God is Good: He's Better Than You Think

by Bill Johnson

God is better than we think... so it's time to change the way we think about Him. "God is good." More than a positive thought, theological concept or Biblical statement--what you do with these three words defines your reality and determines your destiny. In a world of fear, disease, crisis, torment, uncertainty, and hopelessness, what you believe about God's goodness reveals how you will respond to the trials and circumstances of everyday life. Your view of God impacts everything! Respected pastor and bestselling author, Bill Johnson presents a new groundbreaking series that calls believers to build their lives on one unshakeable foundation: the assurance that God is good. Learn how to: clearly discern the difference between the will of God and the enemy's plans. confidently pray for breakthrough, believe for miracles, and have faith for God to move, no matter what comes against you. find rest in God's unchanging character and embrace the value of mystery... even when prayers aren't immediately answered. discover God's goodness in both Old and New Testaments. encounter Jesus Christ as perfect theology--the One Who reveals a good Father. partner with Heaven to release supernatural solutions to a world in chaos. Build your life on the solid foundation of God's goodness and experience new realms of supernatural thinking that bring Heaven to Earth, changing the atmosphere around you!

Genres: Christian, Christianity, Theology, Christian Living, Faith, Spirituality, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Bill Johnson and his wife Brenda (Beni) Johnson are the Senior Pastors of Bethel Church in Redding, California. Johnson is a fifth generation pastor.

Johnson was born in Minnesota in 1951 and became a Christian as a young child. Soon after, Johnson read seven books on prayer, which significantly affected his perspective and subsequent ministry.

Bill Johnson and his wife have three children: Eric, Brian and Leah.

Johnson speaking at a conference
Bill Johnson and Beni (Brenda) began as singles pastors under his father at Bethel. In 1979, they became senior pastors of Mountain Chapel in Weaverville, California.

While pastoring in Weaverville, Johnson attended a 1987 conference led by John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Church Movement. According to Johnson "A number of healings and manifestations broke out and I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't object to it, I wasn't opposed to it; I just didn't know how to pastor it in a way that it would continue and increase".

In 1995, Johnson attended the Toronto Blessing revival at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church. Johnson relates: "In Toronto I said, 'Lord, if You touch me again I will never change the subject.' So I went up for prayer every time it was offered. I didn't have anything dramatic happen, but I came home and said, 'I am going to give the rest of my life to this.'"

In February 1996, after 17 years of leading the Weaverville church, the Johnsons were invited to become senior pastors of Bethel. Today Johnson describes Bethel as a church where "everything we do either fuels revival or is fueled by revival." Under his leadership, Bethel left the Assemblies of God in 2006 to become a nondenominational charismatic church.

According to a recent book written by Johnson, "Face to Face with God", Bethel is "a church where supernatural encounters with God happen regularly, miracles are common, and the congregation has an infectious passion for spiritual growth." The church has approximately 1,500 members, and a School of Supernatural Ministry.

Their Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry has 1,200 students enrolled with over 370 from other countries. Johnson leads a network of churches dedicated to global, multi-generational revival, Global Legacy. Johnson has written a number of books and travels extensively as a featured revival conference speaker. Johnson is also involved with the Northern California Revival Fellowship, a group of north Californian pastors committed to revival.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Mike Rybak · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am always excited to read books that focus on God as the main point. I grabbed this book right away because it had so many 5 star ratings. After reading it, I am so confused as to what Bill Johnson is thinking. Johnson starts out very strong pointing out that the Bible is the only source of our knowledge of God's goodness. I was excited when he stated, "If I were to do to my children what many people think God does to His children, I’d be arrested for child abuse. People say God is good, yet they credit Him with causing cancer and natural disasters and even blame Him for terrorist activities." (Page 30). I was hoping to see how he addresses the question of pain and suffering. Johnson starts with creation and shows God's love and care all through Christ. But that is where he drops the ball. His reasoning is faulty and I think he treats a lot of sensitive issues with a flippant attitude. "I know you're in pain and it hurts but cheer up, God is good."

