TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Bible in hand, Micah Armstrong strides into the middle of a small group of students at the University of Alabama and starts preaching.
You're going to hell if you drink beer, he says. You're going to hell if you curse. You're going to hell if you smoke dope, masturbate, fornicate, watch a Hollywood movie, listen to rap, read Harry Potter books or attend most Protestant churches, Armstrong says.
Homosexuals are hellbound, too, he says. So are women with low-cut tops, short hair, pants or jobs.
"Women have two places: In front of the sink and behind the vacuum," Armstrong proclaims.
"Ooooh," moans the crowd, now swelled to at least 250 people.
Armstrong springs forward on one foot, thumping his Bible as he lands. "Yeee-ah," shouts a heckler, mimicking Howard Dean's campaign scream and dressed like Armstrong with a low-slung cap, backpack and suspenders.
And the show goes on. For four hours.
Known to a reluctant flock as Brother Micah, Armstrong holds a near mythic status on college campuses across the eastern United States. He's spent the last two years visiting a circuit of 28 schools, preaching a fire-and-brimstone message of repentance to anyone who will listen.
"If you don't believe your sin will get you sent to hell you don't fear God. If you don't fear God, you don't know God," he told students during a stop last week at Alabama, often ranked among the nation's top party schools.
Next, Armstrong says, it's back to the University of Mississippi. He's also been to Florida State, Cincinnati, Georgia Southern, Central Florida, North Carolina and Florida Atlantic, to name a few.
Armstrong's harangues sometimes provoke debate, sometimes laughter. Shouting matches between Armstrong and offended students are frequent. So are questions — some serious, some, well, not so serious.
"Brother Micah, can God microwave a burrito so hot he can't eat it?" a student with dreadlocks called from the crowd.
"Chuck Norris can!" someone screeched, prompting a roar.
Micah just kept preaching.
"You say sorority girls are whores," another guy called from the throng. "Is there one in particular I could go to?"
Armstrong paused, rubbed his face and kept preaching.
You can question Armstrong's theology all you want, and many do. Critics say Brother Micah claims to be sinless and is so focused on scaring hell out of people that he has forgotten the things they see in God — love, forgiveness, charity.
"I'm a pretty strong believer, and it bothers me that he's out here turning people away," said graduate student Jeremy Yarbrough, 29.
Armstrong, 40, and his wife Elizabeth attend a church near Tampa, Fla., when they can, but home is a camper. They say a few churches and supporters fund their open-air preaching, which is primarily in the Southeast but extends into the nation's midsection.
"Our whole purpose is to spread the gospel," said Armstrong. Originally from Louisville, Ky., he was a street preacher in Miami's South Beach before hitting the road.
"He's been everywhere. He's a cult figure," said Sally Linder, a spokeswoman for Ohio University, where Armstrong made a stop last year.
Armstrong — who adopted the name of the biblical prophet Micah — is reserved during an interview. He said he's purposely outrageous at times to draw a crowd, then tones down the rhetoric, sits down and talks to people.
"People say, `Oh, they're making fun of you. They're not listening.' But they do listen,'" Armstrong said.
He's right. Many in the crowd at Alabama brought Bibles with them, thumbing through pages to check out verses as he spoke. Others left discussing faith in a way normally reserved for religion classes.
A delivery worker who spent nearly 30 minutes out of his truck listening to Armstrong said the preacher is at least making people think, whether they like him or not. "There's good in it," he said.
Avery Dame doesn't like Armstrong's message, yet the junior loves what his visits do for the campus.
"It's the one time people care about something. He's such a big jerk everyone kind of unites against him," Dame said.
Maybe, but they love the act.
The crowd dwindled quickly after Armstrong took a water break and let a couple of friends preach. Students soon were chanting "Micah! Micah!" and they cheered when he stepped back atop a small brick wall to resume the tirade against alcohol, homosexuals ... name it.
"I love you sinners enough to rebuke you," he said. "I don't want you to go to hell."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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TerryH
Thank you for your prayers.
Star2,
I pray that God will bless your ministry. We need more people sharing the word of God with the passion I can detect in your heart. Thanks for your posts.
Having just had my message refused for unacceptable language that used a citation from Mark 9:42-48 I must say that I will not be back to this website. If YOU claim to be followers of Christ and reject His word like this God has no part in you at all. "Hell," is in fact Jesus' favorite subject whether you all like it or not!
Gen 1_28,
Actually the Word does forbid married women from working for any man.
