The American Spectator

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(Page 6 of 14)

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Mr. Henry's piece filled me with sadness -- I have no doubt that his preacher had few friends in the congregation, not just "after" the drunk driving arrest, but before it as well.

p>We expect our pastors to have all the answers, to have their lives in perfect order, to never, ever slip up. We attend churches which profess that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"...and then we deny our pastors' own humanity by insisting they must not ever fail at anything. br> -- Brad Bettin /p>

Lawrence Henry does an excellent job telling the story of his Pastor's fall from grace. I can empathize with him. Last year a former church where I had been a member and had served on the Deacon board, found that its Senior pastor had been involved in homosexual relations. Although my family had left the church several years ago due to an out of state move, we were still shocked to our core. This church went through the same stages as Mr. Henry describes. And as he describes, our Sr. Pastor really had no close friends in the congregation. Now almost a year later this church is beginning to grow again and is carrying on with its ministries. This speaks well of the remaining pastors and congregation that continued to focus on God and His work.

p>As for the former Pastor, he was a great preacher that could communicate God's message to where it could be understood by all. I know that many people came to know Christ as their personal Savior because of this one man. Yes, the Pastor fell from grace, but that is the beauty of having a risen Savior, all of us have sinned and fallen short, but we can be redeemed through our Savior, Christ Jesus. I believe my once fallen Pastor can and will be forgiven just as Mr. Henry's pastor will be. br> -- Lee Schafer br> New Caney Texas /p>

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