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this quote. "WHO IS IN CONTROL? One of the most common phrases used in this discussion is that 'God is in control.' It is true that He is the Sovereign God. He reigns over all, and everything belongs to Him. Nothing is outside of His reach or His concern. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. But is He in control? This is not a question of His ability or His power and authority. If He is, doesn’t that make Him responsible for Hitler? Is brain cancer His idea? If He is in control, then we have to credit Him with disease, earthquakes, hurricanes, and all the other calamities in life. You get the point. I think it’s more accurate to say He is in charge, but He is not in control. Every parent reading this should get this point quite easily. While we are in charge of our homes, not everything that happens under our roof is necessarily our idea or is approved by us. This is an important distinction." (Page 158). Is he really saying that God is submissive to our free will? This question was not clearly argued.

When it comes to explaining the question that every generation of believers ask, "Why is there pain and suffering in the world", Johnson dances around the subject and avoids the real reason. I don't pretend to have all the answers but I do struggle with knowing why such horrid things happen in this world. His answer to all things is the same. Trust God because he is good. Pray harder because God is good. Try harder because God is good. It's as if the answer to every struggle or issue is "God is Good". Yes, God is very good. But when I pray that when some tragedy hits very close to home, he receives more compassion and care than he gives out.

In "When God Doesn't Fix It" by Laura Story, she says, "While doctors can heal physical ailments, emotional wounds can be soothed, and grief lessens with time, our broken relationship with God continues to cause us pain even when our life is going well. God wants to restore our relationship with him more than anything else. Though he loves us, he’ll allow us to feel the pain of this world’s unhealed hurts if it brings us closer to him." I suffer from muscular dystrophy and my wife has had breast cancer twice. My hope and joy is found in Jesus. I don't know why He didn't heal me or why He allowed my wife to get cancer twice. But I know it's not because I didn't pray hard enough, had sin in my life, or didn't trust God. My muscular dystrophy and my wife's cancer has brought me closer to him and improved my relationship with Him. For that, I am thankful.

I finished reading this book with a heavy heart. I wasn't drawn to closer to God. I felt like a huge burden was placed on my shoulders.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of revelation—pretty much underlined the entire book.

[Tadeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a message the Body of Christ needs to hear

[Christy Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far one of the most profound books besides the Bible itself. Bill so eloquently and easily unravels the many questions surrounding the goodness of God and beautifully articulates the wonder of Jesus. I found that many questions I myself had asked God over the years were answered as truth was illustrated. Thankyou Bill for clearly defining who God is and I pray that this book gets in the hands of every believer- and non believer alike.

[Amy C Quartermaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting

As I walked through a wilderness experience, I read this book. No pat answers here. Good solid, biblical answers. I especially appreciated his confessing about his own trial in the loss of his father.

[Michael Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! This is the book the body of Christ needs to read. The revelation of God as a good father, full of mercy and love has the ability to revolutionize the church in the West.

[Amber Flater · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so eye opening to me. Really helped me reflect on some past "bad."

[Erich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skeptical

I do not agree with all of Bill's teachings or beliefs, but I will say he will challenge your theology. If you are stuck in your faith or connection with the Holy Spirit this book will give you a jump. Give it a chance he will say some things that will sound wrong some are very wrong but somethings are precious as diamonds. Seek and you will find, there are some life changing thoughts all through this book. Don't get hung up on doctrine, nobody has it all right. Search for the treasures in this book. Read it once I will read again in hopes of finding more treasures. Worth reading!

[Bobby Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, very thought provoking book. Several great truths taught. Others thoughts made me think through what I believe & why.


One of my favorite quotes from God Is Good:

If I were to define my life in extremely simple terms, it would be this - I cry out to God for increasing breakthroughs in private, and I learn to take risks in public. If there is a breakthrough, I give God all the glory. If there isn’t a breakthrough, I go back to that private place in prayer and cry out to God once again. That of course is followed once again with risk in public. That is the cycle for my life.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

So...I finished this book, and I feel like I’m still waiting to find out what makes Bill Johnson think God is Good. Did I miss it somehow? Don’t get me wrong - God is good, and I cannot be unconvinced of that truth. I just expected to receive some new revelation about the goodness of God and all I got was an admonishment to be better at communicating that God is Good without any new insight about that goodness. This puzzles me. In fact, I kind of think that I might think God is better than Bill Johnson thinks He is...

