News-Record.com

" "I understand if not hundreds of thousands, millions of people look to you for leadership, both moral and spiritual," "...................apparently i am not in the know - i had to google this guy to find out who he is. if this article is a testimony to his leadership style then maybe i should go assault my wife. however i do understand that we humans (saved or unsaved) still are fettered by our flesh and continue to battle it - so for those who believe or expect a Christian to somehow become perfect (i.e. in the flesh) - then you will most likely at some point become disappointed or disillusioned. Christian aren't immune to the consequence of sin rather they are immune to the penalty of sin. i'm in no position to judge if this man (and soon to be ex-wife) are saved but their behavior is non reflective of the model Jesus sets for for His followers. we are encouraged to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ - so perhaps we ought to model that !

This story was on Front Pew a short while ago, but I guess the divorce proceedings are new. It's simply another wrinckle in the old big-money, religious image, above suspicion, weak-in-the flesh syndrome that is plaguing modern media religion.

You are right, Buz, that no one is perfect, but I think the Scripture declares that we have all that we need for life and godliness. Church leaders, fathers in the home, and other spiritual guides should and can be examples to the flock. The bottom line I think is that we have lost a biblical understanding of the power of sin and the safeguards it requires.

"but I think the Scripture declares that we have all that we need for life and godliness.".....couldn't agree more ! paul lamented this problem " For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not."
in romans 7 he continues concerning his fleshly weakness and in desperation asks "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" and the answer is recorded as such "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." as always Jesus is the answer to sin and moral decay. i did not mean to imply that there was not a scriptural solution but was pointing out to the worlds views that Christians are subject to the flesh just as they are.
for me personally i have found that if i am away from the word of God for any length of time - i find my flesh making strongholds. we must stay firmly planted and studied in Gods word and prayerful always. amen.

"i did not mean to imply that there was not a scriptural solution"

I know. I sometimes find myself making excuses for these very visible figures at times, simply because it hurts so much to see, and because the enemies of Christ take advantange of their lapses to impugn the Church's motives and MO.

We are just living at a time when there is little or no accountability for these TV religious moghuls; who are so brash in their ministry styles, and claim SO much in terms of spiritual gravitas and power - and then we find out what they are REALLY like behind the scenes.

I realize, of course, that spiritual lapses have been around since David, Judas and others; but there's a lot at stake when these pope-like TV figures fall so grievously. I don't know what the answer is, since few of them are accountable to a viable church structure. And when they do fall, they seem to get right back on the air in months or a few years: Jim AND Tammy, Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilton, etc. OR their gross indiscretions seem to roll off the proverbial duck's back as the millions keep pouring in.

We just have a media jungle out there (TV, radio, Internet) that is a law unto itself. The only means of stopping unsavory, heretical or error-ridden ministries is for people to stop supporting them. But you can't expect the masses to execute the office and responsibilities of bishops and elders. They are indeed sheep without a shepherd, vulnerable to preying wolves in sheep's clothing.

Oh, well, we certainly can pray, as individuals and churches, for God to rectify this unfortunate and painful situation. AND we can concentrate on doing the Father's business in our local fellowships.