Monsters, Their Victims & Forgiveness

 I only just finished watching a documentary about the infamous "Co-ed Killer", Ed Kemper. At the end of it, one of the people who'd once interviewed the serial killer had to admit that there is a possibility that Kemper will one day be in Heaven.

That's tough for me as I stated in the comments.

At the very end of this, I had to agree that Ed Kemper will be in heaven one day. That he was so horrible and committed such horrific crimes doesn't mean that he can't ask for and receive the Lord's forgiveness. This was (and sometimes still is)  one of the toughest things for me to comprehend when I asked for forgiveness. I've never done anything truly horrible, but I was only "moral" and "good" by the world's standards. Without God's grace, I would not have a place in heaven any more than the worst killer. It's not levels of sin, but simply sin. It's not a matter of "good", "bad" or otherwise; it's a question of forgiveness but one has to want it as ask for it. That will never be easy for me to understand but there it is.

And that is a difficult thing to understand. My immediate thought about killers like Kemper is that they belong in Hell. However, I have to always stop and remind myself of something harsh: if I had been a victim of Kemper's before I came to the Lord, I would have ended up in Hell while Kemper still had a chance at salvation.

That's kind of cold, isn't it? Cold like ice water being thrown in the face of all our human arrogance.

I've never done anything exceptionally mean or horrible or hurtful. I've never been a "bad" person. But none of that would have saved me had I died before I came to the Lord, asking forgiveness.

The truth isn't always as palatable as we want it to be. Truth does not conform to us - it just is. God is Truth. He is Justice. And that grates on a lot of our fleshly hubris.

One of Kemper's victims was just fifteen years old. A beautiful, talented child. Where is she spending eternity? Kemper himself is, at this moment, still alive in his imprisonment. How foreign to our minds that he might be freer than some of the rest of us.

Truth is truth. We can't haggle with it. We cannot bully it into being what we want it to be. Truth is truth. Period. And that is such a hard thing to comprehend sometimes. 

Peace

--Free

Question for Atheists

I have a Twitter pal who is an atheist. I have asked him a question that he just won't answer clearly. I wonder if there are any other atheists out there who can answer this question for me:

If it could be proved to you that God is, would you be glad?

Simple, right?

I mean, an atheist is one who does not believe in God. But - if they could know that there IS God, how would that make them feel? That's all I want to know.

I guess the reason I wonder about this is that any atheist I have ever talked to always claims that they are "okay" with believing there is no God. So I wonder if they would be okay with learning that there is God.

I'm still waiting for my Twitter pal to answer me. So far all he has done is stick to his idea that there IS no God, saying that it doesn't matter. But he won't say what he'd feel like if there is proof, to his satisfaction, that there IS God.

I suggest that the next chance you get to talk to anyone who is either an atheist or a non-believer in the God of the Bible, you ask them how they would feel if it were proven to them that God is.

(And, for those who want to know how I'd feel if it could be proven to me that there is no God: I would not want to live. I would have no reason to go on. If this life has no meaning or purpose other than what man has to offer it, and if there is no eternity - just dead sleep in the dust of the ground - I don't want it. I don't want "reincarnation" either. Why would I want to exist only for what this world has to offer?)

Peace
--Free

**UPDATE**

Still no answer from atheists yet, but I wanted to add another question:

Do you believe you are without a soul?

Honesty Is Important

I have seen some video lectures by a man named Walter J. Veith. In the videos I watched, he explains different aspects of religion - talking about Freemasonry, The Flood and other things. I was really impressed at his knowledge of history and his seemingly honest viewpoint.

In his lectures about some religions, he points out that the fact they are being deceptive should be a clue to the discerning Christian.

Okay.

I noticed in one of the lectures that he seemed so adamant about when the Sabbath should be observed. Since the point he was making had to do with a conflict with the Roman Catholics, I didn't pay as much attention at the moment. Later I noticed he again re-iterated his beliefs about the Sabbath. It seemed extremely important to him.

I love Google.

I Googled Mr. Veith and began to quickly see hits mentioning his Seventh Day Adventist ties.

Wow.

Now, I don't have many problems with the Seventh Day Adventist teachings because I don't know a whole lot about them. The problem I have is that they do lean so heavily on the teachings of their founder, Ellen G. White. I have a problem with anyone who cannot depend on the Bible only to promote and spread the Gospel.

The biggest problem I have with SDA is that they don't identify themselves. If I get talking to someone about the Gospel (or religion in general), I identify myself as a Bible-believing Christian. I tell them that while I don't belong to a specific church, I was raised Church of God In Christ. I don't try to lead a Baptist into believing that I am Baptist. I don't try to lead a JW into believing that I have anything in common with them.

Why wouldn't a member of the SDA want you to know that's what they are? Is it because they are worried that you will hear about their history and beliefs and want to measure them against what the Bible says?

If Mr. Veith had been open about his church affiliation, I still would have listened to his lectures. A lot of the information he gave was useful. I would have judged it all against the Bible, of course, but I would have at least felt that Mr. Veith was being honest.

When someone is dishonest or deceptive about one thing, that makes you question their motives about everything. Especially when witnessing to people about faith, honesty is most important. A person can walk away from you disagreeing with you but still respecting that you were honest.

Peace
--Free

2 Cor 13:7-8
Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.