BENTLEY's new wife speaks out

My point is that he wasn't left entirely desolate. Which is what the modern evangelical church would seem to like to do to anyone who has failed.

I'm not saying I think Todd Bentley is legitimate. Personally at best I believe him to be a bad joke as far as ministry goes, but I think this restoration business sheds a light on how we treat people who screw up. Todd Bentley not withstanding.

Consider Ted Haggard. He will never be restored in the eyes of the average church going American. Even if he wanted to return to ministry most people would never give him that chance. In fact the church he founded was so adamant that he'd never return that they made him sign an agreement never to return to Colorado. That takes a lot of anger and bitterness not just to throw someone out of the church but be so enraged that you make them agree to leave their own home.

Jim Baker is another example. Evangelical America will never really give him a second chance because he was found in adultery. Yet if you listen to his messages today they're soundly based in good doctrine.

I guess I just get frustrated that we so often preach restoration and forgiveness but as Christians we really don't believe in restoration or forgiveness within our own church walls. To the general congregants sometimes, but not to the leaders.

Not that I should paint a broad brush across all Christians but it happens more than it should and this thread is a good indication of that.

1 Timothy 3:1-13
1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. 8Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
11In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
12A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.