Can God Save Billy Mays, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon?

Billy Mays, died today, age 50

TV pitchman, Billy Mays died today:

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida home on the morning of June 28, 2009. He was then pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight (Wikipedia).

His is the fourth major American celebrity death within a week (after Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson). Are these celebrities doomed?

Michael Jackson, 1984

LCG’s W. Bowmer wrote some comments related to Michael Jackson, and some of those comments are also applicable to the other celebrities that died:

Jackson spent much of his life searching for something he never found. Brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, he briefly married a Scientologist, and professed to have converted to Islam before he died. Now that he is dead, what will be his fate?

Considering the often-debased lyrics in his songs and the troubling actions in his personal life, millions of “mainstream” Christians today will tell you with assurance, “Michael has gone to {gehnna fire} forever.” But is that true? Did God give Jackson a tragically unhappy childhood, an unnatural early celebrity and a miserable premature death as the prelude to an eternity of unspeakably painful torture?

God’s word says, “No!” Scripture tells us that the vast majority of human beings who have lived in this present age—who have never heard the true Gospel, living and dying while blinded by Satan, the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4)—will be raised again to physical life at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11). Jackson’s life certainly displayed many indications that he is among those who are “blinded,” who will be raised in the Great White Throne Judgment and for the first time experience a healthy society under God’s loving rule. Healed of his childhood traumas and his lifetime of suffering, Jackson will then be able to look back at the troubles of his life, compare them to the blessings of living God’s way—and, for the first time, be able to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Anciently, King David sang and danced in praise of God. A time is yet coming when the former self-styled “King of Pop” will, like David, be able to use his talent singing and dancing in praise of the King of kings. No longer motivated by fear or the need to provide for his father, Jackson will finally be able to praise the Father who loves him more than any fan of The Jackson 5 ever has—or ever will.

To learn more about what will happen to Michael Jackson and billions of others like him, read our article “What Happens When You Die?” or our booklet Is This the Only Day of Salvation? Scripture reveals that God’s plan for human beings is both just and merciful.

I was not going to cover Michael Jackson at this page, but with all the recent deaths, including Billy Mays today, I decided that some might be interested in understanding how we in the Living Church of God view such things.

And although I am unaware of the religious beliefs of the other celebrities that recently died, as they were not part of the Living Church of God, they too will also should still have their opportunity for salvation.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis Do you believe what the Bible actually teaches on this? Will all good things be restored? Does God’s plan of salvation take rebellion and spiritual blindness into account?
Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.