A Review of Ted Haggard's Beliefs and Associations
The REAL Ted Haggard (what the mainstream media will never tell you)
In light of Haggard's (Nov. 2006) confession that he is a liar and a deceiver, let's examine the evidence of this pervert's deceitful behavior as presented on this website for years before his scandals became public knowledge:
One of the biggest lies to be propagated by Ted Haggard of New Life Church is his claim that he has positively changed the spiritual climate of his city. In a description of Ted's 1995 book, Primary Purpose, the statement is made:
"You Can Change Your City's Spiritual Climate
It happened in Colorado Springs, and it can happen in your city too."
(Source: Charisma Book Warehouse)
It happened in Colorado Springs? What is he talking about? Since Ted moved to Colorado Springs (El Paso County) in 1985 things have not improved. In fact, things have gotten worse. Negative reports about the city are published every year. Here is an official compilation of vital statistics I extracted from our city's newspaper in 2002:
"El Paso County youths have a higher pregnancy rate, use more drugs and die more often from suicide than teens nationwide." (The Gazette, "Life" section, 5/5/02).
"Colorado Springs' evangelical image out of focus, officials believe"
At the end of this 2005 Denver Post article Ted glibly notes America's obscene spirituality and suggests that it is incorporated into New Life Church.
It should be clear to us that Ted has not been successful in positively transforming the lives of those within his city or even within his own congregation. Megachurches such as New Life Church have had the issue of non-sanctification raised even by pro-Charismatic publications in regards to their failure to mature people into Christ-like figures. In 2001 Charisma reported: "Megachurches in America may be growing numerically, but the pastors of the big congregations often fall short of growing people into a Christlike life." Ted Haggard's name is mentioned in the report (he gave a false church growth statistic):
Study: Megachurches Fail To Grow Up Disciples
Some very disturbing news is Ted's move toward ecumenism and interfaithism. An ecumenical letter was sent to President Bush where Ted Haggard joined other religious leaders in proclaiming the Islamic faith as a religion of "great traditions":
Ecumenical Letter to the President of the United States
In the New Life Church bookstore Ted recommends published works by several secular / ungodly individuals, including David Gergen (who has advised numerous U.S. Presidents). Listen to Gergen as he is confronted about his participation in occult rituals at Bohemian Grove (northern California):
Bush Minion David Gergen Exposed
For an exposition of Ted's move away from the Gospel:
Ted Haggard Abandons the Gospel
Ted's association with TBN and praise for its star performer Benny Hinn should raise a red flag with every Bible believing Christian. Benny Hinn is a false teacher and false prophet who's unbiblical words and manipulative actions are well documented.
Recommended book: The Confusing World of Benny Hinn
Jack Hayford is a popular California based pastor and a New Life Church overseer, who co-authored a book with Ted Haggard:
Beware of Jack Hayford
Personal Freedom Outreach did an investigation of David Hogan, a man Ted Haggard supported for years. The conclusion of that investigation should be alarming to anyone concerned with the pervasiveness of deception within many Charismatic churches:
Report on David Hogan
My personal encounter with Dave Hogan:
Hogan Not a Hero
New Life Church once promoted a degrading bumper sticker which read: Social Services Needs a Spanking (circa 1994-95). New Life leaders and members did not like the government organization investigating allegations of abuse at a ranch for troubled teens the church sponsored. When the abuse allegations were substantiated Haggard had no choice but to apologize.
"Submissiveness to leadership" is a major teaching at New Life. Ted and his appointed church leaders are obsessed with control of their followers. Some of these leaders are very effeminate and sport the same wimpy physique as Ted.
In the mid-1990s at Haggard's New Life Church I attended an uninspiring service led by guest speaker Morris Cerullo. Morris acquired his Inspiration (INSP) television network from Jerry Falwell (which Falwell seized from Jim Bakker when it was called the PTL network). INSP is a forum for practically every false and greedy teacher imaginable. Years ago I first viewed video of Morris instructing an injured man to take off his neck brace to try to force a healing (or paralysis). Seeing Morris grab and turn this man's neck in both directions and cause the poor man agonizing physical and emotional pain is the worst thing I have ever seen a televangelist do to a person. If you want to obtain this video clip to help warn people about the fraud of Morris Cerullo (and those who associate with him) this video footage is found on "The Original Godstuff" DVD.
