Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

Undoubtedly, life brings numerous challenges and trials. Take, for example, the Japan tsunami or Hurricane Katrina. Because of this, it is easy to ask “Why did God allow this to happen, especially in light of Romans 8:28: ‘And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them’?” It is a question that I often wrestle with. The way that I can sit somewhat comfortably with these situations is declining to focus on the event itself, rather, I focus on the aftermath. I do not subscribe to the idea that God caused the tragedy or put it into effect to wipe people out, rather I see “opportunity”.

In an online forum, I once read a claim that “God and Jesus are the biggest no-shows in history” in light of Katrina. The premise was founded on the belief previously mentioned – that God failed to protect the patrons of New Orleans. I took issue with this statement; this individual did not open his eyes and did not hang around long enough to see the mass influx of Christians who gifted hours, days, and weeks out of their lives to help total strangers get back on their feet. There were few reasons beyond 1 John 4:19 (“We love because He first loved us”) for these Good Samaritans to respond as they did.

There are, of course, other mishaps that people encounter, such as the loss of loved ones, financial instability, miscarriages, and the list continues. I have vast amounts of respect for one of my best friends, who, despite a recent unfortunate circumstance, continues to trust and submits to the idea that God uses such occurrences in ways that we cannot understand in the present. Amen to that, my brother! Indeed, I say that God uses these lowly circumstances so that His glory will be revealed. To elaborate, perhaps God is using an individual's state of financial instability so that the individual, who is no longer dependent on money to carry and sustain his life, may fill those holes in with faith, trust, and love in God and relationships with Christians like those who rushed in after Katrina. (This is the reason I am pursuing a career in bankruptcy law.)

With this, I leave you with scripture.

James 1 (NLT): (2) Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. (3) For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. (4) So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing… (12) God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. (13) And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else… (16) So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.

1 Peter 1: (6) There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. (7) These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (8) You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. (9) The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.

Perceptions of Christ

I have been in a state of mental unrest for the past few days. I have been sort of disturbed; I am unsure exactly as to why, but I will try to explain. This ailment has come due to several different opinions that expressed what people thought Christ was like. Some were visual -- Jesus had short/long hair, dark/light skin, beard, etc. Others made claims to his political stances -- Jesus was a socialist, Jesus gave free healthcare, Jesus was anti-war, etc.

I will be the first in line to admit that I don't know every corner of the Bible by memory. I can search and find answers with relative ease, but when it comes to actually knowing the Bible (as we "know" our parents), there is certainly room for improvement. That being said, I am just not connecting the dots from the Bible to these claims being made. I am unable to find textual reference to the physical or political characteristics of the Savior.

As an advocate of capitalism, it doesn't rest easy that someone is telling me things such as "Jesus looked at competitors with disdain, and took away to give to those less fortunate for equality's sake." I agree that Jesus had/has sympathy for the poor and calls us to readily give without limits. But to say (for an absurd example) that Jesus is a Tea Partier?... I'm not buying it. It is too much of a stretch to make such assumptions based on tendencies in His treatment of others.

My position is as follows, based on my understanding (or lack thereof): (a) Christ refrained from being caught up in such worldly things like politics, and (b) perhaps the Bible chose to omit a physical description because such things cause us to divert our focus away from the important aspects of Christ. His two commands to us are (1) Love God with everything you have, and (2) love everyone as you love yourself. Luke 10:27.

What I have noticed is that we have a tendency to mold Christ into what we think He is, in a manner favorable to our own contentions. Christ, in our minds, should not be perceived in a certain way because that is what happens to comport with our lifestyle. Now to keep myself in check, I have to consider the possibility that I may not be right, and that Jesus may not have been the things that make me comfortable. But it's not about conforming His life to ours -- it is about modeling our lives after His.

The T Word

Tolerance. There are few words that get under my skin as much as this one. Perhaps because it is such a fragile concept. Perhaps I'm not certain of the level of tolerance or intolerance I possess and practice.

I am reading a book right now that deals with the delicate balance of the freedom of religion/speech/assembly and restrictions that other countries have placed on this right. One quoted author defined intolerance as "the unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect contrary opinions or beliefs." This author continued to say that intolerance is degrading and is equivalent to being a bigot, whereas "tolerance was meant to establish peaceful coexistence with others."

That just didn't sit 100% well with me. First, I personally think that there are justifiable instances which call for intolerance if one is properly and strongly rooted in their core beliefs. For example, (but not to say that I was right) I posted a note of strong disapproval about a play that depicted a modern homosexual Christ figure. My beef is not with homosexuals themselves, rather, it is with the position that (a) pushes the idea that Christ could have been gay, or even tolerant, and (b) tells Christians that they are to stand down and allow this to happen (otherwise, we Christians are called "judgmental"). I have a difficult time remaining passive as my Savior is disrespected as such. Perhaps I am like Peter (see John 18:1-10).

Secondly, I don't accept the idea that the only way to coexistence is this woman's perception of tolerance. It is not ok that some claim to worship and serve the same God as I, the God of love, yet murder others in His name. No way. Such an instance does not yearn for tolerance. Was Christ tolerant when he drove out those who were wrong by using the temple as a marketplace? (see Matthew 21:12, 13). Absolutely not. The key to coexistence is loving one another, which cannot be replaced with mere "tolerance."

After all, parents love their children, but do they neglect to teach them when they are wrong? Not the good ones (Proverbs 13:24, 22:6). My position, therefore, is that intolerance should not be such a disgusting concept to society. Christ was intolerant at the temple, but was always loving and forgiving of others. Does forgiveness amount to tolerance? I think not. Otherwise, Christ's mission would become pointless - part of His teaching was that nobody is worthy on their own (in their current state) to inherit the kingdom of heaven, but that all should repent and follow Him. (Acts 2:38; John 14:6). In essence, "You are doing wrong; do something different."
But these are just my thoughts and opinions.

