Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? 

By Dr. Greg Lanier (Table Talk 2017 Aug.issue)

If we are merely atoms subject to physics and natural selection, suffering does not exist.

“ONE CANCER IN CHILDREN? What's that about? How dare You? How dare You create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault?” With these bracing words, the comedian Stephen Fry, an outspoken atheist, voiced a crucial issue for Christians and non-Christians: If God is all good and all powerful, as the Scriptures claim, then why does He allow good people to suffer evil? All are confronted with it: a dear friend’s diagnosis with terminal illness, abuse of a neighbor’s child; terrorist bombings at a beach café; hurricanes devastating entire islands. When skeptics ask this question—or when fellow Christians ask, or when you ask—what is a biblically sound response?

It is essential to distinguish, and carefully engage with, two parts of the question: the head/intellectual side and the heart/emotional side. In the moment of suffering, a head-oriented answer—even if doctrinally correct—may not be balm for the anguished soul. Often the tender response comes first. But that must be grounded in the intellectual side, so we begin there and will circle back to the emotional side.

The head/intellectual issue can be rephrased like this: Does the suffering of good people disprove God? For if He allows such things to happen, doesn’t that prove that He is not good, is not all-powerful, or is nonexistent? Four responses should be made.

  1, The question assumes there is such a thing as “good” and “evil” to begin with. The person asking the question has decided that one thing/person/event (earthquake, Hitler, terrorism) is “evil” and that something else (a suffering individual) is “good”.

But how does the questioner know what is the “evil” or “good” thing? Not by personal opinion. For one realizes upon reflection that “evil“ people (Hitler/ISIS/whoever) do not think they themselves are evil. The fact that anyone can protest evil at all requires a standard from good and evil outside any single individual or culture, which can only come from God and which has been revealed to all (Rom.1:19-20;2:13-16) 

2. The question presupposes that the suffering of a “good” person has meaning, Rocks and trees do not suffer. Even “bad” things happening to creatures is proportional; few rages against God

when a tsunami destroys millions of ants. The significance of human suffering, however, is intuitive to all and entails that humans have unique dignity that is being undone by the suffering. Such dignity can only be conferred by God. If we are merely atoms subject to physics and natural selection, suffering does not exist. 

3. The question assumes that God never has good reasons for suffering. But according to Scriptures, God does have such reasons, even if we dislike or do not understand them. Suffering can be due to the fallen state of creation (Rom 8:19-22) Suffering can be a punishment for sin (Judg. 2:11-15), though not always (John 9:1-3), God can permit Satan to inflict it (Job 1-2). It can be used to advance God’s kingdom (1Peter 4:12-19) and sanctify us (Rom.5:3-5, James I:2-4)  Indeed, the most stunning instance of a bad thing happening to a good person—the death of Jesus—accomplished the good of salvation (Acts 2;22-24;4:8-12). But sometimes, when facing the most gratuitous and inexplicable of evils, we can but trust that God’s ways are beyond our own (Rom 11:33-36).

4. Finally, the question requires that there be such a thing as a “good” person, yet Scriptures and life attest that all of us are broken and miserable (Rom 3:10-18). Indeed, another question might be why good things happen to anyone at all, given how bad we are. The skeptic believes the universe operates on the basis of “do good, receive good; do bad, receive bad.” If this view is accurate, why do utterly despicable people prosper? No other worldview can explain this except the biblical one, which reveals the sinfulness of everyone and the benevolence of God toward everyone for His own purposes (Matt. 5:4-5)—unto the final day of judgment, when all will be rectified.

We return, then, to the heart/emotional issue. When bad things happen, suffering and grief often confront us with the seeming absence of God in that moment. What do Christians do? The head/intellectual issue must be dealt with, perhaps when the dark clouds part. In the darkness, we comfort those who are suffering with the loving comfort we have received from God (2 Cor. 1:3-7). We grieve with them (Rom.12:15). We sit in the ashes with them (Job 2:11-13). We bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). And most of all, we lovingly point them to Jesus, the one good person who suffered the greatest of all evils to redeem us, who wipes away our tears, and who promises a day when this will all be fixed (Rev. 21:4)

Nikolas Cruz and Nicky Cruz: Two Different Spiritual Paths and Two Different Eternal Destinations

BY DAN DELZELL

If only Nikolas Cruz had been set free from demonic manipulation the way Nicky Cruz was set free by Christ decades ago, this heinous massacre could have been avoided.

