posted November 03, 2006 09:57 AM              

I also want to make it clear that I do not condemn the whole evangelitical religion for what some do. I don't think that is right to do in this case anymore than it is right to condemn all priests and the RC Church as a whole for what only a few do.

Not only has Haggard been exposed for paying this man for sex for 3 years but he is also a meth user something he has also condemned.

Gay Sex Scandal Stuns Evangelical Followers
Pastor Says Haggard Admits Some Allegations Were True

POSTED: 6:40 am EST November 3, 2006
UPDATED: 7:07 am EST November 3, 2006

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, has given up his post while a church panel investigates allegations he paid a man for sex.

The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member association Thursday after being accused of paying the man for monthly trysts over the past three years.

Haggard, a married father of five, denied the allegations, but also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church pending an investigation.

"I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity," he said in a statement. "I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance."

Carolyn Haggard, spokeswoman for the New Life Church and the pastor's niece, said a four-member church panel will investigate the allegations. The board has the authority to discipline Haggard, including removing him from ministry work.

The acting senior pastor at New Life, Ross Parsley, told KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs that Haggard admitted that some of the accusations were true.

"I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed but there is an admission of some guilt," Parsley told the station.

He did not elaborate, and a telephone number for Parsley could not be found late Thursday.

The allegations come as voters in Colorado and seven other states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.

The allegations stunned church members.

"It's political, right before the elections," said Brian Boals, a New Life member for 17 years. Church member E.J. Cox, 25, called the claims "ridiculous."

"People are always saying stuff about Pastor Ted," she said. "You just sort of blow it off. He's just like anyone else in the public eye."

The accusations were made by Mike Jones, 49, of Denver, who said he decided to go public because of the political fight over the amendments.

"I just want people to step back and take a look and say, 'Look, we're all sinners, we all have faults, but if two people want to get married, just let them, and let them have a happy life,"' said Jones, who added that he isn't working for any political group.

Jones, who said he is gay, said he was also upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

"It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," he said.

Jones claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. He said he advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and was contacted by a man who called himself Art, who snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.

Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard and that the two last had sex in August.

He said he has voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash. He declined to make the voice mails available to the AP, but KUSA-TV reported what it said were excerpts late Thursday that referred to methamphetamine.

"Hi Mike, this is Art," one call began, according to the station. "Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply."

A second message, left a few hours later, began: "Hi Mike, this is Art, I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I said, if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then that would be great. And I'll get it sometime next week or the week after or whenever."

Haggard, 50, was appointed president of the evangelicals association in March 2003. He has participated in conservative Christian leaders' conference calls with White House staffers and lobbied members of Congress last year on U.S. Supreme Court appointees after Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement.

After Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in 2004, Haggard and others began organizing state-by-state opposition. Last year, Haggard and officials from the nearby Christian ministry Focus on the Family announced plans to push Colorado's gay marriage ban for the 2006 ballot.

At the time, Haggard said that he believed marriage is a union between a man and woman rooted in centuries of tradition, and that research shows it's the best family unit for children.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

posted November 04, 2006 12:40 PM              

He's slowly coming out with the tRuTh.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301617.html

An Accuser's Story
Former escort Mike Jones says he had a three-year sexual relationship with megachurch pastor Ted Haggard and helped him obtain drugs.

posted November 04, 2006 01:08 PM            

Exactly...because this minister...who opposes me, opposes gay marriage and most things I support...is running for public office and needs to be defeated?

Or..this minister needs to be exposed so Christian conservatives will stay home, not vote on election day...and those who support gay marriage, the gay lifestyle and most things I support...will be elected.

posted November 05, 2006 07:23 PM              

6.11.2006. 09:46:52

quote:

---

In a letter read to the congregation of the conservative New Life Church by another clergyman, Mr Haggard apologised for his acts and requested forgiveness.

"I am so sorry for the circumstances that have caused shame and embarrassment for all of you," he said, adding that he had confused the situation by giving inconsistent remarks to reporters denying the scandal.

