Redemption, Judgment and Time

I just read an article about the ousted Ted Haggard. He's the guy that was caught with meth while hanging around with a male prostitute. It is a lengthy article, but well worth the read. One of things that is important to me as a Christian is knowing that God doesn't give up on us. am not saying that Ted is all better - but I think he is a lot farther down the road then he was and he got a new church: St. James.

There is a quote from the article: Do unto others as they didn't do unto you. (More about this on Monday)

Ted explained how the other leaders treated him during that time, and his separation agreement. I wasn't aware of exactly what he admitted to until today, and what he agreed to when he left: leaving the state, getting out of ministry, and not talking to the media. Hmmm... I wonder what all the motivations were for those conditions?

I am wondering what Bible verse running someone out of the state is in? I understand taking someone out of ministry until they repent, and get some help. And how could a church disqualify him from ministry? Isn't it God that qualifies and calls and individual?

It is easy to look at Ted, now or even then, and decide what is good or bad. Just because you don’t care for mega-churches with well paid pastors and PowerPoint presentations, doesn't mean that God didn't, or can’t use a guy like Ted.

The truth is that we don’t have to look any farther than our own heart to find sin.

Ted's new church (St. James) is filled with folks more like him. Is it real church because it has people in the midst of intense life struggles?

Real church is where 2 or 3 come together in His name and do His will.

The reason that America flirts with real church is because they are basically rich. Sure we have homeless folks – but many can go to shelters and get some care. We have money to take care of many elements of society that don’t have it so well. There are a lot of poor countries that have little, if anything. People are dying in droves from all types of maladies from starvation to disease and government sponsored genocide.

Americans tend to get ticked off when the Internet goes down for a few hours, or that power is out for a day of so. In fact in Massachusetts, people sued the power company when it went out for an extended period. In many places there is no electricity or running water yet.

Perspective is everything.

Sure, brokenness like Ted’s brings folks closer to God out of need, and that is the way it should be. People don’t want Jesus, because they don’t need him – yet.

It is good to need God.

Luke 20:18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.

Pick one!

We often forget that King David was left in power, and Moses and Paul was used in spite of being murderers.

I don’t think that Ted’s new church is really important. What matters is that people engage God, and not empty religion. If Ted gets it, it will be awesome.

What do you think, do you think Ted gets it now that he has been broken?

The State of the Union

Today, and now every day, I am more limited to the amount of time that I have to write blogs. It is good and bad. Increased security at work means little or no access to the web which means I have to fire up a laptop when I have a chance - three floors away. On the other hand, social-not-working at work was probably a bad idea anyway. This week has me thinking about lots of things. Health care, church, music, work, kids and retirement. So here is the run down. Kids should make a lot more money so their parents don't have to kick in so much, so often. I feel bad for one of mine that is up to her eyeballs in student loans, and another that is weeks away from being able to pay for her car repairs. My 6-year-old is pretty good with the dough, she spends what she has so that she doesn't have t0 "keep it clean," or put it away. She is mad at the bank because they stole her money she wanted to get a doll with. It is an interesting season for church - personally I feel like s...

Touchdown Jesus! - Vessels of Grace and Channels of Power

My blog title is grammatically correct. Jesus did not get a touchdown, that was the nickname a 62 foot tall, upper torso sculpture, of Jesus was given. The sculpture, off I-75 in southern Ohio, was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. HERE is the Yahoo News story. I an not going to segue into some prophetic sign of how the End Times are upon is. Much more interesting, and relevant, are the comments on the article by some 3,500+ readers. Here is one by Joshua - "God and Jesus was just made up in a book too. Same with Lucifer and every other angel. Anyone who says Zues is just made up cant prove it. Nor can anyone prove Jesus or God is too. Anyone can write a book and make up some higher being and some poor fools will buy into it." This is one of my favorites from What122: "I wonder if their insurance will cover it, or will the insurance company say it was an act of God?" One commenter characterizes Christianity by using the Bible against itself. Be...

Mad Libs: An Unforgettable Church Service

Hopefully you have heard of Mad Libs (R) ! They are stories that you blindly fill in the blanks for articles of grammar and then read the completed story. Since I was a kid, these have always been a hoot. I decided to make up my own. Just fill in the blanks next time you are at small group and then read it back. It is sure to shake up a few religious spirits. An Unforgettable Church Service We arrived at _________ ( time of day ) at the Church of the Holy _________ ( noun ). It was ___________ ( day of week ) and we got out of the _________ ( mode of transportation ). We were dressed in our __________ ( day of week ) best. We all held _________ ( plural body part ) as we crossed the street. Today was special because it was ___________ (holiday) and the kids look forward to receiving _________ ( noun ) as part of the celebration. Pastor _________ ( name ) was there to greet us and shake our ________ ( body part ). He welcomed my __________ ( family member ) with a big _________ ( bodil...

jpguerrero said…

Everywhere I turn this week I see something about Ted Haggard. I don't know what to make of it except to realize that people love stories of redemption. However, I am unsure that Ted's story fits into that category. Sure the man sinned and screwed up his life. And yes he made his way out of it and is trying to be who he should be. But it just seems like he is making it seem trivial. Like "It wasn't as bad as you think it was." I read the article you are referring to and that's the vibe I got. I don't really see repentance. I see "oops I got busted. I better fix my image." Does he get it now? I don't know. He likes to say that he does. I hope its true.

February 4, 2011 at 3:56 PM

David-FireAndGrace said…

@JP - I agree. As I said, "if he gets it." I suppose only time will tell. Thanks for reading along.

February 5, 2011 at 7:45 AM

photogr said…

I think this reinforces the fact that temptation to sin is difficult to resist even for men of God in high holy places.

February 5, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Charlie's Church of Christ said…

I think it's hard to actually know anything real about Ted, truth be told, when we are merely hearing about an image he is portraying. The whole I'm a broken man could simply be a ploy. It's hard to know when it comes to celebrities.

February 6, 2011 at 3:11 AM

Tracy said…

I appreciate where this post is coming from. When things initially happened with Ted Haggard I was so sad; sad because yet again a famous Christian had hurt our reputation, and sad for Ted Haggard. We are a broken people. Sin is in us, even when we love God. We just can't make it without Him. I totally agree with your questions about that separation agreement. One of my favorite passages is from Galatians 6:1-10; it's about how we are to act when one of us is caught up in sin. I don't see anything about casting them away, I see where we always aim for restoration. It also talks about how we do reap what we sow; there are consequences to our behavior. I just don't think that as Christians we need to set up other people's consequences; of course we need to be wise and obviously is someone is caught up in addictions, they need to seek God and have healing in their life for a time before they can be in full time ministry. But everything is not so cut and dried. I am so grateful that God has forgiven me of much and continues to chose to use me even though I've failed many times.

February 6, 2011 at 2:58 PM

Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

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