twomessageministers

Florida Trip Report (Dec 2011 - January 2012)

2012-01-12T13:10:00.009-05:00

Saturday, December 24th, 2011

Christmas Eve

(The journey of 2,800 miles begins with a single step)

Our journey began later than expected due to delays with packing, etc. We drove until the small hours of the morning & stopped in Johnson City, TN to spend the night.

Sunday, December 25th, 2011

Christmas Day

(Johnson City, TN)

Sunday morning we attended service at 'Happy Valley Church Of Jesus Christ' (Bro. Donny Reagan - Pastor), and heard Bro. Paul LaFontaine preach a timely Christmas message on how 'Wise Men Follow The Word Made Flesh'.

After service some friends graciously opened their home for us to join them for their Christmas luncheon. We were able to meet some new friends as well, and enjoyed our time of fellowship there.

After lunch we got back on the road, and learned a valuable lesson that Joseph & Mary learned two thousand years ago; don't travel on Christmas day! There were hardly any stores open, which made finding a place to eat supper was difficult, but thankfully (in our case) we did find a room in the inn.

Monday, December 26th - Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

(Orlando, FL)

On Monday we made it to Orlando, where we picked up my parents at the airport, and were able to enjoy a few days of family vacation.

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

(Okeechobee, FL)

On Thursday we drove to Okeechobee, and listened to part of 'The Oncoming Storm' (60-0229) where Bro. Branham mentions the hurricane that destroyed much of that area in 1928.

I preached at 'Bible Truth Tabernacle' (Bro. Willie Smiley - Pastor) on the thought of 'Be It Unto Me (According To Thy Word)'. The LORD blessed the service, and the fellowship afterwards. My wife (Sis. Rebekah) was excited to finally be able to meet Bro. Smiley's wife (Sis. Jeanna)

Lake Okeechobee

(60-0229) THE ONCOMING STORM (Phoenix, AZ)

"... they lived close to the great Okeechobee Lake, and the waters begin to rise as the typhoon lifted the waters all the way from the bottom of the lake. That's what makes them so dangerous; they're shallow; the boats rock, and that's how the waves come up and turn the boats beneath them. The storms comes and just whirls up the water and packs it for miles."

Friday, December 30th, 2011

(Okeechobee & West Palm Beach, FL)

On Friday we visited Lake Okeechobee (where we took some beautiful pictures), and then drove on to West Palm Beach.

After eating at a local fast food chain we had quite a few pieces of our chicken left untouched so my Dad offered it a little Hispanic family. After talking to them briefly we found out that they were Pentecostal, and had heard of Bro. Branham. Having previously packed some materials for such an occasion; I was able to share several sermon books & the 'Life Story' CD (59-0419) with them.

Once we were back in the vehicle I commented that he had given them some of our natural food, and I was able to offer them some 'Spiritual Food In Due Season' as well.

Upon leaving the restaurant we drove to Palm Beach Island where our boys were able to see the ocean for their first time, and even play in the water for a little bit.

Palm Beach Island

BEHOLD A GREATER THAN ALL OF THEM IS HERE

62-0715 (Spokane, WA)

"... the old salt said to the young poet, said, "Where goest thou, my good man?" He said, "Oh, sir." He said, "I am a poet." And said, "I've wrote of the sea, and--but I have never seen it yet, and I'm going down." Said, "Oh, I just can't wait till I see the sea, to hear the gulls, watch the bright blue skies reflecting itself in it's--in its big body of water, to smell the brine of the salt, and to see the whitecaps spraying up like that." The old salt took his pipe out, and spit, said, "Huh. I don't see nothing so thrilling about it. I been there for sixty years." See? That's right. He'd been on it so much, it was common to him. See? That's what's the matter with the church. We've seen the goodness of God so much till it's become common to us."

We checked into our hotel in West Palm Beach, and met Bro. Jack Duff (pastor of Spirit & Truth Tabernacle in West Palm Beach, FL), and part of his family for supper. They had just returned that day from services he had preached at in Zimbabwe, and they had some wonderful stories & pictures to share with us from their journey.

Saturday, December 31st, 2011

New Year's Eve (West Palm Beach, FL)

We met with Bro. Jack & his family for lunch, and then went back to the hotel for some rest before the evening service.

Saturday night I preached on 'The Message of Deliverance' at 'Spirit & Truth Tabernacle' (Bro. Jack Duff - Pastor) for their watch-night service. It was wonderful to see all of our dear friends at 'Spirit & Truth' again.

Bro. Smiley, and many of the saints from 'Bible Truth Tabernacle' in Okeechobee were able to attend the service as well, and we had a wonderful time bringing in the new year in the presence of the LORD.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

New Year's Day (West Palm Beach & Sarasota, FL)

After a few hours of sleep we returned to 'Spirit & Truth Tabernacle', and I preached on 'Be It Unto Me (According To They Word)'. The LORD blessed both services at 'Spirit & Truth' tremendously.

Immediately after service we drove to Myakka / Sarasota where I preached on 'Finding The Little Shoe' for the afternoon service at the 'House Of Fellowship' (Bro. Danny Stemen - Pastor). The saints responded to the message, and we truly enjoyed our time of fellowship there.

The church in Myakka is beautiful, and the character of the people certainly match it's beauty.

GOD HIDING HIMSELF IN SIMPLICITY

(63-0317M) Jeffersonville, IN

"May it be a consecrated place to our Lord, a consecrated people, for no matter how beautiful the structure is (that we certainly do appreciate), the beauty of the church is the character of the people. I trust it'll always be a house of God of beauty."

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

(Sarasota & Tampa, FL)

We checked out of our hotel in Sarasota, drove to Tampa to drop my parents off at the airport, and began the long drive home. We stopped at a hotel a little earlier than planned because the wind was very severe, and the children were fussy & ready to stop.

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
(Atlanta, GA & Huntsville, AL)

On Tuesday we made a couple of slight detours to meet some previous friends for lunch near Atlanta, GA, and some more for supper in Huntsville, AL. It was very nice to spend some time with brothers and sisters of like precious faith, and it helped break up the trip home for our children (and their very tired parents).

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
(Jeffersonville, IN)

After running into some bad traffic in Nashville we made it home on Wednesday evening. When we pulled into the driveway we had driven almost exactly 2,800 miles since leaving home on Christmas Eve.

We appreciate the hospitality & Christian love that was shown to us at every stop along the way. It was a blessing to see our old friends, and to meet many new ones as well.

The LORD blessed the services, our time of fellowship with believers from many different churches, and our time vacationing as a family far beyond what we could have ever imagined.

"... unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (I Timothy 1:17)

- Bro. Nathan

NBM site update

2012-01-05T16:52:00.001-05:00

We are starting off the new year with a newly updated web-site:

http://nathanbryantministries.com

Special thanks to Bro. Trevor for all the updated features!

Contradictions?

2011-12-29T12:29:00.006-05:00

THE.REVELATION.OF.JESUS.CHRIST - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.1
"Now remember this. Christ in the True Church is a continuation of the Book of Acts. But the Book of Revelation shows how that the antichrist spirit would come into the church and defile it, making it lukewarm, formal and powerless. It exposes Satan, revealing his works (attempted destruction of God's people and the discrediting of God's word) right down to the time he is cast into the lake of fire. He fights that. He cannot stand it."

I’m not intending for this post to be controversial.

It probably will be for some. I’ve decided I can live with that. It’s been on my heart for quite some time.

I want to deal with this subject from the eyes of a parent.

You see, I’ve known some who have had children come across issues of “contradictions” that they see either in the Scripture or in the Message. I know one such who has totally left the faith. (although I pray the faith hasn’t left them!) They claimed that Bro Branham contradicted himself all the time.

So what do we do when our children notice an apparent contradiction? The easy answer for many of us is to say something very spiritual sounding: “I don’t understand it, I just believe it”.

Now, I understand that sentiment, and I agree with it. It’s often just not enough for a smart child. It becomes an easy excuse for the parent to remain ignorant and not search the Scriptures. The children see this as the “easy out” that it is. They see the uncertainty underlying our own understanding or they see that we’ve taken our doctrine out on a limb, and we don’t believe the FULL Word of God ourselves.

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Let’s just deal with the toughest one out there. One I personally know has happened to some.

62-0531 THE.CONFLICT.BETWEEN.GOD.AND.SATAN_ CLARKSVILLE.IN THURSDAY_
« 180 † Noah went in. He followed the will of God. God shut the door behind him, but it never rained for seven more days. Wonder what Noah thought, all that time in there? Noah setting in the ark, the door shut. He thought, "Just any time, children, you'll hear it. We'll pull the door, the lid up here on top." They was up on the top floor, you know. The animals on the bottom, the birds in the next, and they was on top. That sun... "Oh, in the morning, there'll be--there'll be something over there, a darkening, the rain will come." But, the next morning, up come the sun.

181 Maybe some people, that kind of half way believed Noah, might have went up there and stood around the ark, said, "You know what? That old man might have been right. We better stand here." Well, then they "seen a mistake."

God's prophets make no mistake. God's Word can't fail.

182 You heard me preach on, about Jonah going to Nineveh. They said he was backslidden. He sure wasn't. He was right in the will of God. Exactly. He had the Word of the Lord, and he walked in It.

Surely we’ve all heard this one. How many times have we been told that “God’s prophets make no mistake!”

This is as true as any other part of the Word of God. I am in NO WAY denying this, downplaying this, or otherwise contesting this quote. I believe this fact wholeheartedly!

Yet, what happens when in church or in personal study, our children come across the following quote?

61-0611 REVELATION.CHAPTER.FIVE.1_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN ROJC 717-746 SUNDAY_
I don't know where our Lord will lead me to, and that I have no control of, or whatever He will have for me to do. But I am thinking at the end of the road where I must come. And down along life's journeys I have made so many mistakes that I am very sorry from my heart of, because of, I guess, being human and in weakness and so forth, causes a person to do things or say things that... and even act that they would not want to act otherwise. But being the weakness of a human being, why, we--we have those times.

Or like this one:

53-0403 THE.CRUELTY.OF.SIN.AND.THE.PENALTY.THAT.IT.COST.TO.RID.SIN.FROM.OUR.LIVES_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN V-25 N-4 FRIDAY_
Lord, while I'm here at this pulpit tonight, this little old concrete structure, I consecrate my life to You. I thank You for what You've done for me. And I consecrate myself anew, at this crucifixion night memorial to You. Take me, Lord. Forgive me, all my mistakes and troubles. Make me strong and powerful, Lord, in the Spirit of God, that I might win souls to You.

Or finally:

64-0617 THE.IDENTIFIED.CHRIST.OF.ALL.AGES_ TOPEKA.KS V-20 N-1 WEDNESDAY_
« 148 † Now just one moment for the prayer line. We've got exactly fifteen minutes, to get out on time. Now all I could say, I'm a man, my words can just fail just like any other man, all of us. I've proved to you tonight, that every prophet, everything else, they made their mistakes. But God makes no mistakes. His Word is the Truth. How many believes that He is the Word? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] God bless you. That's where my faith is built, on nothing less than Jesus' Blood; and, right, Jesus is the Word.

Of course the mind must then ask itself, "Was Bro Branham a prophet? Didn’t Bro Branham just say right here he has made mistakes. And did He not say God’s prophets make no mistake?" The child will then ask, "Daddy, I thought you said God’s prophets don’t make mistakes?"

So then, you have an apparent contradiction. What will you tell your child? Will you say "Amen" to all quotes with equal gusto? Or will you downplay some, not quite calling them inaccurate, but not really sure what else to do?

They are either ALL God’s Word, or none of them are. If they are ALL God’s Word, than we must say "Amen" and we have to be able to reconcile them together.

2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

We have to then be able to somehow EXPLAIN to our searching children, where the truth lays in ALL the quotes and scriptures. Make no mistake, the devil would LOVE to drive a wedge in this area. Satan wants to “discredit God’s Word”.

I could tell you what I believe makes these quotes line up perfectly; merely the angle you look at them in, but that’s not really the point of this post. The point is: what do you do when you see 'apparent contradictions'? Do you look the other way? Do you try to downplay the part you don’t like or understand? Do you tell your children,"Don’t worry, just believe"?

For me, I’d rather tackle these things head on. My children have enough to worry about in this old world we live in. I want to arm them with as much as I can arm them with. If they see a contradiction, and I don’t understand, I want to go to the Word with them, and I want to be in prayer with them, for God to reveal it to all of us. “With true revelation in our lives, the gates of hell cannot prevail against us, but we will prevail over them.”

JAMES 1:5 - 8
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Diary Of A Message Dad (Is Santa Claus Real?)

2011-12-19T15:10:00.002-05:00

"Lord, take away the fiction of Santa Claus

and bring to them the real Christmas gift."

'The Great Shining Light' (57-1222)

Millions of people around the world teach their children not to talk to strangers (or accept gifts from strangers), but the majority of them seem to make one exception; Santa Claus. They teach their children of a mysterious, chubby, jolly, old man dressed in red who will magically deliver toys around the world via his flying specie of 'Rangifer tarandus' (aka 'caribou', or 'reindeer').

In our society parents live in fear of pedophiles & child predators, yet somehow millions of them will stand in line this holiday season at malls around the world so their children can sit on the lap of a total stranger to get their picture taken.

One has to ask; could someone 'of that nature' think of a more convenient job to apply for?

A few lyrics to the old song go:

"He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake."

"O! You better watch out!"

"I'm telling you why;
Santa Claus is coming to town."

St Nicholas

from The Boyana Church in Bulgaria

Saint Nicholas was a fourth century bishop (known for giving to the poor) in what is now Turkey. He is known best as being the inspiration behind the fictitious character of Santa Claus.

So what should we tell our children about Santa Claus? As with any topic; we always want to point you to what the Message of the hour says about it:

(59-1219) Questions And Answers On The Holy Ghost (Jeffersonville, IN)
Q99. What about a Christmas play in a Holy Ghost church?
Well, if it's about Christ, it might be all right. But if it's about Santa Claus, I don't believe in him. I--I done growed--I done growed away from that. I don't believe in Santa Claus at all. See? And some of these little Christmas things they have, I think is ridiculous. And... But I think they've took all Christ out of Christmas and put Santa Claus in it.
And Santa Claus is a fiction story. (I'm not hurting any of your feelings, I hope, about the children.) But I'll tell you. Here not long ago, about twenty-five, thirty years ago, when a minister here in this city, the pastor of--of a certain big church here in the city, that I knowed real well, a bosom friend of mine, he walked to me. And Charlie Bohanon (Brother Mike, you remember Charlie Bohanon, a good friend of mine.)... Set there in his office and said, "I'll never tell my kids or have my grandchildren told that lie no more." He said, "My own little boy walked up to me after he got about twelve years old, and talking about Santa Claus..." And he said, "Why... Honey, I've got something to tell you," Said, "Mommy..." You know, and go ahead telling him what he did.
Then after he come back, said, "Then, daddy, is this Jesus the same thing?"
Tell the truth. Santa Claus is a Catholic getup about a fellow, a Kriss Kringle or Saint Nicholas, an old German Catholic saint of many years ago who went around doing good to children. And they've carried it down as a tradition. But Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He's real, and He lives.
Now, here's a question, the last one, which is a very...
Now look. You might disagree with me at that. But if you do disagree with me, remember, let it be friendly, will you? I love you, and I don't want to--don't want to hurt you. I'm just--I'm wanting to be honest. If I can't--if I tell my boy a lie, then I'm a liar. See? I want to tell him the truth.
Now, I tell him about Santa Claus; I say, "Yeah, sure, there's Santa Claus. Watch daddy on Christmas night." See? Yeah.
You know, the other day I was down there, and I tried that on a little girl just to see. I sure got paid back day before yesterday. I was in the building. And they was standing there, down here at the Quaker Maid. And I went down there to get the groceries. And so we, wife and I, was in there. And there was a little bitty girl, wasn't over about eighteen months old, and she was standing there going--singing, "Dingle Bells, Dingle Bells..."
And I said... In her little stand, you know, setting in the back of the little cart. I said, "Are you looking for Santa Claus?"
She said, "That's my daddy, mister."
I said, "Bless your little heart, honey. You got wisdom."

Known as 'Sinterklaas' in Dutch folklore

"What's any more of a myth than Santa Claus? Never was such a thing. Telling children lies, you'll be responsible for it at the day of the judgment. Yes.
No wonder people don't know what to do. They're... They--they just don't want the real thing. They'll take anything artificial, but they don't want the real thing. They don't want the gifts of God."

'God's Wrapped Gift' (60-1225)

"(Santa Claus) is a figure with legendary,

mythical, historical and folkloric aspects..."

(wikipedia.org)

Give your children the gift of Truth this Christmas,

Bro. Nathan

Sermon Index App

2011-12-13T10:21:00.001-05:00

There is a new Sermon Index App available for free

through Voice of God Recordings on iPhone & iPad.

Note: "You must be running IOS 5 on
your mobile device for the app to work."

Happy Thanksgiving (2011)

2011-11-24T07:58:00.002-05:00

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I know that ('as for me and my house') we have been blessed far beyond what we deserve.

"He hath done all things well."

(Mark 7:37b)

I pray that you are surrounded by families who love you this Thanksgiving holiday. Take the time to consider all the wonderful things that God is doing in your life, and to thank Him for all the blessings He has given.

To God be all the praise, and honor, and glory forever. Amen.

Bro. Nathan

* The links in this article are to a short video on the
'Young Foundations' web-site that we wanted to share with you *

Let The Fire Fall

2011-11-22T11:35:00.005-05:00

'The Invisible Union Of The Bride Of Christ'

(65-1125)

"Now, before closing. One time I was up in Glacier National Park. We heard, all day long, that they had a--they had a fall, a glacier fire that was going to fall at night. So the people was busy, all day long, getting that thing ready, because they was going to pour that fire out, that night. They put a liquid fire falls, like a great glacier of water. But it's... Looked like a rainbow, almost, when it comes out, of that fire falling out of this glacier. All around through the park, wife and I, and children, walked around through the day. We want to stay to see that fire exhibition. So it--it--it was promised us that we would see it, and we'd witness it again. They said they have it ever through the summer seasons and so forth. I said, "Well, will we be able to see it?"
Said, "We promised it tonight. We're promised that." Said, "They're up there getting it ready now."
After all had been made ready for the event! That's what's taking place right now. All has been made ready for the event, a Church being pulled out for His Name's sake, taking His Bride out from amongst the world, these denominations and all the world, and the filth and things of the world.
Everybody; the event was made ready. Everybody was standing out. They said, "Now keep watching, right up on top the mountain there."
That's the way It's always come. That's the way It's to come this time. That's the way It always come. Not through a denomination! Never did God use a denomination, never!
The reformer goes forth, he gets the Word of the Lord. And then when he dies, they build a denomination out of it. That's what the Pentecostals and all did. When the new issues, everything, that's just the way. That's the way the thing come out. A new word added, then they build a church out of it, made a denomination, separated themself. It had to be that way.
Now, you can't beat--you can't beat nature. Nature falls in the same routine, all the time: stalk, leaf, tassel, so forth, shuck, then the wheat.
Now notice. All was ready. Everything had been kindled and made ready. And everybody was standing out. I had my head sticking up; my arm around my wife. We was looking. And children standing there, all of us looking up, like that. My! It was something, 'cause we was expecting it. It was promised to us.
Amen! The Word promises This. "It shall come to pass, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, behold, I will send unto you Elijah the prophet. He shall turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers."...?... "It shall come to pass in the last days, I'll pour out My Spirit from on High." "The former and latter rain shall come together in the last day." All these promises, through the Scriptures, been given. We're looking upward. Watch at the true Bride across the nation this hour, looking up. Church, He is coming, one of these days. Just as sure as He come the first time, He is coming again. Get everything ready. Separate yourself from shuck. Lay before the Son. Keep looking up. Be under expectation.
All at once, we heard something from the top the hill, a voice come down through the loud speaker, said, "All things are ready."
Then this man, standing right there by the side of me, said, "Let the fire fall." Here it come, pouring down across that mountain, a glacier of fire and blazes a licking, a sight to behold.
Brother, let's get all things ready, for one of these days the Fire is going to fall. We're going up. Now let's get ready for the Fire-falling time."


'Fire Fall' (Glacier Point - Yosemite National Park)

A precious friend of ours (Bro. Jack Duff - Pastor of 'Spirit & Truth Tabernacle in West Palm Beach, FL) visited us recently for some special meetings. On Friday night (11/11/11) he used this quote for the basis of a sermon he titled 'Let The Fire Fall'.

Yesterday, Bro. Trevor sent Bro. Jack & myself the link to a video he had found of a park ranger telling a very similar story about the 'Fire Fall'. The video also included the details of how the 'Fire Fall' started in 1872, and why they stopped performing the event in 1968 (due to the overwhelming amount of visitors & traffic caused by the event, and because it was not a 'natural event').

My first thought was, 'It would be fun to re-create this event'. Spiritually speaking however; you cannot try to re-kindle, or re-create the fire from another generation. We mustn't try to make our experience match someone else's, but our experience MUST match the Word of God.

As nice as it would be to have a video of this event from back in the 1960's; 'you can't get warm by a painted fire'. While the historical record would be nice to have; by Itself the Letter killeth, but mixed with the Spirit It is quickened to give Life.

The tree bark the park workers used was dead in & of itself, but when they mixed it with fire it provided life-sustaining warmth. So must we become dead to ourselves & dead to the things of the world so that the Holy Ghost & Fire can be kindled in our lives until it is no longer us, but Christ that lives in us!

"For our God is a consuming Fire."

(Hebrews 12:29)

I also like that this was not just a monthly event (taking the communion), or an annual event (waiting for a revival), but preparations were made all day long, every single day so that the fire could fall daily!

May we live so close that a fresh anointing of Fire can fall on us daily!

- Bro. Nathan

'What Is The Holy Ghost?'

(59-1216)

"Not from revival to revival, but from eternity to eternity you are sealed by the Holy Spirit."

