I’m just asking. I’ve asked before. I will ask again. 🙂 We need folks on Sunday mornings to make the switch to Saturday evening 5 or 6:30…. And we need folks on the main campus to come over and help us at the Westside campus. Until we get a new building built we need to provide more room on Sunday morning as well as free up some parking spaces.
Why do we need you to do that?
Because most visitors show up on Sunday morning, and we want to help them get in and find a place to sit. I know that most of you are VERY comfortable attending the service you attend, but I would like to ask you to make the switch to help those who are unchurched and unsaved. I want to express to EVERYONE my APPRECIATION for watching the sermon on video each week. Did you know that we have 16 venues each weekend? Eight of the 16 venues are on video and close to 2000 people are attending a video venue. Most of you still realize that the main thing is that we come to church to worship God and it really doesn’t matter if the message is on video or live because the word of God does NOT come back void. Shepherd is KNOWN for it’s flexibility and willingness to sacrifice in order for the lost to be saved. Thank you and please know it’s an honor to be your Pastor.
It’s really early in the morning and I woke up and I’ve been trying to find the right words to express the emotions of my heart. As you can probably tell, I never wanted to put things in my blog that make people’s hearts sad. In fact, I wanted to use this blog to bring joy and laughter into people’s hearts I figure there is a lot of pain in the world and because of that I wanted this to be a place of encouragement. Having absolutely NO IDEA who would be reading through this blog, and being that the particular subject of this title had so many sordid details, I just wasn’t sure I wanted to discuss any of it in my blog spot. However, I wanted to share several things that have been running through my mind.
First, I have never met Ted Haggard and I’ve never heard him preach and I’ve never been to his church. So everything I know about him I learned through the media. My initial thoughts are that I do NOT know what’s true and what’s not true concerning his life. I did log on to his church website and I read his letter of resignation: http://www.newlifechurch.org/TedHaggardStatement.pdf
Having read his letter I know several things–first and foremost that God’s heart breaks when ANY of us commit ANY sin. You see, my heart is crushed over this situation. It is sooooooooo sad to hear of a Leader falling like this, yet it is why God sent his only son JESUS to die on the cross. It was for OUR sin that he died. Surely the heart of God is as devastated as ours when we hear of stories like the story of Ted Haggard or any other church leader (or church member) who falls. Secondly, I have absolutely NO IDEA how Ted Haggard got involved in these kinds of sins. I don’t know how he was raised. I don’t know who his parents were. I don’t know who influenced him as a child. I know NONE of these things. What I do know is that Satan has about a million ways to deceive us and to lure us. Somehow and in some way all of us have given into his lies. The Bible makes it very clear in Romans 3:10-23 that ALL OF US have sinned. All of us have battled with right and wrong and we know of this war within our own members. As I read through his resignation letter, Ted mentions that he has been at war with these particular issues for most of his adult life. I believe him when he states that. I believe that he knew it was wrong and wrestled with these sins for most of his life. James 1 and Romans 3 talks about how sin takes a hold in our lives and how it leads to death.
The more I think through this story it’s difficult for me to even understand how he could get involved in such terrible things, especially because he is a fellow pastor and church leader. How do any of us get involved in the sins of the flesh? (Galatians 5:16-26) It happens when we allow the things of the world to creep into our lives and all it takes is taking our eyes off of Jesus. And when we do that, we are in the cross hairs of the devil himself. He is waiting for all of us to fail and Jesus is LONGING for us to follow in His footsteps, so to speak, and resist the enemy and his temptings.
We all must guard our steps and our hearts lest we too be swept away and lose our witness and our testimony to the world.
