Death of Fred Phelps; Azariah Southworth; Christian Response to Hate;

There are few deaths in America that created more discussion of hatred then that of Fred Phelps. He was the pastor of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church that is known for their public protest which includes inflammatory statements like: 'Thank God for Dead Soldiers', 'God Hates Fags', 'America is Doomed', and '9-11 a gift from God' to name a few. These statements are the type that should be disturbing to anyone that reads them. The only except appears to be the members of the Phelps family and members of their church in Kansas. Fred Phelps died on March 19, 2014 at the age of 84. His death was a massive conversation piece on social media. Pages were created on Facebook encouraging people to go and protest his death. Websites applauded the free speech that pushed people toward picketing his funeral and burial site. For those who had experienced the hatred of Westboro the reasoning could almost be justified for demonstrating to the Phelps family what a picket and protest felt like. I can understanding the 'want to', but I know that action is not the proper response for me. My first encounter with the Westboro Baptist Church protesting and picketing came when Joshua Brock was recovery from his injuries in the Iraq War. He had been nearly killed by the explosion of an I.E.D. Joshua was proudly serving his second tour of duty as a member of the Kentucky National Guard 149th Division when he was wounded in combat. When he was stabilized he was flown from Germany to Walter Reed Army Hospital. It was there, every Friday, Westboro Baptist protested and picketed with their signs. Talking about taking this personally and wanting to retaliate, yes I did, on both account. Calling them stupid, or ignorant didn't seem appropriate either. Witnessing this against your family does have a great impact personally. Only by the grace of God and because of a thankful heart to God for Joshua still being among us, was I able to move forward. Rejoice for my blessings in life and focusing on being appreciative for life and opportunity was the key for me. The USA Today wrote about the announcement of the Westboro Church Leader being on his death bed. Included in their news article was a quote by Azariah Southworth. Southworth is a publicly recognized leader and spokesperson within the LGBT community of causes and issues. I found his statement to be amazing perfect, appropriate and astonishing. Southworth said the response to the passing of Fred Phelps "by the LGBT community should be love". His first encounter with the Westboro protesters was in 2010. He was on a speaking tour across America and Westboro picketed and protested. It was there that he not only experienced the impact of their protesting but he also had the chance to speak privately with a daughter of Phelps' with whom he also had the opportunity to pray for. Southworth who now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, I interviewed for this article. I contacted him and asked him to share to share his thoughts and comments as I was writing a column on the passing of Phelps. He said that his comment that the LGBT community should go "all the way with the message and show love to the most unlovable person", was accurate and appropriate for a group that Phelps loved to hate. Southworth asked if I knew that in the 1960's Phelps had been a civil rights lawyer and represented the ACLU in civil rights cases and had been successful in promoting justice and equality. This fact I did not know. It was also confusing to think how Phelps had developed into such a hater of individuals and specific people groups. I can certainly understand a hatred of sin, the destruction is causes, the impact of sin on our lives, families and communities, I get that. What I do not get is his hating individuals, people groups, and attempting to degrade by name calling, insulting folks by banners and posters and believing that anything positive comes from such. Southworth also shared that "love is the tool Jesus used, love is the gift of God, and it is difficult to be forgiven if we are unwilling to forgive". The death of Fred Phelps is a real lesson in love and a real test of our ability to receive it and to give it to others as freely as we received it from Jesus Christ. I Cor 13: does say love is the greatest gift. It can also be the most difficult to give too. Until then

