Post by messengermicah on Mar 17, 2008 19:18:16 GMT -5
Monday March 3, 2008-University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, Alabama: When Sister Elizabeth and I arrived on campus around 11:25 AM the radio station was set up near the preaching area and broadcasting. It was very loud.
I began preaching on top of the elevated area just in front of the wheelchair ramp facing the Ferguson Plaza. It seemed the music was coming right in my direction so after a few minutes I decided to move into the center area in front of the concrete walkway where the music was not broadcasting directly at me.
It was very loud and difficult to preach but I persisted and soon I gathered a small crowd of 15-20. Very soon the crowd grew to around 60-70 in a nice circle surrounding me and in spite of the noise I had a good time of preaching, questions and answers.
Soon a female student reached back and swung for my head. I am often threatened by students but most of the time they are bluffing. I knew from the way this student reared back she had every intention of hitting me.
I ducked and covered my head with my arms and deflected her blow. The crowd seemed to love this. I continued preaching as the crowd moved in closer and became more rowdy and unreasonable.
After a short time, I decided to make my way through the crowd and jump back up upon the elevated area in front of the wheelchair ramp. As I walked through the crowd I thought there was about 70-80 around me, but once I reached the elevated area and faced the crowd I realized the crowd was more like 175-200.
As I jumped upon the elevated area and faced the crowd they all came over to where I stood and I continued preaching.
Around 1:00 PM the radio station and the band they had playing stopped. Praise the Lord.
The crowd fluctuated from 75-175 for the next two hours. Some students from the back periphery of the crowd would occasionally hurl a water balloon at me. One hit me square in the right eye. It stung for a few minutes, but I continued preaching undaunted. This momentarily seemed to gain the sympathy of the crowd.
One vile girl came and stood next to me bragging to the crowd about her sexual exploits. She would pose for the crowd as the male students whooped and hollered. She constantly cursed, heckled, and mocked God.
Later, three students (two females and one male) did a three way passionate kiss on the lips to the delight of the crowd. The worst part of this was one of the female kissers claimed to be a Christian and was supposed to be some kind of leader in a Christian group on campus.
I continued preaching until 3:00 PM. Most of the preaching was as hard, loud and fast as I could. The crowd was rowdy and unreasonable. I lifted up my voice and preached, reproved and rebuked all their excuses, accusations, and comments with the Word of God. Not a whole lot of questions and answers this day.
After 3:00 PM I sat down and tried to reason with them. I believe many were sincere seekers of truth but as happens so often, the hecklers, perverts and hypocrites sought to monopolize all the time.
The “Christian” leader, who kissed in the threesome, came up and apologized to the crowd breaking down in tears. She claimed it was to show love and kiss people like the Bible said Jesus did (oh yeah with long, passionate kisses on the lips?). She admitted it was not a good example of a Christian behavior.
As I sat and tried to reason and have calm discussions with the more serious seekers of truth, several of the students including the vile, promiscuous girl would come up to me, point their finger in my face, tell me off and curse me. I had to keep changing my spot and moving away from them.
As we were leaving, a female student from the Crimson White (school newspaper) asked me to call her after 6:00 PM for an interview.
Tuesday March 4, 2008-University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, Alabama: I was already very tired on Monday night but the weather was forecasting tornadoes in the area along with strong winds and severe thunderstorms. None of this is good, but it is even worse when you live in a trailer.
I slept very little because I am part of a 24 hour prayer watch this month and my assigned prayer time is late at night. Once I finished praying I read my Bible for some time. After reading the Bible the tornadoes were supposed to be hitting the area around 3-4 AM.
Thankfully the tornadoes never came, but I did not sleep much. The next morning I earnestly petitioned God to strengthen me for the demanding day ahead of preaching through the large, heckling crowds.
It was cold (40’s), drizzling and overcast as we drove to the campus. I began preaching in the spot in front of the concrete walkway at 11:45 AM. I immediately gathered a small crowd of 25-30 which quickly grew to about 60-70. They formed a nice circle around me and for some time I had a good time of question and answers with them.
