An impromptu lunch and a silly photo got me thinking…This photo of Glen and me was taken during one of those beautifully ordinary moments. We live just a few minutes from a state park that is a preserved gold rush town, Columbia. We picked up deli sandwiches and instead of driving back home – a whole 5 minutes LOL. We decided to find a picnic bench in town and hopefully some shade on this warm day. We found both…a weathered picnic table beneath the trees. So we just sat eating lunch, talking, laughing, and lingering.
Why Does God Allow Evil?
This was a challenging message for me to share – it may be challenging to read. It’s timely, because, honestly, we’re in pain. We are questioning and wondering how is it possible that a “good” God could just let so much evil continue. Innocent children brutalized, crime rampant, racism, disease…why doesn’t God step in? I spent a great deal of time thinking and praying and providing here what I believe it a compassionate response to that answer. But more importantly, a response that I believe is supported by the Word of God. You can read or listen to the message on my YouTube channel or listen along on the Dwelling Richly podcast. If God is all powerful, all knowing and all good, why does he let so many bad things happen. It would be one thing, if the only people who suffered were the clearly evil people, right? …mass murderers, violent dictators, slave traders, but innocent babies suffer, and children starve to death and why? Why does God allow evil? If he was all good, he would stop it. If he was all powerful, he could stop it. So why doesn’t he? It’s not a new question, but it’s a difficult one.
Because the challenge is that like all objections to faith in God, and in Christianity in particular, this isn’t just an intellectual dilemma, is it? We can’t just offer some logical philosophical answer, while we sit together on a bench and just discuss it over a latte. Because the issue of evil doesn’t just hit our minds. It’s in our hearts. And it doesn’t sit lightly there. It stabs us. It shakes us. It pains us when we see, and we feel the weight of the evil that’s around us. And some people will never come to terms with this. And it ends right there in their pain, and they leave God. And many won’t even ask the hard question, because honestly, they’re afraid of the final answer. Or they don’t want to sound unfaithful. Because what if you get to the end of the answer, and you find out God just doesn’t care? Or what if you ask why? And you get an answer, like, “You just have to have faith.”
Moving in on this topic, may bring a pain in our hearts and hearts will ache because there isn’t anyone hearing my voice today who’s hasn’t been touched by evil. But we’re going to ask, and I hope that you’ll find at the end some hope and answers for yourself or to share with a loved one…
Seven Prayers When You Feel Broken
Christians are not protected from grief or pain. It is ok to feel broken. Remember, calling ourselves “Christian” is not a category but a lifestyle and a worldview that embraces the truth of what it meant that “unto us a son was given” who came to be our “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace” and that only in repentance and submission to Him will we ever find true hope and peace.
I Should be Able to Handle This
A stressful day, a daunting IRS form, and an uncomfortable realization: the battle wasn’t the paperwork—it was the story I was telling myself. As I wrestled with self-doubt, God reminded me of truths I’d spent years studying, teaching, and sharing with others. Perhaps discipleship isn’t about never struggling. Perhaps it’s about learning where to turn when the struggle comes.
Rediscovering Dad
I’m reposting this series today, Father’s Day, June 21, 2026 – exactly 45 years from when my father taught the first in his series through Psalm 119. I hope you’ll enjoy it and be blessed as much as I have been.