Ted Haggard: Should I Trust My Pastor?

November 11 06 Geoff Bradford 16 comments

In case you are just tuning in…

(From Wikipedia) Ted Arthur Haggard is a former American evangelical preacher. Known as “Pastor Ted” to the congregation he once served, he is the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. On November 3, 2006, he resigned his leadership of the National Association of Evangelicals and stepped aside as pastor of his church because of allegations by former prostitute and masseur Mike Jones that Haggard engaged in sex with him for three years and used methamphetamine. Jones said he had only recently learned of Haggard’s true identity and explained his reasons for coming forward by saying, “It made me angry that here’s someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex”. Haggard at first claimed he had never met his accuser and in a television interview said “I am steady with my wife. I’m faithful to my wife”. On November 5, in a statement, Haggard said, “The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring about it for my entire life. ... The accusations that have been leveled against me are not all true but enough of them are true. ... The things that I did opened the door to additional allegations.”

Now, as a follower of Christ, this kind of stuff makes me very angry.

“Great!” I say to myself, “another among the ranks of Christian leaders who give a reason for the American public to punch Jesus and the church in the eye.” I get very angry because I feel protective about God’s reputation in our city and in my neighborhood. Personally I’d like to go out to Colorado and punch Ted Haggard in the eye.

As a pastor, it makes me angry. It’s hard enough to be a pastor—with good reason. This is not the first, nor will it be the last guy in ministry that falls under temptation and is turned into a pop culture icon for mocking the church and easily handing over ammunition to people who already hate Christians and distrust the church. Being a pastor ranks among the top mistrusted professions in the country—right up there with used-car salesmen, politicians, insurance adjusters and lawyers (my condolences to these professionals). So when a guy who, “in the name of Jesus” has been preaching against homosexuals and gay marriage gets caught with his pants down…this kind of press does not help me out in any way. It makes my job harder. In a community where we are seeking to love more than move people toward behavior modification the stereotypical Amercian Pastor Scandal is crushing. It hurts our honest ministry to real people who are hurting and truly need jesus.

I know that such events raise the question, “Should we trust our pastors?”

It’s a very fair question—but one that can be rooted in misunderstanding the gospel. Because the answer to that question is both “no” and “yes” because of the gospel. I want to let you in on my life as a pastor and how we deal with this. I hope this helps clarify the gospel and I’ll explain how we submit to one another in our leadership roles so that the gospel is worked out in liberti leadership.

First: I’m a sinner.

That statement is not just preacher talk. I really mean it. I am a sinner. The reality of being a pastor is that I deal with my own heart all the time. The longer I’m a Christian, I realize more and more that my sin is not just what comes up on the surface—anger, white lies, boasting, etc. Rather, *I’m becoming more aware of just how deeply embedded and hidden my sin goes*—my sin would encourage me to be the center of the universe, to make God my slave, and treat others around me into my loyal subjects. God has recently been showing me a heart of arrogance, pride, and selfishness. You’d think that after 15 years as a Christian, I’d get through most of my sin. Not so—Jesus gently keeps showing me more and more how much I need him. Don’t believe that your leaders are not sinners who need Jesus every bit as much as you do. There is no magic wand. When I became a pastor, I did not suddenly become less of a sinner, or need Jesus any less. If anything, being a pastor has only pushed me to see how much MORE I need him.

Second: the American church really doesn’t understand sin and redemption very well…

The church looks at the outside. And in doing so, we don’t play by God’s definition of sin. We cheapen and do violence to the gospel when we make up a subset of rules that if a person seems to have it together on the outside, everything must be OK on the inside. That is because we functionally believe that God really is just about nice people. Therefore the gospel must be about making us nice. But in the New Testament, we read about how Jesus hated the “nice” religious establishment for this very reason. He routinely had the hardest and most difficult things to say to the nice moral leaders of the day. We don’t define the most Christian people at our church by the nicest or the ones who seem to have it together. No: we say that good leaders are those who love well, repent well, and don’t make everything about themselves.

At liberti, we do take sin very seriously.