("The Original Godstuff" is a crass secular production. For a video you can show to a church group I recommend "The Signs and Wonders Movement Exposed" DVD to see and hear Morris admit to having no verifications of his claimed miracles.)
Update: Morris Cerullo died in July 2020.
Photo: 1994
Fraudsters Morris Cerullo (second from left) and Tom Papania (second from right)
Ted Haggard was on site to approvingly witness the signing by President Bush of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Shockingly (to many), the "Ban Act" is in reality a pro-abortion bill:
The Partial-Birth Abortion Scam
Check out the scam perpetrated by televangelist Peter Popoff:
Peter Popoff's Trickery
Ted Haggard will not speak on the subject. Why? Because one of his mentors, Oral Roberts, for decades perpetrated the same scam (as does Oral's son, Richard). Ted is a graduate of Oral Roberts University (ORU).
One of Ted's more classy slogans (promoting his diet book):
"Make your fat friends happy!"
Consider that in past years hundreds of New Life Church members have worked as employees at Focus on the Family. This no doubt has contributed to the moral failings at the organization:
The Deceit of Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family
In the year 2000 James Dobson's organization featured a radio broadcast from Ted Haggard who spoke on the wages of sin and the negative ripple effect the actions of unrepentant sinners have on people. At the time Ted was covertly describing his own life (past, present and future):
Ted Haggard's Focus on the Family Broadcast
Private Investigator Implicates New Life Church in Numerous Sex Abuses and Cover-Ups (secular website)
2019 Update: For many years Ted Haggard had frequently visited and spoken highly about a wilderness retreat called Praise Mountain. The man who ran the property was arrested in 2017 on allegations of child sex assault: Fugitives Torin and Rena Smith
2013 Update: Look at the satanic hand signs displayed by New Life Church elder Paul Ballantyne. His online church bio highlights his secular accomplishments but makes no mention of a Christian faith.
** Ted Haggard confessed to "sexual immorality," a general term designed to mask the specific sins of homosexuality and adultery. Haggard admitted to the press that he purchased illegal drugs but in his confession letter to New Life he did not address his drug problem.
** As this webpage demonstrates, Haggard suppresses the truth in his wickedness. That's why God gave him over to a reprobate mind and sexual impurity as judgment against him (read Romans 1:18-32).
** In January 2009 it was reported that Ted Haggard years ago sexually harassed a young man by the name of Grant Haas. Shortly after the revelation Haggard appeared on CNN's Larry King Live. A question was submitted to Larry King by Mike Jones (the former male prostitute who had sexual relations with Haggard and supplied him with his drugs). Jones asked if Haggard would ever come clean and tell the public how many young men he was sexually involved with. Haggard refused to answer the question and said that it is a private matter kept within his family. (What a terrible secret to keep from the public!)
** In June 2010 Haggard announced that he was starting a new church in Colorado Springs called St. James.
(Why Ted Haggard's "Comeback" is a Con)
"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."
(Titus 1:16; KJV)
On a personal note, I'd like to reveal some of the things that troubled me most about the New Lifers I knew. I had grown up in an abusive family and experienced many traumatic life situations. In my late teens and early twenties I shared my depressed state-of-mind with some of Ted's followers... and I was treated with scorn and ridicule. (Yet when a New Life leader got a splinter in his finger he was rushed to a three-day retreat in the mountains and had a 24/7 prayer team assigned to him.)
One New Life leader (who I met with only one time in 1997), a contentious little man by the name of Coleman Jarrell, taunted me about my depression and, without knowing the details of the trauma I had suffered in my life or of the deception I had uncovered, presumptuously implied that my depression was a result of not believing in the Scriptures. (In actuality, my faith in the Lord and in His Word is what gave me hope through my trying ordeals.)
