God is good – all the time; all the time – God is good. We have all heard it said many times. We have possibly spoken those words ourselves, especially in times of personal deliverance from harm, sickness, trouble, and distress. I oftentimes read statements on social media in which some well-meaning spokesman for God will praise Him for His act of goodness in sparing them from a storm, and yet, their neighbor down the road loses everything as a result of that very same storm.

A tornado destroys everything within a mile-wide, three mile long space. Houses are wiped off the face of the earth, lives are lost, leaving dozens reeling in the aftermath. But, because I lived just outside the path of destruction, I lift my voice and praise the Lord for His goodness. The hurricane strikes the Texas coast instead of the Louisiana coast. Countless hundreds of thousands are spared. But a couple hundred miles to the west, it looks like a war-zone. God is good because He spared the residents of Louisiana. But what about the residents of Texas? Was God not good to them? Did He not care about their well-being? Was He moved with compassion toward one, and anger toward the other?

The treatment for cancer provides healing for one, while another languishes in constant suffering, with no improvement from the treatment, and eventually dies from the disease. Most births take place with no difficulties, but yours is the one which is riddled with complications, and your child is born with serious, life-threatening birth defects which will cause life-long health issues. The one says “Thank you, God,” while the other cries out, “Why, God?”

Is God unfair? Is He unjust? Is He uncaring? Does He simply leave us to our own devices to figure out these complexities of life? How are we to trust a God who seems to be so flippant toward His human subjects?

Let’s get just a little more specific. Let’s hypothesize for a moment, just for argument’s sake. Let’s suppose for a moment that there are two families living next door to one another. One family is totally dedicated to the Lord. To the best of their ability they serve the Lord through the various ministries of their church. They are also engaged in other charitable causes which are of great benefit to others. The other family is not dedicated to the Lord. As a matter of fact, they are professing atheists. They have no regard for God or the teachings of God’s word. They live their lives in total recklessness, and actually defy openly those who would try to share with them the message of God’s love and grace.

In this hypothesis, let’s further assume that a fire ravages this neighborhood. However, in what appears to be a rather freakish change of wind direction, the home of the professed atheists is unscathed, while the home of the dedicated Christian family is completely destroyed. What’s worse is that, unknown to the parents, their five year old son runs back into the flames trying to save the family pet. The son, and the pet, die in the fire.

Even though this is a hypothesis presented for the sake of discussion, this scenario has played out countless times. This seeming incongruity leaves us confused and perplexed. And yet, it is an everyday occurrence, showing itself in different ways and intensities. So, what are we to make of what appears to be an unexplainable flaw in God’s character?

Well, we have to understand first and foremost that there is no flaw in God’s character. If it is true that God is good, then it must also be true that He is good all the time. If He is not good all the time, then He is not good at all, but rather He is very, very bad. So, let’s assume for the sake of our discussion that God is indeed good.

If that assumption is correct, then it must also be correct that the problem is not with God’s goodness, but rather with our understanding of His goodness. Think for a moment about this statement: God’s goodness is not to be defined by the good things He does. Before you read further, please read that statement again. Now, once again. Please try to delve into the depths of the implications of that statement. Don’t hurry past it.

You see, the problem is that we often rejoice in God’s goodness when we are the recipients of good things. But when the good things cease, and the troubles begin, and the distress is overwhelming, and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel – as a matter of fact, the tunnel of darkness has no end – then God is no longer good.

Now comes the platitudes, the clichés, the well-meaning statements that are meant to uphold God’s reputation. We come up with explanations. We say that God works in all things for good, which is a clear Biblical truth. By that, I assume we mean that God is not necessarily good, but that He has the ability to bring good out of the worst of circumstances. Now it is absolutely true that He can bring good out of what appears to be bad. Time and space will not allow us to share the multitudes of examples of how God has made something beautiful out of the most ugly and horrific of circumstances.

But that is really not the issue here. The issue is not whether God can bring something good out of something bad, but rather it is whether He is good even in the midst of those events in which nothing good seems obvious. Like the little boy who dies in the fire; the child born with the serious birth defects; the house that is destroyed by the storm while the one next door stands firm; etc. etc.

