Message Urban Legends
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There are a number of stories that are told by message ministers or that circulate from one message believer to another that are obviously myths or urban legends. It is important to note that none of these stories actually have specific names or dates tied to them. That is because they are all "urban legends"; or simply, they are not true but are fabrications.
Please send us an email if you have heard of a "message fairy tale" that we haven't heard and we will add it to our collection.
Prosecuting for Defamation
There are rumors circulating on the internet that some message churches are prosecuting ex-message believers for defamation. This is a complete hoax. We appreciate that we are the worst nightmare that a message minister can imagine. But we aren't going away. None of them would dare go on the witness stand and give testimony under oath.
Message miracles
During a flood in Africa, a walking bridge was overflowed with water. Needing to cross the dangerous stream, a message follower struck the water with his coat and screamed, "Where is the God of Elijah?" The water stopped flowing while he walked across. The water started flowing as soon as he had crossed the stream. The people on the bank tried the same thing, but to no avail.
Stories involving the Pope
Given William Branham's view that the Pope was the anti-Christ, message believers are constantly making up stories about how the Pope is "out to get them" because they are the only real threat to the Pope (yeah, right...)
The conspiracy of Pope Francis and President Obama
This story was circulating in some message churches at the time of Pope Francis' visit to the US.
- Pope Francis' visit to the US in September 2015 coincides with with the Blood Moon. What people aren't aware of is that the reason for the visit is that President Obama and Pope Francis are conspiring together to eliminate every message believer. There is a bill which President Obama has now signed which has the purpose to eliminate all message believers through the use of lethal force (i.e. they are going to kill all message believers).
The Pope and the Message Book
The story goes something like this (fill in the blanks):
- Some years back, Pope __________ (insert name of pope) came to __________ (insert name of country). He held a Spoken Word book in his hand and said "This is our number one enemy".
The Head of the FBI and the Message Book
This is the American version of the Pope and the message book story:
- Some years back, the head of the FBI held a Spoken Word book in his hand and said "This is our number one enemy". The reason that the government went after David Koresh in Waco, Texas was because he believed in William Branham. In fact, the FBI found many of message books in the Waco compound.
Stories about Joseph Branham
There are a variety of stories circulating which attempt to prove that Joseph Branham is a prophet.
Power to stop a tornado
A tornado was headed for the Still Waters camp facility a few years ago. Everyone in the camp were warned to leave by the local government but Joseph Branham refused to leave. He simply said a prayer and the tornado changed direction away from the camp.
The only thing predictable about a tornado is its unpredictability. A violent tornado can arise suddenly and disappear just as quickly.
We have asked Voice of God to confirm that this actually took place. To date, we have received no response.
Power to raise the dead
A person in the message recently posted the following on Facebook:
- GOD RAISED THE DEAD AT THE BRANHAM TABERNACLE SERVICE THIS MORNING. I WAS A WITNESS. There was a Doctor that I believe checked the person that died; his name is James Jackson. There was no pulse. Also a doctor's assistant, I believe, also found no pulse. But God brought him back after Brother Joseph Marrion Branham prayed and some Deacons and the congregation with Acting Pastor Brother Samuel Barber. God raised him up. The hospital checked him and found nothing wrong but his core temperature had dropped to 95 degrees."
We have asked Voice of God Recordings to confirm that this took place and to provide us with the name of the doctor or any assistant that were present, so that we can confirm that this took place. To date, Voice of God Recordings has not responded.
Even more surprising is that immediately after his "healing" at the hand of Joseph Branham, he was admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital in Jeffersonville. One has to ask the question: If God really healed someone, why were they still so sick that they had to spend time in the ICU?
Protection for believers of the message
There are a number of stories which are circulating among message churches which seek to prove that message believers are divinely protected by God. God also protects message believers' property from damage. This is supposed to serve as proof that the message is backed up by God.
Immune to Sexually Transmitted Diseases?
Here is a story that appeared in a message forum on Facebook:
- Certain brothers went to donate Blood to a hospital. they were tested of HIV before donating and even other sexually transmitted diseases which the doctor wonder and asked the brothers "how come all of you have no diseases? They responded "we are christians". That tells us we are procted by this true message.
I'm not sure that they understand that STD's are only contracted when someone is sexually active. This story seems to say that they should have had STD's but didn't because of the message.
