Seth and Brian Imprison Itinerant Pastor:
The Daily Tar Heel prints a background of the exciting episode!
I helped put a man in jail the other day. I’ll tell you the whole story later, but as for now, the Daily Tar Heel printed a synopsis of the man’s stay in Chapel Hill. Here it is:
Ambitious evangelist banned from UNC
Two weeks ago, self-proclaimed evangelist Timothy James Sweet was spreading the Gospel in the Pit and the Student Union.
Last week he was in Wilkes County Jail.
Now, having been banned from entering UNC’s campus and rejected by University evangelical groups, he is deciding whether to forgive or just to move on.
“There’s absolutely nothing I’ve done wrong,” he said Wednesday at the Carolina Coffee Shop on Franklin Street. “I hope the truth comes out.”
Sweet, 27, said he came to Chapel Hill to share his faith, leaving a steady job as a newspaper reporter and turning down several offers of church pastorships.
But here he has no income, no job, lives out of his car and his savings have just about run out.
“Christ suffered for our sins,” Sweet said. “I can suffer for those who don’t know him.”
His plan is to build up local support, with churches and religious groups contributing to a salary.
Though Sweet said InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade for Christ have been open to him, leaders of both groups have been quick to distance themselves.
“We know a little bit about him, but we are not affiliated,” said Chad McGhee, a group leader in Crusade. “We don’t think he’s a real pastor or has any credentials.”
And his legal difficulties began at a Feb. 16 InterVarsity event.
The group was holding a prayer vigil, University Baptist Church campus coordinator Nathan Rogers said, when Sweet reportedly disrupted by beginning to preach.
Several women participating contacted Department of Public Safety officers after becoming uncomfortable, Rogers said. Sweet said he was at the event but was not acting improperly.
Sweet was issued a trespassing warning, then transported to Wilkes County, where he had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on charges of speeding 95 mph in a 65 mph zone, driving with a suspended license and reckless driving to endanger.
He was released from jail on Feb. 20. Four days later, he was arrested for trespassing in the Rams Head parking deck at UNC.
Campus groups have been asked to notify DPS if they see Sweet on campus so they can arrest him.
But Sweet said that the Wilkes County charges stemmed from speeding tickets for which he was not notified of a court date and that the trouble on campus came because of false allegations of harassment.
“I assume it’s because I’m vocal, and if they don’t want to hear about Christ, it’ll make them mad,” he said. He added that he might file civil lawsuits against several University community members who he said have created a negative image of him.
Sweet received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and religion at Penn State University, then earned a master’s degree in divinity in church leadership at Liberty University. He had expected to preach at a church.
But he said he couldn’t find peace. So he gave away his possessions, prayed and came to UNC.
His future plans include staying in Chapel Hill for about 10 years, graduating law school, becoming a traveling preacher and running for president of the United States.
But if his March 31 appeal of the campus ban is unsuccessful, and his reception at UNC doesn’t improve, he said he’ll move along.
“If slander is spreading, do I really want to stay here?”
Oh dear… The Pit Preacher is leaving. He’s become almost iconic to Universities in the triangle. I mean, who else has a crazy, racist nutcase preacher all to themselves?
I must know how you were involved in the arrest.
Hi, you don’t know me, but I found this article through Google. We dealt with Tim Sweet while he was at Penn State. Do you know what happened at his March 31st appeal? He is contacting us again now, and any information you could give us would be helpful. Thank you.
Thank you – I don’t know how to get in touch with you though. If you want to give me an email address or phone number, I can help you out.
You actually didn’t do anything to me. This picture was taken off-campus near Panera Bread. I asked the campus newspaper to write a story about me one month prior to this article being written.
I forgive you though, young man, for your misplaced enthusiasm.
Update:
Bogus charge of trespassing was dropped a year ago in Spring 2008.
I chose not to sue anyone, though I probably would have won easily (1 Corinthians 6:7).
I have many good friends in Chapel Hill, N.C.
I lived as a homeless man, worked a job, and wanted to see what the reception would be like.
I found out.
God bless you, in Jesus’ name.
Timothy Sweet
B.A. (2)
M.A.R.
M.Div. cand.
Update: He recently was in Lynchburg, VA from Sept. 08 to June 09. He is a magnet to places that have a large mega church because he can blend in easily for a while until he becomes ambitious. He is obsessed about getting married and pursues those who don’t wish to be pursued. Please for those of you who read this in the future, he needs help, professional help, please be careful around him and be protective of the woman around you.
Update:
More self-proclaimed Christians, esp. those “Big Wigs” will be in hell after this life, than most think. Lies and coercion, no matter how well played, are still lies.
Any single man and any single woman is lying if they do not wish to marry someday. Yes, I wish to marry. But there are far too many weirdo women out there, so it can be hard to navigate around the wackos.
I am of no harm to anyone.
Thanks for the continued slander though, it will only make me stronger.
