ICG's Mark Armstrong Ridicules Warnings About Hurricane Matthew

In his October 7, 2016 weekly update, Intercontinetal Church of God's leader, Mark Armstrong, chides weathermen and the news media warning Americans to evacuate their homes because of Hurricane Matthew. Even though 46 Americans were killed by Hurricane Matthew he insinuates that America was spared the scale of destruction it inflicted on Haiti because of the prayers of his followers.

Maybe it's too soon to relax, but it looks as though the predictions of death and devastation by hurricane may have been a bit premature.  When it became clear that the east coast of Florida was in line to be raked, if not plastered by the first major hurricane to threaten landfall there in ages, we knew there would be prayers going up by the millions.  There is no doubt that a great many of those who were ordered to evacuate their homes on relatively short notice were very concerned that they might lose everything.  The over-wrought predictions by some “reporters” and forecasters led us all to expect something far more devastating than what has actually transpired.

Looking at some of the scenes from Haiti, where the hurricane swept across the island killing hundreds, certainly made it look like the southeast coast would be in for a major disaster.  But it seems that the news media may have hyped these concerns out of all proportion to reality.  Haiti is largely without the kind of sturdy construction that can protect people from a storm of such magnitude.  Much of the flimsy make-shift housing was likely reduced to flying debris and contributed to the mounting death toll, currently reported at nearly [900] now.

There's no question that some of the reporters went way over the top with their scary rhetoric this time.  Fox News' Shepard Smith has been widely lampooned for his comments to the effect that, should the storm turn 20 miles to the west, “...you and everybody you know will be dead.”  And he went on from there.  There is this lingering suspicion that the situation may have been exploited for the sake of ratings, and it makes you wonder whether anyone will listen the next time authorities believe widespread evacuation is warranted.  Then again, a lot of prayers may have been answered.
Our nation and our way of life is under ominous threats from more directions than we care to contemplate all at once.  You can see the gathering threat from within, and read plenty about everything from the onslaught of illegals, to the economic bubble, from Russia's provocations to Iran and North Korea's development of nuclear missiles.  The prayers of an entire nation need to go up with the same urgency and immediacy with which we reacted to the dire reports of the approaching hurricane.  The storm may not have been quite as bad as reports indicated, but any one of the other threats routinely downplayed by the media will be far worse.  May God protect you and yours whatever the immediate future holds. 

It is terribly dangerous advice to imply that weather watchers are somehow untrustworthy and should not be listened to. A lot of work goes into determining how to predict the paths of hurricanes. We need to be smart and protect ourselves from threats such as hurricanes.

I dearly hope no one chooses to ignore the warnings of authorities concerning severe weather because of Mark Armstrong's weekly update.