Yes women could have businesses where they would make something and go into the market and sell the goods to other women.
But when a married woman works for any other man than her husband she is disobeying God..
As for alcohol, the Word does say no drunkards will inherit the kingdom of God but I don't necessarily think that it forbids any and all alcohol.. you are correct.
ifeelfine72
Why don't you share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people you help materially?
ifeelfine72
Re:Are you continuing with that ministry?
No. God has me doing something else right now.
Gen1_28
I don't have a problem with female preachers. I am one myself. As a side note: I do have a problem with female Pastors. I don't believe females are called by God to actually Pastor a Church body. I certaintly don't want one.
I don't believe his ministry is of God. From what I have seen in the videos made of him and his wife, they don't have a coherent message, they don't preach the gospel, there is confusion in the gathering and in the preaching, and they don't have a spiritual gift for preaching.
It seems like they just throw stuff out to the students for shock and awe. He and his wife don't aren't doing anything more than drawing attention to themselves.
They seem to be trying to emulate John the Baptist; if they are, then they are miserable failures.
I can't judge their hearts. Maybe they genuinely want people to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. I just don't believe that that is the way that God would have them do it.
Star,
One thing I was thinking- I do not know that we can absolutely say that his methodology is not from God. From what I read, I would agree with much f the content (though not all, there are certain allowances in scripture for women working in certain situations, and I don't see in scripture where it says you can't drink any alcohol).
Why would one say his methodology is incorrect?
Sure, he is loud and gives a hard message, but to tell the truth, Gods word is not usually liked, even by fellow Christians. I would rather someone "told it to me straight" then get the watered down gospel like they serve in many churches today.
Before we condemn his methodology, even if we disagree with come of his ideas or actions, let us examine the fruit of his labor in light of scripture… and with my limited knowledge of him…that looks alright to me.
ifeelfine72
I don't agree with the tatics of 'Micah' Anderson. I can't judge his heart, but I know his methods and approach are not of God. The whole thing is a fiasco.
star: Good on you for doing that! I think that it can be a wonderful way to bring people closer to God. My only concern was with the tactics not the method. Are you continuing with that ministry?
ifeelfine72
I have done street evangelism. My ministry involved preaching the gospel one-on-one with people on the street. I not only preached the gospel to people but I prayed for their needs, and fed them and/or clothed them if God moved on me to meet those material needs.
God used me to make a difference in some of these peoples lives. A few were saved. Some experienced miracles in their lives including getting physical healings, getting jobs, housing, and etc.
I preached the judgment of God and the love of God. I tried my best to share the truth in love (1 Cor 13:1-7). My prayer or hope was that God would convict them of the truth, draw them to Jesus, and save them.
(I flagged myself to add something.)
I can only agree with about half of what he is preaching. We do need to repent. Everyone of us.
ifeelfine,
No, you didn't come across as abrasive. Just wrong.
I would not call my pastor a "hellfire" preacher, though the subject of judgment day and damnation does come up, usually at the end of the Church year in a season called "End Times." We don't deny nor fear hell, but come at this from the understanding of the two great doctrines of the Bible, Law and Gospel. The Law condemns the sinner, but the Gospel snatches him/her from destruction. The Law can nudge us toward the Savior, but can't introduce Him to us. You can preach Law unti the proverbial cows come home, but the Law is the ultimate dead end. Only Gospel saves, redeems, restores.
I know of only two occasions in the Bible where "hellfire preaching" was put to some use. The one is Jonah's proclamation of God's justice to Nineveh in Jonah three. I know that we only have a summation of Jonah's message, but whatever it was, shocked a nation noted for brutality into repentance (temporary at best, but face it, the forty days came and went, and Nineveh stayed). The second is Jesus diatribe (if "diatribe" is the right word) against the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in Matt. 23. They hardly repented, and, if nothing else, pushed them to finish off Jesus by the end of that week. If there are any other instances (other than the Old Testament Prophets, assigned by God to proclaim God's wrath), please point them out. I personally feel for Jeremiah, called by God to remind Judah of approaching destruction, a voice of defeat in a sea of false proclamations of victory.
I am more inclined that Christians rebuke gently as principle, but in times of gross outbreak of sinfulness, how long can such gentleness be maintained. Thank God that it is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22, 23; number eight in the list of nine); we all can use this one.
Prophet - It doesn't make me sleep any better at night but I have noticed that you seem to take some satisfaction in that kind of eternal justice. I certainly don't but there definitely appears to be a macabre sense of "well, you'll get yours." And that is not just from you, but from some others here as well. I apologize if I offended you or came across a little abrasive.
