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“The fact is,” said Rev. Haggard in an Associated Press interview, “I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem.” He wrote that in his letter to his congregation, “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 my adult life.”

Adultery is wrong. Sexual immorality is wrong. Absolutely, no question. There is no half-way point where it is okay up to "here" and then it begins to be a sin.

Before anyone starts throwing tomatoes, let me just point out the many diseases that are transmitted by sexual encounters which are not transmitted by a handshake.

Bob Livingston resigned as a legislator over his own sexual misconduct and advised President Bill Clinton to be honorable and do the same. Bill Clinton defied America, looked us in the eyeballs and denied having sex with that woman. Our young people now think that oral sex isn’t sexual conduct because Clinton didn’t think it was. I challenge him to tell that to the children who are victims of pedophiles. The Washington Post reported back in 2005 the U.N. was filled with sexual misconduct around the globe. That is just one out of almost a half million references to the web search “sexual misconduct + politics”.

We also have the priesthood that has taken an uppercut to the chin because of flagrant sexual misconduct. Not only the Catholics, but every denomination has had at least one leader who has one sin or another exposed for all the world to see.

When will people learn there is absolutely nothing secret under the sun? Whatever is done in darkness will be exposed. That isn’t a promise, it’s a fact. It has happened over and over too many times. But, people just don’t learn. It’s that syndrome called it-won’t-happen-to-me. Teens come down with that disease and some never out grow it. Bakker got caught. Swaggart got caught. Haggard got caught. Vitter got caught. Either it’s the double letters in the name, or it’s the fulfillment of God’s promise that nothing done in secret will remain secret. Each man confessed and each man has paid a price for their action.

So now that they have confessed, we are supposed to shun them... point fingers at them... set them up as an example. They are not useful anymore in society. Right? No. King David was an extremely effective leader of Israel. He followed God. He did things the right way all the time. Right? No. Here is a classic case of a godly person doing ungodly things. David committed adultery, and then murder. He was guilty, and it took David a year to confess, and then only after Nathan came to him and confronted him with a story about a rich man with lots of sheep and a poor man with only one little ewe. He paid a very high price for Bathsheba. I wonder if he had known the high cost, if he would have followed that course that steamy night.

After David confessed and his son died, he put the thing behind him and went on to father Solomon. There is a huge lesson here. God forgave David. He chastised David, who suffered some severe consequences. But, God blessed Solomon who became the wisest man in the world. God can fix the things we mess up if we humble ourselves. Confession is humbling.

So why are so many being virtually castrated because of things done in their youth? Are they the same person as they were? Do sins of the fathers still taint the sons? Have we become a nation of frozen-in-time people where a sin committed years ago defines the person for life? I certainly hope not.

The message of the cross is “No stones.” I have been forgiven too much to cast any stones. What about you?

"God's Words For US" from Cecelia Lester

Praying for the Lord's Will