{"id":44533,"date":"2010-08-09T01:41:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T01:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/former-congressman-reflects-on-transgressions\/"},"modified":"2010-08-09T01:41:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-09T01:41:00","slug":"former-congressman-reflects-on-transgressions","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/former-congressman-reflects-on-transgressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Congressman Reflects on Transgressions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In May of 2010, Indiana congressman Mark Souder resigned his position after confessing to an affair with a part-time staffer. In more than a dozen emails to <em>WORLD<\/em> magazine, Souder reflected on his downfall. In one email, he shares how difficult it is to keep people in power in check. &quot;Politicians and any top professionals are skilled manipulators and smooth with words,&quot; he wrote. &quot;Holding us accountable is hard.&quot; Another email reveals the agony he feels over his failure. He writes: &quot;My sin, while forgiven, is greater in that God put me in a position of public trust, so I deserve whatever criticism I receive.&quot; He goes on to write about what he did and how he felt in the midst of his affair: &quot;I prayed multiple times a day, sang hymns with emotions and tears, felt each time that it wouldn&#39;t happen again, read the Bible every morning &hellip;. So how in the world did I have a torrid&mdash;which is an accurate word&mdash;many-year affair? How could I compartmentalize it so much?&quot; In yet another email, Souder adds: &quot;Bottom line, however, is that the problem is sin &hellip;. The problem is getting the will subordinate to the Holy Spirit early enough that the Spirit is not quenched.&quot;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3372,3386,3462,3549,3664,3691,3761,3770,3854,3903,3945,3996,4009,4075,4087,4176,4181,4245,4394,4491,4560,4575,4660,4670,4700,4745,4772,4813,4814,4912,4955,4977,4978,4980,4990,5038,5059,5064,5090,5134,5169,5265,5276],"tax_ctp_topics":[384],"class_list":["post-44533","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-accountability","tax_ctp_tags-adultery","tax_ctp_tags-avoidance-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-carnality","tax_ctp_tags-confession-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-conviction-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-dependence-on-god","tax_ctp_tags-destructive-sin","tax_ctp_tags-election-day","tax_ctp_tags-evil","tax_ctp_tags-fall-of-humanity","tax_ctp_tags-flesh","tax_ctp_tags-forgiven-sin","tax_ctp_tags-good","tax_ctp_tags-government","tax_ctp_tags-human-condition","tax_ctp_tags-human-nature","tax_ctp_tags-influence","tax_ctp_tags-lostness","tax_ctp_tags-morality","tax_ctp_tags-old-man","tax_ctp_tags-original-sin","tax_ctp_tags-politics","tax_ctp_tags-power","tax_ctp_tags-presidents-day","tax_ctp_tags-punishment-for-sin","tax_ctp_tags-rebellion","tax_ctp_tags-resisting-sin","tax_ctp_tags-resisting-temptation","tax_ctp_tags-self-control","tax_ctp_tags-sex","tax_ctp_tags-sin","tax_ctp_tags-sin-nature","tax_ctp_tags-sinful-desires","tax_ctp_tags-sinner","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-bondage","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-poverty","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-warfare","tax_ctp_tags-struggle-against-sin","tax_ctp_tags-temptation","tax_ctp_tags-tolerance-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-weakness","tax_ctp_tags-will"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Congressman Reflects on Transgressions - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/former-congressman-reflects-on-transgressions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Congressman Reflects on Transgressions - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In May of 2010, Indiana congressman Mark Souder resigned his position after confessing to an affair with a part-time staffer. 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