Sexual
‘According to the moderns, millennials, and malevolent, evil does not exist anymore. More subtlety and confusingly, they call good evil and evil good, and God warned us about that. He said, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil…”
The Homosexual Lobby has belittled, bullied, badgered, and blackmailed non-thinking Americans and Canadians into accepting, approving, and even applauding their deadly homosexual lifestyle. We are expected to believe it is only an alternative lifestyle. You know, you love one way. I love another. It’s still love and who can deny, debate, and denigrate love? However, it is “love that dare not speak its name.” It is so vile that decent people did not even discuss it in polite society until recent years.
Today, because of the successful con job by homosexuals, America has developed an infatuation with the rude, the crude, and the lewd; however, average citizens are waking up and speaking out in defense of centuries of common sense and Bible teaching. Astute people don’t (with the wave of the hand) turn their backs on thousands of years of civilization.
We are striking back and hitting pro-homosexual firms in their cash register. As Christians, we will turn the other cheek but not write another check to support evil. It is not very smart to fund your own demise. We don’t tip the executioner to use a sharp ax to expedite a clean cut of our neck as some did in centuries past.
I don’t drink Coke or eat Girl Scout cookies watching professional sports. I hope you will do likewise. Anyway, that kind of stuff might send you to Heaven quicker than your scheduled departure. I will survive not reading National Geographic after they promoted transgenderism; besides, they still haven’t heard that evolution is false, a failure, and a fraud. Another reason they should shut down their presses and quietly disappear. Moreover, we can survive very well without rushing to get Target’s weekend specials. Furthermore, I would not go to Disney if the entrance fee were a dollar.
I think it is more than a dollar.
I am sure many people who don’t identify with Bible-believing Christians will also get involved with boycotting Target, Disney, Proctor and Gamble, etc. No doubt, we will pick up a few stray nuts and others who loaf on the fringe of every group, but we will have to live with that. I am willing to admit that not all the nuts are in the Homosexual Lobby. Some are in the church lobby, carry a Bible, and wear a silly grin—and maybe a silver cross around the neck. For sure, not all nuts are on trees. No doubt, some of the Repulsive Radical Religious Right will get involved. However, we will disavow them with the understanding that it is still not illegal to be a religious nut in America—until they start mixing the Kool-Aid.
If Christians are silent, where will the pressure come from to do right? Some tell us that boycotts are ineffective, and when they fail, it only makes us look foolish. However, my boycotts always succeed because I know they are not living on my dollar. Nevertheless, I’d rather be perceived as a fool and a failure than a follower of the wrong side in this cultural war.
Christians have a responsibility to live daily lives so that those around us will know we do not support evil causes. We are in a war, and except for the final outcome, no one is guaranteed to be on the winning side of every battle. One thing for sure, I don’t want to be on the sinning side! Wars of principle must be fought even if there are battle loses; moreover, there have been some very successful boycotts by pro-family groups.
Target officials met with American Family Association leaders that produced a friendly but flawed, final, and fatal conclusion: Target will continue its insane, insensitive, and indecent policy of permitting make-believe women in real women’s restrooms and changing rooms! Target sees it as noble to provide admittance to restrooms for men who pretend to be women, and real women must live with it. Target officials are unconcerned with safety, privacy, and decency. Making people feel good is preferred over women’s safety!
The loonies have taken over. Such a business deserves to go belly up, and other companies—toying with twisted tolerance—may get the message that a gold star from the LGBT crowd is not worth going bankrupt.
The Target boycott should be permanent and stopped only after its burial. I won’t stop my boycott with rumors of its funeral, and after all, I believe in resurrection.
Christians are commanded to be salt and light in this world. The function of salt is mainly negative since it prevents decay, while the function of light is positive. Light always, without exception, drives away the darkness. Christians are failing this generation by not being the preserving salt and the prevailing light. Consequently, Americans are asking, “Where am I going in this handbasket?”
I think I know America’s destination.
As a Christian, everything I have belongs to God. I am a steward of all I possess and will one day give an account to God of how I used His resources. If the culture wars are won by the permissive crowd, it will change America forever. It will mean the killing of more innocent babies. It will mean general acceptance of immoral behavior that will destroy lives, damage our healthcare system, and deny Christians the right to express their faith in the marketplace. I refuse to leave such a society to my grandchildren without taking a stand–even if I fail.