Up2Date VI (Veteran's Day)

2011-11-11T03:53:00.001-05:00

In 1918 (93 years ago today) World War I mysteriously ended (as a fulfillment of Revelation 7:1-3), and what we now call 'Veterans Day' began as the 'Armistice Day' celebration.

 "All the world was going to war; and all of a sudden, it stopped. And I've read the decline of the World War One. No man knows today why it stopped; no man give any orders for it to stop. But it was stopped on November the eleventh (That right?), the eleventh month in the year, the eleventh hour in the day, the eleventh minute after eleven. What was it? That the eleventh hour people could come in." ~WMB (55-0312

"They was writing on the decline of the First World War. Nobody knows today whoever made a issue of peace. Kaiser Wilhelm said he didn't do it. No general said he didn't do it. But notice, how strange it was. It was on November the 11th at eleven o'clock in the day. The eleventh day of the month, the eleventh month in the year, the eleventh hour of the day, and eleven minutes till eleven. What was it? Hold, stop mysteriously... What did it? God's issue went forth to hold it. "Hold the four winds." "Winds" means "war and strife"; we know. Until we have got Israel back in Palestine again, "Hold the four winds," and it stopped right there on the eleventh hour because...
Remember Jesus speaking of the eleventh hour, people? And the one that come in on the eleventh hour, what did He say? Oh, don't be dumb; be spiritual. Look, how did He say? The eleventh hour people got the same wage the one did that come in the first hour. Then the baptism of the Holy Ghost has to go right back and seal the Jew, like the first one was sealed, that eleventh hour people. "Hold the four winds; don't let the world be destroyed until we seal the servants of our God in their forehead." ~WMB (61-0217)

REVELATION 7

1 ¶ And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Diary Of A Message Dad (The Golden Rule)

2011-10-13T11:26:00.004-04:00

In St. Luke's gospel our LORD Jesus tells his disciples, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Most of us are probably more familiar with the paraphrased version of this verse that is known as 'The Golden Rule' ("Do unto others as yo would have them do unto you").

Everyone wants to be treated fairly. Our country has gone to war time and time again, civil rights movements and human rights movements have been established, many have shed their blood and given their lives all so that people could be treated fairly.

We want to be treated fairly at church, at school, and at work. We want to be treated fairly by our friends, our family, our teachers, our employers, and our government. Most of us aren't looking for special treatment above and beyond what everyone else receives, but none of us enjoy being humiliated in front of others, or when we are treated less favorably than our peers.

Are we as willing to constantly check our own actions to ensure we give out equal treatment to others as we are to fight for our own equal rights? Do we limit this checking of actions to our interactions in public (school, work, church, etc), or do we strive to treat our family and friends with the same level of respect?

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (St. Matthew 7:12)

When it comes to marriage; do we treat our spouse the way that we want to be treated? Do we stop long enough to truly listen, and communicate back? Do we give them the attention and respect that we expect to receive?

When it comes to our children; do we remember how we felt at their age, and give them the time, and patience that we desired from our parents?

I see so many parents (and have admittedly caught myself being guilty of the same from time to time) who expect very young children to act like adults.

Personally I don't want to look back in twenty years to find that my memories of our children growing up are that my wife and I were able to train them to sit like little soldiers so that they never embarrassed us as parents, never did anything out of line, and grew up despising us.

My wife and I want our children to respect us as parents. We want them to understand their position as children and ours as parents, but we do not want our children to live in fear of us. We do not want them to feel that they can never make a mistake, or that they cannot come and talk to us when they find themselves in trouble.

I would like to look back in twenty years and be able to say that my children were not perfect little soldiers who never made mistakes, but that they were good children who were full of life, and love, and laughter. I want to remember that we allowed them to be children (even if it meant the occasional dirty clothes, or trips to the bathroom to apply band-aids as a result of their 'adventures', and maybe even a few random pieces of broken furniture).

I want them to be able to look back and see that their parents were not perfect, but that we tried to teach them all that we knew about Jesus, and how to live their lives to their fullest ability.

I hope that they will be able to look back and find that their fond memories heavily outweighing the bad.

I trust that they will realize their parents had their best interests in mind with every decision we made, and that we treated them equally, and loved them each the same for their own unique ways.

If you have children please recognize that you are their hero, and try to live up to those expectations before you prove them wrong.

Bro. Nathan

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." (St. Matthew 18:10)

*** 'Diary Of A Message Dad' is a new blog label that we plan to use as a platform to share personal stories, insights, quotes, and scriptures related to parenting and marriage. ***

Up2Date V (Commercialization)

2011-10-07T23:09:00.000-04:00

WILL THE CHURCH GO BEFORE THE TRIBULATION? (58-0309E)

Oh, there never was a day that's so much commercial as today. Just used car lots and everything, so much till you can buy a refrigerator this year and pay about four or five hundred dollars for it, and next year nobody wants it. It's out of style. Don't you see where the commercial world has your nose to the grind wheel.
You can buy a car this year, and next year it's probably as good as the one you could buy then, but it'll depreciate a thousand dollars, because they change the radiator cap, or they done some little silly something to it. It's only a sales talk to fulfill the Bible. "As it was the days of Noah... and in the days of Lot..."

INVESTMENTS (63-1116B)

This "get rich over night." I had a friend once that had his life savings in a bank, drawing a small interest, and someone come by with a shortcut. You know, we hear today of so many, shortcuts the thing. The world is full of it; advertisements, and television, radio, newspapers. And if the American people fall for such as that!
Here long ago, I was listening at an advertisement of a--a--a woman, or talking on the--on the radio. I was in my car, going somewhere, and they said, "Use these fine dishwashing powders," of some sort, "you don't even have to wash the dishes. You just put them in there, and pour a little bit in and shake it up-and-down; and it's no washing, no rinsing, no drying, no nothing." And it was one of the greatest things that science had ever given us.
And right back over, about the next commercial, was, "Don't use these new detergents. Look at mother's hands, how pretty they are. They burn your hands up. Be... have pretty hands like mother, and don't use the new detergent."
And I happened to live in Jeffersonville, at that time, where Colgate Palmolive Peet big factory is, and the same company made both products. See? See? It's a--it's a gimmick. And there is so much of it in the world today!
And I say this with reverence and respects, and I hope it doesn't sound sacrilegious, but that same thing has got into the church move. God has no shortcuts. You just pay the price. You come and take the way that God provided for us.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani

2011-10-03T12:45:00.010-04:00

*** Update: U.N. "silent no more about Pastor Youcef" (10/21/11) ***

On October 12th, 2009 Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani of Rasht, Iran was taken into custody for charges of apostasy ("renouncing Islam"). He has constantly been under the threat of execution since that time. He has repeatedly been offered freedom if he will but recant his faith in Jesus Christ, but he replies,"I cannot".

February 9th, 2010 - Voice Of God Recordings began covering the story of the imprisonment of ten believers in Iran on their blog (more reports with greater detail about Brother Youcef followed as they received further information).

Present Truth Ministries (founded by Brother Jason Demars of Minnesota) has covered Bro. Youcef's story in great detail on their blog.

In October of 2010 the USCIRF (U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom) "(urged) the Obama Administration to Demand Release of Pastor Facing Execution in Iran for Apostasy".

January 11th, 2011 - Voice Of God Recordings reported that Congresswoman Giffords (who had recently been shot in Tucson, AZ) had "embraced the efforts to help free Brother Youcef Nadarkhani and Brother Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani in Iran. She brought the case before the United States Department of State, where they began efforts to halt the extreme persecution of these believers (when the situation with the believers in Iran came to her attention)."

Only recently has Bro. Youcef's story gained high-pofile, global coverage (with detailed reports being picked up by Fox News, CNN, etc).

On September 30th, 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton released a brief statement on the U.S. Department Of State's website condemning Iran for the continued violation of human rights (specifically mentioning Pastor Youcef in the following statement).

"We are particularly concerned by reports that Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is facing execution on charges of apostasy for refusing to recant his faith."

In thinking of Bro. Youcef I am reminded of the words Martin Luther spoke on April 18th, 1521, "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen!"

Please continue to remember Bro. Youcef and his family in your prayers. I know that God is more than able to deliver him, and restore him to his family. I pray that the leadership in our nation will be instrumental in quickly restoring his freedom.

Bro. Nathan

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)

"And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt." (Daniel 6:20-22)

The Predestinated Snails

2011-09-29T00:25:00.000-04:00

"Let's dramatize just a moment, so you get the picture".

- Rev. William Marrion Branham

The following is a little drama that I felt inspired to write many years ago (February 11th, 1998). 

I hope the little thought that the Lord laid upon my heart during that time will be a blessing to you as you read it. 

- Bro. Nathan Bryant

Genesis 6:18-20

"But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive."

Our drama is set right around the time of the flood.

God told Noah, "Build an ark", but He didn't tell him to go collect the animals. The animals came on their own.

The flood was coming. Noah had preached it, and now it was right at hand. There [were] going to be two of every animal (one male, and one female) [to preserve life].

[There had to be a group of snails] living in Noah's time [who were overcomers].

Now the horses could run, and the birds could fly (making pretty good time), but these little snails [would] have to crawl every inch of the way.

That's like the bride. Some people are [granted eternal life after the second resurrection because they are] kind to the bride [St. Mark 9:41, Church Age Book p278], but [the true Bride of Jesus Christ will] have to crawl every inch of the way [overcoming] the devil's temptations and torments [on every hand].

[These little snails would have to make it in] the ark, or their entire species would be wiped off the face of the earth forever.

After a few days this group of snails [were] just like Israel in the desert (murmuring and complaining).

After a few weeks almost half of them had given up [with all kinds of excuses].

"I just can't do it."

"I can't live that kind of life."
"It's just too hard!"

But one little snail looked over at [one of those] hypocrites and said, "But God said He would never give us anything too hard [I Corinthians 10:13]. He [will] provide a way!"

"But if only two are going to make it what chance have I got?"

That same Godly snail looked over and [quoted St. Matthew 22:14], "Many are called, but few are chosen".

"But I just don't have the strength to go on. We may not even be going the right way..."

[One other faithful little] snail looked over at him and started singing, "I know the Lord will make a way for me. I know the Lord will make a way for me. If I live a Holy life, shun the wrong, and do the right; I know the Lord will make a way for me!"

Oh, it made those other snails so mad. These two (no matter what the situation was) always had a scripture or a song, and they always seemed so happy! Even though they were just as tired as the others, they pressed on to the mark of the high calling [Philippians 3:14].

[Some of those make-believer snails] tried to change God's Word a little bit.

"Well, what if He didn't really mean [literal rain]?"

"What if we're doing this for nothing?"

"What if there is no [ark]?"

Those chosen snails looked at [them] and said, "If God said It, I believe it. I'm standing on It, and claiming [It]. Praise God! Every promise in the book is mine!"

[The vast majority] of the snails gave up, or died in the journey, but these two 'Predestinated Snails' pressed on because they had the faith to accept the Word, and apply it to their own lives.

[It would not have been enough for them to simply say they believed Noah. They proved they really did believe his message by making themselves ready (Revelation 19:7).]

Now in the last days (right before God closed the door) the sun was beating down. [Those two little 'Predestinated Snails'] were in an awful state. The [doubting] snails that had given up were making fun of them, [and] trying to get them to [quit].

One of [those] 'Predestinated Snails' turned to the other and said, "Resist the devil, and he will flee" [James 4:7]. The other one [shouted], "Praise God!", and they kept on.

After a while the other snails [gave up trying to bother] them, and went away.

[As they came over that final hill] they could see the ark sitting there. Praise God! We're almost that close today. "Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" [St. Luke 21:28b].

They had just enough time to make it in before the door was shut.

If God knew the snails were predestinated to be there before the foundation of the [world], how much more [does] He know that we'll be there?

If we'll just press on (and not just read the Word, but write our own names in there and apply it to our own lives) then we'll be able to make it in before He shuts the door, just like 'the predestinated snails'.

"Someone said, "Well, there's no need in me trying it. Brother Branham said there's only going to be one saved out of Jeffersonville." See? Now, see, it's showing a parable. That--that--that isn't... That--that isn't it. There might be thousands saved. I don't know. I hope every one of them is saved (See?), but I don't know. But here's the way I want to believe it: I'm that one. You believe the same for you. If you don't, then there's something wrong with your faith. You're not sure what you're doing." - Rev. William Marrion Branham

Romans 8:29-31

["For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"]

*** Text in between brackets indicates newly added and/or modified text. ***

Up2Date IV (Instinct)

2011-08-25T20:06:00.003-04:00

(63-0607) BE NOT AFRAID (TUCSON, AZ)

"When Billy and I flew into India, just recently, they had a piece of paper. It's a bilingual country. And said, "The earthquakes must be over. The birds are returning back."
Now, India, they don't have these fine woven fences like we have. They pick up rocks and make their fences, and build their houses, and most of them. And for a day or two, all the little birds that lived in these rocks flew away, and went out. They wouldn't come back to the rocks, back to their nest. And then what happened? All the cattle that used to come in the--in the evening, when the sun would be hot, and they'd stand in the shadow of these walls, to keep cool; the sheep; they wouldn't do it. They got right out in the middle of the field and stood against one another.
They thought, "That's strange. What's happened to them?"
And then, all at once, an earthquake swept the country. All the walls fell down. And then it was down for two or three days, the earthquakes. Then, all at once, what was left standing up, the little birds begin to come in again, come back. They said, "The earthquakes must be over."
Don't you see, friends? The same God in the days of Noah, who could take the birds and the animals, and put them in the ark of safety, away from destruction, that same God still can warn the bird. And the bird only has instinct to go by. If the bird, by instinct, God warning him to get away from the big, falling walls, surely, that by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that we can get away from these big old walls that's being traditions that's built around us, and get out there, if we have to stand, one against the other, and keep in the shadow of the Bible."

The following are excerpts from an article we found on the Discovery News web-site:

"The Smithsonian National Zoo put out a comprehensive list of how animals at the zoo reacted to Tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia. Here's a look at how they responded..."

Great Apes
* The earthquake hit the Great Ape House and Think Tank Exhibit during afternoon feeding time.
* About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the apes, including Kyle (an orangutan) and Kojo (a Western lowland gorilla), abandoned their food and climbed to the top of the tree-like structure in the exhibit.
* About three seconds before the quake, Mandara (a gorilla) let out a shriek and collected her baby, Kibibi, and moved to the top of the tree structure as well.
* Iris (an orangutan) began “belch vocalizing”—an unhappy/upset noise normally reserved for extreme irritation—before the quake and continued this vocalization following the quake.

Small Mammals
* The red ruffed lemurs sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred.

Bird House
* The Zoo has a flock of 64 flamingos. Just before the quake, the birds rushed about and grouped themselves together. They remained huddled during the quake.

The Body Of Christ Q&A

2011-08-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

We have been receiving more, and more e-mails to our blog@twomessageministers.com account. Many are prayer requests, some are encouragements to 'keep up the good work', some are requests for advice, and counseling, and some are Scriptural, or Message-related questions.

Last night I responded to one of the Scriptural questions we received recently, and thought it was worth sharing as a 'Bible Study' post for those who have had (or been asked) similar questions.

Q. (paraphrased)

"If God was in Christ, and Christ was the body of God; does Christ in us mean (that) a body dwells within us? Also, does "by one spirit we are baptized into one body" means, we get into a body?

A.

I trust that yours is a sincere request in search for truth, and not simply a mocking question of unbelief.

Either way I will try to answer your question to the best of my ability, as I set aside a little time away from my family to follow up on a few ministry-related e-mails.

II Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness".

I believe that if you can take the time to study the Scriptures, and ask God to reveal them; you will find that they do not contradict one another. They dovetail perfectly together if you will set aside carnal thinking long enough to take an honest, open-hearted look at them.

I Corinthians 2:13-14 reads: "We speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

You have asked a Scriptural question, so I will do my best to give you a Scriptural answer.

Jesus tells us in St. John 4:24 that "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

God is a Spirit. You cannot see a spirit, you cannot kill a spirit. Jesus even says in St. Luke 24:39 (referring to His earthly tabernacle), "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

Because man had fallen into sin there had to be a yearly sacrifice made to atone for those sins, but the blood of bulls & goats could not permanently rid sin (Hebrews 10:4), so there had to be a pure, sinless, Holy sacrifice made, but there was no one found who was worthy (Revelation 5:2-9).

God was the only one who was worthy, but He could not die as a spirit, so He created a body in the womb of Mary that would be born a virgin birth as promised in Isaiah 7:14. Colossians 2:9 explains that "in Him (Jesus) dwelleth ALL the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

All that God was He poured into Christ. The body of Jesus was a tabernacle that God dwelt in to be a tangible being that could be seen, and touched (St. John 1:1), and could die to rid sins for all those who would accept His sacrifice.

Jesus told His disciples in St. John 6:53, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." Many of his followers left him because of this saying (St. John 6:66), because they thought he was speaking literally, and that he was a cannibal that wanted them to eat His literal flesh. Had they only asked Him further, or waited until they could have received the spiritual discernment to understand they would have seen He was referring to Communion / The Lord's Supper (I Corinthians 11:24-26).

It seems that you are thinking along the same carnal lines of those who left Jesus in St. John 6:66 (a physical body inside of a physical body). This is similar to how Nicodemus misunderstood Him when He told him, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus thought He was literally saying that a man had to "enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born" (St. John 3:1-10).

Jesus told His disciples in St. John 14:18-20, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." A short while later we find in Acts 2:1-4 (after the physical body of Jesus had ascended into Heaven in Acts 1:9) we find that He sent The Comforter to 120 of them in the upper room (Acts 1:15), and filled them with the Holy Ghost.

The same Spirit (the Father) that dwelt in Christ (the Son), was now dwelling in His people (in the form of the Holy Ghost just as Jesus had promised). "I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." The same Spirit / Person in three different offices (or attributes).

It wasn't an actual body living inside of Jesus, but it was the fulness of the Spirit of God dwelling in an earthly tabernacle / body. So is it not the physical body of Jesus living inside of our physical body, but a portion of that same Spirit (God's Life) that dwelt in Him in fulness, dwells in each individual who receives the Holy Ghost.

Romans 12:5 says, "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."

If you read all of I Corinthians chapter twelve with an open heart it should help explain this thought more thoroughly. The spiritual body of Christ has many different offices & gifts (apostles, prophets, teachers, preachers, evangelists, singers, workers, etc) but if each member has the Holy Ghost they are all performing some work for God as part of His spiritual body.

I hope that my response has helped you to understand what you are questioning further. I would not be able to see the continuity of the Scripture in this way if it had not been for the fulfillment of Malachi 4, Revelation 10:7, Matthew 17:11, and Luke 17:30 as God has allowed to be fulfilled in our age through the humble ministry of William Marrion Branham.

Thank you for your inquiry, and may God bless you, and reveal to you the answers you are searching for.

Bro. Nathan Bryant
Co-Founder & Co-Author
Two Message Ministers
blog@twomessageministers.com
www.twomessageministers.com

Ridiculous

2011-08-17T14:14:00.006-04:00

How is your life viewed by others? Do most people find you normal? Do you “fit in” with relative success, no one really seeing the effects of your Christian walk?

I’d like you to stop and consider a few Bible characters for just a moment. Consider Moses, he fit in for such a long time in Egypt, yet when he finally stood for God, he was viewed in a different light. When the commission to serve God really came forward, it was ridiculous to the Egyptian mind.

“Why would someone give up the chance to be Pharaoh, to lead an oppressed people out into the wilderness?” Ridiculous! Then he turns around 40 years later and goes to take over the world power of the day with a stick in his hand!

Of course we all know how ridiculous Noah looked when he began to do something for God. “It’s never rained, and you’re building a boat on the top of a mountain. Ooo-kay!”

Of course, we could talk about Abraham going to offer Isaac on top of the mountain, Gideon paring down his army to 300, Shamgar attacking 600 philistines with a farm implement, little David taking on big Goliath or apostles staggering around like drunk men on the day of Pentecost. The list could go on and on.

What do all of these have in common? From the outside looking in, they are quite ridiculous!

I CORINTHIANS 3:18-19
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

So, I ask again. How is YOUR life viewed by others? Do they find you a little odd? Quirky? Ridiculous? They should. All throughout the Bible we find such instances. If the world looks at our lives and sees nothing strange, then I wonder what kind of lives we are living?

Bro Branham says:

“You know, sometimes when you get persistent and hear the Voice of God, it makes you do things ridiculous to the carnal mind. You act strange, funny. You're an odd person.” (62-0719E PERSEVERANT)

He also said:

“Faith finds a source that others don't see. Faith finds a source that others can't see it. Faith is ridiculous to everybody but God and the fellow that's got it. It's ridiculous to everybody besides God and the person that's got the faith. Now, it's all--it's all--it's a surety to them. It's a sure to God, and it's a sure to the person that's got it. But the rest of them thinks they're crazy. Always have.” (62-0719E PERSEVERANT)

So, do the people at work find you crazy? Perhaps they find you praying at lunch time. Perhaps they find you in a corner reading the Word with tears streaming down your cheeks at break time.

How about the people at your church? “Man, that brother/sister just LOVES everybody. They’re always happy. You can’t get them to say anything negative about nobody.” (Unfortunately, many people conclude that person is just wishy-washy, but that’s a topic for another post!) The spirit of Christ in you should have SUCH POWER that you would LOVE the unlovable. You would love the ones that talk bad about you. You would press in to the Spirit even when all others have given up. That sounds ridiculous to far too many!

Are you ridiculous? Are you serving Him? Are you displaying Him? Your faith in action should be ridiculous to the carnal mind. If your faith is not in action click here!

Prayer Requests

2011-07-07T14:42:00.002-04:00

"... your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him." (Matthew 6:8b)

Brother Frank Prater (Pastor of Eagle Lighthouse Tabernacle in Ft. Smith, Arkansas) alerted us to an urgent prayer request for little Laurie McGuire. She fell into a fire, and is not expected to live. She is only ten years old. Please remember this little girl in your prayers. I know that our God is more than able to restore her completely, and I pray that His Presence goes to her bedside now.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)

Also please remember Daniel (Nathan) Phillips in prayer. He is the son of Brother James & Sister Betty Phillips, and the grandson of Brother Willard Collins (Pastor of the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, IN). Over fifty percent of his body was burned severely last week, and the last I heard his situation was very serious.