"The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life," he said.

---

posted November 05, 2006 07:30 PM              

I can't believe Haggard had a following of 14,000 people!

Who on earth preaches for people to..."Lose your life for the sake of the one you're marrying and your children." **Big Red Flag**

Ted Haggard on Marriage

posted November 05, 2006 09:55 PM              

quote:

---

At least one national evangelical leader saw Ted Haggard's confession as a possible opening for better relations between gay activists and evangelicals. "There is something good, believe it or not, that could come out of this. My hope and prayer is that this whole tawdry affair will lessen some of the vitriol that has gone on between gay rights activists and evangelicals," said Rich Cizik, vice president of the NAE.

---

Updated: 09:19 PM ESTOusted Evangelist Confesses to Followers
By COLLEEN SLEVIN, AP

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 5) - As worshippers gathered over coffee and talked in the hallway at the sprawling New Life Church after services Sunday, Patty Erwin was on her knees near the back of its large auditorium.

She usually stays a little late and offers up prayers for her family and friends. On Sunday, Ted Haggard, her disgraced former pastor, was at the top of her list.

"We all love him because he's a part of our family. You don't just throw away a sister or a brother," said Erwin, who's been coming to the 14,000-member church for 15 years. "Desperately, we love him, and we wouldn't be here if we didn't."

Haggard, 50, was fired Saturday after a Denver man accused him of having drug-fueled homosexual trysts with him. In a letter read during Sunday services, Haggard confessed to "sexual immorality" and asked for forgiveness for himself and for his accuser.

"I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life," said Haggard, who resigned last week as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million evangelical Christians.

Erwin, other church goers and the ministers speaking Sunday made it clear they didn't approve of what Haggard had done but they also called on people to seek God's grace, love and restoration in their own lives.
The Rev. Larry Stockstill, senior pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baker, La., and a member of the board that fired Haggard, said Haggard had been more open to his dark side because he was stretched thin by the demands of his pastoral work and his national profile.

Stockstill said no one is without sin, and that exposing Haggard's sin could help make people more aware that it's better to acknowledge sin than try to hide it.

"We can be angry at God and say the timing is terrible or we can say 'Blessed be His name'," said Stockstill, echoing a line from a hymn sung earlier in the service.

As Stockstill read letters from Haggard and his wife at the first morning service - his image projected on giant screens above the large stage - some people in the standing-room only crowd in the 8,000-seat auditorium wiped away tears and put their arms around each other. In her letter Gayle Haggard promised to remain with her husband, and the audience laughed when she said they no longer had to worry about her marriage being so perfect that she couldn't relate to them.

"My test has begun; watch me. I will try to prove myself faithful," she wrote.

At least one national evangelical leader saw Ted Haggard's confession as a possible opening for better relations between gay activists and evangelicals. "There is something good, believe it or not, that could come out of this. My hope and prayer is that this whole tawdry affair will lessen some of the vitriol that has gone on between gay rights activists and evangelicals," said Rich Cizik, vice president of the NAE.

Jessa Schreiber, a Christian therapist from Hamilton, Ohio, who attended the service while visiting family, said the timing was good because the whole world was watching because of Tuesday's elections. "I think God ordained this time to show the love of Christians for one another and above all his love for us and the need for the savior," she said.

Mark Everitt, who's been attending the church for 1 1/2 years, said he thinks Haggard's fall will be the beginning of "a time of renewal" for the church in which more people will examine their own hearts and seek more holiness.

Ross Parsley, who has temporarily replaced Haggard as pastor, told church members that it was OK to be angry, to grieve and be sad about Haggard's departure.

"The reason we're sad was because he was our pastor and a pastor can't function with that level of sin flowing through his life," Parsley said. "God's not angry at Ted. He loves him. He's wrapping his arms around him."

Haggard had acknowledged on Friday that he paid Mike Jones of Denver for a massage and for methamphetamine, but said he did not have sex with him and did not take the drug. But the church's overseer board, made up of clergy from other churches, concluded that he did commit "sexually immoral conduct" and fired him Saturday.

