Have you been to a Methodist church that imbibes the theology of the late Professor Mobolaji Idowu as this writer had done on two occasions? This was some years ago. One was in a marriage ceremony and the other in a burial ceremony. In the first Methodist church, the pastor commenced his sermon from a biblical text but took out a small book of IFA to buttress the word. For the rest of the sermon, he was heard quoting from Ifa chapter this and Ifa chapter that. The groom’s mother, not being a member of that church, became uneasy. She was heard murmuring that if she wanted Ifa to join her son with his wife, they would have rather gone to an Ifa shrine.

John A. Dowie

Dowie was the father of healing revivalism in America. He ministered in Chicago. In 1900, he purchased 6000 acres of land north of Chicago where he built the city of Zion; a paradise for the righteous.  Within two years some 10,000 people moved into the city which he ruled with an iron hand. Pride came in and he proclaimed himself the first apostle of the end time church and Elijah, the prophet to come.  After this self-appointment, he suffered a stroke on the platform and that was his last sermon; he never recovered. With the discovery of his financial recklessness, a revolt broke out in his church and he was expelled in 1906; a year later, he died.

William Marion Branham

This prophet had a unique ministry unequaled amongst many. He raised the dead several times and performed extraordinary miracles. Branham was preaching in a church and a halo of light appeared over his head which was picked up on a camera; this writer saw this photo brought to Nigeria in the 70s (after Branham’s death) Branham soon ran into trouble with his teachings. He openly believed in the “Jesus only” doctrine as opposed to the belief in the Trinity.

Branham Fumbled

He dived into error claiming that hell is forever but not eternal. (he insisted that forever differs from eternal) He preached that women were not God’s created product but a by-product of man. He claimed that even animals had higher rank species than women because they were created out of nothing. He called women the most easily deceived and deceitful beings on earth. He said that what Eve ate was not a fruit but she had sex with the serpent giving birth to Cain. He said that every woman now carries the literal seed of the devil. He said that every funeral going on in any street is caused by a woman.

Hence he believed that a woman should not be allowed to preach. Since the supernatural being, Cain, built great cities, every scientist and intellectual person who rejects the supernatural nature of the Gospel is from the seed of the serpent. He said that polygamy exists to punish the woman who is restrained to one husband only.

Professor Idowu

Professor Mobolaji Idowu, the late president and patriarch of the Methodist Church in Nigeria made an effort to create, according to him, a contextualized, indigenized, and decolonized African theology free of Western influence. He declared that for Christianity to survive in Africa it must relate to African Culture and Traditional Religion. Consequently, he formulated the principle of ORITA (a “Junction” in the Yoruba language) where he advocated for a joint meeting point of cooperation and worship of God by Christians, Muslims, and Traditional Worshippers under the same roof. This is unbiblical.

Late Dr. Byang H. Kato was the General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals of Africa and Madagascar. He wrote a book titled, “Theological Pitfalls in Africa”. The book is partly a critique of Idowu’s theology which was based on what he called Yoruba’s Monotheism (faith in one God)

Rudolf Bultmann

Bultmann was a German Lutheran dialectical theologian. He suggested that the THATNESS of Jesus (that he existed), not His WHATNESS (What he did) should be prioritized since they all virtually agreed that Jesus existed in history. He advocated demythologization of the Bible; for us to remove all miracles, signs, and wonders. If this is done, then the Bible becomes just another book of literature.

Lessons to learn as Christians

Brethren, a Nigerian proverb says “What the family calls sickness, outsiders see it as madness”. All these are a pointer to a very serious issue, the issue of a minister of God who is losing his mind. He may still be seeing visions and raising the dead but surely the evil one had stepped in due to his carelessness.

A great lesson here is that when a leader, a pastor, general overseer, or husband in the home suddenly develops a psychiatric problem, the subordinates must face the reality no matter his gifts; even if he is raising the dead. They must realize that he is sick.

Gordon Lindsay was one with an organization gift that God gave to Branham to help him. He helped prevent Branham from going into excesses. Branham became suspicious of him and Lindsay had to leave for his full-time ministry. Branham was now surrounded by yes-men who exploited his illiteracy and lack of deep knowledge of the word of God for their financial gain.

Four times Gordon Lindsay was sent by God to Branham to tell him that he was going to die because he never stayed in his prophetic ministry but created doctrinal confusion by going into teaching without being sound on the word. Lindsay was not allowed to see him.

The people surrounding Branham prevented this. When at last he slipped through, Branham’s reply to Lindsay was, ”I know I am not a teacher but I love to teach and I will teach”. A dog that refuses to listen to his owner’s whistle is finished.

Two years before this time, God had told Kenneth E. Hagin that He would take Branham from the scene because he disobeyed his call and created doctrinal confusion. When the news came in December 1965 that Branham was involved in an accident, Hagin got some ministers together to pray for him but the Lord stopped him, reminding him of His revelation two years earlier.

William Branham had a head-on collision in December 1965. His son Paul Billy Branham was driving in another car. Coming to his parents, he found his mother already dead. The father had been injured by the windscreen, sustaining some broken bones.

When he told him that his mother was dead, Branham requested Billy to lift his bloody hand and lay it on his mother; he did and she came back to life immediately. Today many believe that Branham was a false minister but I disagree. This man backslides and becomes sick in the head. Satan attacked him and made him say all that rubbish but God had to take him away. (God specifically said that He was calling him home; Branham did not go to hell)

Conclusion

It is painful when many Christians or ministers of God slip into errors about doctrinal practices. Many people may be misled about the way they describe or explain the Bible or interpret the standard of God. Everything should be based on the Biblical standard of God. I think we have learned from the errors of the ministers we have discussed above.  Always check the Bible; learn and know the truth. You can still

BEWARE FALSE MINISTERS BY ELDER SAMUEL OMOLE JULY 23, 2023.