Ted Haggard vs Biblical Repentance

Some of you will remember the "Ted Haggard scandal" of more than three years ago. He was the pastor of one of the largest mega churches in America and the leader of the powerful National Alliance of Evangelicals. He was a spokesman for conservative Christian America and even had the ear of George Bush. But the dreadful secret of his double life came to the surface when a male prostitute decided to blow the whistle on Haggard's secret homosexual life. Haggard disappeared off the radar after "resigning" from all of his positions. I was hopeful that he would find true repentance and live the rest of his days in obscurity.

Unfortunately that was not the case. Last year, Haggard emerged from obscurity and generated a media circus doing a lot of interviews and giving "his side of the story". Today I have posted two videos. The first one is of Ted Haggard being interviewed by Larry King. The second video is of another person who has struggled with the same area of sin as Haggard. The point here is not sin nor do I wish to focus on this. I have one hand wrapped around the giant redwood tree protruding from my eye as I write this post. The real issue here is true repentance. An extension of that is the issue about God being glorified through our brokenness. Watch these two videos and see if you can "spot the repentance" and decide for yourself which video is most God glorifying.





What makes the Gospel so glorious is the contrast between God's Holiness and our utter depravity. Rationalising behavior only serves to blur that gulf and deprives God of the glory He can get out of changing someone's life.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

And for the record, the guy in the second video is my hero! That is a big part of what being a real man is all about. Glorifying God in human weakness, taking the full blown blame for sinful actions rather than painting yourself as a victim, and renouncing sin as insidiously evil rather than taking the edges off it. Good on ya Jason - amen and amen!

Postscript

Just recently (July 24, 2010) Haggard was quoted in the Wall Street Journal where he:

acknowledged grave lapses of judgment in the episode he refers to as "my crisis." But Mr. Haggard also said that in his sorrow and shame, he accepted too much guilt after the scandal broke. "I over-repented," he said.

Haggard's innovations don't seem to end with re-inventing himself as a victim. He is also using his time inventing new words like "over-repented". What that means or how it is possible completely eludes me. I know some people will call for my blood over my "insensitive" and "uncaring" comments. Let me be clear, I am not trying to position myself as better than anyone else. What I am saying is that true repentance comes from godly sorrow over sin, not therapeutic excuses. Haggard presses on however and has even planted a new church in Colorado Springs (of all the places to choose) repositioning himself as a victimized pastor ministering to hurting people. Portraying ourselves as victims when we have sinned may court the favor of the media but it does not capture God's merciful attention:

But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)

My Hero is Only Thirteen (Part 4)

These are the concluding videos on the fascinating story of thirteen year old Deborah who has grown up in a staunch Christian homeschooling family in rural England. Deborah is a real piece of work and never backward in coming forward "with a reason for the hope that lies within" her. As you watch Deborah it is easy to forget that she is only 13. Please keep that in mind if you are wont to critique her social skills.

Watch out for a cameo appearance by Todd Friel of Wretched Radio (at least in audio form).

Deborah is a forceful preacher of sin, righteousness, and judgment but at the end of this you will get to witness her tender heart motivated by Christ's love. Deborah is my hero!





Coming Thursday - Don't Waste Your Financial Crisis
The video of the sermon I preached to all the workers during my last day at work (I was laid off due to the economic crisis)

Go Back To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

My Hero is Only Thirteen (Part 3)

Deborah's adventures continue where we get to have a look at the inner workings of a homeschooling Christian family. Liberal they aint! Deborah's father takes the authority of Scripture with utmost seriousness. We also join the whole family on their combined evangelistic puppet show outreach at a nearby caravan park. Anti-social behaviour is a crime they are certainly not guilty of. They are not afraid to talk about the necessary issues of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We get to hear a bit more of Deborah's theology before she ventures to the big city with her big brother and encounters aliens - otherwise known as college students.





Final installment tomorrow!

Go On To Part 4
Go Back To Part 2
Go Back To Part 1

My Hero is Only Thirteen (Part 2)

The amazing story of 13 year old Deborah Drapper continues from yesterday. Here, in part two, we get to hear Deborah's views on relationships with the opposite sex, the authority of the Bible, as well as seeing her in action sharing the Gospel with typical "streetwise" British teens. Oh no, I'm so afraid for Deborah because she is home schooled and doesn't have many friends her own age and hasn't read a "church growth" manual. How can she possibly relate and contextualize in this hazardous mission field??? No worries about that - she follows the "Way of the Master" . . .



Continued tomorrow . . .