We live in a society that refuses to recognize right from wrong; consequently, we must choose the right and oppose the wrong. However, opponents tell us that right and wrong cannot be established but are arbitrary. To those people, the Bible is not a guide for human behavior. After all, it condemns most people’s lifestyles; so shallow people think by not believing the Bible, they are free from its condemnation. The message from the media and many weaklings in the clergy is that God is dead, morality is irrelevant, and perversion is in everyone’s future. So, why fight it?
I choose to fight.
We will also have to live with some in the Christian community who will oppose our activities as being unchristian, unwise, and unnecessary. Furthermore, some asinine critics will use the Bible (which they don’t believe is trustworthy!) to tell us we are wrong! It is a misuse of English to call religious leaders leaders if they don’t lead! Usually, they are weaklings masquerading as leaders. Most Christians want a leader with hair on his chest, a working brain in his head, an understanding heart in his bosom, and a stiff bone in his back. Most loosey-goosey, effervescent Evangelicals are missing all four but do have a small yellow streak up their backs where a spine should be.
Astute, awake, and alarmed Christians will no longer be kicked around without expressing outrage by withholding our credit cards and cash. You remember cash; it’s a four-letter word not used much anymore.
Each person can use his influence to encourage others to apply pressure, kindly, of course. So business owners take note that Christians have learned something from Blacks, feminists, homosexuals, Hispanics, socialists, and others. We will be heard and will stop funding businessmen who kick us around as they accept our money; however, at the same time, we will never be unkind, unruly, untruthful, or unchristian—which includes attacking, looting, and burning.
When the next business owner decides to dance with the dandies of the LGBT lobby, we will not harass the business or try to force anyone to get involved. However, I will remind them that Target’s distress, decline, if not demise, was self-inflicted.
Don’t be neutral during the biggest battle America faces. Take a stand. Win or lose, I would rather lose standing with the right crowd than win standing with the wrong crowd. By doing the right thing, I will, in the end, be on the winning side.
For sure, win or lose, I will not be on the sinning side.’http://donboys.cstnews.com/customers-will-turn-the-other-cheek-but-not-write-another-check-for-evil
I personally had never heard of Kanakuk Kamps before this. However, unknowingly my wife and I spent fourteen years with an independent Baptist mission agency that for years covered up an adulterer/pedophile on the mission field so this is all too believable. We didn’t learn about the adulterer/pedophile doctor until years after resigning from this mission so organizations do have a bent to cover-up sin.
‘Kanakuk Kamps is one of the largest Christian camps in the nation. Each summer, more than 20,000 kids from age 7-17 pay thousands of dollars each to stay at the camp in southwestern Missouri. Some of the most prominent leaders in the evangelical world have worked with the camp and its leaders, Joe and Debbie-Jo White.
But a new website, called FactsAboutKanakuk.com claims that “Kanakuk’s reputation and reach conceals a dark secret. For decades, Joe White and other camp leaders knew about and facilitated sexual abuse against scores of children.”
The website, which went live on Saturday, includes links to court documents for six lawsuits in which Kanakuk and senior staff members, including Joe White, were names as defendants. The website maintains that “non-disclosure agreements and significant financial settlements have concealed the truth in order to preserve a ministry brand and economic engine.”
Kanakuk Kamps and related non-profit organizations brought in about $35-million in 2018, the most recent year available. It had a profit (revenue over expenses) of more than $8-million. According to an analysis of Form 990s from 2014-2018 by MinistryWatch, Joe and Debbie-Jo White receive payments from Kanakuk – payments that include salary, rent payments for real estate they own, and other compensation – that usually top $500,000 per year, and some years top $700,000.
The FactsAboutKanakuk website also has a petition demanding that individuals and families who have settled with the camp be released from any non-disclosure agreements or “similar clauses.” MinistryWatch is on record opposing the use of non-disclosure agreements in ministry settings.
