My name is John Kennah. I was introduced to the teachings of William Branham and accepted them as the Message of the Hour in June 1980. I attended Tucson Tabernacle, where Pearry Green is pastor, from then until December 1989. I was a diligent student of the Message and preached it in Arizona prisons and local nursing homes. As I studied the Message in greater depth, I began to discover discrepancies and contradictions in Mr. Branham's teachings. The first discrepancy to catch my attention was in his teaching of the "Seventy Weeks of Daniel" where he offered several conflicting interpretations of Daniel chapter 9 in the course of his ministry (these are described at this Site in the section titled, "Controversial Teachings"). I occasionally sought the insight of the leadership at the Tabernacle for explanations of the apparent contradictions, but I never received any concrete answers. Their advice to me consisted of statements such as, "Just put your questions on the shelf and the Lord will reveal it to you in His time," or, "Just don't dwell on it. Lean not on your own understanding; just have faith that the Message is true." As time went on, I came across other disturbing discrepancies in the Message.

My doubts began to create a fear in me that I was "Serpent's Seed." I learned that some brothers and sisters at the Tabernacle were already calling me Serpent Seed behind my back because I had dared to question the prophet. I clung even tighter to the Message, ignoring my doubts! Finally, during a sermon in late 1989, Pearry Green criticized a man who indicated that William Branham could not have been legally hunting javelina at the time of the February 28, 1963 Cloud that appeared in the May 17, 1963 issue of LIFE magazine. The thought that Bro. Branham might have been hunting out of season so disturbed me that I began to research this claim myself. I contacted the Arizona Game and Fish Department to find out when javelina season was in 1963. I learned that javelina hunting season that year ran from March 1 through 10. I also began a study of everything that Bro. Branham had to say about the Cloud and this hunting trip. As a result, I discovered that Bro. Branham himself indicated that he did not go on this hunting trip until after March 4, 1963 (See or listen to his sermon, Absolute, preached on March 4, 1963. Compare this to his sermon, Trying to do God a Service Without it Being God’s Will, vol. 7, book 2, pages 8 and 9, preached November 27, 1965).

Indeed, William Branham did not go on this hunting trip until after the Cloud had come and gone! This was the last blow to my waning faith in the Message! The truth hit me hard. While praying earnestly about what to believe concerning the Message, I felt the Holy Spirit impress on my heart that the Bible is our guide to the Truth. I heard Him say (not audibly) that if I found some of Bro. Branham’s teachings to be inconsistent with the Bible, I was not obligated to accept them. The Bible would be my absolute. Once I recognized that I could question Bro. Branham's teachings without fear of the Lord’s condemnation, I began to recall the many questions I had about the Message, some of which I had long forgotten. I decided to give each of two prominent elders at the Tabernacle one last opportunity to address the discrepancies in the Message. They were unable to give me any satisfactory answers. One of these elders had several dreams which confirmed to him that Bro. Branham was a prophet. He scolded me for implying that his dreams may not have come from the Holy Spirit. I left Tucson Tabernacle and the Message in December 1989. I have since found a wonderful, Bible-based Christian church where I now worship.

Rewriting Message History

Wm. Branham’s oldest daughter, Rebekah Branham-Smith, would write an article in her magazine, Only Believe (see, "On the Road to Sunset", June 1992), in which she confirmed my findings but reinterpreted the Cloud as a sign predicting that a week later, seven angels would appear to him to commission him to preach the Seven Seals--based only on a single, misquoted statement Wm. Branham made in the sermon, "Come, Follow Me", in June 1963!

In 1993, Pearry Green did his part in rewriting Message history by publishing a revised edition of his book, The Acts of the Prophet, in which the only changes that were made were: 1) The removal of all statements in which he claimed the Cloud was formed while Wm. Branham was hunting javelina at Sunset Peak, and; 2) Inserting the new explanation that Rebekah Branham-Smith had introduced in her article.

As a result of this rewriting of Message history, a new generation of Message believers is emerging who is being told from the pulpit that Wm. Branham claimed that the Cloud actually appeared "a day or two" before he went hunting at Sunset. This in spite of the fact that he explicitly said in over a dozen sermons that it was formed at the very time he was hunting at Sunset Peak (See my article, What Was the Attraction On the Mountain, at this site). Furthermore, pastors in the Message are now saying that so-called critics like myself are the ones who really misunderstood what Wm. Branham said about the Cloud, even though it is they who were forced to reinterpret its appearance as a result of what those same critics were saying! The Bible has had its critics over the centuries, but archeological facts have always sustained the integrity of the Bible and proven the critics wrong time after time. That’s not what we see happening in the Message. Followers of the Message have found it necessary to change the long established Message teaching on the Cloud precisely because critics--not Message believers--have discovered the errors of Wm. Branham’s claims and made them public. I may be critical of Wm. Branham's claim to be a prophet and of the unbiblical aspects of his teachings, but I love the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible, and those who follow the Message of Wm. Branham. My desire is that they place their confidence not in those things which cannot be reconciled with the facts, but in the immutable Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which has never been disproved by its harshest critics!

