In 1971, I came across the message of William Branham while I was in an Assembly of God church. Being a Pentecostal (in the 1960s), I kept myself updated on the Pentecostal Movement. I was also immersed in all sorts of Pentecostal publications ― magazines, pamphlets and books of many different Pentecostal organizations, ministers and their ministries. I was acquainted with Gordon Lindsay, Anna Schrader, Kenneth Hagin, A. A. Allen, T. L. Osborn, Oral Robert and many others; and had even corresponded with some of them.
At that time, I was in the Assemblies of God (and even after I left), Gordon Lindsay of Christ For The Nations was assisting me in my evangelical outreach by supplying me with some of his written materials on various Biblical subjects. He also sent me his books on Branham's life and ministry. Certain reports regarding Branham's claims was brought to my attention and I wrote to Lindsay to enquire.
I do not have a copy of my letter to Gordon Lindsay (or to the others) because I had no reason to keep a carbon copy; so I cannot produce it here. However, the letters from Gordon Lindsay, his wife Freda and Kenneth Hagin should throw light on to what I was seeking for.
Here is Gordon Lindsay's reply to my query:
You can see from the letter, I had circled some words and annotated remarks. I then wrote another letter to Lindsay inquiring how the prophecy was shown to Hagin, and also what error and false doctrine Branham was getting into. I also wrote to Kenneth Hagin since Lindsay said 'Hagin came into my office and told me that the Lord had showed him…' Lindsay did not mention anyone else being in his office or anyone else connected to the prophecy.
Here is Freda Lindsay's reply on her husband's behalf:
Notice that the 'error' of Branham was primarily because he is believed to be Elijah and a messenger of the covenant. You also see that in Lindsay's response dated April 28, 1971 (below).
There is no doubt that the religious leaders at the First Advent of Christ had fought over John the Baptist's ministry and his claim of being 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness', prophesied by Prophet Isaiah. Even Jesus' disciples were at a lost concerning John the Baptist. Until the Word told them, they had no idea who John the Baptist was. John the Baptist did not claim to be Elijah; he even denied that he was Elijah. However, Jesus said he was Elijah, whose ministry, a part of it, was 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children' as was told by the angel to his father. Therefore, until the Word reveals, no one will ever know that other Elijah, who was 'to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers'.
Here is Kenneth Hagin's reply:
Notice, he wrote: 'A Sister Schrader…could tell you more details maybe.' I wondered back then, why Sister Schrader? If the Lord 'showed him', why referred me to Anna Schrader? He also added the word 'maybe' in his statement, why 'maybe'? Why could not he just tell me how he was shown the prophecy? How was Schrader (a prophetess) involved in his prophecy of Branham? Was a confirmation required from her to show that the prophecy was 'Thus saith the Lord' according to 1 Corinthians 14:29 as some people believe? Did not Kenneth Hagin claim he was a prophet? If so, why, as a prophet of the 5-fold 'Ascension Gifts' ministry, should he attach himself to the prophetic gift in the 9 spiritual gifts to the church (1Cor.12)? Did those Old Testament prophets, who were contemporary to one another, seek each other's approval with their 'the Lord had showed me' prophecies? Lastly, was the prophecy made public, or was it just for the privileged few (of four)?
Anyway, with the advice to get 'more detail maybe' from Anna Schrader, I wrote her, care of Gordon Lindsay's office. Lindsay replied:
With that reply, I ceased pursuing the actual truth surrounding Kenneth Hagin's prophecy concerning William Branham's death even though my spirit told me something was amiss. I had no reason to disbelieve what those three ministers said, and what they believed concerning Branham. However, it is strange that the detail of Kenneth Hagin's prophecy came to light only after many years had passed, in Freda Lindsay's book, entitled, 'My Diary Secrets'. (I have no information whether it was mentioned in her first print of 1976, or only later in her 1998 revised edition.) Hagin also made mention of his 1964 prophecy, 28 years later, in his book, 'He Gave Gifts Unto Men' published in 1992. [Consider this: Kenneth E. Hagin's mother said that an angel appeared to her during her pregnancy and told her, 'Fear not! The baby shall be born, for as John the Baptist was a forerunner to My First coming, this child will be a forerunner to My Second Coming.' No doubt, Hagin was aware of it.]