One of the lawsuits filed by “John Doe IX” against Kanakuk and a senior staff member, Peter Newman, resulted in a judgment for the plaintiff for nearly $20-million in 2018. According to the Springfield News Leader, “The judgment ranked as the largest reported plaintiff’s judgment in Missouri in 2018.” However, it is not clear that the settlement has actually been paid by either Kanakuk or Peter Newman, who is now serving a life sentence for multiple counts of sexual abuse perpetrated when he was a senior member of Kanakuk’s staff.
Repeated calls by MinistryWatch to Douglas, Haun, and Heidemann, the law firm that represented the plaintiff, to determine if either Peter Newman or Kanakuk had paid the plaintiff, “John Doe IX,” have gone unanswered.
Kanakuk Kamps told MinistryWatch that, in part in response to past troubles, it has adopted new youth protection policies. Current seasonal staff undergo two days of training on sexual abuse and youth protection policies. Their current policies are outlined here and here.’https://julieroys.com/kanakuk-kamps-sexual-abuse/?mc_cid=3105d8da45&mc_eid=b13d34ad49
Then there is this undisputable page listing those affiliated with Kanakuk and convicted of sex offences.
‘Kanakuk’s Convicted Sex Offenders
The following is an evolving roster of former Kanakuk staff and associates who have been convicted of sexual abuse of minors since Joe and Debbie-Jo White assumed leadership of the camp. Only convictions according to verdicts and judgments from the criminal justice system are listed, although it is believed that additional former staff members may be subject to similar charges as investigations and civil litigation proceed and as victims continue to come forward.
The average age of victims who finally report childhood sexual abuse is about 52 years old. Only 23% to 33% of victims disclose their sexual abuse during childhood, and only 6% to 15% of victims ever disclose those assaults to law enforcement. Males are more reluctant and take longer to make full disclosures. The extent of damage done to campers who attended Kanakuk Kamps and its programs will likely not be known for many years.
If you were abused at Kanakuk Kamps or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.
Lee Bradberry
Bradberry was a Kanakuk Kamps counselor in the summer of 2011 after the camp had implemented and promoted its Kanakuk Child Protection Plan. Arrested the following year for sexual abuse of young boys, he was sentenced in 2013 to four years for sexual misconduct involving a child under 14, seven years for statutory sodomy, and two 10-year sentences for child molestation, to be served concurrently. He is serving those sentences in a Kentucky correctional center. Bradberry is expected to be released in 2023.
Corbie Dale Grimes
Grimes was a Kanakuk Kamps counselor in 1987. He was terminated after being caught for sexual misconduct with campers, but the incidents were not reported by the camp to law enforcement as mandated by state law. As a result, Grimes went on to work in youth ministry, was caught abusing children as a youth pastor at another institution, and was finally convicted of sexual abuse in Florida in 2002.
Paul Kerr
A staff member at Kanakuk Kamps from 1998 to 2005, Kerr was arrested in Colorado in 2011 for the abuse of adolescent girls. After pleading guilty to multiple charges, he received 45 days in jail and 10 years of sex offender probation. It is unknown if he engaged in sexual misconduct while at Kanakuk Kamps.
If you were abused by Paul Kerr or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.
Robert John Morgan
A pilot for the private plane used by Joe White, Morgan was charged with sexual abuse of his biological child in 2000. White invited him to stay on Kanakuk grounds while awaiting trial. White later testified for Morgan’s defense as a character witness, stating that he would have no problem allowing the man to babysit his own children and encouraging the judge not to imprison him. It is unknown if Morgan abused any campers during his multiple years of affiliation with Kanakuk and his off-season residence on camp property.
Morgan was found guilty of statutory sodomy in 2009 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was released in 2019.
Peter Daniel Newman
Newman was hired as a Kanakuk counselor in 1995. He moved up through the ranks as a father-son retreat leader, assistant director and ultimately the director of K-Kountry. Frequently used by the organization for marketing and promotional purposes, Newman was arrested in 2009 and pled guilty to two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy, three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, and three counts of enticement of a child. A prosecutor in the case stated that Newman “is the most prolific child molester I have ever dealt with.” In 2010, Newman received two life sentences plus 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The subject of multiple civil lawsuits, there were at least 57 alleged victims of Newman prior to his arrest, but the total number of campers abused by him remains unknown.