(COURTESY OF NICKY CRUZ)Former The Mau Maus gang leader Nicky Cruz after his conversion with evangelist David Wilkerson, who led him to accept Jesus Christ.

After 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz entered his former high school in Florida last week and killed 17 people, he told authorities that demons instructed him on how to carry out the attack.

Nicky Cruz was born in Puerto Rico in 1938. Nicky's parents worshipped Satan, and his mother would often call him "Son of Satan." Nicky grew up around animal sacrifices and seances. "I saw my mother possessed by the devil many times," Nicky recalls. And he witnessed various supernatural events at his home.

When Nicky was 15 his parents sent him to live with his brother in New York City. He soon started living on the streets and joined the notorious Mau Mau street gang. It wasn't long before Nicky became the leader ("Warlord") of the gang.

A preacher by the name of David Wilkerson began going to Nicky's neighborhood. He told Nicky that Jesus loved him and would never stop loving him. Cruz slapped the preacher and threatened to kill him, but Wilkerson kept going back. He even organized an evangelistic rally at a local boxing arena. Nicky said that when he arrived at the arena he "felt guilty" about what he had done. Nicky and some other members of his gang repented of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. This dramatic series of events took place over 60 years ago, and to this day 79-year-old Nicky Cruz continues to share the Gospel.

Pastor Wilkerson wrote The Cross and the Switchblade describing his ministry to Nicky and other disillusioned youth in New York City, and a film adaptation was released in 1970. The film has been seen by an estimated 50 million people in over 30 languages in 150 countries.

Last Sunday I preached about the 72 disciples Jesus sent out who later "returned with joy and said, 'Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.'" (Luke 10:17)

You see, believers in Jesus have been given authority to command demons to get away from them and to stop harassing others. If only Nikolas Cruz had come to know Christ, and then commanded the demons to leave him alone when they started prodding him to kill people. Instead, Nikolas gave into their diabolical persuasion, just like the parents of Nicky Cruz in Puerto Rico.

Some people place themselves under the control of demons, while others get saved and receive authority from Christ to rebuke demons and command them to leave. For those oppressed by demons, there is a way to effectively deal with these supernatural agitators.

Here is the only approach that produces peace and freedom:

1) Confess yours sins to the Lord and turn away from them.

2) Receive Jesus as your Savior and trust the Lord to completely forgive you. (John 3:16-18)

3) Commit your life to following Christ day by day in thought, word, and deed.

4) Command any demons that oppress you to get away "in Jesus' name."

5) Fill your mind with Scripture and spend time everyday in prayer.

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(COURTESY OF NICKY CRUZ)Gang leader turned evangelist Nicky Cruz at an evangelistic crusade in Honduras during the 1970s.

Nikolas Cruz and Nicky Cruz illustrate the tremendous difference between walking in darkness and walking in the light. (John 8:12) You can either submit to the demons and allow them to guide your decisions, or you can submit your life to Jesus Christ and command the demons to get away from you.

Jesus told the72 disciples, "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) The name of every believer is written in "the book of life," (Rev. 20:15) which is essentially "heaven's reservation book."

What about you my friend? Do you have a relationship with the Lord? If not, there is still time to come to Christ. This opportunity, however, may not be available to you tomorrow. We never know when our final hour will arrive. Our nation has once again witnessed an evil man carry out a senseless rampage. And the 17 victims in Florida had no idea their life on earth was going to end that day.

Nikolas Cruz and Nicky Cruz present a picture of two spiritual paths and two eternal destinations. (John 7:13,14)

My message at Wellspring last Sunday compared these two men in light of Luke 10, and perhaps you or someone you know would benefit from hearing it. There will always be some people who are ready to step out of the darkness of demons and into the light of Christ. (Col. 1:13) They just need someone to help them get out. They just need someone to give them hope.

