Steve Irwin a Christian? Smells like animal poo to me…
Published September 18th, 2006 in Articles of InterestI’ve started to receive a number of emails reporting that Steve Irwin became a Christian in the last few weeks of his life. While I don’t want to comment either way on the guys eternal destiny (that’s Gods job) I am concerned about how these rumours are being spread within the Christian community without even a hint of trying to verify the information.
When I first read about it, I thought, “Yeah, right.” It just seemed too convienient and in really bad taste - whether he did or didn’t doesn’t make his passing any less painful for the family. For the Irwins, it is a time for mourning, not celebration.
Fortunately, there are others who think the same as me, but have a bit more motivation to try and find out the truth. Here are a few sites worth reading that help put the story straight:
1. This letter (in PDF) from Creation Ministries apologising to the Pastor mentioned in the emails for forwarding false information.
2. This statement on the Creation Ministries website.
3. This blog entry from a guy on the Sunshine Coast.
4. Some good research on this blog.
5. This very well researched article by Ramon Williams
There’s a heap of other blogs and web sites refuting the claims, so hopefully it won’t go much further and cause the family any further pain. If you receive the email, politely reply and tell them it is false and feel free to send them a link to this page.
This phenomenon is our way of coping with grief. Our being Christians in general. The “it’s all ok, because they are safe.”
If it’s true, then hallelujah, because, just like every other human being, Steve had the chance to choose Jesus. It is, however, up to God to decide.
The horrible horrible truth is that Hell exists. And worse still- people are rejecting God and going there. Even though they don’t have to. If we cheapen this truth, then we cheapen the reason Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again.
(apologies for a not very lucid response above)
The guy on the Sunshine Coast you refer to is James Macpherson. He’s the associate pastor at Kings Christian church where the conversion was rumored to have taken place. So his refutation of the rumor is fairly conclusive i would suggest!