At Calvary Chapel Visalia, we’ve all heard it stated in many ways. Why does He allow babies to be born with disabilities? Why does He permit wars to rage? Why does He seem to turn the other way when innocent people are being killed? What about all of those horrible injustices in our world? This hurricane. That epidemic. This wildfire. Why do these horrible things afflict our world? If God can prevent such tragedies, why does He allow them to take place?

Here is the classic statement of the problem. Either God is all-powerful but He is not all good, therefore He doesn’t stop evil. Or He is all good but He is not all-powerful, therefore He can’t stop evil. And the general tendency is to blame all of the problems of the world on God. To say that God is the one who is somehow responsible.

By questioning God’s goodness and love, I am in essence saying that I know more about it than He does. The fact is, God doesn’t become good because that’s my opinion of Him, or because I happen to personally agree with His actions or His words. Nor does He become good because we vote on it and all agree that is the case. You see, God is good whether I believe it or not, and He alone is the final court of arbitration.

We need to keep in mind that humanity, not God, is responsible for sin. In light of that, one might then ask the question, “Why didn’t God make us incapable of sin?” Answer: Because He didn’t want puppets on a string. He didn’t want windup robots. He didn’t want preprogrammed people with neither choice nor will.

God doesn’t send anyone to Hell. It was never His design to send people to Hell. It breaks the heart of God to see people, made in His image, make the deliberate choice to go to Hell. Hell was not made for people; it was made for the angelic being, Satan, who rebelled against God. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says the everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. Scripture also teaches, “[God] is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). That is why God sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place—to bridge the gap between sinful people and a Holy God. The gates of Hell are locked from the inside. If you end up in Hell, you will practically have to climb over Jesus to get there.

Christians are not superior to any other person. Pastor Bob Grenier and Calvary Chapel Visalia know that a person who believes Jesus Christ is the only Son of God and proclaims that truth is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

I frequently hear people say that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites. So why become one? As a pastor, and a Christian, I can tell you his excuse is often offered by those who want to continue to live in darkness. They do not want to be brought into the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus does not say, “Follow the church,” or “Follow the people.” Jesus says, “Follow me” (Matthew 9:9; Mark 8:34; John 12:26).

We are given the freedom to choose. We have the ability to sin—to make choices that are against the teachings of God. A church is not a meeting place for saints, but a hospital for sinners. The worst sin you can commit is to say no to God. It is a “Son” issue, not a “sin” issue. You will find hypocrites in the church because we are all sinners. Pastor Bob Grenier and Calvary Chapel Visalia want you to know that at our church, you will also find people who are trying to live their life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

What did you try? Did you go to a church? Did you read the Bible? Did you ask Christ into your life? Did you trust in what Jesus claimed? Did you examine the claims of Christ? Most people know the Ten Commandments and the things that “thou shalt not” do. But the Bible also commands us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mark 12:30 NKJV). If you are not doing that, you are falling short in God’s eyes. Christ is real. Many facts substantiate that truth (Even Satan professed Jesus’ deity). And we shall come face to face with Him on the Judgment Day (Revelation 20:11–12).

“Don’t all roads lead to God?” people often ask. “If a person is sincere in his or her beliefs, won’t he or she get to Heaven?” If you allow that all beliefs are true, then by what standards do you live? All belief systems cannot be true, because they cancel each other out. If you take time to look at what each religion teaches, you’ll find that only Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again.

At Calvary Chapel Visalia, we believe the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on a cross for our sins, that He paid that debt in our place, and that if we will turn from our sin and follow Him, we can be forgiven and know that we will go to Heaven.