Coleman's business partner and long-time New Life leader Jerry Melchisedeck Jr. was one of the most disingenuous and manipulative individuals I have ever known. A few years after I left New Life I shared with Jerry the pain I had experienced by the words and actions of false teachers. Some of the deception he said was funny and entertaining to him (callous immaturity) while other info I shared made him hostile and derogatory toward me. (The reason Jerry became nasty toward me was because his pastor Ted was in an alliance with some of these deceivers.) I assured Jerry that my motivation was to warn people about the deception that had hurt me so much. But Jerry pretended to not believe me and went on a tear to vilify my motive and slander my character. (At his 1995 wedding this Jerry Jr. jerk was praised by Ted Haggard.)
In early 2002 (about a year after putting this divisive clown out of my life) I received two e-mails from a Bob Protesto (protesting me) that contained word for word insults and character assassination comments that I had previously received a year or so earlier from Jerry. Jerry was known for writing under phony names and I even remember from the mid-1990s overhearing him laughing about his deceptive practice to some people in his home. He would use simplistic names with intended meanings. In the early 2000s Jerry's personal email account had a Verizon extension and the Bob Protesto message was sent to me from a Verizon address. (In later correspondence Jerry claimed that he had not written to me under any alias.) On a public Internet bulletin board in the mid-1990s Jerry wrote messages using the name Lee Marshall. Lee is Jerry's middle name. Ted Haggard disguised his own identity by using his middle name. Ted was using his middle name of Art when meeting his male escort for drugs and sex.
Some years after the Bob Protesto incident Jerry's behavioral problems got so bad an intervention was organized for him (like a little child). In a testimonial written for an organization of which his father was a board member (seen at On Target Institute) Jerry claimed that his heart and life had been changed. Yet that was the same line he was using on me many years earlier. As a sincere Christian it was and is my nature to want to accept his familiar line that he was changing for the better... but when his old habits would resurface I began to question if he had really changed. He never attempted to assure me that his alleged change was genuine; instead he would accuse me of being unforgiving or insinuate that I was unforgiving. Rather than deal with the issue of accountability Jerry intentionally diverted our conversations to a false accusation against me (repeatedly alleging unforgiveness on my part). Borrowing from Ted Haggard's bag of tricks Jerry shifted the blame onto me (a recurring problem I experienced with him over the years). I just wanted an answer as to why he was consistently rude and condescending toward me... but I never got the answer. New Lifers do not give straight honest answers when their bad behavior is challenged. They prefer to go on the attack.
Since posting this information I have been contacted by Jerry. He no longer attends New Life; he left the church shortly before the news of Haggard's scandals (he had no intention of telling me the specifics of why he left... is he still loyal to his master Ted?). I think he better understands some of the damage he has caused as I more fully detailed some of my problems with him through e-mail (but having more understanding does not mean his behavior will improve). In the past I've taken a "wait and see" mindset with him only to discover that he always returns to his old habits. His egocentric nature, lack of empathy and belief that games are a part of every relationship (as he once told me) are reasons to suspect that he is trying to work me over. If he is not sincere about changing his ways he will answer before God.
Over the years I've wondered if it is even possible for Jerry to be reformed. Before I put that pest out of my life (in early 2001) I gave him a lot of information about the terrible experiences I went through at New Life. How did he last respond to me before I stopped writing him? This idiot invited me to come back to New Life with him. Years after leaving that nuthouse Jerry was treating me like I was a potential first time visitor who would find it appealing to watch an emasculated man prance across the stage and manipulate his audience. This fool told me that returning to New Life would lead me out of darkness (I left the darkness behind when I left New Life) . . .
