How to Answer the Problem of Evil in 5 Steps 😨
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Here’s the five steps on how to answer the problem of evil.
Step one: Separate the emotional problem from the intellectual one.
Step two: separate moral evil from suffering
Step three: answer why God would allow moral evil
Step four: answer why God would allow physical suffering
Step five: get help for the emotional problem
I can't pretend this fully deals with the problems of pain and moral evils but I really hope that it helps people.
-pastor Mike Winger
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you are helping me a lot Mike. thank you
As an atheist of the past 15+ years, these questions are some that I've asked so many people from different churches and I can say without a doubt that this is the most eye-opening set of answers I've ever heard. I have subscribed to your channel and have started watching many videos with an open mind and an open heart. Thank you for taking the time to do these.
Cookiecrusher08
Amazing, your more principled than many other atheist in keeping an open mind.
I would include if your truly interested in these topics, C.S Lewis mere Christianity, the audio book is here online. Also inspiring philosophy is a TH-cam channel who is great at making difficult ideas digestible.
Thank you! I will for sure look into those. I sure appreciate you taking the time to send those to me:)
Cookiecrusher08 Hey friend! Just checking in to see how you’re doing. I prayed for you as you seek answers to your questions. Email me any time if you want to chat or need a friend! Smb.7520@gmail.com. :)
Cookiecrusher08 I will be glad to have a detailed discussion of this subject with you. Sadly, most people don't have good answers to these questions. Be Blessed.
Cookiecrusher08 th-cam.com/video/N0f0Nlnl_2A/w-d-xo.html
I was spiritually abused for decades in a toxic church, left it already, but until now I don't know why that happened. I only wanted to serve God, but He allowed me to join that abusive church. It's a struggle, emotionally, but I chose to trust God all the way. This video made me cry hard. 😭 😭
Give yourself time.
It’s not your fault.
I feel you.
My husband has a friend who is going through a horrible divorce. In the course of supporting him, my husband and I went to church with him. Neither of us were religious and both were angry at God for different reasons. Going to church changed me. If it weren’t for his divorce, I would still be lost and unsaved. This man wasn’t even my friend, but his suffering saved me.
That's interesting! It sounds like you believed in God before going to church, right? Because you said you were angry at God for various reasons? What were those reasons, if you don't mind me asking?
Oh my. The goodness of God is amazing.
@@IndyB23what are your reasons for asking?
@@richiejourney1840 Just an attempt to understand people better 🙂 I find the idea of believing in but being angry with God interesting, specifically what it means to be angry with God and what it looks like. I'm not a believer myself, and I just find this kind of thing interesting, is all
@@IndyB23yeah…sounds like a play out of an atheists manual to me.
Nearly 4 years later & I needed this, I needed that prayer too. Thank you for that.
That was a great video Mike. I pray that everyone who needs to hear that message will find this video.
+kevin wynn thank you Kevin. Me too
@@MikeWinger you are wrong in every aspect of this and it actually saddens me to hear this eye opening to anyone. Let me just debunk one thing out of the multitude you said. Moral evil is evidence for god. You argues moral is only understandable if god exists other wise we can do whatever we want. That is just not the case as subjective morality is still real and use objective measurements to determine the morality of the action. You contradicts yourself because all i really need to point out is that the argument is circular as well. Morality exists because god exists. god exists therefor morality must exits. neither prove the other. You haven't said one thing about morality being shown outside of the observer which is objective. Even if you did this would not get you to a god only a absolute morality but we havent even got that far. The best point to argue this is if you christian I only need to point to the moral failings of the bible such as slavery and you will twist yourselves to make it fit your current understand of morality. That would not have been the case 1000 years ago. it would have just been seen as not immoral at all. You would think it is though. Contradiction Morality has changed over time and not absolute then. that is different then what the bible preaches. Honestly i could go on but you can also just google the worst things written in the bible and read. You can also listen to the apologitcs to those versus but that is the thing. Why is there any confusion at all. Would a god have the power to clear this all up? yes. does he? no. then I am supposed to believe without evidence of thing. at no point in our lives would this be a good thing practicing this thinking. please watch some matt dillahunty or something because this is pretty awful apologetics.
@@MikeWinger The only problem with the doctrine of eternal punishment for the unsaved is that it’s unbiblical.
The Bible says over and over that to have eternal life we must believe in Christ. Those who don’t believe in Christ *do not have eternal life* . Hell is eternal and the lake of fire is eternal, but not any particular visitor stays there forever. It says they die, face “destruction”, are “completely destroyed”, burn up like stubble, will not last, perish, “disappear like smoke”, etc. etc.
It says we should “fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat 10-28). Do people not know what the word “destroy” means?