Jesus told Saul (who would become the apostle Paul): "I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." (Acts 26:18)

Faith in Jesus is the key that allows a person access into God's kingdom with all of its blessings and authority. Open your eyes. Open your heart. And then receive the Savior who shed His blood on the cross for all of your sins. (John 1:12; Eph. 1:7)

Dan Delzell is the pastor of Wellspring Church in Papillion, Neb. He is a regular contributor to The Christian Post.

Why Would a Good God Allow So Much Evil?

Why God Doesn't Reduce the Evil in the World?

...Of course, as the number of drivers increased, the number of accidents increased as well. Cars could be dangerous, especially to pedestrians. If cars were placed on tracks, the number of fatalities could have been decreased, but doing so would defeat the purpose of the automobile. A car on rails is an amusement park attraction, not an automobile.

...God Created Humans as Free Creatures

I offer the automobile as one kind of illustration to help answer one objection for God's existence. When I'm on college campuses, I usually hear the question "Why would an all-good and all-powerful God allow evil in the world?" I normally offer the Free Will defense, stating God wanted to not simply create creatures, but he desired creatures that could freely choose to love him. Some may acquiesce to the idea that God would have to allow people to choose and therefore some kind of evil is inevitable, but many offer a second objection. They usually ask, "But why would a good God allow so much evil? There's just too much suffering in the world for God to exist."

Of course their objection is loaded with assumptions. One may be that God could just remove all the truly evil people in the world. The first question I have is where should God draw the line? How much evil should he allow and how much should he quell? You may think that a gang-banger who kills people should definitely be included, but then we've lost a Nicky Cruz, who later event on to become a powerful evangelist, leading thousands to Christ. What about cheats and liars? How did you do on your taxes last year? God will at some point remove all the evil in the world; that day is known as Armageddon, the end of the world. Until then, God allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.

Couldn't God just suppress the evil people do?
Another assumption is that God can somehow tamper with someone's evil desires, yet not have people lose their autonomy. They seem to be saying that we could have a world much like our own, where human beings are truly free, yet their freedom to choose evil ways is suppressed. Just how does God do that? An all-powerful God could take away the ability of people to choose to kill or rape or steal, but what would be the result? God would be making them something less than full human beings. They would be limited to run on the tracks that God provided for them rather than have the freedom to choose their own path.

If we recognize God as wholly good, it would be an evil thing for God to change a free creature to something that is less than free. No one wants to be a Stepford Wife against his or her will. Just as an automobile is reduced to something less when it is placed on tracks, so human beings are reduced to something less when their ability to make free choices is removed. 

We do see a lot of evil in this world. But that doesn't mean God is doing nothing about it. We see God working to stem the evil through his teachings and through his church. That's one reason Christians are so passionate about issues like human sex-trafficking, feeding the poor, and ministering to those with drug and alcohol problems. It's also why we're so passionate about issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, where others would resist these moral principles. We want to stand against evil, even though it can be unpopular. However, to assume there can be less evil in the world without substantially altering the free choices of human beings is to assert more than one can prove. 

We can think of it this way: the first and greatest commandment is to love God with one's heart, soul, mind, and strength. To not love God is a sin; it's evil. Believing in God would go a tremendous way in stopping murders and rapists from their evil ways, too. So, how many atheists are willing to let God forcibly change their minds about His existence

Nicky Cruz Used to Be High on Hate and Violence

Dear all:
It is a fascinating true story of an animal like human being Nicky Cruz whose journey out of the jungle.

You may also click this link below too.
Nicky Cruz If you prefer Chinese version, here is the link to my Chinese translation of this amazing real story.

• 殺千刀的真實故事

CBN.com – “You can get high on sex. You can get high on alcohol. You can get high on all kinds of drugs. I was high on hate and violent.”

When Nicky Cruz showed up on the scene, people had every reason to run and hide. He wasn’t just the leader of the renowned Mau Maus -- the toughest gang in New York City -- Nicky was an animal.

“New York was a jungle. The law of the jungle… you behave like an animal,” Nicky Cruz recalls. “Animals don’t know the difference between right and wrong. An animal has to kill another animal for survival.”

Pain and violence weren’t anything new to Nicky. He grew up in Puerto Rico, where his parents brutally abused him. Nicky’s father used to throw him in a room with pigeons.

“He put me there naked, and I used to scream,” Nicky says. “The pigeons used to get scared, and they’d scratch me all over.”

