Why are "Christians" so stuck on denominations

[Minister Moore]

I enjoy service no matter what church I attend. However, I do keep in mind that some churches are are little more upbeat while some of them are a lot more calm. The major division that I have seen during the course of many visits is whether or not women should preach the Gospel and whether or not one must be Baptized in the name of Jesus only. I would really enjoy intelligent conversation without argumentation, because I truly believe that God does things decent and in order. So if you would like to talk with me about this, I welcome the discussion because one can always agree to disagree. I do not believe in arguing points of scripture because the Word of God is capable of speaking for itself. Lets talk!

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

235 Now look, as you know, I--I--I'm a rifleman. I--I like rifles. And some woman in Texas (I believe it's Texas.) bought me a Swift, a .220 Swift. I always wanted one; I wanted to, investigate it. It's the most powerful shooting little gun. It's a twenty-two bullet, forty-eight-grain bullet, and you can hand load that. Now, the factory says, "Don't do it: too dangerous." But you can hand load that bullet to five thousand feet per second and still hold it in its place. Five thousand feet per second, that's a mile a second. In other words, a hawk setting at two hundred yards, you can shoot the hawk and see the feathers fly before the gun ever kick you. See? That...
But you take the flat part of a toothpick and get into your powder, and pour that much more in there, just enough that you could hold it on a toothpick; and you can shoot at a groundhog setting at the end of this building here, and he'd just set and look at you. What's the matter? The bullet disintegrates; it's going so fast. And you can put a sheet between here and there, and you'll never even see one little fossil fall from the sheet. It just turns back, not to--to ashes, volcanic ashes; but it goes farther than that. It goes back to the original acids that makes copper and lead that's in there. It goes back like it was a hundred billion years ago. Now, here is a little bullet, forty-eight grains of bullet, I'm holding in my hand, and the next second it's turned back to what it was a hundred million years ago. And if the world would probably stand another hundred million years, it would be back a bullet again, could be brought right back, for he formed right into copper.

236 Now look what God did, and then you'll love Him, then you'll go home, and in the morning you sleep a little late and--and you--you'll love Him more than ever.
Now, God is a Contractor. How many knows that? He's a Builder. All right, listen real close. Now, God back yonder, they say... Now, we're going to take the chronologists idea of it. God, a hundred billion years ago, when He was going to make the world, well, He just started. Now He had... He got an idea in His mind.

237 Now, you're going to say, "If He's that great, Brother Branham, how did He ever permit the Devil to make sin?" Well, He knew before the Devil was ever created that he would be the Devil. Glory. Now I feel religious. Oh, my. He knew before the Devil was created that he would be the Devil. Now, you ask, "What about that?" You say, "Why did He let him be the Devil?" That He might be proven to be God. That's why He did it. Why was there ever unrighteous?

238 Why, which was first, a Saviour or a sinner? Which was first? A Saviour. Which was first, a Healer or a sick person? Why was there permitted to be a sinner? Because the attributes of Him is a Saviour. If there'd never been a sinner, He'd never been known as a Saviour. Hallelujah. He can make all things wind around to His glory. "Can the potter say to the..." Or, "Can the pot say to the potter, 'You made me thus'?" Who's on the wheel? Who's got the clay? Who's hands is it in? Paul said, "Oh, foolish man, didn't He say He raised Pharaoh up for this very purpose?" Certainly, He knew it before there was a world, He knowed who would be what. And He let there be sin that He might be a Saviour. He let there be sickness that He might be a Healer. He let there be hate that He might be love. Sure, He did. He's God, and that's His attributes, and He has to have something to display His attributes.
How would you ever know there was a night, how would you ever know there's any; if it was all daylight, how would you ever know there was night. There's a night so it could prove daylight. Sure, there is. Amen. You see what He did?

240 But when He was back yonder before the foundation of the world, before He took this old sun and He moved it around this old star that we're living on now, this earth, and He mold it over here by the sun, and laid it around the sun. Say, here's the sun. He molded it on this side and let her hang there for a hundred billion years. What was He making? Some gases. He moved around on this side; He made something else. What was He making there? Some potash. He moved around this way, and what was He doing here? Making some calcium. What was He doing? He was making you and me. What was He doing? Like the contractor laying out all of his two-by-fours, his two-by-eights, his sheeting, his siding; he knowed just how many buildings he was going to build. We're made out of sixteen elements of the earth, and He was making us all, and laying us out there before the world ever come into... And it--it might have been oblong at that time; I don't know what it was. What was He making gold, and copper, and brass, and water, and all those stuff for? He's a Contractor. He's may... He's a Builder; He was laying everything out there, had everything cut and fashioned. When He got it all made, it was just a great big volcanic eruption. He let them old volcanics brood up there for a hundred million years to make some calcium. What is it? It's part of you.

