Ted Haggard? How could he do this to his family, to his church, and to God?
Hey All,
I’m sure by now you’ve all heard the story of what that Pastor Ted Haggard did! I’m embarrassed and ashamed of him! How could he do this to his family, to his church? How could he do this to God? Why I never!!! I mean, here’s a guy who has been pastor for over 20 years, he’s head a church with over 14,000 members, and is (or was) the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, he has a great wife and kids, how could he do something so vile and so awful to them. How could he do this to God whom he supposedly has served for most of his life? You know what? He deserves what he gets!!!!
Doesn’t he know what the bible says in Romans 1?
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:21-31) (NIV)
Now that I’ve got your attention!
Wow! That is quite a list! Let me ask you honestly, how could Pastor Ted do these terrible things? How could a man of God be tempted in this inexcusable way? The answer? The same way we are! We ALL “fall short”, we are ALL only a few wrong choices away from ruining our lives, and those lives around us.
As I opened my bible this morning looking for what God might want to share with me, I was surprised at where He took me, the first words I read were from Romans 2:
“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”(NASB)
Amazingly, these words are the very next words that follow that list from above. Notice that the first word is therefore, as my pastor would say, “You have to ask yourself; ‘What is it therefore?’” What this “therefore” is saying, is that “in light of what you’ve just read, you have no excuse” or “you are inexcusable” as my NKJV reads.
Let’s look at my opening statements again, which by the way were meant to appear as an overreaction and to get your attention, my heart and prayers are with Pastor Haggard and his family. I said that I was “embarrassed and ashamed of him! How could he do this to his family, to his church? How could he do this to God?” I guess the real question is, what does God think of us when we fall? When we have a tendency at times to look at another’s sin, do we forget how the rest of the verses go in Romans 2:2-4? That because we “know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” That when we who are “mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things,” do we really think we can “escape God’s judgment?” Why do we “show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience?” and we don’t realize “that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”
I also said something about him deserving “what he gets!!!!” If we were given what we deserved, well the planet would be a lonely place; in fact it would be an empty place, for “the wages of sin is death”. BUT! Because of God’s Son Jesus, God’s great love, His mercy, and because of His grace, not to mention (which I already did above) His “riches of kindness” His amazing “tolerance and patience”, we are all still here, but the fact is, we are not alone! Not only do we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, who has left His Holy Spirit with us, we also have an enemy who hates us. We need to remember that! He’s a “prowling lion, looking for someone to devour!” I think that we like Pastor Ted, forget that at times, and sadly Pastor Ted and everything he stands for and has built, has been devoured. Does God still love him? Has He forgiven him? Will He restore him and his family? Can God use him in the future? Can God use this to glorify His name? All YES!!!!
Hey All,
I’m sure by now you’ve all heard the story of what that Pastor Ted Haggard did! I’m embarrassed and ashamed of him! How could he do this to his family, to his church? How could he do this to God? Why I never!!! I mean, here’s a guy who has been pastor for over 20 years, he’s head a church with over 14,000 members, and is (or was) the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, he has a great wife and kids, how could he do something so vile and so awful to them. How could he do this to God whom he supposedly has served for most of his life? You know what? He deserves what he gets!!!!
Doesn’t he know what the bible says in Romans 1?
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:21-31) (NIV)
Now that I’ve got your attention!
Wow! That is quite a list! Let me ask you honestly, how could Pastor Ted do these terrible things? How could a man of God be tempted in this inexcusable way? The answer? The same way we are! We ALL “fall short”, we are ALL only a few wrong choices away from ruining our lives, and those lives around us.
As I opened my bible this morning looking for what God might want to share with me, I was surprised at where He took me, the first words I read were from Romans 2:
“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”(NASB)
Amazingly, these words are the very next words that follow that list from above. Notice that the first word is therefore, as my pastor would say, “You have to ask yourself; ‘What is it therefore?’” What this “therefore” is saying, is that “in light of what you’ve just read, you have no excuse” or “you are inexcusable” as my NKJV reads.
Let’s look at my opening statements again, which by the way were meant to appear as an overreaction and to get your attention, my heart and prayers are with Pastor Haggard and his family. I said that I was “embarrassed and ashamed of him! How could he do this to his family, to his church? How could he do this to God?” I guess the real question is, what does God think of us when we fall? When we have a tendency at times to look at another’s sin, do we forget how the rest of the verses go in Romans 2:2-4? That because we “know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” That when we who are “mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things,” do we really think we can “escape God’s judgment?” Why do we “show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience?” and we don’t realize “that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”
I also said something about him deserving “what he gets!!!!” If we were given what we deserved, well the planet would be a lonely place; in fact it would be an empty place, for “the wages of sin is death”. BUT! Because of God’s Son Jesus, God’s great love, His mercy, and because of His grace, not to mention (which I already did above) His “riches of kindness” His amazing “tolerance and patience”, we are all still here, but the fact is, we are not alone! Not only do we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, who has left His Holy Spirit with us, we also have an enemy who hates us. We need to remember that! He’s a “prowling lion, looking for someone to devour!” I think that we like Pastor Ted, forget that at times, and sadly Pastor Ted and everything he stands for and has built, has been devoured. Does God still love him? Has He forgiven him? Will He restore him and his family? Can God use him in the future? Can God use this to glorify His name? All YES!!!!
posted by In His Grip at 11:15 AM
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