Disappointing

If you have not heard, here is some disappointing news from the church (Kyle brought the latest to my attention). 

image Pastor Todd Bentley from Fresh Fire Ministries has stepped down because of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.  See the statement here.

 

imageFrom Australia, worship leader Michael Guglielmucci admits that he faked a terminal illness, scammed a ton of money in donations, and led worship under the pretension of the disease.

I am saddened deeply.  Deeply.  But, before we throw rocks, let’s pause.  We all have a weakness.  A weakness that could ruin us.  As followers of Christ, I think we have to seriously answer this question for ourselves:

What weakness in MY life has the potential to wreck my job and family?

Seriously, get a crystal clear answer to that and build ridiculous safeguards around yourself.  Recruit some mentors and friends.  Protect yourself and the kingdom.   And, should you fall, admit your faults and glorify God even from the dump.

Let’s pray for these guys and their churches.  Let’s also pray for the dirty little secrets that we all carry around.

Share with

This post has 5 comments

  1. Hey Scot – I totally agree with what you said. There seems to be a new tendency to get carried away with the grace-is-all-that\’s-needed approach in these situations. Yes, there should be grace. But it\’s not really grace unless it\’s accompanied by constructive changes in the ministry and individual\’s life. The hard questions MUST be asked so that the mistakes will not be repeated and the restoration can be permanent – not temporary. Any thgouths?

  2. Jeff,
    Yep. Sometimes the church responds with extremes: kick somebody out forever or accept them back in the next day. At our church we are working on a policy should something like this happen with our staff. That policy involves guidelines such as counseling, and (if deemed appropriate) mentorship back into ministry. The mentorship would be under the leadership of another church. Most likely the person would not return to ministry at our church.

    You are right, it is about restoring the individual. Hard things MUST be asked and done.

  3. Scot,

    This has been all over the blogs recently with, as you can imagine, all kinds of words. From the harshest to the overly kind. There needs to be a middle ground I think. One that accepts and reproves. One that acknowledges the sin but one that doesn\’t shoot a person when he is down. Bentley is much harder for me to be kind about but i am really sad about Mike\’s case. What a powerful song he wrote and that ministered to so many. Some found hope and healing and joy. I pray for him to \”find his way\” and to come back a more effective witness than ever. We also need to pray for Hillsong and other affected by it.

Leave a Reply to klampert Cancel reply

Start typing and press Enter to search