News-Record.com

i'm thinking kilpatrick wishes he had used his personal cell phone to carry on his wireless love connection ! it has become fairly standard for many (especially those in the constant public eye) who are caught with their trousers/skirt down, to head right off to a church to make their public apology. the fact that he lied about his affair, cheated on his wife, used public money to perpetrate his love affair and his refusal to resign says a lot (more) about his (lack of) character. it's easy to tell others you are christian but it's another story to actually live the Christian life which is laid out in God's word. surely he can be forgiven for his trespasses but he must be removed from public service.
the more this type behavior becomes public knowledge the more desensitized the public becomes to such behavior. after trusting God, fidelity is the cornerstone of a marriage - i wonder how his wife will respond to his unfaithfulness?

Only a hypocritical Christian would want someone who has sinned to be utterly cast down and ruined. Jesus was, after all, in the bisniness of forgiving and renovating lives (tax collectors, religionists, prostitutes, adulterers, et al.) because otherwise He would have NO ONE to minister to or work with.

HOWEVER, there is another dimension to this, and it has to do with the Kingdom of God: its integrity and success. The Word says those who rule over (govern) "men must be just;" i.e. righteous. Because sin corrpts and destroys, which ALWAYS spills over into public and eccelsiastical matters that matter. For transgressing God's holy Law, leaders are always disciplined in the Scriptures. Their sin has griecous public and state consequnces - thus Kingdom ramifications. Its seriousness is therefore greatly amplified.

David was not put to death himself for his philandering and murder, but his family suffered greatly and his natural kingly line cut off. IOWs he was personally forgiven (because, in grace, God sovereignly chose to do so), but publicly (i.e. generationally) judged and disciplined.

I agree Buz, that the public does indeed become desensitized and inured to corrpution in high places. Sexual sins may not be highly prosecutable, as with Clinton or Foley, but are ususally the smoke that indicates a destructive fire. In most cases they are not REQUIRED to resign, but should; as thier credility and dignity of office have been irrevocably compromised and corrupted.

The senator from idaho should have stuck with his resignation, not because he was a convicted felon, but because he is no longer worthy of the public trust. This is not to "judge" him personally, nor Kilpatrick; but this is God's mandate for public/ecclesiastical office. The sinning public figure forfits office! pure and simple.

Even Moses was prohibited from entering the Promised Land because of his transgression. We have all been limited, ruined, affected by sin. It is ONLY the grace of God that has prevented any of us from utter ruin and destruction - which many who refuse to repent do experience.

The only way we can repair the moral damage to this country is to have rigorous, though not perfectionist, standards for those in the public and ecclesiastical trust. Adultery is a SERIOUS sin in God's eyes and should be enough to cause removal from office -whether president or mayor, priest or pastor. It indicates deception and inner compromise.

As to his choice of the church: well, its simply his choice and the church's. Personally, I think this trend of USING the church via TV in a rather obvious attempt to mitigate one's sin in the public eye is at best presumptuous. If he had gone humbly to the altar rail during general communion/altar call and wept bitterly for his sins, found forgiveness wiht the rest of God's people, risen, and gone to his seat; I would have no problem. If he were interviewed by the media AFTERWARD, that would have been fine. But using the church, as one sees fit, for his own purposes, is reprehensible. I suppose the fact that he recognizes that the church is the place where contrition for sinning takes place has some tangential, though very limited, merit.