I may come back and write some more later, but as I close this lengthy entry, I want to encourage you to pray for Ted Haggard and his family. That might be difficult for some of you, but they need us to lift them up before the Father. The damage done in unimaginable. The hurt and pain in unbearable. We all feel a sense of betrayal. We wish that this had never happened. But we still need to pray for them. We are devastated by this story but think about how devastated the family must feel. Only God can sustain them through this difficult time. You see, I’m not giving up yet. God has rebuilt and restored MILLIONS who have fallen. It is His specialty. Ted Haggard has preached against sin and he has preached about the Love of God and the forgiveness of God most of his life. Although he was swept away by his own choices and his own weaknesses the Love of God is greater than ANY sin and greater than ANY failure. Ted will probably never lead a church again, but I believe that God can restore his life and give him victory over his failures. (Romans 5:8 and 1 John 1:9) You know what it says…and that’s how God restored YOU and that’s how God restored ME.
Lastly, (do we need any other reminders?) as Christians, we are to put our faith and trust in GOD. Never in man. Never in the minister. Only ONE is PERFECT. Only ONE is absolutely PURE. Only ONE can redeem mankind.
Look! THERE is the LAMB of GOD that taketh away the SINS of the WORLD. (John 1:29)
Yes… we had Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson as guest host for Shepherd Idol. If you were present then you know that Pastor Bodacious Tim Winters edged out Michael North to become Shepherds Idol 2006. (I can’t believe I just wrote that). But everyone who attended the volunteer appreciation banquet had a great time watching the staff make fun of themselves. A BIG thanks to Steve and Kim Tarlton and Danny Furikawa for ALL of the editing and work done putting the show together. I also want to thank Shawn Parr for being the M.C. and I’m still amazed at how BAD some of our staff can sing. I am proud of the staff for humiliating themselves in front of the world. But it proves the point that we would do ANYTHING to show our appreciation for all of those who serve in all the various ministries here at Shepherd. I hope that each of you will continue to serve because of your love for Jesus.
I want to thank everyone who came to church this past weekend. I really enjoyed our series through the book of Nehemiah. Ordinary People Living Extraordinary Lives! Did you enjoy this series as much as me???? I want to be like Nehemiah. He was a man of prayer. He was a man who was devoted to doing the things of God. He was a man of vision. He was sensitive to the things of God. He was a Godly leader. He wouldn’t be distracted by his critics. He would NOT come down off the wall. He wanted to be a blessing to those around him. He served his people well. He was an organizer. He delegated. He made sure that everyone was involved. He led by his example. He was the catalyst for Revival. He stood for righteousness. He was a man who believed in the power of God. He was always searching for what God was wanting him to do next. He was faithful. He understood the value of people working together. He had a desire to be used of God. He was a man of integrity. He knew what his role was. He willingly proclaimed Godly principles and he would NOT let the people forget the commitments that they had made to serve and obey God. He fully understood the promises in the word of God and his ambition was to lead the people of God back to a position of blessing and honor. It is my prayer that everyone who joined us in listening to this series of sermons will implement the qualities found in Nehemiah and live each day desiring to live EXTRAORDINARY LIVES.
Please be sure to visit www.callonjesus.com to listen or view any of the messages.
Many of you have seen the 1/3 replica of the Western Wall that we used for our Day of Prayer and Fasting. For an incredible actual 360 degree view of the Western Wall in Jerusalem please check out this link. http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full25b.html I hope to make a return trip to Israel sometime in the spring of 08. Please consider making this journey of a lifetime with me in 2008. As the scriptures teach us in Psalm 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure”.
Once a year we host an event for all of our Shepherd Volunteers. It is our intention to thank all the men and women who graciously serve in ministry areas here at the Shepherd. Tonight is the annual banquet that the staff puts together to simpy say “Thank You”. We as a church could not function without the army of willing volunteers who give of their time and talent to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride. As in past years, we as a staff, try to “entertain the troops” so to speak, and this year is no exception. Tonight promises to be one of the funniest nights of the year. If you are a volunteer, we’ll plan on seeing you at the Porter Ranch Campus tonight around 6:30 pm. Be prepared to LAUGH.
