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Much of the lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries tossed on a technicality

According to Christianity Today, much of the pending lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) was tossed out due to a technicality:

A judge has dismissed most of the civil lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), days after it was amended to add names and charges... The judge ruled that victims didn't sue in time before the statute of limitations had expired" (//link)

Below is ABC's Greta Kreuz's report:

What's not clear is the way forward for the plaintiffs. According to Susan Burke, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, they knew in advance the legal hurdles they faced in getting around the statute of limitations applicable to most of their clients. While it was possible, it apparently had a high probability of failure: 

We (the victims and the lawyers) all knew about the statute issue at the outset. But fighting for justice means doing so even against known obstacles. We had a conspiracy theory to overcome the statute but the Court rejected it. The victims are all brave and courageous people whose willingness to fight against evil has already made a difference in the world. Also, please realize going forward with a civil lawsuit does not in any way prevent criminal actions – perhaps may even make it more likely. And please keep praying, as we think the Court erred, and will be appealing her ruling" (//link)

In addition, since two of the plaintiffs are reportedly still well within the borders of an expired statute of limitations, the suit is not dead in the legal waters. Not yet, anyways. An extra complication for the plaintiffs exists, however, because the two remaining plaintiffs live in Virgina while the lawsuit is filed in Maryland. All the technical legalities makes this case extremely complicated. Burke has already committed to filing an appeal since the judge may but not must dismiss the case based upon the expired statute of limitations alone. Also, as Kreuz mentioned above, a criminal investigation may be underway, hardly a sign for rejoicing so far as the defense is concerned. 

A few observations, if I may.

First, to have the large majority of the plaintiffs dismissed in a class action lawsuit cannot be viewed as anything other than legally troubling. This really is a huge setback for the plaintiffs. While Burke is appealing the judge's ruling, surely the plaintiffs are presently struggling to find encouragement to believe they might succeed in their lawful suit.

Second, while this setback may be viewed as an initial success for the defense, at best it only exists as a legal success not a moral one. The fact is, when it comes to the sinful nature of the criminal acts and/or civil breaches alleged by the plaintiffs, the question for us is not when the alleged actions took place, but whether the alleged actions took place. While legally, SGM and many of the alleged defendants may ultimately be considered neither legally guilty nor civilly liable because of a statute of limitations written into our law codes, there is no such statute of limitations written into God's. The bottom line is, we want to know if these immoral acts took place not necessarily when they took place.

Again, when criminal acts and civil breaches took place may have legitimate legal stipulations such as were argued by SGM's defense and accepted by the court. However, if these men either performed these atrocious acts on little children, or saw to it in some way the alleged perpetrators were concealed from public justice, then we're unmoved whether a statute of limitations is expired or not. They remain morally culpable even if they are not legally chargeable.

Third, I intend to present the Resolution on Sexual Abuse of Children to the 2013 Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Houston, Texas, June 11-12 as planned. Nothing is changed. We must dig our ecclesial heels into the dirt and say "No more. Not on our watch!" when it comes to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health of our little children.

Related articles

Resolution on Sexual Abuse of Children by Peter Lumpkins

Judge dismisses Sovereign Grace lawsuit

Court's Ruling on Sovereign Grace Ministries Alleged Sex Abuse Cover-Up Lawsuit

Sovereign Grace Ministries, class-action civil lawsuit involving child sex abuse

C.J. Mahaney, The Victims, and Depths of Darkness

I got about two-thirds of the way through the Second Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand filed by attorneys representing the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against young, restless, and reformed icon, C.J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), two SGM churches, one SGM school, and ten other SGM leaders.¹ Truth is, I couldn't go on. It's most horrifying and even solicits the deepest anger and rage from a person's soul.

Arthur W. Pink vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Here's our Lord Jesus in John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (NASB)

Here's Arthur W. Pink, strict Calvinist¹ and famed Reformed Baptist author, in his rendition of John 3:16:

“For God so loved believers, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”²

 Do you think Pink has a point in substituting "believers" for "world" in John 3:16?

 

¹Note: some Calvinist scholars refer to Pink as more than a strict Calvinist; they refer to him as a Hyper-Calvinist (e.g. Dr. Curt Daniel)

²The term “believers” is substituted based on an inference from what Pink wrote pertaining to the term “world” in John 3:16. He explained: ‘“Kosmos” is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12; 47; 1 Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them to note, carefully, exactly what is said and predicated of “the world” in each place’ (Arthur Walkington Pink, The Arthur Pink Anthology, Chapter 44). 

See also

John Owen vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Louisiana College and its critics: a textbook example where the cure may be worse than the disease

UPDATE: Joshua Breland has just posted what he calls his final piece on Louisiana College (LC). While he speaks of the remarkable blessings he received from LC, it cannot be he can end his series without asserting "Louisiana College needs to figuratively burn to the ground and start afresh before health and prosperity can return." The freshly graduated college senior adds that "The Louisiana Baptist Convention (LBC) is also in need of much correction" since the Executive State Director, David Hankins, remains "part and parcel of the deception and wickedness at Louisiana College." In fact, what's going on there is "pure evil" which Louisiana Baptists ought to rise up and destroy.

Calvinists and the World of John 3:16: Take Two

I was looking for something else when I ran across this piece I first posted on September 12, 2006. After scanning it, I thought it'd be good to offer a Take Two. Enjoy...