To give an answer to this, let’s turn our attention to the event of Jesus’ death on the cross. What appears to be a glaring example of God’s lack of goodness results in the greatest act of goodness the world has ever seen. But that is getting way ahead of the story. Long before the cross, the Bible records God’s act of creation. He created a good world, into which He placed man, the crown of His creation. At the conclusion of God’s creative work, He looked at His masterpiece and pronounced that it was very good.

God made it very good, but into the midst of this pristine paradise was introduced something very bad – evil. And sin came about as a result of that evil. And that sin caused what was very good to become very bad. No longer was the creation a paradise, but it became more and more corrupted by this state of evil. Did that ever increasing state of ‘badness’ mean that somehow God had become bad? Did it result in God’s goodness being diminished? Absolutely not! As a matter of fact, this is where God’s goodness shines the brightest.

God, having the ability to know all things, knew before He created the world that man would rebel, that evil would proliferate, that what He had created as very good would indeed become very bad. And yet, because He is very good He provided a means of bringing good out of the bad. He decreed a plan through which the brokenness of man, and the introduction of evil, could be reversed. This, however, would call for the most unbelievable act of God, far greater than the act of creation itself. That was the event of the cross. The worst moment in all of history was actually the best moment. It was the moment in which God’s goodness was seen in the face of the man’s badness.

God’s good plan resulted in the provision of salvation for sinful man. However, this act of God’s goodness did not eradicate the results of man’s badness and the effects of evil on this broken planet. The earth still languishes under those horrible, residual effects of the introduction of evil, and will continue to do so until that day which God has appointed to create a new heaven and earth. For those who have believed God’s report (recorded in the Bible) and have embraced by faith this act of unbelievable goodness, they will see good everywhere they look, because they know that God is still displaying His goodness in all things.

Rampant evil can easily persuade us that everything is bad. But we must look above and beyond the obvious. We must, as the Bible teaches, live this life by faith, and not by sight. The sights and sounds of everyday life can be so discouraging, but the promises of God give hope in the midst of despair. By faith, we are given the ability to see the end of the tunnel. This life is not all there is. See the light at the end – that light is Jesus.

Yes, indeed, God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!

Once again we have witnessed the graphic reality of evil. One man, for reasons yet unknown, decided that he would take the lives of as many as possible in an open attack on a crowd of people who were gathered for the purpose of enjoying a concert. He carefully chose the position from which he would have an unobstructed view of his target. He secretly, seemingly unnoticed, stockpiled a cache of weapons which would be used to carry out his evil intent. At the most opportune moment, he opened fire on that large, unsuspecting crowd. As of this writing, 59 individuals are dead, and more than 500 injured, from this act of terror.

What would compel someone to commit such a heinous act? How could someone be so cold, so calculating, so unbelievably wicked as to plot a despicable deed such as this? The title of this blog states this writer’s answer: evil. Evil is ever present in this world. Evil lurks in the hearts of men and women. Evil thoughts, which left unchecked, will eventually turn into evil actions. Now, granted, the vast majority of humans never act out their evil thoughts. Who would be so bold as to assert that he has never had an evil thought go through their mind? Perhaps not evil on the scale as we have witnessed in Las Vegas, but evil, none-the-less. Someone has hurt you in some way, and you entertain the thought of revenge. You plot and plan and scheme in your mind how you might inflict some sort of pain on that person who has wronged you. You actually come up with a plan of action that you feel would be justifiable in light of what you have suffered. Chances are you would never act on those impulses, but the thoughts are there.

And yet, we see those who don’t stop with just thoughts. Those thoughts grow stronger with the passing of time. You begin to think, “I might be able to pull this off. I might be able to get even, and do it in such a way that no one would ever think that it was me.” And we dwell on it. These thoughts consume us. We can’t get it out of our mind. And finally, we do it.

