This week a song has been on my mind. It is the most beautiful, the most powerful………and the saddest song that I have ever heard.

“I Dreamed a Dream”…….performed by Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables.

The central lyric is:

“But there are dreams that cannot be…….and there are storms we cannot weather”

It is a song about disappointment……..a song about life taking a turn that wasn’t part of your dream…….your plan.

It is very easy to get angry when your plan falls apart.

But, there are two things to consider:

It was your plan that fell apart…….. perhaps God’s plan was different from your plan.

God loves you and and has a plan for your good…..his plan.

So……when the wheels come off. When the future that you had planned…….the future that you were counting on……….suddenly evaporates.

Remember those two things.

Because God will take care of you.

Because God loves you.

And all he asks………is that you return his love.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul. NIV

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God, NIV

I’ve been running this blog for a few years now. I keep wondering when my well of ideas is going to dry up. Sometimes, the post is a bit weak, but over all I still have things to say.

This week, I thought I’d explore my motivation. I’ll try to be honest…….both with myself and with you. We’ll both do better if my goals are out in the open.

First off all……who am I?

In order of importance:

I am a Christian.

I am a husband, father, and grandfather.

I am looking for the truth…….even if it hurts.

I am an intellectual and a bit of a philosopher. I try hard to use solid logic to move from one idea to the next.

In general, I am a social and fiscal conservative…….you probably guessed. I try to limit the politics in my posts, though sometimes it creeps in.

What do I believe?

I believe that we were created by an intelligent being and put here. This amazing world is no accident.

I believe that the creator put us here for a purpose and has expectations of us………and plans for us………..though I often have trouble clearly identifying those expectations.

I believe that the creator’s primary expectation is that we will love him and love each other.

I believe that there is a world outside of our physical, temporal world and that world is our true home. It is where we belong……..and we will spend eternity there. It is timeless……. eternal. It is divided into a very nice place and a place that is terrible.

I believe that we will ultimately return to that eternal world where we will be permanently sorted between the nice place, paradise, and the terrible place, hell.

I believe that the sorting will hinge on the grace of the creator, Jesus. It will be determined not by the good and the bad that we have done; but, rather by the fact that we recognize Jesus and honor him.

I believe that the great truths that we need to know to live in this temporal world are found in the Bible.

What is my goal with this blog?

I want as many people as possible to join me in paradise.

I don’t want anyone to wind up in hell. I would like for hell to be a quiet, lonely place.

Someday, I want you to sit down with me over a great cup of coffee in a quaint waterfront cafe in paradise.

And if, today, I annoy you in the process, please forgive me.

You can thank me later.

I hear many versions of this.

“Why would a merciful, loving God allow _________(fill in the blank)?

“Why does God allow disease?”

“Why did God allow the Corona virus?”

“Why didn’t God stop the Las Vegas shooter?”

Bad things happen……….if you don’t accept this, you just aren’t paying attention. Sometimes, these bad things are the work of Satan. Sometimes they are the result of a fallible human exercising his free will.

But, sometimes………..they are the work of God. If we look through the Bible, God often allows, or even sets up a tragedy, as the first step in a process that ends well.

Jesus dawdles on the way visit to Lazarus…….who then dies. This sets the stage for one of Jesus’s greatest miracles.

Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers………….leading to his becoming the CEO of Egypt and to his saving the Jewish people.

Paul is unjustly thrown into prison. While there, he writes letters that wind up being a big part of the new testament.

Jesus was tortured and killed………leading to his resurrection and the salvation of hundreds of millions.

In each of these cases………to an observer at the time……..the first step looks bad: Lazarus dies, Joseph is enslaved, Paul is imprisoned, Jesus is murdered. But in each case, God’s “big picture” plan ultimately plays out and the ending is a triumph.

The problem is that you and I are stuck in time……we can’t see the consequences that God is setting up……..down the road. We see step #2 which is painful, but we are blind to step #8 which is the payback.

But God can see it all. He operates outside of the limitations of time. He is the God of step #2……..but he is also the God of step #8.