What happens when scissors get dull
It was reported during the '90's that some message believers were experiencing persecution from the Catholic church in Madagascar. Some Catholic nuns tried to cut the hair of some girls in the message but the scissors didn't work. When they tried to cut the hair of a non-message believer, they worked fine.
It took on a more sinister tone in another telling:
- During a conflict between rebel and government groups in Africa (no country specified), a group of message women were taken to a prison camp where the guards were shaving everyone's head for sanitary reasons (fleas, lice, etc). When they tried to cut the hair of the message believers, the scissors didn't work.
It was also reported that a similar event took place in an orphanage in Siberia. Because of a lice infestation, the staff at the orphange decided to shave all of the girls' heads. The shaver refused to work on the hair of the message followers. But it did work on those that were not message followers.
An interesting question to ask is - why didn't God simply get rid of the lice??? Then all of the girls would have avoided a hair cut. Is God OK with non-Christians having short hair???
Watch out for strangers coming into your church to take pictures
A stranger walked into a message church and started to take pictures of everybody who is sitting there. It turned out that the photographer was a Jesuit...
Don't yell at message believers
This was posted by a follower of William Branham
- I want to share a testimony just to warn those who speak against the prophet.
- A certain person parked his car in the middle of the road blocking the road from a believer's house. That believer had a visitor, who was also a believer and had a car. When she wanted to go, they found the road she was to pass through was blocked.
As it was a neighbor who had blocked the car in the middle of the road, they went to ask him to move it to the side of the road, so that the message visitor could pass.
The man and his son started shouting at the believers, instead of just moving out the road.
Two months later, they were all dead.
TOUCH NOT MY ANOINTED. That one was just a follower of the message so what about the prophet?
You are protected while listening to message sermons
There is a story from Africa about a witch doctor being hired to curse a message believer. Demons of death (or something equivalent) were summoned to attack the believer. But he was sleeping on the couch while playing a tape so the demons were repulsed and instead attacked the guy who hired the witch doctor.
Tidal Wave in the Philippines
In the Philippines, there was a tidal wave that was approximately 100 feet high that was headed for a message church. Everyone in the church prayed and the massive wave went around both sides of the church.
Raised from the dead on the third day
The following is an email that was circulating among message believers. Please notice that this story is told in the third person and that no name is given for the student. The real question is "Who concocted this story?" as it is obviously fictional:
- A precious brother who is a Ghanaian and a student at Bloemfontein University South Africa, went out with his Colleague to buy something out of the campus. On their way back to the campus a car parked behind them and there came out some policemen who insisted on searching their bags. They searched but could not find anything and they said that they must go to the police station for finger prints. The boys asked if they could drop by school to let the security know what was going on and the police agreed. When they reached at the campus the security agreed but the police now said we will go with one of the two brethrens! So they left behind one and went with one. They passed through one station and they said the police officers in that station where too busy! So they said to the brother we will go to the other station.
- So they drove till they went to a remote place where they got out of the car at some bushy place, they then asked the brother his credit-card and pin number and told him that they were disguising as police officers. Their real business was to rob and kill people. So one of the man drove to town to verify whether the pin number was the right pin number and also to see whether there was money in the account.
- He did that and came back having withdrawn part of the money that was in the brother's account. So when he came back he confirmed to his fellow robber that the brother had given them the right pin number and didn't lie. So the robbers said to the brother we now want to kill you peradventure you might recognise us and sell us to the police. So they started beating the brother up. Damaged his eyes, broke his bones and took a strangulation code and hanged him till he was dead. When they saw that he was dead they took his corpse and put it in a car boot. And drove away with him, possibly they wanted to dispose of his remains.
- Whilst dead in the boot the ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME INTO THE BOOT AND TOUCHED HIS CHEST AND CALLED HIM BY NAME SAYING ARISE! And the brother rose from the dead, and The ANGEL untied the rope from his neck. When he arose he was trying to see and look at the FACE OF THE ANGEL BUT HE WOULD HIDE HIS FACE.
- Then the ANGEL who was speaking to him calling him by name to his surprise said to him "BEFORE ALL OF THIS HAPPEND YOU WERE WATCHING WILLIAM BRANHAM'S VIDEO ENTITLED DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP." And the brother said "Yes." And the ANGEL said: "THE ENDTIME MESSAGE YOU BELIEVE WILL DEFEAT SATAN ANYWHERE, ANY PLACE UNDER WHATSOEVER CIRCUMSTANCE!" And also said to him "I am here again because when they were beating you up you were crying “JESUS” and calling JESUS ON THE SCENE!” and the ANGEL said to him, "YOU SHALL BE IN THIS BOOT FOR THREE DAYS." And He went away.
