Eddie Van Halen died today at age 65. Did he go to Heaven or Hell?
Only God knows. I can never make that determination nor can anyone else; all we can do is look at his life to see if he stood for Christ or lived for himself.
Eddie did give credit to God for his amazing music ability saying, “I just believe that when you play long enough you’re able to execute with your fingers, whatever God gives you… And God’s got a sense of humor, too–sometimes he gives me s—, ’cause not everything I do I like.”1
Raised in a Dutch Roman Catholic family, Eddie seems to acknowledge God in many things though he battled with drugs for years and had his girlfriend get an abortion when he got her pregnant in high school.2
Who knows how sold out he was, but he appears to be thankful.
“Yeah, I thank God on my knees that I’m alive and obviously to be sober and to be working with my son. I’m so damn blessed it’s beyond words.”1
In 2012 the whole band sat in the front row of New Life Christian Center in Trenton, New Jersey,3 but going to church makes you a Christian as much as living in the garage makes you a car.
According to one source, Eddie provided the musical score to a pornographic video called “Sacred Sin,” and the band’s album lyrics don’t necessarily promote a godly lifestyle.4
“Van Halen’s sin-glorifying music is a work of darkness. The band is infamous for sexually explicit lyrics; such as, ‘I want it bad, I want it bad, I want it bad, I’m hot for teacher’ and ‘Everybody wants some, I want some too!’ Their song ‘Panama’ is about having oral sex while driving.4
The great fall back for Christians is to think that perhaps he confessed Jesus Christ as Lord on his deathbed. That is always possible and can certainly happen. Many have come to the Savior at the last hour.
But if we continue to say that about people who are famous, those whom we love from afar because of their artistry, then we take the sting out of the truth that says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
It removes the warning that Jesus gave: “Unless you repent, you too will likewise perish.”
And the reality of a holy God is diminished, the one of whom it is said, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
My hope is that Eddie Van Halen did repent, did trust in Jesus for his salvation and that he’s forgiven and that we will see him in heaven.
Sadly, without any outward signs of a sanctified life, I’m afraid that he indeed may still be Runnin’ With the Devil.
1Spinner
2VHlinks; Halen.com
5Lovethetruth.com
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