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" (The Godfather Part III)
So after nearly 10 years of not hearing from this misguided individual he sent me an e-mail in August 2010 which in part read: "I have respected your request to not contact you since we last communicated--I believe it was when I asked you to revisit New Life Church--maybe 10 years ago." In his twisted mind he thinks that it was a caring action on his part when he tried to get me to return to New Life. So nearly four years after Haggard's scandals became public Jerry was still clueless that he had done anything wrong by trying to recruit people to that dysfunctional church. In our e-mail conversation I didn't even confront him on this particular issue because deep down I know that it would be pointless and a waste of time for me to repeat my same critiques that had no effect on him back in 2001 and earlier. I still think he lacks basic understanding about many important things (a strong indicator that he is under God's judgment). But I really hope that someday he will come to the understanding that his invitation to me many years ago was one of stupidest things he had ever done. All those times I testified to him in length about the foul spirit of his church it felt like I was communicating with a brick wall. (Inviting people to church is the primary objective of the New Life outreach program. As part of his indoctrination and programming Jerry did not know how to respond to me in any other way.)
His request to have me remove my writings about him has been denied. In his (8/12/10) e-mail he wrote that he would not ask me to take down my page about him but I know his statement was a manipulative attempt to have me do just that (reverse psychology). Because in his (8/13/10) e-mail he stated: "Your work at christianissues.com is an important one--revealing the deception and destruction by people wearing the name of Christ. I don't want to be one of those people."
Of course you don't, Jerry. You want to protect the reputation of your business which means that you will say or write whatever you think will appease me. I had first written publicly about Jerry's deception (in early 2002) but he waited more than eight years later to contact me to ask for forgiveness. He contacted me only right after I posted a very revealing picture of him. (With all of the people who's lives have been ruined by New Life can anyone tell me with a straight face that Jerry looks contrite and remorseful about his role in that whole fiasco?)
The last time I saw Jerry in person (in early 2000) he told me that he wanted to make sure things were fine between the two of us so that I wouldn't say anything negative about him in case he ever decided to run for city council. I know all about his selfish motives. I understand why that degenerate would be attracted to politics but just over ten years later I got the overgrown child to admit in writing that he has no business running for any public office:
"I think I've proven from the immature, insensitive, and ignorant things I've said and done that I have no business running for city council."
Isn't a ministry position of more importance than politics? Yet at the time Jerry made that statement he was leading worship services for a church in downtown Colorado Springs.
Many years ago (around the year 2000) Jerry admitted to me (before I created this website) that people had walked out of Coleman's real estate office feeling "tooled" (that's the word he used). I had to wonder why Coleman remained his business partner. Was it because Coleman is an earner?
That's one of the questions Jerry refuses to answer. While Jerry admits that his past behavior has caused damage there was no mention at all from him to me about his need to repent before God. This explains why his sinful nature continues to dominate his life.
In August 2012 (two years after last communicating with Jerry) he sent me some more e-mails claiming that he is repentant and this time he specifically requested that I remove the negative content and picture of himself from this website.
In the course of corresponding with Jerry through several e-mails I can confidently declare that there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he is a liar and hypocrite of the psychopathic nature. He knows now that I am looking for repentance and so he made it a point to present himself as repentant in order to have his request accepted. But in testing to see if he was genuine I asked him numerous questions which he ignored (classic Jerry). In his last e-mail (which I did not respond to) he claimed that I will not believe him no matter how much apologizing or explaining he does. This joker wants me to believe that ignoring my questions constitutes an explanation I should be pleased with.
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This is the same person who at one time wanted full accountability from me and total control over my life. I remember well the full-blown temper tantrum Jerry threw on me (in late 1996, the second-to-last time I saw him in person) after he learned that I wasn't returning to the Florida college I was attending at the time. He wrongly assumed that I wasn't serious about my education (he had confused me with his own college mentality). He shouted at me: "You take an education and you just throw it away! You throw it away! You're wimping out!" No. In truth, the godless curriculum and spiritually oppressive campus was making me physically sick and draining my energy. There were also financial issues (although the issue of finances became moot, because even if I had all the money in the world available to me I would not invest any of it to support that ungodly educational system). But this arrogant kid told me that my parents hadn't done their job and said that he would act as the parent and set the course of my future when he tried to persuade me to stay at a school he knew nothing about (using the explanation that a degree would lead to a better job which he tried to link with obedience to God).
