Everyone is talking about Ted Haggard and his indiscretions. Ordinary Everyday Christian is covering this topic really well http://ordinaryeverydaychristian.blogspot.com/ For me, when I was in mainstream church ministry, I enjoyed and used heavily Haggards books and resources heavily, especially his cell group material which I thought was brillant.
I really related to Haggards Church Planting beginnings where he started in his garage using two oil drums as a pulpit. He was (and is) a humble guy who thought of others especially his city. Today his politics and set evangelical beliefs are divergent from my own, but I still give him credit for the impact he has made in my life.
Haggard is less at fault then the screwy Church system that we seem so trapped into. No man can handle being at the top of God's tree. We really need to get back to that New Testement model of plurality of leadership. How long does it take for Christian Joe Bloe to realise how disfunctional it is to sit under one man? God must get so bugged by that. The enormous spiritual presure placed on the top guy is impossible. The reality is that the large majority of Pastors are hiding scary things in their personal lives from there churches, this is not healthy. Pastors and there wives divorse at a higher rate then secular society yet are technicaly the champions of the sanctity of marriage. This kind of thing is going to carry on in the current religous system more and more because it does not work, and it does not reflect the new testement.
