The Status of Message Believers
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Those who leave the message but remain Christians are generally viewed by followers of William Branham as unbelievers, i.e. non-Christians. The comments we have received from those in the message include:
Those that say such things are in danger of condemning themselves, as Jesus said that “God will judge you in the same way as you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others.” (Matt 7:2 GNT) But the question has also been asked – what do you think of those in the message? Some Message Believers are ChristiansHaving spent many years in the message ourselves as Christians, there is no question that we believe that there are many people in the message that are sincere Christians. However, there are also those who have not truly accepted Christ’s sacrifice but rather are resting on William Branham’s message for their salvation. The comments below simply reflect some of the main obstacles that people will face in balancing Christianity with their belief in William Branham's role, policies, prophecies and doctrines. The Many Problems with Wiliam Branham's messageHeretical TeachingSome have a distorted, even heretical, view of basic truths that surely must be believed properly in order to be a Christian. For example, is it possible for a person to be saved if they do not believe that Jesus Christ was God in flesh (Matthew 1:23)? Certain followers of Lee Vayle hold to a heretical view of the Godhead – that Jesus Christ was not deity. Such doctrinal beliefs are against the plain teaching of scripture (John 20:28), and therefore put those who believe such teachings at risk of missing the basic tenets of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. LukewarmnessMany message believers condemn denominational and non-denominational churches on the basis that those congregations are lukewarm. However, message congregations can also fall within the same classification as lukewarm. The message of Revelation 3:16 is crystal clear when the Lord states “because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.” The peril of being lukewarm is the same, whether in relation to a message church or a non-message church! Lack of LovePaul states in 1 Corinthians 13 (GNT) that
Most individuals that leave William Branham's message are not contacted after they leave by either the church leadership or those in the congregation. If those in the message really think that those who fall away from the message are lost, one has to wonder why there is generally no attempt to go after them. Didn’t Jesus talk about leaving the ninety-nine sheep grazing on the hillside to go and look for the lost sheep? One wonders what kind of Christians those in the message are when they don’t even make a half-hearted attempt to go after those that have left. Another evidence of a lack of love is a church's response to the poor, or a catastrophe. When disaster strikes, do you say "Thank God no believers were hurt", or do you extend a helping hand to those that were hurt? When the poor come into your church, do you lead them to the deacon (the policeman of message churches) or help them yourself? When the poor don't come to your church, do you find it easy to ignore their problems? LegalismThe legalistic teachings of William Branham have a decidedly negative impact on believer’s spiritual development. So while there are those in the message that have experienced Christ’s redemptive work, they are weighed down by a theology that is inconsistent with Paul’s teachings regarding the grace of Christ. Paul states that such beliefs can alienate a person from the grace of God – “Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God’s grace.” (Gal 5:4 GNT) A man named Simon thought that he could buy the Holy Spirit with money. It appears that some message believers are trying to buy the Holy Spirit by public demonstrations of their own righteousness. The Main ProblemWe have been told that the problems we have with the message are just a few "cherry pits" and that they don't destroy the basic goodness of the "cherry pie" that is the message of William Branham. But what if you are eating a piece of cherry pie and you discover that what you have in your mouth also contains maggots - or something that will make you very ill? At that point of realization, you have to throw out the whole pie and go back to the source of truth - the Bible. That is what we have done. We are not pointing anyone to a specific church or to any man. We are simply urging people to get back to basic Biblical teaching and to find a church that teaches simple Biblical truths. And, yes, such churches do exist. William Branham's message is based on lies, false prophecies, and lazy teaching. If you want some of the major problems we have identified, simply go to our Youtube channel and watch some of the videos we have produced. William Branham held himself out to be a prophet but we have been unable to find one unambiguous prophecy that he stated publicly (i.e. on tape) in advance that was later fulfilled in a clear manner! We have also found several prophecies that William Branham stated were from God but were clearly not fulfilled. All of these issues are addressed in our apology to message believers entitled "Humble Pie". We invite you to read that apology. In short, William Branham's message is not healthy. You can eat junk food, but if that becomes your diet you will eventually experience side effects. A Christian will have a healthier spiritual life outside of a faulty belief system, and that is what William Branham taught – a view of the scriptures and reality that is seriously flawed. |