Spring & The Seasons

When you take on the responsibility to write a newspaper column one of the levels I strive to reach is to always have a relevant or interesting topic. In preparing for this particular article I have had my fingers crossed, my toes crossed and all other best of hopes in play. This year I had a personal countdown to spring time. This years experience with old man winter has been a real challenge. I guess when the cold snap hit before Thanksgiving that might have been a sign we simply overlooked at that moment. Glancing back there is no doubt winter was speaking, we were just not listening. Rain that turns into 4 inches of ice...experienced it. Rain that turns into 6 inches of snow...experienced it. Rain that just rained and a sun that shine with temperatures creating beautiful days...experienced that too, all in winter. Being prepared for the unexpected weather shifts has been challenging. We have all experienced this season the craziness of winter. Great spring like days of weather to only see on the same day, the temperature fall like gravity had a power surge. Observing all the fluctuations has left me thinking about all the lessons that can be learned from the weather. Possible lesson number one for me involves writing this column. Writing in advance of publication, 'Spring' has not arrived yet. By the time you read this column 'Spring' will have arrived I am just not sure what the weather will be like. My first lesson will be that the season will change from winter to spring even if the conditions favorable to the season have not yet quite arrived. Lesson one, the weather and life each has their own hitches. The weather teaches lessons also that seem so strange, weird and yet unique all at the same time. For example, in the summertime when the sun is shining, the temperature is awesomely perfect and with not a cloud in the sky, it rains! What a strange moment. We ask not only ourselves, but those around, did anyone see that coming? Normally you just need to wait around for a few minutes, the rain will pass and things continue almost as they were. The weird thing is that the heat seems to go up after such a rain showers. Science can explain this but who wants to discuss science when you are watching a baseball game catching rays. The moment is uniquely capped off with an awe inspiring rainbow. Life has many unexpected moments just as the weather, and life has just as many weird and unique situations too. Attempting to capture life and to seize our opportunities no matter the weather conditions of life can be a challenge. Perfect moments do occurs but I've discovered in my life experiences they happen most often unplanned. My experiences also teach me that when I attempt to manipulate things and change them to suit my personal preferences and desired outcome this normally make things worse. The weather example I am thinking about is when you are going into a meeting. You've parked your car and what would normally be a perfect walk is interrupted by rain. With no hat, umbrella or brief case you attempt to run to the office door using your books or papers to cover your head. (Forget about why we would think this would be protection from the elements--we will save that thought for another day) It doesn't work, and now we are frustrated that our papers are wet and we had planned on passing those out in the meeting. Our intervention certainly didn't help matters. Life is this way too. Taking matters into our own hands is never a good idea. Waiting out the rain would have been a great idea, having an umbrella the best idea. Our actions proved the value we placed on our hair or head. Covering it for whatever reason we thought at the moment was the right idea. Oh the discussion we could have about things we thought were right at the moment. God makes the sunshine and the rain, the ice and the snow. Best remedy and advice I have, would be get to know Him. He can help with weathering the seasons without a doubt. Until then

Christians have one trait to be known by - LOVE

John 13:35 is a scripture that can stand alone without any interpretation, no need to understand the political climate, the cultural environment or attempt to see if there is a hidden message. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciple, that you have love one for another". Our #1 Characteristic! Christians should demonstrate, display, deliver, be describe as a people of love. In today's society, even in the Bible Belt, Christians struggling with being identified as a people of love. We are better defined by the things that we hate and the things that we tell people that cannot be done. Not sure why we find it necessary to tell people what they can and cannot do but we Christians enjoy pointing out sin, especially the sins of others, and even more especially if the sins of others are not the same sins we commit. Church always appears to be so much fun as we look out our stained glass windows. We enjoy comparing ourselves to others we know and see, as long as we are not asked to compare ourselves to is Jesus. John 13:35 sets forth a simple plan. If you want to be identified as a follower of Jesus Christ then let that identity come from the observation of others that you are someone that loves people. I wish that I could say I always demonstrate God's love to everyone everywhere. I don't want to write that I have failed in showing others just how much Jesus cares about them but the confession actually helps me in my efforts to not repeat those actions again. When I focus on love the fact is that love is much easier to show then hate. If you hate someone that requires an action plan. If you love people you can just respond as the moments arrive. When we hate that takes a lot of energy. When we love people that effort becomes who we are. When we love people you can see that characteristic immediately when someone falls, stumbles, drops their paperwork, needs a helping hand, a person that loves people sees their role immediately and an opportunity to give of themselves freely without and strings attached. It is this type of action witnessed by others that demonstrates our love for people, because we have a love for God. Some might see love demonstrated by volunteering to help out in a program, working at an event, or by giving of themselves through their volunteerism. Love could be an act of service in His name. An act of service could be picking someone up and driving them to the doctor's office for an appointment, delivering groceries, doing maintenance task or as simple as placing a phone call to check-in on an individual, writing a note or sending a card. Whereas in hate we must plan things out, in love we can simply let it happen and begin making a positive difference. I imagine this scripture passage taking place in a modern day office headquarters and the CEO gathering all the employees, the news media is represented and the executive unveils the new company logo. The logo is unique and the message is love. The mission statement is love, the objectives of the company are love. Everything in this public announcement is built around the concept that L. O. V. E. is what we want to be known for, recognized as, and the companies intent is that when you hear the company name love is what comes to your mind first. As a Christian what a powerful concept that our CEO Jesus Christ was unveiling when He said that we, you and I, all who bear His name would be known by our love for one another. The world is in a mess today. Jesus Christ defined his work, life and ministry in this scripture passage in John 13:35. Yet, the world has taken control and has defined what Christianity is, what it represents and even how it operates. It is also rather clear that the world has it wrong. They don't understand the mission, why we tell our story, what motivates us, or why we do what we do. In all of these it is quite simple. The mission is love. The story is love. The motivation is love. Why is love and what is love too. Until then