Go On To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

My Hero is Only Thirteen (Part 1)

This girl is just awesome! Deborah is thirteen, lives on an english farm with her very large family, is homeschooled, never watches TV, loves Jesus Christ, loves to share the Gospel with strangers, and shock horror - she doesn't know who Britney Spears is! How can she possibly function in the 21st century?

Deborah is my hero! She blows the myth apart that "Christians have to be hip, familiar with popular culture, and contextualize in order to reach the world". She is intelligent, articulate, socially capable, sharp as a razor, and a real piece of work. She shows herself to be more than a match for her interviewer.

Allow me to introduce you to Deborah Drapper . . .



Continued tomorrow . . .

Go On To Part 2

Ted Haggard vs True Repentance - A Tale of Two Sinners

Some of you will remember the "Ted Haggard scandal" of more than five years ago. He was the pastor of one of the largest mega churches in America and the leader of the powerful National Alliance of Evangelicals. He was a spokesman for conservative Christian America and even had the ear of George Bush. But the dreadful secret of his double life came to the surface when a male prostitute decided to blow the whistle on Haggard's secret homosexual life. Haggard disappeared off the radar after "resigning" from all of his positions. I was hopeful that he would find true repentance and live the rest of his days in obscurity.

Unfortunately that was not the case. Haggard recently emerged from obscurity and generated a media circus doing a lot of interviews and giving "his side of the story". Today I have posted two videos. The first one is of Ted Haggard being interviewed by Larry King. The second video is of another person who has struggled with the same area of sin as Haggard. The point here is not sin nor do I wish to focus on this. I have one hand wrapped around the giant redwood tree protruding from my eye as I write this post. The real issue here is true repentance. An extension of that is the issue about God being glorified through our brokenness. Watch these two videos and see if you can "spot the repentance" and decide for yourself which video is most God glorifying.





What makes the Gospel so glorious is the contrast between God's Holiness and our utter depravity. Rationalising behavior only serves to blur that gulf and deprives God of the glory He can get out of changing someone's life.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

And for the record, the guy in the second video is my hero! That is a big part of what being a real man is all about. Glorifying God in human weakness, taking the full blown blame for sinful actions rather than painting yourself as a victim, and renouncing sin as insidiously evil rather than taking the edges off it. Good on ya Jason - amen and amen!

Hamas Leader Becomes Christian

My good friend Trish Ramos who is one of the phone fishers on Wretched Radio did this interview during the recent Transformed Conference in Beaumont California. The son of one of the founders of Hamas recently became a born again Christian (secretly) after a stranger handed him a Bible. Becoming a Christian is a very dangerous thing to do in that part of the world and in those terrorism circles. But "Joseph" has not only been gloriously saved, he has gone public about his conversion and is speaking out against the lies of Islam and what the Koran really teaches. This guy is a dead set hero! Pray for Joseph and his church family who are totally behind him.

The True Hero of the Titanic - John Harper

JOHN HARPER - A REAL MAN AND TRUE BOTTOM LINE HERO

Oh that I may one day grow to be half the man John Harper was. Unlike Leonardo and Kate Winslett and most movies produced by James Cameron, what follows is a true story about a true hero . . .

John Harper was born to a pair of solid Christian parents on May 29th, 1872. It was on the last Sunday of March 1886, when he was thirteen years old that he received Jesus as the Lord of his life. He never knew what it was to "sow his wild oats." He began to preach about four years later at the ripe old age of 17 years old by going down to the streets of his village and pouring out his soul in earnest entreaty for men to be reconciled to God.

As John Harper's life unfolded, one thing was apparent...he was consumed by the word of God. When asked by various ministers what his doctrine consisted of, he was known to reply "The Word of God!" After five or six years of toiling on street corners preaching the gospel and working in the mill during the day, Harper was taken in by Rev. E. A. Carter of Baptist Pioneer Mission in London, England. This set Harper free to devote his whole time of energy to the work so dear to his heart. Soon, John Harper started his own church in September of 1896. (Now known as the Harper Memorial Church.) This church which John Harper had started with just 25 members, had grown to over 500 members when he left 13 years later. During this time he had gotten married, but was shortly thereafter widowed. However brief the marriage, God did bless John Harper with a beautiful little girl named Nana.

Ironically, John Harper almost drowned several times during his life. When he was two and a half years of age, he almost drowned when he fell into a well but was resuscitated by his mother. At the age of twenty-six, he was swept out to sea by a reverse current and barely survived, and at thirty-two he faced death on a leaking ship in the Mediterranean. Perhaps, God used these experiences to prepare this servant for what he faced next...

