Matthew 23: (Yeshua/Jesus said) 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

It's just amazing that Ted Haggard, former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who was a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches, as well as a seasoned leader of the National Association of Evangelicals would allow himself to be caught off-guard by Satan! Surely he was aware of the fact that we are in the "end times" as outlined in the Books of Daniel and Revelation. Surely he was aware that the enemy is attacking church leaders everywhere. One would have to be deaf, dumb and blind NOT to have noticed this.

The Haggard scandal is reminiscent of Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinski fiasco in which Clinton taught the world that "oral sex" wasn't sex, and therefore shouldn't be considered adultery - not to mention that the word "is" needed to be dissected and redefined. In Haggard's case, his co-workers and parishioners initially defended him to the point of ridiculousness, insisting that "he's not really a hypocrite because...."

At first Haggard naturally tried to lie his way out of it, but ultimately admitted to not only knowing a male prostitute, but to having paid him for massages and to buying meth - and to having a "lifelong sexual problem". Regardless as to whatever happened or didn't happen between Haggard and the two-faced male prostitute who "ratted" him out, or whether Haggard actually did or did not consume the methamphetamines; the fact remains, he committed several sins against God and his congregation by breaking many Biblical rules.

That qualifies him a place of dishonor with the rest of the "fallen" evangelists who have, through their deliberate actions, made believers in Christ look like a bunch of hypocritical weirdos. Score another point for Satan because the atheist blogs are still having a field day with this one! (To make matters worse, the powerful media is always helping Satan: One of the major television network news anchors wile interviewing a pastor about the Haggard scandal suggested, "Maybe it's time for the churches to just let people be gay." In other words, "Hey, believers - let's ALL be hypocrites!" Most "believers" don't seem to be living their faith, anyway, so why not show the world that we really don't know what we're doing!)

And let's not forget the person who caused the demise of Ted Haggard: the male prostitute, Mike Jones, who said he was doing "the moral thing" by exposing this issue. What kind of a world has this become when a prostitute can get media coverage to preach morality - especially when he doesn't seem to think it immoral to take money from men in exchange for the performance of unnatural sex acts!

Believers, it's time to stop pretending! We need to start calling the proverbial spade, a spade - especially where "men of God" are concerned. We need to STOP turning the other cheek and DEMAND that our religious leaders are who they present themselves to be!

Yes, we must all pray for Haggard and his family (and for Mike Jones and his family); yes, we should try to "love him back into the fold" (although there is no sin sacrifice for deliberate sinning - Hebrews 10:26); and yes, we have to forgive him (Mark 11:25) because - as humans we are all born into sin and we continue to be prone to sinning, because Satan is relentless and he knows what "buttons to push". But we are also required to take to task someone who is deliberately sinning (Titus 1:13-16, Titus 3:10). We are not supposed molly-coddle a sinner - especially a church leader!

Romans 16: 17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put snares alongside the teaching in which you have been trained - keep away from them. 18 For men like these are not serving our Lord the Messiah but their own belly; by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the innocent.

The Bible cautions us to "take every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Once we allow ourselves to go with our "carnal desires", we've separated ourselves from God. Apparently, that is what Pastor Haggard did. And, in the process, he deceived millions of believers who trusted in him - all the while millions of dollars in tithes were rolling in, in support of someone who we now know wasn't practicing what he preached.

2 John 1: 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

Haggard was not new to the Bible; he has been preaching from the Bible for most of his adult life - and he was very verbal about the sanctity of marriage and the evils of homosexuality. Therefore, it is obvious that he knew the following actions were WRONG:

Adultery:

Exodus 20: 14 "You shall not commit adultery."

Sexual immorality:

1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters, nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Thessalonians 4: 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality....

Homosexuality:

Leviticus 18: 22 - You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

1 Corinthians 6: - 9 Don't you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't delude yourselves - people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, 10 who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob - none of them will share in the Kingdom of God.

Revelation 22: 14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

(Also, please see The Refiner's Fire's article: Comments for Gay Clergy.)

Drunkenness

(Including drunkenness from drugs or any substance that clouds our consciousness):

Romans 13: 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

Galatians 5: 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 3: 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Titus 1: 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless-not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Lying:

Leviticus 19: 11 "'Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other. 12 Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am ADONAI.

Idolatry:

Exodus 20: 4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines "idol" as: 1. a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly: a false god; 2. a: a likeness of something b: obsolete: PRETENDER, IMPOSTOR; 3. a form or appearance visible but without substance; 4. an object of extreme devotion (a movie idol); 5. a false conception: fallacy.

Let's face it: Pastor Haggard's idol was homosexual sex - something he continuously preached AGAINST....