Sovereign Grace Ministries and C.J. Mahaney want lawsuit to end

The Louisville-based Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) and, up until recently, head of the dwindling mini-denomination¹ of Charismatic-neo-Calvinist churches, C. J. Mahaney, are apparently claiming that constitutional rights of religious freedom shield them from an ever-expanding lawsuit mounting against the organization generally and certain individuals particularly (the plaintiffs' lawyers continue to amend the lawsuit adding more and more victims who allege wrong-doing against them). According to Louisville's Courier-Journal religion reporter, Peter Smith, the defendants contrarily allege that SGM's demands for unquestioning obedience led to the shielding of sexual predators.

Baptist Press reports on the 2013 John 3:16 Conference

Baptist Press posted a good summary article on The 2013 John 3:16 Conference held at North Metro First Baptist Church March 21-22. It rightly cast the differences between the earlier conference as a planned response to each of the five-points Calvinism (T.U.L.I.P.) and this year's conference:

Louisiana College Board met, will meet again April 30 by Kelly Boggs

We continue to express appreciation to Baptist Message editor, Kelly Boggs, for allowing us to post in full the articles concerning the crisis at Louisiana College. Below is the latest piece. Links to related stories and articles follow.

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference, Criticism, and the Calvinist Controversy in Louisiana: Part II

In Part I, I recorded the first of two examples indicative of unhelpful criticism--and in some cases, irresponsible and even slanderous criticism--some of the more rigorous Calvinists lobbed toward The 2013 John 3:16 Conference. Montana pastor, J.D. Hall, claimed Truett-McConnell College was "theologically raping" the students, while indicating one of its professors, Adam Harwood, was much to blame. And, while Hall at first defended his words when some of his Twitter followers protested, he nonetheless offered a clear word of regret and publicly apologized for his "harsh" language, conceding Trevin Wax's "rebuke was appropriate. Apologies, to everyone."

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference, Criticism, and the Calvinist Controversy in Louisiana: Part I

UPDATE: Please note our brother J.D. Hall has issued a public apology for his disparaging remarks concerning Truett-McConnell College and Adam Harwood, remarks which I critique in the post below. We thank our brother for his short but very straight-forward amends. May our Lord be pleased in all...

John MacArthur offers more skepticism on the YRR and "Flat-screen" Preachers

Yesterday I posted MacArthur's video wherein he pounded the young, restless, and reformed community for stepping over the moral threshold into a worldly lifestyle.¹ In a real sense, MacArthur's concern centers on classic antinomianism, a well-known temptation within the Reformed community.

In 2009, I wrote these words:

The Conservative Resurgence which officially began in 1979 made history by turning the theological clock backwards to its rightful, biblically authoritative moorings… Southern Baptists once again should heed the times: there is another coming crisis in our convention, just beyond the horizon. Before it was biblical belief--especially belief about the Bible itself--we stood to lose…

The coming crisis just ahead is exceedingly more subtle, wrapped in bright, colorful garments, yet no less a dangerous threat to Southern Baptists. It is not a crisis of belief per se, though undeniably connected to belief. Nor is it modernity's rationalism which, as before, stood as the doorkeeper to biblical authority with which our former crisis contended. Instead the coming crisis for Southern Baptists concerns behavior, a cataclysmic moral shift away from biblical holiness expressed in biblical Lordship, toward the relativistic, postmodern norms of American pop culture including its hedonistic obsession with fulfilling desires.

Before, the challenge concerned doctrine and the question was, "What do we believe?" The impending crisis Southern Baptists face concerns discipleship and the question is, "How will we behave?" The old prophets of Modernity imposed rationalism on the text of biblical revelation, serving to us an unholy Bible. The coming crisis threatens a relativistic ethic, shouting to us unholy behavior" (pp. 24-25, Alcohol Today: abstinence in an age of indulgence. Garland: Hannibal Books, 2009) 

 

¹my thanks to a commenter who offered the link to Part II and corrected the implication that MacArthur's words were spoken only recently 

Why all the buzz? Further thoughts on the present Calvinism conversation by Earl Blackburn

Below is the final of four entries on the purported Calvinism issue posted on March 12, 2013 in The Message, Louisiana Baptists' state paper. Editor Kelly Boggs generously sent all four articles to me so non-subscribers could access the important articles dealing with the unfortunate situation developing at Louisiana College. The three prior articles are linked at the end.

Louisiana editor Kelly Boggs responds to bloggers' criticism

Below is a response editor Kelly Boggs prepared in light of some of the unfounded criticism he received toward his editorial entitled "Situation at LC unfolds." Particularly, Joshua Breland, a Louisiana College graduate and now Caskey School of Divinity student, posted a rousing critique of Boggs' piece claiming it "misrepresents and misconstrues facts" surrounding the unfortunate turmoil taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet as I stated in a brief mention of Breland's criticism, the Caskey divinity student not only "misfires by offering not a single, legitimate complaint" against Boggs' editorial, but also demonstrates, in part, why young Calvinists like Breland remain rooted in the controversy over Calvinism in the SBC and will never become a viable part of the solution to the problem of Calvinism in the SBC unless they change both their attitude and approach toward those with whom they disagree.

Louisiana's Message republishes "The Calvinists are here" by Georgia's Christian Index editor, Gerald Harris

The Baptist Message recently posted a series of articles on the purported issue over Calvinism at Louisiana College. I received permission from The Message editor to re-post the four articles in full on my site since many Southern Baptists outside Louisiana are watching with concerned interest the fiasco taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet since so few of us outside Louisiana subscribe to The Message, we were left completely in the dark as to the content of the articles. You may find the first and second articles linked after the editorial below.

What is Calvinism? everything you need to know about Calvinism...and then some by Peter Lumpkins

Well it took long enough! The truth is, I've been so busily assisting others in getting their literary stuff published, I've continued to place on the back burner something from my own bean pot. Hence, I took a few days off to cook up this little piece which I think will help church folk understand the Calvinism issue.