The reason we need Christ isn't to do good works ... it's to save us from the judgement we deserve.

My mother had cancer eight times and lived to be 86. I have been healed from illnesses that were acute and would kill me. God does intervene in the form of miracles but it is also a miracle that when we die we get to experience eternal life with God should we choose to.

I love all the young eyes and ears surrounding the conversation

The man who sat down was all over the place, it didn't seem like he had a congruent coherent argument.

Pain and suffering is a megaphone to wake up this deaf world

Love the first guy, he's so patience and respectful ❤️

You just know the second guy thinks his achieved intergalactic oneness

That blonde kid is incredibly smart and critical. Tough question indeed.

Sometimes its frustrating when discussions are cut short. I really wanted to see how the discussion followed through with the guy on the ground.

God doesn’t only help us by healing us in the way some see healing. He provides beautiful things all around us, even through suffering. We just have to be willing to see it.

"I do not come to try to disprove this man." lie. "you have no right to say he is wrong" contradiction. That guy was absurd.

Props to the campus Director who allows them to come and speak to the students.

That first kid was very intelligent

Thank you for your videos Cliff. As a Christian struggling with his faith, I find your videos inspirational.

“And what he knows, he does know, because he knows it.”

Why do we only call Your name when there’s no one else to call? And we only really seek You when our mighty towers fall Why do we say You’ve failed us and You’ve turned Your eyes away When we’re only sleeping in the bed we made? Why do we call for free will, but reject all consequence? Why’s the path we’ve made to Heaven stained with the blood of innocence? Why’d we ignore the warnings that we’ve read and always known And get angry when we reap the things we’ve sown? So we blame You ‘Cause our world’s not come out right While the devil’s masquerading As an angel of the light Just imagine All the pride and all the nerve To ask where You’ve been, when we’re the ones we serve It’s not a mystery, it’s been foretold But we ignored the warning bell so long ago There’s a way that seems right unto men, but we’ll die with the wages of sin As the world lies bleeding The giant is no longer sleeping Poisoned harvest reaping Blindly we just carry on, but the glory is gone Gone We live our lives like we could care less what You have to say Then curse the skies when You don’t come clean up the ugly mess we’ve made But You gave us a choice and we made it and dug ourselves into a hole We always thought we knew the way despite the things You said We just ignored the pile of bodies and the bloodstains on the bed Painting ourselves right into a corner as life spiraled out of control As the world lies bleeding The giant is no longer sleeping All we’ve sown now reaping Blindly we just carry on, but the glory is gone See us - Our promised land of milk and honey Became a land of filth and money Like Babylon and Rome before A land of greed and sin and guilt, a stained and scarlet whore See us - Living in our ivory towers Self-appointed kings with no power Built a monument to man We’re passing down empty decrees like a disease across the land [Solo: Val] This is the system we’ve created This is the world so devastated This is what it looks like when mankind asks You to just leave us alone This is the monster now awakened This is our legacy creation This is the place we end up when we say that we can do this on our own This is our masterpiece: corruption This is our monument: destruction Game point of life and death, the nadir of existence painted black This is the road the Hell we’ve wandered This is inheritance we’ve squandered So raise a glass to all we’ve lost and wonder if we’ll ever get it back Nations calling “Our will be done, mankind answers to no one” But now it has begun - In death, our sin hath borne a son Please forgive us for we’ve only made it worse Even after You had warned us Sin would only bring a curse Guess we knew better so we went a different way Now we’re only sleeping in the bed we made All the glory and the power left this place When we turned our backs upon You And chose to live in our disgrace But You warned us And You let us have our way Now we’re only drowning in the mess we made Blood on our hands

Coming back to this after 8 years, it is astounding to watch the decline of articulate, thoughtful students. A world led by feelings vs a world still grappling with the idea of true knowledge.

God bless you Cliff!!

The guy with his own intro speech needs Jesus

Cliffe, I think you’re truly one of the best human beings I have ever seen in my life. Seeing you help these kids understand your path is very beautiful and you will have my respect for that. I hope to meet you one day in person. God bless you! ❤️

And I will admit that when sometimes I need a answer from God I get antsy and complain. I am still working on it but I get happy to see people being calm, Like Cliffe and the other two young men. People like that inspire me. God bless, IFollowGod.

Suffering has a purpose in this earth.