241 And then, before there was one speck of life on this earth, our bodies were laying here. Hallelujah. Before one drop of moisture ever come on the earth, we were laying here. When Adam walked up and down the garden of Eden, I was laying here. Amen. Yes, sir. Oh, glory. When the Cherubims, the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy, I was laying here just waiting for the breath of life to come. I was here. He made me here, had my body laying here. Yes, sir. It wasn't where you come from. My, how did it get here? God had it laying here. God made it. We're made out of sixteen elements, petroleum, potash and cosmic light, and whatmore. See, we were laying here.

242 Then what happened? Then God said to the Holy Ghost... We'll just take it in symbol form, "Now You go forth, and You go to making love to that world, because I'm Love and You're a product of Me, so now You go make love to the world." And the big Holy Ghost, we think, come out there, just in picture form now. It wasn't that way. 'Course the Holy Ghost and God is the selfsame, purpose same, self same purpose, Person. Pardon me. And just say He throwed His wings around the earth; He begin to brooding. What's that brooding? Like the hen to her chickens, cooing, making love, "cluck, cluck, cluck." Oh.

243 "O life, come forth." He screamed. He looked around. "I want beauty on this earth. Come forth, light." The Holy Ghost a-moving... And when He did, I look coming, there's creeking down the hill yonder, yonder comes some calcium pouring down, and mixes with potash. What's it folding into? "Life, come forth." And a little Easter flower stuck its head up from under a rock. "Come here, Father, look at that."
"That looks good; just keep on brooding." He brood out the flowers. He brought out all the vegetation. He brought out the animal life, and birds flew out of the dust. After while, up come a man and woman; up come a man, and the man was both man and woman, not no hermaphrodite now; just--just in him.

245 There was a feminish spirit. When you take a man that's so sissified, he may be all right, balanced up all right, but there's something wrong. And when you take a woman, wants to chop her hair and wear a pair of overalls, and get out there, "Bless God, I tell you," there's something wrong. A woman has the feminish spirit, and a man is masculine. We know that, and you know that. Does a woman look right that's trying to be, act like a man?

246 Why, I set one time, I was game warden here, and I set on the bus and went up there and was smacking that woman on the leg with my hand, talking to her, and I didn't know it was a woman. She had on one of these welder's caps and a big pair of goggles like that, and I was setting right back there, and she was telling something another about something done. She said, "You know," and she said, "and last night," just as rough looking as she could be, smoking a cigarette. She said, "Last night, I tell you, that fellow slipped up on top of that thing," and said, "my he come sliding down under there." Said, "I never laughed so much in my life."
And I was laughing, you know, like that. [Brother Branham makes a slapping sound--Ed.] I said, "Boy, that was one, wasn't it?" Setting there talking like that, and if she didn't take that thing off and shake her head, and she had a mop up there that she was a woman. I never felt so little in my life. I--I said, "Are you a woman?".
She said, "Why, sure."
I said, "Pardon me." I never seen such. Now, that--that's the truth.

249 I seen a sign the other day liked to thrilled me. It had a big sign up, said, "Ladies, ready to wear clothes." I thought, "Praise God for that." See? But come to find out, it was just some kind of a clothes they'd already made, you know. I--I thought they was really going to put on clothes. I really did. Said, "Ladies are ready to wear clothes." I said, "Praise God for them. That's good. That's right. I sure thank the Lord for that." But, see, it was just some kind of clothes they had already made, I... Something, had be something funny (Wouldn't it?), in this country? All right.

250 Then when Adam come up... And then Adam looked lonesome, so He taken a rib from his side and made Eve, a byproduct for him. And He made... He taken the feminish spirit out of Adam and put it in the woman, the love spirit, feminish, kind, gentle. And He left the masculine spirit in Adam. Now, if there's anything different, there's a perversion somewhere. Now, and then they two was one.

251 And so let's just take a little drama then before we close. Here comes, here it's Adam takes Eve by the arm and they walk out. I just love this story. And they walk out, you know, and Eve said, "Oh, darling, you mean you have..."
"Yes, I named that."
"Well, what do you call that?"
"That's called horse."
"Uh-huh. What's that?"
"That's cow."
"You named that?"
"Yeah. Uh-huh."
"What do you call that--that, them two setting there with their heads together?"
"That's lovebirds."
"Oh, I see. I see." And they go on like that. "And what's this over here?"
"I call that that, and this here."
And, "Oh, I see. Uh-huh, that's beautiful." And a lion roars, "What do you call that?"
"That's the lion."
"What's this?"
"The tiger."
And all like... "Oh, I see." Just like kittens, you know, and meowing around.