Origin of the Cloud and the Message Believers’ Response

What caused this unusual Cloud formation over the Arizona desert on February 28, 1963? It is true that it was located about 26 miles in altitude. It is not true that clouds do not form this high. However, this cloud was not formed naturally or even supernaturally; it was man-made. During an investigation of the Cloud, Dr. James E. McDonald of the University of Arizona Institute of Atmospheric Physics learned that a series of test missiles were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the coast north of Los Angeles, California in 1963. Several of those launches left trails in the sky similar to the one that appeared in the May 17, 1963 issue of LIFE magazine. Trails at the altitude of the Cloud are not visible during daylight hours because the sky is too bright for them to be seen (just as stars are not visible during daylight hours). When the sky is dark, these clouds are so high that they remain illuminated by the sun which shines directly on them (just as the sun continues to shine on the moon after sunset). This was a rare phenomenon in 1963 because missile tests were uncommon. When the clouds formed by the rockets began appearing, the public did not know what caused them. The formation of such clouds is now relatively common. I have seen this awesome phenomenon on at least four occasions during the past 8 years here in Tucson because of our close proximity to Vandenberg AFB and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It is a fantastic sight to see a brightly-lit cloud in a dark sky.

Dr. McDonald concluded that the Cloud was the result of a test missile which was launched from Vandenberg AFB and detonated nearly directly overhead earlier in the day of February 28, 1963. The steady, high speed stratospheric wind carried the Cloud to where it was later discovered over Flagstaff, Arizona after sunset. Followers of the Message, however, continue to insist that there is no scientific explanation for the Cloud.

Recently, Message believers have attempted to suggest that Dr. McDonald really wasn’t sure what caused the formation of the Cloud based on a six page document he published in May 1963. In the course of his investigation of the Cloud, Dr. McDonald amassed a large volume of photographs and weather data pertaining to the Cloud. On May 31, 1963, he published this six paged paper which was titled, "Status of Investigation of the Northern Arizona Stratospheric Cloud of February 28, 1963". This report was not a final analysis of his investigation, but a progress report of what he had learned to date. However, Message believers misrepresent this report and refer to it as proof that Dr. McDonald was not convinced that the Cloud was formed by the Vandenberg rocket. On page 5 of the report, Dr. McDonald clearly stated, "... [I]t remains uncertain whether one may conclude that the Flagstaff cloud was due to the detonation at Vandenberg. It is necessary to seek still further cross-checks" (emphasis added). It is clear that in this report, Dr. McDonald had not finished his investigation nor had he drawn a final conclusion of what formed the Cloud. Some time after he wrote this paper, he became satisfied that the Cloud was the result of the rocket launched from Vandenberg. This mundane explanation for the Cloud caused him to loose all interest in publishing any further articles about it, and he spent the major part of his energies with his real passion, the investigation of UFO's, of which he was a firm believer. The Message believers’ claim that Dr. McDonald was not sure the Cloud was formed by the rocket at Vandenberg, particularly based on his progress report, is thus unfounded.

For those who are still inclined to believe that the Cloud was a supernatural sign sent to confirm Wm. Branham's Message, please consider the following:

1. Why didn’t Bro. Branham seem to know anything about the Cloud until Gene Norman brought the May 17, 1963 issue of LIFE magazine to his attention (approximately 3 months after his experience with the 7 angels and his preaching of the Seven Seals)?
2. Instead of appearing over Sunset Peak, why did the Cloud appear over Flagstaff, Arizona, which is 200 miles to the northwest?
3. Why have followers of the Message claimed for nearly 40 years that the Cloud appeared during Bro. Branham’s visit by the 7 angels while hunting despite evidence proving the contrary? Some are still erroneously publishing that Bro. Branham’s hunting trip coincided with the Cloud’s appearance on February 28, 1963.
4. If the Cloud was a sign that Bro. Branham would soon meet with the 7 angels as Rebekah Branham-Smith has said, why didn’t he know that, allowing his followers to believe that the angels formed it while he met them at Sunset on February 28, 1963? And why didn't anyone know of such a sign until long after the event it was supposed to have predicted had come to pass?
5. Why do followers of the Message continue to say that there is no scientific explanation for the Cloud?

When the facts are known, we find that there is no connection whatsoever between the Cloud’s appearance and Bro. Branham's hunting trip in Arizona. In fact, there is nothing in common between the Cloud formation and William Branham at all!

William Branham said that his Message was sent to correct longstanding doctrinal errors and to reveal the mysteries of the Bible, yet not even his followers can agree on what he taught. The truth is that Jesus Christ came, died on the cross to atone for our sins and rose again from the dead. When we repent and accept Him as our Lord and Savior by faith (not on the merits of our good works), He saves us by His Grace and lives in and through us. The Bible says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' " (Romans 10:9-13)

That is the Gospel that we are saved by! That is the True Message of the hour! There is no other requirement or message necessary for salvation. Thank you for your time in reading my testimony. I would be happy to hear from you if you would like to discuss these issues further. I pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in your walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

William Marrion Branham was a main figure of the healing revivals of the late 40's and 50's. Many believe that his was the most dramatic healing ministry of the revivals. His ministry and Church Order are a derivation of the Pentecostal movement. His followers believe he was a Major, or "Word" prophet. Mr. Branham's followers believe (based on his teachings, known as The Message) that he is the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5,6. Mr. Branham taught that the seven churches in Asia from the book of Revelation represent the history of the Christian Church in 7 specific segments or ages. William Branham implied that he was the angel (messenger) to the Laodicean Church Age.^* As such, his followers believe he was the 7th angel in Revelation 10:7, sounding (i.e., revealing) the mysteries of God that have been previously hidden to the Church.

Mr. Branham said that the Lord revealed to him that, as John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, Mr. Branham was sent in the spirit of Elijah to forerun His second coming. His Message was to restore the Word of God that had been twisted and manhandled through centuries of denominational Christianity. Emphasis is not placed on evangelizing the lost for Christ but on preparing the Bride for the second coming of Christ.

I host two discussion forums for those who would like to engage in conversation about William Branham and his Message. They are: