My wife and I moved to Colorado back in the Summer of 1987. We lived there for just over nine years. Our two sons were born there. We lived in Lakewood the first few months and then moved to Castle Rock in January of 1988. Castle Rock sits just off Interstate 25 and is situated just between and, is a short drive from Denver and Colorado Springs. In fact, many people from the three communities would go back and forth to the different churches in the three cities.

I recall the one and only time I met Pastor Ted Haggard. It was in either late 1988 or sometime in 1989. At that time, New Life was still meeting in the building they were using just previous to the newer buildings they currently meet in. I was invited to go visit New Life with an elder of the church I was attending at the time, in Castle Rock. This particular elder was telling me that he and his wife had attended Pastor Haggard’s church a few years earlier when there were just a few people. He stated that he would like to go see how things were going for New Life and say hello to Pastor Haggard.

The elder and I made the short trip down the freeway to Colorado Springs and attended the service that evening and then afterwards went up front to meet Pastor Haggard. Indeed, this elder was well known by Pastor Haggard as they began talking and asking each other about many mutual friends and acquaintances and, talked about how the church used to be in the early days. I may have spoken three sentences to Pastor Haggard. And, I certainly am not naïve to suggest now that I believe that he would even remotely remember meeting me. I mean, he has probably had tens of thousands of such encounters, meeting a friend of a friend kind of a thing. But, my meeting him is not the point.

New Life is not just any church. New Life is a regional megachurch. New Life is well known and well connected within the national evangelical, conservative Christian network. New Life could even be considered a “Flagship Church” of the Religious Right. New Life sits just off of Interstate 25 on the east side. It sits on a rolling hill which is somewhat elevated above the freeway and the front entrance to the church building faces in a slightly southwestern direction facing the southern most tip of the United States Air Force Academy and Pike’s Peak. The view from the entryway of New Life Church is what people take vacations to see. It is breathtaking in late Spring and early Summer as Pike’s Peak shimmers in the early morning sunshine reflecting off a heavy mantle of freshly fallen snow. Pike’s Peak is a 14,000 foot mountain that kind of sits out by itself from the rest of the Front Range. Then, just south of the church is the Chapel Hills Mall. The mall has an upper level grouping of restaurants with a southwestern wall with large 10 – 15 foot windows that provide the restaurant guest with a fantastic view of Pike’s Peak. My wife and I have dined there many times.

Pastor Ted Haggard is not just any Pastor. If you were to use a military analogy to describe all of this, then Pastor Ted Haggard would be a Three Star General of the Religious Right. He would be like a commander of an entire theater of operations. He would be like a leading officer who has been entrusted with some of the mission’s most sensitive secrets and strategies. And now, he has “gone bad”.

It must be understood that New Life was built on sound and fundamental Christian orthodoxy, on strict guidelines of Biblical interpretation, on sound and proven doctrines of the Christian faith. One of those is the doctrine that marriage consists of a covenant relationship between a man and a woman. Another of those is the doctrine that homosexuality is a sin. But now, you have Pastor Haggard saying that he is confused on the subject of sex. He is saying that he is attracted to men as well as being attracted to his wife. He is saying that he is having trouble figuring out his own sexuality. But, at that same time, he is asking New Life Church to accept him the way he is, without any reservation or consideration of the foundational principles of New Life. This is the same church that has been taught and believes very strongly that same sex attraction is very much against God’s will and that it is sinful to have and/or act upon same sex attraction. In fact, Pastor Haggard was quite instrumental in teaching against and rallying against same sex attraction in the past. But now, after he himself has gotten caught participating in same sex activities, he is saying to the church, “hey, it’s not a big deal, accept me the way I am”. It is called “wanting to have your cake and eat it too”.

All of this has put New Life Church in an impossible situation. Even though Pastor Haggard has been away for some time, he is now back in Colorado Springs and this is a very serious problem for New Life. I said to my wife when I first learned that Pastor Haggard was returning to Colorado Springs “New Life is going to have a very serious problem on its hands”.

If you were to use a political analogy, we could look at the example of former President Richard Nixon. Let’s say, after having been impeached and exiled by the leaders in the national government, President Nixon would have returned to Washington after a year. And, upon his return, President Nixon could have started holding interviews with the national media saying things like “they did me wrong”, “they don’t know all the information”, “they are mean-spirited”, “and, I think I still deserve to be President”, “and, you know what, if this government won’t accept me back as their President, then, maybe I’ll start my own government”.

Such a thing would have been a nightmare you say, even dangerous to the stability to the country. That would have been quite true. Well, in a microcosmic sense, this is the same type of scenario that you have playing out in Colorado Springs. You have a Pastor who was relieved of his command and sent away in exile. However, that same Pastor has now returned saying all sorts of things that suggest he is probing to see if there is any chance he could get his old command back, and, there are rumblings that if he doesn’t get his old position back he may start another church. All of this is just ruinous for New Life. And, on top of it all, there is now another individual who has come forward who is telling his story of very sordid and evil things that went on between him and Pastor Haggard.

There is an even larger and broader element at play in all of this. One has to ask the question why is the liberal, secular media going “ga-ga” over Pastor Ted Haggard. Why is he getting these prime-time interviews with some of the top names in the TV talk show world. There is a reason and, it is very sinister. For you see, Pastor Ted Haggard represents to the very liberal left wing of politics and to the homosexual community what I call the “missing link” in the debate over homosexuality. If you caught the pre-release interview done between Anderson Cooper and Alexandra Pelosi on CNN the other evening you could hear sounds and tones of what I am saying.

It is because of the church that Pastor Haggard used to pastor and it is because of the doctrinal belief system that Pastor Haggard is coming out of that makes him a most exquisite prize for the homosexual agenda. For you see, here you now have a very high ranking Pastor within the camp of the Religious Right coming forth and saying that he is confused about his sexuality. This gives the liberal left and the homosexual community an example of what they are saying proves that homosexuality simply cannot be confined to, or portrayed as, a lifestyle that is evolving out of the far-left. It is an opportune moment for the homosexuals to show that homosexuality is, in their minds, mainstreamed within our society. In street, they are saying “Hey look, if you are going to say that homosexuality is only for a few of us misguided individuals on the far-left, look here now at this Pastor who is a leading figure within the far-right religious community who is now saying that even he is confused about his sexuality”.

All of this has now moved the debate on homosexuality to the forefront. It is no longer an issue that Christians can choose to ignore because they might be uncomfortable with it. If this were a game of chess, one might say that the opponent has begun advancing the pieces from the back row. This debate will grow increasingly intense with greater and greater ramifications for our society. If you are still not convinced and don’t want to get involved then consider the following. If you are familiar with the policy in the military concerning gays which says “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”, then you know that this is now being reviewed for updating or being changed. The suggestion is that gays be allowed to openly serve in the U.S. military. Not much difference than what is going on now you may say. But wait, consider this, if you simply change the policy from “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” to allowing military members to serve openly as gays, then, in short order, some of these members will start getting married, and, that marriage would then be sanctioned by the U.S. Government. If then, a marriage between two gay members of the military is endorsed by, confirmed by, officially recognized by the U.S. Government, then, how can any State Government within the U.S. say otherwise?

My wife and I have some very dear and close friends who are currently attending New Life Church and have been attending there for many years. So, writing about all of this is somewhat sensitive and I must take much care. But, one thing the Body of Christ cannot ignore is that what we see unfolding in Colorado Springs will affect the entire Body of Christ as the consequences of this saga are very far reaching in scope and substance.

Publish Date: January 29, 2009