It started as a standard church meeting, but a Sevierville man claims it left him broken and bruised. Andrew Byrd of Sevierville has filed a lawsuit against the Family Chapel Church of God in Pigeon Forge, saying he was assaulted by church leaders on Feb. 21, 2012. After nearly a year later, Byrd is taking action against the church. In the lawsuit filed in Sevier County on Feb. 15, Byrd says he went to what he thought was just a regular meeting at the church. He says just a few minutes after the meeting began, he was thrown to the ground, beaten and told that demons were being cast out of him.
Everyone knows you can’t beat the demons out. Everyone knows that… Well, almost everyone… Everyone except the pentebabbleists who – like the ‘Enthusiasts’ of the 16th century- don’t need Scripture since they, they erroneously believe, have the Spirit.
Modern Montanism. That’s what it is. But this did make me smile… just a bit…
Byrd says Pastor Joel Arwood and his wife Theresa Arwood requested he attend the meeting there. The suit claims that during the meeting, Theresa said he had a “demon or spirit that needed to be cast out.” The suit alleges the pastor and his wife, along with a man named Charles Shields, all of Sevierville, pushed him to the ground and held him there while Pastor Arwood struck him and Theresa shouted instructions. Byrd says he begged to be released, but they wouldn’t let him go. The suit claims that afterward, Pastor Arwood told the congregation he had “punched the devil and knocked the devil’s tooth out.”
He. Knocked. The. Devil’s. Tooth. Out….. HA! That’s priceless. You can’t make that stuff up.