Man Sues Church After Being Slain in the Spirit
A man has filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against Lakewind Church of Knoxville, Tennessee for failing to have catchers available during a church service. According to the lawsuit, Matthew Lincoln, a 58-year old recording engineer, was slain in the Spirit when touched on the forehead by a visiting preacher named Robert Lavala. Lincoln claims that the fall aggravated a degenerative disc condition that he had had in his neck and back.
The lawsuit claims that Lakewind negligently failed to provide catchers when it knew or should have known to do so.
Well for one thing I think the amount sued for is
way too high.
Although there may be some very legitamite cases,
the precedent of starting to sue churches and pastors
may open up a Pandora’s Box and lead eventually
to persecution and/or futher prejudice against Christians.
There is also the problem about the Bible saying a
Christian should not sue another Christian, but rather
settle such things within the body of Christ.
Peter,
If I hung a banner over the altar area that said, “We supply no backstops and no coverers. Fall at your own risk.” could we avoid legal responsibility for such shenanigans?
slw,
I’m sure that the defense lawyer wishes that there was some sign like that somewhere in the building. I told my wife that, at least in Texas, the defense could claim that God was the contributing cause.
In the early days of the Healing Movement, preachers like Alexander Dowie were hauled into court many times. The usual charge was practicing medicine without a license.
The tough thing about lawsuits against churches today is that churches have begun to operate more and more like ordinary, secular businesses. Consequently, they are less likely to receive sympathy from the courts or even from juries.
Peter,
I like your reasoning, “acts of God” have long been established as mitigating in common law. Maybe the banner should read, “If God drops you, he’ll have to catch you!”
slw,
An itinerant friend of mine told me about a church where he was asked to preach and the pastor told him that he didn’t want anyone to fall under the power of the Spirit. In fact, the church didn’t provide “catchers” for any visiting preacher.
My minister-friend usually doesn’t have people fall out, but on that Sunday every one fell - most almost violently. I laugh about that every time I think about it.
In the first place, if he were really slain in the spirit, he WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HURT !.. I have been slain many times with “no catchers” and I have NOT EVER been hurt. God knows what he is doing and will not let harm come to his children.
When a person is slain in the spirit, and yes i have been, this is what happens…the spirit of the Lord can roll you on the floor and never hit anything or anyone, you can rejoice around a hot potbelly stove like the saints of old did and never get burned, you can run up and down the isles while others can be rejoicing and never touch or hit anyone else…When you rejoice in the Lord… you are not so out of your mind that you dont know what you are doing.. when the spirit of the Lord is upon a person… or some may say the annointing of God is upon a person… the holyghost is going to lead you, the holyghost is a guider, the holyghost is gentle.. and you will walk in all truth… now if you are rejoicing and you are in self and wanting to be seen.. or have another motive for jumping and screamin at the top of your lounges and people are looking at you like you lost your mind.. then yes one would expect you to injure yourself. thats not the spirit of God when you get injured, and i know its not the spirit of the Lord working for a so called man of God.. to walk in the house of God and all this hapened and then he sue the church.. he really isnt sueing the church , he is stealing and robbing God. the devil will act a fool with anyone who is willing to be used. As far as the church providing “catchers” this is not a God thing but a man thing… when the holyghost is moving and people fall out under the power of God…you might go down but i kow from experience out of the 25 years i have been saved and filled with the holyghost… i have never ever injured myself. Any pastor or minister asking the speaker to not let the people fall out.. has already moved God out of the church. I think this guy had the wrong idea when he entered the church at his own free will…….i think he divised a plan and used the church as his scapegoat ..this man is 58 years old had a back problem when he walked in the church… and saw a oportunity to “get paid”. I feel this man is lazy and if he happens to win this case.. his back hasnt even begun to hurt, his disc havent even begun to aggrevate him. God will not let him enjoy this money, why???? cus when you try to destroy the house of God, believe me.. he will only get so far before God calls him into judgement. What he needs to do is REPENT and ask God to forgive him because when God starts to repay him for this act he has done against the house of God.against his people….he will be crying for Gods mercy,i know i personally wouldnt want to be in his shoes…Vengence is mine saith the Lord, i will repay…
If the Holy Spirit was involved do you think he would allow this man to be hurt?
Posted by Pastor Joe
Everybody don’t go to church for the same reason just aseverybody don’t go to there place of work, Elected positions, Job, school etc. A system has been put in place for people like this gentleman by our courts. Lawyers are promoting this kind of behavior on our TV’s and people are taking advantage of the system. It’s called our Justice System (Greed) and it is suppose to protect us even if we have a bad heart toward the church, place of work, school etc. All we have to do is fork up a certain portion of what we sue for and the system will justify our actions. To all Pastors, once this kind of info gets out and we have a flock of people all a sudden show up one Sunday morning don’t think it’s a move of God to quick it could very well be a move of Satan. But, don’t worry about that either because the pressure Holy Ghost will reveal to us that their are some evil spirits in our present and this I know Satan can’t look you square in your eye because He is a lier not only a lier but the Holy Scripture says He is the father of lies.
My thought is straight to the point. He is a money seeking person looking for an easy target.
I think this is not a legitimate act of the spirit. there is no Biblical precedent for being slain in the spirit and surely God would have prevented this man from hurting himself. Also after he hurt his back why didn’t the pastor heal him? I think this church is probably a bogus church. I am very skeptical about any miraculous gifts ministry. My understanding that the miracles in scripture were pretty extreme such as restoring limbs, raising from the dead, healing blindness and I have not seen anything more dramatic than healing invisible aches and pains. This is real hocus pocus that fuels pastors ego’s and fills their pockets. maybe they deserve to be sued!
Bozo Bob,
Actually there is precedent for being slain in the Spirit in the Bible. First off, the priests were slain in the Spirit when the Temple was dedicated in the Old Testament. Second, when the guards came to arrest Jesus they were slain in the Spirit. Finally, when you sit down and analyze Luke’s account and Paul’s testimony of his experience on the road to Damascus, it is apparent that all the men were slain in the Spirit.
What a shame that people are so up tight for money that they actually believe that they can sue God AND go to heaven at the same time. My prayer for this situation is for is three fold: 1) that these people to truly come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour; 2) that the will of God be done in this case in a way that whomever is “at fault” it will be proven and shown to the world in a manner that there is no doubt; 3) that the Church will arise from sleep and recognize the signs of the times that we live in.