So……..

When bad things happen, we must not be angry with God.

When bad things happen, we must not reject God.

When something bad happens, we must remember that this may be the first step in a process ………..a process that will culminate in something that we cannot see or understand……… something that is being set into motion by a creator who loves us.

This calls for trust and patience. This calls for trust…..that God loves us and will take care of us……….in the long run. This calls for patience……..that when the smoke clears, we will be taken care of……..because, first and foremost, God loves us.

Because………first and foremost………..God loves us.

He loves me.

He loves you.

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

God, NIV

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God, NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Paul, NIV

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    Forever.

David, ESV

I’m a good person.

I truly believe this and I can back it up………with facts and figures.

Sometimes I mess up…….more often than I wish. But for the most part…. I’m good.

You are a good person too…….why else would you be reading this?

I really don’t know any truly bad people. I probably avoid them. But……I only have to watch the news for a few minutes to see that they are out there.

In my heart I tell myself that I am going to paradise and the truly bad people are going to hell. This is very satisfying.

So far so good.

The trouble is……..that this entire stream of logic is untrue.

Why?

Because just about everybody believes that they are good people. Adolph Hitler believed that he wasn’t just good…… he believed that he was great……. possibly messianic.

I want as many people as possible to enter paradise. I want you in paradise. I worry a lot about the ideas that could keep them out……that could keep you out.

So…… what are two most dangerous ideas that could prevent you from reaching paradise?

Deadly idea #1:

There is no paradise. When you die……you are dirt. There are a lot of variants of this idea: secular humanism, Darwinian Evolution, the Goddess within, new age thinking, wicca, etc. If you don’t believe in paradise……an afterlife, then you needn’t read further…….unless you are curious……and I truly hope that you are.

Deadly idea #2:

I’m a good person.

These two ideas will account for the vast majority of people who will miss out on paradise.

Obviously, today I am dealing with deadly idea #2.

I know dozens of people who confidently embrace this idea……..at their peril.

What makes this idea so dangerous?

First off, let me be clear……..being a good person is a good thing. We need more good people. The “good people” whom I know truly are good.

In this temporal world, being a good person is enough. You are truthful, honest, generous, kind. You love and care for the people around you. You contribute to the community. On the occasions when you do something “bad”, you typically have a very good reason……..a justification. But, when you add it all up, the world is a better place because of you.

So far so good.

However, there are several problems.

1. Being good can lead to self satisfaction…….. complacency. If you are already good……why strive to be better?
2. Being good allows you to feel superior to your neighbors who aren’t as good as you. It can lead to judgementalism.
3. There is, at best a weak link between being good and entering paradise……..unless you have devised a paradise of your own……..one that only good people like you can enter. These “home brew” paradises all share one suspicious feature. They allow you to live your life as you please……and still qualify.
4. You cut God out of the equation. Paradise is completely up to you. The people I know who focus on their “goodness” rarely mention God……their creator……..the guy who created paradise in the first place.
5. There is an element of entitlement here. Because I am a good person, I have earned paradise…..I deserve it. God owes it to me. His opinion about my qualifications is………. irrelevant.
6. Once you become comfortable with your “goodness”………and all of your justifications……..it is very easy to look at what God is up to and what he has already done…….and decide that he was wrong……..that he was ” bad”. A lot of people reject God because they believe that they have a better idea as to how things should be run. They are angry about something that God has done………or something that he has allowed to happen.
7. The final result of the “I’m a good person” argument is that you wind up putting yourself at the center of your world…….and shoving God off into a corner……..where he can’t interfere with your plans for today. Where he can’t interfere with your appetites……with your fun.

Here is the truth.

If God created paradise, then God sets up the parameters for admission…….and “goodness”, while important, is not at the top of the list. (More on this later.)

If you set up the parameters for admission to paradise……..(be a good person)………then you are God. No problem……..unless you aren’t……… God that is.

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

Paul, NIV

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Paul, NIV

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus, NIV