It is obvious that Stephen Paddock had given plenty of time and thought to this evil act. It took quite a bit of planning and scheming to pull this off. He had somehow sneaked an arsenal of weapons into a hotel without drawing any attention to himself. He entered that room with everything he needed to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting crowd 32 stories below. With cold, methodical action, and with no obstruction between him and his target, he pulled the trigger. Shot after shot rang out. Bodies began to fall to the ground. At first, according to eyewitnesses, most thought it was part of the show. But it only took a matter of seconds to realize that was real blood, and those were real people being shot, wounded, killed.

Evil. It lurks in the beating heart of every human. Its desire is to take control, to drive us to madness, to compel us to act upon those impulses, to seek revenge, to hurt as we have been hurt.

Now, to the conclusion. In all honesty, there, but for the grace of God, would I go. Yes, there have been times that the fleeting thought has gone through my mind to hurt, to get even, to inflict injury and pain. It might be in that instant in which someone cuts me off in traffic, and I ball up my fist, shake it at them, and in my heart, at least for that moment, I want to see them suffer. It could be that person who hurt me long years ago, but I have never quite gotten over the pain and the hurt, and every time that person comes to mind I have hard, hurt feelings to arise once again, and the thought of seeing them suffer momentarily captivates my mind.

Why? Why do we have such vile thoughts? Why do we act in such vile ways? Why do we see those who act out their evil intentions? The Bible is where we turn to seek answers to these unspeakable acts of terror. It is there, in God’s Word, that we find the following declaration: “The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil” (Gen. 6:5). This is a statement concerning the depravity of the human heart. There are those who act out their depraved nature by performing unspeakable acts of evil such as we have once again witnessed in Las Vegas.

We should all be forever grateful that the vast majority of humans who populate this planet never act out the evil they often feel in their hearts. It is the restraining power of God, according to the Apostle Paul’s teachings, that keeps evil in check. However, according to that same apostle, there is coming a day when that which restrains evil from running its full course will be removed. Then, evil will have its way. And, according to Jesus Himself, if God did not shorten those days of the outpouring of pure evil, no one would survive.

Yes, evil is real – very real. We have seen yet another example. We will see more. God is our only hope. Please, if you have not already done so, find your peace in Him.

In my previous blog, I made the attempt to pinpoint what I perceive to be the beginning point for the dismantling of America from an historical perspective. It seems obvious that the two historical events I mentioned – the removal of prayer and Bible reading from the public schools, and the legalization of abortion – were massive game changers on the landscape of American life.

Now, let’s turn our attention to our present state of crisis. We are witnessing unprecedented events and activities which, in the estimation of this writer, would have been unheard of just 60 years ago. There are those who would have us completely rewrite American history. They would have us forget that our nation was founded by men who literally put their lives on the line for the sake of freedom from the religious tyranny of England. They would have us forget that we were founded as a nation which would be guided by Christian principles of behavior gleaned from God’s Word. They would have us forget the tremendous impact of Christianity in the establishment of schools, universities, and hospitals. They would have every vestige of Christianity removed from the public scene. Preachers who strive to remain true to the teachings of the Bible are being viewed as hate-mongers if they preach on Biblical topics relative to God’s view of human sexuality.

Further, they would have us remove parts of our past that they find objectionable. For example, we are witnessing the removal and destruction of historical monuments which commemorate our past, and remind us of our rich and varied heritage. Like it or not, the Civil War is part of the rich heritage that makes us America. Removing historical markers and statues does not remove the fact that this was an historical event that played a huge role in making us the nation we are today. Many lessons were learned through that dark period of our American past, and yes, lessons are still being learned. The removal of these reminders will in no way remove the realities of those past events.

And now, we are witnessing new kind of anti-American sentiment. There are those who are striving to make a statement by showing disrespect to the American flag by taking a knee during the playing of the National Anthem. It seems rather ironic to this writer that those who are leading in this show of disrespect are the ones who are being most benefitted by the vast opportunities that this country has afforded them. It doesn’t matter if you are red, yellow, black or white, if you are an American then you should show respect to our country by standing for the playing of that anthem. And, by the way, American should be American. There should be no reference to a white American, or a black American, or a red American, or any other. American is American. It matters not from where you or your ancestors came, if you are now a citizen of the United States of America then you are an American, and you should act like it. You should respect the nation, you should respect the flag, and you should appreciate what you have as a citizen of this great country.

