Monday Musings

It's sad and ironic, but truth be told, seeing the fall of Ted Haggard has driven me to my prayer closet. I just keep asking God to help me to be a man of character, to walk in humility and to make sure I have people who can speak into my life and hold me accountable.

(Of course the Laker loss last night almost drove me to my prayer closet, but that's another story-Every Laker game to me is like game 7 in the world series or something. Yes, I know I'm sad. Usually I'm so happy when summer comes, because I no longer have to stress about the Lakers *sigh*)


Erwin McManus has some great and thought-provoking things to say about the church and leadership in general. I gotta say, I really dig Erwin philosophy of ministry.

Mark Driscoll did not take long to throw his .02 in regards to Ted Haggard and pastors in general. While he has some good wisdom, he also baffles me with quotes like the one below. Of course in his eyes I'm just a little blogger with nothing to do...And of course he hates being criticized, but then he says these types of statements and the blog world lights up with folks like me who really have no clue why he would say this off the cuff.

Like I said before, I respect Mark, I just sometimes wonder if he really needs to be "in the thick of things" all the time. I'm just not sure you can express sensitive information like this via the blogworld, especially when you have a platform like Mark does.

Most pastors I know do not have satisfying, free, sexual conversations and liberties with their wives. At the risk of being even more widely despised than I currently am, I will lean over the plate and take one for the team on this. It is not uncommon to meet pastors’ wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness. A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him either.

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.

Ted Haggard Dismissed

Heartbreaking to say the least.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Life Church
Colorado Springs, Colorado
We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations
concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard. Our investigation and
Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has
committed sexually immoral conduct.
The language of our church bylaws state that as Overseers we must decide in
cases where the Senior Pastor has "demonstrated immoral conduct" whether we
must "remove the pastor from his position or to discipline him in any way they
deem necessary."
In consultation with leading evangelicals and experts familiar with the type of
behavior Pastor Haggard has demonstrated, we have decided that the most
positive and productive direction for our church is his dismissal and removal.
In addition, the Overseers will continue to explore the depth of Pastor
Haggard's offense so that a plan of healing and restoration can begin.
Pastor Haggard and his wife have been informed of this decision.

More Haggard Info

Update:

Here's an article by SFGate.com that gives a non-christian perspective on this horrific situation. Not good.
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Haggard is interviewed by a reporter.

Ted Haggard

Update 2: Here's the news report.

After Pastor Ted Haggard went public Wednesday night denying allegations of a homosexual affair, senior church officials told KKTV 11News Thursday evening, Pastor Ted Haggard has admitted to some of the claims made by a former male escort. The church's Acting Senior Pastor, Ross Parsley, tells KKTV 11 News that Pastor Haggard has admitted to some of the indiscretions claimed by Mike Jones, but not all of them.

Update: According to news reports this morning-Haggard has confirmed that SOME of the allegations are true.

Now I still think we must be patient and allow time to unpack all this. But the reality is rather harsh, because the backlash will be intense. This will truly be a black eye for the church. This reminds me of the Baker/Swaggart era.

Anyhow, I think it's important for the church to react swiftly, if mistakes were made let's admit them, repent and ask for forgiveness. NO COVER UP"S PLEASE, this is not politics for God's sake!

Also, we do need to pray for Haggard and his family. And we need to find the redemptive opportunities that can and will come out of this situation.

Quick Thought: By no means did I really see Haggard as my leader because he led the evangelical association. I guess I'm one who is on the edge of those labels. But I do see the importance and implication that this will cause the church. Therefore this is important to me.

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Ted Haggard stepped down amid sexual ALLEGATIONS. Man this is not good, I hope it's not true. I'm not really into Haggard or many of his beliefs, but I hope he did not do what they say he did.

Click here to read the article.