ALL NATIONS PRAY

The Saturday and Sunday services at The SCOAN , February 9-10, 2013, were attended by people with a passion for the presence of God from all over the world. The services were marked by the astounding healings and hard-hitting deliverances in Jesus’ name, sounding a strong spiritual wake up call to an unbelieving generation wallowing in the gloom of their circumstances and adding to the continual joy of those being saved. The Sunday programme anchored on prophecies to individuals as revealed by Prophet T.B. Joshua and the laying on of hands by the Wise Men, punctuated by glorious testimonies given by diverse people to attest to the touch of God in their lives.

During the Sunday service, Prophet T.B. Joshua addressed issues peculiar to different countries and people the world over, with many lessons of life to be gleaned from the experiences of individuals concerned and for the sharpening of the like precious faith. He had, in last weeks’ service, asked the congregants to bring to church small flags of their countries for special prayers. They had obeyed and his prayer centred specifically on the socio-political and economic travails in many countries of the world in contemporary times.

Prophet Joshua said that he carried, “the flags of all nations in my heart.” He said Emmanuel TV would rebroadcast the prayer so that people could connect to it and join him to pray for their own land and people. The flags are a symbol and for contact to the nations worldwide and that the congregation should return their flags to their personal altars hereafter for continued supplication.

The man of God mentioned some of the well known ills of society such as injustice, robbery, occultism, corruption, exploitation, child kidnapping and murder, shedding innocent blood, tribal conflicts and political misrule and mismanagement to clearly illustrate the reasons why there was need for prayer for the nations.

Using Jeremiah 1:10 as a proof text, he said representatives of each country had a duty to look up to God for solutions to their particular travails. He asked the believers and viewers all over the world a soul-searching question, “Everybody wants prosperity but how many are ready to do the work of prosperity?” adding that people needed to be honest and sincere in all they do in order to achieve God’s kind of success. His prayers for the nations took the form of a kind of confession. He asked the worshippers worldwide to take the points raised, one by one which were applicable to their nation and seek the Lord Jesus in broken-heartedness. “We are here today to confess all the sins and wrongs of the lands of our ancestors, leaders and the people. We plead for forgiveness and mercy in the name of Jesus.” The prophet prayed that the Lord should save the nations from destruction and judgement. He also prayed, “Lord Jesus, redeem our nations, lands, continents and countries of all the sins we confess and the ones we have not mentioned” – a reference to the body of evils and immoral conducts which he had already listed.

Prophet Joshua also prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ in humility and faith, declaring “I command all the forces of darkness hindering the move of God in our lands, be cast out, in Jesus’ name. We ask for Your deliverance and healing power on our countries.”

A summary of the spectacular testimonies given to glorify the Lord Jesus and admonish believers all over the world to remain steadfast to the hope they had been entrusted with, are as follows:

Mr Paul worked in an oil and gas industry. One day, an accident occurred and his leg was burnt with fire. They rushed him to the hospital and the doctors said they needed to amputate his leg. He explained the situation to his friend who came to the hospital with Anointing Water he had received from The SCOAN. After ministering the Anointing Water in Jesus’ name, his leg started to itch. Suddenly, two live maggots came out of his leg. He discovered that as the maggots left, the pain also stopped. The fire burns quickly began to heal and the doctor confirmed that he no longer needed an amputation. To God be the glory – He is the Repairer and Restorer!

Mr Moses, aged 27, came to The SCOAN in need of deliverance from a life of smoking, drinking and patronizing prostitutes. He had begun smoking at the young age of 7 years old. This had caused him severe chest pain and nightmares in which people came to beat him in his dreams. One day, a friend came to him with the Anointing Water, advising that he needed a change in his life. He encouraged Mr Moses by telling him that if he put his trust in Jesus Christ, God would wash away his sins and wipe the stain of guilt away from his life. With this belief in his heart, he prayed and ministered the Anointing Water, in Jesus’ name. After prayer, he slept. The next morning, he reached for his morning cigarette. To his surprise, the smell of the cigarette irritated him. He tried smoking but could not. It has now been over three months and he has not once smoked, had a drink of any alcohol or visited prostitutes. He gives glory to God and encourages the youth that no matter the lifestyle they have engaged in, Jesus Christ can set them free!

Mr Amos Augustine shared a fantastic testimony of how our God, Jesus Christ rescues, saves and delivers. He said that he always ministered the Anointing Water before going to work and carried the Anointing Water with him wherever he went. One morning, he was attacked by armed robbers. They were threatening his life and property. As the armed robbers collected his wallet, they began shouting that the wallet was burning their hands and threw the wallet back at him demanding that he should open the wallet! Mr Augustine then opened the wallet to see what had caused the fire burns and the Anointing Sticker fell out! Shocked, the armed robbers started shouting and ran off. Truly, God can use any medium to rescue His children!

Mr Peter, a soldier serving his country, Nigeria told his wonderful testimony of how Jesus Christ had healed him through the Anointing Water from a terrible liver problem. He was in terrible pain and discomfort as he had been diagnosed with liver enlargement which caused a swollen stomach. The problem was so severe that he was booked for an operation. Believing for a miracle, he received the Anointing Water and ministered it, in Jesus’ name. The next day, he began vomiting and black substances came out of his system. To his surprise, his stomach became normal! He went back to the doctor and was confirmed to be perfectly healthy. There was no trace of an enlarged liver. The astonished doctor asked him, “Which medication did you use?” Replying with a smile, Mr Peter responded that it was God’s doing through the Anointing Water. Glory to God! Speaking to the congregation, he said, “God has given me another opportunity. He has given me another chance. Doctors can treat; only Jesus can heal.”

In his own words, Mr Zira Yohana, an agent in the petroleum industry, was a “professional drunkard”. He said he could drink between five to six cartons of alcohol a day. For 17 years, he was inflicted with the severe problem of intoxication and lamented how he used to beat his wife after drinking alcohol. He also said that nobody could ‘out drink’ him when it came to alcohol. One day, he told his friend about his bad habit and his friend gave him the Anointing Water. After ministering the Anointing Water, the urge to drink alcohol left him completely. His life has been radically transformed and he is now an example to all. He advised everyone to seek forgiveness from God in order to stop their bad habits.

Mr Samson from Cameroon ran an organization that cared for widows and orphans. They occupied a building where their charitable activities were held. One day, they were reported to the authorities by a group of people who claimed they were inhabiting the building illegally. As a result of this report, everyone in the organization was arrested and put in prison. He appealed the court’s decision many times but his attempts to gain his freedom were to no avail. He knew that he had been imprisoned innocently. In prison, he had the opportunity to view Emmanuel TV. He began to watch it regularly and prayed along with Prophet T.B. Joshua. He repeated the prayer point of the man of God who stated that all who were imprisoned by contrary forces should be released, in Jesus’ name. Believing that his prayer had been answered, he sent another appeal to the magistrate for release. Three days later, the magistrate called him and gave him a letter of release! He says that if he had not been watching Emmanuel TV and joining the anointed prayer with Prophet T.B. Joshua, he would still be in prison today. He advised all who found themselves in desperate situations to look to Jesus Christ for their freedom and vindication. He is the freedom provider!

Mr Nnadozie was a chain smoker for 16 years. This caused him serious chest pain, heart burn and cough. He spent a fortune on cigarettes as he smoked 5 packs a day. He would go to church with cigarettes and excuse himself during the service to smoke. He would even go to the restroom with cigarettes! The day he resolved to give up, the urge actually increased and he smoked 10 packs! The problem became worse. When he came to The SCOAN, he was also carrying a packet of cigarettes with him. For some reason, however, he did not feel the urge to smoke throughout the entire service. He received the Anointing Water and ministered it, in Jesus’ name after the service. A moment later, he tried to light a cigarette but felt like acid was running down his throat. He started to vomit black substances and from that moment on, the urge to smoke disappeared! Thanking God for the wonderful miracle, he said that even the smell of smoke irritates him now. Surely there is nothing Jesus cannot do.