You may disagree with everything I have said, and that, by virtue of being an American, is your prerogative. However, if you have enjoyed the wonderful liberties, freedoms, and advantages of your American citizenship, then I would encourage you to reflect on what you have, and be a positive influence rather than one who tears down and destroys. Instead of being a part of the systematic dismantling of our beloved country, let’s be a part of building it up. Let’s put aside the tendency of racial prejudice, and let’s work together, hand-in-hand and heart-in-heart to make America great again.

It seems to this writer that we are witnessing the dismantling of America. Everywhere you look you see evidence of this reality – at least from my perspective. It was just in the recent past that we have seen some watershed moments that have altered the landscape of this nation. These were moments that, in and of themselves, may not have seemed to have had the capacity to wreak the havoc that we now see in the aftermath.

The first of these watershed moments occurred on June 25, 1962, when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that government endorsed prayers recited in public schools were unconstitutional. Looking back on this historic event, we could justifiably say that prior to that date in 1962, the United States still endorsed Christianity as the religion of choice of the American people. This did not mean that every individual citizen of this country was Christian, or adhered to Christian belief and practice, but rather that this was the recognized foundation of our American culture. Prior to this date, anyone could believe anything, and practice any religious ritual and ceremony of their choice, with the understanding that this nation had always been, up to that moment in our history, a nation built upon the principles of the Christian faith.

It only took a handful of individuals to completely destroy almost 200 years of that recognized and accepted foundation of this nation. This was the beginning of a slippery slope which has resulted in a downward spiral of anti-Christian bias. It was only one year later, in 1963, that the court banned Bible reading, and overturned a state law banning the teaching of evolution. Kim Colby, senior counsel with the Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom, has said, “Within a decade, religious expression was pushed out of public schools in a way that was really wrong. Too many school administrators took that decision as a green light to try to eradicate religion from public schools.”

This leads me to my second watershed moment in America’s recent past. With the removal of prayer and Bible reading from the public classroom, our nation also witnessed an immediate decline in morality. Without the foundation of the ethical teachings of Scripture, our nation began to see a move away from clear Biblical instruction. One example will suffice: abortion. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that “unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional.” It is not the intent of this blog to argue the ethical ramifications of this decision, but rather to assert that this is a graphic illustration of the dismantling of America. Long-held beliefs and practices are now thrown away simply because someone disagreed with long-standing principles of morality.

To this writer, it appears that the present state of immorality in this nation is a direct result of these water-shed moments. With the removal of prayer and Bible reading from the public classroom we have witnessed a horrific decline in the moral fabric of our nation. Without the ethical moorings of the Christian faith we have witnessed the proliferation of unethical practices in public life as well as private life. The agenda of the far-left has become so entrenched that any movement toward a return to the once cherished practices of the past is seen as a threat to personal freedom. But we must remind ourselves that true freedom is not the liberty to do what you want, but rather the liberty to do what is right.

We are witnessing today a great host of people who want the liberty to do what they want, with no regard to what is right. Our standard of what is right and wrong in this nation had historically been based on the teachings of the Bible, but once that foundation was removed it opened the door for the very definition of morality to be changed to fit the desires of the individual. And when the power is given to an individual to assert his or her ways just because they don’t like the way it has been, then we become a law unto ourselves.

And what happens when we become a law unto ourselves? Well, we begin to establish our own standards of morality. A couple of quick examples will suffice to show how this has affected American culture. With the legalizing of abortion, we then began to see a decline in the belief in the sanctity of human life. This led to abortion at any stage of pregnancy, as well as the practice of partial-birth abortion, where a baby could be killed as it was actually being born. Then, as a further step away from the belief in the sanctity of human life, we began to witness the practice of euthanasia become rather commonplace on the American landscape.

