The Road To Redemtion

This will be my last post on the Haggard thing. My concern all along was that Ted would try to spin this. When I watched his interviews you just knew something was wrong. It seemed quite obvious.

But, this afternoon I read this statement that Ted made to New Life Church. You can read a snippet below. All I can say is this: Thank God Ted came out and spoke truth with humility, grace and authenticity.

My heart is so broken for him, his family, his church and the rest of of us who are looking in from the outside with a sense of confusion and hopelessness.

This is such a great warning, or should I say a "learning" moment. We all need accountability, we all need to be able to have mask-less conversations.

We must walk humbly and within community. I for one, have such a burden to make sure that I can talk to folks; that someone knows what's up with my life, that I have mentors who I can talk to and friends who I can share my fears with. Why is it so hard to be real?

This afternoon I'm proud of Ted Haggard, and I personally think he is on the road to redemption. And that my friend is a beautiful thing.

But I alone am responsible for the confusion caused by my inconsistent statements. The fact is, I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem.

I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life.

For extended periods of time, I would enjoy victory and rejoice in freedom. Then, from time to time, the dirt that I thought was gone would resurface, and I would find myself thinking thoughts and experiencing desires that were contrary to everything I believe and teach.

Through the years, I've sought assistance in a variety of ways, with none of them proving to be effective in me. Then, because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn't want to hurt or disappoint them.