As on 2/20, I am devoting my column again today to Pastor Brook Stockton of Albuqurque, NM who has written the best assessment of the Tiger Woods Mea-Culpa that we have seen.  We all need to thank Ernie, Powell and the rest of the hard working folks at Freedom's Phoenix for making it possible for us to have the opportunity to be informed in a manner that it would be impossible without this outstanding media outlet. 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Did you hear Tiger Wood’s confession? Did you notice that words like “sin,’ “wrong,” “adultery,” “Lust,” “God,” “faithfulness,” “infidelity,” “God’s Law,” and “wickedness” was missing from his speech . . . and the dialogue of mainstream media?

 

Did you notice the humanistic terms like “sorry,” “mistake,” “cheated,” “betrayed my core values,” “bad choices” and “affairs” and pop psychology words like “sexual addiction” and “therapy” were used instead of Christian religious terms?

 

Did you notice that Tiger admitted he betrayed his core values and made no mention of betraying God’s law or the Seventh Commandment?  

 

Did you notice that Tiger asked his the media, his fans, golfing friends, his sponsors, and generally other people to forgive him, but that he made no statement that he needed forgiveness from the living God?

 

Did you notice that Tiger appealed to his teaching in Buddhism as the locus of forgiveness for him and that he made no mention of Christ or the cross or the blood as the basis of forgiveness?

 

Did you notice that the media brought in thirty-year old reporters, lawyers, and politicians to pass judgment on Tiger’s confession, but that not one major media network brought in a Christian pastor to talk about forgiveness? What on earth qualifies any of the people as experts on the subject of forgiveness?

 

Did you notice the media and her lawyer made the porn star, whatever her name is, appear to be a victim in adultery instead of a predatory whore?

 

 

1.     Tiger broke God’s law (the 7th Commandment) and committed adultery . . . but in committing adultery he also broke the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th (abortion), 8th, 9th, and 10th Commandment. Make no mistake about it, Tiger is an idolater. He made sex his idol. He coveted and in coveting, he broke the entire core of God’s Commandments.

 

2.     Tiger needs to seek forgiveness from the One who judges the living and the dead. He broke God’s law and not “his core values” as man-made as they are. Yes, he needs to ask forgiveness of family members and those he betrayed . . . but ultimate forgiveness can only come from the Judge of All Mankind. Sorry Tiger, you can’t forgive yourself because you are not the judge of humanity. You have no authority to forgive anything you have done. Only the God of the Bible can arrange forgiveness. Buddhism is a false hope. Psychotherapy is a slippery slope.

 

3.     Mr. Media man, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Buddhism doesn’t offer forgiveness. Buddhism is a philosophy about how to cope with suffering, and not about reconciliation to the Creator.

 

 

1.     Tiger, I have some good news for you, there is a way out of your mess through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

2.     Tiger, your problem is not sexual addiction, your problem is that you’ve sinned against God and broken His law (Exodus 20:1ff; Romans 2:1-12; 3:23; I John 3:3-5)

 

3.    Tiger, the wages of sin is death and you deserve to die for your sins (Rom. 6:23) . . . and it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment (Heb. 10:27).

 

4.     Tiger, there is no remedy for your sins in Buddhism, Islam, or any other ism. But, your Creator has provided a remedy for your through the gift of His Son . . (John 14:6)

 

5.     But, you need to know that God cannot just forgive your sins because you are sorry for what you did. . . If He could, He would not have needed to send His Son to the cross to die for your sins. He sent His Son to Calvary to be your substitute . . . to pay the price you dare not pay . . . to satisfy His justice . . . and to pay the penalty you deserve. He did this because He loved you . . . but forgive you for saying you're sorry, He could not do (Romans 5:6-8).

 

 

6.     Tiger, Jesus died and rose again from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:1-12). He is Lord and Savior of mankind . . . but the debt He paid for you at the cross must be accepted, received, and personally appropriated (Rom. 10:9). Will you, Tiger, confess that you are a sinner and will you accept His Son as your personal Lord and Savior?

 

7.     Tiger, get out of therapy and get with a godly man and study the Bible. Get baptized. In time, you can tell the world that you are a sinner and that Christ is your Savior . . . But, now you must call the prostitute(s) and tell her/them that you have sinned against God and your family and that you are seeking a way out through Jesus Christ . . . that you will not be seeing her again . . . that you suggest she repent and seek forgiveness through Christ;  Once you have cut the cord on these evil relationships, you can call your family members and beg their forgiveness (but it has to be done correctly) and you can call those you betrayed and ask them to forgive you. It won’t be an easy road, but as you accept responsibility for your actions and seek His help, you will recover and you will experience true forgiveness because of what Christ has done for you.