The second example I will cite as an illustration of this slippery slope of immorality is the rise in alternate lifestyles. We were at one time a nation which believed in the Bible’s teachings on marriage. But now, Biblical marriage is pretty much viewed as an outdated practice of antiquity, and any living arrangement between partners is viewed as acceptable.

I have had some tell me that I live too much in the past. They say that I need to discard my long-held traditional values and catch up with the times in which we live. But, from what I see in the times in which we live, I would much rather live in the past. I would much rather live in a country which is steered by the solid foundation upon which it was built. And that foundation is the authoritative Word of God.

May God, who is our only hope, help us to return to what made us great. May He help us once again return to our spiritual foundation, and allow His Word to be the one, true source of authority from which we seek guidance and instruction.

I am listening with keen interest to the pundits who are offering their personal perspectives on the devastating hurricanes which have ravaged our country in the past few weeks.

The most often repeated, and probably the most widely embraced perspective, is that these massive storms are the result of global warming. In researching this supposed phenomena, I have found widely divergent views presented from both sides of the argument. For those who seem to believe that rising ocean temperatures is a result of manmade greenhouse effects, the facts seem to clearly refute this particular explanation. The temperature of the ocean has actually risen over the past 135 years, with a deceleration of that rise over the past 50 years. So, it seems that the supposed greenhouse effect has actually produced the exact opposite of the data proposed by adherents to this theory.

Of course, the most outrageous, audacious perspective is that the blame rests on the American people for electing Donald Trump as president. I guess, based on that assumption, we would also have to say that the recent 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico was also a result of the presidential election. And now, we are seeing satellite images of massive storms in other parts of the world. Are these, also, to be blamed on Trump’s victorious presidential run?

Might I make a suggestion? Admittedly, it is a rather simplistic suggestion. I would encourage you to research the data for yourself. Quit listening to those self-proclaimed experts who scream their views which are for the most part formed out of their personal political agendas. Look at historical records, and it will become clear very quickly that horrific storms, and other natural disasters, have occurred with regularity throughout recorded history. It doesn’t matter if the white house is occupied by a republican or a democrat. It doesn’t matter if the country is leaning to the left or to the right. As a matter of fact, these destructive storms were part of the landscape of the earth long before the United States existed.

So, what is the answer? Well, the answer is clearly and explicitly described in the Bible. The earth is actually under a curse due to the sinfulness of man. The Apostle Paul, in his correspondence with Rome, stated that the earth itself groans under the curse, awaiting the day of redemption (see Romans 8:18-25). The earth, which is under the direct sovereignty of God, has been subjected to His curse due to the sinfulness of mankind.

If you listen to the pundits, who proclaim for themselves some sort of expertise, then you will be persuaded one way or the other. If you listen to major media outlets, then you are undoubtedly persuaded of the “truth” of global warming. If, on the other hand, you listen to a more conservative news source, you will hear them shout loudly and clearly that there is no such thing as global warming. Who are we to believe?

Again, I would suggest that instead of listening to people who have given themselves over to the “herd mentality,” whichever herd they choose to follow, we carefully weigh out the facts. They are there for anyone to see.

And, most importantly of all, that we turn to the Bible. It is there that we have the most reliable information, with the authority for that information being God Himself. I suggest that you will not be steered by either herd, but rather by the Herdsman. He always knows best.

In order to protect myself from becoming overly cynical and critical of the human family, I choose to believe that most people are honest and decent. We certainly see this in times of tragedy and devastation as we have seen with the outpouring of love and compassion in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and as we watch with keen interest the approach of Irma.

And yet, at the same time, we see the exact opposite. We see those who take advantage of the misfortune of others for their own benefit. We witness stealing and looting, we observe price-gouging and greed – indeed, right along-side those who will make sacrifices for the good of others, we see those who will take advantage of others in any way possible.