Love these videos. Thank you Cliffe! God bless you

I enjoyed these two men that debated Cliffe today. They had very good questions and had very good manners, they both stayed calm and listened. I feel grateful that there are people like that who listen and do not shout or complain, it makes me happy to see people like that. Now I am not saying that people that shout and complain are bad, (I might have to make this two parts.) They might just be, well needing a answer.

Love your end talks. So amazing..you are an amazing man of God. Blessings from New Zealand.

No pain no gain suffering can be beneficial.

"What he knows, he knows, because he knows it. But also. What I know, I know, because I know it." So there you have it, folks. What we know, we know, because we know it . . . wait . . . what?

At last some people who are respectful and have a civilized conversation and not yelling . Good video Cliffe . That was funny when the guy was clapping alone lol

It's amazing how that second guy set down the talk seems to me he had all the answers why talk to Cliff?

Thank you!

ok, keep trusting yourself and see how far you get

These discussions are interesting

to me it's a matter of whether one has an eternal perspective vs the short life we have

That was an excellent first question

OK, I hope my thoughts on this question on the omnipitence and benevolence of God can help someone understand it. 1.) If you are talking about human evil, God will not take away your free will and will allow you to commit sin and cause evil and suffering. 2.) On to natural evils, I feel here that I should state that I believe God can cause "suffering," meaning that He can cause pain (mental, physical, emotional, etc.). Now, suffering can be broken into two categories: suffering that does not end in death and suffering that does not end in death. For the former, I reference St. Paul in that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. In short, good comes from this type of pain, and God can use any tool, earthquakes, cancer, car accidents, a breakup, to accomplish. On the other hand, there is pain that ends in death, and this is actually the easy one. In death we will be united with God. Only if our physical bodies die can we go to Paradise and fulfill our life's mission. In heaven we will be united with God in truth, and there is no greater joy than this. Basically, death is a blessing. I have thought about making a series of videos to answer questions such as these for a while, does anyone think I should? I hope this helped someone understand and if it did, Hallelujah! God bless.

First of all, stand up!!!!!!!!

Second guy was like "we have gifts". Yea dude but who give you that gifts? And second point don't say "we" and putting me with you in same bracket. Next time say "I have gifts"

Knowing God, His will and purpose for our lives allows us to operate and live in a manner that pleases God and causes us to be fruitful in everything we do.

A beautiful tree isn’t a work of man. When we depend completely on ourselves then that’s where our focus will be…on ourselves and we become very selfish. Many think that’s ok.

This was an incredible episode. I feel like the second guy tried his best to being a list of gotcha questions though, as well as some intellectual sounding opening statements that weren’t that intellectual. “You know what you know because you know it, I know what I know because I know it” for instance.

I wanted to see the rest of this

"why doesn't god help the kid with cancer?" So how many times have you gone to the children's cancer ward and read a story to them?

I don't see that I've commented on this before. For anybody that has a question similar to this guy @19:54, here is how I would answer: Why is it that we tell children that playing in the road is dangerous? Because it is dangerous! Does it matter, as far as making it dangerous or not, whether they worship us? No! If Jesus exists, and is the Son of God, then, even if you don't believe in Him, there will be consequences to your actions and beliefs. Why say that people are wrong? If they are wrong, then we need to tell them that they are wrong if there is danger involved. On a related note, you can be a good person without belief in Jesus, or God, but you cannot be a good person without the existence of God. If God does not exist, then all morality is is a fancy, whether personal or societal. Nothing is really right and nothing really wrong. Sure, something may be good or bad for achieving a goal, like growing a head of lettuce or causing humans to flourish, but does that mean that growing a head of lettuce or causing humans to flourish is a good thing? No! Why wouldn't the universe be just as well off without humans? The planet might stick around longer. Less ants would die from being stepped on. One might say that the eco-system needs humans. Not an eco-system that has no life. Why isn't it better to bring about an eco-system which has no life? It is just evolution-induced bias. We have evolved to think that we are important; therefore, we believe that we are important. Are we really? Without the existence of God, then I don't see why we are.

4:50 hey that guy with the beanie is the guy from episode #613

The BIG problem that the first person isn't understanding is that Cliff doesn't see death here on earth as the end, and it is obvious that the first guy does.

Even as a Christian, presentations like this stirs me to ask; How can we know just what to believe?

this is a big reason why we need theology taught in public schools. People need to be educated about the attributes and character of GOD. People criticize the character of GOD they do not understand because they have had predominantly secular sources and the limits of their own reasoning to develop their theology. You cannot separate one of GOD's characteristics from the others and say, "This is what GOD is like!" You essentially build your own straw man arguments. GOD is love, but HE will manifest wrath. GOD is merciful, but HE must be just and make good judgments. GOD is powerful, but so powerful HE can limit HIS power. GOD is faithful, but HE must allow us to see how life is because we choose to be unfaithful. I hated education, but that decreased the more I understood the value and purpose of being educated.