As leaders we are just as susceptible to sin as Ted Haggard, we are just as susceptible to failing and totally falling on our face as anyone. There is nothing that sets me apart from you that keeps me from falling into a life filled with deceit and sin. So as leaders, all your pastors and elders are accountable to one another. This is how we stay out of trouble, this is how we keep each other from falling, this is how we try, to the best of our abilities, to look sin in the face and fight it as hard as we possibly can. We know that we do not exist in a vacuum and left to our own desires we would sin, fail, and destroy gods church. I think it even gets harder to avoid temptation when you get into a role where you are singled out as a leader. We meet in weekly or bi-weekly groups with one another to ask each other hard questions. We’re accountable to one another. We also submit ourselves as a whole to other churches and other pastors outside of liberti. That’s why we are in a denomination—a community of churches trying to live out the life of Jesus as communities in community. We are rightly suspicious of our own hearts as leaders and therefore really believe in accountability in community.

At liberti, we also take redemption seriously.

As the elders and pastors of the church take vows to lead and love the congregation, we also do so by grace. We are relying on God’s power working in imperfect people to lead, to love, and to repent well. We are very aware of our weaknesses and faults. This is why we talk about our problems in the pulpit. Not because we want to wash our dirty laundry before you—in fact, we are careful to be balanced in not burdening the congregation with our sins, but because we want to lead you as the chief repenters of liberti—both modeling repentance and pointing the church to Jesus, not ourselves. AND I pray that in the process, we are becoming a community that is not the cult of personality that is popular in American Christendom, but a Jesus community. He is the one to trust, not me.

Pray for Ted, Pray for Me, Pray for liberti

So my own anger at Ted Haggard’s moral failure reveals how I don’t drink deeply enough at the gospel of grace. Surely this man needs my prayers, not my pity nor my self-righteous anger. It humbles me because I’m a sinner just like him. It makes me all the more thankful for God’s grace and protection for our leadership. Please pray for your pastors and elders regularly, hold us as both shepherds worthy of your respect but not idolizing, and hold us up in prayer to God as weak sheep who are weak and need Jesus’ mercy and grace.

November 12 06 Susan Bertolino wrote:

Okay, you knew I couldn’t leave this one alone. .I won’t list my reasons for issues with Ted Haggard: some coincide with yours; some simply poiint to my impatience with Christians who are obsessed with law and rules and everyone else’s business without considering their own shortcomings. Yes, I too am guilty of such, no doubt about it. Christians are both ultra nice and terribly brutal: I think you are right when you say that it boils down to the inability to truly wrestle with the horror of sin.

There is a band called 16th Horsepower—hard to call them Christian music only because many Christians won’t listen to them; their audience is largely secular. But they sing of sin, betrayal, depravity—there is some fire and brimstone, but it’s more an exhortation to recognize how easy it is to fall into sin’s clutches. They have an honesty that I often miss in most Christian music which is why I almost never listen to it. What’s my point? If we make gods of our pastors, then we deserve the fallout when they sin and fall short of the glory of God. We are all weak, and there is such a thing as charisma. Do we obey the leader because he is hip, cool and speaks to where I’m at in a given time? Is he a dynamic preacher? I never heard Ted Haggard preach, but I am assuming he had some of those gifts. My guess is that he was a sincere Christian who let early power and human fawning over him go to his head. It is way too easy for that to happen in a celebrity obsessed culture.

I’ll finish with this one, and this isn’t to you, Geoff, but a general comment. When we say: Sin, sin, sin, do we know what we are talking about? We think in gradations: adultery—bad, smoking—not so bad. Murder—bad, name calling—well, don’t we all do it? And I’ve seen people judged so horribly because they committed one sin but not the other. Aren’t they all equally repugnant to God? When we say we are all weak, are those words or fact? Ted Haggard did what any of us are capable of doing. He just got caught with the cameras on. But to God, the camera is never off; it’s so easy to forget that.

Thank you for this.