Ed Ringheim
Ringheim was a counselor for K-1 and volunteered with the K-Life Orlando program. He was accused of criminal misconduct that occurred in 2008 and 2011. He regularly chaperoned bus trips to Kanakuk’s Missouri camps and other activities, with the intent to groom and molest children. He was ultimately charged with seven felony sex crimes against underage boys. He was arrested in 2011, was found guilty of seven felony sex charges involving underage boys, and was sentenced to 15 years in Florida state prison. He is expected to be released in 2031.’ https://factsaboutkanakuk.com/known-abusers/
‘Greater Manchester Police announced last week that it has launched a dedicated child sexual exploitation (CSE) unit consisting of 54 police officers and staff. The new unit will commit resources and skills to “investigating large scale and complex CSE investigations.” I assume that this is badly worded and that it will not merely ‘investigate investigations’.
The unit will also “have strategic oversight of all multi-victim/multi-suspect CSE investigations taking place across Greater Manchester.” This ‘multi-victim/multi suspect CSE’ language is code for ‘grooming gangs’. It is good to see Greater Manchester Police dedicating resources to addressing this problem, but it has taken decades to get to this point.
Victims failed by police
This follows an announcement last year that three former police officers that led an inquiry into child sex grooming in Greater Manchester Police were being investigated. A report about CSE in Greater Manchester found that the police were aware in 2003 of at least 57 white girls aged 12-16 years old who were known to be having sex with older ‘Asian’ men, often against their will. Nearly 100 persons were found to be involved in this sexual exploitation. The police, however, were focused on trying to find other ethnicities to arrest rather than dealing with the offenders they knew about.
Over 800 suspects so far
Manchester Evening News reported that there are now 70 police investigations by Greater Manchester Police involving multiple victims of CSE. I assume that means 70 grooming gang investigations. Police have said that there are 809 suspects across these investigations, and some 468 victims discovered so far.
With this latest statistic, the gigantic industrial scale of the grooming gang phenomenon continues to be exposed. If there are over 800 perpetrators in Greater Manchester alone, how many are there across the country as a whole? One survivor estimates that there have been 500,000 victims over 40 years. We know that almost 19,000 victims of CSE were identified in 2018-19. This is not just something that happened years ago, it continues today. To date there have only been around 400 convictions for grooming gang crimes.
Police: ‘We think your [under-age] daughter is prostituting herself’
Earlier this month, an alleged new victim of a grooming gang in Walsall has claimed that the police accused her of lying when she bravely went with her mother to report the first rape when aged 12 or 13-years old. She subsequently became a regular victim of an ‘Asian’ grooming gang. Her mother picked her daughter up from the police station after she had been found by police. The police explained to the mother, “We think your daughter is prostituting herself.” She was a young girl at the time. It was illegal for her abusers to have sex with her. Yet the police did not tackle that obvious crime. A grooming gang is known to have operated in an area of Walsall with a large Pakistani population. The victim says that her abusers are still at large today, abusing other young girls.
Political correctness continues
It is good to see a dedicated unit set up to address grooming gang crimes. This is not before time, but it is at least better late than never. I hope that Greater Manchester Police has learnt some lessons from the huge failures around grooming gangs that have been exposed. Whether they have remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the recent government report into the characteristics of grooming gangs refused to consider religion or Islam as a factor. If the government refuses to address this subject with plain language, you can be sure the police will be very cautious. Every time I learn more about these grooming gangs I wonder: How many more girls will we sacrifice to political correctness?’https://christianconcern.com/comment/over-800-grooming-gang-offenders-in-greater-manchester-alone/
Abortion is MURDER and ‘Since March 2020, over 70,000 women in England and Wales have undergone DIY home abortion.
Abortion pills are being sent to women by abortion providers after calls as short as 30 minutes, without any face to face assessment, identity checks or ultra sound scans to see how far into the pregnancy the women are.
The abortion industry claims these new measures are “safe, ethical and effective” however the evidence suggests the total opposite.
Care for Women is a partnership of UK pro-life groups seeking to compassionately expose and detail the true impact these pills are having on women’s health and society at large through stories, data gathering and discussion.