[Adam Gellert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bill Johnson and his church, Bethel Church in Redding, California, and I have read many of his books. I was able to buy this new book from Bill at my home church when he visited recently, and he signed my copy!

I loved the theme of the book around God's goodness. It seems like an obvious concept that God is good, but faced with life's challenges, we all have times when we doubt or question His goodness, or wonder where He is in that trial. Bill does a great job outlining why we need to consistently put our trust and faith in God, no matter the season in life.

I rated this four stars instead of five, only because a lot of the content is a repeat of the messages and themes from Bill's other books. If you have never read Bill Johnson, you will love this book. But as a reader of several other of his works, it was not as engaging as I had hoped because of the repeat of prior works. Overall I enjoyed the book!

[James Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

When reading this book, I felt my compassion for the Lord go up even further. The simple words that God is Good is repeated daily like saying grace for their meal but this book should move you deeper in your knowledge of God, the reason why He can still loves us.
Although the ultimate feeling of God's love will not be felt until we meet Him, going deeper via revelations of Him will make us pursue Him even more.


This is my second time reading this book and the amount of more revelation I received, from the first time, is like I’ve never read it before.
Discovering God’s Goodness is a revelation of God’s glory that Moses asked to see. It is realizing that everything Jesus did was demonstrate God’s goodness in the earth. It knowing that we too are releasing His goodness in the earth starting with our lives and sharing it with others.

[Andy Bettencourt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important Message but could have been conveyed much better

I really enjoyed this book and appreciate Bill Johnson's voice in the Christian community that being said I find his writing and main points pretty difficult to follow. Part of it may be that I dont come from his branch of Christianity, however, his work has taught me many valuable things and helped better explain some of his viewpoints even though I still don't fully understand them nor fully accept them.

[Joshua Stannard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having spent 3 years in Redding California at Bethel Church in the school of ministry I can honestly say this is the message built in to the church and Bill Johnson. Everything Bill shares in life is from this foundation. The book is a must read for those wanting a greater understanding of who God really is and how to relate Him to a world craving the goodness and love that God brings.

[Barb Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

God wants my vision and experience to stretch and encompass much more of His goodness so that I can walk more closely proclaiming His heart and living it out to a world that is perishing. Many more will be attracted to Him and want Him and His kingdom of freedom when proclaimed and lived by a free people, instead of slaves!

[Cate Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hear a lot of criticism of Bill Johnson, but when I read his quotes or hear him speak I don't find any basis for it, quite the opposite.

I greatly enjoyed this book - I think sometimes, particularly as we look critically at all that is wrong with the world, our focus, while not altogether wrong, is off kilter. This is the sort of book that gets your compass back on track. God is good!

[Joshua Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. I love how Bill Johnson yet again challenges me to pursue realms of God's heart I had not yet discovered. This is more than a book. It is a teaching that comes from Heaven that I must renew my mind on so I can live in, experience, and release God's goodness.

[Carrie Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. We must continue discovering the goodness of God and books like this help show us a bigger picture. What a sigh of relief the message in this book is for one who was discipled to think He was angry and ready to punish us at every turn. A relief!

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Sets things straight about what your definition is of the goodness of God and makes you realize that you maybe did not fully understand the extent of His goodness. God is good all the time.

[Valentin Sushkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing book

This book summarizes, affirms and extends the revelation I’ve been receiving during the last year. I’m so thankful for the wisdom, comfort and joy coming through this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to read again and again until you are convinced, God is good. I did so much highlighting in this book that it is basically purple now.

[Jacob Hedlund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good. It's better than you think.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have ever read.

[Donna Tashjian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

This book will challenge what you really think about God. He is better than you think. This is something we all need a deeper revelation about.

