Guys...we can't win with this guy. He wants to believe he is a pariah....an outcast....a martyr and this was just another attempt on the evil Pentecostals to persecute him
__________________ Let it be understood that Apostolic Friends Forum is an Apostolic Forum.
Apostolic is defined on AFF as:
There is One God. This one God reveals Himself distinctly as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The Son is God himself in a human form or "God manifested in the flesh" (1Tim 3:16)
Every sinner must repent of their sins.
That Jesus name baptism is the only biblical mode of water baptism.
That the Holy Ghost is for today and is received by faith with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues.
The saint will go on to strive to live a holy life, pleasing to God.
the reason (message believers) as they like to be called dont like the term brahnamite is because one of the big selling points of their system is that they are" non denominational" and not an "organized religion". im with you though why be ashamed. i dont get that.? the people who would be most offended by the label of brahnamite are the people who have a picture or two in their home or office of william brahnam. im not trying to be rude or mean, its just how it is. ive lived around it for close to thirty years. ive seen the whole spectrum of believers in "the message". most of them are wonderfull sincere believers. i just believe they are sincerely wrong.
the reason (message believers) as they like to be called dont like the term brahnamite is because one of the big selling points of their system is that they are" non denominational" and not an "organized religion". im with you though why be ashamed. i dont get that.? the people who would be most offended by the label of brahnamite are the people who have a picture or two in their home or office of william brahnam. im not trying to be rude or mean, its just how it is. ive lived around it for close to thirty years. ive seen the whole spectrum of believers in "the message". most of them are wonderfull sincere believers. i just believe they are sincerely wrong.
I am mostly with your perception. I too have friends in the "message" and they are as sincere and as caring as any. But, their adherence to Billy Branham is shameful all too often. And there are idolaters in their ranks, no doubt about it.
Years ago I went to a meeting with a former Gospel Assembly minister of some 40 years in the ranks of the GA's. After the "after meeting" with the preachers gathered around the table talking about the "message," the old preacher said to me as we were leaving, "son, these men are idolaters." Sad but true in some cases.
No cult has ever disbanded over failed prophecy or heresy, hence, the JW's, the Adventists, the Mormons, etc. They grew larger and more wealthy. They compassed land and sea with their doctrines of Saturday obligation for worship, the "prophet," Joe, etc. The Message has their "Joe," and their obligatory doctrinal code to be part of the "bride." They have a "pope." Pope Branham tho he denied such a title during his life, it seemed he enjoyed the adulation. We are but flesh and it is a daily chore to continually crucify those impulses to be magnified in the eyes of others. Then, it came to its end.
Ok, so I have a branhamite who likes to come to our church.
At first, he came to convert us, and I didn't much care to be around him because of his lying spirit. He would make up things in testimonies, and talk about how great he was. I believe in miracles, but this guy just would tell out and out lies, like how he has a friend who was a part of the azusa st revival.... (happened circa 1906... he's only in his fifties) but we did love him, my pastor tried not to offend him and now lately he's been coming, lifting his hands at the altar, and being moved on by God. I will continue to pray for him that he would have the lens of deception removed from his eyes, if you would pray for him too. His name is Dan.
__________________
The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.- Leonard Ravenhill
It is not my job to decide what is a heaven or hell issue, that's up to scripture. It is not my job to privately interpret scripture, adding or taking away, that is wrong as well. It is however commissioned to me to rightly divide the word of truth and to study to show myself approved. God's blessings. JBol