I realize that in light of the devastation we are witnessing through the destructive power of these storms what I am about to share is nothing. I would like to share a personal incident that illustrates that everyone is not honest and decent. I have suffered from lower back and hip problems for several years. In striving to find something to bring some semblance of relief, I began researching mattresses which were advertised to help ease the pain and discomfort. I finally found one that I thought would help, so I placed the order and eagerly awaited the arrival of this amazing (so they said) sleep aid.

The mattress was delivered last Friday. My wife and I were out of town when the delivery was made, so, someone helped themselves to our delivery. Someone pulled their vehicle into our driveway, loaded our high-dollar mattress, and drove off.

I don’t know who did this, and I will probably never know. They are probably enjoying the comfort of this mattress, and if they, like me, suffered from back and joint pain, they are probably enjoying the benefits of the design of this particular model.

If, by any chance whatsoever, the person who is now enjoying our mattress happens to come across this blog, there are a couple of things I would like to say to you. First, as a Christian who strives to live a God-honoring life, I cannot hold a grudge against you. The Bible teaches that once an individual places himself under the Lordship of Christ, he must love and forgive as Christ loves and forgives. So, I forgive you. I bear no ill-will toward you. Obviously, you have never received the saving grace of God, and you are only acting out of your sinful nature. Second, I pray for you. I pray that this act of stealing will weigh heavily on your conscience, and that God might use it as a source of conviction in your life that you are in desperate need of a Savior. And third, I trust that out of that conviction, you will be brought to the point of confession. Confession to God, and then, confession to me. I assure you that if you do come to me in a spirit of sincerity and brokenness, there will be no further action taken. You will be forgiven. As a matter of fact, as far as I am concerned, you are forgiven. But there is One far greater than me from whom you need forgiveness, and that is God Himself. I implore you to turn to him in faith and receive His grace, or you can choose to hold on to your sinfulness, and receive His judgment. The choice is yours.

Source: Does God Really Care – REALLY?

Our hearts go out to the people of Texas and Louisiana. The pictures continue to pour in of the horrific devastation Hurricane Harvey has unleashed. The destructive power of this storm will go on for days, even weeks and months, to come. For some, the waters will subside, and they will be able to go back to their homes and begin the process of cleaning and restoring. For others, there is no home to which they can return. They have lost everything.

How are we to understand this tragedy? More specifically, for the purpose of this blog, how does a Bible-believing Christian understand and explain such destruction? It brings to the fore the age old question of why God would allow such tragedy and destruction. It raises the question as to why God did not keep such an event from occurring. There are those who would argue that it proves one of two things: God is not powerful enough to have kept it from happening; or, if He is powerful enough, He is not a good God because He could have done something and yet refused to do it.

To answer the question, one must take a serious look at Scripture. It seems to me that we are guilty of being overly selective in choosing those passages of Scripture that fit our particular personal view of God. We tend to be drawn to those passages which relate to us the testimony of His immense love, compassion and mercy. But, we neglect to take into consideration those passages that speak of His justice and holiness. For a proper understanding of disasters such as Harvey, we need to make a quick review of the presence of evil in the world.

When God created man, He placed man in a perfect paradise, in which everything was indeed, perfect. There were no storms. According to Scripture, there was not even the slightest hint of anything that would deter man from enjoying every part of creation. It was all made by a loving God for the enjoyment of man, the crown of His creation. It was only after man decided to disobey God that the curse came upon the world. The apostle Paul says that now, the world itself groans under the curse of God, eagerly awaiting the day of redemption. Because of the curse of God that began in the Garden of Eden, the entire earth suffers, and will continue to suffer, until the time God intervenes and makes all things new again.

This is the reason for Harvey, and Katrina, and Floyd, and all the other storms which have ravaged our continent. And this doesn’t even take into consideration those which have battered the coasts of other continents. And this brings us back to where we started: is God all-good; is He all-powerful; could He have intervened and kept yet another devastating storm from causing such destruction? The answer to each of these questions is, yes.