Pastor and Mrs Patrick shared their incredible testimony. Mrs Patricia Patrick had suffered not one but two ectopic pregnancies that had been very traumatic for her. In the course of this problem, she underwent an operation and both of her fallopian tubes were removed, making it medically impossible for her to conceive.  Still believing that God would show Himself strong in her seemingly hopeless situation, Pastor Patrick came to The SCOAN and received the Anointing Water. She prayed together with her husband, ministered the Anointing Water in Jesus’ name and the mother of miracles happened! After prayer, they met as husband and wife and Mrs Patrick became pregnant! They went to the hospital for a checkup and the doctors were amazed to find that both of the fallopian tubes had been totally restored!  Full of joy, Mrs Patrick told the viewers and congregation, “My advice to women who might have lost hope: The same God who restored my two tubes which were cut off, shall surely visit you, in Jesus’ name”.

Mr Joseph Genesis shared his testimony of God’s supernatural protection through the medium of the Anointing Water. He suddenly found himself caught in a surprise attack from armed robbers. Seven armed men descended on him and pulled out guns to kill him, not knowing that he was armed with a superior weapon! That morning, he had ministered the Anointing Water on his body before leaving his house. He stated that the power of God in the Anointing Water created a protective shield over him and due to the Anointing Water, the bullets that were fired on him could not enter him! The armed robbers could not believe their eyes. Filled with courage at the supernatural protection, Mr Joseph began to spray the Anointing Water towards the armed robbers and they ran away in defeat. Proudly showing himself to the world that he had escaped without a scratch, Mr Joseph said, “The Anointing Water is a bullet to the wicked, evil spirits!”

Chief Superintendant of Police John Mark, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Anambra, Nigeria came out to testify how God had touched the lives of police men in his division after he shared with them the Anointing Water he had received at The SCOAN. Two of his police officers accompanied him to The SCOAN to share their testimonies. Mr Sunday Idris, a policemen under CSP John Mark, had suffered from the embarrassing affliction of bedwetting for two years. When he received the Anointing Water, he prayed, believing that God would put an end to his suffering. After that prayer, he testified that that chain of affliction had been broken and bedwetting was a thing of the past in his life! Mr Phillip then came forward with his wife and twins, Emmanuel and Emmanuela to thank God for the miraculous release of their son Emmanuel after he was kidnapped. Armed robbers took the child and later called, demanding a ransom of N20million, an impossible amount of money for Mr Phillip to raise. The father ran straight to his DPO, John Mark. In response to the devastating news, Mr Mark gave him the Anointing Water and told him to minister it in faith, in Jesus’ name. One day after he ministered the Anointing Water in prayer, local police were given a tip off to the robber’s location. Emmanuel was recovered uninjured that very day and returned to his parents! A national Nigerian newspaper covered the story of the robber’s capture, terming Emmanuel’s release as ‘miraculous’!

Mrs Ogwe Juliet, a Nigerian living in Cameroon told the world of her amazing testimony of how the Anointing Water had saved her from an armed robbery operation while onboard a ship from Cameroon to Nigeria. When the ship alarm was raised, alerting that thieves were in their midst, Mrs Juliet quickly remembered the Anointing Water and sprayed it over herself, in Jesus’ name. The ship was in a state of confusion as the thieves were robbing everyone in the ship. Amazingly, Mrs Ogwe Juliet was left in peace as the armed robbers seemed not to even notice her. A man who was also present on the ship took his money out of his pockets and placed it on top of one of Prophet T.B. Joshua’s sermons which he had received from The SCOAN. He offered it to the armed robbers, saying, “Here is my money; take it” but the armed robbers refused to take his money! Speaking to the congregation and viewers, Mrs Ogwe Juliet said, “Don’t call it ordinary water; it is anointed. There is power in it – the power of God. The power of God is above all powers”.

Mr Azawei Alanuene, a university lecturer, gave his testimony of how God had taken him from a nobody to somebody. Eating from hand to mouth for 10 years, his life was a constant struggle but when he ministered the Anointing Water in Jesus’ name, his destiny turned around! After prayer, he was suddenly called by his supervisor and told that he had been granted a scholarship to further his research by studying a PhD in The University of Nottingham, UK. He travelled to the UK for the course, continued ministering the Anointing Water over himself and his coursework and conducted ground breaking research in his specialized area. To his surprise, he was selected to present the findings of his PhD research in an international conference in China.  Glory be to God!

Mr Waziri from Taraba, Nigeria was addicted to drinking alcohol for 17 years and could drink up to 14 bottles a day. He did not see the need or have the desire to stop but one day after watching Prophet T.B. Joshua on Emmanuel TV prophesying to a man about the very same drinking problem, he realized his need for freedom.  As Prophet T.B. Joshua prayed for the viewers, he stretched his hand and touched the screen in prayer. Instantly, the desire to drink left him and he was completely delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit. After that prayer, everything about his life was transformed. His health, business, marriage and joy were restored! Even his appearance changed as his once large belly, due to excessive drinking, shrunk back to normal. Advising those who are desperately in need of a solution, he quoted the words of Prophet T.B. Joshua, saying, “If you have run out of rope, it is time to grab onto faith!”  Hallelujah! There is no bad habit, addiction or negative lifestyle that cannot be broken, conquered and defeated by Jesus Christ!

All in all, we are reminded that the main thing about Christianity is not the work we do for God but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. Our work for God is a reflection of our relationship with Him. We should therefore, take time to develop our relationship with the Holy Spirit by daily reading our Bibles with devotion and making the Word of God the standard for our lives.

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FAITH IS NOT ROOTED IN INTELLECTUALISM – TB JOSHUA

Sunday Service 19.07.12

The Sunday Service started off with the prayer line attended by a significant number of people who were set free from their bondage after which Prophet T.B. Joshua preached on “Acting On The Word – Part 2”.

Preaching the Word of God

 

In the sermon, the man of God said, “We have exact knowledge, perfect knowledge and complete knowledge. That knowledge is in the Word when illumined by the Spirit. Our spirit acts upon the Word”. He also said “The problem of believing is made simple when we know that it is acting on what God has spoken”. He also emphasized on the fact that if we have all gifts without love, it is a wasted energy (1 John 5:13).

He added that faith is not rooted in intellectualism. It is purely a spiritual issue, rather than an intellectual agreement. Faith comes when the Word prevails over the thinking processing. We may be familiar with original Greek or Hebrew or the history of the Word, but it is all wasted energy if we do not practice it.

He stated that Scriptural prayer releases the power of God and to fill your prayers with the Scripture. If the Word dominates your spirit, it will influence your conduct and behaviour. In our ministry (The SCOAN), the Word has been a living and growing force. The mighty One (Jesus Christ) that is in us is taken out of the Word. As we begin to do the Word, God begins to act in us and through us.

 

 

PASTOR POSSESSED BY THE IDOL HE DESTROYED

Apostle Ekune Joseph sharing his testimony of complete deliverance

The video recording of the experiences of Apostle (Dr) Ekune Joseph was the first to be played.  Before his deliverance last week, the evil spirit had spoken through him in the church, to the effect that it had destroyed his ministry after he had burnt the village idol and shrine which had been revealed to him in a dream as the cause of their limitation. The evil spirit further stated it’s dislike of the Bible, and was angered by the pastor’s passion for delivering people; it also caused people to protest in the church and fight within themselves when the Word of God was being preached. The evil spirit also explained that it was because the name, Jesus, was an enemy, which sent fire into their kingdom. The evil spirit also confessed to being behind his wife’s barrenness for 12 years. His church lost many members due to the attack from the infuriated idol. In the midst of his trouble, he had watched Emmanuel TV and decided to visit The SCOAN for deliverance.