The only possible argument you could make is that false prophets go to Hell and continue to exist forever: Rev 20-10 “The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” But even there the beast and Devil and false prophet could be archetypes, because just a few verses later death and Hell are thrown in the lake of fire to burn forever. And there is ONE verse about those who blaspheme the Holt Spirit (covered later) but that is unclear.
That’s the sum total evidence that the unsaved burn forever. Yep. That’s it. Counted against almost 100 verses that imply, or directly and emphatically say, the opposite.
It’s easy to say “Oh people don’t like Hell so they deny it.” I agree that “wanting it to be true” isn’t evidence that it’s in the Bible. But “NOT WANTING IT TO BE TRUE” ... isn’t evidence it’s in the Bible either! Everlasting punishment for infinite time is simply not Biblical. Eternal life is. Not having eternal life means you don’t live forever. If you don’t live forever you cannot be tormented forever.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
“..whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
“..you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
“broad is the road that leads to destruction.. narrow the road that leads to life”
“..the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
“Whoever sows to please their flesh.. will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit.. will reap eternal life.”
“.. those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”
“..as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that ENDURES to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”
“For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”
“Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.”
“..we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
“..the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
“..the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
“..They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
(The opposite of lasting forever is not lasting forever.)
“..for me and the gospel will.. receive a hundred times as much in this present age.. and in the age to come eternal life.”
And in case it isn’t clear:
“..will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.”
Can we really argue that “perish” and “completely destroyed” are unclear?
---
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” This might say blaspheming the Holy Spirit does, but the age to come is not generally infinite time and often just means after death.
Addressing those who go through the tribulation/apocalypse, the second death is used for the result of judgment after physical death (“second death” not “second live forever in endless torment”):
Rev 2:10-11
I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. 11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Rev 20:6 (still those alive during tribulation):
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of the Messiah, and they will reign with Him for 1,000 years.
Rev 20 (Judgment)
14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
(To, as we have seen: die, perish, be destroyed, be completely destroyed and perish, disappear like smoke, not last,
@@pfc_church It isn’t circular to say “If *you* believe in moral evil it is evidence for God”. Which is what he said.
And it is evidence for God if someone believes in it. There must be a ground for value judgments. Most people dont think it is just popular opinion or personal opinion or preference. Therefore is evidence there is a deeper grounding.
@@ibperson7765 the ground is objective measurements. The result will always be subjective. Why? because context. Murder? Well how do u handle the trolly paradox? Lying? What if a lie saves lives. You can't say every everything u do is in harently right or wrong. You base whats write or wrong on objective measurements set to yout goals. Its why some people can persecute or even kill gay people and feel morally in the right. Their action is objectively measured to their goal.
Next issue
You dont get to start at God exist therefore morality exists while also saying morality exists therefore God. Thats the definition of circular. You have to either A: prove God exist; or B: prove objective morality exists.
This does neither.
There was a time of great tragedy and sorrow, and in those moments I turned my back on God and suffered alone. Many years later when I could go no further I cried out to God. I found joy in the morning, my life is full of blessings and everything that I had lost has been restored. Mike Winger, it all started when I began listening to your videos the way you explain things open my heart to the gospel again
No need to suffer alone. There are atheists who would be compassionate with you. God does not exist, and this has now been proven.
Hi Mike. Joe from Rhode Island here. I've been on a spitural hunt 'so to speak' and found your ministry and Tuesday's live chats since October (2018). Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, and Happy New Year by the way... I saw last nights, New Years Day, Tuesday Live and enjoyed the message of "tatoos" and the division it creates and how to aprouch the bible in both the old and new testiments. After watching I found this lesson on the top of the "UP NEXT" area of TH-cam and decided to take the time to watch it. I've seen over 50 vids at this point since October. I feel compelled to thank you and let you know that I am on a path to healing and a humble return to God after a long time of a 'no realtionship' with Him for over 10 years. I thank Him because I think you have been a part of his plan with me. I thought you should know that. Thank you for all the work you must be doing in the back ground to do all of this while still working in your own church and being married etc. It feels like it must be a 24 hour job that you do. Although, I don't think you would call it a job. Thanks again and I look forward to watching more of the older vids I haven't seen and the future ones to come. Peace!
God bless you Josef!
Wow, thank you very much for this teaching. Yes, I was lashing out at others in my pain. God is amazing & long suffering. He is healing my heart. I don't have to have the answers, only God knows all.
Never, ever stop expecting answers. Anyone who does not want you to ask questions is not your friend.
Suffering always brings me closer to God. It just shows me how much I need God
I needed this teaching. My heart is shattered my eyes are on Him
There is nothing there to see!
you really helped me. I'm in a pit of pain and grief. your logical speech is comforting.
😢
Mike's speech was not logical. If God did exist, he would not sit by and allow so much harm in our world. No perfectly moral and all powerful person would do that.