God bless you, three times,
Tim Sweet
To Jerry Falwell Jr. and Jonathan Falwell, the Apple falls VERY, VERY FAR from the tree:
UPDATED: Liberty University professor charged with sex crime
UPDATED Monday @ 10:39 a.m. by Tim Saunders
Court documents indicate Joshua Moon’s accused victim is a woman.
In an arrest warrant, investigators accuse Moon of committing “animate object sexual penetration” and claim that his crime was accomplished “through the use of the victim’s mental incapacity or physical helplessness.” The charge Moon is currently facing is a felony.
Moon is being held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg without bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 1 at 11:00 a.m. in Lynchburg General District Court.
UPDATED: Monday @ 10:31 a.m.
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — A Liberty University spokesman says an instructor has been fired after being charged with a undisclosed sex crime.
Lynchburg General District Court records show assistant math professor Joshua Young Moon was charged with object sexual penetration by force Thursday. Moon is scheduled for arraignment May 1.
Liberty spokesman Johnnie Moore confirmed Moon’s firing and declined to release further information on the case.
**********************
A professor at Liberty University lost his job and is now behind bars after being accused of a sex crime.
The school’s spokesperson confirms Joshua Young Moon no longer works for Liberty, and that he has been accused of a crime.
According to the school’s website, Moon was in the Department of Mathematics.
Court records say Moon faces a sex charge. Records say this happened on Tuesday, and Moon was arrested on Thursday.
He’s scheduled to be in court May 1.
SOURCE: http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=10249660
It’s been 20 months since “Seth and Brian” decided to take much pride and happiness in exercising their 1st Amendment rights.
Good for you.
To anyone who reads this:
If I have offended you in any way, I would like to apologize for my actions. I was irresponsible for speeding. I am sorry. There is never a good reason to speed. No excuses. I was irresponsible. For those of you who say I have directly offended you, feel free to contact me so that I can offer you a direct apology.
I have not protected myself very well from ridicule and slander, and for that I would like to apologize directly to my mom, to my friends, and others who have felt the ripple effect of my poor choices. I’m at a public computer so my time is almost up.
I’m just very sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused others.
I am very hurt by the false slander spread about me also, but I also recognize that I need to make better choices and ask your forgiveness.
Tim Sweet
He has NOT received a MDIV from LU.
Fact check (for the nosy bunch that hide behind an Internet veil):
Tim Sweet
B.A. Journalism
B.A. Religious Studies
Penn State University
University Park, Pa.
December 2003
M.A.R. Religion
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
Lynchburg, Va.
October 2008.
I have many credits toward my MDIV (Master of Divinity)
Two semesters short of completion.
I choose to go to law school WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
I choose not to be a pastor or evangelist.
THAT IS NOT MY CALLING.
THAT IS WHY I HAVE HAD THE LACK OF PEACE AND THE FRICTION DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS.
(1) Most pastors don’t even have one Master’s degree
(2) Seminary is expensive and frankly a waste of money considering pastors are often treated like rubbish and eventually betrayed, and secondly, they generally do not make a high enough salary to justify the expenses of continued education.
(3) I am NOT CALLED TO BE A PASTOR OR EVANGELIST.
(4) I AM CALLED to be a lawyer and trust God for the results in a career in law and government.
God knows you and I better than we know ourselves.
God knew that for me to leave vocational church ministry, i.e., being a psator, that it would take having me nearly hate the church and Christianity.
Back to UNC:
The UNC campus newspaper article about me has MANY INACCURACIES.
I’ll be sure to address in totality a lot of issues at a later time, but thank you for pointing out the error by UNC’s student newspaper. Good job.
Unfortunately, malicious slander, defamation, discrimination, and prior restraint are common place in today’s American culture — a culture that has become increasingly more hostile to conservativism and Judeo-Christian beliefs during the past 40 to 50 years.
I’ll close by lifting up and praising the following groups and people:
(1) Liberty University, Liberty University School of Law and Liberty Theological Seminary. If you are looking for a quality education from a private, evangelical university or graduate school, Liberty has much to offer.
(2) InterVarsity, a great place to develop quality relationships and learn more about God and Jesus Christ in a fun and non-threatening or “preachy” environment.
(3) Campus Crusade (Cru), likewise, is awesome.
(4) Many churches, of all sizes and denominations, are awesome, and I thank God for creating the church, even though many times Christians do not behave in a manner worthy of their namesake, and bring much dishonor and pain to Christ and the in-fighting is a huge turn off to people that are watching and wondering why in the world they would want to be a Christian, go to church, read their Bible, and pray to God in Jesus’ name, if Christians backstab and lie and fight amongst each other.
They can find that anywhere else, perhaps in their own homes or at their places of work.
Again, I’ll address this more later, but in my relatively short life of 28 years, I have seen firsthand pastors that got fired from churches for no good reason whatsoever, and men and ladies that have been banned from churches or groups in a powerplay by corrupt leaders.
Until 2005, I never was the recipient of this UGLY SIDE OF MINISTRY, CHURCH AND RELIGION.
fOUR YEARS AGO, at Baptist Bible Seminary in Pennsylvania, a pastor/professor with much influence abused his authority and blackballed me as far as he could.