In his testimony, Apostle Joseph explained that after destroying the idol in his village with a group of fellow pastors and prayer warriors, he had a strange attack in his dream whereby he saw squirrels chasing him away from the village. Following this experience, his zeal for prayer and reading the Bible suddenly began to diminish. He explained that any time he opened his Bible to read, dizziness would come upon him to such an extent that he would often sleep off without actually studying the Scriptures.

Upon his return to his church, strange incidents began occurring during his services. Firstly, anytime he mounted the pulpit to preach, some form of commotion or argument would break out within the members, distracting the people present from listening to the message. As a result of these distractions and contentions, many members left his ministry and the church he had worked so hard in to build up began to crumble.

The grateful minister of God explained that after praying along with Prophet T.B. Joshua on Emmanuel TV, he had a remarkable dream where he saw the Prophet calling on him to come to The SCOAN. Honouring the Divine invitation, he came and received his mighty deliverance. To God be the glory!

HOW DEMONS FROM JUPITER ENTERED A PASTOR AFTER HIS 40 DAY FAST
Another video was also shown of Pastor Kenny Udeh’s deliverance in The SCOAN the previous week. He was invaded and possessed by seven spirits stating they were from the jungle on the planet, Jupiter after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights on a mountain in Enugu State. He had wanted to assist an old woman and her daughter to lift some wood after which they disappeared and he became confused. He later travelled to Dubai where he ran into an ugly situation which put him into prison. After release from prison, he returned to Nigeria to continue preaching through his ministry, Paraclete Ministries.

Pastor Kenny narrating his experience of demonic possession

After that, his wife was feeding him and his household was always under constant threat. The spirit spoke through him that over nine people in his family had been killed and that although the pastor was strong, he also was tempted to almost kill his wife with a bottle and knife.

Pastor Kenny came forward to share his experiences. He explained that, as a minister of God, he had read various books about how other men of God had gone into prolonged periods of fasting and prayer in their quest for more supernatural power. Yearning for the same power in his ministry, one day he decided to enter into a 40 day fast on a mountain. He was there alone and did not even inform his wife of his intentions before going to the mountain.

He explained that on the 39^th day of the fast, with his body both weak and frail, he saw an old woman suddenly appear on the mountain attempting to carry firewood. Helping the old woman to carry the fire wood, he gave it to her and returned back to his place of prayer. To his greatest surprise, upon looking back to see where the woman was, she had totally disappeared. He had just encountered an evil spirit! After returning from the mountain, Pastor Kenny explained how strange beings attacked him in his house the following night. From that point onwards, his ministry began spiralling steadily downwards. Frustration and stagnation became the order of the day

It came to the point where one day, he picked up a knife intent on stabbing his wife to death and ending his ministry in disgrace. However, before carrying out the devilish act, his daughter discovered him grasping the knife and pleaded with him to release it. Realising what the spirit was pushing him to do, Pastor Kenny resolved to visit The SCOAN, knowing that his case required spiritual intervention.

After attending The SCOAN service on Sunday, Pastor Kenny had a remarkable encounter in his dream. He found himself in a strange reddish land where demonic beings began introducing themselves to him, stating that they were from the planet Jupiter and their mission was to destroy him. In the midst of the encounter, he saw Prophet T.B. Joshua suddenly appear in their midst in a ray of light and strike him on the chest, calling on him to come. Waking up from the dream, it was the following day on Monday that he received his deliverance through prayer from Wise Man John Chi.

When probed, Pastor Kenny explained that during the prayer from Wise Man John Chi, he could actually see Prophet T.B. Joshua praying on his knees behind the Wise Man. This explained why the demons within Pastor Kenny had said they knew T.B. Joshua’s secret was hidden in Matthew 6:6 – “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

 

PROFESSOR HEALED OF GLAUCOMA THROUGH THE ANOINTING WATER

Professor healed of glaucoma

The second service, characteristically, was the wise men praying for the congregation in the church where deliverance and healing took place in the lives of thousands of people. The second service ended with mass prayer from the wise men.

Reverend Professor Ngochindo had experienced glaucoma for 10 years, and had ocular pressure which rose to 29. He explained that if it reached 30, he would have gone blind. He was to be operated upon in Port Harcourt, where he practices as a medical doctor. Having refused the option of operation, he visited The SCOAN. He went through the prayer line and was later given the Anointing Water; he believed a spiritual operation was done on him by the five Wise Men. His ocular pressure dropped from 29 to 22.2, back to regular levels. He advised the viewers that if doctors had faith, they could do many things without a knife in the operating theatre and that everyone should put God first.

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CALL OF GOD

Addressing the issue that goes through the minds of many, Prophet T.B. Joshua started the message by asking the age old question, ‘How do I know what my calling from God is?’ In answer to the question, the prophet explained that whatever you do through God, whatever He accepts you to do through Him – that is your calling. Raising the Holy Bible, he continued that the first step in knowing your calling is to get to know God better by reading His Word (Psalm 119:105). Referring to Romans 12:2, he said that when you let God transform you by the power of the Holy Spirit, He will literally begin to show you the way. Elaborating on the importance of God’s Word, he said that it is the tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit to nurture us and to furnish us with everything you need to succeed on earth. Giving practical advice on how to use the Word of God in everyday life, the prophet continued, “Talk Scripture in every conversation. You may be on the phone or in a business transaction. Use the Word of God to answer someone. The Word of God becomes your data base for your personal opinion.”
After the message, two women came forward to testify to the goodness of God for setting them free from strange addictions that had plagued their lives. One woman, Ruth Christian from Tanzania, having been freed from the bondage of eating uncooked rice in the name of Jesus, gave her testimony stating that since her deliverance, she no longer relished the taste of the uncooked rice. The second woman, delivered from an addiction to sniffing and drinking kerosene, testified that the smell of kerosene had become a revolting odour. Now, both of them are back to eating regular food and enjoying every bite.

Following the testimonies, Prophet T.B. Joshua introduced a group of people as they were ushered into the church auditorium – the beneficiaries of The SCOAN Scholarship Programme: the orphans, children of widows, physically challenged and others in need. Each term, the students come

The SCOAN Scholarship Scheme

The SCOAN Rice Store

Delivered Now Joined The SCOAN Scholarship Scheme

to collect their school fees so that they will be able to continue their education. The recipients of the scholarship programme were given a total of 5 million naira in scholarships along with bags of top quality rice to assist them while they are busy studying. Part of those receiving scholarship were two young men, Clever & Onitsha, who received deliverance from the spirit of stealing through a prophecy from the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua. It was discovered that due to the lack of parental care and financial means, they had to stop attending school and were living a wayward life to support themselves. To get them back on the right track and prepare them for the bright future ahead, they were given 200,000 naira each to continue their studies at university. This scholarship programme is just one of the ways that T.B. Joshua leads by example by demonstrating this guiding principle – we begin to succeed with our lives when the hurt and problems matter to us. After the recipients of The SCOAN Scholarship Programme received their school fees, they were escorted to The SCOAN Rice Store where tall stacks of rice had been prepared and the Emmanuel TV Team were positioned ready and waiting to give them their bags or rice.
A video of The Emmanuel TV Partners in Lahore, Pakistan was the next item on the agenda showing the beginning stages of a school being built. The Emmanuel TV Partners along with a pastor from Lahore joined together to make the plans for a seven room school on top of his church building. Once the plans were finished, the supplies necessary to complete the task were brought in to begin laying the foundation – brick by brick. They will continue building until every room is completed and then the students will resume classes and be on the path of a bright future, all because The Emmanuel TV Partners let love lead and looked around to see those in need.

