http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/haggard/ en-us Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:45:48 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2131426/posts Ex-evangelical leader Ted Haggard, who fell from grace after the exposure of his sex and drug scandal two years ago, recently opened up about the dark secret from his past that likely led to his downfall as an adult. He spoke at Open Bible Fellowship Church, a small congregation in Morrison, Ill., on Nov. 2 – the second anniversary of his resignation as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals. The church’s pastor, Chris Byrd, is a long-time friend of Haggard of over 30 years. “The first thing I want you to know is I sinned,” Haggard told... The Christian Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2131426/posts#comment Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:45:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2128520/posts At the insistence of his family and personal physician, Merle Haggard had a cancerous growth removed from his lung Monday at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. Friends and associates of the country music icon said the surgery was a success and he is in stable condition. The 71-year-old country star and Oildale native had a malignant tumor, apparently the same growth that was discovered in May, according to sources who wished to remain anonymous. Haggard told The Californian while on tour in August that he didn’t plan to treat the growth, which was discovered May 5. He said he doesn’t trust hospitals... The Bakersfield Californian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2128520/posts#comment Sat, 8 Nov 2008 08:44:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036933/posts In an e-mail obtained by NEWSCHANNEL 13, former New Life Church Pastor Ted Haggard admits to sexual contact with a gay escort and using drugs. This is the first public revelation of what Haggard claims is the full story of what happened between him and his accuser, Mike Jones. Haggard sent the e-mail to close family friend Kurt Serpe back in October. In it, he writes: "I was referred to Mike Jones from the concierge at a Marriott hotel when I asked for a masseur." The e-mail then becomes more detailed and sexual in nature. KRDO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036933/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:38:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2035194/posts Ted Haggard is back in Colorado Springs. It sits behind a gated entrance on 5.1 acres two miles from the 14,000-member megachurch Haggard originally founded in his basement. He was asked to leave in late 2006 after admitting to unspecified "sexual immorality." The confession came after he first denied knowing a former male prostitute from Denver who claimed Haggard paid him for sex nearly every month for three years. He was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the nation by Time magazine in 2005. After his ouster, Haggard was given a severance package that paid his salary... Rocky Mountain News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2035194/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:51:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966129/posts COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- More than a year after former pastor Ted Haggard resigned from his position at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Haggard has severed his official relationship with the New Life Church Restoration Team. The megachurch said Tuesday Haggard has prematurely ended a "spiritual restoration" process begun when he was fired for sexual misconduct. Haggard was the church's senior founding pastor. In November 2006, he was fired from New Life Church and resigned as head of the National Association of Evangelicals amid allegations he had an affair with a male prostitute. The man also said he... ABC 7 News The Denver Channel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966129/posts#comment Thu, 7 Feb 2008 00:03:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910146/posts Among the items in Norman Hsu's personal collection of Clinton memorabilia: CDs of presentations made by Hillary Clinton as well as an envelope of thank-you notes from the Democratic presidential front-runner... One envelope was devoted to letters from New York Sen. Clinton, thanking Mr. Hsu, who was one of her biggest fund-raisers. The Clinton campaign has said it would return to donors the money Mr. Hsu helped raise. Mr. Hsu had several CDs and a video of Mrs. Clinton giving presentations in New York. Another CD was entitled "Merle Haggard Hillary." Mr. Haggard wrote a song for Sen. Clinton earlier... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910146/posts#comment Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:51:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1889018/posts Disgraced pastor Ted Haggard won't be fundraising for a Monument nonprofit run by a sex offender, won't be ministering to anyone and needs to get a job, his overseers said in a statement released Wednesday. "Mr. Haggard's solicitation for personal support was inappropriate," his church supervisors said. The statement came one day after the four-member team of ministers responsible for overseeing the spiritual restoration of Haggard met with him in Phoenix. Rocky Mountain News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1889018/posts#comment Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:19:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878880/posts DALLAS -- Nine months after influential US evangelist Ted Haggard was disgraced in a gay sex scandal, the man poised to take his place in the pulpit says he plans to steer clear of overt politics and focus on the Bible instead. "I believe Christians need to be good citizens. . . . But I will not take near the active political role that Ted did," Brady Boyd, recommended by a search committee to be the new senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said in an interview. Haggard, a vocal critic of gay marriage, was forced from... Boston Globe http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878880/posts#comment