Gradually the crowd moved closer and closer in on me, became more rowdy and unreasonable, and grew in size to near 100. As they deliberately moved in and tried to close me in, I walked through them and returned to the elevated area in front of the wheelchair ramp.
I stood up and continued preaching and the crowd came around me. Today’s crowd was more calm and reasonable than Monday’s and fluctuated from 70-170. I had a higher level of discussion with them and they were more civil.
After some time, there was a black male student who said he was a preacher. He acted reasonable for some time and said he wanted to ask questions. I would let him “ask his question” and he would make the most unbiblical statements. I would correct him and the crowd would scream for me to “Let him finish!”
I knew this man did not really have any specific question but was just offended at the way the Word of God offended the sinners. He wanted to show the crowd he was a preacher too, he knew the Bible and be the crowd’s hero.
He finally stood next to me and tried to preach his “sugar and spice and every thing nice, greasy grace, sloppy agape” message. He could not preach over me so he moved to another area and about half of the crowd of about 160 followed him.
They all sat down and listened to the preacherette, preaching his sermonette designed to make nice little christianettes to build a churchette. When he was finished they all applauded him.
Jesus warned of the false prophets that “all men speak well of” (Luke 6:26), who “by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:18), who say “Peace, peace, when there is no peace to the wicked” (Jeremiah 6:14, Isaiah 57:21), and strengthen the hands of the wicked that they should not return from their wicked way by promising them life” (Ezekiel 13:22).
After the ten minute sermonette and finding no relief for their pricked heart and conscience and their burdened souls they came back over to hear more soul searching, conscience pricking preaching.
At 2:45 PM I turned the preaching over to Sister Elizabeth. She did an excellent job of preaching, answering questions and maintaining the control and size of the crowd for about 45 minutes.
I had many students come up to shake my hand and tell me how much they appreciated us being there, and what we were doing. A tall black male student who heckled me last year and Monday came up and apologized and told me he appreciated me being there. He is the leader of a large group on campus.
Sister Elizabeth turned the crowd over to me around 3:30 PM and I sat down and tried to have a reasonable and civil discussion with the more serious seekers of truth. As a whole, they were much more civil and reasonable than the previous day’s crowd and I had some good discussion with some while others rejected every scripture I gave while claiming to be Christians and believing the Bible to be the Word of God.
Several students offered to buy us food. Just as I was preparing to leave, a student grabbed my winter hat off my head and ran off with it.
We then went into the student union to eat and fellowship with the students who offered to buy us food. We had a great time of Biblical discussion and fellowship.
Wednesday March 5, 2008-University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, Alabama: When Sister Elizabeth and I arrived on the campus, the stairs and brick area of where we were preaching had scriptures written in chalk all over them about God’s love. This was obviously in protest to the preaching being done there.
The “Crimson White” school newspaper had a story and a picture on the third page covering the preaching. After interviewing me for an hour I think she quoted me one time. The article was not real bad but she got most of the information I gave her wrong. I do not think she did this intentionally, even though I do not think she tried to portray us in a favorable way either. She had told my wife how inexperienced she was.
Last year while preaching at this university, a group of Baptist men from the local churches heard about the preaching. They came out to see what was going on. One of them was a pastor who invited me to preach at his church on a Sunday morning.
We have kept in touch with him since our last visit here. This group is very supportive of the preaching. One of them brought out another older Baptist pastor. He thought it was great to see all the scriptures written all over the brick area in protest of the preaching.
After meeting this older Baptist pastor and saying hello to the Baptist brethren, I began preaching at 11:45 AM. I immediately began to gather a crowd. They were very civil and attentive for some time, as the crowd continued to grow to over 200.
One student showed up dressed like Jesus Christ. Another showed up in drag. I remember him doing the same thing last year. As the crowd continued to grow to near 300, they moved in closer on me and became more rowdy.