To this day, I am very thankful to Pastor Dave Akers and Pastor Toby Locke, two of my fellow seminarians at the time, stood beside me in this difficult period in my life.
But I’m not the first to get the short end of the stick, and I won’t be the last. And many others have gone through much worse. I know pastors that were fired without just cause, who had five kids to feed and a wife to support.
To quote a youth pastor friend of mine, “church is a messy business.”
For any of you out there that have been betrayed, falsely accused and alsndered, DON’T QUIT, DON’T LOSE HEART.
Though you may battle depression, anger, bitterness and the like, REMEMBER that THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN that in his PERMISSIVE WILL allowed your situation to unravel just as it did.
It is important to not dwell on the pain too long, because the next blessing does not want to be missed.
From the Book of Genesis:
Joseph was sold in to slavery by his own brothers. In fact, they first wanted to murder him in the middle of nowhere and let the wild animals cover their tracks.
God protected Joseph.
While in slavery, just as Joseph started to gain favor in the eyes of the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh’s wife tried to seduce Joseph.
Joseph did nothing wrong.
He wisely resisted and even ran out of the room, with his honor intact.
Yet, God saw to it that this woman lie to her husband and say that Joseph tried to rape her.
Joseph wsa imprisoned, and severely mistreated.
However, Joseph REMAINED OBEDIENT TO GOD AND DID NOT QUIT.
I am sure he was angry, bitter, and depressed at times, but HE NEVER QUIT, and eventually became 2nd in command in ruling over Egypt.
In a twist of ironic fate, a famine struck the land where Joseph’s brother’s lived, so they travelled to Egypt to get food for their people.
Who did they come begging to for food, decades later:
You guessed it, Joseph, the “Vice President” of Egypt.
Don’t give up, and God will bless you.
TRUTH (for a change):
FEBRUARY 2008
FACT
The UNC-Chapel Hill Police Department are guilty of:
PRIOR RESTRAINT
FALSE ARREST
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
I AM ENTITLED TO DAMAGES ALSO FOR:
UNDUE HARM
TIME LOST TO WORK
PUBLIC EMBARASSMENT DUE TO SAID LAW VIOLATIONS BY UNC-CHAPEL HILL POLICE
–
MARCH 2009
FACT:
The Liberty University Police Department is now guilty by law of:
PRIOR RESTRAINT
DISCRIMINATION
OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Following the Liberty University Police Department’s cowardly, abhorrent actions and Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.’s lack of corrective action, I was also victimized by the Lynchburg City Police Department.
The Lynchburg City Police Department is guilty of:
Misdemeanor Assault and Battery.
False Arrest.
Harassment.
Discrimination and/or Other Civil Rights Violations.
Lawsuits pending:
Timothy Sweet v. UNC-Chapel Hill Police Department and/or UNC-Chapel Hill for
PRIOR RESTRAINT
DISCRIMINATION
OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Timothy Sweet v. Lynchburg City Police Department for
Misdemeanor Assault and Battery.
False Arrest.
Harassment.
Discrimination and/or Other Civil Rights Violations.
TIMOTHY SWEET AND LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
As of the 1st week of November 2009, I am currently awaiting an official response by Jerry Falwell Jr., Chancellor of Liberty University and have yet to initiate legal action against the Liberty University Police Department, Charlie Davidson, or others.
Should Liberty University compensate me fairly with a financial settlement out-of-court as brother in Christ, one to another, for their role in discrimination and malicious slander/defamation and for causing undue harm and public humiliation; then I will drop all lawsuits pending against the Lynchburg City Police Department.
LIBEL AND DEFAMATION VIA ONLINE MEDIA TRANSMISSION
The UNC Daily Tar Heel student newspaper removed their internet article when asked.
Ankit Gupta, the photographer of the bearded wacko in the photo above, may yet be sued unless he issues a retraction and factually states exactly where that photograph was taken and under what context it was taken in.
This was a stock photo shot of me posing on a public sidewalk next to a Panera Bread in Chapel Hill, N.C., and I was not preaching, but simply posing for his photo shot.
Andrew Dunn, the student reporter who wrote this article, wrote a juicer story with a buzz, mostly because of my own poor choices to be dumb enough get speeding tickets and turn myself into the police, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, trying to learn firsthand what it is like to be homeless, while writing a book about my experiences.
Mr. Dunn has numerous inaccuracies and embellishments in his article, so he will fit in nicely with the rest of the “real” news media in the future, especially liberal wings such as The New York Times and MSNBC.
In closing, my chances of being President of the United States are about as good as getting struck by lightning — 100 times, a day, for 100 years, and surivivng each time.
That said, my calling was misplaced and that is why I lacked peace every time job offers in churches presented themselves, or why all hell broke lose around me with shady cops or shady liberals becoming a nuisance.
I am called to be an attorney, and have political and cultural influence.
Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, so I will trust my God and live on day at a time in obedience to God and do my best, despite my many imperfections, to achieve God’s plan for my life.
Not I, But Christ.
Thy Will, Not My Will.