How other men of God see TB Joshua

BY AYO ONIKOYI
Prophet TB Joshua of Synagogue Church of All
Nations is no stranger to controversies and
condemnations. Since his emergence as a man of
God to whom many run for deliverance, salvation
and miracles, the supposed man of God has had to
fight off other men of God who see him as nothing
but fake.
Perhaps, the most antagonistic among them all is
Reverend Chris Okotie of the Household of God who
once described the Prophet as the vicar of the devil
on earth. Okotie has no mixed feelings about T.B
Joshua. To him, the so-called man of God at
Synagogue Church of All Nations shouldn’t be
associated with because, according to him, he is in
partnership with Satan to subjugate the church to
the will of the devil.
Pastor Chris Okotie made a number of public
comments to Nigerian newspapers and other media
sources expressing displeasure that the respected
Pastor Chris Oyakilhome started fraternising with
TB Joshua.
In one of his media comments, Okotie alleged that
T.B. Joshua was a practitioner of an occult science
called Docetic Gnosticism and Cerinthian heresy.
Docetic Gnosticism, according to Wikipaedia was an
ancient Greek spiritual belief system during A.D. 70
through A.D. 100.This particular group asserted that
Jesus Christ did not rise physically from the grave
as foretold by the Old Testament prophets, eye-
witnessed by the apostles and recorded in
scripture. This teaching is the biblical definition of
false prophecy – the teaching that Christ did not
rise physically from the grave.
Cerinthus was a Greek heretic (A.D. 100) who
denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. According to
Cerinthus, Jesus Christ was not born of a virgin as
scripture plainly declares. Cerinthus also believed
that during the future millennial reign of Christ
inhabitants of the earth would be in bondage to
certain lust.
Okotie has also ascribed the acclaimed healing
power of TB Joshua to the practice of an ancient
Asian yoga-like sorcery called Shamanism, a
practice, according to Wikipeadia, that involves a
practitioner reaching altered states of
consciousness in order to encounter and interact
with the spirit world and channel these
transcendental energies into this world. A shaman
is a person regarded as having access to, and
influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent
spirits, who typically enters into a trance state
during a ritual, and practices divination and healing.
Evidences abound that worshipers at Synagogue
revere and and adulate the name of T.B Joshua by
calling him ‘Emmanuel’ (God with us). To this, Chris
Okotie stated emphatically: “‘He (T.B Joshua) has
three symbols of mysticism. The first is called “The
Head of Jesus Christ” or “Christ”. This is a
reference to the source of his power. That power is
invoked or acknowledged by the word, “Emmanuel.”
When “Emmanuel” is chanted, it energizes’ the
power. The scriptures say that the head of Christ is
God. So when Joshua ‘refers to that head, he is
speaking of himself as God Incarnate.’
At the height of the Joshua-Okotie-Oyakhilome
imbroglio, other Pentecostal pastors warned T.B
Joshua not to parade himself as a Pentecostal
preacher.
“He is an occultist,” says Anselm Modubuku, pastor
of the Revival Assembly Church in Lagos. “Joshua
claims he was born again in his mother’s womb. It
is tragic that Spirit-filled people are led astray by
him.”
“It is puzzling why Americans are drawn to him,”
said Ayo Oritsejafor, pastor of Word of Life Bible
Church in Warri and now President of Christian
Association of God, CAN. “Where and when did he
get saved? Who is his pastor? That is what I would
like to know.”
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, headed by
Bishop Mike Okonkwo, denounced Joshua as an
imposter in a statement. It said the group had for
years warned of “the dangers of infiltrators who
have modernized cultism by injecting the name of
Jesus Christ into their largely unbiblical practices. It
is necessary that we reiterate this position that the
Synagogue (of All Nations) falls into this category.”
All that notwithstanding, hundreds of thousands still
revere him. To those thousands who seek T.B
Joshua for spiritual help, the Okoties and Mike
Okonkwos of this world are entitled to their
opinions. To them, the man TB Joshua is a king
who is not recognised in his place. He is a true man
of God who heals the sick, delivers people from
spiritual attacks and is ever generous to the
indigent. His healing power is largely responsible
for the thousands who flock into his church
especially from abroad. Hence Joshua is more
recognised outside than in Nigeria.
My experience at Synagogue – Jacques
Pauw,South African journalist
A renowned South African investigative journalist,
Jacques Pauw writes on his experience at
Synagogue.
I was making a TV documentary and my challenge
to Joshua was straightforward: allow me to film
how you heal Basson (a 25 year old Springbok
rugby player who was dying of liver cancer and
went to Prophet T.B Joshua for healing). If you
succeed, I promise I will show it to the world.
When we arrived at Joshua’s compound, the TV
team and I were in effect incarcerated. For two
weeks, we were forbidden to leave the grounds.
We were told we could not drink or smoke, and had
to attend services and events with the pilgrims.
While I stayed in a dormitory with other pilgrims,
Basson and his mother set up camp in a private
room.
The church took away the young man’s morphine
and pain pills.
During our first interview, a softly spoken, affable
Joshua said it would be easy to heal Wium because
he had nothing but a “little sore” on his liver.