256 So after while she looks around, and she said, "Darling, look at there, the sun's going down, it's time to go to church." You know, there's just something about when the sun sets, you want to worship. If you don't go to church that night, you like to get in a room and read the Bible. How many likes to do that, gets off to yourself? See? It's just in a man to do that. You should do that. "Time to go to church."
Now, they never said, "Now, wait a minute now, now, Jones belongs to the Assemblies, and we belong to the..." No, it wasn't nothing like that then, so they just went up. They didn't have a church, a good seat to set on like that. They just went up under the great big cathedral of the woods and knelt down.

258 And that Halo was hanging yonder in the bushes. See? I can hear a Voice speak down and say, "Has My children enjoyed themselves upon the earth, the day that the Lord thy God has given thee?"
"Yea, Lord, we've enjoyed ourself today. Haven't we, darling?"
"Yes, yes, dear, we have." "Lord, we sure appreciate You. Now, I lay me down to sleep." See? And he lays his big arm out, and she lays down on his arm, and he lays the tiger down and the lion down, and everything down to sleep, so peaceful.
So God comes down and He brings down, oh, a bunch of Angels, Gabriel, His creation of heaven. So they come down and they tiptoe real easy into the bedroom (See?), look around. Gabriel said, "Come here, Father. Come here, look here. Here he is. Here, here lays Your children laying here."

262 How many in here ever went to the bedside, some of you mothers, you and dad together, and looked at the little boy and the little girl, and you just--just remind one another, "Don't--don't he look like you, this way and that way?" Did you ever do that? Why, many time I'd go and say to Meda, say about Joseph. She'd say, "Bill, he's got a high forehead like you."
"Yeah. But, Meda, he's got big eyes like you." Why? He's a part of our product; he's product of our--of our union.
Now, and Father said, can say this about this, said, "You know..."
And Gabriel said, "You know, he looks just like You." That's how God looks; look at yourself. That's how God looks, He looks like you. You're His offspring. How many knows that? See?

265 Now, watch. What's the lowest form of life we have? Frog. What's the highest form of life? Human. Certainly. And what is the highest form? It just kept coming from the lowest on up, from a frog to this and to that, and to the bird, and to, oh, so forth, just higher forms of life, until it come to the highest form it could come, then it was made in the image of God. There you are. And the woman was not made in the image of God, but in the image of man. See? Now, now, there they are. And God looks at her and said, "Yes, they look--they look lovely."

266 What--what was that, brother? They never had to die. That was just the first handful of calcium, the first potash, and everything started off like that. Isn't it beautiful? But sin come along and marred the picture. Now, is God... What did God permit it to do? Why did He permit it to be like we was talking about awhile ago? He permitted it so that He could prove that He was a Saviour. He done it. He let sickness happen so He could prove that He was a Healer. He let death happen to prove that He was life. See? He let all these bad things happen to prove that He was good, what He was. We'll...

267 You talk about singing the redemption story. Why, brother, when Jesus comes, this--this church will stand yonder on the rims of this earth and sing stories of redemption, when Angels will bow their head, not knowing what we're talking about. Why, they never was lost. They don't know what we've went through. We know what it means to be lost and be found. Oh, can we scream His praises? He's not a Saviour to them. They never needed any saving. He wasn't a Healer to them. No. Glory. He isn't--He isn't Life to them, certainly not; they never was dead in sin and trespasses. We were, then made alive. There we are. What will we say with our crowns off, "You're Reverend So-and-so"? Oh, no, no, no, no. All glory to Him. That's it. There you are. Then we'll tell the story how we overcome, we'll understand it better by and by.

268 Then there in that then... Then what happened? Did God then just say, "Well, I might as well just simply destroy all My potash and calcium, it's all ruined"? No, no, He knowed it was going to be that way. Now, now, if the Holy Spirit made me what I am, and I eat food and put it back in my body and build up to what I am now, I... Yet, I was made in form. Every picture that God saw before the foundation of the world mature--materializes. See? It come forth out of the woman, as He said it would. The next time it comes forth from God. It come that time by woman; it comes this time by Man. See? Comes that time by a sexual desire; it comes this time by a spoken Word of God? See?
And there, now, can't anything harm me. No, sir. There isn't nothing can harm us. Paul said, "There's neither things present, things come, sickness, death, nothing can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ." There isn't a thing can separate us.