MuggleBorn, I think you’re right on target “that Armstrong uses theatrics” to get attention from students. It is interesting, I have been checking out some Jed Smock clips on YouTube after reading the article. He is probably the most famous campus preacher. He mentored Brother Dan, an open-air preacher whom I know personally. They parted company at least in part because Jed thinks that a person has to stop sinning before they can be saved. Many of these guys may not have originally been cynical and eccentric when starting out, but they seem to eventually go that direction over years of preaching to hostile crowds that mock and jeer. Dan seems to struggle with paranoia; it does not help his rapport with fellow Christians. I’ll never forget the time when I seen Bro. Dan preaching on campus where in the midst of hecklers, tears streamed down a student’s face with whom God’s Holy Spirit was dealing with. Campus preachers are a unique breed and much different from typical street preachers in Chicago and elsewhere. Ray Comfort is one example that comes to mind. His style and content is totally different from the campus bunch.
SweetBeloved,
Thank you for the link. I understand what your point is, but after listening very closely to what was said, it doesn't seem too different than what many Christians, including myself have stated right here. We just have the advantage of clarifying our own thoughts in type, and double-checking our wiki references before we describe something that's anatomically impossible :^)
I guess I imagined something more "charismatic". The couple is somewhat hokey, but I didn't see anything unscriptural in what they were saying.
ifeelfine,
You said "Prophet: You almost seem to delight in people going to hell - that's kind of wierd."
If that makes you sleep betteer at night, feel free to believe that. But neither those words, nor that idea came from me. That comment is all you.
Hi Muggleborn,
That would be great if it were the case, but please see this link given by TerryH (thanks TH):
Check out this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2swEcsZTxPc
Prophet - I absolutely agree with you. Thank you for the clarification.
From the article, I get the impression that Armstrong uses theatrics as a way of "poking fun at the stereotype", creating an exaggerated, almost vaudeville image of what many people who don't know the Lord, have been lied to about by non-believers, and anti-Christian media. Not to say that there aren't still preachers out there with that kind "zeal", but if it's a good attention getter, than maybe those that are searching will be more likely to want to know more, and the ones that aren't ... well, would their opinions of Christians be any different, if this man were just handing out tracts?
In fact, it may attract more searching unbelievers, when their unbelieving buddies say, "Hey! You gotta come see this guy!", thinking he's a joke. When little do they know, they may actually be leading them to God.
Praise the Lord, if that's actually happening! :^)
ifeelfine,
I agree with you. You can sin and still go to heaven. But PRACTICING sin is a whole different issue altogether. Let me clarify.
If I, in a moment of weakness, drink some alcohol and get drunk, I have sinned. I ask forgiveness for my sin. I repent (which means to turn from the sin). Even if I, in a moment of weakness, get drunk, drive home, get into an accident, and die. I'll still go to heaven. That is my belief.
BUT....if I practice that sin (in other words, if I make it a habit of getting drunk, and refuse to acknowlege that it is a sin, and refuse to change), then there is no hope, until I repent and cease from practicing sin. It's a matter of the heart. If I knowingly sin, it is rebellion to God. It is saying "I don't care what you think, God. You're not worth obeying." That gets into dangerous ground. It's ground that I would not want to be treading.
I have habitual sins in my life. Just about everyone does. The question is...are you accepting the sin? Or are you trying to overcome it?
Mad Max was a professor in the engineering department at IU, Terre Haute, IN.
Before he entered into college campus ministry he invited an open-air preacher to address his class on the last day. He invited all to stay for his presentation, but offered anyone the opportunity to leave. With that Max concluded his teaching career for open-air evangelism. He was very unusual, traveled with his wife and came across very rigid when I met him at the U of I while he was passing out fliers. I never heard him preach though.
This guy is something else. I've met Mad Max (who is now deceased) and am on a first name basis with Brother Dan, this guy takes the case.
I grew up in a very abusive environment with a caretaker that brainwashed me into thinking that because my mother did not have me baptized as a baby, GOD hated me, I was going to hell and everyone that laid eyes on me would "see" that I was forsaken and would revile me. The first time I contemplated suicide I was 8 years old. I had been so utterly condemned by this professing Christian (and subsequently others that followed suit), and because of the extreme condemnation and abuse I was terrified of people, terrified t open the Bible and terrified of love!