It was the night of April 14, 1912. The RMS Titanic sailed swiftly on the bitterly cold ocean waters heading unknowingly into the pages of history. On board this luxurious ocean liner were many rich and famous people. At the time of the ship's launch, it was the world's largest man-made moveable object. At 11:40 p.m. on that fateful night, an iceberg scraped the ship's starboard side, showering the decks with ice and ripping open six watertight compartments. The sea poured in.

On board the ship that night was John Harper and his much-beloved six-year-old daughter Nana. According to documented reports, as soon as it was apparent that the ship was going to sink, John Harper immediately took his daughter to a lifeboat. It is reasonable to assume that this widowed preacher could have easily gotten on board this boat to safety; however, it never seems to have crossed his mind. He bent down and kissed his precious little girl; looking into her eyes he told her that she would see him again someday. The flares going off in the dark sky above reflected the tears on his face as he turned and headed towards the crowd of desperate humanity on the sinking ocean liner.

As the rear of the huge ship began to lurch upwards, it was reported that Harper was seen making his way up the deck yelling, "Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!" It was only minutes later that the Titanic began to rumble deep within. Most people thought it was an explosion; actually the gargantuan ship was literally breaking in half. At this point, many people jumped off the decks and into the icy, dark waters below. John Harper was one of these people.

That night 1528 people went into the frigid waters. John Harper was seen swimming frantically to people in the water leading them to Jesus before the hypothermia became fatal. Mr. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris. Rev. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not.

Harper then tried to lead him to Christ only to have the young man who was near shock, reply no. John Harper then took off his life jacket and threw it to the man and said, "Here then, you need this more than I do..." and swam away to other people. A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man and succeeded in leading him to salvation. Of the 1528 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man on the debris.

Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how that after John Harper had led him to Christ. Mr. Harper had tried to swim back to help other people,yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim. His last words before going under in the frigid waters were, "Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Does Hollywood remember this man? No. Oh well, no matter. This servant of God did what he had to do. While other people were trying to buy their way onto the lifeboats and selfishly trying to save their own lives, John Harper gave up his life so that others could be saved.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends..." John Harper was truly the hero of the Titanic!

Author Unknown. Sources for this article: "The Titanic's Last Hero" by Moody Press 1997," John Climie, George Harper, & Bill Guthrie from "Jesus Our Jubilee Ministries" in Dallas, Oregon

My Hero Ralph

Last October I had the great joy of attending the Deeper Conference (run by Way of the Master) in Atlanta. It was an awesome conference featuring speakers Paul Washer, Ken Ham, Marshall Foster, Johnny Hunt, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Todd Friel, and Emeal "EZ" Zwayne. At the end of the conference many of the attendees gathered to hit the downtown area of Atlanta to preach open air and witness.

I have listened to Todd Friel on his radio show Wretched Radio (formerly Way of the Master Radio) for 3 years and I was thrilled to not only meet Todd for the first time but to also drive into Atlanta with him. Also in our car was a pastor from Pittsburgh called Ralph. Ralph witnessed fervently all night and the fact that he was usually the last to finish witnessing attested to his desperation to reach the lost. It is great to know that there are still many low profile pastors out there faithfully serving God and carrying out the Great Commission.

At the end of the night we all said our goodbyes. But within several weeks I recieved an e-mail from Ralph . . .

Hey Cameron! I was the guy in the back seat with you and Todd from the 500 outreach. I just wanted to send you an e-mail to let you know that I am praying for your ministry. I have continued to read your blog daily and have found it to be a blessing. I pray that the Lord continues to use you in a greater way. You have been blessed with many talents and gifts. From the brief time in Atlanta I know that you want to glorify God with your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The day after the outreach I drove back home 12 hours. I was home for 1 hour and had a stroke that paralyzed my right side. I also lost my speech. While I was in the hospital I used the passion that I saw exhibited that night by both you and Todd as motivation to draw strength from. I have to say "Thank You!" May the Lord bless you and your family.

Considering Ralph's condition I was humbled by his willingness to be such an encouragement. I shudder to think how much selflessness I would display in that situation. I wrote back asking Ralph for updates on his condition. He wrote back . . .

Hey Cameron, I been getting better. The doctors have me going to physical therapy to get my strength back. I only have about 1/3 the strength in my right side. My speech is better and my memory is improving. I was able to witness to all the doctors and nurses in the hospital. Many came to tears so I was grateful that the Lord provided me the opportunity.