The second service began with Wise Man Racine delivering an inspirational and encouraging message: Welcome To A Place Of Significance. Using the example of Peter, Wise Man Racine gave hope to those listening by saying that Peter’s wasted hours were redeemed and he came to a place of significance, a place that was lost for a period of time. Jesus made Peter the center of his own world. What God has designed you to achieve in His master plan determines your divine course and cause in life. Ending the message, Wise Man Racine spoke into their lives, saying, “As it was for Peter, so it shall be for you! There is indeed a promise of radical transformation for you.” To end the second service, T.B. Joshua and the Wise Men prayed for the congregation and viewers all around the world – encouraging them to exercise their faith and step out in boldness to possess their miracles – healing, salvation and all of God’s blessings.

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WHAT TB JOSHUA ACTUALLY SAID REGARDING AN AFRICAN HEAD OF STATE

There have been numerous reports flying round the internet and various news media in many African countries for the last few days about what Prophet TB Joshua said on Sunday 5th February about an African president. Different time-frames and false dates, including ‘2 months’ ’60 days’ ‘February 16th’ and ‘April 16th’ have been mentioned. This is to certify and clarify once and for all what Prophet TB Joshua actually said on that day.

Prophet TB Joshua DID NOT prophesy that an African president would die in 60 days or two months time. He DID NOT mention any specific date or time-frame.
DO NOT misquote him. DO NOT spread rumours and attribute them to Prophet TB Joshua. Prophet TB Joshua speaks forth only what he hears from God Almighty and it is not to be misquoted, mistreated or misused for one’s own benefit. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2).

PROPHECIES revealed by God Almighty through Prophet TB Joshua are broadcast LIVE on Emmanuel TV during the Sunday Live Services At The SCOAN.

IF YOU DIDN’T SEE IT FOR YOURSELF ON EMMANUEL TV, IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!

THIS is what Prophet TB Joshua prophesied regarding an African head of state:
“We should pray for one African head of state, president, against sickness that will likely take life. It is a sickness for a long time – being kept in the body for a long time. God showed me the country and the place but I’m not here to say anything like that. I am still praying to God to deliver the president concerned.”

He did not say more than that. He only said that we should pray for his life to be saved. He did not say that the prophecy was unchangeable. He did not give his name; he did not say when the leader would die; he did not say that the leader must die; he did not give the name of the country the leader was from. He only said that we should pray for him.

Please let people around you, your friends and colleagues and all who care to listen know what TB Joshua actually said. What a prophet says is not meant for speculation; it is rather a sober encouragement for us all to continue to give ourselves to prayer. We may know that we need God but we may not know how much we really need Him. 

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THE PRISON WAS MY HOME – Part 2

The story of the man who loved prison continues…

The First Incident
“I returned to UK for my graduation ceremony after completing my Masters. Immediately after I graduated with a first class in architecture, I tried to settle down in London and get a job. That was when this spirit first manifested. I was in my room when suddenly I lost control of my body. I found myself going into my neighbour’s house, opening the door with a different key and sitting down in the house there until the owner came in. When the man saw me in the house, he began to shout. He had to call the cops who immediately came to arrest me. When I came to my senses, I tried to explain but it wasn’t any good – what was I explaining when he locked his door and came back to find a stranger in the house. They took me to court and I was thrown behind bars, remanded into prison custody in London, UK.

“I spent one year and six months in a London prison. During my time there, they would come to interrogate me to know my ability. They brought psychologists to monitor me to know if what I did was normal or if there was something mentally wrong with me. They saw that my mind was okay and began questioning themselves – what actually made me do such things. I was the best behaved in the prison and the wardens soon made me the head of all the inmates in the prison. Because of that, they began to save some money for me and wrote many letters to the courts to tell them of my good behaviour. Eventually, I was called back and the case was struck out based on the report the wardens gave that I was the best behaved and that they had found nothing wrong with me. My auntie was informed and they handed me over to her. She put me on a plane and forcefully took me back to Nigeria.

The Spirit Strikes In Shell
“When I came back to Nigeria, I returned to my local community in Rivers State. I got engaged with a girl and we were married on the 12^th December 1999. But my marriage didn’t last because this spirit didn’t want anyone to come close to me. I had told her everything that happened to me and she really wanted to help me out. But the law was – if you tried to help me out, you lost your life for my sake. She tried and paid the price. I was working in Shell then in a good job as a supervisor but all of a sudden this thing happened again. One night, I went to the hidden room where they kept all the money to pay the workers at the end of the month and opened the door with an unknown key. It caused a riot as workers came in, stole the money and fled. I remained in the room while everyone ran away with the money. The security met me in the room sitting down with the money gone and began beating me. It was only in that moment that I regained consciousness but already it was too late. I was the only one caught and had to face the penalty because it was over N10 million that was stolen.

“Each time I was caught, I would be found with a bunch of keys that would incriminate me. Because once they show such evidence, there was nothing I would say to convince them. I had no lawyer to stand for me. My people were not there – everybody deserted me because of this, as the case was reported throughout the community. My wife could not do anything. So, I had to go back to prison again in Nigeria. Some months later my wife became very sick because of the trauma and disgrace, everybody talking about me and insulting her, telling her, “Your husband is a criminal, a thief”. I was in prison when she died and was buried. I didn’t know. I never knew what happened. She died of a heart attack – she was so depressed. Heartbreak killed her because she loved me so much and seeing all this shame upon her, she gave up. She was only 26 years old. That was how I lost her, though she bore me one son. My son does not know me because I have never been there for him at all. If he sees me for a day, the next week I will be back in prison. He never showed the love of an offspring for his father – he’s always with other people. Then, he was staying with my mother. The day of my wedding was the first day I knew my biological mother.

A Week On The Streets
“Whenever I came out from prison, I had nowhere to go. I had to go back to the streets – where the devil wanted me to be. You can imagine somebody that was living abroad now mingling with hoodlums and gangsters, sleeping outside in the streets and under the bridges of Lagos. I had to involve myself with some gangs and do what they did just to have something to eat. I took drugs and smoked weed and other stuff just to have shelter and try to continue my life.  But after just a week out of prison the spirit entered me and I was found sitting in someone’s house again, holding a key. When that spirit came upon me, I was not actually able to control myself. The thing controlled me; it overwhelmed me. Its powers were greater and it overwhelmed my body. It took control of my whole being. Whatever it had been sent to do, that’s what I did until I was caught in the act and beaten. Then it would go out of me and I would come back to my normal sense. By then it would be too late for me to explain because already I was caught in the act. So, I would receive a beating and would be sent back to prison innocently. That had been the story of my life for 15 years. I have been to prison eight times, each for a period of one year and six months. Each time the judge released me, within a week or month of being outside, I would find myself back there again.

Uncontrollable
“I could be in the midst of people, even talking and laughing with them when suddenly you would just see me jack up. Something would happen to me. I would be gone; I would not be there again. Even if you called me, I wouldn’t respond. I would go straight to where the spirit led me to. Even if you tapped me and asked, “Where are you going?” I wouldn’t respond. I would keep going until I was caught. I was not conscious of any of my actions in those moments. When that spirit came upon me, I would be totally controlled by it – I had no say of my own or power to resist it. It controlled me and took me to wherever it led me. I would just see myself moving in the particular direction that it led me to. I would see myself opening a door, going in and sitting down. And whenever that spirit took me, it would make sure that the owner of the building was already close so that within two to five minutes of my being in that house, the owner would come in.

“When he would see me and shout on me, I wouldn’t say a word. I would just look at him like a zombie. “What are you doing in my house!?” I would just look at him until he would begin to raise an alarm and people would come and beat me. That was when it would come out and I would regain my senses. Of course, by then he would not listen to whatever I tried to explain. I would start crying, “Please, help me. I don’t know how I came here.” But the more I cried, the more they beat and disgraced me. “You are a criminal. What kind of thug is this? How will you say you don’t know how you came in? Is that not the key you are holding?” And I was always caught with the key in my hand. I would just see myself picking keys and knowing how to open doors. I was very familiar with keys when the spirit came into me. If I was walking and I saw a key on the floor, I would see myself picking it up. So, before I knew it, I would be back at the station and from the station, back to prison again. I could be in the station for like three months – nobody would come to see me. I was just left alone.

