who made us, and devised the plan of eternal life, simply asks us to believe, and not try to “work” our way toward heaven. The truth is God is the one who works on our behalf. Always! As the loving God that He is.

“For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!” Isaiah 64:4. Yes, it’s true that we give back our love and gratitude and service to God but we are not “working” to win His favor or get the free gift of eternal life. It is truly free! (Romans 6:23, Revelation 22:17)

People cannot do any work that will make them right with God. This includes being a part of a miniscule cult organization operating with treachery under the guise of a church. So people must trust in God and not in their own good works. Then God accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him. He is the one who changes the hearts of even evil people and makes them totally new people! Romans 4:5

Imagine for a moment, if my family’s church really was a true church. What if they had spent the time and energy they now spend hating their world telling their world the Good News. And chose to do this with wholesome decent signs speaking about what Jesus Christ came to do for human kind? It could be powerful and life-giving even though the media wouldn't give them a second look.

But Wait! They need the media to give them a second look. They need continual media attention. Without media attention my family’s church would wither; without media attention my family would squirm in lonely, desperate anguish. Sometimes my family reminds me of the kids in school who refuse to seek positive attention from the teacher and proceed to terrorize the class and everybody in it to receive negative attention, the only kind the teacher can rightfully give them.

But the reality is, instead of offering hope through the simple presentation of the gospel, my family’s church harasses and insults and uses filthy language and spouts hate at those people for whom the Lord gave His life. They would say they are doing what they are doing because they perceive their audience as worthless. Or beyond the reach of the price Christ paid on the cross to buy people back. But that belief is arbitrary and has no basis in the Bible. And that belief is a lie!! Christ’s work to save people is the Power of God which He claims will bring salvation to everyone who believes!

Imagine you were in my family’s church yourself and believed that if you ever left the church you could be under God’s just punishment for sin and lose your eternal life. What kind of insecurity might this breed in your soul? If you worried you could lose this great gift might this give you a frantic sense of worthlessness that you would want to soothe with activity and constant attention? This sense of worthlessness comes when we don’t know the value God places on us. The value that God gives to us is something no one can take away from us! God’s wrath (his punishment for sin) was poured out onto His Son. And God’s Son is a shelter from the coming storm of God’s wrath. A complete shelter! All who have a relationship with the Son are able to live lives free of the fear of God’s coming punishment for sin. And they do not have to be a part of my father’s cult group.

Unless the spokespeople for my family’s church know a specific person on a personal basis, they have no way of knowing that individual’s relationship with the Lord. And because of this they have no way of knowing if their indicting words have any place in the recipient’s life. Instead of relating with and genuinely connecting with human beings, and learning the truth about each person’s life, they judge them. Sometimes with little or no knowledge of the state of their heart and life. And then they emit filth from their mouths and their signs, taking blind pot shots at people they do not even know.

The Bible says “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” If my family’s church is preaching that God hates people and has no forgiveness for His creation, no wonder they are so broken. They are speaking things they surely must believe could be true about themselves. What sadness! Clearly this is not Good News they are preaching!

Those verses used by my family’s church about the Pharisees should haunt each one of them! Jesus was very clear about how people were to deal with Pharisees when He said “So you must obey and follow everything they tell you to do; do not, however, imitate their actions, because they don't practice what they preach. They tie onto people's backs loads that are heavy and hard to carry, yet they aren't willing even to lift a finger to help them carry those loads.”

Jesus' very first public sermon in a synagogue was in sharp contrast to the religious abuse of my family. What Jesus preached was taken from the great prophecy in Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18). I wonder what difference my family might have made if they had been people who chose to heal up broken hearts and help bring freedom to oppressed people. Just like the founder and head of their religion, Christ.

My family’s church acts so much like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. There are so many similarities. The Pharisees believed because of their knowledge of God’s laws that they were better than other people. They publicly humiliated other people who didn’t measure up to their knowledge and who didn’t follow every detail of the law the way they did. But the Pharisees actually kept people from God in doing this. And that’s what Jesus went after them for. He knew they were hypocrites who while being showy on the outside with their “knowledge” had hard hearts that would not lift a finger to help a widow or an orphan in need.

And that’s exactly what my family’s church has done. My family distorts the truth of God similarly with interpretations that cloud the message—that keep people from coming freely to God without fear. And by doing that they have turned people away from the very God who could love them, and help them, and give them back dignity and hope in their lives.