270 As I've told a little story. I'm just about five hairs of being baldheaded completely. And I was combing those few here sometime ago, my wife said, "Billy, you're almost baldheaded."
I said, "But I haven't lost a one of them."
She said, "Where they at?"
I said, "Where was they 'fore I got them? See? Well, ever where they was before I got them..." Now, there was one time, a hundred years ago, these hairs wasn't here at all, but they were out here in the dust. Is that right? Then about fifty years ago, they begin to come on my head. They come from where? Out of the dust. And now they're returning back to where they was. Is that right? They was not, then they were, and now they are not. What is it? What made them what they are? God. There He is. He painted a picture, and that's the way I want him.

272 "O Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?" You may bury me one of these days from here. I don't know. But, brother, I'll not be dead. I tell you that. No, sir. Oh, we shall rise, hallelujah, we shall rise. On that resurrection morning when death's bars are broken, we shall rise, hallelujah, we shall rise. There's nothing can keep me from rising. There ain't enough devils in all hell can keep me from rising. There ain't enough nothing nowhere to keep me from rising. I have the promise of God; I have the Holy Spirit. I got Zoe, God's Eternal Life, resting in here. This old carcass come from there, and God's brood me out of the ground.

273 And if He Who brood, me out of the ground, when I become of age now, every time I hear a church bell, something would speak to me, a little bitty Voice. An Angel spoke from a bush, said, "Don't you never drink or smoke; I got a work for you to do. Don't defile your body or run around with women and things, you, I got something for you to do when you get older."
"Who are You? Who are You?"
"You'll know more about that later." After while, here He come, He hangs yonder at the baptism. He shows Himself. He declares Himself. He answers. I see Him standing yonder everywhere, on every hand.

275 How you going to, if He made me what I am without having any choice at all... I never went back there and say, "Now, Charlie Branham, you marry Ella Harvey, and bring forth me out of the earth." No, sir. I never had no choice of that. God did that. And if He made me what I am without a choice, how much more when that Holy Ghost goes to brooding over me and I say, "Yea, Lord, You're my Creator, and I love You and I accept You as my Saviour," how you going to hold me in the dust? Just can't do it, brother, just can't do it.

276 God never formed one piece of this calcium, or potash, or anything else, that'd ever be--be wasted. "All the Father has given Me before the foundation of the world, will come to Me." Whew. I feel like shouting right then. "All the Father has given Me will come to Me, and none of them shall be lost, but I'll raise it up again in the resurrection." I heard Him call, and I come to Him. How can they keep me in the dust of the earth? There ain't enough undertakers in the world to pat me in the face with a shovel, would ever keep me in the dust of the earth. I shall rise someday and stand in His likeness, washed in His Blood, born of His Spirit. Hallelujah. Have all your denominations you want to; I'll take Jesus. Amen.

277 An insurance man come to me, Wilbur Snyder, a good friend of mine. He said, "Billy, I want to sell you an insurance policy."
I said, "I already got it." (My wife looked around as if to say, "What are you lying for, boy?")
Said, "You got insurance?"
I said, "Yes, sir."
Said, "What company is it with? What is it?"
I said, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, oh, what a foretaste of glory Divine. Heir of salvation, purchased of God, borned of His Spirit, washed in His Blood."
He said, "That's good, Billy, but it won't put you in the graveyard."
But I said, "It'll get me out." Hallelujah. I ain't worried about getting there; it's getting out.

282 So I've got me insurance that tells me, "I bring all the Father has given Me, are Mine." I don't care what my daddy done, what my mama done, what anything was, "All the Father gives Me will come to Me, and no man can come 'less My Father draws him." Hallelujah. Why did He know them for? "I foreknown them before the foundation of the world. When I slayed the Lamb, I slayed him with Him." Amen. "I predestinated the Church." What's got predestination? The Church. How do you get in the Church? "By one Spirit we're all baptized into one Body." He knew before the foundation of the world that we would be there. And those who He foreknew, He has called. Those who He has called, He has justified. Those who He has justified, He's already glorified.

283 In God's Books He's done said He'll meet me right there. There ain't all devils out of hell can ever keep him anywhere else but keep him from coming right there, cause God has already said so, and that settles it. If a hundred billion years before the world was ever formed, the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy, before there was a foundation of the world (See?), before there was a foundation. And them Angels and everything was happy, shouting about it, before there was a foundation of the world, how is the Devil ever going to keep me in the dust of the earth? Just can't do it. You're right.

284 Let's see, now, this is democrat time I got over here. This is twenty minutes till eleven, that's only twenty minutes till ten. Is that right, Brother Wood? That's right, twenty minutes till ten. Everybody happy?