November 13 06 brian cuzzolina wrote:

In one of my many misadventures while I was in Colorado, I found myself sitting at New Life Church in Colorado Springs the particular Sunday Ted Haggard announced to his congregation that he had been appointed President of the NEA. Instead of a sermon I was bombarded with a forty-five minute rant against the media, gays, democrats, drunkards, abortionists, feminists and all the ‘those sinners’ of our society. There was a heavy weight pulling on my heart as I contemplated the absence of God’s grace and love in seemingly everything he said; I stood up in the middle of the service and exited the sanctuary. I harbored this anger for some time and deposited it into my own savings account of cynicism I wrongfully had been accumulating against the church.

So you could imagine my initial joy when I read the headlines a few weeks ago. Unlike, Geoff I didn’t want to punch him in the face, I wanted to throw a huge party at Johnny Brenda’s and celebrate over a couple pints of DogFish and cigars. The spirit quickly reminded me the condition of my own heart, which forced me to repent and immediately cancel the party plans. I had to empty that savings account of angst and cynicism and repent of my righteous pride that waves a large foam finger, when my hometown team loses the game. Ted is a brother in Christ and my revelry in his sin exposes my feeble understanding of the Gospel.

John Owen, a 17th century theologian, said there is a seed to every sin inside all of us. I echo, Geoff, in that I am a sinner and am humbled by this, and pray for Ted and that he would know God’s love and grace more deeply and would come to desire and know God more fully, and in new ways throught this.

Thank you Geoff for your honesty, and insight. I am blessed by your ministry and pray for the Lord’s continued grace and protection on you, and all of Liberti’s pastors and elders.

November 14 06 Mike Murphy wrote:

I have to admit that when I read this i was dissappointed and mad. I said out loud “fabulous”. Another reason for people to point the finger at christianity as a whole and say “You Suck”. You bunch of close minded bush supporting freaks. Serves you right.

My question is how is Good going to be glorified through this? I know he is in control, so how is he going to use this? This apparent black eye for people who follow Jesus…how will this get worked out? I know in my own personal process God has destroyed me to bring me closer to him. If this is what God is doing to Ted…It’s kind of got some huge ramifications.

I still have not really come to a place where I have prayed for Ted, or even want to pray for Ted. I think he is an idiot and a weak human being.

Yes, I know.

I know the “gospel” says we are all fallen and we all need grace.

If I screwed up, of course I would want forgiveness…

Where am I going with this? I don’t really know.

November 14 06 Denise Malagari wrote:

Reading through all of this my thoughts come rushing back to the body of Christ. Pastors, Elders, everyone no matter what sort of service you are in is part of the body of Christ. I once heard an illustration about the body that went like this: the eyes, hands, mouth, ears were all doing their jobs but things just weren’t working out. Reason being, the feet were struggling and no one knew it. The body can’t function properly as a whole if one part isn’t well.
So, I’m really interested to see how the Christian community as a whole deals with all of this. The Amish put everyone to shame with their awesome reactions to the murders in Lancaster County about a month ago.
I’ll admit that I agree with Geoff, I wanted someone to knock that guy out. However, the more I thought about it I began to wonder if anyone knew how much Ted was struggling? I often wonder how many people actually stop to minister to those in ministry? We take a lot from them but how much do we give?
The body as a whole needs to make sure it is constantly ministering to each other so it can perform it’s main function: sharing the gospel!
I’ll admit I haven’t prayed for Ted yet, but this post sure convicted me that I should.

November 14 06 AlisonLeedy wrote:

Mike
I attended New Life’s college age service for a while(the church he was a pastor of)
I too was angry
but the beauty of christianity is that unfortunately we are all Ted haggards, we are capable of all levels of sin.
Read Psalm 73
it is all about how are footsteps slipped but we are caught by grace