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD (53-0604)

"... Hezekiah's prayer changed the opinion of God. Oh, my. I like that. Prayer changes things. It's the most powerful force that God ever put in the hands of man, is a sincere prayer offered to God. Jesus said, "Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, that I'll do." Believe it. Try it once, and see if it isn't true."

We serve a present tense God who is more than able to come on the scene in both of these situations for His Glory & their good. "Prayer changes things".

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper

and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (III John 1:2)

*** UPDATE ***

07/10/2011

Update on little Laurie McGuire (per Brother Frank Prater): "... talked to a friend of the family. He said she would recover. She must have fallen backward into a campfire. She will need skin grafts. Thank you for your prayers, and praise the Lord for this testimony."

Is “Heaven is for Real” for real?

2011-07-02T15:50:00.002-04:00

(Book review)

Recently I have seen many references from friends about the book “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo. I decided to download the book to my kindle, and give the relatively short book a quick read.

I must say, having a daughter that had a ruptured appendix at a very young age as well, I could identify with the author and the book really gripped me for the first half.

In this book Todd Burpo, a Methodist minister, writes about a situation that happened to his four year old son. Young Colton Burpo has a ruptured appendix, and after 5 days of misdiagnosis, undergoes emergency surgery. During the surgery and the grim prospect of his little boy making it; his father finds a room to himself to cry out to God, and his mother is in a waiting room calling family and friends, and praying. During surgery, young Colton slips away from his body and sees his father in one room and his mother in another room.

The young boy makes it through surgery and recovers. Months later, he astounds his father and mother by telling them of different things that he should not have known about. He accurately describes where his mother and father were and what they were doing while he was in surgery, a fact he could not have known. He also mentions he has a sister in heaven. Mom and Dad are astounded by this because they’ve never told their son about a miscarriage they had prior to him being born. Other things begin to emerge over a period of months about him seeing his grandpa as a much younger man now in heaven and other such things.

It was a really nice story. Sadly, after we get through the tale of the physical surgery and such, and him seeing his mother in one room and his father in another, I have to stop believing it’s anything BUT a story.

You see, it just doesn’t line up with what a vindicated prophet of God taught us. In the book, Colton mentions his grandpa had bigger wings than he did. Bro Branham never mentions this. He tells us that not even all the angels have wings.

Colton mentions sitting on Jesus lap, yet when Bro Branham went beyond the curtain, he was told Jesus was “higher than this”. Colton also describes God having a big throne, Jesus having a smaller one, and the Holy Spirit having a different one as well. This is obviously a problem as the Bible tells us there is one throne, and that God is ONE Lord.

I could point out all the disparities between what we’re taught by Bro Branham and what is set forth in this book, but there would be no reason to continue, really.

It may sound harsh or hard to take, that I’m disagreeing with a four year old boy, but what else can I do? A vindicated prophet of God tells me something, I will take that over a Methodist minister’s tale of what his young boys tells him.

I do want to clarify though; I do believe HEAVEN IS REAL. I just don’t believe the book in question accurately depicts what Heaven is like. I know there are many who are encouraged by this book and the many others out on the market like it. I'm encouraged to know Heaven is real myself. In fact, we have a timeless Book that was given to us called the Bible. IT tells us Heaven is real, if we'd just put our faith in THAT, we wouldn't need an unlikely story from a youngster to give us a spiritual lift.

If you chose to read it, take it for what it’s worth…a nice story, a tale of something incredible, and perhaps a bit of embellishment.

"Nothing but lost souls..."

2011-06-28T14:52:00.001-04:00

LOVE (56-0726)

"Nothing but lost souls, is the only thing that's got any value in it. Money passes away. Homes decay and go away. Everything in the earth moves away. The only value, lasting value, I'd rather have one soul in glory, that I won to Christ, to know and see that that Light of God circles around that soul, through all eternity, my name to be associated with that, than to have every penny of money in the whole earth, 'cause I'd have to lose--lose it all. But what you send up there, is Eternal. And that's the reason we're trying."

"NOTHING but lost souls."

Not our money, not our homes, or our vehicles.

Not our prestige, not our retirement accounts, or our Social Security.

Not the size of our church, not the number of our faithful members, or the amount of money we spend on our Christmas productions & outreach programs.

Not our knowledge of our pet doctrines, not our ability to memorize Scriptures and quotes, or even our ability to prove others wrong... (all of which is fine & dandy).

But even if we are anointed with gifts of the Spirit, the ability to understand all of the mysteries, the zeal to donate our goods to feed the poor, and the passion to subject our bodies (even to be burned for the Gospel's sake if need be); our works are nothing without a genuine burden & love for others (I Corinthians 13:1-3).

Not just love & concern for those within the small circle that we feel agree closely enough with us to retain our lofty stamp of approval, but a burden & concern for those outside our walls, and even those who seem to literally hate us, or go so far as to despitefully use us (St. Matthew 5:44).

It's an easy thing to love those who love us, and agree with us, but Christ loved us when we were unlovable. He loved us before we could even claim to be Christians, and long before we came to the knowledge of the Truth (the Message of the hour). Isn't He our example? Doesn't being a Christian mean we are to be Christ-like?

Where were we when He found us? What slime-pit of moral decay did He have to stoop to in order to redeem us from the miry clay? Where do we see that type of love being manifested for others? Where do we see that kind of burden for lost, suffering, sinful humanity?

THE INSIDE MAN (53-1212)

"And you give me someone that's just so tore up about lost souls that they just cry and are--are wanting a revival so bad till they can hardly eat, just simply can't...
If you'll read the history of the world and the religious history, you'll find out it always taken that kind of a spirit to bring a revival."

WHEN LOVE IS PROJECTED (56-0218B)

"Until the burden gets on the Christian Church for lost souls, we're fighting the air. Let us stop speaking... I believe in gifts and signs and wonders, why, certainly. That goes with the body, but let's not put that ahead of love and lost souls."

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1 (54-0103M)

"If I'd say, this morning in this little group of people and I... God say, "Now look, William Branham, I'm going to make you answer for that group of people, what you tell them. Now, do you want them all to shout?"
"Sure, I want them to shout."
"Do you want them all to speak with tongues?"
"I want every one of them to."
"Do you want them all to dance in the Spirit?"
"I want every one of them to."
"All right, well, that's very good, but what would you rather have them to do?" Uh-huh.

"I'd rather have a church that had such a burden on their heart for prayer that they just stayed at this altar and would be here day and night, and everything else; and in their house, was constantly in prayer, and humble, and trying to get people to come to God, and making calls at the hospital, and visiting the sick, and trying to get people to come to church and do right. I'd rather have that than all the other put together; although the other is right, it belongs in the church."

Miami, FL (2011)

2011-06-26T08:35:00.003-04:00

Thursday, May 12th - Sunday, May 15th

Thursday

Bro. Trevor met me at my house early in the morning, and we drove to the airport. As many times as we have ministered together, this was the first time we've flown on the same flights because of different work schedules, etc.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and drove to 'The Church Of Perfection' in Miami, FL (Bro. Famil St.vil - Pastor) where we were to preach their 32nd annual convention.

Thursday night I preached on 'A Present Tense God' for the opening of the convention, and many came through the prayer line at the end of the service accepting that our God is still Hebrews 13:8.

Friday

Friday afternoon Bro. Trevor, and I drove to the Everglades, and took a ride in an airboat. We were constantly seeing alligator after alligator during the forty-five minute ride in the shallow, muddy, sawgrass marshes, thanks to the drought they were having. We estimated close to fifty decent sized ones, and just as many babies. Several were close enough that we could have literally reached out, and touched them (had we been so careless as to lean out of the boat and put our hand out).

Friday night Bro. Trevor preached on 'Culture Degrades Truth'. I have heard him preach that sermon many times, but not like he did that night. God really anointed him, and several came forward for prayer. It was a wonderful service. Afterward we had the privilege of some fellowship with our good friend, Bro. Jack Duff (Pastor of 'Spirit and Truth Tabernacle' in West Palm Beach, FL).

Saturday

Saturday afternoon we drove over to Key Biscayne for a relaxing time kayaking in the salt water just off of Miami, and enjoyed the rest of the day in quiet study at the hotel.

Saturday night Bro. Trevor preached on 'Separation', reminding us of the separation that Christ went through to take our place on Calvary.

Sunday

Sunday morning I had the privilege of preaching on the radio for my first time. Bro. Famil has a radio broadcast Sunday mornings at 7AM in Miami that he cordially invited me to speak on. I preached on 'Who Is Jesus, And What Is The Message?' (giving a short introduction to why we believe Jesus is the Messiah, and that God sent a prophet in these last days).

After leaving the radio station we stopped for a short breakfast, and then went on to 'The Church Of Perfection' where Bro. Trevor taught Sunday school. After the Sunday school, I preached on the thought of 'The Same Devil Under A Different Name' (describing how Satan changes his name, and tactics slightly to deceive people). Several came forward for prayer at the end of the service.

Sunday night Bro. Trevor preached on how the Bride of Jesus Christ is 'Extraordinary'. Our time of fellowship in Miami truly was an 'extraordinary' experience, and I pray that the words that were spoken over the weekend will sink down deep into the hearts of both young and old to help them in their journey.

Up2Date III (Nature)

2011-06-06T16:26:00.002-04:00

WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? 

LAKEPORT, CA

60-0722 

He said there would be... The sea would be roaring. Look at it today: tidal waves, never heard of them before in history. Here they are breaking on the shores and killing people. Earthquakes in divers places... I just don't have the right statistics, but I forget how much that the earthquake has come to a place where every so many hours, there's so many earthquakes all over the world. Just coming all the time, for the little shell that we live on is becoming thinner and thinner all the time.
And men go right on living, saying, "There is no such a thing as hell," look up in the face of God, and deny there is such a thing as hell, and setting on a pot of it. Falling volcanics... And the earth all out of cater... Science says the earth, out in the sea, it's becoming more shallow; at the North Pole, it's becoming deeper, because the earth is a spreading out. Oh, it's just about ready to be delivered. And people see these things... And He said there would be an unrest in the last days, no peace, unsettled. Look at today, at every nation scared to death. The radio and television screens are set everywhere, I... of the... I mean, radar screens setting everywhere, watching somewhere for a missile to be let loose. And the first missile lets loose, it's going to be explosion all over everywhere, because every nation is ready. The little nations can't be ignored any more, because they got the same thing the big nations got. And it's ungodly men, and it's ungodly nations.

Delaware (2011)

2011-06-03T15:13:00.002-04:00

Saturday, April 30th - Sunday, May 1st

My flight left early in the morning, and (after an extended layover so mechanics could replace the computer on the plane I was getting ready to fly on) arrived in Salisbury, MD where I was greeted by my Uncle (Bro. Jeff Bryant - Pastor of 'Christian Life Church' in Blades, DE).

I preached Saturday night & Sunday morning, and the LORD really blessed the services.

After the service Sunday morning Bro. Jeff took me out to eat, and then my oldest brother (Bro. Allen Bryant who is a deacon, and musician at Bro. Jeff's church) took my back to the airport in Salisbury, MD for my flight home.

It was a very short visit, but the LORD had His Hand in it, and it was very wonderful to see family and friends that I don't get a chance to see very often.

You MIGHT be addicted to Facebook IF:

2011-05-28T09:16:00.011-04:00

If you hear you kids ask “Where’s Mom?” only to be answered by “She’s on Facebook…again”…you might be addicted to Facebook.
If your kids are crying in another room, and you have to finish typing your status, reading someone else’s status, finish a quiz, or a silly video before you can go see what’s wrong. You might be addicted to Facebook.
If you spent time on Facebook but your house is a wreck, supper is never cooked, and your kids are untended…you might be addicted to Facebook.
If you wake up in the morning and your FIRST thought is to grab your phone or PC to check Facebook, there’s really no “might be” about it, you ARE addicted to Facebook.
If you haven’t even THOUGHT of reading your Bible and praying, but you’ve been on Facebook, you got an idol on your hands!

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:14-16

We live in a day where we must be conscious of the time we spend and where. Can you imagine if you lived 30 years ago, and you wanted to listen to a tape of the prophet? Break out the reel to reel player, wind it up, set and listen. Now days we have mp3s, ipods and everything else making it so easy to listen - yet it seems our desire to hear the end time message is less and less. Our desire for the Word of God in any form, even Bible reading and prayer, seems to have dwindled.

After all, why find out something God said sooo long ago, when we can hop on our electronic devices and find out what is happening in a friends life 3 seconds ago?

You see the danger we fall into? Quick updates, always changing…it’s very alluring compared to the timeless and unchanging Word of God. Yet, isn’t that the Word of God’s strength? It’s unchanging, unwavering, uncompromising stand. It’s “truth endureth to all generations”.

I’m reminded of something that happened last week in Sunday School. I had chosen to speak on “The Love of God”. Not having paper for the printer, I just uploaded my notes to my Kindle E-book reader and used that to refer to my notes. As we discussed the topic during class, one young lad kept interrupting, asking me about my Kindle and its features. Finally, just a touch exasperated, I exclaimed “Son! We’re talking about the Love of GOD here, and you want to know about my KINDLE? Are you kidding me? The Love of God is INFINITELY more amazing than my Kindle!”

And that’s the point. God is so much more amazing, so much more endlessly unsearchable, so much more glorious than ANYTHING we could put our eyes or thoughts on, and yet Facebook, which probably all of us would agree is stupid and a great time waster, grabs our attention instead.

Think about it, think on HIM

God Bless,

Bro Trevor

The following are quotes that have inspired me over the years to think on the Glories of Christ more than anything else over the years. Perhaps you’ll enjoy them as I have.

Lord, I want to be free. I want my desires so changed into accord with reality so that I can do what I want to do and never regret it. That's what I want. And so I'm going hard after Jesus to change me, because many of my desires are stupid.

It occurs to me to say, Father, that we Christians would be utterly insane to envy people who pitch themselves out of the window of sin—on top of a skyscraper—to enjoy a vapor's exhilaration of the freefall of greed, or the freefall of drugs, or power, or fame, or sex, or job success—and then death. We would just be insane to envy the world. Forgive us for our folly.

-John Piper http://www.desiringgod.org/

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

- C. S. Lewis in “The Weight of Glory”

Never will any one admire the works of man, if he has recognised himself as the son of God. He degrades himself from the height of his nobility, who can admire anything but the Lord.. Let the faithful Christian, I say, devote himself to the sacred Scriptures,[5] and there he shall find worthy exhibitions for his faith. He will see God establishing His world, and making not only the other animals, but that marvellous and better fabric of man. He will gaze upon the world in its delightfulness, righteous shipwrecks, the rewards of the good, and the punIshments of the impious, seas drained dry by a people, and again from the rock seas spread out by a people. He will behold harvests descending from heaven, not pressed in by the plough; rivers with their hosts of waters bridled in, exhibiting dry crossings. He will behold in some cases faith struggling with the flame, wild beasts overcome by devotion and soothed into gentleness. He will look also upon souls brought back even from death. Moreover, he will consider the marvellous souls brought back to the life of bodies which themselves were already consumed. And in all these things he will see a still greater exhibition--that devil who had triumphed over the whole world lying prostrate under the feet of Christ. How honourable is this exhibition, brethren! how delightful, how needful ever to gaze upon one's hope, and to open our eyes to one's salvation! This is a spectacle which is beheld even when sight is lost.

Cyprian, Ante-Nicene Fathers

2Trips2Liberty

2011-04-11T15:34:00.003-04:00

I traveled to Liberty, KY the last two weekends (April 2nd-3rd & April 9th-10th) with my wife (Sis. Rebekah), and our two boys (Philip & Nathanael).

The LORD blessed us with nice weather on both trips. Even though it was raining pretty hard this past Saturday morning (April 9th), by the time we got on the road the sun had come out, and we were able to enjoy a beautiful drive.

We had a good time of fellowship both weekends with the pastor (who also happens to be my uncle) Bro. Morris Bryant. I preached at 'Liberty Tabernacle' on Sunday morning the first weekend, and Philip (our oldest son) helped me sing a special.

The second weekend Bro. Trevor, his wife (Sis. Anna May), and children (Zion, Azariah, and Glorianna) joined us for the weekend trip to Liberty. We were able to relax, and enjoy the beautiful weather on Saturday while we watched the children play, and I lost a few games of 'corn toss'.

Bro. Trevor preached at 'Liberty Tabernacle' on Sunday morning, and his wife and children joined him to sing a special. My cousin (Bro. Richie Keith) sang a special, and played the bass guitar while I led songs during the worship service.

Since I will be preaching in Blades, DE next weekend (LORD willing), and Bro. Trevor is going to be preaching in Townville, SC the following weekend, he went ahead and gave me an early birthday present while we were together in Liberty. Part of the present was an original copy of the November 1952 Reader's Digest that I certainly appreciated because that issue has 'The Healing of Donny Morton' article Bro. Branham refers to many times.

53-0608A DEMONOLOGY PHYSICAL REALM

How many read the November issue, that article of mine in there on "Reader's Digest?" See? And they had me up there to interview that baby they give up. Said, "It couldn't be done." But the Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me how it would be done, and it was done.

After enjoying the time of fellowship with friends & family it was time to say our goodbyes, and head home again. We certainly appreciate all of the kindness and hospitality that Bro. Morris, and the brothers and sisters at 'Liberty Tabernacle' showed us over both weekends.

(L2R) Bro. Nathan, Bro. Morris, Bro. Trevor

Life Story

2011-04-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

If you are not familiar with the ministry of Rev. William Marrion Branham we invite you to listen to his Life Story (the link has the audio available in multiple languages), and hear the incredible testimonies of how God moved in the life of His humble servant from Kentucky who's ministry is still encouraging believers around the world.

If you are familiar with Bro. Branham's ministry I'm sure you would enjoy revisiting the familiar heart-stirring stories from his life again.

Bro. Nathan

102 Years Ago Today...

2011-04-06T11:34:00.005-04:00

102 years ago today

God sent a love gift to earth

To fulfill prophecy, and restore all things.

"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." (Revelation 10:7)

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things." (Matthew 17:11)

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD" (Malachi 4:5)

HOW THE ANGEL CAME TO ME AND HIS COMMISSION (55-0117)

She said, "Anybody ever tell you you were born under a sign."

HOW THE ANGEL CAME TO ME AND HIS COMMISSION (55-0117)

And she said, "You were born on April the 6th, 1909, at five o'clock in the morning."

HOW THE ANGEL CAME TO ME AND HIS COMMISSION (55-0117)

And she said, "Now, these three wise men came." And said, "When they three stars, when they... They come from different directions and they met at Bethlehem. And they said they found out and consulted, and one was from the lineage of Ham, Shem, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah." And she said, "Then they come and worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ." And said, "When they departed," said, "they brought gifts and put to Him."
And said, "Jesus Christ said in His ministry that when this Gospel has been preached to all the world (Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people), then He would come again." And she said, "Now, those planets, heavenly planets, as they move around..." Said, "They separated. They've never been on the earth since, known. But" said "every so many hundred years, they cross their cycles like this." If there happen to be an astronomer here, you might know what she was talking about. I don't. So when she was talk-... Said, "They cross like that." And said, "In commemoration of the greatest Gift that was ever given to mankind, when God gave His Son. When these planets cross themselves again, why," said, "He sends another gift to the earth." And said, "You were born on the crossing of that time." And said, "That's the reason I knew it."

IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END SIR? (62-1230E)

This Magi said to me, "You'll never be successful in the East." Said, "You were born under a sign." And said, "You... That sign, that constellation, when they crossed, way out in there, the day of your birth, they were hanging westward. And you must go westward."

WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION ON THE MOUNTAIN (65-0725E)

That's what the attraction is. The predestinated Seed of God who can't do nothing else but follow It, means more than life to us. Take our lives, but you don't take That. What is the attraction? God, as usual, fulfilling His Word.

WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION ON THE MOUNTAIN (65-0725E)

What is this Light up on Sunset Mountain in the Coronado Forest of Arizona? What is this strange thing that happened up there, that the people has been driving east from west, picking up the rocks that laid around there where It struck? And every one of them, every one rock, has three corners on it, that It tore off. (The three are One.) They're laying on desks, on paperweights, across the nation. What is this strange thing upon Sunset Mountain in the Coronado Forest?
Junior Jackson listening in, you remember the dream he had that I interpreted, "going towards the setting of the sun"? And this happened on "Sunset" Mountain. It's the evening time, sunset time. The sunset Message through a setting of history, a setting of prophecy, rather, being fulfilled. And it shall be Light at the evening time, upon Sunset Mountain in the Coronado Forest, forty miles north of Tucson.

The Passing Of A Friend

2011-03-30T10:21:00.008-04:00

Kyle Matthew Stucky

April 29, 1983 - March 26, 2011

Please remember the Stucky family in prayer during their time of loss.

"(Kyle M. Stucky) went to be with the Lord on the morning of March 26, 2011.

He was known for that cheeky grin and optimistic outlook on life. He was an incredible singer and musician. He was a diligent, gifted worker and gave his all, regardless. His family and his church family meant everything to him, but his relationship with Jesus was most important. He was also known for being half of a red-headed brother’s bond from birth – Cory’s twin. The battle is over, you’re finally free!