And Nicky’s mother?

“She hit me so much and knocked me unconscious so many times over and over that, honestly, if I grab a knife and I put it [in], I didn’t feel the pain anymore.”

It wasn’t just because they were cruel… They were possessed!

“I know that I was planted into the womb of a witch,” says Nicky.

Seances, satanic worship, animal sacrifices… they were all a normal part of his parent’s lives.

“I saw my mother possessed by the devil many times,” Nicky recalls. “My mother had to eat everything when she was under the influence of Satan. So did my dad. All those animals sacrifice, all the blood, all the blood that was shared and the smell was so repulsive and the spirit used to manifest. It was scaring.”

So when he hit the streets of New York, Nicky was a hardened man void of love and full of hate.

“I wanted to do to others what my mother did to me,” Nicky says. “I used to feel good when I hurt some people.”

But alone in his tiny apartment in the projects, he didn’t feel good.

“Privately. When I was alone, loneliness became like a seductive woman that crawled inside my chest and eat me. I was there twisting and fighting; I felt so lost. The most you can live the way I lived is 20 years. I was 19 already. One year, I be dead.”

Only two people that saw the desperate condition of Nicky’s heart. One was a psychologist. (  a court appointed psychiatrist )

“He told me about five times. ‘There’s a dark side in your life that nobody can penetrate. Nicky, you are walking straight to jail, the electric chair, and hell. There’s no hope.’”

The other was a pastor named David Wilkerson. He risked his life to tell Nicky there was hope.

“I heard his voice: ‘God has the power to change your life.’ I started cursing loud,” says Nicky. “I spit in his face, and I hit him. I told him, ‘I don’t believe in what you say and you get out of here.’”

Nicky never expected what he heard Wilkerson say next.

Wilkerson replied, “You could cut me up into a 1000 pieces and lay them in the street. Every piece will still love you.”

Nicky says, “It did damage. Good [damage] in my brain and in my heart. I began to question, and for two weeks I could not sleep thinking about love.”

Nicky and his gang showed up at one of Wilkerson’s rallies. One by one, they gave their lives to Christ. It was the crucifixion – Jesus’ death on the cross -- that grabbed Nicky.

“I was choked up with pain, and my eyes were fighting and tears became to come down and more tears and I was fighting and then I surrendered,” says Nicky. “I let Jesus hug me, and I let my head rest on His chest. I said I’m sorry. Forgive me, and for the first time, I told somebody I love you.”

The love Nicky got in return radically changed his life.

“When I had opened my eyes, I got a new heart. I’d been born again. I’m a child of the Lord.”

Nicky left the gang scene. He enrolled in Bible college and met Gloria. The two married and moved back to New York City where they ran “Teen Challenge,” a program to help troubled teens. Since then, Nicky has raised four girls and traveled all over the world as an evangelist and head of Nicky Cruz Ministries.

“I am the most happy human being because I have reached thousands upon millions of people that have come to Jesus through my message,” says Nicky. “But the greatest success of my life was when I brought my mother to Jesus and my father and my brother.”

Nicky chose to forgive his parents, and he asked them to forgive him. Nicky writes about this in his latest book Soul Obsession.

“When true forgiveness come in and out from you, that dark cloud will disappear,” says Nicky. “You have access straight to the heart of Christ.”

Once an “animal” filled with hate, today, a lover of souls. Now if you met Nicky Cruz on the streets, you probably wouldn’t run from him. You’d run to him, and here’s what he might say.

“You can turn all this deep pain, hurt, and rejection and do what I did. Give it to Christ. You are going to be more happy with your life!”

Want to learn more about Nicky Cruz's life? Check out his movie 

1. The Cross And The Switchblade - Official English Full Length Moviewww.youtube.com
2. 
   

Click also the link below:

Nikolas Cruz and Nicky Cruz: Two Different Spiritual Paths and Two Different Eternal Destinations

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The Mixing of God and Guns Is Not Good

The Mixing of God and Guns Seems to Be a Uniquely American Recipe - But It's Not a Good One

For Christians who want to have a consistent pro-life ethic across all of the issues related to life and death, the status quo is unacceptable.

