Ferrell-Davidians of Waco(complete story of Branch Davidians)(1993)

This is Vince Ferrel's amazing book The Davidians of Waco (1993) which tells the story behind the story of Branch Davidian religious group in a small American town of Waco that were involved in dramatic events when the whole compound was under siege of US government agents. In 1929 Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant and a Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath School teacher, claimed that he had a new message for the Church. It was submitted in the form of a book titled, The Shepherd's Rod, The 144,000, A Call for Reformation. His reform message was not accepted and was considered divisive by the leadership because it pointed out what he saw as their departures from basic church teachings and standards. As a result, he was disfellowshipped (excommunicated), along with others who embraced the message. In 1935 Houteff established his headquarters just outside of Waco, Texas. Until 1942 his movement was known as the Shepherd's Rod Seventh Day Adventists, but when Houteff found it necessary to formally organize for legal purposes, he named the association the "General Association of Davidian Seventh Day Adventists." The term "Davidian" reflects their belief in the restoration of the Davidic kingdom in Israel before Christ's second coming (advent) in the clouds of heaven. One of the Davidian tenets is the belief that the president of the church must be endowed with the Spirit of prophecy by which to bring increasing Bible truth to the movement. In 1981 Vernon Wayne Howell (later renamed David Koresh) connected himself with the group after being disfellowshipped (excommunicated) from the SDA church in Tyler, Texas, for moral reasons. Shortly after that time he said that he had a new message for the church and slowly gained leadership although he was rejected at first. Many wonder to this day how could he possibly take control of the minds and bodies of nearly 150 people and why did they let him do it. Preparing for prophetic (doomsday) events, he ordered the compound to assemble food and munitions to withstand an attack by the world. Later on as the events unfolded almost exactly as the group anticipated, the Waco raid by US government agents shocked America into forgetting for a day the twin towers blast of two days earlier. The Davidians of Waco tells the astounding story of this strange organization that took the minds many people and caused the US government to intervene in most brutal manner. 100 pages. A must read for everyone.