Commission & Ministry: Difference between revisions

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|'''The Commission''' <br> [http://en.believethesign.com/images/b/be/The_Simple_Truth_about_the_Commission.pdf Click to read more about William Branham's commission]

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William Branham wrote that he received a commission for his healing ministry in March 1945 when he saw a vision of birds that would not eat from a small pile of white bread. A voice told him “That is your Tabernacle and they won't eat the bread of life anymore. I am sending you…westward.” William Branham was then shown a large tent with a platform at the front. Behind the tent was a great pile of the same white bread, and he was told to feed a white-robed audience that had gathered from everywhere. The following day, William Branham explained the vision to his church.   

William Branham left Jeffersonville on June 14, 1945 and headed directly west with his wife, son, and Rev. Daugherty to St. Louis, Missouri. The testimonies from the tent meetings in St. Louis were compiled in [[Tract: Heavenly Vision|a tract called “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” and distributed at subsequent revival meetings]].  The tract describes that the group that left from Jeffersonville carpooled, as gas rationing was in effect.  Gas rationing in the United States ended August 15, 1945.  

Both [[F.F. Bosworth]] and Gordon Lindsay had connections to Alexander Dowie, who claimed he was Elijah.  Bosworth was the band director in Zion, Illinois in 1905 and 1906 as Dowie’s utopian empire crumbled. Charles Parham, one of the founders of the Azuza Street Revival and a member of the KKK, established Tent meetings in Zion in 1907.  Bosworth attended these meetings along with John G. Lake until the Zion Pentecostal revival fell apart after Parham was jailed.   

William Branham claimed that he received the gift of healing that commissioned his healing ministry from the Angel of the Lord on the day Israel became a nation on May 7, 1946<ref> William Branham, August 9, 1954 in a sermon called “Manifestation of the Resurrection”</ref>, and then again when Israel became a nation on May 6, 1947.<ref>William Branham, July 18, 1954 in a sermon called “The Great Coming”</ref>  William Branham seemed unaware that Israel actually declared its independence on May 14, 1948.   

William Branham also met with Avak Hagopian in Florida in 1948, a renown “faith healer” from Armenia who was featured in the May 19, 1947 edition of LIFE magazine.  Avak was tall, of olive complexion, had long shoulder-length hair and wore flowing robes – eerily similar to the description of William Branham’s angel.     

William Branham’s early work in faith healing attracted attention, and as stories began to spread of his healing gift, local pastors came to ask Branham to minister to their congregations and pray for the sick. When local churches could not accommodate the crowds, Branham's meetings were moved to larger auditoriums or stadiums for united campaigns in major cities in North America. His success soon took him to minister in countries around the world. According to one Pentecostal historian, "Branham filled the largest stadiums and meeting halls in the world."

|'''The Houston Photo''' <br> [[The Houston Photograph|Angelic being, or indoor lighting?]]

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William Branham continued his worldwide ministry, and the “Voice of Healing” magazine published an article in June 1950 about [[Kari Holma|a boy who was raised to life in Finland during the William Branham campaigns, after being hit by a car]].

|'''Finland Miracle''' <br>[[Kari Holma|Do the stories match?]]

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By this time, William Branham was praying for the sick using two methods. The first was a physical reaction in his hand indicating the presence of germ diseases. The second was that he knew he could talk to people directly about their lives without the need to ask questions.   

|'''Donny Morton''' <br> [[Donny Morton|Healed, but dead?]]

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In Durban, South Africa in 1951, William Branham spoke at meetings sponsored by the Apostolic Faith Mission, the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal Holiness Church, and the Full Gospel Church of God. Meetings were conducted in eleven cities, with a combined attendance of a half million people. On the final day of the Durban meetings, held at the Greyville Racecourse, an estimated 45,000 people attended and thousands more were turned away at the gates. As he travelled around the world he met many individuals of public influence.  <ref>[[A Prophet Visits South Africa, by Julius Stadsklev]]</ref>

A daughter Sarah was born to Meda and William Branham on March 19, 1951 followed by a son Joseph who was born on May 19, 1955. <ref>[[Searching for Vindication]] Timeline</ref>

*William Branham taught that he was a prophet like Moses, with two signs.  But he had to overlook the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth to claim that he was a prophet like Moses.   

*Because Elijah confronted Jezebel, William Branham felt vindicated to speak harshly against women.   

**[[The Serpent's Seed|William Branham preached that Eve cursed the human race by breeding with the Serpent, producing Cain]], even though the Bible says that “sin entered the world by one man” (Romans 5:12)   

**He taught that Satan designed the Woman, even though God said “Let us make mankind in our image.”

In an interview, [[Ern Baxter]] said “Branham as a teacher was outside of his calling. The fruits of his teaching ministry are not good.”

=A Prophet?=

In the 1960’s William Branham would often say, [[An_Uncertain_Sound|“I am a prophet”, then “I am not a prophet”.  He also expressed confusion as to whether he was a seer or an evangelist.]]   

|'''1962 Vision''' <br>[[Prophecy of the Cloud|Learn about the Prophecy of the Cloud]]

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William Branham came back for meetings in Jeffersonville in early 1963 where he preached about an angelic visitation he had received without his son Joseph and without birds appearing, and how he was divinely instructed to preach about the Seven Seals. These sermons contained a lot of church history, and [[Plagiarism|also borrowed heavily from the commentary of Clarence Larkin]] once again.  People who believe that William Branham was a major prophet consider these sermons the fulfillment of [[Matthew 17:11]], where Jesus says that Elijah must come and “restore all things”. The seals as taught by William Branham can be summarized as follows:

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*Sixth Seal – 2 Prophets to the Jews

*Seventh Seal – The Tent vision  

|'''Arizona Geography''' <br> [http://en.believethesign.com/images/e/eb/The_Simple_Truth_about_Arizona.pdf Click to learn more about where William Branham was when the cloud appeared.]

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After William Branham’s death, the audio tapes were transferred into an entity called “Voice of God Recordings”.  Voice of God Recordings reported assets of $109,834,481 on their US tax return as of June 30, 2011. They earned these funds by distributing the sermons of William Branham.<ref> http://en.believethesign.com/images/d/d5/The_Simple_Truth_about_Message_Fruit.pdf </ref>

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