BY MICHAEL W. AUSTIN

There is a t-shirt that has a picture of a Bible and a gun surrounded by the words "Two things every American should know how to use... neither of which are taught in schools."

The mixing of God and guns seems to be a uniquely American recipe. But it's not a good one. More people died this week in America, victims of yet more mass shootings. And the same conversations about gun laws, gun rights, mental health and how this is now normal in our country continue. But another mass shooting will occur today, and tomorrow and the day after that. We average more than one per day.

There are important moral, legal and social facts that can be brought to bear on this debate. Here, however, I'll discuss some religious arguments related to gun laws, in part because so many people attempt to combine guns and God, Christianity and a Colt .45. I think a strong religious argument in favor of more restrictive gun laws can be made, grounded in Christian ethics.

First, both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament consistently conceive of God as being especially concerned with the poor, the outcast, the weak, and the vulnerable (see Isa. 32:15-18; 60:17-18; Rom. 14:17; and James 1:27). Gun violence is especially prominent in economically depressed areas. It is also prevalent in cases of domestic violence, where women and children are vulnerable and the victims. Surely these are good reasons, from a Christian moral perspective, to have more restrictive gun laws.

Second, the New Testament consistently opposes violence. As New Testament scholar Richard Hays puts it in The Moral Vision of the New Testament, "From Matthew to Revelation we find a consistent witness against violence and a calling to the community to follow the example of Jesus in accepting suffering rather than inflicting it." The New Testament teaches non-violent love for one's enemies (Mat. 5:38-48), that it is the role of government to "bear the sword," not individual persons (Romans 13), and that followers of Jesus should accept even the theft of their own possessions rather than using violence to defend them (Heb. 10:32-34).

I would add that it is hard to imagine Jesus, if he were present in our culture, carrying a gun. And as the exemplar for Christians, this is significant. Some deny this claim, based on a passage from chapter 22 of Luke's gospel. Prior to his betrayal and arrest, Jesus tells the disciples "If you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." Gun advocates interpret this as a justification for the status quo. But when they do this, they ignore the context of the passage. Later in the chapter, a follower of Jesus uses a sword against a servant of one of the religious leaders involved in the arrest. Jesus tells him, "No more of this!" Moreover, the context of the passage reveals that the point of the exhortation to purchase a sword is to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy, not to use for violence against others.

I'm not a pacifist, and I am not an advocate for outlawing all guns. I think there are good arguments in support of the claim that we possess a right to self-defense. But this doesn't justify the current gun laws in the U.S. Common sense and Christian ethics lead to the conclusion that we need more restrictive gun laws in the United States.

Many are opposed to this, for a variety of reasons.

If the justification for the continued prevalence of guns in America is to deter or resist a possible future tyrannical state, then by the same reasoning there would also be a right to possess fighter jets, missiles, and perhaps even weapons of mass destruction, all of which would be needed to truly deter or reverse such tyranny. But surely this is wrong, because of the potential harm to innocent victims if these weapons were widely possessed.First, many pro-gun advocates argue that an unarmed citizenry will be helpless against a tyrannical government. While it is possible that tyranny may arise in our nation, this seems unlikely, given the existence of democratic institutions and a strong tradition of adherence to the rule of law. Moreover, when we take into account the military might of the United States government, it is not clear how an armed populace would prevent such tyranny. If such tyranny did arise, the people could successfully resist only if they had a stockpile of weapons capable of matching the state's firepower. It is not clear how a stockpile of guns would deter a drone attack, for example.

Some argue that gun laws don't work, pointing to places like Chicago. It is true that Chicago, a city which has very strict gun laws, also has a high level of gun violence. However, the case of Chicago does not support the claim that restrictive gun laws are ineffective. Instead, it shows the need for more widespread laws. People who want guns can simply go outside of Chicago, obtain them with ease, and bring them back into the city. Consider the fact that between 2008 and 2012, Chicago police recovered 1,375 guns that were used in criminal activities. Almost 20 percent of these guns came from a single store, Chuck's Gun Shop, located a few miles outside of the Chicago city limits in Riverdale, Illinois. Strict gun laws in one city will be ineffective if the laws of the state in which that city is located are lax, as is the case in Illinois.