Jones said he welcomed Haggard's call for forgiveness.
"I am sad for him and his family. I know this is a tough day for him also. I wish him well. I wish his family well. My intent was never to destroy his family. My intent was to expose a hypocrite," he said.

Jones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered who Haggard was and found out that New Life had publicly opposed same-sex marriage - a key issue in Colorado, with a pair of issues on Tuesday's ballot.

Haggard's situation is a disappointment to Christian conservatives, whom President Bush and other Republicans are courting heavily as they try to retain control of Congress.

Haggard, who had been president of the NAE since 2003, has participated in conference calls with White House staffers and lobbied Congress last year on Supreme Court nominees.

For Erwin, Haggard's most important work was fostering a welcoming, casual style of worship at the church he founded in his basement 21 years ago. She said she loved the children running around the auditorium, the man who sang waving a handkerchief while others simply raised their hands, and the Harley Davidsons that were once driven into the auditorium.

"With the unity I felt here today, I think everyone is going to be just fine," said Erwin, standing at the edge of the church's busy coffee shop.

Haggard said he will never return to leadership at the church and will be working with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, a psychologist, as well as pastors Jack Hayford and Tommy Barnett on a healing and restoration plan for him, his marriage and family.

Associated Press reporter Robert Weller in Denver contributed to this report.

11/05/06 20:31 EST

posted November 06, 2006 02:40 PM            

Well Mirandee, I see you are up to your usually tactics of disemmnating misinformation about Republican's again. What is the matter? Didn't get to take enough swipes at me on the other thread? "true that" DayDreamer?

LMAO.... at least we all know where people like you two stand - or should I say dwell.

Okay, back to the topic - Mirandee why are you making this a thing concerning Republican's here? Maybe I missed where we constantly post threads on "gay sex".

I think this guy is a sicko. He is a hypocrite (much like many other's we know LOL). He deserves to be kicked off his puplit for more than a few reasons. His illegal activity is disgusting - using meth and prostitutes is against the law. Using Meth and engaging in extra-maritial sex is a sin against God.

posted November 06, 2006 04:05 PM              

yup, i am going to laugh- yup, i am going to dance in glee- i think this is funny.

i lived in Colorado Springs for 5 years. Surrounded by all of their "holier-than-thou" bull$hit- the billboards, the preaching, the constant stream of newspaper articles bashing gays, blaming the meth epidemic on the lack of family values..

HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Yes, this is probably not an attractive side of my personality, but the level to which these people use God to justify their hateful platforms is just as disgusting.

By the way, this guy has advised the White House many many times.

posted November 06, 2006 07:23 PM              

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHHAHHAHA
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400072204/

This is just TOO funny!!

Step One:

Call gay "friend" and score some meth...

BTW- another pastor is saying this is his wife's fault because,as a pastor's wife, she has probably "let herself go.."

OF course, its gotta be a woman's fault somehow!! Keep preaching god's love, kiddos!

posted November 06, 2006 08:21 PM            

We see that too often in our society within all types of people. This guy is a sick puke for lying. I could care less if he is gay- that is something that is personal to him or anyone else that is homosexual. I hate when people break it into a gay verses straight argument or reduce all Republican's into the "anti-homosexual- holy roller group". I am neither a holy rolling / Bible thumper nor do I have anything against gay people in any way. Most of my close friends are gay and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

For people that think this whistle blower (and I mean that literally as well LOL) did this because he felt it was time- BS - he did it because of the election. LOL

posted November 07, 2006 01:39 PM            

Call gay "friend" and score some meth.."

LOL MK too funny. I love that virgo humor.

I wouldn't say its good to condemn a whole movement based on the actions of one person, because there are deviant people in power all over the world. I'm just glad the truth was exposed and a hypocrite was brought down.

As far as this being political, there's absolutely no proof of that, it could merely be a coincidence. Unless the whistleblower comes out and says, yes I timed this right before the election, I dont' really buy it.