The answer to the unbelievers should be that, grace,
and for the encouragement the holy spirit has been working in that church and still is I was greatly blessed by there heart for the Lord and the world around them so pray for unity
on the other hand the church is way too big in my opionion and that is dangerous for any human pastor because power yields destruction for human nature. That church should of split early into smaller churches to spread the movement of the spirit and so all the pressure is not on one man like ted
praise God that liberti has the grace to catch this vision

and finally our the atrocites of our sin somehow makes me understand more how deeply we hunger daily, hourly for more of God and eternal living there is much to say but sometimes the simple answers are the ones we keep questioning
grace and peace
alison

November 14 06 arlene wrote:

i heard a lecturer the other day that a friend of her’s attend ted haggard’s church in colorado. she was pleased with how their church handled this situation — face it with truth as well as grace.

when i think about christianity as a whole, i forget how we are guilty of having our own expectations of what christians are supposed to be or ought to be. and yet, when we see someone who sins, regardless of the weightiness of it (i don’t believe in gradation of sins), we are repulsed by it. i am not being ambivalent or indifferent to anyone. rather i am convicted of my own heart that is quick to judge a fellow image bearer, one who is marred by sin, like i am. who am i to judge this person? God still made Ted Haggard to be an image-bearer. how can i be quick to forget that God will still be glorified in this mess. however, it should go without saying that sin has its consequences. how will it be played out, is not for me to figure out. but, i still believe that even in all of that, God is present.

so, i invite you to stand back & be amazed how His grace will be displayed in our brother’s life. pray for our pastors and the leaders of our church. we are faced with temptations just like you. as geoff had said, we have accountability partners that keep us in check that ask hard questions. its good to put us in a place of uncomfortability. it pushes us to see our sin, to take it seriously and to run to our Rescuer that we need Him.

just the other day, i was asked what was it like to be a single woman working on staff with all these men. i thought to myself, huh, i never even thought about it. maybe because i’ve been married before or turned asexual (i doubt it). then on 2nd thought, sure i have. when i have my own moments of emotional neediness, i do not run to our pastors to fulfill my need. my word, i love them all, but, none of them can ever fulfill the need that God has defined for me. i run to Jesus to confess my adulterous heart, one that is quick to worship a created thing rather than my Creator.

November 14 06 Mike Murphy wrote:

One little thing.

When we talk about people stepping into Elders or Deacons postions, we hold them to a higher standard. Not because we put them on a pedestal, but becuase God said so.

Read 1 Timothy 3.

I know the concept of grace, and I know that the beauty of post modern/reformed theology is that we all suck, and we all need grace.

I just wanted to point out…Ted although human and fallen, is not really “just like me” He had the responsibillilty of thousands in his hands…what he has done with it…sucks.

My two cents.

November 16 06 Susan Bertolino wrote:

I too, don’t believe in the gradations of sins. Yet it is all over the place in the Christian and non-Christian community. There is a book—I don’t remember the author, but it’s called When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. I read it when I felt really hurt by a Christian, and when he found out I was reading it, he felt bad and did apologize. I give him credit. I’ve been too busy to follow the recent fallout with Pastor Ted: I do know that when Mel Gibson slipped up, I prayed for him daily, and yes, he offended me, but despite his shortcomings, his heart is sincere. I don’t know that about Ted Haggard, but if it is not, God may need to bring him down in order to restore the relationship. I don’t know and I don’t think it is my business to know. I cannot grasp the mind of God in situations that just don’t make sense to my limited perception.

Mike, I will read those passages. This is one reason I never wanted any power or authority in the church—I didn’t think it was in me to carry out those responsiblillities. We all have to know our strengths and limitations. That might help us make the choices that serve the body of Christ instead of harming it. And the repeating mantra of “I’m a sinner” just doesn’t work here: yes, we are all that, but we all have things that may trigger our temptations. In short, I do agree with you even if I am saying it poorly.

My two cents.

November 18 06 Dave Braud wrote:

arlene and susan both bring up gradations of sin… not sure what this means. you two say you don’t believe in this. what is your concept of gradations of sin. arlene mentions “weightiness” of sin (consequences vary?). when we say there is no gradation of sin are we saying that they are all punished in the same way – in an ultimate sense? are we saying that we should see all sins as equally offensive? are we saying that god sees all sins as equally offensive?

as someone who usually misses seeing the weightiness of my own sin, i’m interested in this topic. i’m sure there are some significant gospel implications for the way we view sin and so if anyone wants to chime in i’d be interested in further discussion.