Spiritual Attack
“Whenever I was in the police cell, I would become the head and would take care of the inmates there. They liked me because I was good-hearted. I bought disinfectant and made sure the place was clean and I befriended the police officers and asked them to get new blankets for us. When many of them were out on bail, they would come and buy things for me. But everyone refused to bail me out because they were scared. Anyone who tried to take me out would get himself in trouble again. All they wanted to do was buy things for me and encourage me to keep going. When I would be there for a couple of months, they would take me to the court. The court would look at me and say, “You again; the same case”. And the magistrate would ask, “What kind of attack is this?” He said that this thing was beyond human comprehension, that it’s spiritual. Because each time I came to the court, it would be the same case, the same occurrence, the same penalty. It was obvious that this thing was really spiritual. But due to the law, I had to go back to the prison because nobody was there to come and bail me out. So, I had to go back to the prison.

Notoriety In Society
“This thing really made me notorious and any time I was released from prison, people were scared of me. If anything happened where I was living, whether it’s me or not, they pointed fingers at me. Sometimes I would go to prison innocently for something I did not even know about. If a crime occurred some place near me, since I was around, they would say that it was me. And before I knew it, the police had come to take me. And there was no way I could say it was not me because I had other similar cases.

“Besides, I didn’t argue with them because I loved the prison. Whenever I was released, I would be scared. I didn’t even want to go. Each time the judge acquitted me, I would tell him that I really loved where I was staying, that there was no need for them take me out. I knew that once I was out, I would come back again in another week. The judge knew that there was really something wrong with me because a normal person would be happy to be released from prison but I was sad to be released from prison. I would even cry that I wanted to go back to the prison because I didn’t have a home outside. I was a stranger and outcast in my community.

At Home In Harsh Conditions
“Prison conditions in Nigeria are bad, very bad. The environment is foul and the water is dirty. The food we receive is beans and rice but the beans are half-cooked with a lot of insects and there is a lot of sand in the rice. I wouldn’t call it a meal – I call it disease. But yet, I still loved the prison because each time I would go there, it was the only home I had. Sometimes I could get clean water because I was friendly with the wardens. If you were being remanded in prison custody, you remained in your hall locked up all day; you didn’t do anything. If you were awaiting trial, you didn’t have any rights. Some people there had waited for eight or 10 years without being tried, especially robbers and murderers. Some spend their whole life without being tried. They do nothing – wasting precious time. A small hall contains a lot of people – 180 inmates in a small room in serious heat, stuck together like sardines. You don’t have any space. People will be choking.  We slept on the bare floor with no mattress.

“Whenever I came into prison, within a week I was always made the head of my hall because of my good behaviour and kindness. I was able to go to the prison wardens and ask for blankets to put on the floor because people were dying of infection. Sometimes when rain fell, it came straight to the hall and you would have to sleep in the water. Some sleep stood and had swollen legs because of standing all day and night. Some because of sleeping on the wet ground got pneumonia and died. With that, I had to create awareness to the wardens; that was one thing I did in the prison that everyone remembered me for. I was the one that brought about them bringing blankets into the prison to put on the floor. Because in a day, you could see six to seven people die before your eyes. If the person died in the night, you had to sleep with the dead body until morning. No matter how loudly you banged the door, nobody would come to open because they felt that maybe it was a set-up for you to escape. In the morning, they would come and drag the bodies out and take them to the mortuary. I’ve carried many bodies out of my cell. Sometimes you would be lying down and by the time you woke up, your neighbour would be dead. And many people had skin disease and infections because of the conditions. But in all my years in prison, this never happened to me. I didn’t have a single skin infection because then, it was my home.

Suicidal Tendencies
“Whenever I was released, the wardens knew that I was definitely going to come back. They would tell me, “Mr Brown, I know you are going out there but we will still welcome you back here”. And in one or two weeks, I would be back. I have been to prison eight times in life and wasted all my years – at least half of my life in the prison.  The aim of the spirit was to lead me to suicide. There were times in prison when I nearly took my life because I felt very rejected. I saw that people would visit even the worst criminals but me, nobody came to see me. Nobody even cared; nobody asked of me. It was so painful when you saw people coming to visit somebody that actually committed this crime but you that did not do it intentionally, nobody came to see you. I felt mentally disturbed. But whenever I felt like taking my life, something restrained me and my life would just go on like that.

Divine Arrangement
“The last time I came out of prison, I knew I needed somebody beside me. Because when this thing came on me, if somebody is around me, they could hold me down and bring me back to my senses.  So, I met this girl in my community and told her everything about myself. Most people refused to come close to me because of the shame but after hearing my story, she insisted and said she was going to help me. There was a day she was watching Emmanuel TV and she saw the case of a boy called Emmanuel who was delivered of a similar spirit of stealing. Whenever I was out of prison, I never liked watching Emmanuel TV because the spirit in me would not allow me to. Each time I tried to sit and watch Emmanuel TV, the spirit pushed me out to do something else. But when she saw this case, she literally sat on top of me and forced me to watch.

“As I was watching, I felt a strange sensation within me. I saw hope; I saw a way out. But there were still many problems that tried to stop me from coming. There was a battle going on. The day I finally came here, I knew that God was actually going to change me because the victory had already been won for me to even come in the first place. I knew that was the time God had assigned for me to change. When I came into the church, the first service finished and I said I would not stand up from my seat to even go and drink water or eat. I said that I must stay there until I got my deliverance because I knew here was my final bus-stop. Thank God that the man of God came and actually prophesied about my case. What he said that day astounds me, even up to his moment. He dislodged my problem, right from the root. While other men of God just cut the branches and in a couple of days they grew back, this man of God touched my life tremendously by uprooting my problem from the source. When you uproot something, it is dead finally.

The Name Above All Names
“I stayed in the church for that entire week and in the following service, I shared my experiences with the congregation. Then the man of God Prophet T.B. Joshua asked me to shout the name of Jesus Christ. I’ve never had such an experience in my whole life. It was so awesome! I had never seen such bright light in my life. When I shouted the name of Jesus, I saw this light hitting my face. It was like the light that shone on Paul’s face on the way to Damascus. The light was so awesome and great and mighty that I couldn’t stand it. It overwhelmed my entire being. Before I knew it, I was down on the floor. I knew that God was at work. When this light came into me, that’s when I knew I was free because I felt light. I felt relieved. I felt as if there was a rebirth of a new life. I was being reborn. It’s like my life actually began the day I saw the light. I started seeing the reality of life. I started seeing the sweetness of my future, which the devil would have deprived me of getting.

“Since then, life has been so beautiful to me. It’s the most wonderful thing that has happened to me. I’ve lived my life so freely. My heart is light. I don’t think about my past any more. The burden has gone. I now see my real self, my real potential, my real value. I now know who I am. And I have great peace – peace that nobody could give me. I can now truly say, if the Son of God has set you free, you are free indeed! Since then, people who have rejected me for years have been calling. “When do we come to embrace you?” My family and community that called me a black sheep, who didn’t want to identify or have anything to do with me are now calling me. It’s nothing but God’s hands.

Advice Born Of Experience
“From my experiences in prison, I would say at least 75% of inmates there have similar cases like me. What brought them into the prison, they don’t know about it. If you ask them, they say, “I don’t know what brought me; I don’t know what came into me’. If you begin to interview them and see their life, you see they have a very pure heart; they don’t have criminal tendencies but something really drives them to do such things. So, my advice to the authorities is that they should look at such cases when they are brought to court. Sometimes they bring folks that are innocent – and the devil makes them accept what they are not. They are actually being convicted for what they are not. If the people in higher authorities would look into it and begin to take cognisance of the spiritual element in this, it will help a lot of folks from going into prison innocently. Such people need deliverance from an anointed man of God, not a life wasted behind bars.