@@whittfamily1he doesnt allow, why do you think people die? He's offered us a way out of this though through Jesus Christ otherwise we will be condemned to hell if we stay in our sins. He's given us this time to be forgiven through him
@@thesterrave S1: he doesnt allow, why do you think people die?
GW1: If God did exist, he would not allow horrible harms, like the Holocaust. All people die eventually, but it is morally wrong to intentionally cause the death of another person or to allow that to happen when you could prevent or stop it. And so, if God were to allow the Holocaust, then he would be morally wrong. But, by definition God is perfectly moral. This is how we know that God does not exist.
S1: He's offered us a way out of this though through Jesus Christ otherwise we will be condemned to hell if we stay in our sins.
GW1: That is complete nonsense! First, if God did exist, he would never send anybody to eternal torment for their sins, as a punishment. That would be immoral. Secondly, God would never arrange for his own son to be tortured, humiliated, and murdered in order to set up an atonement. That would also be immoral. Thirdly, God would always justly punish people for their sins, not forgive them. So, you are mistaken on every point.
S1: He's given us this time to be forgiven through him
GW1: No. If God wanted to forgive anybody (he wouldn’t), then he would just say “I forgive you” and exempt them from punishment. That would be the end of it. He would not use his son as a scapegoat in an atonement system. That would be immoral.
@@thesterrave then why did he not cure my mom's cancer in Jan?....
What a wonderful sermon Pastor. I cannot even explain how it impacted me. Thank you Lord. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Mike.... I sooooo appreciate you. Pain and suffering is a biggie. I had a surgery 16 months ago that has left me in permanent pain. What do you do when it's not temporary? My heart is hard thinking God is for others and not with me. I shouldnt be circumstantial with my faith. I'm guilty. But I can't deny this circumstance has thrown me. I admit I have the anger you spoke about. I'm embarrassed. I love how you explained it. I so want to look at this and trust God and no he has me on a path and it will eventually be okay even if it means waiting until heaven. I've just been burned so many times by trusting people it's nearly impossible for me to trust. Especially in this critical thing. My left leg is basically ruined and I trusted people to get here and I should never have done it in the first place and I prayed so deeply before the surgery it just is crushing that this happen. The surgery was supposed to make me better and it made me 10 times worse. That's the rub. I put a lot of chips on this bet. I guess I shouldn't have. I'm a very tentative person because of my wiring and history. I'm sort of shell shocked. I think you are right about pride and narcissism. I think the world revolves around me because this isn't turning out the way I want it to. Yet I can't seem to help myself. I wish I had the energy to help others but instead I have no energy and I'm the one that needs comfort. Just not the way I envisioned it. I know I'm not alone with this sort of situation. So sorry for the long comment. U r awesome and I have learned a lot by watching your videos. I probably would not have found them if it were not for my situation. I can already start to list some things that I have learned. Due to the situation
My brother suffers debilitating pain all of the time. It affects his sleep, moods, and health. He has prayed but it has only gotten worse. Yet, he has more faith than I do. His abiding faith helps me get out of myself and back to God. I will pray that you have relief, as well as a deeper sense of God and His Love for you.
hey any update on ur situation?
@@megalopolis2015 Thanks so much for your response! I'm just seeing it now. Two years late. Ha ha. talk about procrastination. I thank you deeply for your words and care and prayers. My leg pain is still there - but, over the last two years, HAS IMPROVED and so has my attitude. I'm so so so grateful. I just pray I now USE this for God and character and growth and to help others. Blessings to you !!!
@@HokageTrades Very very kind of you to inquire about my leg situation.. Thank you for caring. Get this, my leg pain is still there - however, over the last two years, it HAS IMPROVED and so has my attitude/perspective. I'm so so so grateful that I have had a measure of healing both physically and emotionally. the pain is still there. Daily. Every moment. But, it's a lower level pain and it is more manageable. Bottom line is, I can live with it even though it's not ideal. I pray I now USE this for God improvement and situation to build character/relationship and help others. I pray you BLESSINGS in every way for taking the time to ask a total stranger. That reflects a caring heart. YOU are a blessing.
@@infomercialguy thats so good to hear, God is good indeed. Glad your situation is improving :)
This was a great video. I totally revisited some thoughts I had when I was younger and shaking my fist at God and focusing on myself and my pain and not trusting God. I really did continue to hurt myself. Now looking back on it 10+ years later I still don't see. But I trust God now more than I ever did. And he gives me that peace I rejected so many times. I just pray and hope and have faith that the next time pain or moral evil comes that God will continue to mold me as I cling to Him and His promises.
Most of the pain, suffering, harm, and loss you do experience wouldn't happen, if God did exist. He would prevent it.