November 18 06 arlene wrote:

dave: thanks for asking me to clarify. what i meant by not believing in gradation of sins, i was referring to the catholic’s system of sin. i spent most of my secondary education in an all girls’ catholic school in the philippines. they taught a very different theology on the doctrine of sin. we were taught that there were certain sins that were more grievous than others. that was what i was refering to. yes, though sins are innumerable in quantity, some have even been classified or grouped them, or they may differ from the other, they never stand by themselves as arbitrary entities. at the bottom, they are all interrelated, one influencing the other. Sin gives birth to evil.

it seems to me, either we are judged against some moral standard that is either measured by the people of the earth, or, we are judged against the righteousness of God himself. if we are judged by the standards of this world, then Lord help us! sin resides in ALL of us, yes including our pastors and leaders of the churches. therefore, we need Someone who is infinitely holy, righteous and sinless. there must be a single standard of judgment. i believe that God is that standard simply because His infinite nature defines what goodness is, and that righteousness comes from Him alone. no one can ever measure up to the standard of His holiness. therefore, all sin is rendered the same because of the standard by which it is judged.

yes, now i do see sin as all being equally offensive, be it gossip, a “white lie” or murder. as James 1:14-15 reminds us how the sinful deed in man arises in an organic way. All sins are interrelated, not one is of a “lesser evil” than the other. Except for one, which is the unpardonable sin – the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-30, Luke 12:10). what makes this so different from the others is in relation to the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that enlightens us and persuades us to repent and believe the truth (Acts 9:1).

when I spoke of the weightiness of sin, I was referring to the gravity of sin in my heart. i do fall back into self-righteousness often. it is my #1 sin that I repent of daily. I do fall back in penance/legalism, assuming I can save myself from my own sin. So, when I speak of weightiness of sin, I check my heart of two things – have I grasped God’s promises that my sin has been nailed on the Cross? What is my understanding of the gracious work of sanctification in my life? Godliness involves more than morality or zeal. “It springs from a union with Christ and a passion to honor him.” By His amazing grace, He initiates our salvation and imparts the desire and power to overcome sin. He gives us the enabling grace to follow Him, one day at a time.

Good dialogue daVe!

November 19 06 jenny jaskey wrote:

Don’t have time to write much about this topic about the “gradations of sin” right now but did want to post this portion from the Westminster Confession Larger Catechism. There is a sense in which we can understand certain sins as being more grievous than others – though certainly not in terms of how they will be punished (and forgiven).

Q. 150. Are all transgressions of the law of God equally heinous in themselves, and in the sight of God?
A. All transgressions of the law are not equally heinous; but some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

Q. 151. What are those aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others?
A. Sins receive their aggravations,
1. From the persons offending; if they be of riper age, greater experience or grace, eminent for profession, gifts, place, office, guides to others, and whose example is likely to be followed by others.
2. From the parties offended: if immediately against God, his attributes, and worship; against Christ, and his grace; the Holy Spirit, his witness, and workings; against superiors, men of eminency, and such as we stand especially related and engaged unto; against any of the saints, particularly weak brethren, the souls of them, or any other, and the common good of all or many.
3. From the nature and quality of the offence: if it be against the express letter of the law, break many commandments, contain in it many sins: if not only conceived in the heart, but breaks forth in words and actions, scandalize others, and admit of no reparation: if against means, mercies, judgments, light of nature, conviction of conscience, public or private admonition, censures of the church, civil punishments; and our prayers, purposes, promises, vows, covenants, and engagements to God or men: if done deliberately, willfully, presumptuously, impudently, boastingly, maliciously, frequently, obstinately, with delight, continuance, or relapsing after repentance.
4. From circumstances of time, and place: if on the Lord’s day, or other times of divine worship; or immediately before or after these, or other helps to prevent or remedy such miscarriages: if in public, or in the presence of others, who are thereby likely to be provoked or defiled.

