It's barely been a month since the American church world was rocked once again with another leader fallen to admitted immorality. You had to have been somewhat of a hermit to have not heard the news of Pastor Ted Haggard's admission that he had committed sexual immorality. We've no idea how, when, where, and frankly, we don't need to know.

The pain seared my heart! Sadly, it's not as though it doesn't happen all the time. It happens too frequently. Studies show that some 1,500 pastors are leaving ministry every month due to immorality, stress, burnout or forced terminations. It's happening way too often in my opinion.

Ted Haggard was a national pastoral leader. Not only was he pastoring a large church of over 14,000 weekend attenders in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was also serving as President of the National Association of Evangelicals, which gave him a national voice to speak on behalf of multiplied millions of Christians across the country.

December 1 marks 21 years that I have been privileged to serve here at NewHeart. During the first 12 years, I worked with 3 of our previous Senior Pastors, all of whom left here in great pain for themselves and the Church. The last two pastors marriages ended in divorce.

I ache for what the New Life Fellowship flock is experiencing. I know what it's like to walk through the mire and mess of this kind of pain. I find myself praying for Ted & Gayle Haggard, New Life Fellowship and their leadership almost daily.

So much has been written on the internet about this tragedy, from how a leader can keep from falling to sin to how in the world a leader like Ted COULD even fall into sin. I don't want to add to the plethora. At the same time, I don't want to stick my head in the proverbial sand. And I don't want you to either.

I, for one, am personally and pastorally proud (I think in a good way) to know that one of those involved in Ted's restoration process is Jack Hayford. Jack is also a nationally known leader, having pastored The Church On The Way in Van Nuys (a sister Foursquare Church), and now serving as the President of our denomination.

For the last several decades, Jack has served pastors in so many ways. His touch upon the Haggard's lives, marriage and family is so natural for how God has used him in the past. And our own denomination is, I believe, making more and greater strides of progress toward offering ministry and openness to our own pastors and others who are hurting, wounded, and in need of great care and help.

This is a month of celebration, and if you've been around NewHeart any longer than a few weeks, you know it's my favorite month of the year. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! What does that have to do with what I've written above? Well, when you look at the details of the Christmas story, you find that it's a truly scandalous one, filled with intrigue and wonder at every turn!

This is a story of an unwed mother-to-be, visited by an angel of God who prepares her heart for the unthinkable. Wanting to protect her, Joseph, no doubt untiringly, attempts to find a way to separate himself and her from potential for life ruin. But God had other plans!

God's plan mixed doing the impossible with the unthinkable and the scandalous in order to perform the miraculous! And I know from the harsh, cold winds that blow across my heart (it's called LIFE) and yours that it's awful hard, sometimes downright impossible, to see where God is working and hear what He is saying in the blinding silence of our circumstances.

Yet, in the silence and the darkness, amidst my shouts for help, pangs of hunger for something more out of life, and the times my soul cries beyond tears, God's hand is there. Tinkering, re-working, molding, toying, rewiring. Fashioning something beyond our ability to conceive or perceive on our own.

Folks, THAT'S what Christmas is about ... God fashioning ... literally BIRTHING ... something new within you and I and others as we give ourselves to Him as a gift. Let's not miss that! Even in our mess, God works miracles! And in a season like this, that's way to easy to lose sight of.

Marvelling in a God Who makes miracles out of messes ....