@@whittfamily1 that's a lie. Don't believe it. Praying for you, God to soften your heart, and remove the scales from your eyes.
@@homewardbound799 H: that's a lie.
GW: Prove it.
H: Don't believe it.
GW: I believe it and everyone else should too.
H: Praying for you, God to soften your heart, and remove the scales from your eyes.
GW: That’s useless. As Dan Barker has said “Nothing fails like prayer.”
GW: God does not exist, and this has been proven.
this teaching reached me in my heart, thank you Mike! the holy spirit is working through you. God blessings brother in Christ Jesus.
When evil or good, suffering or pain, happens in my life, I always retrace my steps back to the love of God and find the answers in Jesus.When my bro was dying of cancer, he will say I never thought or would questioned: why me? I told him, because God wants you for himself.You'll see him.God is good and all is for his glory.
Hello Lola. Please accept my response knowing my heart is coming from grace and not rebuke. I would like to offer a reason to be hesitant about telling people who are ill that God wants them for Himself. While we don't know what to say at times to comfort those in need, we must approach these situations with truth. Pastor Mike covered pain and suffering very well however, he did not say that God takes people or causes sickness and death because He wants people; ie: "for work in Heaven" (which I've heard people say many times in my life). Yes, God wants all of us to be with Him one day but He is also eternal and self-sufficient; He doesn't need us for anything. We know sickness and death are ultimately because of a broken/fallen world, but now that we are under His grace, He deals with us in a different way. God does allow bad things to happen but it's important to remember He does not cause bad things to happen. You are absolutely correct, all is for God's glory, but please be careful about letting people think God causes or lets bad things happen because He wants them to be with Him. He is the God of life and His will is for all to be healed of every sickness, through faith, in believers in Jesus' name. God bless you Sister.
Bs. God Doesn't exist
This needs to be talked about more because it's a big issue with many. Thank you, Mike!
Thank you Mike. Your teaching is soo helpful for hurting melievrrs in Christ who simply don’t understand His ways. Thank you
20:10 to 21:16 that small clip, just a hair over a minute long, opened up the book of Job to me, better than every single sermon, teaching, book, article, etc. I've ever heard or read combined.
So often Preachers/Teachers speak about Job in the same ways that his friends did and accuse him of evil, and yet the whole point of God allowing all those things to happen was to show Satan that Job was righteous and would not sin.
However, despite knowing that he had not sinned or done anything to incur God's judgment, and despite trusting God, and not charging God with wrongdoing, Job finally gets it when God appears and asks His questions. It is not Job's place to question God, and whilst he did not sin, nor charge God with wrong-doing, he realizes it is not for man to know everything that God does, and it is enough that we trust Him and abide.
Job is a terrible book. It teaches that God would allow suffering to engage in a bet with Satan. If God did exist, that would never happen.
@@whittfamily1 or it teaches that Satan would willingly destroy and murder if he thinks he can cause someone to fall. Which he does all the time. God was protecting Job and blessing him. Without God, we would all be dead. I'm very certain that God only allowed it in Job's case because he knew Job would be faithful despite the suffering and his story could be an example for billions of people. I don't believe God is regularly allowing Satan to cause suffering "in a bet" situation.
@@thadofalltrades
TT: or it teaches that Satan would willingly destroy and murder if he thinks he can cause someone to fall. Which he does all the time.
GW: No. Belief in Satan is just a superstition. If God did exist, he would not create Satan, or if he did create him, then he would destroy Satan after his first mischief.
TT: God was protecting Job and blessing him.
GW: No. In the story God was allowing Satan to cause major harms to Job. That is not protection.
TT: Without God, we would all be dead.
GW: False again. We are all alive without God. God does not exist.
TT: I'm very certain that God only allowed it in Job's case because he knew Job would be faithful despite the suffering and his story could be an example for billions of people.
GW: That is not a morally justified reason. Since God would be perfectly moral if he did exist, he would have a morally justified reason for everything he did and did not do.
TT: I don't believe God is regularly allowing Satan to cause suffering "in a bet" situation.
GW: “Regularly” does not matter here. If God did exist, Satan would not exist OR God would never make a bet with Satan, as described in the book of Job.
@@whittfamily1 the assertion that Satan would not exist if God existed is specious at best. How do you arrive at such a conclusion? God didn't create Satan as Satan, Satan made his own choices.
@@thadofalltrades
TT: the assertion that Satan would not exist if God existed is specious at best.
GW: No. It is a rational inference.
TT: How do you arrive at such a conclusion?
GW: It’s easy. If God did exist, he would be the all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly moral creator. Agree? Given those traits, he would never create a supernatural person who would cause major harms to human persons or tempt human persons to behave immorally. No way!
TT: God didn't create Satan as Satan, Satan made his own choices.
