Damaged Goods?
Theme of the Week: Who's In? Who's Out?
Sunday, July 3, 2005
 1 of 1
Who Said Itamp;hellip;Harry Jackson
Dr. Harry R. Jackson Jr. is senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in the Washington, DC, area. The ministry includes a Bible college and an active missions ministry involved in sending worship and teaching teams to various nations. He appears weekly on a morning television and radio program called The Hope Connection. Prior to entering the ministry, Harvard MBA Jackson worked as a national sales and marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company. What He Saidamp;hellip;Damaged Goods?
An elder of a disbanding church came to me with a dilemma about God's leading for him. He'd left one disappointing situation and unwittingly entered another. He described his family's delight with the new church they'd started attending. But then he'd learned that years before the pastor had been involved in a homosexual affair.
I asked the elder if he thought Jesus still sets captives free. My next statement stunned him: "If God's power won't work for this pastor, then perhaps it won't work for anyone, including you and me." I reminded him that we all have past failures we'd just as soon forget. In fact, the apostle Paul concludes an amazing list of sins by saying, "there was a time when some of you were just like that" (1 Corinthians 6:11).
After much prayer the elder chose to stay in the church, and his family has thrived within this body. The pastor has proved to be a godly man, protected by God from his former lifestyle.
Adapted from In-laws, Outlaws, and the Functional Family (Regal, 2002) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Lord Jesus, I tend to cold-shoulder those You reach out to with compassion. Please change my heart.
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