Jesus talks in the Bible about what he calls the “weightier matters” – the things that really matter in this life. He says : “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:35-36). “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

My family reminds me of the Pharisees in that they teach loveless human rules and regulations instead of giving people words of life; words Jesus gave them to say. My family neglects mercy and love. All the time! And they replace the truth about what matters to God with the lie that God somehow requires people to be a part of their cult religion as the most important matter.

There is a verse in the Bible that says “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” The context of this verse is people who are choosing to judge others but do the very same actions they are judging. This verse challenges us that if we are judging others harshly we are showing contempt for God’s kindness to us. And not realizing at all that it’s actually God’s kindness that leads people to repent or turn away from the wrong choices in their lives. If God’s kindness leads us to that, why would any of us as humans do anything differently!

My family’s behavior toward others is oppressive and degrading. Their behavior is crushing and hurtful and mean and cruel, identical to the behaviors of Fred W Phelps, Sr. towards people. My family is showing themselves to be living the legacy of their father. Do they ponder Jesus words when He said “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” What a terrifying thought – that we will be held responsible by God for leading people away from Him!

John Wesley said. "What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace." This breaks my heart. Not only are my siblings diverted from the important matters of faith toward a work of destruction upon their world, they are damaging and possibly destroying the hearts and souls of their own children. Instead of flinging open the doors of grace and setting themselves and others free with the genuine truth of the good news of salvation in Christ alone, they keep themselves and their children hunkered down in their exclusive club with the perversions and lies they were bred on from birth, deluded themselves into believing they are ‘holding the fort at ground zero of truth’. Oh how I hope this legacy of hateful evil and twisting of truth can end with this current generation and they are all able to come into the light of Christ.

The Lord gave His life for the entire human race. He did this out of complete love for us! My family seeks to negate the work of Christ on the cross by their untruthful, hateful words, impossible standards and ridiculous criteria for salvation. Christ stood for love and embodied love for us in everything He did.

Christ left us with a watershed verse to let us and everyone else know whether we belong to Him. He said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”John 13:34-36 Showing love to others is not optional for Christ followers.

If my family or anyone else is not showing love, there are several conclusions we can make. One may be that the person is brand new to the faith and truly does not know what to do to show love. Or, it could be a person who is steeped in sin or abuse and needs serious help in getting out of old behaviors because they really do not know the “new” way Christ gave us. But it could also mean the person doesn’t belong to Christ at all. Eventually someone who belongs to Christ will begin to look different. And truthfully begin to look more like Christ. On the outside to the world at large and on the inside to themselves…It WILL happen. And people who have been around my family in the last 30 years have not seen love shown to them. They may have seen pompous self-righteousness. But love?

In their haughtiness and pride, they have not, and do not seem able to turn to God. Oh, they cling to the false image of a god they have learned. But they are lost in their hate and prideful self-importance. It is very difficult to get those who do not perceive themselves as needing a physician to the doctor. But the Lord will resist them until they humble themselves before Him and cease from bludgeoning people with their self-righteous judgments and hatred and give their hearts to Him. The Lord is the only one who can make all things new for my family, or for anybody else for that matter.

And the saddest part of all is the glorious good news of Christ is marred by my family’s hateful behavior! Many are equating my family’s behavior with those who genuinely speak of God’s love, and this is driving some away from the Lord. In their harsh self-righteousness, my family throws down obstacle after obstacle so that many who would come to the Savior are repelled. The saddest thing in the world is that the unloving behaviors of those who think they represent God can keep people from turning to a completely loving God.

The Kingdom of God is open to any who will respond to God’s call. It is for anyone. It is for the sinner, the hurting, the wounded, the shamed, the damaged, the bruised, the broken, the abandoned, and the broken-hearted. “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!”

The simple truth is . . .

“He (Jesus) had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God “ 2 Corinthians 5:21

This was truly the greatest legal transaction of all time. Christ took all that was wrong with us, all the sin we had committed, on Himself. He took every rape, every kidnapping, every harsh word, every sexual sin, every evil thought, every unkind word, every murder and every sin that has ever been committed or will be committed. He took ALL of that on Himself and gave us the relationship He has with the Father. We were on death row and He traded places with us!

Would you like to step into a perfect, clean and pure relationship with God the Father? All you have to do is accept the gift from Jesus that He has already paid for. You just have to receive it. What a gift! He says it’s yours. For the taking. Repent and believe. Jesus does the rest. Because He loved you so…

Mark Phelps