Chapter the Eleventh: The Reason I stay away from Deep Topics on Blogs

There is just too much danger in getting into deep topics. Eventually something I say or write always gets taken as an offense. Do I think that people are all immature and cannot handle good logical well thought out discussion? No. But I do think that some of them cannot. So by the rules of Irony, which I will ennact upon myself I will now enter the first deep entry of this blog and see where it leads...

When I was in St. Paul with all of you, I got to watch Joel Osteen give an interview on Larry King Live about the success of the church he serves in, the biggest church in the U.S. He was asked a question that all people in church work or even related to a church will get asked at some point in their life. Someone will ask, "why did this happen to this person if there is a loving God?" Or some variation of the like.

Well good ole' Joel got asked by a woman why her sister or friend was stricken with cancer and died, could he (Joel) shed sme light on to why this happened? Joel of course answered "No, I can't answer that," and successfully dance around the question. At that point I turned the channel a little mad that the leader of the biggest church in the U.S. could not, or more to the point would not answer that question on a public stage. Yes it is an intimate answer to give someone and perhaps there was too much at risk for his image, or church, or whatever to give the answer to a national audience but I still feel a answer was needed other than, "I can't answer that." If there ever was a time to share the gospel that was it, and to a congregation bigger than any other in the world.

What would be your answer to the question that was asked to Joel? Why do good things happen to bad people, or why does someone get cancer or aids, or even pass away unexpectedly if the believe in God or if there is a loving God up there?