Charlie Lehardy

I’ve been reading this stuff on Saddam Hussein and how he was sentenced to death. Great, wonderful, he deserves to die in my opinion. However, I’m now reading about people in the Middle East, Europe and even here in the US who are OUTRAGED that he was sentenced to die and are now complaining about the trial, procedures, etc, etc.

First of all, any of you remember how everybody had a FIT about the possibility that the trial would be held here in the US? Remember that? Everybody said “no… I can’t be held in the US, we need it held in Iraq. It’s better to be held there.” So, we did that and this is the outcome. But now that we had THIS as the outcome, oh my gosh! We can’t kill him, no… that’d be wrong!!

Ok, explain this wise guy? How is killing a man who had a fair trial (despite his countless attempts to taint it and make it grind to a halt) and killed hundreds himself wrong, when going to war with (for instance) al-Qaeda is not? Are we not killing members of al-Qaeda for even less than what Saddam Hussein was just convicted of?

Yes, many people are against the war too, but many are not. For instance, Tony Blair, constant friend of the White House, has now decided that capital punishment is wrong and that you can’t put someone, even Saddam Hussein to death. Despite the fact that he condones the war in Iraq. Oh, and what about the other countries that have troops in Iraq, members of NATO, etc, etc? They certainly don’t think that killing someone while at war is wrong, but after a fair trial determines that someone deserves to die, THEN we’ve got a problem with it.

So, you might ask, “Well, what would Europe do about this problem instead? Surely they can’t just let him go…” No, you’re right, they wouldn’t. Spain has the perfect solution instead of killing the convict outright: Madrid: 38,000-year jail terms sought. 38,000 YEARS??? Ok, how is that different than capital punishment? Really, I would like to know. I mean seriously, isn’t that even worse than capital punishment since they have to spend the rest of their lives in prison? Why not just kill them and be done with it?

Anyway, I’m not sure I understand, and not sure I ever will. But if you’ve got some insight, I’d love to hear it.

No, not really for me, my weekend was fine. But for Christians, it was certainly a sad weekend. In case you’ve been under a rock for the last few days, I’m talking about Ted Haggard and the allegations against him that came up on Wednesday of last week. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say allegations since Ted Haggard confirmed a good portion of what Mike Jones was claiming he did.

However, I’m not really wanting to talk about that. Obviously Ted Haggard did stuff he shouldn’t have done and there’s going to be a lot of fallout from that. What’s more to talk about? What I DO care about though is how we, as Christians, handle this situation and the blow that’s been dealt to the Christian Church.

This is the time to realize that our Christian leaders are people, just like we are. They make mistakes, just like we do and sometimes, like now, those mistakes are revealed to the general public. But really, can you say that what Ted Haggard did is any worse than anything you’ve done? I know I can’t. Yes, it affects a LOT more people and yes, it’s a lot more public. And sure, you’ve probably never done the things that Ted Haggard has done. But when you really get down to it, how much worse is Ted Haggard’s sin in the eyes of God than ours?

I’d say it’s no worse. I’d also say that our own sins are no worse than Ted Haggard’s. In God’s eyes, we’re equal, assuming we’ve all accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior anyway. We’re ALL sinners, and that means that we all deserve death. But oh my gosh, Ted Haggard broke the big one. He had relations with another man. SO WHAT?? It’s still a sin, like everything else. Even more interesting to me are the people who are shocked by it. That they never would have expected it.

Well, ok, I guess I never would have expected it myself. I had the opportunity to help on the back-end of some of Ted Haggard’s ministries (World Prayer Team and his personal site) by helping create those sites years ago and helping with the administration of them. During that time, I saw the passion that Ted Haggard had, the leader he was and the plans that he had for God’s people. He’s a great man and truly loves God and wants to do what God wants of him. But because of that position, the influence he’s had in the Christian Church, the influence over Christians, he’s also been attacked over and over and over.

And so it doesn’t really surprise me that Ted Haggard fell because he IS just a human. He’s not perfect. Even less surprising is the manner in which he fell. He’s been a huge proponent against homosexuals and so it makes perfect sense that THAT’S the way he’s brought down. But what I know, and I hope others know, is that he doesn’t have to be out for the count. He CAN rise again and I will be praying that he will. Because Satan didn’t win the war, he just won this one, tiny, little battle.

Think about it this way… Peter denied Christ THREE TIMES, just as Christ predicted he would. I’m sorry, but that’s pretty bad. Or even worse, David had Bathsheba’s husband killed so he could cover the fact that he had an affair with her. Even worse. However, in both cases, they were forgiven and rose again to be even greater. I will be praying that the same will be true of Ted Haggard and I hope you’ll do the same.

Because really, he’s done nothing worse than what I do every day, or what you do every day. And if we can’t forgive his sin and help him move on and grow in strength from it, then who can?

But I REALLY like this video. It’s like a sickness, I just can’t stop watching!

Hope you enjoyed it too!