Pastor accused of having inappropriate relationship:

From the newpaper I read today in Singapore, so sad. It is why the higher you go sometimes the harder you fall. As christian leader, we need to make sure we live our lives above reproach

Maybe its a poignant reminder that as leaders, we cannot sin and get away with it. Though God may forgive the sin, but there are always consequence to our sins. Just like in natural law, if we are caught stealing. You parents might forgive you but you would still have to pay for your crime.

Hopefully he can change.



Pastor accused of having inappropriate relationship:
I paid a heavy price. I was stupid
February 04, 2009 Print Ready Email Article

THREE years ago, he was first accused of using drugs and paying a male prostitute for sex for over three years.
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PICTURE: REUTERS

Now disgraced pastor Ted Haggard has been accused of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 20-year-old volunteer in 2006.

And unlike the earlier allegations which he had denied, the evangelical pastor this time admitted that the latest revelations were 'fundamentally true'.

The incident occurred when the two men were in bed together, the volunteer, Mr Grant Haas, said in a videotaped interview played on CNN's 'Larry King Live'.

'He pretty much asked me if it was okay if he masturbated (in my presence),' said Mr Haas.

'I told him no, it would make me really uncomfortable. But he (did it anyway).'

Mr Haas added: '(Haggard) used to say to me, 'You know what, Grant, you can become a man of God, and you can have a little bit of fun on the side.'

Mr Haggard, 52, said the incident was 'an indicator of the compulsive behavior' that ruled him at the time.

However, he said he has been undergoing therapy during the two years since.

The latest assertions will surely spark fresh charges of hypocrisy, particularly because Mr Haggard had condemned homosexual sex.

The pastor is the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which claims to represent millions of people in 45,000 congregations across the US.

He was also the head pastor at New Life Church.

In a settlement with New Life, the church and Mr Haggard agreed that he would retain his six-figure salary for a year, leave the Colorado Springs area, receive counselling and not speak publicly about what had happened for one year, according to a church staff member.

Prostitute helped him

In the CNN interview, Mr Haggard credited the prostitute he was first associated with, Mr Mike Jones, with having helped him.

'I think he rescued me. I'm very grateful to him,' Mr Haggard said.

He said he would have lost the support of his wife of 30 years, Gail, and their five children 'and been a drug addict' had he not been caught.

'I paid a heavy price. It was stupid,' he said.

Mr Haggard likened his struggles with his desires to the struggles faced by dieters who say, 'I'm not going to eat today' and then they eat'.

He acknowledged that his actions were hypocritical, but said he could not control his urges.

He said he initially urged his wife to leave him, but she refused.

'I really do love this man,' she told CNN when asked why she did not leave.

But it was also her faith that led her to stick with the marriage, she said.

Mr Marcus Haggard, the couple's 25-year-old son, said he, too, was shocked by the revelations, but was more disturbed to learn that his father had lied.

Still, he said the news brought the family closer together.

'He had lived so long on a pedestal,' Marcus said about his famous father.

'He seemed practically perfect. There was a sense of relief in the fact that we could connect with our dad.'