Q. 152. What doth every sin deserve at the hands of God?
A. Every sin, even the least, being against the sovereignty, goodness, and holiness of God, and against his righteous law, deserveth his wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come; and cannot be expiated but by the blood of Christ.

November 21 06 john bertolino wrote:

Good topic to address head-on. Thanx, Geoff. Jesus, lead Ted Haggard back to you. Amen. I have read of Churches that thrive under persecution by states and princes. I wonder if the Body of Christ in America erupts on its own with sickness for lack of that exercise which in lands of persecution strengthens its members and keeps them focused on Jesus.

November 23 06 Susan Bertolino wrote:

I have to read the elevator post—I haven’t been here for a bit, sorry, but I’m glad to see my husband here. I cannot be as articulate as Arlene or Jenny about the theological implications of gradation of sin, but here is how I see it: all sin is equally repugnant in the eyes of God—Arlene is right to mention the sin of offending the Holy Spirit; I confess that I still don’t get that one, and I hope I haven’t done it! But it strikes me more as a sin that involves principalities—spiritual forces—perhaps even Lucifer’s fall before the creation of man. I don’t know. But we as human judge sin as one being more heinous than the next. If Ted Haggard was guilty (and he probably was) of taking Christian money from the faithful to feed a drug habit, we would be dismayed, but to add sexual immorality brings on a whole new dimension. I’ve seen this in other communities: the adulterer is virtually stoned to death while the gossiper is encouaged. The one who attempts suicide won’t get a visit from his pastor or anyone from his church, yet the diabetic who may suffer from his/her illness from poor self-care gets flowers, fruit baskets and visitors galore. In short, WE as humans can look upon some sin as okay or even understandable, but others disgust us and we penalize the sinner. Does God do that? I don’t think so if you clearly repent. If Ted Haggard repents, he will be forgiven by God. The same goes for Mel Gibson. But will the human race do the same? That is my concern. If God needed a blood sacrifice prior to Christ in order to cover sin, then all sin represents disobedience and a breaking of our relationship with him. I teach Dante, but I don’t think there are levels of hell as he describes them. I actually don’t even care about hell. I care about mercy in this life, and I see precious little of it recently in some (not our) communities. I hope that answers your question, Dave.

November 25 06 Todd Carll wrote:

On the topic of seeing and repenting of wanting to punch Ted Haggard in the nose… fine, agreed, but there is a righteous anger in that mix we shouldn’t to quickly wish to mollify. Perhaps we SHOULD want to punch Ted Haggard’s theology in the nose instead and with a haymaker to boot. I know this is going to sound like some lemonade outta lemons thing but I think these occasions are an ‘opportunity’ to make distinctions, not with the motive of slicing up Haggard or others like him, but in order to distinguish the true Jesus and his work from false ideas FOR THE PURPOSE of showing real love.
A pastor named Tom Baker says the “theology is the art of making distinctions”. I hope to make clear that what I am NOT saying is that good theology protects one from falling into sin of any kind per say, but that good theology LIVED does, or atleast protects best against it, and logically, if nothing else, it is harder to live when not taught or believed.
I thank God that the theology that Geoff promotes in the lead to this blog topic reminding us that we are sinners still (yes, and saints, never forget) but sinners now and until death in need of daily repentance and faith. This is not some minor distinctive. This IS the Christian life. And I think maybe the primary error for Ted Haggard is that he did not believe this. Please, please listen to the interview on Issues, Etc. (my most favorite-ist show) at the link below. This was an interview with Ted Haggard over a year ago. It is really helpful to understand where he is/was coming from. And the man has a very cordial and personable demeanor but listen to what he says.

http://www.kfuo.org/ie_archive_sep05.htm
Scroll down to Sept. 13th and listen to that show (you’ll see that there is follow up discussion the next day as well)

There were and are voices that tried to speak truth to Ted Haggard such as in this interview and others who I’ve heard interviewing him.