Survivors include a son, Mathieu Stucky; parents, Michael and Jacinta Stucky;brothers, Cory Stucky and his wife, Michelle and Timothy Stucky; sisters, Sarah Griffith and her husband, David, Karen Pinkston and her husband, Stephen, Deborah Stucky, Emily Stucky and Christina Stucky; grandmother, Martha Vance; grandfather, Gale Stephens; nephews, Noah Griffith, Alex Pinkston and Ethan Pinkston; nieces, Olivia Griffith and Isabella Pinkston; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins." *

Guestbook can be viewed at:
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/louisville/guestbook.aspx?n=kyle-stucky&pid=149746583&sign=1&cid=sugg

* Source: http://newsandtribune.com

San Antonio Visit

2011-03-23T10:11:00.006-04:00

I returned home late Sunday evening from a nice trip to San Antonio. Bro Jonathan Goff, a minister out of Bro Tom Mafalo's church in San Antonio, invited me to come and fellowship with them for the weekend.

The little flock meets together in Bro Tom's home. They are a diverse group with a few Caucasian, and the rest of the group is divided equally between Hispanic and Congolese. Thankfully the Congolese believers speak English, so we only needed translation of the preaching into Spanish.

We had a blessed time of fellowship together. I found the spirit to be very sweet amongst the believers. We were also visited by a small group from Austin, TX, and were blessed to hear of their testimonies about how they all came together. I'll share a little of that testimony.

A brother had begun to share the Message and testify to a young man who was working with him. He told the young man he needed to read the Church Age Book. The young man said he would like to read it, and proceeded to ask the brother every day if he brought him the book. By the third day, the brother figured there must be something to this young man, and remembered to bring the book to him. The young man took the book to his home and was sitting out on the front deck of the apartment he lives in reading the book.

Unbeknownst to all of them, there was a brother from Honduras living at the same apartment complex. He was unaware of any other believers in his area. He was walking down the sidewalk by the young man's apartment as the young man read. The brother noticed the young man reading, and WHAT he was reading. He fell on his knees and began to praise the Lord. He got up and asked the young man, "where did you get this book?"

He began to tell the young man and his wife about the prophet William Branham. The young man's wife said she had heard about this before. Her parents had began to receive the last day Message as well.

It was certainly a joy to fellowship with these fine believers who are believing and learning the Message in Austin, TX.

I preached Saturday evening on "Rest vs. Rebellion". The people were encouraged to rest in Christ. Sunday morning I preached "Culture Degrades Truth", and exhorted the people to drive the enemy out of their land completely, and to raise up living stones in their homes.

The fellowship was wonderful, and I look forward to a return trip in the not too distant future.

Bro Trevor

2MM Go To South Carolina

2011-03-17T13:30:00.004-04:00

(03/11/11 - 03/14/11)

Bro. Trevor, and I traveled to Columbia, SC last Friday where we had the opportunity to attend a minister's meeting on Saturday (coordinated by Bro. Tim Calhoun, and hosted by Bro. Gerald Hughes).

We certainly enjoyed our time of fellowship with the attending ministers.

Our good friend, Bro. Danny Stemen from Sarasota, FL was the guest speaker, and we were very encouraged by the wisdom the LORD has given our brother.

Saturday night we attended a tent meeting at Bro. Gerald Hughes' church where Bro. George Scharneck from South Africa preached a stirring sermon on 'Crisis', and many came forward for prayer at the end of the service.

We drove on to Anderson, SC Saturday night after the service. Bro. Trevor preached on 'Culture Degrades Truth' Sunday morning at our good friend, Bro. Luke Gibson's church, and as Bro. Luke said, "Bro. Trevor really outdid himself". It was a wonderful time in the LORD.

Sunday night I had the opportunity of preaching at Bro. Luke's church as well, and spoke on 'The Accepted Sacrifice'. There was certainly a sweet Spirit of HIS presence in our midst, and several came forward for prayer at the end of the service

We always enjoy our time of fellowship with Bro. Luke, and it was good to see our brothers and sisters from 'The Tabernacle Of The Lord' again.

Monday morning Bro. Trevor, and I drove home, and enjoyed our time listening to 'The Seed Of Discrepancy' (65-0118), and reflecting on the fellowship, and services we were able to enjoy over the weekend.

The LORD blessed us with beautiful weather for our trip to South Carolina, and the majority of the way back (only running into a little bit of rain the last two hours of the drive home).

We forsook some sleep over the weekend in exchange for some wonderful fellowship, and came home with our hearts stirred, and our souls refreshed.

We received several new invitations over the weekend, and are both looking forward to the upcoming travels this year as we continue in HIS service.

8.9 Magnitude Earthquake (Japan)

2011-03-11T10:03:00.001-05:00

Japan

(Friday, March 11'th, 2011)

"The magnitude 8.9 quake and 23-foot tsunami were followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0." (USA Today)

"...the biggest earthquake to hit the country since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s..." (Chicago Tribune)

"A tsunami warning was extended to a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. In the Philippines, authorities ordered an evacuation of coastal communities." (Chicago Tribune)

"Waves are predicted to hit the western coast of the United States between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. ET Friday." (USA Today)

Please be in prayer for those affected by this disaster.

Close To The Cross, But Far From Christ

2011-03-09T13:23:00.003-05:00

I read an excerpt from a book several years ago that stood out to me as being so applicable to the division, and debating we see around the Message that I have read it many times since.

We don't typically post extended excerpts like this, but I wanted to share it with our readers in hopes that it will strike home with you as much as it does with me.

Close To The Cross, But Far From Christ

There was some dice-throwing that went on at the foot of the cross...I've wondered what the scene must have looked like to Jesus...

'All right, all right--this throw is for the sandals.'

Casting lots for the possessions of Christ. Heads ducked. Eyes downward. Cross forgotten...

It makes me think of us. The religious. Those who claim heritage at the cross. I'm thinking of all of us. Every believer in the land. The stuffy. The loose. The strict. The simple. Upper church. Lower church. 'Spirit-filled.' Millenialists. Evangelical. Political. Mystical. Literal. Cynical. Robes. Collars. Three-piece suits. Born-againers. Ameners. (NB note: insert random doctrinally named sub-division of the Message)

I'm thinking of us.

I'm thinking that we aren't so unlike those soldiers. (I'm sorry to say)

We, too, play games at the foot of the cross. We compete for members. We scramble for status. We deal our judgments and condemnations. Competition. Selfishness. Personal gain. It's all there. We don't like what the other did so we take the sandal we won and walk away in a huff.

So close to the timbers yet so far from the blood.

We are so close to the world's most uncommon event, but we act like common crapshooters huddled in bickering groups and fighting over silly opinions.

How many pulpit hours have been wasted on preaching the trivial? How many churches have tumbled at the throes of miniscuity? How many leaders have saddled their pet peeves, drawn their swords of bitterness and launched into battle against brethren over issues that are not worth discussing?

So close to the cross but so far from the Christ...

Are our differences that divisive? Are our opinions that obtrusive? Are our walls that wide? Is it that impossible to find a common cause?

'May they all be one,' Jesus prayed.

One. Not one in groups of two thousand. But one in One. One church. One faith. One Lord. Not Baptist, not Methodist, not Adventist. Just Christian. No denominations. No hierarchies. No traditions. Just Christ.

Too idealistic? Impossible to achieve? I don't think so. Harder things have been done, you know. For example, once upon a tree, a Creator gave his life for his creation. Maybe all we need are a few hearts that are willing to follow suit.

60-0304 THIRSTING FOR LIFE (PHOENIX, AZ )

"Can you see now why I'm standing for unity of every church, every full gospel church, every believer? We ought to be one heart, one mind, and one accord. No matter how much we different in the Scriptures; that might be... One might see this that way, or--that has nothing to do with it. But in principle, we ought to stand, one great, mighty, army of God marching on, because each one of you in your peculiarity, God has proved that He's ignoring your doctrine, because He give you the Holy Ghost. And the Bible said, "He gave--give them the Holy Ghost that obeyed Him."
Now, if I obeyed Him in my peculiar way, and you obeyed Him in your peculiar way, He give us both the Holy Ghost, so we ought to be Christian brethren and sister enough, to arm up together and march on for one great purpose, the Gospel.

*** Text in green is an excerpt from the book

"No Wonder They Call Him Savior", by Max Lucado ***

Are the Message and the Creation Museum Compatible? Pt. III (Rocks & Millions of Years)

2011-03-04T16:13:00.001-05:00

I’m a big fan of the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum. I’m an even bigger fan of the Message of the Hour from the prophet William Branham. Many following this Message might go see the Creation Museum and wonder, “What did Bro Branham say about all this?” I’m NOT going to claim to have all the answers on this topic, but I’d like to show you my own research on where the Message would agree, and disagree.

Rocks & Millions of years (and other errata):
Q. Can rocks and fossils be millions of years old?

Now, the Creation Museum will tell you that Rocks can be, at most 6000 years old. This is because they believe that everything was created in 6 days, and it’s been around 6000 years since then. They protest millions of years or what they call the gap-age theory because in order to have fossils that old, there had to be death before the fall. I agree with them on that point. They do this to refute evolution’s claims of fossils being millions of years old. I do not believe that fossils are millions of years old.

However, Bro Branham mentions that rocks could be millions of years old:

62-0318 THE.SPOKEN.WORD.IS.THE.ORIGINAL.SEED.1_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN V-3 N-1 SUNDAY_
My daughter back there, Rebekah, was saying, "Daddy, in school we proved that the... that there are millions and millions of years this world is old. Then isn't that contradictory to the Bible?"
"No, sir," I said. "It isn't."
"Well," said, "if the--the different study of rocks and formations, and stalactites and stalagmites and so forth, prove that, dripping, of millions of years, and God said He made the heavens and earth in one twenty-four hours, doesn't that misprove, disprove the Bible?"
I said, "No."
If you'll notice, God telling Moses about the Bible, He said, "In the beginning God created the heavens and earth." Period! How long it took, that's none of our business. Then He goes ahead and begins to bring in His time of putting seed in the earth. But, "In the beginning," might have been hundreds of billions of trillions of years, aeons of time, but, "God created the heavens and the earth." Period! That settles that. That's the first step. See? He makes no mistakes

He also mentions in the sermon Questions and Answers on Genesis

53-0729 QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS.ON.GENESIS_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN COD WEDNESDAY_
Now, watch this now. Beautiful... Now, He made the sun. Then the first thing you know, a big clinker fell off of it, weighed about, just about like this earth, went "Spue..." Then this Logos here now, the Son of God, is watching it. He lets it fall for a hundred million years and He stops it. Then another one flies off, and He let's it flew off--fall for millions of years, then He stops it. Now, we're standing, watching it come into existence.

I’m sure by the third post in this series, many Message scholars are wondering “What about ‘other civilizations’”?

Bro Branham mentions:

63-0321 THE.FOURTH.SEAL_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN THURSDAY_
I was talking to a person not long ago. He was trying to discuss with me and saying, "Aren't you ashamed to say that God created the heavens and earth in three days--or in six days?"
I said, "That's what the Bible said."
Said, "Well, we've got evidence and can prove that the world is millions of years old."
I said, "That didn't have anything to do with it. In Genesis 1:1, it said, 'In the beginning God created heavens and earth' period. See? That's all. Now, the world without form and void." And I said, "I believe every seed was laying right there from some other civilization or something, and as soon as the water lifted off and the light struck it, up come the trees and everything."

So, Bro Branham teaches us that rocks (the earth) could be millions of years old for sure. Then he mentions that there could have been “some other civilization or something”. He only mentions SEED as being there as soon as the water lifted off. Moving water away doesn’t spring up anything but plant life, not animal or human life of course. Could fossils have been from a previous civilization? Perhaps, but then we have to account for death before the fall, and I can’t make that fit. I lean more heavily on the “or something” of that quote. I do not say that it is not possible, because he mentions it, but that civilization would have died before the fall, and I can’t make that fit the rest of scripture. If it is so, I’ll go on record saying I don’t understand it. That’s ok however, I don’t have to understand everything!

In summary, based on my research to date, The message teaches no problems with rocks being millions of years old. I don’t personally feel that any fossils would be any older than 6000 years old. I believe most fossils were likely created by the flood.

These 3 points are the only main questions I’ve come across with Message Believers and the Creation Museum. Of course, the Creation Museum doesn’t have Serpent Seed right, but then I never expected them to.

Hopefully this series of posts will help you study the Creation and understand some of the theories out there, and give you insight as to what Bro Branham taught. As for the Creation Museum, I think it’s a great ministry and one on the forefront of Science confirming the Bible. Worth the trip to go see!

-Bro Trevor

Are the Message and the Creation Museum Compatible? Pt. II (Creation Time)

2011-03-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

I’m a big fan of the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum. I’m an even bigger fan of the Message of the Hour from the prophet William Branham. Many following this Message might go see the Creation Museum and wonder, “What did Bro Branham say about all this?” I’m NOT going to claim to have all the answers on this topic, but I’d like to show you my own research on where the Message would agree, and disagree.

Q. How much time was taken to create the world?

Answers in Genesis will tell us that every time you see the word “day” (yom or yowm) in Genesis it is speaking of a literal 24 hour day.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/why-christians-shouldnt-accept-millions

The link to their article above explains why, and also what they are refuting. They are refuting millions of years. I agree with this…God did not take millions of years to create the world and ALL that is in it, but neither does the Message agree with 7 literal 24 hour days.

The one flaw in the Answers in Genesis interpretation of the word “yom or yowm” is the following scripture: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

Now, according to Answers in Genesis, Adam and Eve should have died in that literal 24 hour day. Now, they try to explain this away by going into Hebrew grammar and such in this article

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/05/02/dying-you-shall-die

However, I believe an easier explanation of 1000 year days can be reached. Bro Branham tells us in the message:

SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
Now, we will notice the earth, when God had it under control. Now, when God had it control... had it under His control. Then when Satan took over, by rejecting the Word of God. God one time had the earth under His control. He set it in its orbit. He put it, make it work. He done everything, had it in His control. Now we'll compare that with after Satan took it in his control.
Now, it took God six thousand years. It didn't take Him that long, but He took that long. Six thousand years, because we're taught that "one day in Heaven is a thousand years on earth," and it was six thousand years, or six days that God built the earth. Now, it took God six thousand years to establish it, plant it with good seeds and to bring forth everything after its kind. Everything must come forth of its kind. All of His seeds were good, and so it must bring forth after its kind. God took six thousand years.

God took 6000 years. I of course, trust the Word of a vindicated prophet of God. So in the day ye eat thereof the day ye die then turns into, no man has ever lived 1000 years.

QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS.1_ JEFF.IN COD SUNDAY_ 64-0823M
Now, in here, I believe with all my heart I--we are, or this days... If we're not, somebody is; it's got to be. Time has run out; we're at the end. Every... The world... God made the world in six thousand years, and the seventh thousand He rested. He said a man will never live that time out--a--a year--or--or day--"day you eat thereof, the day you die." Adam--or Methuselah was the oldest man that ever lived in the Bible, and he was 969 years old; and he never lived that thousand years. But the man that's going to live through the millennium, one thousand years, to show that the--that the penalty has been paid... Man lives forever; the day is finished; the time is finished; they're in eternity.

The millennium a type of God resting on the 7th day is going to prove that the “day ye die” curse is broken, by a man living 1000 years. To me, that just clinches the argument down. Now, Answers in Genesis would probably then side with the evolutionists and say, “well, then the plants created on day 3 really would have died before the sun was created on day 4” To me it’s so obvious, Jesus the light of the World was there.

REVELATION 22:2 - 5 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

That tree will bare fruit every month, and there will be no sun. Who needs a burning ball of gas, when we have Christ, the very creator and sustainer?

Are the Message and the Creation Museum Compatible? Pt. I (Dinosaurs)

2011-02-27T15:21:00.016-05:00

I’m a big fan of the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum. I’m an even bigger fan of the Message of the Hour from the prophet William Branham. Many following this Message might go see the Creation Museum and wonder, “What did Bro Branham say about all this?” I’m NOT going to claim to have all the answers on this topic, but I’d like to show you my own research on where the Message would agree, and disagree.

Dinosaurs:
Q. Just when WERE they created?

Answers In Genesis makes no apology for not putting words in the Bible. If birds and fish were created on the 5th day and land animals on the 6th day, well depending on the type of dinosaur, those would be your days. No “other creation” or anything like that. The logic being, the Bible doesn’t tell us what day the robin or albatross was created on, why should it tell us when a pterodactyl was created? The Bible doesn’t specifically tell us that the Rhino was created on Day 6, why then should it list the T-rex? Why should we think differently just because they aren’t around anymore? The only reason we do, is because of our evolutionary teaching culture.

Bro Branham mentions the word Dinosaur(s) 4 times. I list them below:

HE.THAT.IS.IN.YOU_ JEFF.IN V-6 N-12 SUNDAY_ 63-1110E
Here the other day they found a--a some kind of a dinosaur tooth, up here around of... I guess you all heard about it; up here at the Niagara Falls. Said, "It weighed six pound." I thought they was going to say it come out of a man, but I--I think they finally defined it as some kind of a prehistoric animal. Those animals probably lived one time on the earth. Where are they now?
Do you know, God Almighty could command dinosaurs to come upon this earth, in the next hour they'd be forty miles deep? You know, God could destroy this world with fleas? He could call for fleas. Where do they go when they die? What happens to the housefly? What happens to the grasshopper? Wintertime comes, and goes forty below zero; and, go out the next spring, grasshoppers all over everywhere. Where did they come from? He's the Creator that speaks it into existence! He is God! Nature obeys His Word.

MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M
I said, "Yes, sir." And I said, "They, course, claim that the other things, like dinosaurs and--and mammoth, and so forth, mammoths, mammoths, rather, they are distinct, and so forth." I said, "It could have been that."
He said, "Brother Branham, we are talking about proof of the Word. If sin is here; then, the original sin, it ought to be here also."
And I said, "Lord Jesus, You said, 'Take no thought what you shall say when you come before man, because it'll be given to you in that hour.' Lord, what shall I say?" He said, "Tell him, 'It's here.'" Just the same as I see the visions on the platform.
I said, "It's here," not knowing where.
He said, "Where?"
And before I could even think, He said, "It's the serpent."

SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
God was so satisfied! "And He rested from all His works, at the seventh day," and hallowed this seventh-day sabbath for Him.
Because, God looked it all over, after He had been six thousand years in molding it and fixing it out, making it come into existence; and put the mountains up, and make the volcanics push the mountains up, and the things that taken place in the eruptions; dried it off, and fixed it the way He had it. And it was a beautiful place.

SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
There was nothing like it, the great paradises of God! And the great dinosaurs, and whatever more, crawling through it, and of the great animals; no harm in them. They were just as gentle as a little kitten. They had nothing at all; no--no sickness, no sorrow; not one disease germ on the earth. Oh, what a place!
The great birds swinging from tree to tree, and Adam could call them by name, and they would fly up on his shoulders and--and coo to him. And, oh, what a wonderful place God had!

In the last quote on Satan’s Eden, I think it’s easy to see that Bro Branham believed that dinosaurs were in the original creation, co-existing with Man in the Garden of Eden. If that is true, then it would also follow that dinosaurs could have been on the ark.

If we believe that many of today’s dinosaur fossils were indeed created by the flood, they had to be on the Earth just prior to the flood. If they were on the Earth just prior to the flood, they would have fallen under “And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female” (Genesis 6:19). As incredible as it may seem to some, I see no reason they wouldn’t have been on the ark.

In conclusion, what I have found, is that I don't find a problem in the message with how the Answers In Genesis Creation Museum presents how the dinosaurs came to be, and that they were on the ark.

-Bro Trevor

Please Pray For Sis. Claudia Quian

2011-02-08T10:16:00.018-05:00

*** UPDATE: PRAISE REPORT ***

Update On The Quian Family
Click the link above for an update on Sis. Claudia Quian (02/25/2011)

Good News For Quian Family

Click the link above for an update on Sis. Claudia Quian (02/14/2011)

Please remember Sis. Claudia Quian in prayer. She is the daughter of Bro. Jefte Quian (VGR Distributor in Chile). I have had the opportunity to spend some time with Bro. Jefte on several occasions, and he is a very precious brother, and a very dear friend of my wife's family.

Bro. Jefte, and his family have suffered many hardships recently due to the major earthquake that struck their hometown, as well as the the aftermath of blackouts, violence, and aftershocks. Now doctors have diagnosed their oldest daughter (Sis. Claudia, who is only fifteen years old) with Guillain-Barre syndrome (which can cause paralysis, and respiratory failure).

What started as only some pain in her spine last Friday, has quickly turned into complete paralysis from her neck down.

Please remember Sis. Claudia in your prayers, as she is in desperate need of a touch from the Great Physician. We know that in our darkest of hours is when Jesus comes and calls.

For more information visit the following link: VGR Prayer Request

We are going to believe with the Quian family that these symptoms are lying vanities (Jonah 2:1-10), and we know that our God is more than able to restore our sister's physical health.

GOD IN HIS WORD (57-0323)
"You talk about a case of symptoms, he really had it. Why, if he looked this a way, it was the whale's belly. If he looked that way, it was whale's belly. Everywhere he looked was whale's belly. There's no one in here in that condition; I'm sure. But you know what he said? He refused to see any of it. He said, "They're all lying vanities." He said, "Once more will I look to Your holy temple." That's right.
You can't hide a saint from his prayer. That's the powerfulest weapon that man ever had..."

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (III John 1:2)

"Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies" (Psalm 103:3-4)

Florida Meetings (Jan. 2011) Part III

2011-01-26T16:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday (Jan. 16th)

I dropped Bro. Trevor off in Boynton Beach at the 'Assembly Of The Voice Of The Seventh Angel‎' (Brother Jean Louis - Pastor) where he was to preach at their 8AM service, and then return to West Palm Beach to preach at 'Spirit & Truth Tabernacle' (Bro. Jack Duff - Pastor).

On my last trip to Florida in December I had the privilege of speaking at the two Sunday morning services back to back like that, and it can be a pretty tight schedule.

I drove on to Miami where I preached the morning service at 'Eagle's Temple' (Bro. Bernard Jean-Mary - Pastor).

The saints in Miami seemed very responsive to what was being said during the service, and I trust that each one of us were a little closer to God when we left the church that day than we were when we had entered.

After the service I went to lunch with Bro. Bernard, and discussed some details of an upcoming overseas trip (Lord willing).