GW: But God would not allow the angel who became Satan to make choices to cause major harms to human persons or tempt human persons to behave immorally. No way! I don’t know why you can’t understand this. If God did exist, Satan would not exist. Also, there is no good evidence that Satan exists anyway.
Really got a lot out of this thank you so much. I've been so scared about the evil and where it came from. I will listen to this many times to get it firmly embedded in my mind and soul. Praise God for your teachings.
I once found a parakeet, stranded and alone in the city. Definitely not in a place where it was supposed to be. Presumably, its wings were clipped because it couldn't fly off the ground. I took it home to care for it, earning its trust on the way. We thought it may belong to someone, so I put up flyers so that they could call me. In the couple days I had it at home, my little brother played with it, not understanding that whatever he was doing was terrifying and potentially harmful to the bird. For the entire rest of the week, that parakeet was afraid of us. Nothing I did seemed to change that. I had planned to take it to a friend's house where it would be happier and healthier. However, on the day I was going to do that, about a week after I first found it, I found it lying dead, hiding in the corner of our yard. It died of hunger, alone and too scared to eat.
There was no lesson I could've learned from this. I had no goal of learning to care for parakeets. Clearly, this didn't have too big of an effect on its owner because no one called. Had it lived for one more day, it could've lived a happy life. But that didn't happen. Why did that happen the way it did? What could God have hoped to gain from that? How can God possibly be glorified in the suffering and death of that parakeet? And don't say, "Well, God must've had a plan you can't see," Because that's simply an invalid argument.
Wow, this was powerful. I always learn so much for you Pastor Mike. God bless you many! 🕊🙏🏼❤️
Oh my goodness...Mike your explanation revisited my life and deeply this message is one that should hit hard. Amen to you and God bless
This is a great message for our current times. Everyone needs to see it. Everyone is wanting to “fix” our country now and make it what they want it to be. Well that may not and likely won’t happen. We all know what a false peace for this world means! Praying for all of the lost and suffering souls in our world. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you for your incredibly thoughtful and incredibly intelligent response to the emotional problem. Keep on keeping on
What great insight you have. Thanks for your ministry I have schizoaffective disorder that was a result of a mental
break, over the yrs, I never doubted God's goodness but often wondered
why this happened to me. I even asked
some therapists if it could have been a
result of my past use of drugs. My main
drug of choice was cannabis I was listening to a psychiatrist who mentioned that Marijuana can induce
psychosis even yrs. afterwards I had
an ahah moment that finally answered
my question I used the stuff almost
daily and didn't know the ramifications
So sorry I touched it but even though
it did permament damage I'm thankful
that I was a believer before this incident happened and as a result became closer to the Lord
wow... amen Pastor Mike. I love your sermons
Great lesson.
+SenorTqco thank you
40:26 - Such a great point, yet so simple.
There is a BIG difference between gifts and promises. We are NOT promised children who will grow up healthy, we are not promised spouses who will live as long as we do.. we are not promised the live-long use of our legs, our arms, our eyes..etc...is it not the ultimate vanity to _expect these things as if they are broken promises when they are removed??_ rather than being grateful for the time we had with these gifts? We ARE *promised* forgiveness of our sins, redemption and eternal life in Jesus Christ simply for _believing_ .. There _is_ hope, but only if we recognize we aren't due _anything in the first place_ and all the good we get is a _gift_ .
If someone had the clear ability to save your drowning child, yet simply stood by and watched your child die with zero effort to save her, i highly doubt you'd say "well he never PROMISED he wouldn't stand by and watch my child drown. My child wasn't ENTITLED to any effort to save her life."
How does the lack of a prior promise absolve someone of any moral obligation to anyone else? That's absurd
@@jonathanjones770
Now lets say the "person" knows that this life is finite, and that beyond it is a place where suffering, pain, and etc do not exist and that is eternal.
So how bad is that finite suffering when compared to a painless joyfilled eternity? While we may not like finite life being taken from us by any means it's only absolutely terrible if that eternal place does not exist.
@@JohnDoe-bt4ps suffering in any quantity is bad. Regardless of how much good occurs later, the fact remains that the person just stood by and watched as a child drowned to death for no reason.
Amen
@@person8064 what if that child drowning allowed both the child and the parent to experience eternal happiness. Is the child experiencing a small amount of pain worth the parent experiencing eternal happiness as well?
Thank you Mike for your videos. The Lord uses you wonderfully! God bless you dear brother!
You have been an amazing help on my journey to find christ, thank you so much🙏
Thank you so much Mike. We enjoy your ministry everyday. Blessings from Canada.
You are the ministry of God I thank you in the name of Jesus christ. God will certainly reward you. Keep going to teach the right lessons like you are doing . May Grace be upon you bro.
I just learned about this channel. This is really helpful. God bless you.