Earlier that same night Jerry had greeted me with a sexually explicit question (designed for shock value). By the end of that night he wanted to play the role of an adult but the transition came across as clumsy and deeply offensive. I told Jerry about my ministry plans which caused him to angrily respond with an ungodly rebuke where he told me that God would use other people if I did not commit myself to finish my degree. The Spirit of God was incredibly grieved inside of me... and as he was speaking a (spiritually-related) sickness developed in my throat as Jerry tried to thwart God's plan for my life.
(Just over a month after I left that college I was hired at the mega-ministry Focus on the Family where I eventually discovered internal fraud there. Because of that experience I was able to inform and warn many multitudes of people.)
It was in October 1996 when I briefly returned to Colorado for a three day weekend during my final college semester. Jerry invited me to his apartment to watch a nighttime football game with some other people he knew. It was just a ruse or pretense so he could belittle and scold me in person. I had earlier through e-mail indicated to him that I wouldn't be returning to the college after that year had ended. So later that night when Jerry gave me a ride back to my parents' house he asked me if my decision to leave college was final. When I answered in the affirmative there were then about three seconds of silence while Jerry's face transformed into a look of grotesque hatred and as he was sitting in the driver's seat of his car parked in front of my parents' house his arms began waving up and down as he began yelling and insulting me. He even spoke a curse over me and told me that I would be punished by God and made to go through a period of wilderness suffering like Moses and the ancient Israelites.
That night when I slept there were intense demonic attacks on my sleep to the point where I was miserable the next morning when I traveled back to Florida. Prior to that night I had made peace with my decision to leave the school at the end of the semester. I am absolutely convinced that Jerry's words launched that satanic attack on my sleep. I came to resent and build up disdain for Jerry. He was no longer a part of my life after that incident. I tried to forget about him but my anger over what happened was pent up inside me and needed a release. I spent six months of 1998 living in the northern part of Florida and during that time is when I sent two angry letters through U.S. mail addressed to Jerry. I used strong profane language in my first letter and let him know that there would be severe consequences to his life if he ever behaved that way again. I felt guilty about some of the words I used so a day later I sent a second and final letter apologizing for my profanity while still maintaining the importance of a rebuke against him.
I did not sign my name to the first letter because I thought that my identity would become clear when I referenced his offensive behavior. But as I thought about him I remembered that Jerry was always very flakey and ditzy and did not have a great memory of certain things and so I signed my name to the second letter so there would be no confusion as to my identity. I did not provide a return address on the two letters because I was cautious about giving Jerry another opportunity to speak evil and instigate more demonic attacks onto me. I cannot stress enough how intense that presence of evil was which manifested and invaded my bedroom the night of his temper tantrum. It was like Jerry had opened a portal of hell into my life and the morning after I was passionately praying to God (even begging God) to protect me from the evil that had tormented me throughout the night while I was in and out of sleep.
Over a year after sending the letters I located Jerry's e-mail address and decided to send him a message to see if he received them and gave him a chance to respond to me. He wrote me back and stated that he had no idea what he could have said or done that would cause me such pain. He described my anger as a "perceived" offense which let me know that he did not believe that I had any valid reason for anger against him. In that same year of 1999 (shortly before I sent him the e-mail) Jerry had contact with my two younger brothers at a flag football event at a local park and had badmouthed me to them. (My brothers had no knowledge of my conflict with Jerry.) In early 2000 I agreed to meet Jerry at a coffee place here in Colorado Springs (the last time I would ever see him). He told me that he originally had no idea who he knew from the Florida panhandle who was angry with him. In my unsigned 1998 letter I even quoted some of the nasty remarks Jerry had made to me less than two years earlier and yet he was unable to identify me as the letter writer.
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In his most recent (2012) e-mails Jerry made no mention as to why he continued to associate with his business partner Coleman (although he did indicate that his contact with the former New Life staff member is infrequent). Jerry also tried to justify his involvement in ministry by telling me that people like his music. But his self-aggrandizement does not answer my question relating to his earlier confession which I believe renders him unqualified for a pastoral position that is more important than the political office he admitted he was not worthy of. He defiantly stated in writing that he was going to do whatever he wanted to do and didn't care what I thought. (No matter how rotten these New Lifers prove themselves to be they always assume that leadership positions are theirs for the taking. They have a sense of entitlement.)
