Here’s one I wrote a few years ago when there was a shooting in the US and the Westbro Baptist Church’s reaction really got to me.

Another shooting in the US. This time in a theatre in Lafayette. My heart grieves for the victims. What particularly grieves me though is the reaction of the Westbro Baptist Church.

Once again they plan to picket the funerals. Once gain they claim it’s God’s judgement. They even claim this time that God sent the shooter and takes delight in the death of people. Signs with slogans such as “Planes crash God laughs” and “God sent the shooter” is in such stark contradiction to what the bible tells us.

“For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Ezekiel 18:32

God never laughs at the death of a sinner. Every sinner that dies causes Him sadness as it means they will be forever separated from Him. Why does the WBC laugh? How can they take delight in someone’s death? Where does love fit in to it?

“Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14

They claim their preaching and protests are to show America and the world that it needs to repent. If they want people to be saved they should be praying for people’s repentance, not for judgement upon them. They should not be picketing the funerals, they should be going along and weeping with the families, praying God’s blessing on them, praying that those that pick up guns would put them down before they harm others.

God sending down plagues and striking down individuals and nations is the way of the Old Testament. Christ came and took upon Himself the entire weight of the sin of the world and took it to the grave. He bore the judgement for all of us. To take part in that all we have to do is to accept Christ as our saviour. We have until we die to do that. Once we die, we appear before the seat of judgement and if we are true Christians, Christ will say “I have paid for this person’s sin”. If we are not Christians, He will say “I never knew you”.

The Westbro Baptist Church seems to have forgotten this. They should be praying for salvation, not judgement.

I think I need to go and pray for them.