The Cosmic Bully?: Discovering the True Character of God

How do we fear God and love Him at the same time?
Does God endorse genocide?
How can a loving God send people to a place where they burn forever?
Is God just waiting to bring judgment upon anyone who messes up?

The Bible provides numerous examples of a God who seems to have a mean streak. He wiped out most of humanity with a flood, brought enormous devastation to His own children, and plans to judge the whole earth in the future. Individuals in the Bible have also experienced God's wrath, including a man who touched a wooden container, another man who picked up sticks on the wrong day, and a couple church goers who lied about a business transaction.

How can God be good in the midst of all this judgment? Is He simply using judgment to manipulate us into doing His will? If this is the case, He is no more than a Cosmic Bully.

What if we have God all wrong? Does God have a reasonable defense against such accusations? What is God's perspective and what was He trying to accomplish through these judgments? Did he have good reasons for doing what He did?

God followers need good answers to these questions because if they are unable to show that God is good in spite of many difficult Bible passages, then how deep is their faith?