I went looking for love in all the wrong places and seeking the truth in every other avenue except the LORD and HIS WORD (yes, new age, eastern mysticism, psychics, astrology,... you name it). Finally, when all of these avenues failed, before my last attempt at suicide, I cried out to GOD to show me the whole truth and nothing but the truth and save me. HE filled me with HIS SPIRIT and showed me L-O-V-E. HE showed me through such amazing LOVE what did not please HIM and to turn away from those things and live a holy life unto HIM. Our beautiful LORD GOD so barraged me with L-O-V-E that I risked everything in my life to follow HIM.
What I have experienced in my ministry is that people respond when you speak the truth about GOD's great LOVE mixed with understanding why GOD gave us clear warnings in HIS WORD, the utmost importance of completely turning away from what displease HIM,and that there is nothing to fear in turning to HIM.
I have had a number of gay friends and love them dearly. They had bad experiences with professing Christians who were condemning and it made them turn away. When I spoke GOD's love to them they took my Bible and opened it up and started asking me questions. Some of them wanted to know if it was too late to be saved and it opened the door for me to minister to them that it is NEVER too late to turn your life to the LORD!
Paul said he was able to speak to different groups or classes of people in their own lingo because he was given an understanding of how each group would respond to the truth and proceed accordingly. We should all use this wisdom with great compassion in ministering the goodness and severity of GOD in LOVE and in firmness.
Well said Blessedman.
Very sad, very sad. Most of the New Testament has rebukes of Christians for their sins. God tells them to be loving (hint, hint, they weren't always) and to be at peace with one another and so on. The New Testament shows a deeply flawed church, a very human church.
God describes His relationship with CHristians as being a Father spanking his kids! (Hebrews) He even goes as far as stating that someone not disciplined isn't a son at all. The clear implication is that Christians sin, and are basically just growing children.
As we grow, God digs deeper into sin. Our attitudes, our motivations, come into view. We thought we were oh-so good, until God shined more light. The older I get as a Christian, the more sin I see. Not because I sin more, but be cause I see more.
People like Micah usually short-circuit God's work in their lives. Once you concentrate on externals (how you dress, drinking, etc.) it's easy to convince yourself you are godly and righteous, even in the middle of deep sins of lovelessness and so forth. (Not to throw stones, but this is one of the great problems with holiness churches, they can cut off true maturity).
Micah can preach. But may God help him to see.
Prophet: You almost seem to delight in people going to hell - that's kind of wierd.
And actually, you can still sin and go to heaven. You will, I will. You won't get in to heaven because you're sin free - that just won't happen. There was only one without sin and we know what happened to Him! You go to heaven because Jesus paid our debt on the cross and you put your faith in Him. So you're wrong about that. But if you loved God, why would you continue sinning? The answer is you wouldn't. You would do everything in your power not to sin but act according to His word.
For me personally, at the point of my salvation the absolute truth was spoken to me. However, the truth was spoken to me in a spirit of love from a person that was sincerely concerned about my salvation not just the fact I needed to be saved, but because this person loved and cared about me enough to tell me the truth. I was 32 years old at this time and to be honest, had I been approached by someone like Mr. Anderson at that time, I would have probably knocked his behind out and still be unsaved. You are absolutely correct ifeeline72, this kind of behavior will never draw anyone to the Lord. If Mr. Anderson's thinks his behavior is that of a Christian, noone will ever become Christian. Jesus set the example of Christian conduct and I haven't found this type of behavior coming from Him.
The problem that has occured is this:
Christians hear that talking about hell is a bad way to get people saved. Shouldn't use fear. So, they begin to saturate the lost with the message of God's love. Turn Him into some big sugar daddy in the sky that will wink at your sin. And what happens? We get a bunch of freaks who believe that God is so loving that He wouldn't possibly send someone to hell because of the "way they were created". He's too lovey-dovey to do that! He's a big push-over.
And that's what sinners think. "I can sin and still go to heaven because God is a loving God."
And along comes someone talking about sin and people go beserk "Whoa! Don't be trying to scare me with that stuff! That's no way to motivate people to get saved." What they don't know, is that they're not saved anyway, so why does it matter?
To those in humanistic churches, there is no hell or satan. And God is some big, puffy magic man that is going to let everyone into heaven. God... help them before they stand before you and hear the words "Depart from me...I don't know you."
Star: I actually didn't say that preaching about Hell will never save anyone but I do believe that it is not the best way to save someone. I'm sure there have been some that have come to the cross because of fear (it can be a motivator) but as we know, its not the best motivator.