All through the Old Testament, we have record of storms, and earthquakes, and pestilences of different kinds, which ravaged the land. To the people of Israel, these occurrences were viewed as being a direct work of God. They understood that the curse of God in the Garden was still in full force, and they acknowledged God’s activity in all events – whether they appeared to be good or bad from the human perspective.

Now, we must understand that individual storms, such as Harvey, or individual troubles, such as cancer, are all part and parcel of life lived under the curse. But this does not mean that God was upset with the people of Texas or Louisiana, but that Harvey is yet another example of the curse upon the earth. Yes, all such storms are a result of sin, but not necessarily of personal sin. As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself spoke of this very issue. There was an occasion (see Luke 13:1-5) in which He spoke of two separate events, and related them to the subject of our discussion. He told of Pilate mingling the blood of certain Galileans with blood sacrifices, and Jesus asked, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?” Jesus then went on to cite another example: “Those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, to you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?” Jesus’ point seems to be clear: it is not necessarily a result of personal sin that causes tragedy to strike, but rather to the principle of sin, which has brought God’s righteous judgment on the earth.

In the same chapter of Romans in which Paul speaks of the earth groaning under the curse, he later speaks of the amazing truth that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him. It doesn’t say that He makes everything good, but that all things can work for good. So, in all the destruction and devastation of Harvey, good will come. God will accomplish His work and the results will be amazing. But, we must look through the eyes of faith and belief, and not through the eyes of doubt and despair.

We now long for the day when all despair will be turned into joy and delight. God will bring that to pass in His appointed time. In the meantime, let’s be faithful, and trust that an all-good, all-powerful, all-loving Father in heaven always works in all things for good to those who love Him. And, it causes us to anticipate even more that coming day when all things will be made new! Even so, come Lord Jesus!

(The following is written with my daughter’s permission.)

I am so very proud of the young lady she has grown to be. She has set many personal goals, and has been committed to seeing those goals come to fruition. Her desire has been to work in law enforcement, and this goal is about to become reality. She set out to receive a degree in criminal justice, and, with the exception of one class she has to complete, this goal is now fulfilled.

Several years ago, she decided she wanted to play the drums, so her mother and I purchased her a set and she taught herself how to play. Using this talent she was part of a praise band in high school. They played at events such as See You at the Pole, as well as on campus Christian gatherings. She then decided she wanted to play the guitar, and again, she did this on her own. She has been serving as worship leader at our church for some time now, and it is all because of her tenacity in keeping her commitments.

She is now engaged to be married. As a matter of fact, her wedding date is only two weeks away (May 8, 2017). She and her fiancée originally planned the wedding for December, but because of her beginning her career with the police department, and because she would have no vacation time accrued for a honeymoon, I encouraged them to move the date up.

Now, to the point of this blog. Since they have announced their wedding date, and since the date was moved up significantly from the original date, my wife and I have had several individuals make the statement, “Well, she must be pregnant,” or “I guess you will be having another grandchild in about nine months,” or something to that effect.

Is it just an assumption in our society now that young adults who are in a serious relationship are sexually active? My daughter, at the age of 15, made a commitment to be sexually pure on her wedding day. She has remained true to that commitment. Those who are close to her know that she is a young lady with high standards of morality. She is not perfect, but she does strive for moral excellence.

I guess the thing that really saddens me most about this is that we have brought our standards of morality to such a low level. Those who strive to live by a higher standard are viewed as being abnormal. I am reminded of a statement made by the well-known preacher, Vance Havner: “The church is so subnormal that if it ever got back to the New Testament normal it would seem to people to be abnormal.” Why is it that young adults who commit to a life of sexual purity until their wedding night are thought to be abnormal? Because we have gotten so accustomed to the sub-normal!

Charity, I am so proud of you for so many things. Your mother and I want nothing but the best for you and Patrick. And the best, as we have always tried to teach you, is to follow the guidelines God has established for us in His Word. So, continue to strive for excellence according to His instructions, and you will always experience His rich blessings in your life, and in your marriage.

