LETTER- Step forward for Briehl
I read your articles concerning the Reverend Greg Briehl [August 17: "Prayer for judgment: Nudie pics, voyeur cams stun flock," September 21: "Man of conviction: Ex-pastor gets 60 days in taped peeping"].
The police have asked that those who have been a victim of Mr. Briehl step forward and make themselves known.
I would invite those who have been ministered to by Mr. Briehl to also step forward. Mr. Briehl has greatly ministered to my family. I want to be counted.
Let us all be reminded of the words of Someone who had every reason to condemn, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."
I call on those who have experienced God's outrageous grace to step forward.
Ruth Graham
Charlottesville
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9 comments
I agree.
I also agree entirely with Ruth Graham, she has expressed my sentiments with the quote of "he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Greg Briehl has been of enormous help and guidance to me through his ministry and counciling.
Tell that to the women he had affairs with an associate pastor or the children whose trust he betrayed.
He's a good man. Even good people are flawed and can fall. This doesn't mean he won't be paying for his mistakes,(and he will be paying very dearly I have a feeling) as we all must sooner or later. But does this nullify all the good that he has done before now.....not one iota. But the wrongs committed do irrevocably mar an otherwise great record. All the more reason for vigilance in our own lives as flawed human beings. If it can happen to him, it can happen to you too, or me, or anyone. So before we pick up these stones that we so like to hurl, we must remember that they can fly in either direction, and that if we learn to despise the transgression, not the transgressor, we can eliminate the former, and redeem the latter.
Yes...but forgiveness and restoration are not exactly the same, are they? A man who has participated in such deliberate, purposeful, disturbing, well-planned behavior, over a long period of time, is years and years and years into destructive sinful behavior. He should be called to accountability for the destruction he has wreaked in the lives of those who trusted him. Don't forget: the man was a licensed COUNSELOR. He was in a position of trust, and yet led a double life for a very long time. He's like a doctor who has been dealing drugs: you forgive him, but you also put him through substance abuse counseling, take away his medical license forever, and require that he do some sort of restitution to the people he has hurt.
Most reprehensible is his insistance, to this day, on denying the full depth of his deception, and continuing to perpetuate his role as a victim. Until there is a fundamental change in this man's heart, where he can acknowledge that he chose to do wrong and willfully hide and lie about it, there is no chance at all for rehabilitation or reconciliation. To say so is not a matter of throwing stones. The sad thing is, this man still is not listening -- not to God. It is all pretty sad. As a friend, I am disheartened. As a brother in Christ, I must tell Greg the truth -- and that is that God's Grace doesn't come cheaply.
He is a victim. He may have victimized others, but that doesn't diminish the exploitation of his own vulnerability by the evil one. I imagine that pornography is currently Satan's most effective tool in destroying the lives of men - and those around them.
You may be righteously angered by Greg's actions - that's fine. But you should be enraged that porn is so readily available to us all.
I knew Greg in the 80's in Staunton, Virginia. The news of this case saddened me, and I am very surprised by the allegations. Greg was a great guy and a true friend. My husband and I both thought the world of Greg; this seems completely out of character for the Greg that we remember.
Greg Briehl is now the 4th husband of Ruth Graham.