Oh, I feel like traveling on,
I feel like traveling on;
My heavenly home is bright and fair,
And I feel like traveling on.
Oh, I feel like traveling on,
I feel like traveling on,
My heavenly home is bright and fair,
And I feel like traveling on.
285 You like them old songs like that? There used to be an old one we used to sing about, something about "Grace and mercy found me, there the Morning Star shone. What is that, Sister Gertie? Let's see. How, what is it, Brother Neville? See, something, "Grace and mercy found me, there the Bright and Morning Star showed Its lines around me." Uh-huh, yeah. "In The Cross." Give us a chord on that, sister. That's "Near The Cross." Come up here.
Oh, I love these. How many likes them old inspired songs? You can have all your jump up-and-down boogie-woogie you want to. Give me this, here's where grace and mercy found me. That's it. All right, sing it now.


Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain,
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
[Brother Branham begins humming "Near The Cross"--Ed.] Oh, how beautiful. Think of it. What if there was no Saviour? What if we didn't have this Word? What if He hadn't called you? What if He hadn't have foreknew you, and you was out here in this rest of the world tonight? Do you love Him? Oh, my. Don't forget services in the morning now, at nine-thirty.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest...
287 Now, give us a chord on "Room At The Fountain." This good old song, "There's Room At The Fountain." How many knows it? "Room, room, yes, there is room, room at the Fountain." And when you do it now, real quietly, just reach over each side of you, shake hands with that brother. You know, there's room now for all Methodists; there's room for Baptists; there's room for the Pentecost. There's room for all of us now at the Fountain. How many knows the old song? Oh, sure you do. Some of you old timers now, this is a good old Kentucky song now.


Room, room, (Let's shake hands.), yes, there is room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee;
Room, room, yes, there is room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee.
Oh, room, room, there's plenty of room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee;
Oh, room, room, yes, there is room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee.
288 Now, I've got a little surprise for you. All the latest sermons, and the books, and everything will be on sale at the other end of the church next week at the meetings. The tapes and everything, and all in nice literature form... There'll be a table back there at the back in one of the rooms, and the literature, the latest sermons, and some of the nice writings that's went forth originally in new books, new editions, will all be set up in the--in the end of the building this next Wednesday night. And we're expecting a--a good time in the Lord. Come praying now. Now, call your sick and afflicted; write them a letter; get them in here, and we'll just... God will just move mightily. And we're here and know that He'll do it now.

289 And now I've went to everybody that I knowed of, have little something. If there's anything out of the way now, you remember, I told you a long time ago, we was going to get it straightened up. And I know that you know there's a different spirit here than what there was. See? See? See? That's right. Now, don't let it leave no more. I charge you before Jesus Christ; don't let it leave. Stay right here with it (See?), just keep everything ironed right down and move right on. You are brethren. It's never your brother or sister that does anything wrong; it's that spirit of the Devil gets in there. See, he goes to...?... And just feel sorry for the brother or the sister, and know it's Satan getting between. And if you have some feeling about it, you get that out of you right quick, you see, 'cause it'll canker you. Yes, it will, so stay away from it. Just remember.


There's room, room, plenty of room,
There's room (for the Methodists, room for the Baptists, room for the Presbyterian, there's room for all);
Room, room, yes, there is room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee.
290 How many remembers our old dismissing song, that, "Take the Name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe; it will joy and comfort give you, take It everywhere you go"? Wish you could stay with us, Brother Jeffreys, you and Sister Jeffreys, and the boys there, and all of them. And--and then, "At the Name of Jesus bowing, falling prostrate at His feet." Oh, my. "King of kings in heaven we'll crown Him, when our journey is complete. Take the Name of Jesus with you, take It as a Shield today. Oh, when temptation draws near, breathe that holy Name in prayer." Oh, I love that, that wonderful Name of Jesus. Now, let's stand up right now, while we sing now. All right.


Take the Name of Jesus with you,
Child of sorrow and of woe;
It will joy and comfort give you,
... O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of Heaven;
Precious Name, (O precious Name) O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of Heaven.
291 This is a little different now. Let's just bow our heads now, and real quietly let's raise up one hand, say:


At the Name of Jesus bowing,
Falling prostrate at His feet,
King of kings in Heaven we'll crown Him,
When our journey is complete.
Precious Name (precious Name), O how sweet! (O how sweet!)
Hope of earth and joy of Heaven;
Precious Name (Yes, precious Name), O how sweet! (O how sweet!)
Hope of earth and joy of Heaven.
With our heads continually bowed, we say...
[Brother Branham hums, "Take the Name of Jesus With You"--Ed.]

SOURCE: http://www.nathan.co.za/message.asp?sermonum=520


Blessings,

Bro. Germain

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