- The car being driven by the robbers that time and they thought they have a dead corpse in the boot! The second day he Saw Angels that where Putting on Army Combat and had a LEADER with Them whose FACE WAS SO FEROCIOUS and where Flying around Round Guarding HIM. And the ANGEL said to him, "YOU SEE THAT FEROCIOUS LEADER THAT'S MICHAEL AND THEY CAN DECENT ON ANYONE WHO WOULD WANT TO CAUSE HARM ON YOU."
- On the Third day, The ANGEL came back and He was told to LOOK and he said there was a BIG EAGLE HOVERING OVER HIM WITH HUGE SHARP CLAWS AND FLAMING RED EYES and that very day the ANGEL TOLD THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO GET OUT. The car stopped and he heard dogs barking, and the police had caught the thieves. How did they catch them? The thing is before he went out of their room at the University a STRONG VOICE told him to leave his phone. So he left it: now the robbers where withdrawing money the phone would record, so the police with the help from the friend, would see which bank they took out the money, place e.t.c and the surveillance cameras did what they are known best. And tracked them down until the third day when they caught them."
Similar stories are floating around
Another story claims that the muggers approached him on the church grounds late at night, and fired their gun in his chest. The gun wouldn't fire, and so they ran from the "hallowed ground" of the church.
Died the same day
This strange story was received in an email from someone that obviously does not have English as their mother tongue. However, that doesn't stop them from spreading another message fairy tale:
- One woman went to his meeting striped necked in front and he took his court and covered her and the woman threw it down and said, even if its my cow, if it believes your message, I will sloughter it and throw it away, what happened her, she died smoking that very day.
Translation into English:
- A woman went to a message meeting with a low cut blouse. A message believer took his coat and covered her but the woman threw it down and said, if my cow believed your message, I would slaughter it and throw away the meat.
- She died that very day (but we're not sure how she died other than there was some smoke involved).
Submarine lost under Los Angeles
You can find some conspiracy theorists on the internet that believe that there is a secret U.S. Navy submarine base under the Nevada desert and that submarines travel to the Pacific Ocean using underground ocean caverns that run several hundred miles from Monterey, CA inland. There is also a story floating around that the U.S. Navy discovered a huge network of tunnels under portions of the west coast of the U.S. and that U.S. nuclear submarines had explored some of these tunnels, which are accessible just off the continental shelf, and had followed them inland for several hundred miles. The story goes on that a well-known U.S. Nuclear submarine lost its way in one of the passages and was never heard from again (it would have to be either the U.S.S. Thresher and the U.S.S. Scorpion).
It should be added that there is no scientific report for these claims. It is quite obvious that they are false and the product of the conspiracy theory rumor mill. That is, of course, unless you are in the message.
A message minister (Jason Watkins) told the story of a nuclear submarine that was exploring a large cave system under California but lost its way and was unable to find its way out. Everyone on board perished. He went on to state that these caves are structurally unsound and a large earthquake would cause Los Angeles to fall into the sea.
Nice story but simply another message urban legend.
The real scoop on Fort Knox
According to Willard Collins (pastor at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, IN), Fort Knox is an empty building, there is not a single brick of gold there. The government transfers empty cars to and from Ft. Knox so that the public will remain unaware that the Catholic Church took possession of the gold that used to be in Fort Knox. (this was told over the pulpit and related by Willard Collin's grandson).
The pillar of fire appearing in a church
The Story
Ron Spencer conducted a funeral in April 2015 at Full Gospel Lighthouse in Elkton, Virginia. During the funeral the pillar of fire came down so that believers and unbelievers could see it. Also, some of the flowers were unopened and when the pillar of fire passed over the flowers, they opened up into full bloom.
The Facts
Upon hearing this story, an ex-message believer that used to attend the church called one of the members of the Full Gospel Lighthouse church, who was at the funeral, to tactfully gather information on what actually happened.
The non-dramatized version of the story:
- One elderly lady claimed to have seen a pillar of fire. No one else reported seeing it.
- There were lots of flowers there and two or three other people said that some of the roses "opened up" during the funeral. (this can happen spontaneously and would not normally be considered supernatural).
So, there you have it, and now you know... the rest of the story.