Wonderful and thoughtful teaching on this challenging topic, Pastor Mike!
Great video! I’ll definitely be using some of the points for an apologetic series I’m constructing for my young adults group at church.
Beautiful, beautiful song at the end there Pastor Mike. Thank you for adding that. 😌🌹🙏🏽
Thank you.
GOD allowed suffering in this current world. I try to remember WHO suffered the MOST, in this wicked and adulterous generation.
HE DID. HE took ALL the suffering there ever was, on HIMSELF, on the cross. Dear GOD in heaven, have mercy on me, a sinner.
The LORD giveth and the LORD taketh away. Blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21)
May GOD BLESS YOU IN ABUNDANCE
I just came across you yesterday. Thank you what a blessing you are!
Spot on, brother Mike!
Thank you, though this was from years ago, it always applies and I have been struggling in this area as of lately.
Mike thank-you so much for your teaching!
Mike, I love that at 9:27 your stomach totally tells you, krispy Creme please right after you mentioned it. I think our stomach may have free will also...
Awesome video, great content. Looking forward to more.
Amen. God is good.
Thank you for this video God bless you.
Thank you Pastor Mike for this video! It’s much needed.
I have to say, I really absolutely commend you on your efforts and these amazing videos that you share! I can only hope that God would use me the same. The video on the ‘mother God’ followers helped me to answer questions for those who follow that cult as well!!! This video is just so simple, beautiful and easy to understand!! THANK YOU AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD!!! 🙏🙌🙌🙌
Great discussion Mike
Thank you Pastor!! This really helped me and I'm sure it will help many other.
Excellent
This helped a lot GOD BLESS
Evil is not a thing, it's the absence of The thing. It's a moving away from Good, from God.
Amen Only God knows the big picture but we know trials are all about trust growing in faith-perseverance and endurance.
Hebrews 11:6
James 1:12
The BIG picture… oh boy can’t wait… why did that innocent child need bone cancer???? This should be good!!!!
Love that you let the song play!!!!!!!
PHENOMENAL video!!!! Thank you.
This was just what I needed to share with my nieces. They said thanks!
Gotta tell you I have the same problem with my own chewing habits. I often bite my lip to the point of drawing blood. I now feel a little better knowing I am not alone.
Life is our school, the gospel is our answers, prayers are our communication to God, Holy Ghost is a truthful guide from God.
Thank you! I really needed this 😭😭😭
This is really good. Thanks for posting it!
Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Have to say...Roman's 5:3-5. Helps me greatly as a believer too. Where is says suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope........
Thanks Mike, great message. ❤️
Wow excellent work , the best I've heard on the topic , thanks
This is awesome pastor.thank u
I too have bit on my inner lip while chewing. 😂🤣 Wonderful provocative teaching, as always.
Thank you for your comfort and wisdom, Pastor Mike. They are much appreciated. Bless you. Is there possibly another reason also for the evil in this world? A choice made a long time ago came with "the knowledge of good and evil". I can't imagine a better life for teaching us about good and evil, both externally and internally. Be careful what you wish for ...
Couldn't help but notice that you used some of Tim Keller's points from Walking with God through Pain. I absolutely love that book!
Fantastic message and delivery, as always. Thanks Mike!
24:00 there it is Mike, you believe because you want to believe. Nothing more, nothing less.
Maybe you only believe that about me because you want to believe that about me.
@@MikeWinger Maybe! We are all prone to confirmation bias, and other such ways of thinking that lead us astray. This is why we need to try to "catch ourselves" doing these things. We need to be particularly careful about our beliefs when we want them to be true. And more than anything else we need to make sure we are not cheating to avoid losing.
And I'm sorry for this next bit sounding so harsh, but I've never seen a Christian not cheat to avoid losing. That includes yourself.
@@bjhcvuaerpigfyWe believe in a transcendent reality greater than anything that can be empirically known. There is substantial evidence but it’s known experientially AFTER you come to faith in Jesus. That’s the barrier for entry for scores of people throughout history. It’s understandable to a degree to desire evidence but still the trap that many fall into when it isn’t presented the way that they want. God owes no man an explanation but He’s also been good and faithful to provide what’s needed. He also doesn’t answer to any human demand based on our subjective standards.
@@josephjimorris evolution never selected for finding out the truth: only for avoiding being wrong. You are walking on the savannahs in Africa and you hear a rustling in the bushes. It could just be the wind or it might be a lion. To find out the truth you would go over to the bushes and investigate. To avoid being wrong you would just assume it's a lion and runaway. Evolution selects for the second option not the first. Christian's aren't interested in finding out the truth buy investigating, they are just trying to avoid being wrong, they just run away.
This is such a wonderful video. Thank you so much. It’s so very helpful
the emotional side of pain....this probably shows the most human side, of you.....ergo....a true Pastor...
