Reading a publication by Gordon Lindsay regarding William Branham's meetings, there are two things I find very odd:
1. Testimonies SubmittedNow that I think about it, seems like I remember WMB talking about testimonies from all over being sent in. This publication mentions two postal boxes for the healed to submit their testimonies.
If 'thousands were healed' as WMB claimed, where are these testimonies? Wouldn't you think they'd be on display for all to see at the headquarters in Jeffersonville? Or at least in a booklet somewhere that they could sell to make a buck or two? Where'd they all go?
Quote:
Concerning Testimonies Of Healing
It is very important for the individual who is healed to send in his testimony. Jesus remarked, concerning the ten lepers who were healed, that only one returned to give God the glory. (Luke 17:11-18.) Please write out your testimony and send it to the following address:
Branham Campaigns,
P.O. Box 3967, Tuscon, Ariz.
or
P.O. Box 325, Jeffersonville, Ind.
Gordon Lindsay - Divine Healing in the Branham Campaign
2. The Importance of Keeping One's HealingI find this very, very odd. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach this, but WMB and Lindsay claimed that the people had to 'keep their faith' or they'd 'lose their healing'. A scripture is twisted in this article to support this claim, but we never see Jesus telling the blind man that was healed, "Go forth and don't lose your faith that you can see ... or you'll be blind again." If you re-read that scripture in context, you'll find that it has nothing to do with healing, and teaches you to protect yourself from the devil before he bothers you.
Quote:
The Important Matter Of Keeping One's Healing
This last consideration brings us to the thought of whether it is possible to lose one's healing. This matter is really of tremendous importance, for we have already seen that Jesus plainly taught that it is possible for one to lose his healing. Almost every Christian will testify that after they were saved, glorious as their experience might have been, sooner or later the enemy was back to tempt and to even make them believe that they had not been saved. Likewise, as we have seen in the case of demon possession, the demon is back sooner or later to recover, if possible, what he has lost. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, if the individual will obey the Scriptures by resisting the enemy, the devil will leave, but if he gives in to him, Satan will rob him of his deliverence. James 4:7 declares, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." If when the enemy brings symptoms to us, tempting us to believe that the old affliction is to return upon us, we resist him and rebuke the thing, we shall find that our deliverance is complete.
We must let Christ and His Kingdom reign in our lives. The man in whom the demon was cast out, continued in his old way. He did not serve God or live for Him. Consequently, his disobedience was an invitation for the enemy to return. There are those who only attend church during a revival meeting. They are unfaithful in their service to God, and continue to indulge in a worldly life, partaking in questionable things on the devil's territory. Soon they may be back in the toils of the enemy again. Again, let us remember the words of Our Lord when He said, "Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."
There are, however, numbers of good Christians, conscientious people who evidently receive a gracious touch from the Lord, but for some reason or other do not seem to get a complete healing. To those who have had certain types of disease, special instructions need to be given. In the case of a cancer patient, the cancer is usually killed after prayer. Nevertheless, in some cases the cancer has yet to be eliminated from the body. Sometimes severe pain attends this elimination. If the person fails to understand this, he may fail to recognize his healing altogether. However, the person who stands firm in faith may expect complete deliverance.
In one of the Branham meetings, a lady had a serious cancer that was prayed for. Early the following morning she was visited with severe pains, and became fearful. At 5 a.m. in the morning she sought to obtain help by telephone, but was unable to secure proper connections. Shortly after, however, she passed the cancer from her body and the next day was up testifying to her healing.
What is true concerning the action of a dead cancer is similarly true with other growth afflictions. People who have had growths in their ears which caused deafness, often after hearing for a little time, suffer temporary deafness again while the growth disintegrates. The same things is true of cataract blindness. The cataracts which have been killed, during the period of drying up, may produce temporary blindness again. To all these we say, trust God and stand upon His promise for complete deliverance. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." (James 1:6-7.) But let us remember the words of Jesus in Mark 10:24: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them."
Gordon Lindsay - Divine Healing in the Branham Campaign
My question to this would be: Is it possible that these 'thousands that were healed' did not keep their faith, or were all of these submitted testimonies simply lost over time by the ones now running the show? Maybe they were "lent out and never returned," like the paper with the prophecies of 1933 supposedly is.