Thu, 9 Aug 2007 20:24:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1782306/posts A Week After Ann Coulter Episode, 'Law & Order' to Air Haggard-Inspired Plot Posted by Brent Baker on February 9, 2007 - 16:27. A week after NBC's Law & Order aired an episode revolving around an Ann Coulter-like character (NewsBusters item with video) whose anti-embryonic stem cell research position so angered a student suffering from Parkinson's disease that he tried to kill her (but his gunshot kills an innocent student), tonight's (Friday) episode is inspired by the Ted Haggard case -- though with the added twist of murder. From TV Guide.com: “A popular reverend is suspected of a gay actor's... http://newsbusters.org/ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1782306/posts#comment Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:59:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1780603/posts Ted Haggard, founder and former senior pastor of New Life Church, plans to leave Colorado Springs and move to Iowa or Missouri to return to college, according to a message he e-mailed Sunday to some church members. Haggard’s family has been “offered two places” in the Midwestern states, Haggard wrote. He and his wife, Gayle, will go back to school together, but Haggard didn’t specify what college or university they would attend. “We are both planning on getting our masters in Psychology so we can work together serving others the rest of our lives,” Haggard wrote. The nationally known minister... The Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1780603/posts#comment Wed, 7 Feb 2007 14:01:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775641/posts COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The former male prostitute whose accusations against New Life Church founder Ted Haggard led to Haggard's dismissal as pastor has paid a visit to the megachurch. Mike Jones, who has a forthcoming book, told The Denver Post that several people shook his hand during the visit Sunday and told him, "God bless you." "I had read a lot about the church, but there's nothing like seeing it for yourself," Jones told the paper. "It wasn't to rub anyone's face in it by any means. I was wanting to get some perspective, to see where they... The Christian Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775641/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:17:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1756462/posts Animal rights crusader PETA is looking for a new preacher. The organization had arranged for Ted Haggard, the Colorado Springs evangelical pastor disgraced by accusations of soliciting gay sex from a prostitute, to narrate a 15-minute PETA slaughterhouse video called "What Would Jesus Do?" The video was to appear on peta.org and be widely distributed to the evangelical community. It was to show graphic slaughterhouse conditions of chickens, turkeys, cattle, calves and pigs. Haggard had agreed to narrate the piece. The script, obtained by this column, has Haggard saying things like, "Of all God's creatures, chickens and turkeys are the... Denver Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1756462/posts#comment Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:49:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1755918/posts COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A pastor who worked with young adults at New Life Church has admitted sexual misconduct and resigned just weeks after former church leader Ted Haggard stepped down over sexual immorality. Christopher Beard, who headed the "twentyfourseven" ministry that taught leadership skills to young adults, resigned Friday, said Rob Brendle, an associate pastor at the 14,000-member church. Brendle said Beard told church officials about "a series of decisions displaying poor judgment, including one incident of sexual misconduct several years ago." The church said in a statement that the misconduct was with another unmarried adult several years ago.... KCRA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1755918/posts#comment Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:57:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1746361/posts What’s the worst thing that could happen to an evangelical leader who has been an outspoken critic of the homosexual agenda? You’d think it would be a scandal involving the services of a gay prostitute. But Ted Haggard, recently departed head of the National Association of Evangelicals, managed to top even that. In Haggard’s case, it appears that his favorite male prostitute was also his drug dealer. Many in the evangelical community are wringing their hands, wondering how such a thing could happen. It’s the wrong question. We live in a fallen world and have fallen natures, and we face... Christian Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1746361/posts#comment Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:26:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1742747/posts Members of the church once led by evangelical minister Ted Haggard met Tuesday to elect the members of a committee that will help choose his successor. Members of New Life Church elected three men and three women to join the church’s three most senior staffers on the committee, including Haggard’s temporary replacement, Ross Parsley, church secretary-treasurer Brad Fallentine said in the announcement. The committee will recommend a candidate to replace Haggard as senior pastor to the church’s overseers board. If approved, the candidate will be asked to preach at the 14,000-member church for three weeks and then the whole congregation... Gazette.