This first kid is coming whint some good questions you have to really have the spirit of God to answer his questions

When you experience pain and suffering or sickness can not be cure, you in your somewhere out there I know there is a God

I just heard something today about works you are saved to do good works

Cliffe, I think you should elaborate further on FAITH being the most important element that bridges the gap between sound logic and mystery. I saw you did that around the 16:00 mark, and I know that approach may be a quick way to shut down conversation... but there are often moments in the episodes when people ask "Why?" and "How?", moments when you offer the great "I. Do. Not. Know." quote, when it would be beneficial to elaborate a little more on faith in Jesus for eternal life and salvation.

John 1:10 "He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him."

His ways are above ours. He knows better than we do. Who's to say the child suffering from cancer isn't getting off easy. We are all born for a purpose and when that purpose is fulfilled He calls us home. Those purposes come from God. Life has shown me that from the ashes of despair comes an outpouring of love from many who wouldn't in normal circumstances show their love. Horrible situations seem to give us enough clarity to understand the important things in life and spurn us to love each other , just like Jesus tells us. Great things are accomplished when a group is confronted with a common enemy such as earthquakes or sicknesses. I've seen cancer survivors called to a better more productive life because of the outpouring of love they got when they were sick. One might argue that the survivor is lucky to have gotten to experience the outpouring of love because of the calamity that had befallen them. If all we have is the here and now and there is no God then , yes , it sucks. If paradise awaits then it's just part of the journey.

God does often intervene but he is a covenant keeping God. There is other Force at work.

Very good debate. But would also add at that when Jesus said, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me". He was quoting Psalms 22:1. Even while Christ was being crucified HE pointed to HIS written word so even Torah scholars would believe that He was Christ and Lord. These words were written 1000 years before Christ ever appeared and to fulfill the scriptures.

9:20 Because he''s waiting for His believers to intervene. Believers will lay hands on the sick and the shall recover. Mark 16:18 If His believers intervened, a stronger relationship with God blossoms, if God does everything, it doesn't.

God is not your servant -- you are his servant.

Props the student who was carrying a very difficult question because those are questions God did not choose to answer and we can only assume based on God's character, while at the same time very intellectually respectful asking to actually get an answer. Hope this conversations helped him be wiser and hopefully led to a spirit-filled life

The question the gentleman had around 9:20, Cliff may not fully understand this but God absolutely does intervene in people's sicknesses and afflictions but that intervention happens through US. Matthew 10:5-8. In verse 8 Jesus commands his disciples "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay." In other words Jesus commands US to heal the sick. Christians have been given the indwelling Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us. We can and should be healing, cleansing and casting out demons. It is an active ministry, the Kingdom of God. People remain afflicted with cancers and the rest because very few of us are doing our part to see the sick healed. I have held legs where one was shorter than the other and watched it lengthen in my hands, I have seen a man who was confined to a wheelchair for 6months get up and walk. Another woman in a power chair who knew Jesus heals but never experienced it in her own life, she got up and ran loudly praising the Lord, and I have casted demons from a woman immediately after her baptism. These are just a few examples but Jesus heals and we are the facilitators of that healing. Not everyone I pray for experiences a healing and I don't know why. Sometimes God wants their heart first, that's one thing I noticed but I don't know why he does instant healings for some and not others. There are times when people are better the next day, sometimes weeks. It's not all cut and dry but God absolutely does intervene, and according to scripture, he chooses to do so through us. We are carriers of and temples of his Holy Spirit.

13:45 wowww he got into college? Must be on affirmative action!! I know what I know because I know it” wowww

Good

Ecclesiastes 3:2 gives me comfort at the death of my loved ones.

Please pray my sister paloma she having heart problems that makes her faint she needs prayers

I believe God allows natural disasters like earthquakes to show us the fact that this is a fallen and corrupted creation which happened as a result of man's rebellion, it shows the severity of rebellion and a call to return to God, it shows man's absolute helplessness towards things like that and motivate us to reach out to a power greater than ourselves, and as for this present fallen creation, only God has the solution, the Book of Revelation says that this fallen creation will pass away and God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth, a brand new creation where there is no suffering, no tears, no earthquakes, no death, but it's up to us whether or not we want to be part of God’s new creation or spend eternity apart from God, time is running out, return to God before it's too late, this is the time of Salvation.