As the ex-leader of the NAE (National Assoc. of Evangelicals), Haggard made a job out of NOT making distinctions. He believed that under the NAE umbrella (under his lead) was everyone from Benny Hinn to R.C. Sproul (he says this in his interview). His goal he would say would be to see how the Holy Spirit was working in all of these places and teachers and credit God with all of the work regardless of the fact that there a myriad of absolutely contradictory teachings in that mix, and some well beyond the pale of sound doctrine. I suppose he did this in the name of being accepting or encouraging, but without proper discernment, he promoted a false sense of Christian unity that was more harmful than helpful to the Body.

A great history of the NAE and the leadership written a year ago is found here below

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/november/20.41.html
-Nov. 2005

Richard Philips’ response after the fall from grace and he speaks well to Mike Murphy’s good point as to the sin of a Pastor in particular. I love his contrasting analysis of the good and bad within the typical responses of us all to this incident.

http://www.reformation21.org/Reformation_21_Blog/Reformation_21_Blog/58/vobId__4583/

All this said, we would be remiss to not link the post to Haggard’s written confession and this link comments on that. I think it gives hope to God’s true work of repentance in his heart and we can pray for this and that he’d be free to live in that new grace and promote God in this way better in a layman’s role than he ever did as a pastor.

http://whitehorseinn.classicalanglican.net/?p=148

More could be done for the promotion of a correct understanding of God’s grace and a rejection of mis-representing God’s truth because of this public sin than ever may have been, allowing it to go unchecked and I hope that those opportunities will arise for each of us along those lines even if they are uncomfortable.

November 26 06 tom wrote:

Realize that as long as being a pastor gives someone power and authority, there will be massive abuse of that power and authority. It’s the irony of the reformation: that it was a reaction to a ‘stupid’ Catholic church – which, while built on “tradition,” is made of people – but it ended up just putting power in the hands of lots of ‘stupid’ people.

I can’t name a single televangelist still on the air and popular who hasn’t been convicted of a crime. Isn’t that sad?

November 30 06 Lars wrote:

God is already using Ted’s dilemma for His glory in this very conversation. As we sharpen and strengthen each other’s faiths with the wisdom of God that He has himself bestowed on us through His Spirit, then God is recieving glory. This exchange in turn will makes us all better warriors for Him in the world, bringing more victories under His banner. Hopefully, I conveyed that clearly. The truth is that we are soldiers in God’s army of spiritual warfare and when a general fails, then the only way we get stronger (and restore credit to God our Commander in Chief) is to critique the fallen general’s failure and learn from it so that we take precautions that something like that doesn’t ever happen again. (What a stereotypical response from the Military guy) Anywho, it is not a sin to be angry at Ted for his deeds. There is no doubt that he has brought discredit to the church body, and that is something to be upset about because it brings discredit on us all and on God himself, which, when we know the credability and majesty of our Father in heaven, can be infuriating. Jesus’ anger and actions where he confronted the moneychangers in the temple is rooted in His love for them. They were assuredely aware of His dissapointment therafter. Ted should be punished, but once he has been disciplined and confesses His need for grace, those of us who know Ted, give God glory by forgetting Ted’s failure and welcoming Him back into the body. By doing that we mirror Christ’s love for us to the world. It is not easy to do, but it is what we are called to do in being called to be like Christ. We fail God everyday, yet he awaits with open arms of forgiveness when we confess our sins. So to wonder how God is going to use this to bring glory to His name, look no further, He is already doing so thousands of miles away among many people who had never even heard of Ted Haggard (me for one). I hope this makes sense. I wonder if anyone is reading this blog anymore. God, I pray that after ted’s confession and punishment, you will bring glory to your name, by the manner in which we, his brohters and sisters, accept Ted back into our family. You sacrificed so much more on the cross, may we sacrifice the pride we hold in thinking we are better than Ted because we have not committed sins that appear as grevious. Help us to hold one another accountable in love in our own congregation. Thankyou for your grace and forgiveness that I require every hour. Thankyou for increasing our faith by discovering how you can use something so grievous to bring glory back to you. Amen.

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