Awesome!
In a sense, I have actually said “have my will be done” to God. Thinking my will should be His will and guess what? He gave it to me and I spent more then a decade dealing with the repercussions.
Lesson learned... May God’s will be done!
You are brave
Great answer regarding evil and it came because of free choice
This was a helpful message for me, thanks so much Mike. :)
Thanks for this!
I love that song!!!
Enjoyed the teaching. I think there is a general principle that man stepped away from God and it is man that caused evil and only God's love and mercy that will intervene at times, if we seek him, to cause some good to result from a situation. But we should limit thoughts that God allows evil in order to bring good out of it. It is man's free will that causes evil and God's love that softens the impact,
15:22 made me laugh. Quicksand lol. Thanks for this video Mike.
10:40 “The purpose behind evil…is because god allows us to have free will”
One big question: is there free will in heaven?
One thing about heaven that we can be absolutely sure of is that there is no evil of any kind in that place.
So do we sacrifice our free will in exchange for eternal paradise? If that’s the case then clearly free will is not valuable at all and it would seem odd that he’d give it to us here as some moral good but would then strip it from us at the pearly gates.
Or is there free will in heaven? If there’s free will in heaven then clearly god has a way to give beings free will without the possibility of evil. But that can’t be the case because the Christian offers evil as the necessary byproduct of free will. Winger said himself that if you don’t have the choice to do something bad then you aren’t truly free.
So which of the two is it?
It’s surprising how no one can see how we are on earth to experience what God is going through. He created his children and they decide to run after idols and do their own thing. God feels hurt for good reasons so he teaches them a few lessons but they die without repenting. So God experiences grief for loosing His children forever. Then He sends his son to die for us so that we understand how far He’s willing to go to draw us back to Him.
How can we understand even a fraction of what God is going through if we don’t have children, if we don’t get upset that they don’t listen, if we don’t discipline them or if we don’t grieve if we go through loss?
We are here to realise what we mean to God. We are not an accident in the middle of the universe. He loves us and wants us to come back to Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our experiences have meaning...
Feel like having a family will bring true joy and happiness im trying to put it all into christ but man this is difficult its hard being alone in a house and looking at families it stings a little and seeing post online like my kids are my everything im like man must be nice here I am trying all new hobbies and change my ways to get a true joy but its not happening idk why
@@caviestcaveman8691 having a family doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. At least it’s not the happiness i expected. But it allowed me to understand certain things about the Bible and I gained a different sensitivity while reading the scriptures. At this point in time I read and understand the Bible very differently from when I was single without children. It’s a process I believe. It might seem strange to you but once you understand why you are in this world and why Jesus came time just doesn’t matter anymore and things just fall into place. Once you get there you will realize happiness is much more simple than you thought.
@@redinsart oh I know it just would be nice for a change
our Father also feels pain and sorrow 😩 forgive us Father. You are worthy
absolutely smashed it mate well done
God JHWE, Father, i trust in You in Jesus Christ's Name and i adore You.Amen❤🌹❤
Good can exist without evil but evil can't exist without good
I would say that I haven’t had an easy life in a variety of ways, and yet I have also experienced many blessings, however my most intimate, close, and life sobering times were through the difficulties and seeing Gods hand on a multiple occasions intervene in my life ( not always the way I expected or how I would have liked it, yet in a better alternative) but in a powerful way. He’s also brought good out of evil and it at times it took years to look in hindsight to understand those circumstances and why God had allowed these times. I’m very great-full for what he has brought me through. I believe one of the factors that wether you are a believer or not, life doesn’t guarantee comfort or a painless life. We arrogantly forget this at times. However in the midst of this, God does promise that he will not forsake us in those times when we look to him. I can certainly testify to this.
Brilliant video
Wonderful! Thank you! God Bless!
Great message thank you!
I've only just began the video, but I can say outright that most atheists don't say "the presence of evil means there's no god."
The argument goes something more like, "If there is a god, he can't be omnipotent, or he can't be benevolent."
The choice is pretty clear. Either the god CAN prevent evil, and doesn't (not benevolent), or he can't prevent evil (not omnipotent), in which case why should we even call him a god?
Some fundamental questions concerning your post:
1) how is "evil" defined, and what/who determines what "evil" is?
Christian Answer: God defines and determines what "evil" is. He sets the standards for goodness/holiness/righteousness, as well as for what is evil (anything opposed to what God commands via His Law).
2) who sets the standard for what "love" (benevolence) is?
Christian Answer: again, God ALONE sets the standard of what His love is, as well as how humans are to think, speak, and behave. Anything outside of His standard is not "love," but "evil".
Jn. 3:16 gives us the 'how' of God's demonstration of love.