“Also, my advice to young people – there is nothing too hard for God to do. If God could change me, a rejected son, how much more them? God is still interested in them. And God can and will change them from their situation. It’s only their determination. Progress and success lies upon the platform of determination. Unless a man is determined to change, change cannot come to light. And that’s the only force that has brought me to this change – determination. I was determined; I was tired of my situation and that’s why I experienced this tremendous change.

Final Words
“One thing I really want to say – I have spent my whole life in the darkness, half of my life in prison. I never knew this tremendous light that has come to me. And now that I have embraced it, I don’t want to stop here. I want to give my whole life to it and serve God. Let the few days I have here on earth here be worthy of Him. And also to my family, to my son and my children, I want them to look unto a good father, a responsible father that they could point to and be proud of tomorrow, one that they will grow up and defend in the future. I want to erase the bad record and begin to allow God’s light to take over and make me what I am. I just thank God. I want to serve Him with all of my heart. That is the only thing that will give me joy and fulfil my destiny – by serving Him with all of my heart.”

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THE PRISON WAS MY HOME – Part 1

An intriguing interview that you won’t want to stop reading…

“I love the prison. Each time the judge acquits me, I will tell him that ‘I really love where I am staying – there is no need for you take me out.’ Because I know that once I am out, I will come back again in another week.”

Cursed into prison...

The tale of David Brown is mind-boggling. It’s an experience in life one can never forget – a cold reminder of the terrifying darkness that ensnares so many souls and a clear expression of the beauty of God’s grace and work. In this enlightening interview, Read Us brings to you the riveting story of a first class graduate from Kingston University, United Kingdom who went from being the rich heir-apparent of a powerful occultic lodge, to a homeless beggar who embraced the dirty prison cells of London and Lagos, calling them his only home.

 A Strange Background With Spiritual Ties
“I’m David Brown from Rivers State, Bonny Island. I’m an architect, a graduate of the University of Kingston, London. When my mother gave birth to me, my father denied me and said I was not his son. So I was taken from my mother’s hands when I was just a year and six months. I never knew my mother or father because I grew up with my auntie. I thought my auntie and her husband were my biological mother and father, so I called them mum and dad.

“My auntie is a great spiritualist. She has a big lodge in her compound in Lagos where people come to ‘fellowship’. They worship the sun and guardian angels – and they use the destinies of people for rituals. If any member there is about to die, they look for somebody to exchange their head with to keep them alive, or to give them money and wealth. My auntie has a lot of companies because she is very rich and is the head of the lodge. She brought the lodge from England down to Lagos. Whatever she says stays. Nobody challenges her authority.

Family Revelations
“When I was about 9-10 years old, I used to see a man come to the house each time we were on vacation. I kept asking my mum, as in my auntie, ‘Who is this man?’ She said, ‘Don’t worry – one day I will explain to you.’ Then one day she called him and me, and said, ‘Do you know this is your father?’ Since then I just hated him because he never showed any remorse for his actions. He never asked of me, showed me love or care – he just abandoned me as if I were not there. And now here was somebody coming from the blue to say he was my father. She started taking me to the house to get me acquainted with my father gradually, but still I never liked him because each time I went to their house, my stepmother would treat me as a slave, not a son.

 “My auntie didn’t have any biological son, so she wanted me to be her son and heir. What actually motivated her in accepting me to be her son was that I was very brilliant. Throughout my school, I was always first in class, right through to university. She had seen my destiny was so bright. So, she was training me to take over her position. They wanted me to take over the company and everything she was in charge of. They began showing me the pattern and secrets of the lodge, so that I could take over. But there was something in me that really revoked it and didn’t want that position.

Exposing The ‘Lodge’
“The lodge appears in the guise of helping people’s problems, but in reality, it is to destroy them. But only the real members know what happens there. They have a secret room called ‘the inner room’ where only members are allowed to go. Everyone gathers round in a circle and begins what they call ‘meditation’. You have to travel astrally to meet with other spirits in space. You communicate with these spirits and bring their messages down to people here on earth. My auntie was a medium to those spirits. She communicates with those spirits and they dialogue with her. When they give instructions, she conveys the instructions down from the spirit world to earth, and she speaks in a spiritual language – and there will be a recorder recording what she says. In the inner circle, there is a power embedded in you that you can understand other languages beyond human comprehension – spiritual languages. If you are not baptised to be among the inner circle, you cannot understand what the spirit beings say. I was among those who wrote her ‘revelations’ down. I would type them out, and send them to the people who wanted solution. Through this, we began to gain access to their spirits and manipulate them into doing whatever we wanted.

Astral Travel
“Our body remains here on earth and the spirit travels beyond the earth down to the galaxies and stars. There we meet celestial beings, and we have interactions with them and seek advice from them. If there is anybody who comes to us with a problem or who needs healing, we astrally travel down to the spirit world, where the spirits gather and they tell us things to do, ‘solutions’ to take back to earth. These messages are conveyed by my auntie, because she is the head of the lodge. They call her the queen of the lodge because she is the founder here in Nigeria. Nobody ever dares to counter what she says. Her words are final, because everybody is under her, and everybody that is under her is a slave to her. Be you big or small, whether you have all the wealth in the world – as long as you are in the lodge with her, you are under her – and you must seek advice or order from her before anything is done.

Subtle Manipulation
“We don’t collect money from the people who come for help, but we know what impact we have on them – because the more they come closer to us, the more they are weak in spirit and the more we draw their destiny and destroy them. Because she reads your star to know if you are intelligent – so we would only target and go into direct contact with people who are very intelligent, people whose futures are bright. These are the people we try to lure into it. You would begin to innocently interact with us, and soon everything you have that God has given to you will be taken out of you and be imparted into us. They become our slaves, subject to us – because now their spirit has been locked in a box.

“My auntie was the one who dictated to us, because she saw beyond the human. There is something they call spirit seeing – spirit eyes. She knows who you are and what you will become in future. If you come to our lodge, she will tell us, ‘This one is ripe, he’s okay for us. Follow up and make sure you lure him into being a member.’ And once you are a member of the inner circle, there is no turning back – you can’t go back to the world, you can’t expose what you are part of. If you want to make any attempt of exposing, it’s either your life goes or they begin to take your family one by one until it gets to your turn. They will just lure you into an accident. Naturally people will see someone has died in a mere accident, but spiritually something has been done to create such accident.

White Rituals
“We meet in a circle with six pointed stars. The chairs are white and you are only to wear white. Each time you see us wearing white in the inner circle, it means we have a killing to do. It’s either we are about to ruin somebody’s life – or impart somebody’s life into one of our members, to increase their stay here on earth. We do that to increase our life-span, as well as using it in subjecting you to become a slave, so that you won’t have any understanding, any knowledge or thought of querying our methods or asking questions. Whatever we say – you just obey. You are like a vehicle, a robot.

“Each person who comes to the lodge has their image tied in a box. If we want to do anything to you, it’s just to invoke your spirit in the night. We come and take your spirit to the image – and whatever we say to the image, that’s what you will do. You don’t have any atom of strength of your own, any say of your own – you act based on what we tell you.

Sold To The Devil
“Because of this, my auntie has no children. Her womb was sold to the devil; she gave her womb to the devil so there is no way she could bear children. There was something like a pot that they replaced her womb with in her stomach. It’s like a medium, an antenna that connects her to the spirit world, a strength that enables her to accommodate such powers. Because of that, she had to take me. They wanted me to become their own son. That’s why they started training me, because she told me that when her time comes, I will be the one to take over the lodge and all her companies in UK and other places around the world. But something in me really refused this offer. Each time I tried to take the crown, I was drawn back by something. I feel it’s just God – if not for God, I know I would not be here. I know it was God drawing me out from being crowned as a prince of that dark lodge, or let me call it ‘cult’.

