MIKE JONES
When I heard two days ago that one of Ted's spokesmen claims that Ted is
"completely heterosexual," I raised my eyebrows because I knew that this was
going to be one of those slick stories made up for the media. One of his
ministerial reparation counselors, Rev. Tim Larkspur went on to say this his
affair with gay escort Mike Jones was the only gay sexual contact he has ever
had and that he is completely heterosexual."
This doesn't make any sense to me. In Ted's confessional letter to the
congregation of New Life Church he said, "There is a part of my life that is so
repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life." He
admits in the letter that he is a "deceiver and a liar." I'd like to ask him, "which
way is it, Ted? Were your trysts with the gay prostitute your ONLY gay
experience or is it the only one your church investigators can prove? And
when are you being a deceiver and a liar and when can we believe you?
And when I heard that after 3 weeks of counselling, he and his wife plan to
return to school and become psychologists, I decided Ted needs to enter a long
term treatment center for the mentally ill. He's had THREE weeks of counseling
with minister friends after causing grief to his church members, family, friends
and he thinks he can just become a psychologist before he gets his own life in
order. I fear that without intensive therapy, Ted Haggard will be one of the
most dangerous psychologists America has ever seen.
Another aspect of this story that bothers me is James Dobson of Focus on the
Family. Why did he drop out of the Haggard Counselling Team after just two
days? Is Dobson one of those fair weathered friends? Skeletons rattling in the
closet? Something come out in the first couple of days of counselling that rang
alarm bells and made him want to run? Or did Dobson realize that Ted is gayer
than Liberace and that it was going to take until Jesus comes to set him
straight?
The one who shows the class and the best behavior in this mess is Mike Jones.
When he visited New Life Church to see what it was like recently, he had nice
things to say and appreciated that people who were nice to him and even said,
"thank you" to him for letting truth come forth.
Mike Jones brought Ted Haggard's deceit into the sunlight. He exposed Ted for
what he is: a man struggling with his sexuality and drug addiction vs his religion.
He showed New Life Church and the American Association of Evangelicals a man
who couldn't handle it except with deceit and lies.
Ted Haggard needs our prayers. He's hurting and may he one day he will accept
that he is a man who has feelings inside that are normal and created by God.
What's not normal is the denial and avoidance of who he is: A man with gay
attractions whom Jesus loves and cares for. My prayer is for Ted to heal from
the pain he has caused others and the torment he is going through. I hope that
one day he will come to realize deep down inside that he doesn't need to be anybody
other than the honest man God created rather than pretending to be something
he's not.
My hope also, is that Ted's minister counselor friends who are letting everybody
know that Ted is cured after three weeks are being honest and not being the deceivers
and liars Ted has been.
To see an excerpt of the kind of dishonest life Ted Haggard lived you might want to see this clip from one of his sermons. It was also in the movie Jesus Camp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnYd4R8crKg&mode=related&search=
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