I am so inspired and honored to know Ralph. Instead of wallowing in a situation and asking for God to remove the trial, Ralph used it to glorify God and witness to his doctor who had a far greater physical ailment than Ralph - the wrath of God abiding on him (John 3:36).

I am all for praying for the sick and wholeheartedly believe that God still heals. But in a consumer driven society I believe we can sometimes obscure the most important need, that of righteousness found only in Christ, by making people's felt needs our first port of call. If their "felt needs" are fully met initially they can end up worshipping the "Problem Solver" rather that the "Rightoeusness Giver". I know this today because many modern churches are full of people who have realised their satisfaction in healing, love, acceptance, and community but without hungering and thirsting after the righteousness found only in Christ. May we tread with wisdom and care in this matter. We should be salt and light in a fallen world and we are compelled to love selflessly and sacrificially as our Lord commanded us - but beware lest you become the doctor who binds up wounds and never treats the cancer.

Ralph has a serious medical condition and I can only hope and pray that I would exhibit half as much godly character as Ralph did in that hospital. Ralph sent a message loud and clear to the doctors and nurses in that hospital . . .

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)

The medical staff in that hospital would have been strongly reminded that no matter how many lives they save, those lives (and their own) are still ultimately subject to the law of sin and death. Doctors can only temporarily save a life - and only God can save a soul. It is a powerful truth we should regularly remind the surrounding world of.

Ralph has since found out that his condition is more serious than first thought. Please pray for him and send notes of encouragement as comments under this post. Ralph is a regular reader of this blog and he will get to read them. If you are a member of Ralph's church count yourself very blessed to have a shepherd of this calibre. People like Ralph are the real heroes this side of eternity.

The Bottom Line "Standing Up" Hero of the Week Award - Franklin Graham

In an age of wimpy accomodating and compromising ecumenism Franklin Graham stands up (and I don't mean in the same way as the preacher in the King James Only video posted several weeks ago) as a real Christian man of conviction unwilling to compromise no matter what the stakes.

At a recent meeting between Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama and "Christian leaders" it was left to Franklin Graham to stick it to Obama on the abortion issue (Obama even supports the grotesque late term abortions) and question him about the authenticity of his Christianity, and his ties to Islam. According to reports Graham then witnessed to Barack Obama. Reverend Graham - The Bottom Line salutes you as a genuine Christian leader - Hey Pastor, when was the last time you were with a public official and took the time to witness to him?

World Net Daily Article by Aaron Klein

JERUSALEM – At a meeting with Christian leaders last month, Sen. Barack Obama reportedly was peppered with questions by Franklin Graham – son of evangelist Billy Graham – about the presidential candidate's ties to Islam, his Christian baptism and whether he accepts Jesus as his savior, it has emerged.

The new accounts, published by the Religion News Service and by the left-leaning magazine The Nation, contrast with major media reports describing Obama's closed-door meeting June 10 with Christian A-listers as friendly.

"I can confirm Rev. Graham did indeed ask Obama about his personal faith. Because it was a private meeting, it is up to Obama if he wants to release any more information," Graham's spokesman, Jeremy Blume, told WND.

Obama's meeting with about 30 Christian leaders took place at a downtown Chicago law office. According to The Nation's Max Blumenthal, quoting sources inside the meeting, Graham, who serves as chief of the Christian aid organization Samaritan's Purse, sat next to Obama.

One meeting attendee, Rev. Eugene Rivers, pastor of Boston's Azusa Christian Community, told the Religion News Service that Graham asked about Obama's Christian beliefs and the senator's family connections to Islam.

Obama's father, described in some reports as an atheist, polygamist and alcoholic, was buried in Kenya as a Muslim. Barack Obama Sr. had three sons with another woman who reportedly all are Muslim. The Illinois senator's brother, Roy, is described as a practicing Muslim.

Rivers said Obama told Graham of this father: "the least of the things he was was Islamic."

According to River's account, Graham went on to ask Obama whether he believed Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Rivers, a declared Obama supporter, recalled: "Obama said, brilliantly, 'Jesus is the only way for me. I'm not in a position to judge other people.'"

Rivers said he was disappointed by some of Graham's questioning, explaining he thought the meeting would focus on domestic policy.

"They focused on abortion, gay marriage, and then Franklin Graham tried to get Senator Obama saved," said Rivers. End quote.

I wonder what it is exactly that the Rev. Eugene Rivers objects to? He obviously doen't place much importance on an individual's salvation.