William Marrion Branham
was one of the most influential Bible ministers of our time.
He was considered by many to be the initiator
of the healing and charismatic revival that
began in 1947, and from his ministry there sprang a myriad of
other ministers who became internationally known. One
Historian of that movement stated that William Branham was "a
prophet to our generation", and a Pentecostal Historian
wrote, "Branham filled the largest
stadiums and meeting halls in the world." The Full
Gospel Men's Voice, (now, Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship
International), in its February 1961 issue, wrote: "In
Bible Days, there were men of God who were Prophets and Seers.
But in all the Sacred Records, none of these had a greater
ministry than that of William Branham, a Prophet and Seer of
God, whose photograph appears on the front cover of this issue
of Full Gospel Men's Voice. Branham has been used by God, in
the Name of Jesus, to raise the dead!" From 1947 until
the time of his passing in 1965, the powerful ministry of
William Branham was well known and considered unparalleled
in the history of gospel meetings. The impact of the
supernatural ministry of this one man was felt not only in
North America, but also around the world.
Gordon Lindsay, wrote
of his friend William Branham' saying "his story of the life
of William Branham is out of this world and beyond the
ordinary that were there not available a host of infallible
proofs which document and attest its authenticity, one might
well be excused from considering it farfetched and
incredible."
William Branham was born April 6, 1909 in
a log cabin in the Kentucky hills, the
first of nine children of Charles and Ella
Branham. Reared near Jeffersonville,
Indiana, he knew only a life of deep
poverty and hardship, his father being
alcoholic and illiterate. Compounding
these circumstances, the young boy was
considered "nervous", because from an
early age he spoke of "visions" and "a
voice" which spoke to him out of a wind,
saying, "Don't ever drink, or smoke, or
defile your body in any way. There will be
a work for you to do when you get older."
William Branham came to know the Lord and was filled with the
Holy Spirit in 1931. From that time, the Bible became the
focus of his life and Jesus Christ the center of his very
existence! He was ordained to the ministry at the age of 23
years, in the Missionary Baptist Church in December of 1932.
In May of 1946, he set himself aside to seek God for the
meaning of his strange life. As he prayed alone late one
night, an angel of light appeared, saying, "Do not fear. I am
sent from the presence of Almighty God to tell you that your
peculiar birth and misunderstood life has been to indicate
that you are to take a gift of Divine healing to the peoples
of the world. If you will be sincere when you pray and can get
the people to believe you, nothing shall stand before your
prayer, not even cancer. You will go into many parts of the
earth and will pray for kings and rulers and potentates. You
will preach to multitudes the world over and thousands will
come to you for counsel." This was literally fulfilled in the
years that followed, for his ministry took him around the
world seven times and many individuals of public influence,
including Congressman Upshaw of the U.S.A. and King George VI
of England, were healed as a result of his prayers.
At this point let me inject this about Bro. Branham I
believe he was indeed a man of God and greatly used, but I see
some places that he may have been incorrect in, remember we as
Christians are to look to JESUS and His Word the Bible and
never a man as our example for faith and doctrine.
Info from wikipedia, if any copyright
infringement please advise.
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