When lunch was over I drove back to West Palm Beach, arriving just in time to change clothes, update Bro. Trevor, and Bro. Jack with the details of my trip to Miami, and print off my sermon notes before leaving for the evening service in Boynton Beach.

I was happy that Bro. Trevor, and Bro. Jack were both able to go with me to this service, and we really had a good time in the LORD. This was the sixth service I had preached in five nights, so I was beginning to feel a little tired, but Bro. Jean brought me to the platform with the song 'I Must Tell Jesus', and suddenly I didn't feel so tired anymore.

I preached on 'The Accepted Sacrifice', and the LORD impressed many things on my heart to share with the saints during the sermon for His Glory.

Bro. Jack sang a couple of songs at the end of the service, and then we said goodbye to our friends in Boynton Beach.

Bro. Jean, and the saints in Boynton Beach have come to hold a special place in our hearts. We have preached their frequently over the past year, and the LORD has always been gracious to send us a fresh outpouring of His Spirit every time we assemble there.

When I preached there on Thursday night (during this January trip to Florida) several of the brothers welcomed me 'home', and it has certainly come to feel like a second home because we always feel so welcome there.

After leaving Boynton Beach we stopped by 'Rapturing Faith Tabernacle' (Bro. Darrel Wesco - Pastor), and were able to listen to the last part of their evening service.

Bro. Wesco had Bro. Trevor, and I come up to greet the saints at the end of the service, and it was certainly an honor to speak briefly to the believers there.

Bro. Trevor made the statement to me after the service that, "If we had not been (in the exact same place) ten years ago, then we would not be (here) now".

It was ten years ago that we attended Bro. Wesco's special meetings, and met Bro. Jack Duff who has become one of our dearest friends, and ministering brother. Had we not met Bro. Jack in those meetings we may have never had the opportunity of meeting, and speaking for many of our other minister friends in Florida.

Monday (Jan. 17th)

Monday morning Bro. Jack, Bro. Trevor, and myself were able to meet Bro. Lino Tirado for breakfast. Bro. Lino attends 'Rapturing Faith Tabernacle' (Bro. Darrel Wesco - Pastor), and is a very gifted interpreter.

I had asked Bro. Lino to share his testimony with us (he has had the privilege of interpreting for Bro. Oral Roberts, and many other ministers of the Gospel), and he was very gracious in doing so. We had a very nice time of fellowship with him, and I hope that the LORD will provide an opportunity for him to interpret for us someday.

After breakfast Bro. Jack, and Bro. Trevor took me to the airport and we parted ways once again.

Two of the hardest things about our travels is that sometimes we have to leave our families behind to go and visit our brothers and sisters from different areas, and then we have to leave our brothers and sisters (old friends & new) to return home.

We were certainly happy to return home to our families that we had missed while we were away, but we always miss our brothers and sisters from all of the churches we visit as well.

"Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time."

- 'A Psalm Of Life' (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Florida Meetings (Jan. 2011) Part II

2011-01-25T13:36:00.000-05:00

Friday (Jan. 14th)

After spending most of the day with Bro. Jack, and Bro. Trevor, I went by 'Spirit & Truth Tabernacle' (Bro. Jack Duff - Pastor) to study for a while before the evening service.

The LORD was mindful of us, as we certainly felt His presence in the service Friday night. I preached on the topic of 'The Bleeding Sacrifice', emphasizing the need for sincerity when we accept the Sacrifice of the cross.

After the service, Bro. Jack invited the youth from 'Spirit & Truth' to join us at a local pizza restaurant for some fellowship. We enjoyed the time we were able to spend with Bro. Jack, and Bro. Caleb Wesco (Bro. Jack's nephew, who is also a young associate minister at 'Spirit & Truth') talking about the LORD, and discussing the evening service.

Saturday (Jan. 15th)

We drove the three hours from the East coast of Florida to Sarasota (on the West coast of Florida).

Bro. Trevor and I both had the privilege to speak in a Youth Service at the 'House of Fellowship' (Bro. Danny Stemen - Pastor). I felt led to share my testimony, and then Bro. Trevor preached a stirring sermon on 'Separation'. Several believers responded by coming to the altar for prayer at the end of the service.

There was a 'potluck' following the service, where we had a wonderful time of fellowship with Bro. Danny, and some of the other saints from Sarasota. We were truly blessed, and encouraged by the spirit of love, and unity that we felt from the believers there.

We stopped briefly in Okeechobee on our way back to West Palm Beach, Saturday night. Bro. Smiley, and his family were able to join us for a short time of fellowship together. It was good to see Bro. Smiley (my friend, and brother in Christ) again. He had been out of town ministering in Lima, Ohio during my last trip to Florida in December, so I had not seen him since May of 2010.

Florida Meetings (January 2011) Part I

2011-01-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

Wednesday (Jan. 12th)

My plane departed for Florida on Wednesday morning. (Bro. Trevor was gracious enough to forgo some sleep to wake up very early, and take me to the airport).

Our good friend, Bro. Jack Duff (Pastor of 'Spirit & Truth Tabernacle' in West Palm Beach, FL) picked me up at the airport, and we enjoyed some food and fellowship over the next couple of hours.

After driving to Miami I preached at 'Alpha Omega Tabernacle' (Bro. Charlie MacDonald - Pastor).

The LORD was certainly gracious while I was there in confirming to me that I was in His perfect will, by permitting me to cross paths with a family from another country that I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet in person. It was a pleasant, but unexpected surprise which I cannot believe was simply a coincidence.

When the service was over I was able to spend some time with Bro. Charlie, and his family. Bro. Hugo MacDonald (Bro. Charlie's son) is a young minister as well, and has become a dear friend.

I drove back to West Palm Beach after a nice time of fellowship.

Wednesday had been such a wonderful beginning, I knew the LORD had more good things in store for us the rest of the week.

Thursday (Jan. 13th)

Bro. Trevor's plane arrived on Thursday morning, so Bro. Jack and I picked him up at the airport.

After some more food and fellowship, Bro. Jack took Bro. Trevor to preach at 'Bible Truth Tabernacle' in Okeechobee (Bro. Willie Smiley - Pastor), while I went to Boynton Beach to preach to the saints at the 'Assembly Of The Voice Of The Seventh Angel‎' (Bro. Jean Louis - Pastor).

(Bro Trevor with Bro Smiley)

VGR (Translations & eBooks)

2011-01-21T10:29:00.000-05:00

Voice of God Recordings has recently released two updated features that we feel will be very beneficial to the Bride of Jesus Christ.

The first is that they have made the translated sermons in PDF format available to download free of charge on their web-site.

If you go to the following link you can search a specific sermon title, and choose the desired language from the drop-down menu to see if that sermon has been translated.

Translations

*** If you want to see a list of available sermons in a specific language:

Select the desired language from the drop-down menu,
and then do a search leaving the 'Title' field blank. ***

The second update is that they have also made all of the English sermons available in formats that are compatible with mainstream smart phones, etc. These are available to download on Amazon.com's Kindle store, as well as the iBook store (for Apple iPhone, iPad, etc) by searching the word 'Branham'.

To read more about the recommended hardware for the new eBooks visit the following link:

eBook FAQs

Sarasota Youth Service

2011-01-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

We had the privilege of speaking to the believers at the 'House of Fellowship' (Bro. Danny Stemen - Pastor) on Saturday afternoon (01/15/2011).

It was certainly a wonderful time of fellowship with the saints there.

The Saturday service is available to listen to on their church website:

House Of Fellowship

2MM with Bro. Jean Louis

2011-01-19T21:54:00.004-05:00

We wanted to get pictures with all of the pastors we had the privilege to fellowship with last week, but unfortunately we were so busy it completely slipped our mind until the last service (Sunday night).

This is Brother Trevor, and myself with Bro. Jean Louis (pastor of the 'Assembly of the Voice of the Seventh Angel' in Boynton Beach, FL).

By the time this picture was taken I had preached six services in five nights, and Bro. Trevor had preached four services in four night so we were a couple of tired preachers.

Florida Meetings (December 2010)

2011-01-18T11:54:00.011-05:00

A few months ago as I was praying I told the LORD that there were several places I would like to visit, and minister to, but be able to pay for my airfare so the saints there would not feel obligated to take care of my expenses.

In my own thinking I had considered that maybe I would maybe receive a large offering somewhere else, and be able to apply it to the airfare for the upcoming trips in answer to this prayer. (God doesn't always do things the way we expect).

A week or so later I received a new credit card in the mail, because the bank we use had bought out another similar bank which had their own credit card. (Previously our bank had used a third-party credit card that did not acquire 'points' for purchases made).

I was informed that this new card had a large amount of 'points' that had been transferred over from purchases made on the third-party card. As I investigated this, it turned out they had pro-rated the 'points' back to the life of the other cards, and I had enough for three free flights!

As I called the brothers I had on my heart (in regards to the prayer that had been answered) things began to come together perfectly as we planned for an extensive trip to Florida in January.

A short while later one of the brothers called me back, and asked if I would be interested in using one of the flights for a weekend trip to Florida in December as well (since he would be out of town that weekend, and would like for me to fill in for him at his church while he was gone).

My wife and I were married for five years on December 10th, 2010, and I left for Florida the next day (Saturday, December 11th). I preached three different services on Sunday, December 12th, and it was just the LORD helping me because my voice and throat were still recovering from a sinus infection that had caused me to lose my voice almost completely several days the week before.

I am so thankful to the LORD for answering my prayer in an unexpected way (to GOD be the glory), and I certainly appreciated my wife for being so selfless, and loyal in agreeing to celebrate our anniversary on a different weekend so I could go speak to a part of the Bride of Jesus Christ in Florida.

We will be posting a report of the
January 2011 Florida services soon.

Things have been put in motion for the third airplane ticket to be used later this year (LORD willing) as well. I will post the testimony in regards to that once everything has been confirmed.

Bro. Nathan

Up2Date II (Perversion)

2011-01-14T14:53:00.006-05:00

62-0123 FORSAKING ALL (TEMPE,AZ)
Look in the world today. The history of the world has never seen so many perverts as we got today. And my mail is filled with mothers, crying, from over here in California. Reading the newspaper, that perversion, why, it changed in California, I think, on around thirty percent, over the year before. Perversion, it's everywhere, filth. Schools, religious schools, have to excommunicate people out of their schools, has a hard time picking out. Perverts, "changing the natural course," just like it was in Sodom, we see it that way.

63-0605 GREATER THAN SOLOMON IS HERE (TUCSON, AZ)
There's never been a time, since Sodom, that homosexuals and perversion was on the march as it is now. You ought to go in my office and read the mail of mothers from California and around, about their boys' living. Oh, it's terrible! And I picked up a paper here, a couple years ago, flying over Los Angeles, and where it said that--that the great sin of Sodom was on such an increase there till it had increased twenty percent over the year before. And all out through, even to government officials, and it's everywhere. Sin!
It's because that women has made themselves so cheap. They have brought it upon themselves. And it's--it's a cheap affair. Used to be, you took off your hat, to a woman on the street. And now you'd do it, she'd laugh in your face. See? You--you... We've made ourself a bunch of corruption, so degrading ourselves.

Helpful Bible Study Tools

2011-01-06T22:34:00.014-05:00

The following links are a helpful resource for extensive studies of The Bible.

Brother Branham refers to, (and speaks highly of) both translations. (See the following quotes).

- Bro. Nathan Bryant

Lamsa Bible (Online)

Ephatic Diaglott (Online)

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA (60-0401E)

I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Lamsa, today, the translator of the Lamsa translation of the Bible. And such a privilege... You know, I would rather you'd give me a little rose bud, right now, than a whole wreath after I'm gone. I think maybe he'd think the same thing. I certainly can prescribe to his translation, for meeting him and finding such a lovely spirit of a real true Christian believer. God bless his gallant soul. I don't know as I've ever met any more spiritual man than Dr. Lamsa.

THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST (CHURCH AGE BOOK)

... let us read both the King James version and the translation by Dr. Lamsa. To our gratification we find the words in both amazingly the same so that there is no difference actually in content or doctrine. We may even conclude that God has allowed these newly discovered manuscripts and recent publications of already known scripts to come before us to prove the authenticity of what we already had. And we find that though translators may fight each other, scripts do not.

THIRSTING FOR LIFE (60-0304)

Now, I've got an old Emphatic Diaglott of the original Greek translation, and it's the one--most outstanding things. I'd advise it to any of the clergymen.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE HOLY GHOST (59-1219)

Now, reading from the "Emphatic Diaglott" of the Greek translation, where I was at last evening, which is laying open before me now. That's the original translation from the Greek to the English. It doesn't go through other translators; it's--and other versions, it's right straight from the Greek to the English.

FELLOWSHIP (60-0611B)

I've got the Emphatic Diaglott of the original translation off of the Heb--of the--the--from a--Vatican City, of the original Greek. Then I've got the Aramaic and many of the others that proves that he said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"

Blessed Beyond Measure

2010-12-02T21:50:00.007-05:00

I am so thankful to have the freedom to be able to enjoy all of the Bible, and the Message in both text and audio formats, and the ability to access any of It anytime I want in my own language. We don't realize how blessed we are sometimes... may It never become common to us!

Many fought, and suffered to grant us this freedom which we did not always have.

There was a time not so long ago when only the priest was able to have access to the Word in a language that the common people could not read or understand.

Millions still today do not have the privilege that we are granted, due to the lack of religious freedom in their country, or the shortage of available material in their own language.

Now that we have been blessed with this great honor, and responsibility, what will we do with It?

Will we let It sit on our shelves, or study It only to try to prove others wrong? Or will we make It a part of our daily lives so that others will see Christ living in us, and working through us?

Bro. Nathan

"Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men" (II Corinthians 3:2)

Evasion

2010-09-10T09:34:00.003-04:00

A short clip from my daily Bible readings today:

JOHN 7:19
Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
JOHN 7:20
The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

So Jesus, knowing their hearts asks a question. The people evade by asking another question. Fast forward 5 verses:

JOHN 7:25
Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?

Whoa! Looks like everyone knew it, but no one wanted to admit it.

What kinds of things do we know, but all we want to do is evade the question? Time is getting short my friends. Don't evade the truth, stand in the full face of it, and let it set you free.

God Bless,

Bro Trevor

Labor Day Meetings

2010-09-07T23:17:00.007-04:00

Labor Day Meetings

I had the privilege of speaking to a portion of the Bride of Jesus Christ this past weekend at 'The Tabernacle Of The Lord' in Townville, SC (Bro. Luke Gibson - Pastor).

On Saturday night we certainly felt the presence of The Lord come down among us in the closing worship service, and several brothers and sisters came forward for prayer.

On Sunday morning Brother Luke continued with 'The Token' series he has been preaching on, and it was a stirring sermon that encouraged the believers to never forget the importance of making sure that The Token is applied.

Sunday evening it fell my lot to preach again, and The Lord visited His people once more. We saw the fruits of the meetings as barriers of disfellowship began to crumble.

Satan sure fought our little family with sickness on the way home Monday, but we made it back safely late last night.

We are homesick for the wonderful fellowship, and the spirit of worship we felt among the brothers and sisters who we are privileged to call our friends in South Carolina.

- Bro. Nathan Bryant

Three Year-Old Boy Kidnapped In Honduras

2010-08-27T13:40:00.008-04:00

Please remember this little boy in prayer.

Click Here For More Details

Update on Caleb Orellana 08/30/2010

I know I would want the Bride of Christ to unite in prayer if it was one of my little boys.

I cannot even imagine what he and his family must be going through, but we serve a mighty GOD Who is more than able able to return this child to his family safely and unharmed.

God bless you,

Bro. Nathan

*** PRAISE THE LORD! ***

LITTLE CALEB WAS RETURNED

SAFELY TO HIS PARENTS LAST WEEK.

TRULY A MIRACLE FROM GOD...

(09/07/10)

Up2Date I (Economy)

2010-08-24T12:50:00.009-04:00

Up2Date

This is a new section we recently had an idea for.

'Up2Date' will include quotes we hear of that are so up to date they seem as though they had to be spoken for our time.

I am including a few that I have heard recently (in regards to the economy) in this first post.

If you would like to share some of the 'Up2Date' quotes that you run across please e-mail them to twomessageministers@gmail.com and we will consider including them in future 'Up2Date' posts.

God bless you,

- Bro. Nathan Bryant

AN UNCERTAIN SOUND (MIDDLETOWN, OH 61-0315)
There's no certainty in national security any more, because you can't dig far enough under the earth to keep them from blowing you out. You can't--there's nothing to do. We're just at the end of the road. And we take then and some of the other things there's no certainty.
I was hearing on the newscast coming up here, that there's more jobless people now than there was during the time of--of President Hoover's depression time, more jobless people than there was during his administration and during the time of 1930, along in there. Many of us of that age, remembers it, when we'd eat little bit--bit of potatoes with little jackets on them and eat jacket and all, because just got them once in a while and have them breakfast, dinner, and supper--how hard it was. And now, because they can say that, there's almost a third more people in the United States than there was then.

THE UNCERTAIN SOUND (BLOOMINGTON, IL 61-0415E)
So there we have no--no sound of security in national defense. Our jobs, we have no security in our--our jobs. It's all uncertain. Let a man pass about thirty-five years old, they'll root you out. They'll get a young man so they won't have to retire you. And after you pass forty years old, you try to get a job even digging a ditch; you'll have to have a high school diploma before you can do it. And they've got a little button they can press, and then take care of that anyhow. Your jobs--you ain't got no security in your jobs. I don't know how true this is, but I've been told that there's more people out of work right now, than there was during the time of President Hoover's depression, because there's more people. What's the matter? It's just a place where there's no certainty in these things. You're not certain of your job. Somebody can take your place in the morning.

Upcoming Services

2010-08-18T12:26:00.005-04:00

You can view my schedule of upcoming
and previous services at the following link:

Upcoming Services

God bless you,
Bro. Nathan Bryant

Raised From The Dead

2010-06-20T11:32:00.008-04:00

How Many Times Were The Dead Raised
In Brother Branham’s Ministry?

SIRS.WE.WOULD.SEE.JESUS_ LONG.BEACH.CA WEDNESDAY_ 61-0208
As odd as it might seem, I've seen them lay--people laying dead: Finland, three or four different places I've seen in my life--and God would let my spirit so leave me till it'd go out into the land, and catch that spirit, and bring it right back again to that person. It's true. God in heaven knows it's true.

Over the past few years I have been trying to keep track of how many times Brother Branham says on tape that people were raised from the dead in his ministry.

I’ve asked quite a few brothers who have been in The Message for many, many years how many cases they know of, and the answer has almost always been the same: “Seven times”.

In my studies I have found at least ten separate cases that he refers to on tape. There could definitely be more, and I will update that number if more solid cases are found on tape.

Some people count the sister from Kennett, Missouri he prayed for in the ambulance at his first meetings in Jonesboro, Arkansas. (It was when he was leaving the ambulance to go back inside the auditorium from praying for this woman that the little blind colored girl found him and told him if he could get her to ‘the healer’ she wouldn’t need help finding her daddy).

Her husband told Bro. Branham she was dead, but Bro. Branham says several times that he didn’t believe she was. He felt that she was only unconscious, or in a coma so I do not include that one in this list.

TESTIMONY_ JONESBORO.AR SUNDAY_ 53-0510
This lady out here from Kennett, Missouri. I know a lot of them thought she was dead; she might've been. The night the little blind colored girl was healed back there behind the place. You remember the...?... when I was here the last time. Now, she might've been dead; I don't know. I think she was in a coma. She come on down testified, plumb to California about her healing: cancer. Maybe setting here tonight, for all I know. And so, but I don't know whether she was dead or not; I couldn't say.

EXPECTANCY_ BATTLE.CREEK.MI SUNDAY_ 52-0817A
Well now, truly, I don't think the woman was dead.

EXPECTANCY_ BATTLE.CREEK.MI SUNDAY_ 52-0817A
But anyhow, in this case here, I think the woman was in a coma.

The ten I have found are listed below in the order they are probably most familiar to you:

1. The Dead Baby In Mexico
(had been dead over twelve hours)

WHAT.IT.TAKES.TO.OVERCOME.ALL.UNBELIEF.OUR.FAITH_ YAKIMA.WA 60-0729
And I've seen so much done, I tell you, friends, I--I just know God can do everything. I've seen leprosy in it's last stage, healed. I've seen people that was... I've got doctor's statements of people have been laying dead, examined by the doctors, dead, come back to life again, by faith, just believing it. See?
And a little mother stand over her baby, and see that baby return back to life after being--died that morning at nine o'clock and this was pretty near ten thirty that night, just recently, down in Mexico. I said, "Don't call that; let the doctor's sign that." See? So when we make a statement, it has to be backed up.

THE.FLASHING.RED.LIGHT.OF.THE.SIGN.OF.HIS.COMING_ JEFF.IN 63-0623E
And this morning when I was turning, see, and I've seen, many times, the Lord Jesus bring back the dead. The little baby in Mexico died at nine o'clock that morning, and this was between ten and eleven that night it come back to life. And--and that's a bona fide testimony with doctor's witness of it, see, that the baby died in his office at nine o'clock that morning. I think it was pneumonia. And the baby is living today, so far as I know. And that was before, oh, my, thirty, forty thousand people.

2. The Little Boy In Finland
(hit by a car, foretold by vision years before it happened)

THE.TWENTIETH.CENTURY.PROPHET_ JEFF.IN 53-0800
We were thinking about whether these visions I would remember them very long. Sometime ago I had one, about four years ago to be exact, of a little boy being dead on the side of the road, struck by a car and killed. And he was to be raised from the dead. Well, I told everybody about it, prophesied throughout the United States and Canada. Thousands of Bibles had it written on their flyleaf, that this would take place.
One day while we were having campaigns in the Scandinavian country, we were coming down through Finland, from Kuopio. And there was a group of people gathered on the side of the road. They were hovered over some sort of a form. We got out to look. There it was, the little boy, everything, the scene, just the way it was shown to me.
I said to Brother Moore, "Look at your Bible and see if this isn't the scene."
"Yes," he said. I knelt down and asked our Lord Jesus to confirm His Word that He'd showed me, and had told me would come to pass. The little boy was brought to life again by our Lord Jesus. He's alive and healthy today.