A Messenger Of Initiation
“When I was schooling in UK, I became a messenger, initiating people into the lodge. The way I do it – if I see that you are weak in spirit, I begin to come closer to you. We begin to interact – the more you begin to respond to me, the more your spirit is being drawn down. By the time you know it, your spirit is in our coven – your body will be in UK, while your spirit is in the lodge in Lagos. And then she begins to control you and tell you what to do, and you begin to act according to what she says. That was the job I was doing. I was able to convert more than 30 people during my days in university.

“In university I became the president of the youths, because I was very brilliant. I didn’t acquire my knowledge from what we do – it is God-given. God has invested such knowledge in me because right from my youth, I came out on top of the class – from primary through to university. Anywhere I go, they want to make me the president of the students, to lead others. I used that opportunity to ensnare people. I was controlling about 385 students while in Kingston University; so I had the privilege of talking to people, and they would want to listen by virtue of my position. I would use enticing language to make you listen, while manipulating your spirit down to the coven here inLagos.

Cursed!
“There is a secret room in our compound where my auntie keeps all her valuables – and nobody dares enter, except me. I was the only one who could enter that room besides her, because of the training she was giving me. That is where she keeps all her charms and some spiritual things that are not supposed to be touched by physical hands, as well as her gold and jewellery. There was a time the security man in our compound in Lagos became friendly with me, although I never knew his evil intentions. He used to ask me to allow him into the house when my auntie was not around, and we watched television together. As we were talking one day, he asked where the key to that secret room was kept. I naively showed him, not knowing what he was planning to do. By the time we came back from our summer holiday in UK, my auntie saw somebody had tampered with the door. This guy had stolen all the valuables in that room and touched those things that were not supposed to be handled by ordinary hands, defiling them, making them worthless and useless.

“She became very furious and angry. It was like fire was coming out of her eyes. The thing that made her most angry was that she trusted me, she believed in me and I betrayed her trust by allowing a stranger into the house. In the secret lodge, there are laws that bind us and for anyone that goes contrary to the law, the penalty is death. But that death is not instant – they will push you to the point where you lead yourself into death gradually. Then she cursed me. She said that because I told a stranger where the key is, wherever I go, I will be a vagabond and roam around restlessly. She said I will be going to prison until I die, and I will always be caught with keys in my hands, and the prison will become my home all the days of my life until I hang myself and take my life.

Robbed Of Real Value
“Immediately she pronounced that curse, it took effect at that very moment. It was like some strange spirit came into me, and my real value went out. Everything I ever went to school for went out. It was lost. From that moment, I was being controlled by the spirit assigned to me – the spirit of death, the spirit of stealing, the spirit of robbery. And straight after that curse, my auntie disconnected herself from everything that had to do with me and threw me outside her house. Because my father was also a member of the inner circle, he refused to take me in. He was also scared of his life, because he knew that if he accepted me, he had gone against the law – and the penalty was death. So they pushed me out into the darkness, alone.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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‘MY INVISIBLE CHAIN’ – TB JOSHUA

Prophet Temitope Joshua of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, explains the source of his strength and vision, and his care for the aged and needy, to The Week team of Clement Okitikpi (MD), Oluwasegun Abifarin (Editor) and Emeka Ngwei.

 How did the ministry start?

Well, I want to start by saying that no one in the world is born with great knowledge. You become what you are; you discover what you know. But if I begin to tell you the genesis of the ministry, we won’t leave here today. Discovery is for forward lookers. So, no one is born with great knowledge.

TB Joshua

I was in a trance for three consecutive days, then I saw a hand that pointed a Bible to my heart and the Bible entered my heart and my former heart seemed to immerse with the Bible immediately. Then the awareness came and I saw the apostles and prophets of old with someone whose head I could not see because He was tall to the heaven and suspended, which I believe was our Lord Jesus Christ sitting in their midst. I also saw myself in their midst. After a while, I saw a hand of the same tall man, I could not behold His face, which was glittering with an unimaginable light, tall to the high heavens and suspended in the air. But other apostles I could see their faces, particularly Apostles Peter and Paul, Prophets Moses, Elijah and others. Their names were boldly written on their chests.

I heard a voice saying, “I am your God; I am giving you a divine commission to go and carry out the work of the Heavenly Father”. At the same time, the same hand of the tall man gave me a small cross and a big Bible, bigger than the one that entered my heart with a promise that as I keep pressing in His time and name, I would be given a bigger cross but if I fail the opposite would occur. I also heard a voice of the same tall man, I could not see His head, saying, I am the Lord your God who was and who is – Jesus Christ, giving orders to all the apostles and prophets. The same voice said to me, “I would show you the wonderful ways I would reveal myself through you, in teaching, preaching, miracles, signs and wonders for the salvation of souls”.

Since then, I have been receiving in my vision, every year according to my faithfulness to God, a bigger cross that means to me more responsibilities.

What was on your mind when you started the ministry?

That is one important area. For instance, I have been alone here (in the prayer mountain) for the last five hours. I dreamt of a place like this – a swampy area, neglected, where people or government will not dream of coming. I come here, sit here, read and meditate. Above all, I know that I am a product of grace, not the works of righteousness which I have done. I am weak; I am nobody, without formal education. What I want to say is that God has manifested His strength in my weakness. It can also be explained that I am like a dog without teeth. When you have a house and you keep without teeth as a guard, each time the enemy comes, it will bark and then the owner will come out to do the work.

Sometimes, your miracles look like magic…

When it comes to power, God Himself is the power. God often uses foolish things to confound the wise. That is why people like me will ever be grateful to God. In terms of knowledge, education and name, I am nowhere – a neglected stone. I think that is why the persecution was too much. Everything about me is nothing, nothing. But I think no man should boast.

When you were young, did you have any idea that you will one day go into pastoral work?

Then, when I was very young, one thing I knew then and that still happens to me now, is that there is an invisible chain, invisible padlock. What I want to touch, I can’t touch; what I want to say is not what I am saying. Where I want to go is not where I am going. What I want to wear is not what I am wearing. It is like there is a restriction. That has been my experience right form when I was young. That is why you will never find or see me accusing or condemning somebody. I have always restored anyone who has done any wrong in a gentle way, instead of condemning the fellow, because I know it is not by my power that I am doing the right thing.

An invisible padlock

So, I will say the work of righteousness is not my work; it is my faith in His work. The work of healing is not my work, but by faith, healing is done. The work of deliverance, great and mighty deliverance is not my work, but is my faith in Him. It is not the works of righteousness which I have done, but according to His grace. I am a product of His grace.

What’s the difference between Joshua as a person and Joshua as a prophet?

You have two natures in one person – the human and divine nature. Take our Lord Jesus for instance, for his human nature – he was a descendant of David, and for His divine nature – he was raised from the dead by the power of God.

As for TB Joshua, I am a descendant of my family in Arigidi-Akoko in Ondo State, Nigeria – but as for the divine nature, the power of God affects my life to give peace to people, deliverance to people and healing to people. Apart from the power of God, nobody would have noticed me or known where I am. So, it is the power of God that brings the difference, the challenges and an uncommon persecution. Uncommon blessing attracts uncommon persecution. Common blessing attracts common persecution. Uncommon progress attracts uncommon attacks.

Is the Ikotun Headquarters the only branch in Nigeria?

No, we have branches in Akure, Port Harcourt, Jos, Kogi and outside the country also. When you get to the church there, you will see at least 30 different countries represented. There are here to take the ministry back to their countries.

You are on satellite with Emmanuel TV, which is quite expensive. Where is the funding coming from?

