Evangelist Haggard - guilty as charged.

Yes apparently. Now do we as christians kick him while he is down or do we forgive and try to restore this brother and allow him to get back up?

Consider this:
Many people have needed massage regularly for back trouble and even medicine for it. And some just for relaxation at times. There is nothing wrong with that.That doesnt mean they are all invovled in something like this. Just becaase some in that field have those tendencies toward someone, does not mean he did anything wrong.
Why jump to conclusions? He hasnt said what happened. God's kind of love believes the best of others , especially our brothers and sisters.

........ Now do we as christians kick him while he is down or do we forgive and try to restore this brother and allow him to get back up?

I wonder if God views him as useless in terms of ever being restored? Man does that but when God forgives He also forgets, I am not saying that there should not be a time of stepping aside but to say never is pretty strong. I believe in restoration........

Definitely need to be interceding for this man and his family..............

........ That guy may have done something(s) wrong but we don't have the right to hang him for it. We have the responsiblity to restore him in love..............

Ted Haggard himself admitted to buying meth and getting a massage from a gay prostitute, so we can assume by his confession that this part is true. His church board found him guilty of sexual misconduct, but they had more information about his conduct than we do. Should we judge the man? Absolutely not! Should we judge his actions? [The ones he admitted to] Absolutely! We must always judge sin, but not the sinner.

I think Jim M made a good point. Some people are in denial and some are quick to jump on the condemnation bandwagon, but in defense of the latter, I believe some Christians are upset at the damage a scandal like this does to Christianity. Apostle Paul had strong words about this. A church leader should be beyond reproach. A scandal like this could cause thousands of potential believers from accepting Christ.

Let’s forget about the possible actions of Ted Haggard and instead focus on the problems of the Christian church. One of the main criticisms of Christians is that they are self righteous and hypocritical. We talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. In many churches Christians act more like a meeting of the Pharisees, than a meeting of Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus always had strong criticism for this type of behavior.

Rather than zero in on the actions and failures of one man, we should zero in on the failure of all of us as a Christian body, and the failure of the modern church, which has seemed to have lost its way.

You can not judge sin without judging the sinner.

Charles Finney stated, "God is not angry merely against the sin abstracted from the sinner, but against the sinner himself. Some persons have labored hard to set up this ridiculous and absurd abstraction, and would fain make it appear that God is angry at sin, yet not at the sinner. He hates the theft, but loves the thief. He abhors adultery, but is pleased with the adulterer. Now this is supreme nonsense. The sin has no moral character apart from the sinner. The act is nothing apart from the actor. The very thing that God hates and disapproves is not the mere event—the thing done in distinction from the doer; but it is the doer himself. It grieves and displeases Him that a rational moral agent, under His government, should array himself against his own God and Father, against all that is right and just in the universe. This is the thing that offends God. The sinner himself is the direct and the only object of his anger."

quoted with permission from Ray Comfort


But do we condemn? No. If he is humble, God will give grace. If he is proud, God will cause troubles to come to humble him. To say it is wrong is not hypocritical at all, and it's a pretty broad brush to use to say anyone who judges is guilty of it. We are to judge, we are not to condemn. Not only that, but God says the judgement against leaders is harder, and this is an example of why. Not only does this affect him, it affects anyone who will stand up now in the name of Christ and say homosexuality is wrong.

So are you suggesting when we sin as children of God, God hates us? Or are you saying when we sin, God already paid for it and for us. And we are now the righteousness of God in Christ?

I can't really say I was one of his followers but saw him on christian tv more than a few times. It's sad because he seemed like the real deal. My heart has been heavy for him, and his family. Also he has alot of young people at his church(kids and teens) that need prayer. They probably feel more duped and confussed than any of us, and we need to pray protection over them that they don't get discouraged and fall away. Sad indeed. Been praying for this matter off and on today

When I pray I keep getting a *suicide* sense, please prayer against this!!