We share a deep concern, not just for the unborn babies killed by these pills, but for the women taking them, without any in-person medical supervision, often totally alone. We care for women.‘https://www.careforwomen.co.uk/
Here’s a little background. It was ‘In March 2020, just before the first national lockdown began, a notice appeared on the government website, which appeared to allow women to conduct their own medical abortions at home.
Outcry followed and the notice was removed, the government confessing that it had been ‘published in error’. Any visitors to the website were reassured that there would “be no changes to abortion regulations.”
Back in Parliament, Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, assured the House of Commons that “We have no proposals to change any abortion rules as part of the covid-19 response.” And Health Minister Lord Bethell told the House of Lords, “we do not agree that women should be able to take both treatments for medical abortion at home. We believe that it is an essential safeguard that a woman attends a clinic, to ensure that she has an opportunity to be seen alone and to ensure that there are no issues.”
Yet, just days later, the government made an extraordinary U-turn, amending abortion regulations to allow women to abort their child at home.
Since then, over 70,000 women in England and Wales in the UK, have undergone DIY home abortion.’https://www.careforwomen.co.uk/diy-abortion-history
The Bible speaks of fornication, adultery and men with men working that which is unseemly, as sin! The following article is speaking abut what has become known in and out of the churches as sexual abuse. The ‘abuse’ spoken of in the following article began with an older man when the woman was 26 and ended when she was 38. I am not blaming the woman alone but I am saying these two professed to be ‘Christians’ when they were committing this sin! Personally, I believe both should be questioning their relationship with the Lord Jesus!
Now, there are many things that stand out in the articles being written on this ‘abuse’ matter but at least to this blogger there are three things that stand out.
One is that BOTH professed to know the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour while committing fornication! There is definitely a heart (spiritual) problem here. Have these people considered the fact they may not be saved.? 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Secondly, while this sin continued this long this man, David Sills, was able to move about the Southern Baptist Convention teaching and preaching while committing adultery!!!! The word ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ is thrown around a lot in the churches and ‘Christian’ organizations such as the schools and seminaries but where is the accountability?
Thirdly, it is stated https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/religion/2019/03/12/louisville-southern-baptist-seminary-professor-accused-sex-abuse/3130024002/ that this same man, ‘Sills had been hired at a missionary agency outside the Southern Baptist Convention’!!!! There’s always a job for one of the Good Ole Boys no matter what they have been doing!!!!
Those churches and organizations, in this case the Southern Baptist Convention, say they are preaching the Gospel when in reality they are not preaching the Gospel as found in the Word of God where there is repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 20:21! There’s sin in the camp and there is seemingly NO repentance or discipline administered in the churches or the denominational organizations and these things ought not so to be, James 3:10!!! Now, the articles say ‘Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing.
In the spring of 2019, Lyell, then a well-respected leader in Christian publishing, decided to publicly disclose that she was a survivor of sexual abuse.
She did so after learning her abuser, a former Southern Baptist seminary professor, author and missionary, had recently returned to ministry. Lyell feared he would once again have the opportunity to abuse others and wanted to stop that from happening.
So she wrote up a statement detailing the abuse and shared it with a reporter from a Christian news organization. Then things went terribly wrong.
Instead of reporting she had been abused, Nashville-based Baptist Press, which is overseen by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, reported in March 2019 that Lyell, then a vice president at Lifeway Christian Resources, had admitted being involved in a “morally inappropriate relationship” with her former professor.
The fallout was quick and devastating. Lyell was labeled on social media as an “adulteress” rather than an abuse survivor, with users leaving scores of vile comments about her on Lifeway’s Facebook page and the Baptist Press website. Pastors and churches called for her to be fired. She lost her reputation, her job and even her health in the process.
The article was eventually retracted, but the damage was done.
Lyell told Religion News Service she wished she had never gone public. Instead of receiving support and compassion, she found herself trying to convince critics she was not responsible for the abuse she had experienced at the hands of the former professor.