You’ve heard before, right? Of course you have. We all have. As a matter of fact, not only have we heard it, we have probably said it, or at least thought it, many times. It seems to be such a reasonable, rational question, doesn’t it? We look around the world, and we see the realities of violence, of disease, of famine, of graphic displays of bad things happening to good people in so many different ways. How are we to understand this? Is there an explanation for this haunting question? Can anyone offer an answer to this perplexity?

Well, my attempt at giving an answer would be to rephrase the question. I believe that asking why bad things happen to good people is asking the wrong question. The question should actually be: why do good things happen to bad people? I realize there are probably those reading this that would scream in disagreement with this rephrasing. And they would begin to offer their reasons for their extreme disagreement.

One example will suffice. Those who identify themselves as Christians would cite such examples as the barbarism of the adherents of radical Islam against those who they describe as infidels, which is an all-inclusive term identifying anyone who disagrees with the teachings of the Islamic religion. Just this past Sunday, as Christians were worshiping in Cairo, Egypt, they were savagely attacked by terrorists, with dozens killed and many more wounded. This is only one of many examples of bad things happening to good people, right? Well, actually, that’s wrong.

Let me begin my answer to this perplexing question by talking about the word, ‘good’. Like so many other words in our vocabulary, this word is an extremely relative term. I might go to a pulmonologist because I am experiencing breathing problems. X-rays might reveal that I have several dark spots in my lungs. Instantly, without the doctor having to say anything, I think cancer. My mind begins to run wild with all the horrific images I have seen of those who are fighting this terrible disease. However, upon further testing, I find that it is not cancer, but rather it is pneumonia. Wow! What wonderfully good news! But is it really? Well, yes, it is. In comparison, the news that I have pneumonia rather than cancer is very good news. Now, no, it is not good that I have pneumonia, but in comparison with cancer, it is, indeed good news.

I realize that’s probably not a convincing argument for many. So let me get right to the heart of my reasoning. Again, I suggest that ‘good’ is a relative term. I, personally, can look around and find persons with whom I can compare myself, and I can reach the conclusion that compared to them, I am pretty good. In my reasoning I might even think that I deserve better than them, because I am better than them. However, I can also quickly find multitudes that are better than me. So, in comparison, I am bad.

For Christians, with whom I identify myself, the source to which we turn for our understanding of all things, is the Bible. So, when we turn to this Book for an answer to this matter of goodness, and why bad things happen to good people, we find the solution to the confusion. Allow me to share a couple of quotes from God’s Word.

The Psalmist says, “There is none who does good. No, not one.” (Ps. 53:3) The Apostle Paul then quotes this same verse in Romans 3:12. And the definitive Biblical statement on the matter comes directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18) These statements seem to be crystal clear: no one is good: no one! I might deem myself to be good in comparison to others, but in comparison to God, who could ever claim true goodness for himself? The answer is obvious: no one, not even one.

To see the only true picture of goodness, look to Jesus Christ. He is the perfect embodiment of pure goodness. And yet, he suffered horrific savagery. Did He deserve it? Absolutely not! And yet, this Person experienced the ultimate ‘bad’. Consider His followers, the original apostles. According to church history and church tradition, each of these men suffered extremely, most of them even executed for their ‘good’ behavior.

This coming Sunday we will celebrate the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. But before the resurrection, He had to suffer the horror of crucifixion. The absolute ultimate example of bad things happening to a good Person. And to make sure that His followers would not be caught off guard by the bad things that were going to happen to them, He had taught His followers that they, too,  would have trouble in this life.

Therefore, He told His followers to expect bad things to happen to them. He promised that we would suffer. And our ultimate goal in life as Jesus followers is to allow Him to bring anything into our personal human experience that would result in His glory, knowing that the real glory for the true believer will not be experienced in this life, but in the life to come. So, take Jesus at His word: Yes, in this life we will suffer – bad things will happen to God’s people – but be of good courage, Jesus has overcome the world.

Let’s let the message of Easter remind us of how the very best has come to us as a result of the very worst happening to Jesus. And let’s gather in His house this Sunday, and every Sunday, to celebrate this most amazing event in all of human history.