Lucas Miles - Good God: The One We Want to Believe In but Are Afraid to Embrace

Praise for Good God

Not only is God not dead, but Lucass book shows us that he is even better than we previously thought!

Kevin Sorbo, actor, Gods Not Dead

Lucas Miles has done it again! In Good God he writes about a God the world longs to know. His accurate understanding of God sheds the layers of religion and takes you to the core of knowing your Creator. After reading this book, you will feel enlightened, empowered, and privileged to know God.

Tim Storey, pastor and celebrity life coach

Pastor Lucas Miles presents the grace of God in such a way that inspires and empowers others to step into their true identity in Christ. I am thankful for men of God like Lucas who present the transforming message of the gospel as good news!

Cam McDaniel, University of Notre Dame running back

Lucass dedication to his goals and dreams fuels his non-ending energy in pursuit of his destiny. I believe he will touch the world in a significant way.

James B. Richards Ph.D., Th.D., author of The Gospel of Peace and Grace: The Power to Change

After years of stumbling through the shadows of religion, reading Good God is like finding a light switch in a dark room. Lucas Miles has guided us to freedom and truth in Christ after years of misunderstanding Christianity and the person of Jesus.

Joanna Beasley, American Idol semifinalist and Christian recording artist

In my experience, the single greatest question people ask is, How could a good God allow evil in the world? In Good God, Lucas Miles not only answers the question but kicks in the door. This book is for anyone who has struggled with pain, disappointment, and tragedy, and it needs to be read by the most skeptical among uswhich I have to admit, is far too often you and me.

Phil Cooke, filmmaker, media consultant, and author of One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do

Lucas Miles is well qualified to write on the goodness of God. He has suffered loss and has heard the empty platitudes that often come with pain. In this book Lucas exposes the lunacy of blaming a good God for bad troubles. If you identify with Job or are troubled by hard times, Good God will help you walk in the freedom and healing of a good God who loves you like a Father.

Paul Ellis, author of The Hyper-Grace Gospel

As he names some of lifes most vexing issues, Lucas reminds us that one of the most difficult things to change is not just our hearts but our minds. This book not only opens up new ways of discovering ourselves but new ways of meeting God.

Fr. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame

Lucas Miless Good God will not just change the way you view God, but enable you to fall in love with a very good God who is a Lover desiring to be loved. It will give you a confidence to climb right up on the dear Fathers lap! This book is a long overdue explanation of misunderstood and difficult passages, a revelation drawing us into the true heart of God.

Jerry Grieser, author, Gods House of Mirrors

The problem of evil in our current cultural context is a very real conversation piece. But there is something bigger: the view of God that we all hold. For far too long we have seen an old-man-up-theresomewhere trying to make sure we color in the lines only to crack us a good one if we miscue. Lucas wants to take that on idea, pick it apart, kick it aside, and show us how the texture and hue of life changes when the God who is good really comes to be known as the Good God. This is one you will want to read and then purchase a case to share with people who desperately want to believe in the message you find here!

Dr. Ron Martoia, coach, consultant, and author of Transformational Architecture and Bible as Improv

GOOD GOD

The One We Want to Believe In but Are Afraid to Embrace

LUCAS MILES

Copyright 2016 by Lucas Miles

Published by Worthy Books, an imprint of Worthy Publishing Group, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., One Franklin Park, 6100 Tower Circle, Suite 210, Franklin, TN 37067.

WORTHY is a registered trademark of Worthy Media, Inc.

HELPING PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF GOD

eBook available wherever digital books are sold.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Miles, Lucas, author.

Good God : the one we want to believe in but are afraid to embrace / by Lucas Miles.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-61795-672-0 (paperback)

1. God (Christianity) 2. Christian life. I. Title.

BT103.M55 2016

231.8--dc23

2015032084

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scriptures marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

Italics added to direct Scripture quotations are the authors emphasis.

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

For foreign and subsidiary rights, contact

Published in association with Chaffee Management Group.

ISBN: 978-1-61795-672-0

Cover Design: Tobias Outerwear for Books

Illustration: Clara Doti | MilesHerndon

Printed in the United States of America

16 17 18 19 20 VPI 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Krissy.

When Im with you, I know God is good.

CONTENTS

GOD ISNT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR PAIN

WE NEED TO TALK, Jeff said, barging into my dorm room one night, almost pushing me over. I was a freshman at Purdue University, a Big Ten school, and my dorm floor, as you can imagine, was filled with all sorts of interesting charactersfrom computer nerds to frat boy hopefuls and everyone in between. A physics major, Jeff spent most days playing computer games, hacking websites, and writing code for friends. He was a tech zombie. On paper? A total geek. But as I would soon learn, there was more to Jeff than thatsomething deeper. He entered my room with such force that night that for a split second, I thought he was going to hit me.

Whats going on? I asked, startled by the interruption. Jeff was obviously upsetalmost violently soand he looked as if he had been crying. He took a long, deep breath and then jumped right into it.

When I was fifteen years old, I accidentally shot my sister with a hunting rifle. She died later that night. I heard youre a Christian. I want to know why God allowed my sister to die. We were just kids.

Having been open about my faith for as long as I can remember, I had gained a reputation as the dorm-floor pastor, and this wasnt the first time someone had come to me with a question. Most of the time students asked me for relationship advice or intriguing philosophical questions initiated by midnight pizza runs and late nights spent at our favorite local caf, both of which had a mystical way of drawing out questions about God. But that night was different. Jeffs question wasnt the typical coffee- or pizza-induced musing of a speculative college student. His question was reala question originating not from the mind but from within the deep and painful recesses of his heart. And I knew, at that moment, I was completely ill equipped to answer it.