Hey, this was recorded on the same day as #0613

In the beginning God gave mankind a choice to obey or to disobey. Obedience leads to life disobedience leads to death and decay. God gave man the diet meant to keep him healthy organic plant base whole foods man has strayed from this diet and has also polluted the earth which is the cause of much sickness and disease I my self had leukemia twice on both occasions I should have died but miraculously I survived. I prayed and submitted my life to God and God intervened in both occasions and allowed me to survive so yes God does intervene in our lives when we ask and when it suits his purpose now I witness of God mercy towards mankind in the message of the gospel of Christ to make know the path to repentance and remission of sin that brings a person back into a relationship with God. Jesus taught I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me. The choice is yours obedience unto righteousness and eternal life or disobedience unto eternal death.

God ,is sovereign young man, he heals whomever he wills; and he let others die. Whatever he decides, he is still a benevolent, and totally just.

Well, we can certainly both talk in hypotheticals, Jabangun.

The answer to his question is that there is an enemy behind all destruction and it is the devil that comes to destroy and kill. Hold yourself to God and he will deliver you.

The first college student did not actually get a good answer...OUTSIDE of I do not know, which is a valid answer. There is no answer.

Regarding the question/argument: "Why does an all powerful, loving God not help the boy who has cancer?" . Several interesting points on this: 1) God does help that person. Not in this life, but in the next life. Cliff touched on this, but the questioner glossed over it. The boy who trusts in Jesus Christ will receive a new, perfectly healthy body that will last for eternity. 2) If one demands that God "help" everyone who gets cancer by making it go away (or preventing it from ever happening), then should he not also "help" everyone who gets sick, injured, or experiences loss of some kind? Okay, let's say he does what people ask him to do. Now.... how do we deal with starvation once our population explodes because no one is dying any more? How many demands does a person get to make of God to fix every negative life happenstance before acknowledging what they really want is a helicopter mommy who spoils them rotten? Sounds more like a genie in a lamp than a mature, loving relationship. 3) What is the atheists solution to the problem of a boy dying of cancer? "Sucks to be you" is all they have. The boy dies. Done. There is no justice for the evil event that took his life. There is no reason why his life ending when it did is unjust at all. In fact, the atheist must admit that when nature calls your numbers, that's just the way it is. The Earth doesn't owe us 1 second of life, much less 80-100 years. A tornado, hurricane, or tsunami kill you? Oh well. Such is life and death. Sucks to be you. If I did not believe in God, it would be very hard to get out of bed in the morning. No ultimate purpose other than to suck wind for somewhere between 1-101 years and then blink out to be forgotten except some bored person 100 years from now might find an old meme I posted floating around.... No justice, no comfort, no nothing....just endless oblivion of which I am unaware.

people are so wrapped up in our minuscule time here on planet Earth and could care less about where they will spend eternity

You know I think a lot of these sort of discussions could be helped is if we make it clear that satan has control of earth at the moment and he is getting frantic because he knows his time is short. Solves a lot of mysteries for me.

Because we live in a fallen creation!

God works through us and our faith decides how much we allow God to work through us. As Jesus states multiple times.

It’s about Jesus. It’s relationship, not religion.

He comes when we call him. Look at those passages. But every debt must be paid. This may help this argument.

great job Cliffe & Dan

Great job Cliffe! One thing I think could have been mentioned when the 2nd guy asked "why do we need Jesus?"We need Jesus because He is the cure for humanity's problem. We are all headed for death and Jesus said He is the way the truth and the Life! He's the Life we so desperately need🙏🏽 we lost God's life in the garden remember? The day they eat of the tree they will die. It was seperation from God, aka spiritual death Love you all in Christ! I love this channel

He does intervean , just not for everyone

Nope, but I have met him in person.

What aliens? You probably watch too much SiFi movies. :)

He doesn't do podcasts, does he?

Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

I think where the first guy is missing the point, and by the way he has great questions, but I think his hangup is being focused on this life now. As Christians we can see the suffering in this life, even the suffering of "good" Christians and know that after death there is more, there is eternal life without suffering. An Atheist only has this life to look forward to and so only sees suffering and eventually death and it's over, nothing more.

God has made all things, and set all things to happen just as they do happen today, there is no way around that. Accepting it is alot easier that asking why Gods allowed to do what he wants. He has done it out of his own divine will, the only true free will is God's.

