Comments on: Ted Haggard’s Appeal for Financial Support

By: sunilrabe

sunilrabe — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:45:45 +0000

who are we to judge.. there is one above the heaven watching if it is correct or not in the sight of God.He will bring the justice.if at all he has done it for God’s purpose well his mercy endures forever..

By: Gerry Purcell

Gerry Purcell — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:29:43 +0000

Here is some balance, not from me, but from the Word….Let’s be careful not to forget the three things God requires of us - that would be each of us - from Micah 6:8…Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly….the first requirement has happened; now it is time for the second - LOVE mercy! Interesting that each requirement is preceeded by a verb, i.e. in this case, LOOOOOOVE mercy….are we loving mercy here? If not, we will never pass the third requirement to WALK humbly, and subject ourselves to falling into sin’s trap….

By: Phil Gons

Phil Gons — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:52:49 +0000

Marcia, thank you for the comments. Your perspective is helpful and balanced. May God grant you your desire to go to school.

By: Phil Gons

Phil Gons — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:27:40 +0000

Michele, I thought your comments were right on target. My reference was not to what you said but to Jim’s comment on your post, which is what I linked to. If you click it, it should take you right to Jim’s comment.

By: Michele

Michele — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 03:50:55 +0000

Where am I wrong it what I said? This man is no longer in ministry, why should he be soliciting funds as if he were? Why is it wrong to point this out?

By: Marcia

Marcia — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:58:34 +0000

Ted is forgiven by God for the giant blemish if he has a repentant heart. Because he is one of God’s own we must extend love to him. However, where I come from if a man or woman does not work he/she does not eat. Ted needs to get a paying job to support his family. He lost his income due to his sin and now the consequences are upon him. He should as I do & give Thanks to Jesus that we are not bound by the law! My heart desires to serve full-time in ministry if I had a salary and I would love to be a student. I have heard it said if you love what you do you would do it for nothing. I have done that for 15 years and will continue until………Would anyone out there like to sponsor me. I would need a stipend of $1500 per month. Ted certainly has much audacity.

By: Phil Gons

Phil Gons — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:09:41 +0000

I don’t necessarily disagree that he hasn’t sufficiently demonstrated his repentance. I don’t know enough of the situation to say. I disagree with his asking people for money, but I (and you) have no basis to say that Ted things people owe him their financial support.

Yes, grace is often abused, and your response certainly won’t be mistaken by anyone as license—or grace.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:32:32 +0000

I haven’t yet seen him “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance” and his present behavior—asking total strangers for money, indicates a belief that he is ‘owed’ support at some level.

Sometimes grace is confused with license. Or rather, license is confused with grace. If he were seriously repentant he wouldn’t be asking for money, like the wee little man in the sycamore tree, he would be paying back what he took in order to purchase drugs and prostitutes.

By: Phil Gons

Phil Gons — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:42:04 +0000

None of us deserves grace, Jim. But that’s not the point. I just don’t get your harshness. I’m all for wisdom, good stewardship of money, and protecting the people of God, but how are you so certain that Haggard is trying to deceive people? How are you so convinced that Haggard is a wolf? Don’t we forgive and assume that he is genuinely repentant (on the basis of 1 Cor 13 and other passages), while at the same time making him demonstrate faithfulness, integrity, and trustworthiness? Sure, encourage people not to give their money, and make your point that Haggard needs to work to provide for his family, but the rhetoric is just way overboard—and more importantly, unchristian.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

The kind of harshness you display is perhaps appropriate only for the one who refuses to repent and acknowledge his sinfulness.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:15:26 +0000

It’s not Ted who deserves grace but the people who are liable to be duped by his pretense. They are the ones who are deserving of straightforward talk in order to be spared the horror of throwing their money away. Someone, in other words, has to guard the sheep from the wolves. If that means a punch or two, metaphorically speaking, in the wolf’s nose, so be it.