Soon they all crowded in close to me and tried to box me in, so I passed through them, went to the elevated area in front of the wheelchair ramp, stood up and continued to preach. Most of the rowdy crowd of 300 followed me.
By now it was about 1:00 PM. For the next hour and 45 minutes I continued preaching to the very rowdy crowd that ranged from 150-300. The students were gathered all over the balcony above the wheel chair ramp just like last year. One student showed up dressed like a “Ghostbuster” and asked the students if they had seen any ghosts.
At times they were so loud and rowdy it was difficult to do much preaching. Other times they would settle down and listen for a while. The Baptist brethren were on hand witnessing in the crowd on the sidelines throughout the preaching.
I turned the crowd over to Sister Elizabeth at 2:45 PM. She did an excellent job of preaching, answering questions and maintaining the size and control of the crowd. She turned the crowd over to me again around 3:00 PM.
I told the crowd I was going to sit down and answer their questions. They seemed to welcome this and many in the large crowd of 175-200 sat down right in front of me. Others stood in the back around the ones sitting down. It looked as if all of them stayed.
This was effective for some time, but soon some of them became just as unreasonable as they were before. After an hour of discussion I decided to call it a day around 4:00 PM.
The two students who invited to buy us lunch the day before were on hand again with two other students to buy us lunch again. The other two repented and apologized to us for criticizing us after last year and speaking negatively of our ministry. They seemed to have a genuine appreciation for our ministry now.
We had a great time of fellowship, discipleship, and deep spiritual conversation. We ended the fellowship and left the campus around 5:45 PM.
Thursday March 6, 2008-University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, Alabama: There was another article about the preaching in the school newspaper today. The Baptist pastor we preached for last year was on campus when we arrived. A few minutes later another Baptist brother from another church arrived.
He told me the older pastor who had been on hand from the day before loved the preaching and declared, “This is the work of the Lord!” I was also told he called in on a local radio show and urging everyone to come out and listen to the preaching and see how God was working.
I began preaching around 11:50 AM and a small crowd formed quickly. The crowd did not grow large as quickly as the day before. After some time the crowd built up some and then a student (Jake) from last year came out dressed just like me with hat, suspenders, a camel back and a large Harry Potter book.
At first he would talk every time I tried to preach but soon he stopped. He really helped to build up the crowd and soon it was well over 200 once again.
As the crowd continued growing to near 300 one student dressed in a suit came charging at me very angry and yelling. Some of the other students tried to calm him down. I did not think he was going to get violent but he was definitely mad.
After being held back he came at me again and got right in my face. I stood my ground and did not move as he tried to shove me. He then put his hand over my mouth and grabbed it. I pulled his hand off of my mouth and pushed his arm back. Several students captured all of this on video and most of the crowd seemed to take my side. This would not have been the case on Monday, but after several days of preaching and taking all their abuse we have earned their respect and become somewhat accepted in their community. I have seen this happen at other schools.
To avoid a riot, I left the crowd and headed to the elevated area in front of the wheelchair ramp, stood upon it, faced the crowd and continued preaching. Again most of the crowd came over around me.
I had a good time of preaching and answering questions. The previous incident seemed to earn me more respect from the crowd and they were civil and receptive.
The pastor from the holiness church where we were staying had come out with a widow from his church. This widow and her husband joined us several days out here on campus last year. He died tragically this past October. He was a wonderful, consecrated godly man and they both were deeply involved in the Lord’s work.
Brother Donnie M. and his family also came out but he did not want to preach. I called on the pastor to give his testimony to the crowd. He has a great testimony as before he was a Christian he was drunk and accidentally killed his brother in a fight. The Lord and judge had mercy on him and he was pardoned!
Around 1:20 PM the holiness pastor gave his testimony to the crowd, answered a few questions, and did an excellent job. Around 1:30 PM I called on the Baptist pastor from the church we preached at last year to do some preaching. He preached for about 20 minutes and also did an excellent job.