3) why does God 'allow' evil in His creation?
Christian Answer: the word "allow" can only be used of the Omniprescient, Omnipotent [Triune] God of Scripture in a temporal context.
In eternity, however, God decisively decreed 'whatsoever would come to pass in time in His creation'...and that includes the wickedness of Satan, by whom the creation and creatures fell from their original, holy state.
So, God's omnipotence is maintained because He is a God of PURPOSE (even for evil, God has a purpose); and He is benevolent in the sense that all those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ would not perish (by the Law, and under the condemnation of it) but would have eternal life (impeccable, and without deception, falsehoods and lies).
Just a short answer.
*Soli Deo Gloria*
@@ryangallmeier6647 I don't consider special pleading as a serious argument. If your god gets to redefine anything in our out of existence just so he keeps his status, then why even bother? "Well, /this/ genocide isn't evil because god says it's okay." Not even worth arguing.
God doesn't "redefine" stuff; He gives the proper definitions of terms, and provides the proper context for all the He does.
For example, the damnation of the wicked and unbelieving in the eschatological judgement is justified because God is the ultimate Lawgiver, Judge, and executioner of all who fall short of the perfection that His Law demands.
It's not too difficult to understand.
@@ryangallmeier6647 Context? So then things can be evil sometimes, but not other times?
Example?
??? Pastor Mike: In heaven, how can we fully love God without free will to sin??? Thank you!
In heaven we have been judged already, we made the choice to love God for eternity. Heaven is simply him granting that.
Great work, he uses St Thomas Aquinas a lot.
As far as a one liner answer it is as simple to me as this: God didn't want robots, he wanted beings who made the choice to love Him. PS. I didn't mean in any way that I didn't value your whole video! I absolutely appreciate and agree. And that comes from someone who has been through some fire.
Is it impossible for a population of beings to exist with no suffering or evil yet still with free will?
@@jonathanjones770 Yes, free will necessarily includes the ability to do evil and evil necessarily ceates suffering.
@@ReasonedAnswers
No, i didn't mean no ABILITY to commit evil and cause suffering. Obviously free will precludes that ability. What I'm asking is if it's possible for there to exist a population of beings who possess free will but who never choose to commit evil acts
@@jonathanjones770 _"if it's possible for there to exist a population of beings who possess free will but who never choose to commit evil acts"_ No, I don't think it is possible to create a population of free creatures of any significant size such that none of them chose to exercise their ability to do evil.
@@ReasonedAnswershow do?
I think God had to allow a lot in my life to reach me. I had trouble knowing he was a loving God and trusting him fully. I didnt have the earthly example of a loving father and could not comprehend his love and trust him. He has allowed my husband walking out on me and 3 little children, my son has severe ADHD(he is 30 now and still in trouble with the law), daughter with ADHD, I havent seen a daughter in say 4 years. My children treat me as though I am their enemy. My parents are narcissistic and my 3 siblings, whom I have had to detach from because you are always the victim of their cruel behaviour. I've had cancer twice in the last 6 years. I have alienated myself from friends who are takers. I left work due to my cancer, so no family, no friends and a new husband. God certainly got my attention more because I was at the end of myself. I have grown so much now though. From my fears of what if to just believe and trust him, no matter what and give thanks in all things. For he is working all things together for good to those that love him
So, why do you think your ADHD children should suffer? They suffer to in order to teach you a lesson? What a cruel God.
@@sjsupa this is a twisted comment what you have said. We are in an imperfect world and there are all sorts of illnesses and problems. God didn't give me ADHD children to teach me a lesson. Trials bring us closer to God that is what I said. He is ultimately working everything together for good to those who love him. This life is not the end.
@@kim09031957 OK，but you still haven't answer my question. Why do you think your ADHD children should suffer? Oh, you said Imperfect world, so the illness happens naturally. A perfect God created a imperfect world? Who is doing the twisting?
Because the real ruler of the world is Satan the Devil.
"We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." - 1John 5:19
"So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him." - Revelation 12:9
Many people imitate Satan. And that’s just 1 reason why the world is so full of hatred.
My issue is hell. What can I do in a time world that deserves eternal suffering? It seems like getting life in jail for stealing a piece of bubble gum. I do believe in God though.
We have christ, so we can turn away. Hell was meant for the most wicked
@@rusluck6620 Hell is sadistic.
@@a.psquickview2071 What do you think should happen to the devil? Hell was only made for those as bad as the devil
@@rusluck6620 Who made the devil?
@@a.psquickview2071 God. Also he was an angel, like Michael and Gabriel. He fell off by anger towards man
Counting it all Joy is not my strong suit. Still, prayer is for all things, including painful and confusing situations. I believe/help me with my unbelief is one of my most prevslent prayers. God bless you in your growing ministry.