“It takes years and years to recover from trauma, and no one should be in the position of having to explain it to the whole public while they’re still trying to do that,” she said.’ https://churchleaders.com/news/392768-how-complementarianism-fueled-a-culture-of-abuse-in-the-church-for-jennifer-lyell.html
More of this sad story may be read at https://julieroys.com/jennifer-lyells-life-fell-apart/?mc_cid=9d9bbc3a95&mc_eid=b13d34ad49 and https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/a-statement-from-baptist-press/ and https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/religion/2019/03/12/louisville-southern-baptist-seminary-professor-accused-sex-abuse/3130024002/
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
The other day I ran the article SBC DISFELLOWSHIPS 4 TENNESSEE CHURCHES. One of those churches booted out of the SBC had as its Pastor since 2014 a man who had earlier pled guilty and was convicted of statutory rape. Below is from https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914bba0add7b04934797a7b which details some of the charges. This was a married man of 31 and pastoring a Baptist church! It is disgusting to read NOT only what this man did to a girl of 16 but that he was called to pastor another Southern Baptist Church JUST DOWN THE ROAD after his conviction! This brings up the fact that (1) this man is probably not born again and fits what Paul speaks about in Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.!
Secondly, there is the matter that the church that called him after committing and being convicted of this SIN in a court of law called this man to be their supposed Shepherd is a partaker of his evil deeds. Again, let it be said that the church which this man pastored at the time of his crime was ONLY SIX MILES FROM THE Antioch Baptist CHURCH THAT LATER CALLED HIM TO BE THEIR PASTOR! Didn’t those at Antioch Baptist call the other church for a reference or read the papers or listen to the radio or watch the news on television to be aware of this man’s sin!? Are those at Antioch Baptist unsaved as well! This man was disqualified from being a pastor!! The church at Corinth had sin in its midst and Paul wrote to that church saying the sin they were allowing was not so much as named among the Gentiles or we could say it this way, even the unsaved didn’t allow that sin.
Read what is circled below and I am sure your reaction will be, or should be, one of disgust, anger and questioning whether those in these two churches know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. Perhaps we need to be reminded of 1Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
2Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Sadly, the following is not unique within the SBC only but something is terribly wrong that these things continue to occur! As the Lord Jesus said several times ‘have ye not read’ seems to apply to the following churches!
‘A Southern Baptist Convention church affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Sevier County Association of Baptists is one of four churches that have been disfellowshipped by the SBC Executive Committee.
Antioch Baptist Church in Sevierville was dropped for employing a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape. Also disfellowshiped for affirming homosexuality were Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Ga., and St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. West Side Baptist Church in Sharpsville, Pa., was disfellowshiped for employing as its pastor a registered sex offender.
The EC decisions came during an executive session following the recommendations of the SBC Credentials Committee. The decisions were announced in a plenary session at the close of its two-day meeting in Nashville on Feb. 23.
Following the SBC action, Pastor Randy Leming Jr., of Antioch Baptist Church, Sevierville, since 2014, announced his resignation on Sunday, Feb. 28. Leming declined to provide a statement to the Baptist and Reflector.
Leming pleaded guilty in 1998 to two counts of statutory rape of a minor when he served as pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Sevier County. The offenses occurred in May and June of 1994, when he was 31. He lost his appeal of the concurrent 18-month sentences he deemed harsh. (‘According to a 1998 decision in a Tennessee appeals court, Leming was 31 and a pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Sevier County in 1994 when he performed oral sex on a 16-year-old victim on two occasions. Shiloh Baptist is within six miles of the Antioch church.’ https://julieroys.com/abuser-resigns-pastor-church-ousted-southern-baptist/?mc_cid=fb1c3d299d&mc_eid=b13d34ad49)
The SBC repurposed the Credentials Committee in 2019 to make inquiries and recommendations for action regarding instances of sexual abuse, racism or other issues that call into question a church’s relationship with the SBC.
“We take no pleasure in recommending that a church is not in friendly cooperation with the convention,” Credentials Committee chairman Mike Lawson told Baptist Press. “We would like nothing more than for all our churches to be in harmony on such vital issues. But when the available information shows clearly that we are not, it is necessary to take action.
“We are grieved, but we believe it was the right decision to recommend and will continue to pray for all involved,” Lawson said.
The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board was not informed of the SBC’s decision to disfellowship Antioch Baptist Church until after the decision was reported by The Tennessean on Feb. 23, according to Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB.