Jerry Melchisedeck Jr. is a walking contradiction. His e-mails included flattering comments about me combined with attacks on my Christian faith. I was still in the process of trying to flush out his vague replies when he went on the attack; deny that guy what he wants and he is quick to slander (all the while claiming to be apologetic). Conversing with Jerry is like having a conversation with his former pastor Ted. New Lifers want me to accept their statements and commands with no questions asked. I firmly believe that unless Jerry receives the God-given courage to speak out and denounce Ted's lies and hypocrisy he is doomed to mimic Ted's behavior in perpetuity.
Jerry always struck me as someone who hasn't quite yet mastered the art of sincerity. If I grant approval to him for his continuing games and unrepentant attitude I would be partnering with his sin. My conscience will not allow that. He will no doubt continue to denounce me as unforgiving and unloving but my stated position concerning him is in fact biblically based. I would advise people to study this subject very carefully and prayerfully:
Straight Talk on Repentance and Forgiveness
-- Brian Karjala
Defense Against the Psychopath (video)
(a secular study on predatory sinners)
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An Analysis of Ted Haggard's NBC Interview
Ted Haggard and his New Life Church were featured in an hour long NBC Dateline primetime presentation on Friday, Oct. 28, 2005. Reporter Tom Brokaw portrayed Haggard as a mainline Evangelical and also used the same misleading description to describe a neo-Pentecostal / Charismatic "minister" who appeared as a guest speaker in early 2005 at Haggard's Colorado church: Ohio's Rod Parsley! Find out who Parsley really is (if you don't know already) and ask yourself why Haggard would associate himself with this man.
A very good 1999 article by PFO:
Rod Parsley: "The Raging Prophet" (pdf)
Those who are familiar with Parsley may have noticed that since the above article was written he has made a more concerted effort to appear "normal" and mainstream (at least in some venues) in order to increase his support base. How does one do this? Ask Ted Haggard. You extol the "virtues" of secular America and pay tribute to the god of capitalism. Those of us who refuse to play ball with the dark powers of this world have been relegated to near obscurity...and it will only get worse for us in the future.
There were in fact a few good points made by Brokaw throughout his report. One powerful example:
Brokaw: Most of the churches that I know of, and certainly the ones I attended, at some point, you out loud acknowledge that you were a sinner or that you came face-to-face to guilt that you may feel.
Haggard: Right.
Brokaw: I didn't see any of that here.
Ted Haggard then went on to give a misleading and deceptive answer saying that his church does teach on sin but then backtracks and says that the emphasis in his church is on how to fulfill the destiny that God has called people to.
A transcript of the flaky remarks Ted Haggard offered to Tom Brokaw can be read here:
NBC's "In God They Trust"
For a biblical analysis of Ted's failure at sharing the Gospel with his NBC audience:
Ted Haggard's "Easy Christianity"
Years back on Ted's self-promoting website (www.tedhaggard.com) there was a section devoted to his appearances in the news, simply titled..."Ted Haggard in the News". But you may find it odd that an egotist like Ted (who loved to tell people that he was in regular contact with the White House) did not post his interview with NBC's most respected reporter as he had done with other interviews. Here's the primary reason he omitted this NBC report:
From Tom Brokaw's report:
"Haggard is vigilant about the image of Evangelicals; prior to one of our visits he sent an e-mail to his congregation, urging them to be restrained and not to act too "weird" in front of our cameras."
Ted was partially exposed in this report as the manipulator and disingenuous person he really is. Funny how Ted only tells us (on his websites and from the pulpit) what he would like us to know about himself.
One of Ted's articles published in Christianity Today titled "Good Morning, Evangelicals!", is fraught with so many absurdities I don't even know where to begin in writing about them. I would hope that true Bible-believing Christians would be able on their own to discern the errors in Ted's words by simply reading this particular article very carefully. Ted is a person who believes that the degenerate politician Bill Clinton and the televangelist huckster Benny Hinn are both Evangelicals. Haggard even engages in ethnic stereotyping by alleging that Anglo communities have never really been concerned about social-justice issues (speak for yourself, cracker-boy).