God's Family - A Church

My first substantive post was pretty lengthy; my apologies. Just had to get it off my chest!

Just wanted to share a thought about a church and my view of the purpose behind it. "Church" is NOT a building, a worship assembly, or any other place to go to. One doesn't "go to church." A Church is one of God's greatest creations. Even though we do place a certain connotation of a building in a certain location that hosts a body of imperfect believers, it is more: it is a network, a community, a group of Christians that bond together and form relationships.

I would encourage/challenge each of you reading this to find more than one church family. This does not mean "go place membership at three different denominational congregations throughout the area." But it is not to be taken as a limit to with whom you engage.

I am a brother in numerous different sets of mutual believers that I share regular/periodic discussions with. In a single week, I have the privilege of discussing theology with my wife, the church congregation of about 500 that my wife and I placed membership at just south of us and the small group derived therefrom, my supervisor at work, numerous close friends, the Christian Legal Society at my law school, and another group of about 5 that share my faith at school but don't necessarily share a passion for CLS as I do. All of these groups (yes, I consider even my supervisor and I as a "group" - "where two or more are gathered, so there I am also..."(I apologize that I am not as refined as I should be in citing and quoting scripture...)) strengthen my understanding and give me better perspective. It is such a breath of fresh air to be able to do so. No, not all are of the same denomination as I (a commentary about denominations soon to come!), but I would actually argue that it gives me a broader perspective of the bigger picture.

After all, a unified church was what Jesus last prayed for. John 17:20-23. And edification is its purpose. 1 Corinthians 14:26.

Election Day

First off, this is my second installment for the day, and no, it is highly unlikely I will even post once every day. Today, being the day you can cast your vote, just tugged at me and teased me enough to make a post about voting.


My view is that, as a follower of Christ, I have a responsibility to cast my vote. Jesus often refrained from political issues; why He did so is beyond my understanding at this point. To my best understanding, the times that He did address political issues was to reinforce the idea that God's law is above the laws of the land, but we are to respect and follow both. Matthew 22:21. To show my respect to both laws, I vote with the idea in mind that I can put my two-cents worth in to vote for an impact to affect potential laws that will coincide with the Higher Authority. 


I see, for one example, the issue of legalizing abortion as a conflict of laws. God has chosen to bless someone with the gift of life. (You should know that I believe that God is in control and that everything He does is for a darn good reason.) Yes, I believe that a fetus or embryo (no matter what stage of life inside the womb) is alive - just because their skin has not yet been exposed to "the outside world" does not mean they are not yet "alive." In essence, choosing to terminate the life of this little person is, in my opinion, murder, and as a Christian, I cannot sit comfortably with this. It is my responsibility to stand up for what I believe in, otherwise, I am sitting passively by, allowing it to happen. Not cool with me. I cast my vote for candidates that will agree with me on that (of course there are multiple issues to consider for each candidate, so simply agreeing with this one view is not enough to gain my vote).


As a side note, here is where your opinion is greatly valued and requested: I think it is somewhat inconsistent to be for abortions but opposed to the death penalty, or vice-versa. To me, I see these two issues as similar. True, there are differing circumstances - the fetus has done nothing wrong, but the person sentenced to death has committed some heinous crime - but to me, both are terminating an opportunity. I always try my best to leave judgments and religious decisions up to God, as is the case here. I feel that it is not my place to say that a person does not deserve a chance to receive the gift of God (His love). Not everyone has accepted it, but it is my job as a Christian to make an impact. The man approaching the death penalty is the one that needs Jesus the most, and to terminate his life, to me, is saying, "You have had your chance. That opportunity to accept and receive the gift - you have wasted it to the point where you are beyond hope." I cannot sit in the judgment seat and strip that opportunity of him. I cannot deny the fetus an opportunity to be loved by others or to make a great impact on the world. 
For some scriptural reference on death penalty and punishment, see Romans 13:1-4. 
For scriptures on the life of the unborn, see Psalm 139:13 "for you knit me in my mother's womb" (how special is that!!!) and see also the disapproval of harming the unborn in Exodus 21:22-25.


What is your view on the death penalty v. abortion?


To wrap things up, my vote, as I see my Christian responsibility, is in the name of love for others. 1 John 4:19: We show others love because Christ FIRST loved us. Powerful scripture. Indeed, economic stimulation is important, but there is a bigger picture in life. The way we love others (by giving them a chance and to share Christian love) is simply more important than putting a dollar in a pocket (largely a greed issue).
This is my opinion.

Reason for my Blog

I understand that a blog isn't always the most practical vehicle for discussion. My dilemma, though, lies in Facebook. I love to use Facebook to connect to others and discuss things, but the problem is that there is only limited space. I feel like I have many thoughts that are hindered by a word limit. It is difficult enough as it is to try and round up the thoughts that are bouncing around in my head! But there are some things I feel the need to get off my chest, and there are some instances where I simply post in order to seek opinions.

I always encourage and welcome discussion. I invite you to start discussions with me regarding my posts on my blog on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cody.robinette  

So here is the basis of my blog: As an advocate for Christ and a student in law school, I feel the need to find a certain balance in my life, particularly since I have chosen a career path based on law. My aim for this blog is to express my thoughts and pose questions on God's law, the United States or State law, and the way that the two mesh. Additionally, I will occasionally aim to simply make a comment on my thoughts about religion and church.

Thank you in advance for your support. I pray that I can mutually induce growth.