At Sunday sermons, the afflicted lined up with
placards stating what condition they needed healed.
There were lines of people seeking a cure for HIV/
Aids, cancer and heart conditions, business
failures, wandering spouses and dull brains.
A festive, almost joyous atmosphere filled the
compound as churchgoers sang, clapped and
danced. Evil spirits were cast out and those set
free by the Prophet writhed in the dirt while
vomiting out the demons. Joshua prayed for every
person in the line and declared them all healed. He
ordered them to stop using any medication and
trust in God. Among the pilgrims was Capetonian
John Rindel, who was suffering from full-blown
AIDS and already had dementia.
He had arrived at the church several weeks before
we did, was prayed for by Joshua and declared
completely healed.
He had stopped taking his medicine and showed
remarkable improvement.
Scientists refer to this as the “placebo effect” of
faith healing. A patient can experience genuine pain
relief and other symptomatic alleviation after being
prayed for. The relief is short-lived and the patient
soon returns to his original condition.
On my request, Rindel agreed to go for two
independent HIV/Aids tests when he returned to
South Africa. Both showed he was still positive. He
died a short while later.
The BBC recently investigated the London branch of
the church and reported that three women had died
after being “healed” and told to stop taking their
HIV/Aids medication.
I challenged the pilgrims to provide me with medical
proof that they had been healed. None did. Ruben
Kruger died in 2010 just before his 40th birthday.
TB Joshua is a true man of God, not an ordinary
person  —Journalist
Mr Oye Ogunwale worked in Vanguard as a sub
editor for more than a decade before he moved on.
He was very close to T.B Joshua and had this to
say about the man:
T.B Joshua is authentic. He is real. I can assure
you of that. He is a true man of God. Don’t mind
what Nigerians say about him. He performs
miracles. I know that some people claim that he is
not genuine because they were not healed by the
man.
It all depends on faith. Again, it also depends on the
sins the miracle seekers committed. Who knows
what they have done against humanity that God
may want them to go through more penance.
Joshua heals people, I can tell you authoritatively.
He heals HIV.
I know about 20 HIV victims that he has healed. If
you go there you will know that he heals about ten
of them in a week. I know of a top man in
government whom he delivered from HIV infection.
The man returned with a car as gift. T.B Joshua
asked him to take back the car, that he didn’t want
it. He only asked him to go, and sin no more. T.B
Joshua is like Obafemi Awolowo who was not
generally recognised as a great leader until he died.
Awo was never given his real value until he died.
Nigeria is like that. Look at Zik. He is another great
example. I was close to T.B Joshua for more than
10 years and I can attest to his genuineness as a
man of God. If he is not real foreigners will not be
going there. Many of his disciples are foreigners.
He heals people at the church there or he visits
them in their homes to heal them.”
The reporter, at this juncture cuts in to ask “so T.B
Joshua visits people in their homes to heal them?”
Oye Ogunwale responds this way: “Yes, he visits
them spiritually. He goes to their houses in spirit
and heals them.”
How would a sick man in his house know that TB
Joshua was the one that healed him”, the reporter
asked.
“He would know,” Ogunwale insists, his voice
rising. “He will see the man in his dream. And if it’s
surgery, for example, he may see spots of blood on
his bed or signs that healing has been done. The
sick person will know that healing has taken place.
T.B Joshua visits people spiritually and heals them.
The patient will see him in a dream. T.B Joshua is
not an ordinary man. He can also transfer power to
an ordinary person and that person will perform
healing. During healing hours, he may touch any
person in the congregation and tell that person to
come up and heal this man or that man and healing
will actually take place when that ordinary person
acts as he directs. It is amazing. Heads of States
go there.
The former President of Zambia who was always
going there said that Africa didn’t know what they
have in Joshua and that if T.B Joshua were a white
man the whole world will recognise him. He could
not believe his eyes when he saw how people were
being healed. T.B Joshua is not an ordinary man.
The only thing is that when you go there it may take
you days to see him. This, I attribute to the Nigerian
factor. When I was in Vanguard, one of the gate
men approached me one day and told me that his
wife was sick and everything indicated she had
cancer. He wanted me to help him with some
money.
I told him I didn’t have money but that I could take
him and his wife to a man who could help cure his
wife. They agreed and I took them to TB Joshua
and the woman was healed. An Army General from
Ghana once came on wheelchair and on the day of
healing he told him to get up and walk. The man got
up and staggered and the man of God touched him
with his leg and the he stood. Few seconds later he
was firm and even ran.
There was applause. The was paralysed from the
waist but he walked after T.B Joshu’s touch. T.B
Joshua is too much but Nigerians blackmail him a
lot. I’m a direct witness to all these things. During
service, he would ask witches and wizards to step
out and will ask them to reveal their powers. You
can’t believe the revelations that come from them
and the things that they have done in the past.
Unbelievable.
Then you will see him deliver them. He is a
powerful man. For a man of God to call somebody
from the audience, touch him and transfer power to
him and ask him to heal another person and it
happens, you should know that such a man is not
an ordinary man. And he is very generous. He heals
people and still gives them alms. Can you beat that?
That’s what I can tell you about T.B Joshua and
you can quote me.”