3. Brother Way
(resented what Bro. Branham about him having
a complex on the tape ‘Standing In The Gap’
63-0623M & died in the meeting)

LOOKING.UNTO.JESUS_ PHOENIX.AZ V-22 N-2 WEDNESDAY_ 64-0122
Here sits Mr. Way, an Englishman, setting here on the side, right here now, just noticed him setting here. He is come from Indiana. He is an Englishman. His wife is a--a registered nurse. Fine man! One day, I talked to him. I was preaching in the meeting, he resented what I said, in his heart, and, when he did, he dropped dead right in the audience. There he died. His wife took a hold of him and felt him; his eyes, face turned dark, his eyes... not put on, his eyes pushed out and went back into the back of his head. I said, "Stand still." Looked down there at him, and I thought, "Oh, there lays that man, dead."
Went down, put my hands upon him, he was just as cold as that desk is. He was gone. Mrs. Way said, "Oh, Brother Branham, he is gone! He is gone." Screaming at the top of her voice.
I looked away. I saw the resurrection and Life. I prayed the prayer that Jesus told me to, and Brother Way raised up. Here he sits right here tonight, come up from the dead, sitting right here tonight.

THE.VOICE.OF.THE.SIGN_ TULARE.CA V-22 N-12 FRIDAY_ 64-0214
About two months ago, in my church, one Sunday morning, there was something, Satan doing something to attract the attention of the people. There was an Englishman there, by the name of Way. He lives at my... You want his address, or we can have you to write. He sends tapes of the meeting from overseas. And the man resented what I said, heartily. And I looked down, I seen that horrible spirit upon him.
I had him on private interview, told him. I said, "Mr. Way, you have heart trouble." He even resented that. I said, "Why did you come to me for, then?" So about a month after that, he went to the doctor, and the doctor said he had a very bad heart.
So he come to the meeting that morning, and something was said; real hot-headed Englishman, you know, he resented that. His wife, a wonderful Norwegian woman, a nurse, and was sitting there with him. And I said something, and he resented it right quick, you know. And when he did... He was standing to the feet, and they were singing. And when He did, his head went back, his eyes just flipped right straight back, his face turned real dark red, like that desk there. He fell dead, to the floor.
Well, now, the church went to going on, people screaming. And I said, "Sit down. You are trained better than that. You are trained better than that."
And so his wife got down, was testing his heart. He was gone. She begin to scream. And I said, "Sister Way, just a minute, till I can get out of the pulpit here. We don't know what the Father..."
And there I went down there, he was just stiff. His eyes, there wasn't color on his eyes, was sticking right out like that, back. I couldn't feel no more heart than I could feel in that. [Brother Branham taps on something hard--Ed.]
She said, "Oh!" Begin to scream, she begin...
I said, "Now we don't know what the Heavenly Father is going to do." And I said, "Maybe He did it for a purpose." I said, "Brother Way was resenting."
Said, "He whispered to me, that he was resenting what you said."
And I said, "He oughtn't to have done that."
I said, "Heavenly Father, forgive Brother Way for his error, and I call for his spirit to return."
He said, "Brother Branham," and there he was alive again, standing among us.

4. Hattie Waldrop
(was laying dead in the prayer line from cancer of the heart)

EXHORTATION.OF.DIVINE.HEALING_ LA.CA TUESDAY_ 51-0501
And I--I was with a lady the other day at Phoenix, Arizona, Mrs. Hattie Waldrop at her... She had died with cancer of the heart and the liver. And he... And her doctor was there and said, "Just want to shake your hand." And he had...
She was dead--been lay--laying dead in the prayer line, covered up. And she... That was three years ago or more; she's just as well and normal as she can be.

AT.THY.WORD.LORD.I'LL.LET.DOWN.THE.NET_ JOHNSON.CITY.NY 54-1207
Here was Mrs. Hattie Waldrop from Phoenix, Arizona, died in the prayer line. She told the intern and them, when they was bringing her through, said, "Take me through anyhow." And when she got up there, been dead... There's her address, name, number, everything. She's living today: had cancer of the heart, colon, and liver. The doctor give her up, said, "There's not a chance." And they brought her anyhow. She died over a city block away from the place.

HIS.UNFAILING.WORDS.OF.PROMISE_ PHOENIX.AZ MONDAY_ 64-0120
Now, in Phoenix, that was during the time that Mrs. Waldroff here had died in a prayer line, with cancer in her heart, and was healed. She usually comes to the meetings. She is probably here now. And then... Mrs. Hattie Waldroff. Then we find out that her doctor had the testimony of it, give the--the photographs, or not the... What you call it, x-rays? X-rays of it, where the--the woman was had the cancer. And she is living today. And that was sixteen years ago. Now I'm quite sure that mister... Yes, there is Mrs. Waldroff, right there now. That's right. [Someone says, "That's been seventeen years, this March."--Ed.] That's seventeen years, this March. There is a lady that was dead, and come to life again, with cancer in her heart. Because, it was THUS SAITH THE LORD.

5. Lij’ Perry
(hemorrhaged to death, came to life when Bro. Branham
laid his body on top of him like Elijah to the widow’s son
& Elisha to the Shunammite woman’s son – he also refers
to him as Elij’ Perry, Elijah Perry, Ralph Perry, and as
the man that worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad)

THE.UNCERTAIN.SOUND_ JEFF.IN V-16 N-3 SUNDAY_ 60-1218
How many ever remembers when Elijah Perry was raised from the dead that morning, some of you over here? You seen it in the paper here, many times. I seen Sister Wilson and them raising their hands. I was standing there when that man died. He lives right out here now, comes to church once in a while, testifies of it.
He had been dead several hours. He died with hemorrhages of the lungs, and he was so bloody all over. And I walked away; I was just a young preacher, those days. And Sister Jackson used to be a member of the church here. And--and a Methodist preacher's wife, I forget what that man's name was now; Shafiner, Brother Shafiner and Sister Shafiner, they were some relation to the Wiseheart's. And they... And she was standing there at the bedside. And I started to move away. And he was just as bloody as he could be, where he died. And his eyes was turned back, and his throat had bulged out. And they pulled a sheet over his head. And his wife was out there. They were crying, and trying to get addresses to call the loved ones.
And I started to walk away from the bed, and I felt Somebody lay Their hand on me. I thought it was Sister Shafiner. And when I turned, there was nobody around me. And then I started... It left me when I turned around.
And Brother Elij' was laying there dead. We'd been very good buddies, fished on the river, you know how we did so much together. And he got hurt out here, a railroad, riding spider. Well, it mashed his lungs in. He was bleeding; he bled and took TB from it, and died.
I started to move away this way, and then I felt that Hand again. I turned back, It would get off of me. And before I knowed what I was doing, I was laying on top of that man, with my lips against his lips. I was as bloody as he was, laying there on that man, crying out to God. And I felt something come up around the side of my ear; it was his hand.
And you've heard him stand right here and testify of it. See? How he--that he come back to life. And that's been about twenty-five years ago, or maybe thirty, living today right out here on the curve. And he come here not long ago, was testifying of it in the church.

6. Mary
(died in a meeting in Connecticut, but came
to life when Bro. Branham called her name)

AWAKENING.JESUS_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 63-0117
We were having a meeting, and I was just getting ready to make the altar call. And I noticed a woman acted real funny, and her daughter run over there, begin to rub her face. I thought, "Well, she is subject to fainting." And all at once, her feet went right out straight, and her hands went back like this.
Dr. Barton run over to where she was, took her pulse. She had none. He looked up at me, shook his head. Well, I tried to keep the people's mind... They was setting out, a great crowd. Keep it off of it, like that, just going ahead, talking. And so he said, "Go get little Branham." That was Billy. And Billy seen that dead woman. He had nothing to do with that. See? He didn't want that. Well, just as I started to speak again... Now, Dr. Barton, as you know him, you might ask him.
Started to speak again, I said, "Now, everyone, do not be excited. Keep quiet." Sometime when you see a demon try to come out of a person, they get so irreverent, the crowd gets tore up. That's the wrong thing to do. "Set still. Don't get excited. He is here."
And while I was speaking like that, I don't know how it ever happened, but turned over to her and called her name. "Mary, looky here." And when she did, she come to herself, come to.

THE.FLASHING.RED.LIGHT.OF.THE.SIGN.OF.HIS.COMING_ JEFF.IN 63-0623E
I like to brag on Jesus Christ and His power. But at this time I think we should never try to brag on Him in any way to something He--He--He didn't do. But I have seen Jesus Christ raise up the dead, many times, infallible, doctors' testing to prove.
For instance, in Connecticut just recently, in a meeting, setting in a large, the old... some kind of a famous auditorium, there was a Doctor Barton, a Christian doctor on the platform with me, a medical doctor. And there was a fine renown Christian woman, a lovely, wealthy woman she was. She was setting kind of to my left. And I had called the prayer line, and I noticed the woman just all at once...
When anyone, their heart stops... You can close your eyes, but when you are shocked to death, when your heart stops, really your eyeballs turn back, and the white part of your eye pushes out. And I noticed it as she sank down. And quickly they called for the medical doctor, and he run to her to take her pulse, and shook his head, put his hands upon her, his ear to her heart. And she was gone. She sank in the floor, and her daughter screaming, which interrupted the meeting. I continued on, 'cause I didn't have no word of the Lord for the woman. And I continued on.
They said something about getting Brother Branham. And they said, "We don't want to call him in the prayer line, 'cause he's under discernment." And they said, "Get little Branham," that was Billy. And Billy, being it was a woman dead, he didn't want to.
You know, people get suspicion of somebody being dead. That, that's--that's just a hull. There is nothing there. That, people think strange. That, the person isn't there, themselves; they've moved on. And so he was afraid to--to go around the woman, because she was dead.
And then immediately the Holy Spirit spoke to me. I turned from the place, walked down the step, come around to where she was. And just as I started to where she was, the Holy Spirit spoke to me; and I said, "Mary!"
She said, "Yes, Brother Branham." She was all right. And--and she had never seen us before. And it was the first in meeting.

7. Brother Earl Martin’s Baby
(the baby had stopped breathing, but Bro. Earl came
to Bro. Branham’s hotel room in Beaumont, Texas and
said if he would say the word he knew the baby would live)

INFLUENCE_ BEAUMONT.TX SUNDAY_ 64-0315
There is a little minister here somewhere. I seen him here, a while ago. Martin was his name. I forget... He is one of the sponsors. Right here.
About midnight, close to it, someone woke me up in my room. A little fellow crying, a little minister, his baby had just passed away. The tears running down his face.
He's plumb up in somewhere in... What's the name of that town they live in? [Someone says, "Missouri." --Ed.] Missouri. Up at where? ["Wardell, Missouri."] Wardell, Missouri. I know the boy. I know his brother here, too. They're friends of mine.
This brother walked in there with tears running down his cheeks, said, "Brother Branham, I just called... My wife just called me. My little baby just quit breathing." He laid his hands upon me, said, "Brother Branham, I believe the Word of the Lord is with you." Oh, how could God... Just like, "Even now, Lord! If You had been here, my brother would not have died." See, he wasn't confessing to me. He was confessing the Word of the Lord, you see, that I was preaching the Truth. He said, "I believe the Word of the Lord is with you. Just ask Him; my baby will live." In ten minutes from then, his baby was breathing normal, is well now.

DOES.GOD.EVER.CHANGE.HIS.MIND.ABOUT.HIS.WORD_ JEFF.IN 65-0418E
[Brother Earl Martin says, "Brother Branham, would you lay hands on me, ordain me to work as a pastor?"--Ed.] John Martin... ["Earl."] Earl.
How many knows Earl Martin? How many believes him to be a servant of Christ? He comes to us from a... I believe the, originally, from a Pentecostal group, and now I think he pastors and does a independent work.
I've knowed Earl to be a real servant of Christ. I'll never forget one act, many has been, but one act with Earl. I remember one night they called him when I was in Dallas, Texas; or I--I believe, no, it was... [A sister says, "Beaumont."--Ed.] Beaumont, Texas, is right, sister. And they--they... His baby was laying, dying, and they thought it was already dead. It wasn't breathing no more. And Earl made his way around to my room, as a daddy, bending shoulders, stooped down before me, as I was in bed. Rolled out; he put his arms around me and said, "Brother, I believe you are God's prophet. I've always believed that. And if you'll just say the word, though my baby is dead, yet shall it live." And his baby come back to life, is living.

8. Lutheran Man In His Seventies Or Eighties
(died in a meeting at Shawano, Wisconsin but
came to life when Bro. Branham called his name)

HERE.IS.HE.KING.OF.THE.JEWS_ JEFF.IN V-16 N-7 SUNDAY_ 58-1221M
One of the outstanding events of the last meeting, was happened in Shawano, Wisconsin. It was at the high school auditorium, the new high school auditorium, when we were just about ready to pray for the sick. I'd just made the altar call, and many had raised their hands to accept Christ as their personal Saviour. And then it was that I noticed something taken place, which was right out in the audience, a little piece from me. And it was a man of about seventy or seventy-five years old. He fell dead and died with a heart attack. The froth poured from his mouth, and the water broke over his clothes. And--and his wife real frantically rubbed his face.
And--and I knew that was the trick of the enemy. He does those things just to get the people upset (See?), and then when he does that, it goes to a frantic. It's happened many times in the meeting. Just recently in New England, it happened like that again, just before that call.
And so to keep the people from being excited, I... In those kind of times you must keep your wits to see what the Holy Spirit will say. Because we're taught in the Scriptures that all things work together for good to them that love God.
And there was many of God's children, lovers of Him. And I kept looking at the man, and seeing he'd done got frothy in the mouth. And--and as anyone knows, when death strikes a person, usually water breaks. You see? And they--and his wife so rubbing his face, and she was just going like that. Now, to keep the people from noticing her, I said, "Your husband, would you want someone to get him a drink of water?" and get her attention.
And she said, "Brother Branham, I just leave it all up to you." And she was a--a Lutheran by denomination.
And then I thought I'd call the prayer line, and get the people up to pray for them. But instead of doing that, the Holy Spirit begin to move out into the meeting, over the people, just to calling them. And It passed over the old fellow about twice. And then all of a sudden I said, "We'll just pray."
And when I started to pray, I--I heard myself praying, which said to this death, "Turn him loose." And no more than it was said that, till the man came back to life again, and raised to his feet. And the whole city went like frantically about it, what the Lord had did.

THE.FLASHING.RED.LIGHT.OF.THE.SIGN.OF.HIS.COMING_ JEFF.IN 63-0623E
Then at Shawano just recently in, oh, I'd say, in the last, about, four years ago, or five, I was speaking one night at the armory. And there was a great crowd of people. And a elderly man of some eighty years old, I guess, and his lovely wife, they were Lutheran by faith, go to that great famous Lutheran church there. I forget the name of it now. It's the largest Lutheran gathering in America, at one single gathering, of church membership. And it's a great country for the Lutheran. And while I was speaking, I noticed the fellow, head going back like that; and his hands went out, and he pitched forward, dead in the chair. And his wife begin screaming, and she screamed out, "Somebody help me! Somebody help me!"
And I looked. I said, "Just everyone keep seated, be quiet." See? I waited for the Lord to give me a word. And--and I... Satan... I was just fixing to make the altar call, and that's just when he wants to show hisself.
So did you ever notice when you start to make a altar call, even little babies will start screaming, and things like that? That's Satan. You who are spiritual understand.
So the Lord gave me his name, and I called him, and he come to life just like that.

GOD'S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_ SHP.LA 65-1128M
Talking to my little friend, Ernie Fandler. I guess some of you out on the hookups will remember Ernie, how he was converted, how he was led to the Lord. He doesn't talk good English, or I'd like to have him come say a word. And he gets his we's and W's all mixed up. He was asking me if I remember the time at the Shawano where he lives. There was a man died right in the meeting, dropped over in his seat dead, Lutheran. And we had everybody keep quiet. Spoke the Word of the Lord over him, he come back to life. He come that other way. They had never got over that, wants us come back again.

9. Dead Baby In California
(was dead the longest of any that came back to life
in Bro. Branham’s ministry – the parents drove all
night to where Bro. Branham was having a tent
meeting in California to have him pray for the baby)

THE.MESSIAH_ SHREVEPORT.LA TUESDAY_ 61-0117
And she was standing near in California, once, where they brought in a little baby had been dead, died one morning about three or four o'clock. Parents had drove all day, and it was about three, four, five o'clock, yes, about six o'clock in the afternoon, the mother setting in the back of the car, holding this little cold form in her arms. And when they come to the place where I was at, San Bernardino, they took the little baby, brought it to where I was standing. And I said, "Oh, how long has the baby been dead?"
She said, "Since this morning, early."
And I picked up the little cold form. It was already stiffened. And these people standing around... I held it in my arms, started praying to our precious Lord. I felt the baby was getting warm. Just kept holding it, just a few minutes, and it started kicking, crying. I handed it over to its mother.

GO.AWAKE.JESUS_ SHREVEPORT.LA V-17 N-9 SATURDAY_ 63-1130E
The longest one I knowed of, was from nine o'clock one morning, till eleven that night, about. See?
No, I beg your pardon. A little baby over there, that the mother had carried it all night in her arms. It died one afternoon, she carried it all night in her arms, come to the meeting down there in California. And I was taking out that afternoon. Had died the afternoon before that, and she drove all night, got there, couldn't get around the place. And she layed a cold little form in my arms, of a dead baby that had died the day before that. And standing, holding that little baby, and just offered prayer. His little body got warm. He turned over and looked, and I handed it back to its mother. True. That's right.

MODERN.EVENTS.ARE.MADE.CLEAR.BY.PROPHECY_ SBD.CA 65-1206
But, now, we're seeing strange things in this day. Now I've remember the last time I was here was in a tent meeting. I remember of speaking of it last night, of a little couple that brought their dead baby in. It--it's up somewhere up here, they drove all day and night. The little mother setting, sad, holding that little baby in her arms. Now, she may be setting right here now, for all I know. And she... the little husband, couple of more couples with them, and they was... And she said... asked me if I'd come over (the man did) to the car. I took the little baby out and was just holding it; a little, dead, stiff, cold form; and I started to pray. And when I prayed, that body begin to feel like it was getting warm. So I just... I kept on praying. He started kicking and moving, going along, so I... started crying. I handed it back to the mother, she went on back home with it. So, they might not even been Christians, for all I know. See? That was wonderful.

10. Woman In Durban South Africa
(friend of Sidney Smith the Mayor of Durban)

AND.THY.SEED.SHALL.POSSESS.THE.GATE.OF.HIS.ENEMIES_ LONG.BEACH.CA SUNDAY_ 61-0212E
The next morning, Mr. Sidney Smith, the mayor of--of--of Durban called me, said, "Watch the window towards the seashore from your hotel room."
I said, "What is it?"
Said, "I will see if I can get there in time. It's on its road." Well, I was sitting there. I wondered, what did the mayor mean? And just that night, there'd been a woman had died over there that day, a friend of his. Prayed for her, she'd come to life. The papers given big headlines about it.

JEHOVAH.JIREH.3_ LOUISVILLE.MS SATURDAY_ 64-0404
And about four hours from then, Sidney Smith, the mayor of Durban, Sidney Smith, mayor of Durban, South Africa, called me on the phone. Which, had been a woman that had died, the night before that, and been called on, to pray. And she was at the meeting, alive. And so, then, that was Sidney Smith's relation, and he was all thrilled.

I trust that this study on The Message has been a blessing to you.

If you come across any other instances (on tape) where Brother Branham says others were raised from the dead in his ministry please e-mail the quote to twomessageministers@gmail.com so we can update our count & add the quote to this article.

God bless you,

- Brother Nathan Bryant

The Oncoming Storm

2010-06-14T13:13:00.067-04:00

"Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand." (ISAIAH 28:2)

"Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them." (PSALM 89:9)

September 1926

The ‘Great Miami Hurricane’ (a category four hurricane with winds estimated over 125 mph) devastated Miami as well as causing major damage to other parts of Florida, Alabama, and the Bahamas.

Total estimated property damage caused by the ‘Great Miami Hurricane’ was the highest (by an Atlantic Hurricane) in recorded history. (With modern development and pricing experts claim it would have been almost double the amount of the total cost in property damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005). *

Total casualties from the ‘Great Miami Hurricane’ were estimated at 373.

The hurricane of 1926 also reached Lake Okeechobee (in Okeechobee, Florida) breaking a portion of the dikes, causing many casualties.

This would only be a small preview of what would happen two years later during the 1928 ‘Okeechobee Hurricane’ (also referred to as ‘The Storm of 28’).

September 1928

September 10th:
The S.S. Commack sees the hurricane 900 miles East of Guadeloupe.

September 12th:

The hurricane escalates to category 3.

September 16th:
The hurricane reaches southern Florida.

Initial reports from the U.S. Weather Bureau were optimistic that the hurricane would pass the south Florida region.

By September 19th the eye of the storm had crossed Palm Beach County near West Palm Beach, and directly over Lake Okeechobee, then turned northeast crossing northern Florida, and Eastern Georgia, as well as North & South Carolina.

The ‘Okeechobee Hurricane’ was the second hurricane in recorded history to be listed as a category five hurricane in the Atlantic basin.

Total casualties from 'The Storm Of 28' have been estimated as high as 4,075. **

Lake Okeechobee

Covering 730 square miles Lake Okeechobee is nearly half the size of Rhode Island.

Listed as the 7th largest freshwater lake in United States, it is the second largest entirely contained within the 48 states.

The only means of flood control around Lake Okeechobee in 1928 was a six-foot mud dike.