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1742747/posts#comment Wed, 22 Nov 2006 19:19:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1738871/posts Time for some Political Tidbits and of course we have an midterm election 2006 rant. Also, Rosie on terror, Maher "outs" major Republican, Haggard's REAL problem, Rush Limbaugh's "confession", and a winner in this year's midterms that is bound to shock. The Kaitlyn Mae Book Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1738871/posts#comment Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:39:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1735603/posts Well, another preacher has been caught, if not with his pants down, at least with his zipper down. Dr. Ted Haggard, pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and President of the National Association of Evangelicals admitted to getting a massage from a homosexual man and purchasing meth (which is supposed to heighten sexual activity). However, he declares that he didn’t inhale, snort or swallow, or whatever one does with the very dangerous methamphetamine. Ted, a very talented preacher, first declared that no sex was involved but no one with the IQ of a stump believed that fairy... NewsReleaseWire.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1735603/posts#comment Thu, 9 Nov 2006 16:24:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1734817/posts Will Pastor Ted's love of hot man sex open the narrow mind of the religious right? Let's assume it's all true. Let's assume that Ted Haggard is just deliriously, stupidly, crazyjuicy gay. I know, not much of a stretch, but let's go with it. Yes, Pastor Ted, disgraced former leader of 30 million blithely homophobic evangelical Christians, yet another of those flamboyant semi-insane Liberace-with-a-Bible megachurch preachers, a man who had weekly conference calls with George W. Bush, a man who lobbied Congress on behalf of homophobic Supreme Court nominees, . . . San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1734817/posts#comment Wed, 8 Nov 2006 15:41:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1734937/posts COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 7) - Citing a lack of time, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson withdrew Tuesday from the team overseeing counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard, the evangelical pastor who was fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use. "Emotionally and spiritually, I wanted to be of help - but the reality is I don't have the time to devote to such a critical responsibility," Dobson said. The other two members of the team, Pastors Jack Hayford of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, Calif., and Tommy Barnett of First Assembly of God... AOL http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1734937/posts#comment Wed, 8 Nov 2006 18:14:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1733977/posts Don’t take the wrong lesson from Ted Haggard’s fall.The meaning of evangelical leader Ted Haggard’s downfall needs to be well understood by religious conservatives, lest the tragedy be compounded. The pain that has befallen the man — now resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals — along with his family and church is the consequence of his poor decisions. What would be worse than his personal destruction, however, is if the side of the culture war that Haggard ably fought against in his public life were allowed to define his sins as a final proof that religious conservatism... National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1733977/posts#comment Tue, 7 Nov 2006 14:45:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733353/posts Sometimes it seems that the folks at Google News have an agenda. Nah, I'm probably just toosensitive.This is a screen capture from this morning. The linkable picture was a dead link. They must not have enjoyed the rising Republican poll numbers...Just found it an interesting choice of headline/picture combo.A_R Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733353/posts#comment Mon, 6 Nov 2006 18:39:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733324/posts Nov. 03, 2006: Hypocrites? A sensational but to-date unsubstantiated allegation has been hurled at a major American religious figure. On much of the left, the reaction is gleeful delight: See! He is no better than anybody else! In my mind, however, this story highlights a widespread moral assumption that I have never been able to understand. Consider the hypothetical case of two men. Both are inclined toward homosexuality. Both from time to time hire the services of male prostitutes. Both have occasionally succumbed to drug abuse. One of them marries, raises a family, preaches Christian principles, and tries generally to... National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733324/posts#comment Mon, 6 Nov 2006 18:04:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1732832/posts To my New Life Church family: I am so sorry. I am sorry for the disappointment, the betrayal, and the hurt. I am sorry for the horrible example I have set for you. I have an overwhelming, all-consuming sadness in my heart for the pain that you and I and my family have experienced over the past few days. I am so sorry for the circumstances that have caused shame and embarrassment to all of you. I asked that this note be read to you this morning so I could clarify my heart's condition to you. The last four days... The Gazetter http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1732832/posts#comment Sun, 5 Nov 2006 21:05:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1732768/posts "Less than 24 hours after he was fired from the pulpit of the evangelical megachurch he founded, the Rev. Ted Haggard confessed to his followers Sunday that he was guilty of sexual immorality." "The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life," he said." " Haggard, 50, had acknowledged on Friday that he paid Mike Jones of Denver for a... AP Via Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1732768/posts#comment Sun, 5 Nov 2006 18:18:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1732778/posts COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - Disgraced U.S. evangelist Ted Haggard, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, said on Sunday that he was guilty of "sexual immorality" and that he had long battled with a "repulsive" side of his life. "I am guilty of sexual immorality, I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark and I've been warring against it my entire adult life", Haggard said in a letter that was read to his New Life Church in Colorado Springs by a church overseer. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1732778/posts#comment Sun, 5 Nov 2006 18:35:54 GMT