This boy cannot accept the thought that God is not human and does not perceive death and suffering the same way we do. As Frank Turek said, God sees everything and sometimes something good comes out of a bad situation in the end. Let me give you an example. I once didn't care about God. I kept failing in life until my wife got pancreatic cancer and had no option of surgery. The diagnosis she received was a maximum of 4 months to live. Then, for the first time in a long time, I sincerely asked God for help. Well, it turned out that there is some therapy. My wife agreed to it, then she became pregnant for the second time. Then she had two surgeries and today more than two years have passed since then and not only did she not die, but her condition was not life-threatening. Later there were more such signs and now I am slowly starting to return to God. It is not easy for me, but with God's help I am trying to overcome my weaknesses. It is true that the moment we begin to reconcile with God, pray and listen to his voice, Satan loses his power over us. Eternal glory to the Lord Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Idk if it’s relevant, but in regards to innocent babies and children suffering and dying, I know of many people, both Christian and non, having near death experiences and going to heaven, and seeing babies, children, and even mentally disadvantaged people in heaven. When I say mentally disadvantaged, I don’t know the details, but they were mentally disadvantaged during their time in earth, but in heaven they are at full capacity and aren’t hindered by what their physical bodies suffered. And for the case of children/babies, they’re going back to the Father in heaven anyways. So the argument can be made as to why didn’t people pray for the child’s salvation via a medical miracle so that they may live? God could have easily acquiesced to that prayer. And if they still died anyways, if they were young enough to still be considered fully innocent, God would have taken them back to heaven. It all makes perfect sense and fits the criteria of an Omnibenevolent God.

The first was articulate in his thoughts but the bigger question is got to ask is, not if God intervenes in suffering, but if there is a God at all. If there isn't suffering wins! If there is a God, suffering ultimately loses along with evil...The second guy asked why do I need to my faith in Jesus when I can still be a good guy without him. Its true you can, but at times you are not a good guy, all of us do that which is evil. You and everyone in the world needs the saviour of the sin we commit

Genesis 3 gives the answer: Humanity acquired the knowledge of good and evil; now there will be suffering and death as well as pleasure and love. This knowledge is essential for the appreciation of what is good. Without that contrast, good is not known as good. Without appreciation of good, ultimately, no one would know the goodness of God, even while in heaven.

The reason bad things happen is because all of creation is under a curse from God because of mankinds rebellion against God. The fall of mankind from the Garden when we tried to literally become like God. Even still God made a way to repair the relationship with us. HE IS AMAZING.

Yes, we do not have the gift of 'create'. We are given the gift to 'manipulate' and 'use'. Even the law of physics say so. :-)

How do you know Who God Loves?

The child with the long hair and the goatee imagines that he's a good speaker and that what he says makes some sense, but neither is the case. He imagines that he's making valid points and influencing people's opinions in a way that makes them agree with his point of view, but neither is the case.

Maybe God doesn't stop things like cancer because He has decided it's time for that person to come home. We tend to make a huge deal of our suffering in the world in our flesh and then take little note of the afterlife with Jesus Christ. It is a blessing to pass on.

if you believe God is all knowing, then it is possible that He knows why He act that way? Should I trust your opinion that God should act your way or to trust an all knowing God?

This may not be the right perspective. But what if those who we believe shouldn't have died so early are but an example to us, that life is precious. We don't like suffering but do some of us help alleviate or cause suffering to others. We seem to believe that it's terrible a child has died, but the elderly well it's their time to die.

Our understanding is thousand steps behind Gods understanding. If God let the child died on Cancer we do not know but what we know God let it happen but we don't have to worry cause children are from heaven and maybe God let that child died early because in the future that child might be lost or suffer more. God sees it and we can't we are not more merciful than the Father nor know the beginning and end.

Child who died of cancer most probably will go ti heaven

Things happen in this world because the world was created and then left to run its course. People are ready to blame God for every sickness and death but if God was to help in every case and in every scenario, nobody would seek God. We would become used to it and become arrogant and not learn anything in life. People forget that terrible things happened when Jesus walked the Earth. People have to stop looking at life on Earth as the last stop!! If a child dies you don't think he or she is welcomed in heaven where he or she will be in the land of complete perfection? The way I see it, this world is going down fast and people who have left are the lucky ones in the grand scheme of things. Stop thinking that death is the last stop. Jesus said let the dead bury the dead. He had souls to save. Death will always be around.