Winds were measured on the ground at approximately 140 mph when the worst part of the storm hit the lake on September 16th, 1928. These strong winds drove water over the six-foot embankment causing flood waters to cover an area of 100 square miles, as high as 20 feet deep in some places.

Residents living in lower points along the coast of Lake Okeechobee had been warned to evacuate earlier that day, but because the hurricane did not arrive on schedule, many had returned to their homes (thinking that the hurricane had bypassed their area).
Houses were torn from their foundations and smashed into pieces.

(Image above - Lake Okeechobee as seen from the current flood-wall)

Many survivors and bodies were washed into the Everglades, and many of the bodies were never found.

Flood waters remained for several weeks, making any attempts at repairing the damages extremely difficult.

The number of bodies quickly outnumbered available burial services, so the majority were placed in mass graves.

Nearly two thirds of the casualties were migrant farm workers, making attempts to identify the deceased or missing extremely difficult.

“Approximately 1,600 victims were buried in a mass grave at Port Mayaca in Martin County. In West Palm Beach, 69 white victims were placed in a mass grave in Woodlawn Cemetery and approximately 674 black victims were buried in a mass grave in the City’s pauper’s burial field at Tamarind Avenue and 25th Street. Many others were never found.” ***

The number of casualties in the Palm Beach area only climbed to twenty-six because the residents heeded the hurricane warnings.

More than 1,711 homes were destroyed in West Palm Beach alone.

Mortar from Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse was reported as being “squeezed like toothpaste” from between the bricks, causing the lighthouse swaying seventeen inches from it’s base.

(Image above - The mass burial site in West Palm Beach, FL)

Brother Branham refers to this storm several times, using it as a type of how people fail to take heed when a message is given to warn of oncoming danger.

We can clearly see the spiritual type, as so many fail to heed the warning of The Message. The Voice of the Messenger is still calling out today.

May we heed the warning as the cry goes out for ‘whosoever will’ to come out of denominational creeds and dogmas, and away from the ungodly entertainments and pleasures of the world, to be hidden safely in the Rock of Ages until the storm passes by.

(Image above - Some aftermath from 'The Storm Of 28')

THE ONCOMING STORM PHOENIX, AZ 60-0229 “And these prophets of the weather in Florida are pretty accurate with their prophesying. They are set for that purpose to warn the people. I was reading (I forget just now, I believe it was in the newspaper.) of a storm a few years ago, that was on its way across Florida, central Florida, and all the regions around Okeechobee was--was warned. I just left there about five weeks ago. And there was a neighbor man who kept in contact with radio all the time, because of these storms, and he was a very renowned Christian. And he heard that the great typhoon was coming that way, twisting down trees, and everyone was warned to get to safety.”

GO TELL JEFF, IN 60-0417M “Many lives has been saved because of preparation for oncoming events. Sometime ago I was told that in Florida, the news man, the weather bureau sent out a newscast that there was a great storm coming. And one man was a poultry raiser, and he went to his neighbor and told him that the storm was coming. He ignored, and said, "Nonsense." And he just kept on. He never put up his chickens. He never went into the dugout. He never made any arrangements. And his neighbor did make the arrangements. But all of the one who did not take the warning, all of his chickens was blowed away and killed; his house was tore down, his stock was lost; he was sent to the hospital, all because he did not take heed and warning. He knowed the message was given, but he failed to take heed to the message.”

* Hurricane Katrina caused approximately 81 billion dollars of property damage in 2005, but with modern development, and today’s prices it has been estimated that ‘The Great Miami Hurricane’ of 1926 would have caused 157 billion dollars worth of property damage. (The 1928 ‘Okeechobee Hurricane’ comes in at around 37 billion dollars worth of property damage in today’s prices).

** 'The Storm Of 28' is currently listed as number nine on the list of deadliest Atlantic with casualties estimated as high as 4,075. (Total casualties caused by Katrina are listed as 1,836).

*** This quotation is taken from an inscription on a Florida Heritage Landmark in West Palm Beach, FL. (An image of this landmark taken in 2009 by Brother Nathan Bryant is included in this post).

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Calling from both sides

2010-06-02T14:03:00.008-04:00

THE.SEAL.OF.THE.ANTICHRIST_ LA.CA FRIDAY_ 55-0311
But I don't mean to hurt you; I mean that we get this straightened out. You'll see one of the greatest revivals that ever swept the country. That's right. We get back to the starting place, begin right. There's only one thing to do; that's come back, if you see you hit the wrong road, make back-tracks, go back and see where you started from.
Man usually, when he's borned in the Kingdom of God, his face set right straight towards Calvary. Now, if he's just a little bit emotional, he will go off on fanaticism. If He's just a little bit his shrewd education, he will get so starchy, that he sets over on this side. That's right. But the true Church of the living God, goes right down to the center of the highway, preaching a sane solid Gospel, calling from both sides. Amen.
That's what we need today, a church that he wouldn't be ashamed for anyone to come into. It's perfectly governed by the Holy Spirit, no fanaticism, no starchy, just a good warm church, filled with God's Spirit. Watch that, the good solid Gospel teaching pastors. That's what we need. Amen. God help us to have it. God wants us to have it.

I'd like to use this post to "call from both sides". Bro Nathan and I were discussing the VGR quote of the day from 5/31/2010 the other day. We both noticed how, depending on your view point, you may read/hear this quote.

If you were to highlight important parts of the following quote, what would you highlight?

PUTTING.ON.THE.WHOLE.ARMOR.OF.GOD_ S.PINES.NC THURSDAY_ 62-0607
Listen, did you ever think what that offices of the church is? It's God's dress, inside dress, an apostle, a prophet, a seer. Foresee, before Satan ever gets to it, done told it. What is it? God dressed up in His church. These offices is God's dress-wear. When you see those offices, pastors, teachers, evangelists, what is that? That's God's dress-wear, God's Presence, God's Spirit and It's working through man. And if that office denies any of this Word, then it's not God-dressing. No, not that. That's that wolf in sheep's clothing. Watch that fellow. Beware of him. But when he just takes what the Word says, remember, that's God, 'cause He's speaking His Word. See? But if he says, "Well, it isn't..." Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, my. Get going, sheep; get going!

Go ahead, try it. Think it through.

Here's a couple scenarios we thought of:

What one viewpoint might highlight:

PUTTING.ON.THE.WHOLE.ARMOR.OF.GOD_ S.PINES.NC THURSDAY_ 62-0607
Listen, did you ever think what that offices of the church is? It's God's dress, inside dress, an apostle, a prophet, a seer. Foresee, before Satan ever gets to it, done told it. What is it? God dressed up in His church. These offices is God's dress-wear. When you see those offices, pastors, teachers, evangelists, what is that? That's God's dress-wear, God's Presence, God's Spirit and It's working through man. And if that office denies any of this Word, then it's not God-dressing. No, not that. That's that wolf in sheep's clothing. Watch that fellow. Beware of him. But when he just takes what the Word says, remember, that's God, 'cause He's speaking His Word. See? But if he says, "Well, it isn't..." Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, my. Get going, sheep; get going!

What another viewpoint might highlight:

PUTTING.ON.THE.WHOLE.ARMOR.OF.GOD_ S.PINES.NC THURSDAY_ 62-0607
Listen, did you ever think what that offices of the church is? It's God's dress, inside dress, an apostle, a prophet, a seer. Foresee, before Satan ever gets to it, done told it. What is it? God dressed up in His church. These offices is God's dress-wear. When you see those offices, pastors, teachers, evangelists, what is that? That's God's dress-wear, God's Presence, God's Spirit and It's working through man. And if that office denies any of this Word, then it's not God-dressing. No, not that. That's that wolf in sheep's clothing. Watch that fellow. Beware of him. But when he just takes what the Word says, remember, that's God, 'cause He's speaking His Word. See? But if he says, "Well, it isn't..." Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, my. Get going, sheep; get going!

You see? We can make the same quote emphasize two totally different viewpoints. I'm reminded of the following quote:

THE.SIGNS.OF.HIS.COMING_ CLEVELAND.TN SATURDAY_ 62-0407
Moses and his sign, God-given sign, Scriptural sign... Do you believe Moses' sign was Scriptural? How did Moses know? How did Moses know it was God? When he went down there he understood, being born to be a prophet, he had the Word of the Lord he knowed. So he goes down there to deliver Israel, and he found out he was out of date. The people didn't want him. A prophet can never deliver his message unless the people wants to hear it. So God just called His prophet in the wilderness. Sure. Took him out there and let the people suffer a little longer till they was ready. Moses was ready; God was ready; but the people wasn't. They stayed forty years longer because they wasn't ready. That's exactly right.

Are we ready to hear the message - the ENTIRE message yet? Or do we only want to hold to the parts we like to emphasize?

I implore you, please pray to our Lord and Savior and ask for His revelation in our lives. The sooner we throw down OUR ideas, and are open to HIS leading and ALL the Word says, the sooner we can take our promised land.

May His coming rejoice your heart,
Bro Trevor

Florida Meetings Report

2010-05-14T18:09:00.003-04:00

Wednesday, May 5'th - Monday, May 10'th

My plane left Louisville, KY at 6:45AM on Wednesday morning. I had a short layover in Charlotte, NC, and arrived in West Palm Beach, FL around 11:15AM. (Many thanks to Brother Trevor Emond for taking me to the airport very early in the morning, and to Brother Jack Duff for his hospitality and kindness during my entire trip to Florida).

Wednesday night I preached on 'The Quickening Power' to a Spanish-speaking group of believers at Alpha Omega Tabernacle in Miami, FL (Brother Charles MacDonald - Pastor).

Brother Christian from their church was kind enough to interpret the sermon along with me into Spanish.

Several of the brothers and sisters there came forward at the end of the service to receive the Holy Ghost. God continues to vindicate that "THE Promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

Thursday night I preached on 'The Order Of Revival' at Bible Truth Tabernacle in Okeechobee, FL (Brother Willie Smiley - Pastor). The Lord continues to prove that wherever two or three are gathered together in HIS Name HE is always ready, and willing to appear in our midst. The saints at Brother Smiley's church provided a warm welcoming spirit, as did the other churches I had the privilege of visiting during this trip.

Friday night I had planned to speak on 'When The Minority Becomes The Majority' to the Haitian group of believers at Eagle's Temple in Miami, FL (Brother Bernard Jean-Mary - Pastor).

After I read the Scripture that the Lord had brought to my attention for that sermon I started preaching, and felt led not to read my title, but to just continue speaking along the line the Lord was leading.

I wound up never returning to my notes or the subject I had intended, but spoke instead on 'Longing For Fellowship'. God knew that is what the believers there needed to hear, and HE deserves the glory (as always) for leading me in what to say.

Brother Bernard interpreted the sermon along with me into Creole.

Saturday I was able to fellowship with some precious brothers (Brother Jack Duff & Brother Willie Smiley), at a birthday party for Brother Smiley's daughter. I spent most of the evening in prayer & study for the services on Sunday.

Sunday morning I preached on 'Looking For New Light' at Spirit & Truth Tabernacle in West Palm Beach, FL (Brother Jack Duff - Pastor). The Lord proved marvelous again in leading me down some paths that really seemed to strike home with the believers there.

After the service I had the honor of playing some music with Brother Jack & some of his young, but very talented musicians (Brother Caleb Wesco & Sister Rachel Wesco).

Sunday night I preached on 'The Quickening Power' to the Haitian group of believers at Assembly Of The Voice Of the Seventh Angel in Boynton Beach, FL (Brother Jean Louis - Pastor). Brother David from the church there interpreted the sermon along with me into Creole. The presence of the Lord was definitely felt in the service, and Brother Jack made the statement that he felt (as with the wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee); God had "saved the best for last".

After the service Sunday night I had the privilege to fellowship for a couple of hours with some of the young people from Spirit & Truth (Brother Jack Duff's church) who had gone with us to the service in Boynton Beach.

I felt led to have an impromptu Questions & Answers session with the young people, and upon consulting with Brother Jack about it he felt that it would be a good idea as well. I sat around the table with the young people and tried to answer their questions (with the help of the Lord) as best as possible. I told them they could ask any questions related to the Bible, or the Message, or any type of struggle they were having in their individual spiritual lives. They came up with some very good (and some very hard) questions.

Many of the questions were things I had questioned myself over the previous years as a young person, and with some of the other questions the Lord was faithful to bring Scriptures and quotes to my remembrance that could be easily applied to the question at hand.

Monday morning my plane left West Palm Beach, FL at 6:45AM, and I arrived back in the Louisville airport around 11:30AM.

Praise the Lord for the fruits we have seen from the services, as we know that only HE is able to bring the increase.

God bless you,

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Ministry Photos

2010-05-14T17:25:00.005-04:00

These are some ministry photos that were

made recently for the NBM web-page

2MM Goes To Tucson

2010-05-07T11:20:00.008-04:00

Bro Nathan and I recently returned from a preaching trip to Tucson. We preached a total of five services over an extended weekend and a Wednesday night.

We really had a blessed time, and while the devil sure seemed out to get us and the families, you just can't stop what God has in store.

The services started off with Bro Nathan preaching a fiery sermon entitled "Order of Revival". He followed it up with a prayer line. Many were blessed and hearts were stirred. It was nice to see that a few saints from other churches came out as well.

Saturday night I preached "Culture Degrades Truth", followed by an altar call where many were blessed. There was a noticeable change on a few in particular after this.

Easter Sunday morning, Bro Nathan took the resurrection subject of "A get together before flight"

Easter Sunday evening, I preached a simple sermon on "Undeserved Love".

The following Wednesday night, Bro Nathan preached "Looking through Spiritual Eyes"

(sorry, some how we don't have any pictures of Bro Nathan preaching!!)

We were blessed to be able to bring our families out to the Tucson area to see the many places the prophet walked and spoke of. We had some fine services, and a nice little vacation. We're looking forward to anything the Lord has in store for us in the future!

God Bless you all,

Bro Trevor

From the education just can't fix some things department.

2010-05-07T11:17:00.008-04:00

I read an article today about the recent Lacrosse player murdered in VA. Truly this is a sad thing. A couple paragraphs stood out to me, and I had to comment about them somewhere...so here I am!

First the link to the article: The Article

Now a clip:

"Drinking, debauchery and hateful language are not just lacrosse's problem. Almost every sport on every college campus is dealing with these issues.

But lacrosse, with its heavy heart, can be the first to seriously try to clean up its act.

"People can't close their eyes anymore," Kaplan said. "They can't pretend it's not happening. I hope there will be more support on a state level and more specifically on each campus for mandatory, thorough education on gender-based violence."

What can you say but wow. We want to fix this problem by thorough education on gender based violience?? How about we fix people's hearts. Perhaps if they knew Christ and aspired unto a goal so much greater than drinking debauchery and hateful language, something greater than lacrosse, something greater than anything in the world; they wouldn't come to such a horrid end.

This kind of thinking is everywhere. It is easier for man to reform through education or using the old adage of "just try harder", than it is for him to admit he is so wrong and broken so that he might look for and receive something new, something that's not them anymore.

We see this even in our churches today: men reforming, men trying harder, men "being good". Salvation comes through grace by faith alone. There is no other way individuals, or colleges, can deal with the problems stemming from the fall of man and a sinful nature, than by placing them, guilty and lost, at cross of calvary. In the Church Age Book, Bro Branham tells us of how Comenius wrote long ago:

"What can help? Only the one thing needful, return to Christ, looking to Christ as the only Leader, and walking in His footsteps, setting aside all other ways until we all reach the goal, and have come to the unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:13). As the heavenly Master built everything on the ground of the Scriptures so should we leave all particularities of our special confessions and be satisfied with the revealed Word of God which belongs to us all. With the Bible in our hand we should cry: I believe what God has revealed in this Book; I will obediently keep His commands; I hope for that which He has promised. Christians, give ear! There is only one life, but Death comes to us in a thousand forms. There is only one Christ, but a thousand Antichrists... So thou knowest, O Christendom, what is the one thing needful. Either thou turnest back to Christ or thou goest to destruction like the Antichrist. If thou art wise and wilt live, follow the Leader of Life."

If thou are wise and wilt live, follow the Leader of Life!

101 Years Ago Today...

2010-04-06T12:10:00.008-04:00

I'm so thankful that on this day 101 years ago GOD sent a very special gift to the earth to restore back & reveal to us ALL the mysteries, (as promised by Matthew 17:11, Malachi 4:5&6, Revelation 10:7, etc).

Where would we be if HE hadn't sent us an Eliezer to show us Who JESUS really IS:

"Not a third person, or a second person, or a first person, but THE PERSON."

God bless you on this day and always,

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Attack On Christians In Nigeria

2010-03-08T10:57:00.008-05:00

More than two hundred have been reported dead, and over thirty injured in the attacks on the small town of Dogo Nahauwa, Nigeria last weekend.

"... a machete-wielding Muslim group attacked a mostly Christian town south of the city of Jos", reports CNN.com.

The attackers have been reported as being members of the Muslim Hausa-Fulani ethnic group.

Nigeria is the most heavily populated country in Africa (over 150 million people). The majority of this population is made up evenly between Christians and Muslims.

We don't know if there were any Message believers in the town where the attacks took place, but please pray for the families of the Christians who lost loved ones, or have been injured during these attacks.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

- Revelation 12:11

"... earthquakes, in divers places."

2010-03-08T10:43:00.004-05:00

An earthquake registering 5.9 in magnitude shook Istanbul, Turkey this morning.

Over fifty have been reported dead, and over seventy injured as a result of the quake.

There have been dozens of aftershocks as high as 5.5 in magnitude.

Geologists state that the quake happened near the place where two major fault lines connect.

"... earthquakes, in divers places."

St. Matthew 24:7b (KJV)

We have not received any reports of believers living in this area, but please pray for the families who have lost loved ones, and those who are injured, or have lost their homes due to this earthquake.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Brother John Stemen's Coronation Day

2010-03-04T23:33:00.003-05:00

Brother John Stemen went on to Glory today.

Please keep the Stemen family, and Brother Stemen's church in prayer during their time of loss.

For more details visit the 'House Of Fellowship' church web page link below:

House Of Fellowship Link

- Brother Nathan Bryant

THE PATH OF LIFE (62-0621B)

"Dwight Moody, you know what his testimony was, when he raised up, and said, "This is death?" Said, "This is my coronation day." That's the way I'd like to go."

"Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Same Blog - New Location

2010-03-03T10:20:00.006-05:00

Two Message Minister's Blog
has moved to a new domain

Please update your bookmarks to:

http://www.twomessageministers.com

Earthquake In Chile

2010-02-27T10:56:00.011-05:00

*

A massive 8.8 earthquake shook Chile this morning.

At least 723 deaths resulting from the effects earthquake have been reported. (Updated 03/01/10)

This has also triggered Tsunami warnings for the Pacific basin.

Chile continues to experience aftershocks (the highest one reported so far was 6.9).

Santiago has reported loss of electricity as well as running water and telephone service.

A bridge that connects northern and southern chile was damaged badly (leaving it inoperable).

Please keep the believers from Chile in your prayers during this tragedy.

Click here to read an update from Brother Jefte Quian (VGR Office Manager from Concepcion, Chile) (03/09/10)

Click here to donate to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti and/or Chile (03/18/10)

Praise the Lord for the report that Brother Jefte Quian (VGR Office Manager from Concepcion, Chile) and his family are alive and safe! Their house and their church were undamaged as well. (Updated 03/01/10)

God bless you,

- Brother Nathan

Prayer Request For Brother John Stemen

2010-02-24T14:30:00.004-05:00

Please pray for Brother John Stemen from Sarasota, FL (Pastor of 'House of Fellowship' in Myakka City, Florida).

Brother John was hospitalized on Sunday (February 21st) from complications caused by liver disease as well as the flu.

His health seems to be declining since then, so please continue to lift him up in prayer.

I don't know Brother John personally, but I know his son Brother Danny Stemen who is a wonderful brother, and fellow evangelist that God has used to strengthen and encourage the young people at many of the Message Youth Camps.

We know that God is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us". (Ephesians 3:20)

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Praise Report - Brother Lee Flemming

2010-02-24T14:18:00.007-05:00

Brother Lee was released from the hospital yesterday!

We were forwarded an e-mail that included the following testimony from Brother Lee's wife:

"Thank you all for your prayers and offers of help. It meant a lot to me in this difficult time. Praise the Lord for His mercy to us. The doctors were all amazed at Lee's recovery. They did not expect him to live much less make such a quick recovery. We kept giving the Lord the praise. We told the doctors we had lots of prayers going to the throne of God. And God heard and answered."

God heard and answered the prayers of faith.

Thank you for your prayers.

To God be the glory!

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Update On Brother Lee Flemming

2010-02-18T15:31:00.002-05:00

*

* PRAISE REPORT *

Brother Lee is doing well. He is awake and responsive (talking / etc).

He is off the ventilator & his shoulder surgery went well yesterday.

The X-rays of his lungs show improvement.

Prayer changes things!

Please continue to remember him in prayer for a continued and speedy recovery.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Prayer Request For Brother Lee Flemming

2010-02-16T10:09:00.007-05:00

A prayer request was e-mailed to us this morning for Brother Lee Flemming (a believer from Georgia) who was in a bad car accident on his way home from work yesterday.

Apparently Brother Lee was not feeling well at work so he left to go home, and was only a mile from his house when he passed out and rolled his car. Emergency workers had to cut Brother Lee our of the car.

Brother Lee is on a ventilator per our last reports, and has been going in and out of consciousness.

There is video footage of his vehicle after emergency teams arrived at the following FOX news link:

Fox News Link

The first time we visited the Fox News link there was an unoffensive Target advertisement (that is muted unless you choose to un-mute it) before the news clip played. If there is anything offensive when you visit the site please report it by commenting on the post or by e-mailing twomessageministers@gmail.com so we can remove the link.

Please lift him up in your prayers, and we will keep this post updated with any further news on his condition.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Schimpffs Confectionary

2010-01-28T13:15:00.005-05:00

Click the following link to read an honorable mention of Brother Branham on the Schimpffs Confectionary webpage.