Third, the data show that strict gun laws reduce violent crime. For example, there is a correlation between restrictive laws and lower homicide rates with and without firearms, both within the United States and internationally. Moreover, a recent study published in the Southern Medical Journal found that the presence of a gun in a home is twelve times more likely to lead to the death of a member of the household or a visitor than an intruder.

Finally, consider a fact about the nature of rights: most are not absolute. That is, there are limits to their scope, and one of the most significant reasons to limit the exercise of a right is that doing so will prevent serious harm to others. This is why the right to freedom of speech does not include the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Most rights are conditional. The right to drive a car in is conditional upon successfully taking written and road skills tests. We should do something similar with gun rights.

What laws might be effective? Perhaps some or all of the following: a criminal and mental health background check, an assault weapons ban, a required safety course, competency with a firearm demonstrated via a skills test, a regular renewal requirement, a minimum age requirement of at least 21 (and perhaps older), and some form of gun liability insurance. This allows for those who are competent to own and use firearms for both sport and self-defense, and connects the right to own a firearm with the ability to properly and sensibly use it. This would make it more likely that each individual gun owner will be responsible, and that fewer people will die from gun violence.

For Christians who want to have a consistent pro-life ethic across all of the issues related to life and death, the status quo is unacceptable. There is much more to do than simply craft better gun laws, and there is likely no way to guarantee that such things will never happen again. However, we can certainly reduce the number of these tragic events. As followers of Jesus, we have the responsibility to try.

Michael W. Austin is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Eastern Kentucky University. He is currently working on a book entitled God and Guns in America, to be published in 2019. You can connect with him at michaelwaustin.com, on Twitter @michaelwaustin, and on Facebook.

Forgiveness from A Disfigured Half Faced Woman

Woman Left Disfigured by Church Bombing Shares Visions of Jesus, Message for Attacker's Family

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV

A Christian woman who was left disfigured by a bombing at St. Peter's Church in Cairo in December 2016 has said that Jesus miraculously kept her alive and continues appearing to her in visions.

Samiha Tawfiq Awad shared in an Open Doors USA piece last week that she and her husband, Qalini, attended the church on the morning of Dec. 11 when radicals detonated a large bomb in the women's section, where she was sitting.

The twin suicide bombings that day at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Cairo left 24 Christians dead and 49 injured, with many of the women close to the explosion suffering severe disfigurement to their faces.

Qalini rushed his wife to the hospital, though she was hardly recognizable after the attack, and doctors warned him she might not survive.

Awad not only pulled through, however, but experienced visions of Jesus she says have filled her heart not with anger toward the attackers, but with forgiveness.

"The doctors might've given up on Samiha, but God had another plan!" Qalini exclaimed.

The woman recalled that doctors put her on the list of dead victims right from the beginning.

"The doctors thought it was useless to treat me, so they just came to check on me now and then to see if I was already dead. But I stayed alive," she recalled.

Doctors eventually put her through surgery, and she is alive and well now, even though she is missing half her face.

"I remember that I saw Jesus on the ceiling when I was lying on the ground after the explosion," she said of one of her first visions of Jesus.

Christ kept appearing to her in the hospital as well, she recalled.

"I would have been willing to die for Jesus," Awad said, "but the fact that He kept me alive so miraculously tells me that He wants me to live."

The Christian husband said that forgiving the people who attacked the church and put his wife through so much suffering is not an easy thing, but pointed to Jesus' Words on the Sermon of the Mount, where Christ calls for the forgiveness of enemies.

Awad said that she doesn't have anger for the attackers.

"If I would meet the family of the attacker, the only thing I would ask them is: 'Do you know Jesus?' I pray they will find the right way," she expressed.

Coptic Bishop Anba Angaelos told The Christian Post days after the attack in December 2016 that despite the shock and the tragedy, Christians in E

Did God Help the Eagles Win the Super Bowl?

Did God Help the Eagles Win the Super Bowl?

BY MICHAEL BROWN

Does God really get involved in sports events? Does He care who wins a boxing match – or a football game?

I was once heard the story of a father and son who were watching a boxing match. When the fight started, one of the boxers crossed himself, prompting the son to ask, "Dad, will that help him win the fight?" The father responded, "Only if he can punch." And that begs the question: Does God really get involved in sports events? Does He care who wins a boxing match – or a football game?