[Karen D Duarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

pure wisdom

Wisdom on every page! your love for God will grow even more after reading this book. He really is good!!

[Jeff Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally the last 3 chapters alone is enough to give this book 5 full stars.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an incredible study about the love and power of God. Bill Johnson is DEEP. I read it twice to glean as much of his knowledge as possible.

[Jennifer Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exploring how good God is can be a game changer. Loved this book.

[Chuck · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the first chapter of God Is Good, Bill Johnson said, “Almost every believer confesses God is good. We have to. It’s in the Bible.” So, we need to be clear that our understanding of the goodness of God is consistent with what Scripture says about God. And this wasn’t what Johnson did.

Johnson immediately associated his belief in the goodness of God with his understanding of the meaning of “greater works than these” in John 14:12: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” Johnson said Jesus meant that his disciples would do signs and wonders, greater miracles, than he did himself!

He said he looked forward to the day when the Church stands up and says, “Don’t believe us unless we are doing the works that Jesus did!” However, the “greater works” in John 14:12 is the salvation of all those who the Son will raise to life, just as the Father raised Him. In his commentary, D.A. Carson said the following:

The ‘signs’ and ‘works’ Jesus performed during his ministry could not fully accomplish their true end until after Jesus had risen from the dead and been exalted. Only at that point could they be seen for what they were. By contrast, the works believers are given to do through the power of the eschatological Spirit, after Jesus’ glorification, will be set in the framework of Jesus’ death and triumph, and will therefore more immediately and truly reveal the Son. Thus greater things is constrained by salvation-historical realities. In consequence many more converts will be gathered into the messianic community, the nascent church, than were drawn in during Jesus’ ministry.

It seems Johnson presumes a false dichotomy between his understanding of the doctrine of cessationism, which he referred to as “no miracles today,” and his belief in modern believers doing the works that Jesus did. He said: “Creating doctrines of no miracles today not only contradicts His Word, it is a sneaky way to avoid responsibility. Instead of changing the standard for life given by Jesus, who walked the earth two thousand years ago, we are to embrace it and follow His model.”

Bill Johnson unequivocally state that knowledge of the goodness of God requires that Christians today believe they can do greater miracles than Jesus did. By praying the Lord’s Prayer, he thinks we can bring the reality of His world, heaven, into this one. What is free to operate in Heaven (joy, peace, wisdom, health, wholeness, etc.) is “loosed” on earth. And what is not free in Heaven (sickness, disease, spiritual bondage, and sin) is “bound” here.

By systematically deconstructing the Lord’s Prayer and how it has been traditionally understood by the Church, he imposes his distorted understanding of God’s goodness upon it. In the end, he gives a radically different meaning and significance to the goodness of God than Scripture. Johnson’s understanding of the goodness of God seems to be itself a forgery or misunderstanding of the goodness of God.

[Max Zur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a Christian, but I don’t associate myself with conservatism, American or not. I don’t think that any war against popular “evils” that are commonly discussed in Evangelical churches would lead to any sort of good. Moreover, I’m Russian who lives in Russia, and here the face of conservatism is so plain dumb that you’d never want to be part of it, unless you just lose sense of what’s going around. That said, and given that Bill Johnson supports many typical conservative measures, I adore his willingly or unwillingly preaching of much deeper understanding of Christianity into the restrictive and fundamentalist milieu. People who think Trump is the man would listen to him (probably), and they will see that the times have changed, and the strategies of being a true Christian should change in favour of more empathic, smart and, let’s put it so, happy behaviour.

Johnson is not an intellectual as Yancey, and I know little of his way of being a church leader. I’m not 100% sure that all the info about their church is honest and pure. But the way that he paves for his readers certainly has something from God, a revelation and inspiration, something that modern world, including me, is longing for. And the message is not made up by Johnson, it’s fully biblical. His arguments that connect his message to the Bible are rather strong and convincing. He’s not preaching something “new” (in fact, nobody can), he just polishes those sides which still are not as vivid as they could be.

If people from different “camps”, conservative and liberal, will begin to hear each other better, Johnson can be counted as the one who’s invested in it.