I do disagree with you though that even though God does judge us - people can learn about God's love first or in concurence with His judgment. I do my best to obey God because I love God. I hope that makes sense and I hope that I was not misunderstanding what you are saying.
ifeelfine72
The reason why I asked you the questions I did is because you are saying that preaching about hell will never save anyone. So, I wondered if you even mentioned it at all.
God is a God of love but He is also a God of judgment. You can't preach about God's love until they understand about God's judgment.
Telling everyone that they are going to hell may work on a few people.... But I think if he would just get some power on his life and get people healed and delivered, they would get saved. That is what Paul did. In 1 Cor 2, Paul said that he didn't come to Corinth with words of human wisdom, but he came with the demonstration of the Spirit and with the power of God.
The Love of God seems to attract more people than the anger of God... When people get confronted with the fact that God is real because He comes and touches them they have to make a heart decision. They either soften their heart and get saved or else they harden their heart.
"So are women with low-cut tops, short hair, pants or jobs. "Women have two places: In front of the sink and behind the vacuum," Armstrong proclaims."
WOW...just wow!!! this is hilarious! I am sorry, but this guy gives normal christians a bad name/rep. I don't remember anywhere in the bible where it says women can't work or they go to hell, or that if a women isn't (for sake of better vernacular) a house slave she is going to hell.
I can hear a nice discussion in Armstrongs house. ' wash my shoes devil woman, or you're going to hell!'
star: Why are you asking me those questions or better yet, why did you pose your questions to me in that way and then praise TerryH? I agreed with her statements. Why did you not ask Terry those questions?
. . . But, to answer your questions:
As for preaching about sin and consequences and calling sinners to repentence, I have no problem with that at all. However, many times when people are preaching about sin, it is only so that the person preaching can share either their personal bigotry or let everyone know how they (not God) feels about a certain issue. Everyone knows when they sin - its what separates us from God. I know when I sin. I don't need people pointing them out and neither do you or anyone else. What you need is love and encouragement to walk away from that sin.
As for Jesus' death on the cross, don't patronize me.
I do share the gospel with lost people sometimes but am careful in the way I do it. Mostly I help the poor and homeless and make sure that they know I am a Christian and it is out of Christian love that I am helping them.
BTW I flagged myself.
TerryH
I watched the video. Thanks for telling us about it. It gives me a better understanding of 'Micah' Anderson's approach. It is definetly not the way to do it and it is not of God.
ifeelfine72
Are you opposed to preaching about sin and its eternal consequences?
Are you opposed to calling sinners to repentance?
Why did Jesus die on the cross?
Do you ever share the gospel with a lost person? If you do, what do you tell them?
An interesting thought comes to mind here.
All of these schools have Christian organizations which students can join if they are truly sensing a conviction in their lives.
Why aren't they?
TerryH - I absolutely agree with you. I am against this kind of "evangelizing." They rebuke and condemn everyone in sight whether they are a Christian or not. I can't imagine it draws anyone closer to Christ - even worse it might push some people further away who otherwise might come to know Christ's love. And I've pulled some of these "street preachers" aside before to ask them about it. Usually they give me a flip answer although I did get one to take pause and take a gentler tact when "street preaching."
As an aside, a literal reading of the Bible does say that women are not to teach men - of course, everyone here knows that I am honest in my approach and know that the Bible cannot be taken literally.
Check out this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2swEcsZTxPc
This man is a hypocrit. If the 2 places a woman belongs is behind the sink and the vaccum, what os his wife doing out there preaching?
This man sounds very selfrighteous to me, especially regarding the womans role in life. If I were a betting man I would like to see how this man would act with his religously self righteous attitude walk up to Jesus' mother Mary with Jesus standing beside her and say where he thinks her place is in the family.
Hey captainslow, I believe you are correct or at least fro the perspective of Ephesians 4:15. I never knew that drinking beer was sinful. I do not drink but isn't it drunkenenes sinful? The Bible doesn't say that drinking is sinful but drunkenness is.I wonder if the man feels that watching a Hollywood movie such as the Pasion of the Christ would send me to hell. If so I need to repent.
Armstrong's approach is altogether different than that of a campus preacher like Cliff Knechtle - who combines a carefully reasoned biblical apologetics with Christian love. Micah obviously has a great passion to preach, but is this kind of confrontational evangelism effective? At the end of the day, I rather doubt it. But then again, God used Balaam's donkey.
I think some people are hungry to hear that they need to repent. Perhaps repentance needs to be preached more not only on the street but in the pulpits too.