On the one hand, you could argue that God is sovereign, and if He knows the number of hairs on our head, and not one bird falls to the ground apart from Him (Matthew 10:29-30), then yes, He gets involved in sports as well. After all, hundreds of millions of people watch sports events, and their lives are affected positively or negatively by sports. It would make sense that God gets involved.

On the other hand, you could argue that it is absurd to think that God gets involved with something as idolatrous as sports, with football (not the Lord) dominating our Sundays, with billions of dollars lost on betting, with violence being celebrated, and with people getting more excited about the score of a game than about the fate of the world. It would make sense that God does not get involved.

Looking at this pragmatically, no coach-player duo has had more success in the Super Bowl era than Bill Belichik and Tom Brady, and neither of them, to my knowledge, profess to be men of strong faith. And didn't they have a seemingly miraculous, come from behind victory in last year's Super Bowl?

And think of Tim Tebow, perhaps the most visible born-again Christian ever to play in the NFL. He didn't make it in the NFL, while strong Christians like Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson both suffered season-ending injuries. Why didn't God protect them?

As for the outcome of Super Bowl LII, there were no miraculous-type plays (like David Tyree's helmet catch or Franco Harris's "immaculate reception"), and the most unusual play (a ricocheted pass that became an interception) went against the Eagles.

But perhaps we're viewing this the wrong way.

Rather than looking for signs of divine intervention, what if we simply look for the practical fruit of strong faith? What if we look for the positive effect that strong Christian commitment had on the Eagles? And what if we consider the fact that, as followers of Jesus, we are do to everything for His glory (see 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)?

Throughout the year, I read about the deep Christian commitment of quarterback Carson Wentz. Then, after his injury, he was replaced by backup Nick Foles, also a deeply committed Christian. And the quarterback coach, Frank Reich, himself a former NFL player, served as a seminary president before returning to football.

Not only so, but the head coach of the Eagles, Doug Pedersen, had been working at the high school level 9 years ago and was voted the worst coaching hire in the NFL in 2016. When asked after the game how he could explain going from high school coach 9 years ago to winning the Super Bowl, he responded, "I can only give the praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity. . . ." How many coaches are so bold?

And the two other players interviewed at the end of the game, tight-end Zach Ertz and quarterback Nick Foles, both openly glorified the Lord.

In fact, earlier in the week, Ertz told reporters that as a follower of Jesus, his number one goal was to make disciples, while Foles shared that he's currently enrolled in seminary and would one day like to be a high school pastor.

To put things in further perspective, former NFL coach (and current TV commentator) Tony Dungy, himself a committed Christian, tweeted that after "all the celebrations and confetti," his 11-year-old Justin "caught up with the 3 Eagles QBs Nick Foles, Carson Wentz & Nate Sudfeld along with Zach Ertz who scored the winning TD. They were in a room by themselves—praying and thanking God. It was great for him to see that."

So, these men, after one of the greatest games in Super Bowl history and enjoying a sports high that hardly any of us could relate to, were alone in a room, praying and thanking God.

Could it be, then, that rather than the Lord supernaturally helping them (or, hurting the Patriots, who doubtless had some strong Christians too), it was the Christian character of many on the team that helped them in key moments? That their strong faith foundation enabled them to perform so well under so much pressure? And that, perhaps, it was Coach Pederson's confidence in God's favor on his life that helped him make one of the greatest, boldest, most audacious calls in football history?

All that would make perfect sense to me, just as it would make perfect sense to me that strong faith enables others to endure terrible hardship and suffering.

Interestingly, the Eagles' players were so well-known for their commitment to the Lord that New England's Matthew Slater, himself a strong believer, said this while meeting with the media last week: "I really appreciate [Carson Wentz's] boldness for the Gospel, how he represents Christ day in and day out. And it's not only him. You know, Nick [Foles] does that as well. Chris Maragos. Brother Burton. I mean, there are a lot of brothers over there that stand firm for what they believe in, they represent the Gospel in a tremendous fashion."

And now, thanks to their incredible victory, these men will have a platform for the rest of their lives to share their faith. Could the Lord have helped orchestrate that?