Both books (mentioned above) related the 'error' of Branham to be that he refused to heed the warning that he was not to teach the Bible. Hagin wrote: 'Brother Lindsay said, 'I told him, ‘You're not a teacher, so don't try to teach.'' 'I begged him not to teach. I said, ‘You don't know the Bible, and you're confusing folks. Leave the Bible teaching to the teachers...'' Strangely odd, Hagin's prophecy and Lindsay's warning came only after more than a decade of Branham's preaching and teaching.
Concerning Branham being 'messenger of the covenant', notice how the Lindsays clearly worded the statement in their letters to me: 'that he was a messenger of the covenant'. However, Lindsay's words in his wife's book reads 'He thinks he is the messenger of the covenant.'. Do they know the Scripture as to who 'the messenger of the covenant' is?
Indisputably, William Branham was a very controversial person. He was to some people, Jesus Christ or the Absolute of God; to others, a liar and deceiver or a false prophet; and to certain others, a devil. Truly, many of Branham's followers are guilty of idol worshipping Branham in the first degree, and making the Word of God of no effect when they place Branham's every statement above the Sacred Scripture.
I believe in Branham's message, and that message is just this: Come out of Babylon! Come back to the Apostolic Faith! Come back to the Original!Simply, the Sacred Scripture is the Absolute Foundation for True Worshippers; nothing more, nothing less. And because of my belief and my stand for the WORD, a great number of Branhamites called me a false believer and a false preacher. In several countries where I ministered, I was besieged by some Branhamic ministers during meetings, and even at the hotels where I stayed. A few had even prophesied against me, and warned me that unless I changed my belief and teachings, I would receive a curse from God, some dreadful diseases or even death (spiritual or physical). I have heard from Branhamites (and how they triumphantly proclaimed), about certain ones who had died, or were afflicted with some terrible diseases because they were into cults (meaning, into a church other than the Branhamic church). 'But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption' (2Pet.2:12).
On the other end, anti-Branham proponents are even getting at me simply because I believe the message. Most of the anti-Branham proponents are those who were once believers of the message. Some have been in Branhamic churches for many years, 20, and even 30 years, before they realized 'something was wrong with the message', as they put it. Whatever they have found wrong with the message is due to the fact that they did not know WHAT THE MESSAGE WAS in the first place. They had been taught by their pastors to stay with the tapes of Branham, to 'say what the tapes say', never to question but to only believe, even the contradicting statements and discrepancies. These Branhamic pastors and preachers misapplied the Scripture to believe the prophet's every word, no matter even if common sense and logic tell them otherwise. They believe Branham made no mistakes in his speech. To question Branham's statements, as one looks for Truth, is to question God which makes one an unbeliever. Hence, they stay with the utterances of Branham over the in-breathed Sacred Scripture of God. Well, that is what I was hearing from such preachers when I came into the message in 1971. For about two years, I heard statements such as, 'Say what the tapes say', 'Bro. Branham had the full Word', 'Bro. Branham was vindicated. He had ‘Thus saith the Lord'', etc. Being a student of the Scripture, I was not deceived. However I was striving to understand this Branhamic standing; about two years later God opened my eyes to that error. I am glad that I did not fall into such foolishness. Certainly Branham did not teach the people the nonsense that is being propagated after his death. He told the people to check what he taught with the Scripture and not to believe it, if it was not found in the Book. His strong, and sometime very extreme emphases on certain issues were much misunderstood by the believers, especially preachers. God had used an uneducated individual, whose articulation was imperfect, and sometime sounded silly, to teach the truth. And now, the anti-Branham proponents are highlighting those statements on the Internet to call attention to Branham's teachings as cultic, fanatical, idiotic, false, etc.
Why is it so hard for people to understand the message? The message Branham brought is not about Branham. It is also not what Branham said, but rather what he said the Scripture says ― 'Back to the Word!'
I thank God for the messenger and the message, without which I would still be walking in denominational darkness.