Regarding this pastor's earlier comments about sin, compare Haggard's remarks with the writings of the late Arthur Pink. You want to know why Ted and his New Lifers never mature and why they gravitate toward sin? It was my time at Ted Haggard's church which prompted me to search out the full answer. Here it is:
The Failure of Modern Evangelism
The December 9, 2007 Shootings at New Life Church
The recent shootings at New Life Church is said to be reflective of a culture of violence. Yet what no one will tell you is that New Life is itself part of that culture of violence. Former New Life senior pastor Ted Haggard led his congregation into supporting the immoral and illegal U.S. wars into Afghanistan and Iraq and was calling for a U.S. pre-emptive strike against Iran before his perverse sexual nature and drug use was discovered and he was dismissed from his position. (An emasculated man clamored for a war that neither he nor his children would partake in.) Indoctrinated by secular culture the replacement pastor, Brady Boyd, shows no intention of leading the congregation into repentance for their warmongering. (The true Church of Jesus Christ is not a warring vessel. That is to say that Christians are not murderers nor are they aligned with any murderous government.)
Boyd was selected pastor by the same group of men (the New Life overseers) who were deceived by Ted. These men should step down from church leadership and bow their heads in shame. For years the evidence of Ted's perverse theology was in abundance but these overseers did not have the spiritual discernment to see the error. They fully supported Ted. Now they have installed this morally weak (and admitted former marijuana user) Boyd as senior pastor, because, being from the compromised and faulty (misnamed) Charismatic movement (devoid of any real spiritual gifts), Boyd is guaranteed not to denounce any of the numerous false teachers New Life has had associations with (including Haggard). Haggard admitted to being sexually promiscuous before becoming a pastor and so has Boyd. The New Life overseers recruited a person with similarities to Haggard because within their network of churches there are no quality individuals to choose from (and again, only a compromised person would agree to defend the New Life policies).
Not long after becoming pastor Boyd's true nature became public. A New Life shooting victim, Larry Bourbonnais, talked publicly about a security guard who failed to take any action to stop the shooter (view video of Larry's testimony here). That report reflected negatively on the church security and so Boyd wanted that victim silenced. He even had the man physically removed from the church (read this article). As one who has been vilified and slandered by numerous New Lifers over the years I speak from experience when I write that these church members are vindictive people who will retaliate against anyone who reveals anything that reflects negatively on their public image (image is everything to these false believers). If you're relaying an unpopular truth they will slander you or declare you to be hostile and dangerous and try to keep you from influencing their members. Haggard threatened peaceful dissenters with the police and lawsuits. Nothing has changed.
Larry has been quoted as saying that he is "devastated" by "false accusations" made against him (read this article). I understand. It can be quite a shock to receive that kind of treatment from your "church family." I hope Larry can see that what happened to him is a blessing. He now knows the true nature of New Life and is free from their toxic influence.
It's been reported that Jeanne Assam, the female volunteer security guard who killed the shooter, will now capitalize on the tragedy by writing a book. Even though Larry praised her actions as heroic don't expect her to portray him in any positive light (if she mentions him at all) in accordance with her submissiveness to New Life policy in discrediting Larry. Years ago Jeanne was fired from law enforcement for lying about an incident where she swore at a bus driver (read this article). So there are no heroes in this story (if you define a hero as someone you can look up to). As I watched Jeanne's first TV appearance and saw her smiling after people were killed it became clear to me and others that this immature little woman would take action to prolong her exposure in the limelight. In one recent interview this liar attempted to counter Larry's testimony by asserting that all of the security staff performed their jobs on that day.
2011 Update: You reap what you sow. Jeanne has now herself been asked to leave the church after "coming out" as a lesbian (read this article). I believe the New Life response denying her rejection is a lie. That church has a history of lying when it comes to issues of public image.
Updated Mon Aug 9, 2021 10:35pm MDT
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