except his, his wife, and God's. What really started to bug me was his failure as a leader. Here are three things to consider:

First, Reverend Haggard, you need to stop telling people that you are sorry for the pain you caused. I don’t believe you. You knew the consequences of your sin if it became public and the effect it would have on those around you the whole time you carried on this relationship. But you chose to continue to roll the dice. You wanted the best of b

I was thinking about Reverend Ted Haggard last Sunday while I was attending my own church in Colorado Springs, which is right down the road from Haggard’s 14,000-member New Life Church. The New Life Church is impressive from a distance. It looks like an airport terminal. You can see it from my church or from Interstate-25 just north of Colorado Springs.

Reverend Ted Haggard is a husband and father of five. He was the lead pastor and founder of a mega church in Colorado Springs. He was also the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (representing 30 million Christians) and took part in conference calls with the White House. He was an author and critic of gay marriage. Last week a male prostitute from Denver accused Haggard of paying him for gay sex over a period of a three years and purchasing illegal drugs.

Haggard went through the typical panicked cycle of embarrassment and stages of denial that leaders go through when they are caught doing something wrong. First there was outright denial (His knee-jerk reaction to being publicly exposed.). Then there was a partial denial as he admitted to getting a massage from the prostitute and buying some meth.-But there was no sex and he threw away the drugs. (This is the “I’ve got to stall for time to see how much damning evidence is actually out there” stage.). This was followed by a public apology, resignation, and a vague admission of guilt (He realized that he was cornered and could not deny much.). Then he finally admitted to purchasing the drugs, sexual immorality, and giving deceptive and inconsistent answers to the initial inquiries. Haggard resigned his position within his church and the National Associations of Evangelicals.

Reverend Haggard's sexual sin really shocked me at first. But the more I thought about it the less I cared about that sin. That type of sexual sin is quite personal and is nobody's business except his, his wife, and God's. What really started to bug me was his failure as a leader. Here are three things to consider:

First, Reverend Haggard, you need to stop telling people that you are sorry for the pain you caused. I don’t believe you. You knew the consequences of your sin if it became public and the effect it would have on those around you the whole time you carried on this relationship. But you chose to continue to roll the dice. You wanted the best of bo

Springs. He was also the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (representing 30 million Christians) and took part in conference calls with the White House. He was an author and critic of gay marriage. Last week a male prostitute from Denver accused Haggard of paying him for gay sex over a period of a three years and purchasing illegal drugs.

Haggard went through the typical panicked cycle of embarrassment and stages of denial that leaders go through when they are caught doing something wrong. First there was outright denial (His knee-jerk reaction to being publicly exposed.). Then there was a partial denial as he admitted to getting a massage from the prostitute and buying some meth.-But there was no sex and he threw away the drugs. (This is the “I’ve got to stall for time to see how much damning evidence is actually out there” stage.). This was followed by a public apology, resignation, and a vague admission of guilt (He realized that he was cornered and could not deny much.). Then he finally admitted to purchasing the drugs, sexual immorality, and giving deceptive and inconsistent answers to the initial inquiries. Haggard resigned his position within his church and the National Associations of Evangelicals.

Reverend Haggard's sexual sin really shocked me at first. But the more I thought about it the less I cared about that sin. That type of sexual sin is quite personal and is nobody's business except his, his wife, and God's. What really started to bug me was his failure as a leader. Here are three things to consider:

First, Reverend Haggard, you need to stop telling people that you are sorry for the pain you caused. I don’t believe you. You knew the consequences of your sin if it became public and the effect it would have on those around you the whole time you carried on this relationship. But you chose to continue to roll the dice. You wanted the best of b

they are caught doing something wrong. First there was outright denial (His knee-jerk reaction to being publicly exposed.). Then there was a partial denial as he admitted to getting a massage from the prostitute and buying some meth.-But there was no sex and he threw away the drugs. (This is the “I’ve got to stall for time to see how much damning evidence is actually out there” stage.). This was followed by a public apology, resignation, and a vague admission of guilt (He realized that he was cornered and could not deny much.). Then he finally admitted to purchasing the drugs, sexual immorality, and giving deceptive and inconsistent answers to the initial inquiries. Haggard resigned his position within his church and the National Associations of Evangelicals.

Reverend Haggard's sexual sin really shocked me at first. But the more I thought about it the less I cared about that sin. That type of sexual sin is quite personal and is nobody's business except his, his wife, and God's. What really started to bug me was his failure as a leader. Here are three things to consider:

First, Reverend Haggard, you need to stop telling people that you are sorry for the pain you caused. I don’t believe you. You knew the consequences of your sin if it became public and the effect it would have on those around you the whole time you carried on this relationship. But you chose to continue to roll the dice. You wanted the best of b

zed that he was cornered and could not deny much.). Then he finally admitted to purchasing the drugs, sexual immorality, and giving deceptive and inconsistent answers to the initial inquiries. Haggard resigned his position within his church and the National Associations of Evangelicals.

Reverend Haggard's sexual sin really shocked me at first. But the more I thought about it the less I cared about that sin. That type of sexual sin is quite personal and is nobody's business except his, his wife, and God's. What really started to bug me was his failure as a leader. Here are three things to consider:

First, Reverend Haggard, you need to stop telling people that you are sorry for the pain you caused. I don’t believe you. You knew the consequences of your sin if it became public and the effect it would have on those around you the whole time you carried on this relationship. But you chose to continue to roll the dice. You wanted the best of b

except his, his wife, and God's. What really started to bug me was his failure as a leader. Here are three things to consider:

First, Reverend Haggard, you need to stop telling people that you are sorry for the pain you caused. I don’t believe you. You knew the consequences of your sin if it became public and the effect it would have on those around you the whole time you carried on this relationship. But you chose to continue to roll the dice. You wanted the best of both worlds. You wanted the wealth and fame of being known as a righteous Christian leader while at the same time satisfying the sinful temptation of your flesh. You did not care about your family and the church while you were committing this sin, so why should we believe that you care about them now?

If you were truly sorry, maybe you would have confessed to God years ago, repented, and tried to stop doing it. Or sought help. Maybe you did do that. But once you realized that this particular sin would be a lifetime struggle, you should have stepped aside as a leader. You even admitted in the letter you wrote to your church that you were,“…warring against it all of my adult life.” If that was true you could have stepped aside of your leadership positions at any time for “personal reasons” and refused to take promotions to positions of higher authority within your church and national organizations. That would have shown a real compassion for your family, your church, and the reputation of Jesus Christ. That is what a real leader would have done.

Second, you stated that you take full responsibility for your actions and the pain you caused. Okay, if you are now responsible, what exactly are you going to do about it? What are you going to do for the people you hurt? How are you going to close those wounds and fix the doubt that you have placed in people’s faith? Merely taking responsibility does not absolve you of anything.

Third, your downfall was not the result of a sexual sin. It was the result of the sin of pride. You did not address this in your letter. You said in your letter that pride prevented you from disclosing the truth in order to protect those that you loved from hurt and disappointment. Well Reverend, that statement is only half-right. Pride did cause you to withhold the truth in order to protect the one you loved the most. But that was you.

Reverend, m