“Now that this has been brought to our attention, we will begin the process to better understand the circumstances surrounding Antioch Baptist Church’s situation,” Davis said. “The SBC Executive Committee had a full year to work through its process and to better understand the situation. It is important that Tennessee Baptists also understand the complexities.”’https://baptistandreflector.org/sevierville-pastor-resigns-after-sbc-disfellowships-church/?mc_cid=fb1c3d299d&mc_eid=b13d34ad49
If only half of what is detailed in the following article is true it is too much!
‘A key court ruling last week will allow a sexual abuse lawsuit to proceed against Paul Pressler, a high-profile Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) conservative leader.
Pressler, who helped lead the “conservative resurgence” within the SBC and was the SBC’s first vice president, now stands accused of raping and repeatedly sexually abusing a Houston man.
The alleged victim, Duane Rollins Jr., claims the abuse began when he was 14 years old, and continued for 24 years.
Pressler, 90, has denied any wrongdoing.
Previously, a lower court had ruled that Rollins’ case exceeded the statute of limitations. However, on Friday, a Texas appellate court reversed the lower court ruling, stating that Rollins was unable to report the abuse sooner due to suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
An affidavit signed by Rollins’ psychologist testifies that Rollins was so psychologically manipulated by Pressler that he did not understand he had been abused until 2015.
The lawsuit by Rollins not only names Pressler, but also Paige Patterson, former president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and architect of the conservative resurgence. Also named are SWBTS, the SBC, a lawyer, and two Texas Baptist churches.
“(The abuse) was all done while Pressler and this seminary professor Paige Patterson were working on this ‘conservative resurgence,’” said Rollins’ lawyer Daniel Shea in an interview with The Roys Report. “A lot of meetings at Pressler’s home when Rollins was there. They should have had some reason to believe that something funny was going on.”
Rollins worked for Pressler at his home office as a “special office assistant,” according to the lawsuit.
As a former SBC executive, the SBC must answer for Pressler’s actions, Shea added. “[There’s] a legal theory that says you’re responsible for the acts of [your employee.] That’s why all these other defendants are involved.”
The SBC, however, denies responsibility for Pressler’s alleged abuse.
“The convention was not involved or connected in any way with the harms that Mr. Rollins alleges,” SBC attorney James Guenther said. “Additionally, the convention did not have control over or any duty to control Mr. Pressler or any of the other defendants. So, none of the facts necessary to assert any valid claim against the convention is present. The convention is simply not responsible if another defendant in this case engaged in any wrongdoing. In any event, we continue to monitor the developments in the case.”
Rollins’ addictions to alcohol and other drugs resulted in several prison sentences. Between these and other jobs, Rollins worked for Pressler as an assistant over a period of 24 years, the lawsuit said. Rollins also attended Pressler’s church.
Pressler agreed to pay Rollins $1,500 a month for 25 years to settle another lawsuit with Rollins. That lawsuit stemmed from an altercation in a hotel room in 2003, where Pressler allegedly assaulted Rollins. According to court documents, Pressler paid Rollins so Rollins wouldn’t disclose the cause of the fight.
The lawsuit alleges that Rollins didn’t realize Pressler had abused him until Rollins received psychological counseling in prison and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Lawsuit documents said that Pressler used Scripture and claims that he was in contact with God to manipulate Rollins. Pressler reportedly told Rollins that his sexual abuse was “our secret freedom, no one but God would understand.”
“A psychologist at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice […] intervened on Rollins and brought him to the realization for the first time that his relationship with Pressler was neither ‘God approved’ nor some kind of ‘Divine Plan,’” the lawsuit states.
In a letter to Rollins included in court documents, Pressler claimed he knew that God would bless Rollins.
Other men have also accused Pressler of sexual abuse. These include musician Toby Twining and lawyer Brooks Schott.
Pressler and Patterson were once among SBC leaders commemorated in a series of stained-glass windows at SWBTS. Those windows were removed after Patterson was fired for covering up a rape allegation and saying he would “break down” the victim of another rape.’https://julieroys.com/sex-abuse-lawsuit-pressler/?mc_cid=299d0cc645&mc_eid=b13d34ad49
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