The Trials of Ted Haggard (part 1)


A couple of nights ago Ted Haggard was on Oprah. Yes I watch Oprah sometimes.


You may remember Ted Haggard as the disgraced pastor of a mega church in Colorado Springs who was "outed" by a male escort for purchasing meth and for his involvement in homosexual behavior.


Here's the intro to the show from oprah.com...


New Life Church leader Ted Haggard was once one of America's most charismatic and powerful evangelical leaders, with an audience of more than 30 million people. Ted began counseling foreign dignitaries and consulting on a weekly basis with President George W. Bush. By 2005, Time magazine named him one of the most influential evangelicals in America.But no one—not even his devoted wife, five children and his Colorado Springs, Colorado-based congregation—suspected that Ted was paying an admitted male escort for crystal meth. In November 2006, Mike Jones publicly alleged he'd engaged in a three-year sexual relationship with the pastor, which Ted immediately denied. Three days after the scandal broke and after a voice mail featuring Ted asking Mike for drugs was released, Ted's story unraveled. Eventually, Ted admitted to sexual immorality and to buying drugs. He later resigned from the church he helped to found.


When the news hit about Haggard I was shocked, for I had personally been to Haggard's church in Colorado Springs in the summer of 2005. One of the more memorable moments of the conference I was attending was when Haggard shared the New Life leadership structure, including the plan that was in place should he have a moral failure. I left the conference thinking what a good plan it was and how it must make everyone feel more secure about the church knowing such a plan existed.


The first thing I thought about when I heard the news break about Haggard was "I guess they'll see if that plan works now."


Seeing Haggard sharing about his life since that moment in 2006 was very interesting to me on a few different levels. 1 -How did the church respond and how should it have responded? 2 - How did his wife and family respond? 3 - Could God still use a man like Ted Haggard?


In my next entry I'll dig in...

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