Those who wish to sit back on their haunches and pretend this didn't happen, or choose to believe that Haggard "simply lost his way" may do so. In the midst of your sympathy, hopefully, you'll remember that this wasn't an "OOPS!" kind of a thing that happened one time during unexpected or uncontrollable passion. It was not a "mistake" - it was a DELIBERATE decision for him to drive the 75-90 miles from Colorado Springs to Denver over the course of at least THREE YEARS in order to visit a male prostitute for "massages" - which was deliberate sinning against GOD! He had PLENTY of time to consult God during each trip; he had plenty of time to seek psychiatric help in this dilemma. He obviously CHOSE not to....

As believers, we're not supposed to judge - but that doesn't mean we are to condone deliberate sinning or twist words in order to downplay the despicable acts of this supposed "man of God"! When Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) saw deliberate sinning, He didn't sit back and make excuses; He confronted the sinners - sometimes even engaging in physical action in order to make His statement (see Matthew 21:11-13) - and, He didn't hesitate to call supposed "men of God" hypocrites whenever He witnessed iniquity (see Matthew 6:2-5, all of Matthew 23, and Psalm 26:4-5 to mention just a few).

One of the main problems of today's lackadaisical churches, whose leaders often don't practice what they preach, is that they believe Torah (God's original teaching and instruction) to be null and void. They believe "Jesus nailed it to the cross", without stopping to think exactly WHAT He nailed to the cross. He nailed our past SINS to the cross; He nailed our certificate of debt for breaking the Law to the cross - not His Torah. And He even said so:

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (words/commands) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? If not, then why have we decided that God's "forever" commands have somehow been superseded?

The Christian church erroneously teaches that Torah was abolished at the cross, but nothing could be further from the truth! An article at Yashanet called "Not Subject to the Law of God?" explains: Attempting to gain salvation by following the Torah on your own without faith, and inevitably failing at some point, is the "curse of the Law" - not the Torah itself.

Yeshua didn't abolish Torah, and Torah isn't a "curse"! Since when are God's teachings a CURSE? He attempted to show us that MAN-MADE traditions and teachings had twisted God's Word. The teachings of the rabbis in "Biblical times" (just as the teachings of many of today's pastors!) had clouded the things God had actually said! This is backed up by the much-misunderstood teachings of Paul who said:

Colossians 2: 14 He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake.

What does the above refer to? "The bill of charges" - our SINS! That's what Yeshua abolished - not Torah! God warns us in Proverbs 4:2 - "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah." (For more about Torah - God's original teaching and instruction, please see Torah Put in Simple Terms.)

Many today insist that since we have God's Word "written on our hearts" (2 Corinthians 3:3 and Romans 1) it automatically makes them "holy". How can something that we've never learned make us holy? Today's church leaders don't teach Torah; they teach that, all that's required of us is to "believe in Jesus" who supposedly gives us carte blanche to do whatever we want, because we're already forgiven! Many churches even teach that we no longer need to adhere to the Ten Commandments because believers in Jesus "have a higher calling" (see The Refiner's Fire's challenge to Bethel Ministries.) Unfortunately, the "fine print" in the Bible says otherwise! Yeshua said if we were "lukewarm" toward Him He would spit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3: 16)! Furthermore, Hebrews 6 makes it perfectly clear that those who deliberately turn toward "the world" are holding our Savior up to public contempt:

Hebrews 6: 4 For when people have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers in the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), 5 and tasted the goodness of God's Word and the powers of the 'olam haba - 6 and then have fallen away - it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt. 7 For the land that soaks up frequent rains and then brings forth a crop useful to its owners receives a blessing from God' 8 but if it keeps producing thorns and thistles, it fails the test and is close to being cursed (Genesis 3:17-18); in the end, it will be burned.

Make no mistake: God loves us, and He knows as humans we are prone to falling from grace. Yeshua paid the sacrifice for our sins; however, that does not mean we can do whatever we want because God does draw the line on continuous, intentional sinning:

Leviticus 26: 23 If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins.

Numbers 15: 30 "'But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has had contempt for the word of ADONAI and has disobeyed his command, that person will be cut off completely; his offense will remain with him.'"

Deuteronomy 7: 9 From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations. 10 But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face.

Isaiah 66: 24 "As they leave, they will look on the corpses of the people who rebelled against me. For their worm will never die, and their fire will never be quenched; but they will be abhorrent to all humanity.

Revelation 3: 16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

The Haggard fiasco is just one more sign of the end times. We are in the Twelfth Hour and Satan knows how The Book ends. He is very busy deceiving the world - "even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). Unless we are firmly rooted in God's Word (ALL of it!) we are prone to falling from grace, and into the lap of our worst enemy.