Believers from around the world have visited Schimpff's to purchase the little jars of the red hots made famous by Brother Branham's reference to them, and the healing of Mr. Schimpff in the following quote:

LOOK AWAY TO JESUS JEFF, IN 63-1229E

And a fellow down here, Schimpff's Candy place. Is Mr. Schimpff here tonight? I'd like for him to tell it, if he is here. Sonny Schimpff, great healthy man. Many times when I used to...

I hate to say this, but it's the truth. Pop used to give me a dime if I worked all week, and I'd came to town and park my bicycle around at Brother Mike Egan's place, one of the trustees here. With Jimmy Poole, I think his son is here tonight; Jim and I, and Earnest Fisher, and we would go down town, and go to the picture show for a nickel, and we used to see the old still pictures. We was little kids, and wanted to, about eight, ten years old. We had that William S. Hart. Many of you guys don't remember him, the old actor. Still pictures; and I couldn't read. I'd just have to watch what was going on. And it would have to spell it all out, and I couldn't make it, but I'd watch what he was doing.

And I'd have an extra nickel. And how many remembers getting a penny ice cream cone? All right. I could get three ice cream cones, and two-pennies worth of red hots. I couldn't hold the ice cream cone, so I would eat them. And get me two-pennies worth of red hots, it would be almost a half a pound of them things. And Schimpff's made them. And I'd go in there, and sit back and watch William S. Hart.

And this young fellow, a little older than I, stricken down with a disease, that five noted specialists of Louisville passed him by, weighing about forty-five pounds, and was dying. Mrs. Morgan was nursing him. And he was in such a condition! He had so many things; his lungs was gone, his throat was gone. His little arms was just about that big around, and he was lying there, dying.

And Mrs. Morgan was hired to come on the job. So she said to him, "I was once the cancer patient," and began to tell him.

He said, "Who did you say, Billy Branham? Why," he said, "I've sold him a many a bunch of red hots and ice cream cones." He said, "Wonder if he'd come pray for me?" And I went over to pray for Junie Schimpff.

And now if you would like to talk to him, it's Schimpff's Candy down here, right next door, or second door from LeRose Theatre, down the street. Schimpff's Candy, all of you here know where that's at. My, it's one of the oldest establish in Jeffersonville.

And while lying there, dying, with five specialists giving him just hours to live. It was THUS SAITH THE LORD, "You'll not die; but you'll sell me again red hots, over the counter." Long...

I knowed he got well, but long had I forgotten that. And wife and I was going down to buy some candy, when we got here at Christmas. And how, I don't know, that we ever thought of Schimpff's. Cause, usually, go over here to some of these drugstores and pick it up, but we stopped in front of Schimpff's.

When I went in, his sister looked, and she said, "Well, Brother Branham." She said, "You remember Junie?"

I said, "Yes." And there, a great big, strong, healthy-looking fellow.

And I walked over to the counter, looked at it, looked down like this. I said, "I'll take a pound of those red hots."

And he said, "Yes, sir." So, his sister was waiting on my wife. And, so, he got them out.

And I said, "I used to eat them, a long time ago, over here in the picture show"; keep my head down.

And he said, "Yeah," said, "many of the kids buy that." "They still buy," I said.

He said, "My father made that, fixed up that formula." I said, "I really like them."

Now, after he got it all fixed out and hand it to me, said, "Is there anything else?"

And I said, "I don't know," and raised up. Oh, my! He said, "Brother Branham!"

I said, "Here is the red hots, that, I told you, 'THUS SAITH THE LORD,' about five years ago."

He said, "Brother Branham, I am so completely healed, there is not even one effect. I'm a tiny bit hard hearing in one ear." I guess he is in his fifties. He said, "I'm a tiny bit hard hearing in one ear, because they give me so much antibiotic when I was in there." Amazing grace of Jesus Christ!

HAITI - UPDATES

2010-01-18T19:08:00.011-05:00

For an update on the status of the believer's in Haiti please visit the following links:

VGR - Haiti Blog

VGR - Detailed Report From Haiti
VGR - Haiti Relief

VGR - Haiti Update II

VGR - Update On Haiti

As stated in the link shared above: "Brother Joseph has set up a separate fund for those who have the burden to financially contribute to the effort".

If you are financially able I am sure the believers who have lost their homes, and businesses in this earthquake (in a country that was already poverty-stricken) could desperately use any financial support you are able to give.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." - MATTHEW 25:40

Thank you for your continued prayers for the believer's (and other survivors) who are going through great turmoil from disaster caused by the recent earthquake in Haiti.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

Major Earthquake In Haiti

2010-01-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

*

Please keep the believers in Haiti in prayer as they have just had a major earthquake (7.0) 10 miles from Port-au-Prince (the biggest earthquake in recorded history for that area).

- Brother Nathan Bryant

(Posted From My iPhone)

The Color Of Your Status

2010-01-12T11:52:00.018-05:00

Recently on FaceBook there were a lot of status updates with nothing but a color. Many were ignorant to what the status updates were about, but followed suit and changed their status to a color as well. Others assumed it was a petition to vote on the color you wanted the background of FaceBook to be.

In reality it was a movement requesting you to raise awareness for breast cancer by putting the color of your undergarment as your status. Many of the sisters around the Message quickly participated by updating their status.

Have we lost that "God-given quality to safeguard our morals"?

Are we really that blind and ignorant to miss Satan's tactics?

We are living in the information age. Satan doesn't need you to actually stoop so low as to show someone your underneath garments to make them stumble when he can just have you describe it to them on FaceBook or in a text message.

I don't care what the cause is. The spirit behind this type of thing is wrong (period). That type of information does not need to be broadcasted publicly or privately to anyone but your husband.

Most women with any common sense have 'awareness' without you letting Satan use you as a tool to cause brothers to think about any part of your body.

Oh you're too spiritual to actually physically present yourself like that before men, but if you don't have enough common sense not to broadcast those things to the world maybe it's time to take another look at the spirit that's causing you to do that.

You may think this is harsh, or cruel, or brash, or flat. But if you have any spiritual wisdom at all you'll hopefully be able to realize it's the truth.

If you think I'm being rough, think about what the prophet of God would say about this type of thing? I'll actually share a few quotes with you below (that I hope you will take the time to read) to show you what sort of things he would have to say about something like this.

May we open our eyes and see that it's "The Same Devil Under A Different Name" causing you to present yourself indecently before men in new ways through the information age.

I hope we can humble ourselves enough to repent and ask God to open our eyes to see that it's the same devil changing his tactics enough to deceive us into thinking things like this aren't wrong, when the spirit behind it is exactly the same as from the beginning.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

THE GOD OF THIS EVIL AGE JEFF.IN 65-0801M
"Would God do that, make a world so pretty; look here, God making His daughters so pretty, and would dress them so sexy, that His sons would lust after them and would commit adultery? What? God do a thing like that?"

A BLUSHING PROPHET JEFF, IN 56-1125E
"Now, he didn't blush for the scarlet streak of the red light district. He didn't blush for the booze drinkers in the hell holes, although as bad as it may be. But he blushed because the sin of the elect. And what we need today is some more prophets with enough God in their hearts to blush in the Presence of God for the sins of the people who call themselves the people of God and doing the way they're doing. What a disgrace we've brought to this place. The morals of our people...
This is not a easy subject to speak on. I could think of many things that were easier to speak on. But, brother, if somebody don't stand out in this sinful, adulterous day that we live in and call the colors, what's going to happen? Somebody has got to speak the thing. Somebody's got to place it before the people. Perhaps Ezra didn't want to do it. But it was in his heart."

THE FALLING APART OF THE WORLD JEFF, IN62-1216
"It's hard to find a girl with enough modesty to blush. They've heard so many dirty jokes and filth, and, why, you couldn't say nothing to make them blush. When a few years ago, no more than when I was a boy, a little thing wrong, their face would color up, a little thing pass by, and another little girl's little underneath skirt was showing in school, and I was standing, talk, and when she looked over and seen this little girl's underneath skirt showing, her little face turned red, and she walked away from me, a sixteen year old girl. Why, what a... That's the God-given quality to safeguard our morals."

***

* This is 2MM's 100'th archived post *

Special thanks to all of our readers & may God richly bless you!

***

**Edit: We received the following comment in regards to this post, but it was posted accidentally on the post about Haiti (above) instead of this one. It reads:

"I understand where you coming from and don't discount what you have stated one bit. You asked what the prophet would say, I would like to ask, what would Jesus do? He went to prostitute, the woman at the well and those in need of a doctor. He reached out in a pure love to those the religious ppl of the day would not associate with. He didn't come for those who were well. My question to you is, did you respond in the type of love as Jesus? Did you pray for our sisters or just condemn them? Let us not be like the pharisees who would not associate with the ones that Jesus regularly ate with. "

Yes, Jesus reached out in love. To the prostitute he forgave and said "sin no more". To the Pharisees he loved them very harshly, calling out their sin. Let's not kid ourselves, God's love isn't all squishy ooshy gooshy. Jesus loved with a passion never before seen on earth, but He cannot abide sin.

I don't feel this post was a condemnation of those who participated as there was grace for those who didn't realize what they were doing. It was however a condemnation that the "innocent act" of displaying the color of your undergarments was and is sinful.

You then asked if we prayed for our sisters. Absolutely. Much prayer from myself and Bro Nathan, and other close associates we discussed this with. We were groaning and grieving that this was taking place within the ranks of believers who we felt ought to have known better.

As for being like Pharisees? We haven't unfriended or ignored any who we knew did this. We weren't trying to drive people into the ground. We were calling out sin. Telling people it was time to call a halt, wake up, and have some discernment on this dangerous place we call the internet.

God Bless,

Bro Trevor

In addition to what Brother Trevor has already commented; Love Is Corrective.

If your child runs out into the street, or onto the railroad tracks you don't spank them because it brings you joy do so (unless you are mentally or spiritually deranged). You correct them because you love your child, and you want to make sure they don't do this again because you know it puts their life in danger.

We had received some criticism from the post when it was initially posted on FaceBook claiming that we weren't doing as the Bible suggested (talking to the individual / taking two witnesses / bringing before the church / etc), but we were not condemning or naming individuals; we were crying out against the sinful spirit behind a group movement.

Like the example of correcting the children; we don't rebuke things like that because it makes us happy to have to do so. We do it because we love those people, and want to make sure their spiritual life (and the spiritual life of others) isn't put in danger by things like this that creep in subtly and deceive the people.

We always want to pray for others (regardless of what they've done) and extend the love of Christ to everyone (especially those that the 'religious people of the day' tend to disregard), but lets not forget just how corrective the love of Christ could be (especially to those who already claimed to be 'religious').

The Pharisees claimed to be very religious, but were making the commandments of God of no affect by their traditions (and Jesus told them so to their face).

John the Baptist called them snakes, Jesus said they were of their father the devil, and that they did his works. Jesus also plaited ropes and beat those who were trying to make the sacrifices at the House of God a commercial money-making scheme.

They didn't beat around the bush, and they didn't pull punches to appear politically correct. They cried out against sin (as real men of God and true Christians always have, and always will).

God is a good, and loving God, but He's not an old doting Grandpa that just lets His kids get by with anything.

God bless you,

- Brother Nathan

January 3rd, 2010 service - Liberty, KY

2010-01-05T11:37:00.004-05:00

Brother Nathan Bryant & his son Philip

(singing at the end of the service)

Brother Philip Bryant

(singing for the Lord)

Brother Nathan Bryant with his wife

(Sister Rebekah Bryant)

New Years 2010 Service - Sellersburg, IN

2010-01-02T13:35:00.005-05:00

Brother Nathan Bryant & his son Philip

(singing at the end of the service Friday night)

Brother Nathan Bryant & Brother Trevor Emond

(enjoying some food & fellowship after the service)

“That’s Nothing But The Truth”

2009-12-29T11:09:00.004-05:00

***

On Saturday, October 10th, 1959 Brother Branham was hunting in Salem, Indiana with Brother Banks Wood, and Brother Fred Sothman when St. Mark 11:23 came on his mind, and he was wondering how that could be applied.

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Something spoke to him and said, “That's in the atonement, for if a man or a woman is so consecrated and surrendered to God, that God just moves in and uses their voice, and it isn't the man speaking, it's God that's in him speaking.”

Then, “a reel deep, sweet anointing of the Holy Spirit” said, “Say what you will, and it shall be given unto you.”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“He didn't say, 'Pray,' He said, 'Say what you will.' Just say it, and your words will materialize’”.

There were no sick people there, he was just out in the woods hunting. What should he ask for?

The Voice spoke again, “Aren't you hunting? And you have no game?" Said, "Speak anything that you wish”.

Brother Branham spoke the exact trees, limbs, and snag that he wanted three red (fox) squirrels to come out on (all about fifty yards away from where he was because his gun was sighted in at that distance). Every time he spoke the specific location a squirrel would appear until he had shot all three and picked them up.

On Saturday, November 7th, 1959 Brother Branham was hunting in Kentucky with Brother Banks Wood, Brother Charlie Cox, and Brother Tony Zable. Something spoke to him and said, “How many squirrels do you want this morning?”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“I said, "I shall get three squirrels."

He said, "Where will they come from?"

I said, "One will come from that way, one from that way, and one back this a way." Make it radical. God don't care how radical that it seems. He's God of circumstance.”

He watched for a while, and about ninety yards away a gray squirrel jumped off of a stump. He shot it, and then turned to his left and saw another gray squirrel coming around a beech tree. He shot that one, and a third one came from the same direction. He tried to shoot it three different times and missed all three shots in a row. He had only missed five shots so far that year out of a hundred and fourteen!

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“And just then, it come to me. "You can't shoot that squirrel that way. He must come from that way." God's Word is perfect. Couldn't shoot him from the south; he's coming from the north. "Well, I said, "I will just turn around this way then and watch north till he comes.”

It was getting dark but something said, “Turn and go back towards the north. Your squirrel's there.”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“After while, I thought I seen a knot on the tree, way up there. So dark. I said, "Well, I will try that anyhow." And I shot. And when I did, a squirrel run around the tree and run down. I heard it hit the ground. I thought it jumped off. Same time that happened, about twenty feet from it, one run up a white oak. And I said, "He run down one and run up the other one. Now, surely, Lord, You won't let me miss him after I've already said under that anointing that this would be, and You're confirming my ministry. This will be six times that You've confirmed it to me." The number of man, six times. I said, "You won't let me miss him."

I looked all up and down the tree. And way up in there I thought I seen some leaves. I seen something moving in it. And I raised and shot. And the squirrel dropped to the ground, stone dead. Up the hill I went, rejoicing and happy. I went to the first tree over to my left, and there laid the squirrel. "Well," I said, "I know I got that one, but I wasn't sure of this one. I said, "Then, Lord, You give me one for good measure."

I goes over to find the other squirrel; he wasn't there. And I looked and I looked, and I searched under leaves, and raised up little pieces of chunk, and tore open an old log. And there wasn't but one log laying within thirty yards. And I tore it all to pieces, looked under the sides, and held my hands in the leaves and felt. There was no squirrel there nowhere.

On up, there's a big old snag on top of the hill. I went up to that little snag, and there's a little bitty hole. And I felt in there, and I thought I felt my squirrel raising up and down. When I was... I said, "Well, I can't get to him. So in the morning, I will bring the boys back and get it." I got to go tell them. And I went down to Brother Charlie. Stopped the hole up, went down to Brother Charlie and them, and told them.”

They left the woods, and went back to Brother Charlie Cox’s house for supper. After the meal Brother Charlie asked Brother Tony Zable to lead in prayer before they went to bed, and Brother Tony said in his prayer, “Lord God, let it be known to us that our brother's telling us the truth, that tomorrow he will find that squirrel in the stump.”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“And I went on. Something just drove me on. And I went walking up through the woods, hunting. I kept thinking, "What if that squirrel isn't in there." He gave me his hunting knife so I could cut a--the hole bigger to reach in and get it.

And Something said to me, "If it isn't there, or if it is in there, what makes a difference?"

I said, "He will... He wouldn't believe me. He prayed and said that, "If we find the squirrel, he will know that our brother has told us the truth."

And that great Anointing come, said, "Just say the squirrel will be up there, and you'll get him."

I thought, "Surely, Lord, surely. This will be seven times straight while this anointing's on me." I said, "Is that You?"

He said, "Say what you will!"

I said, "I shall find that squirrel." The Anointing left me.”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“God, being my solemn Judge with His Word here, and I'm a man of fifty years old, a preacher of the Gospel, standing in this pulpit, Something said, "Look under that little piece of bark."

I said, "Lord, I wouldn't doubt You for nothing." I walked over and picked up the bark, and there was no squirrel there. I thought, "I was..."

But just before I did it, Something said, "What if he isn't there?"

I said, "Oh, he will be there." And I picked it up and there was no squirrel there. I looked down with amazement. I saw a little bitty piece of gray sticking out from under a leaf. I pulled it up, and there laid the squirrel, making it just exactly right what He had said to do.”

Brother George Wright from Depauw, Indiana (a little less than four miles from Milltown, Indiana where Brother Branham pastored the Milltown Baptist Church) made the Communion wine for the Tabernacle. Brother Roy Roberson had called Brother Branham wanting to go with him to Brother Wright’s house to pick up the Communion wine.

They arrived at Brother Wright’s house early in the morning, and as Brother Banks Wood sat down beside Brother Branham at the table Sister Hattie Wright (Mosier) was sitting nearby listening quietly.

Brother Branham told the stories of how the squirrels had been spoken into existence to her two sons, Brother Banks Wood, Brother Shelby Wright, little, crippled Sister Edith Wright, and Brother and Sister George Wright.

Sister Hattie only made about two hundred dollars a year, and she had been telling Brother Branham how she tried to pledge fifty dollars to help build the new Tabernacle, but Brother Roberson would only let her give twenty.

Brother Branham had two ten dollar bills in his pocket that Sister Meda had given him to get groceries with, and as he was reaching in his pocket to give Sister Hattie the twenty dollars back; God spoke to his heart and said, “Don’t do it.” “God knew that was down the road for her.”

As Brother Branham finished telling the story; he compared it to there being a provided sacrifice for Abraham back in the wilderness, by saying, “Jehovah is still Jehovah-Jireh”.

Sister Hattie (not realizing how important, or how immortalized her words would be, nor how many multiplied thousands of believers around the world would hear them repeated) said; “That’s nothing but the truth”.

Five simple words. Simple childlike faith, but she said the right thing. God had already confirmed Brother Branham’s new ministry (of speaking the Word into existence) seven times by animals (six squirrels, and the place he would find one he had already shot).

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“And that super-anointing swept over me, said, "Tell Hattie that she's found grace in the sight of God." Who would've thought...? Said, "Tell her to ask whatever she will, then you speak it by this gift into existence. Whatever she asketh, speak it into existence."

I looked at Sister Hattie. The first time it was ever performed on a human being. I said, "Sister Hattie, ask what you will. God's going to give it to you.’

What do you think of that? Does it get in to you? Seven times He had confirmed it by an animal. Seven is God's complete number. Here's the first time on a human being. And He... What did He choose? Some great aristocrat? A great noted minister? A poor little widow woman that could hardly write her name. God knows what He's doing. Said, "Ask what you will.”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“Hattie looked around, all around. And she said, "Brother Bill, my greatest desire is for the salvation of my two boys."

What a... Why, there couldn't have been a greater thing. She could've asked for ten thousand dollars; she'd have got it. What if it'd been some millionaire, would have asked for another million. God knowed what she was going to ask for.”

MY NEW MINISTRY JEFF, IN 59-1115

“I said, "By the will of God, by the power of God, I give you, in the Name of Jesus Christ your desire." And her two boys shook under the power of God, and that whole building trembled. Banks fell into his plate. Shelby grabbed... And Hattie screamed till you could hear her for two blocks. And them two boys with tears rolling down their cheeks received exactly what they asked for right then.

Oh, the first time it was ever used on a human being. "Ask what you will, and it shall be given unto you." Her boys setting there with her this morning.”

Had Brother Branham come with the great, swelling words of a theologian; would people like Sister Hattie Wright (or you and I) have been attracted to his ministry?

I’m so thankful for a Prophet of God who yielded himself so much that God could speak through him, and bring us a Message in our own language, and in such a humble, simple way that simple people like ourselves could understand It.

“… the common people heard Him gladly.” – St. Mark 12:37b

The majority of the details provided in this story, and direct quotes (marked with quotations and italic font) were taken primarily from the sermon ‘My New Ministry’ preached in Jeffersonville, IN (59-1115).

Some additional details were provided from the sermons ‘Go Tell’ (61-0417M), and ‘Look Away To Jesus’ (63-1229E) which were both preached in Jeffersonville as well.

- Brother Nathan Bryant

***

Merry Christmas (2009)

2009-12-24T16:50:00.007-05:00

We want to wish a very Merry Christmas to each and every one of you.

As we approach the New Year may you never forget the Reason for the season, (“the greatest Gift that was ever given to mankind”)* our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God bless you richly during this Holiday Season, and always,

- Brother Nathan Bryant & Family

* 55-0117

He Will Be Missed

2009-12-16T11:47:00.007-05:00

***

For more on the passing of Brother Oral Roberts please visit the following link from www.branham.org

He Will Be Missed...

***

The Passing of "A Wonderful Man Of God"

2009-12-15T17:42:00.008-05:00

***

"Evangelist Oral Roberts Dies At 91"

(Click Here To Read The New Article on CNN.com)

TURNING NORTHWARD PHOENIX, AZ 61-0129

"And Brother Oral is certainly a masterpiece of God's in the pulpit. Wonderful man of God, a man of faith."

JESUS CHRIST THE SAME YESTERDAY TODAY AND FOREVER

MIDDLETOWN, OH 58-0323

"But you see, I can't be Oral Roberts although he's my bosom friend and a wonderful man of God. Yet I cannot be Oral Roberts; Oral Roberts cannot be William Branham. We both have a ministry. Oral Roberts is doing what God tells him to do. I'm doing what God tells me to do."