What are your thoughts on this?

“This” is the email below and an accompanying response that challenged the email saying “God doesn’t work that way. This isn’t scriptural”

The Email:
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It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7): "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Here are some men and women who mocked God :

John Lennon (Singer):
Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:  "Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, Today we are more famous than Him" (1966).
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.
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Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil ):
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. He got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made  President, then he died.
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Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet): During A show in Canecio (Rio de Janeiro ),  while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the  air and said: "God, that's for you." He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.
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The man who built the Titanic
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink it" The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic
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Marilyn Monroe (Actress)
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: "I don't need your Jesus".  A week later, she was found dead in her apartment .
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Bon Scott (Singer)
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: "Don't stop me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell".  On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.
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Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer) said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written. In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle .
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Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive . "Jesus"

P.S: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you going to have courage to send this?. I have done my part, Jesus said.........  "If you are embarrassed about me, I will also be embarrassed about you before my father."
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So, is there a scriptural basis for what is implied in that email - or not? Does God bring about the deaths of those who take Him lightly and mock Him- or not? Here’s my answer:

The folks who wrote the original email are obviously disappointed by the absence of the fear of God in our society. They have good reason to be. There are countless passages in the Bible that talk about the need to fear God (to know that He is real and all-powerful and has the right to make and enforce rules). In fact the Bible says that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But there really does seem to be a noticeable lack of the “fear of God today. It appears to me that the prevailing view of God in our society is something like this “ God’s like a ‘buddy’ who has the power to grant wishes, but who doesn’t really care about what you do.” That view of God is the unscriptural view.

The original email really is not out of line to suggest that God can “toast” folks who have no fear of Him and take Him lightly or mock Him. The Scriptures actually have quite a few examples of God doing just that - in the New Testament as well as the Old. (Acts 5:1-11 - Ananias and Sapphira; Acts 12:19-23 - Herod, Daniel 5 - Belshazzar-“the hand writing on the wall”, 2 Samuel 6:6-7 - Uzzah, 1 Samuel 25:1-38 - Nabal, 1 Kings 22:18-38 - Ahab, 2 Kings 1:16-17, - Ahaziah; 2 Kings 2:23-25 - youths who taunted Elijah; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 - Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 35:20-24 - Josiah; Leviticus 10:1-2 - Aaron’s sons; and more) These actually make some quite interesting reading and serve to drive home the point that many times God has directly stepped in and brought about a quick end to those who take Him lightly. Go ahead. Take some time to read those passages. They should bring back some of the fear of God.

 However, the original email goes too far in suggesting that what God did in those passages is exactly what He did in the specific examples of the modern-day God-mockers listed in the email. We can’t presume to know the mind of God in every situation. I’d say there may be a good chance that God chose to step in and directly bring about the demise of some of the folks mentioned, but we certainly can’t say that for sure. What we can say for sure is that “sin always has consequences” and the ultimate consequence of sin is death. “The wages of sin is death.”

On the flip side, the person who responded to the email by saying “God doesn’t work that way.” makes an excellent point of reminding us that God also deals with us on the basis of grace and patience. The Scriptures are literally filled with examples of God’s grace and patience.

To sum up: Both the email and the person who challenged it make some good points. We need to have a healthy fear of God - He doesn’t take sin lightly (Look what He had to do in order to offer us forgiveness for our sin.) Yet, God is also a God of grace. The thing He wants most is for us to come to our senses, repent, receive His grace and be forgiven.  The key is to remember that “God sees the heart.” (Something we can’t see.) He always knows perfectly when grace is needed. He also knows perfectly when to bring the hammer down to remind people that He alone is God and can’t be taken lightly.

It comes down to a fact we learn from Luther’s catechism: Sometimes God deals with people on the basis of law (justice) and sometimes He deals with us on the basis of Gospel (grace). It’s not an ‘either-or’ thing, It’s a matter of which one is needed at the time. (And God always knows exactly what is needed in the eternal scheme of things). The result is, as Luther put it in the explanation of the Commandments: “We should fear and love God...”

Thanks for asking,
Pastor David

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