The Testimony of James Bernard Manuel: Difference between revisions

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=Early days=

Brother Steve’s company was big. They occupied three floors of this building. One day in 1972 someone said to Brother Steve that he saw a man praying for his food before he ate. Brother Steve did an investigation and found this brother working for the same company as himself. His name was Joey Nair. Brother Steve invited Joey Nair to our prayer meeting. Later, more people came to know about our prayer meeting and the group grew into a full blown fellowship during lunch-time.

“And who is this prophet,” I enquired. “ His name is William Marrion Branham from Jeffersonville, Indiana, in America” he replied. “Now how would I know you’re telling me the truth?” I asked. “ By taking every scripture back to the Word,” he hit back.

After a serious prayer that evening we went to sleep. I was up early in the morning, excited to see the results. Brother Freddy woke up a bit later and when I looked in his face, I did not know how to react. The beard was still unshaven. “These brothers are from the devil. When you see Brother Joey, tell him I say he’s a devil and I’ll do the same with Brother Mintoor DeKock at my factory.” After a short prayer we left in our different directions.

“Brothers” he said, “ I have resigned from this job and I’ll be finishing at the end of this month.” “ I have just this to ask of you, tell me, if the Word tells you to do something why would you not do it? It is difficult, I know, because of your denominations, but are you prepared to face a lost eternity just because your pastor told you not to do it? Who is more important, the Word of God or your denomination.” “ The Word “ we replied. So, then if Peter on the day of Pentecost stood there and said, Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This promise is unto you and your children and those who are afar off. Don’t you think that is what you ought to do?”

From that time the brothers started having informal meetings at different brothers’ homes. We were invited. In those days they had the big eight track tape recorders and reel to reel tapes. One evening we sat till the wee hours of the morning listening to sermons of Brother William Branham. Then there was the healing and discernment portion of the message right near the end.

Early 1973 Brother Steve and myself were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ according to Acts 2:38. An old veteran, whom I respected and loved, Brother John Hopley, did the honors at Princess Vlei on the Cape Flats. We were now baptized according to the Word. But we went back to our denominations. Brother Steve was Pentecostal and I was Docks Mission which is similar to the Baptist Church.

==Leaving denominations behind==

   

==The messenger's vindication==

=Confronted with a question=  

This question stunned me. I could not give her a scripture or a quotation but yet I believed and preached it. I went to my pastor, instead of answering me, he treated it as a threat and warned his church board not to let me preach because I don’t believe the Thunders. I knew, after I heard this that there is something not quite right with this message. I realized there were more than meet the eye.  I would not rest until I get to the bottom of this.

One Sunday morning during one of those days when I was so hungry and desperate, I decided to listen to a message. I thought I typed in Voice of God but for some unknown reason, I landed on a site where I saw the book Legend of the Fall, written by Peter Duyzer. I started reading and stopped. Did I just see this man saying William Branham was not telling the truth when he said he was hunting when the cloud appeared? How rude, how dare this man say such nasty things.

==The truth hits home==  

One day I came across a site with some writings of John Kennah. The one single item that attracted my attention again was the cloud. I noticed Mr. Kennah saying that Rebekah Branham-Smith and Pearry Green changed the history of the message to hide the facts from their followers.

In February 2012, we returned to South Africa. I laid low for two months because I was so weak and vulnerable that I did not want to come into contact with any believers. Actually, I was seriously considering just turning my back on religion completely, but God just would not let me.

==No one answered my questions==  

The South African Pastors have not bothered to reply or return any phone calls.

What everyone, including the message people know is that William Branham was not in the State of Arizona when the cloud appeared in the evening sky.

Dr. James McDonald is actually the hero of this story. He was aware of it. He knew it was not normal and he said so. He researched it and when he discovered there was nothing supernatural about it he lost interest in it.

I have spent 40 years of my life in the message. I believed it, I lived it, I preached it. The message is all my wife knew, it is all my children knew, it is all I knew.

Did it happen like that??  NO.  What do you say when you listen to the prophet saying: “It did??”  What do you do when the pastors make all kind of excuses and you can see they are lying, but you still believe???  What is wrong with you??? You don’t need a revelation to see when someone is lying!!!

==My challenge to you==

The past few months have been challenging. I have had a few threats on my life because of my stand against the message. I receive constant messages in my inbox warning me of imminent danger. I have never taken these threats seriously. I believe that God is in control of my life and I want to do whatever His will is for my life.

I ask you, dear message believer. Is this even Christian to threaten someone who believes different than you??  Is it even common decency to threaten someone with his life just because he is highlighting severe problems of what you believe??

==Why trash the Bible?==

I humbly ask, have you got a tape recording of the voice of Jesus? Or a tape recording of the voice of Paul?? But I have almost 1200 taped messages of Brother Branham. So, it is easy to verify what he said. It is either the truth or it is not. The stories are all beautiful and touching but on close examination after you compare the stories, it is not hard to tell that it was only stories.

   

My name is James Bernard Manuel and I am from Cape Town, South Africa.