I took over the crowd again around 1:50 PM. I preached and answered questions for the next 40 minutes to the crowd of 200-300. At 2:30 PM I decided to sit down and answer questions in a discussion setting.
This was probably the best day of discussion I had after the preaching ended. I could not tell how large the crowd was around me because I was sitting down and most of them remained standing, but I know there was at least 125-150. Students were standing and sitting behind us all over the wheelchair ramp listening also.
I continued the sit down discussion until around 4:00 PM. After I finished, Sister Elizabeth introduced me to a reporter from the Associated Press who wanted an interview with me. It seemed to be an excellent interview and we will see how the article turns out.
After the interview several students came around and asked more questions. As I began answering the questions the group grew to about 15-20. This discussion went on for another hour or so.
The Baptist pastor who preached wanted to take us to dinner. A few days ago a student stopped me as I arrived on campus and asked if he could sit down and talk to me at dinner one evening. I invited him and his friends to join the Baptist pastor, my wife and me.
We had an excellent discussion all through dinner on many subjects covering my personal testimony, open air preaching, holiness, etc. Two of the students just sat and listened and soaked it all in. I believe many of their questions were answered.
That evening I talked on the phone with the older Baptist pastor. He was very encouraging and really appreciated the work we were doing. I was amazed at how well he understood the ministry of open air preaching. Then I learned he used to do open air preaching. Praise the Lord!
Friday March 7, 2008-University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, Alabama: One of the Baptist brethren and his wife invited us out to an early lunch before we would go to preach. We enjoyed a delicious Southern meal and great fellowship. It was interesting to learn this couple both had Pentecostal backgrounds.
Several of the other Baptist brethren were on hand when we arrived including the Baptist pastor who preached the day before. A half dozen or so students were standing around waiting for us to begin.
It was overcast today and very cold (low 40’s).
I began preaching around 12:05 PM. Many of the students sat down on the steps across from where I was preaching to listen. I was not trying to build a big crowd today but wanted to focus on answering the questions of those who had been awakened, convicted, and God was dealing with their souls.
I had very good questions and answers for some time and the crowd built up to about 50-60. Then the hecklers and perverts showed up. They would interrupt and yell every time I was trying to answer a sincere question. I ignored them and continued to focus on the serious questions. The crowd built up to 70-80 and I kept my back to the hecklers and perverts. They continued to stand behind and next to me and interrupt each time I tried to respond. I then moved away from them and the crowd followed me over to the elevated area in front of the wheelchair ramp.
I preached and answered questions to the crowd of 50-60 until 1:40 PM and then turned the crowd over to the Baptist pastor.
As he preached I read the school newspaper which had another article about the preaching in it. Soon I had a discussion with several students. Later a few more came around to ask me questions.
For about an hour, I had an excellent time of answering questions with the 10-15 students standing around me. Real understanding and conviction seemed to be setting in on some of them. Then a hypocrite showed up proudly with his Bible tucked under his arm ready to play the hero and drive away all conviction of sin. He interrupted me and began driving away all conviction of sin with some cheap grace message of “God is in love with them!” I rebuked the hypocrite and left because I saw he was proud. He had no clue of what the Bible teaches and assumed he was right.
Some of them gathered together to pray. I went to use the restroom. One brother from a local Pentecostal church who had been on hand each day and watching would constantly tell me how much he appreciated my being there and to keep up the good work. He had observed the whole incident and told me I did an excellent job of handling the situation.
After I left the restroom and came back down I had a very good discussion with a few more students who seemed to be sincere seekers of truth. My wife introduced me to a gentleman who wanted to have me on his radio show on Sunday afternoon. I agreed.
At 3:30 PM an African American male student showed up who had asked us for an interview the day before for a documentary class project. He drove us to the dorms and we met his partner. They filmed me answering their questions for the next hour and fifteen minutes. This also seemed to go very well as they allowed me to take as much time as I wanted to answer each question. I thoroughly answered all their questions using scriptures.