If you go to the website (http://www.centralheightschurch.com/christian-faith/spiritual-questions.html)l this qoute on pain was not written towards last Friday night. This church is very much wanting to help in anyway possible. It was an accident, and that is all. This quote came from the spiritual questions for everyday life on their website. If you want to point, you need some real evidence for what you said about this Church. It’s not fair to pick something out to satisfy your own argument. Try reading all of questions in context! Plus there is nothing about the tragedy yet except that the services were at CBC this last Sunday.

I can assure you that in no way is Central Heights Church saying that the people who fell into the hole deserved what happened.
In this life on earth we will all go through some pretty tough things, but we need to realize that God is not out to get us, and realize that He loves us so much. He went throu, No this is not the people who fell into the holes fault, it just happened. As Niki above said, “It was simply too many people jumping on a floor that was ill-equipped to handle them. And that’s all.” These kids were celebrating what God has done in their lives and what He will continue to do even after this accident that could of been so much worse.
What about the miracle that no lives were taken?

Being a Christain in no way means that you will be immune from tragedy. In fact, it usually means quite the opposite as many people are persecuted for their faith.

We believe that all things work for good for those who believe - even if a first glance it would seem like a tragedy. I’m not claiming that I know what good will come of this at this point, but maybe the fact that we, as intellegent people, are right now discussing the possible meanings is one of the positive outcomes. Just a thought.

And yes, I am a member of this church.

God does not hate central heights. If he did, there would have been tons of people seriously injured, and at least one death

My brother is actually the bass player for Starfield. So I’ve heard first hand of what has happened. He said that it was the craziest “out of body” experience as he was closest to the floor falling besides going down with it. He told himself that he just had to wake up, that it was all a dream. Then reality kicked in, he jumped in the hole, and started the “rescue” process. I have talked to all the band members, and they are doing ok. Very shaken up, but as my brother said, it puts everything into perspective.

All I have to say is that this is a discussion that has been happening since Jesus ascended into heaven. And honestly, I don’t think either side of this argument really are ever going to know the full truth. But thats ok. Thats the brilliance of God. He gave us the free will to discuss these things and I actually think that was His plan. This kind of dialogue is rad. I do tend to fall on the side of this being part of the world functioning on its own, like God intended it to when He set it into motion. But my Grandmother tends to disagree with me. Hahah.

Lets keep this dialogue going. Thanks to “Blue Collar Scientist” for starting this on his blog.

Sincerely,
Mat

Umm, yeah Niki, but you know what this actually means, right? That PART of the consequence for rebelling against god is pain, but there are more consequences than just that. Like death, and especially really gory ones like getting drowned in a hurricane or tsunami, sickness like AIDS, getting eaten by bears if you are a child who makes fun of a holy man, and so on.

By the way, I’ll take the BCS challenge, and agree with him: This tragedy was merely the result of some sort of mechanical failure, not god’s wrath; Katrina was not god’s wrath; the tsunami was not god’s wrath; and these people deserve the compassion and support that BCS has expressed for them, whilst also holding them accountable for error.

God does not hate Central Heights, and the events of the evening were not an action of his hand against the people who were hurt. It was simply too many people jumping on a floor that was will-equipped to handle them. And that’s all.

I totally agree.

I’ll go one step further, though: The tsunami was just a result of tectonic activity, and God does not hate Indonesia; and Hurricane Katrina was just a hurricane, and not God’s divine judgement on New Orleans.

Will you take that step with me?

Christians who adopt this theology apply it with a double standard. When something bad happens to them, it is an attack from Satan, or just an accident, not something they brought upon themselves. When something bad happens to people who have different beliefs, though, then it’s divine judgement.

Blue Collar Scientist, I commend you that you are willing to help people that you obviously profoundly disagree with. That is living Jesus’ example better than many of his acknowledged followers.

I am a Christian but I repudiate that theology. I think Blue Collar Scientist asks a very pertinent question, and I think his best wishes for the injured is in very good taste.