Money. Something unbelievers can have should not be a problem to a child of God. Dubious and unrighteous people, they have money. How much more a man of God? So, what are you talking about? Unbelievers, they have money and throw it about. So, let’s talk about something unique. Money is not a unique thing. It is common. You see, everybody talking about money, money, money. Anybody can have money – but let’s talk of what anybody or everybody cannot have. Even the cathedral, anybody can have it. Even satan can build a big mansion; it is a question of money.

It is like you are a prophet without honour at home and among your people.

Even Jesus Christ was not popular among His people. Even till today among some Jews. We thank God for that, because if Jesus had been restricted to only His people in Palestine and Jersualem, how will people like you and me know about Christ and the Kingdom of God today, not to talk of preaching the gospel and becoming a pastor or prophet.

And even here in Nigeria, most of the popular pastors at home anchor their popularity at home on their fame abroad.

Are you also planning to go to the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road to establish a camp ground, as it is the fashion today?

Right from my youth, I have learnt not to go with the crowd. If we are in the same business of selling shoes for instance, if you are selling in Tejuosho (Yaba) market, I won’t go there. I will find another market to sell my own. That way, we are spreading. This swamp, which is our prayer mountain, is our camp.

When you also look at the missionary works outside the country, you will see all the men of God going to Europe and America. I have decided to face the Asian continent. That way, we are fulfilling the mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ to take the gospel to the end of the earth and make disciples of all nations.

What is the motivation for your help to the old and the aged?

My help is not only to the old people, but to the lonely, the weak and the poor in society. The Bible says charity and faith in Jesus Christ go together. When you say you have Jesus by faith, without the work of charity, it is nothing. This does not mean however that charity alone is enough to bring us to salvation, but it forms the basis for judging our level of kindness – because looking the other way when your brother is in trouble is equal to rejecting Christ Himself.

Supporting the aged ones

Then, going to the issue of aged people, in this part of our world, it seems it has become a crime to be old and aged. Even many of those who are well to do in our society, the will build a house and put their old and aged in the backyard, as if they are no more useful. But we want to tell the world that it is not a crime to be old and aged. It is time to show appreciation to God for using them to bring us into this world.

The time they cannot work again is the time we should take it upon ourselves to take care for them, like babies. The life they gave us when we were newly born, it is time to give them back now they are old. It is not the time we should isolate them, put them in isolation.

Rejection and isolation are also deadly and incurable diseases like AIDs. We are even praying for God to give us the grace to build a beautiful resort where we can bring them together and properly take care of them, give them medical attention and those who have not travelled before, we fly them outside the country for them to enjoy the best of pleasure, before they die.

For how long have you been planning this?

We have been on this for the past 10 years. It is not just now. These people have been lonely and isolated for a long time, and that has killed many of them. It is not just now that we jump into it, we have been showing that love that Christ gave to us.

I want to tell you that our position in Christ Jesus is enhanced each time we help our fellow brothers.

What has been the reaction of these people and their relations to the program?

Some of them – in fact, many of them, don’t even know me. They only see me on the television screen.

Apart from the aged, do you have programmes for other categories of the needy?

Yes, not only the aged – the Lord is also using us to cater for other categories of people. We have a program for the dwarfs and the destitute. We have also given scholarships to many university students. I don’t know any of these people, and we are not doing it to receive ‘thank-you’ from them.

How did you locate these people?

I believe many of them are not in Lagos. You people live in Lagos, and put your old people in the village.

People say you appear to them in their dream. Can you clarify this?

When I am not God… God can also use you. Don’t be surprised that people can dream and see you.  If God can use the pool of Bethesda, He can use anyone. He uses horses and camels. God can use anything. And I want to tell you that everyone is created with a gift, and each gift is meant to meet a need. It is your gift that God will use to bless others through you. So tomorrow, God can use you to appear to other people, and to pray for them.

How much is the church investing in this care of the aged project?

For the past nine years, we started the whole thing with about 1.5million but it has gradually gone up to N6million per month. But I must tell you, my brothers, that I don’t have enough to live a flamboyant life because of all these.  I even have some students that I gave scholarship to in Ghana, and many other universities in Nigeria.

A privilege to give

It is a rare privilege to do this. We may think we are helping them. No, we are not helping them. Our position in Christ Jesus is enhanced each time we help our fellow brothers. It is a real privilege to be in a position to give. This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 25:45, that whatsoever you do or fail to do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me. In other words, Jesus has no farm where He expects you to help Him or an office where he expects you to carry files. He said my farm and office are your fellow brothers.

A lot of churches are getting into the business of establishing universities. Are you thinking along that line?

What God has commissioned me to do here is to care for these people – the destitute, the needy and the poor. So that church here can have a theology school. That is all. I should not dabble into the issue of university. Theology, from primary school to university – that is my calling. I should not dabble into science or law. Anyone that wants to study law or science should go to University of Lagos!

SOURCE: The Week Magazine – Vol. 26 No. 26

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Should Nigeria’s President Appoint TB Joshua As An Official Advisor?

Check out this incredible article giving insight into the state of affairs in the nation Nigeria. The writer listened to what TB Joshua said in yesterday’s service and watched as the events unfolded accordingly. 

By Nosa Osazuwa

The nation of Nigeria was in a state of limbo, a standstill going into Sunday 15th January 2012, as talks between the Federal Government and labour unions in an attempt to come to a consensus on the issue of fuel subsidies and protests, ended in an unsatisfactory deadlock.

The discussions on Saturday evening which lasted for hours in order to resolve the petrol price crisis which had caused a nationwide strike for five days was inconclusive as both sides acknowledged that they had been unable to come to a place of compromise. Talks were postponed again ‘till Sunday night, leaving Nigerians unsure of what the coming week might hold – whether continued protests nationwide or a compromise from the president and the government, or something else.

TB Joshua

On Sunday morning, while Nigerians were worrying about what the outcome of the crisis might be, many still afraid to venture out of the safety of their homes, Pastor TB Joshua, of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos, addressed the issue directly during his sermon, broadcast live via his TV station, Emmanuel TV.

He said that Nigeria had prayed and hoped. But that one thing that was yet to be done was to apply love. He quoted, 1 Corinthians 13:13 – There are only 3 things – faith, hope and love. The greatest is love. “Since the greatest thing is love, we need to make the greatest sacrifice. Our president is the person who should make the greatest sacrifice. The other participants will follow”, TB Joshua asserted.

Addressing the nation, he said: “My message to the nation, to you Nigeria – is compromise. Love is compromise – to give chance for peace in the interests of the nation. To compromise means we must shift ground.”

He further said: “We should not give the impression of embarrassing the president and the other participants in the crisis. To achieve this easily, our president must rely more on politicians than on technocrats”.

Towards the end of his sermon, TB Joshua once again reassured his nation of Nigeria, saying:

“The nation Nigeria and people of Nigeria – the issue of the crisis, put it behind you. You say that you are not going on Monday, that you think you’ll be restricted. No. I think God is on top. God is in control.”

Later on Sunday night, the Nigerian government sent mixed messages. Many Nigerians sat glued to their television sets, awaiting a message from the president yet none came. Talks were postponed again and Nigerians went to bed unsure of what the morrow might bring forth.

The tables turned on Monday 16th January 2012, when early in the morning, the news was released nationwide that a consensus had been reached and an agreement had finally been made.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said in an address to the nation that petrol prices would be reduced to 97 naira a litre. That is a reduction of about 35 percent but it still remains higher than the 65 naira per litre Nigerians paid before the government ended the fuel subsidy at the beginning of the year. That is, he had come to a place of compromise.

“The Government will continue to pursue full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector. However, given the hardships being suffered by Nigerians, and after due consideration and consultations … the government has approved the reduction of the pump price of petrol,” said Goodluck Jonathan in a televised address Monday morning.

In response, labour unions promptly agreed to suspend mass protests to allow further negotiations with the government.

The questions that might spring to many minds are, was it all just a co-incidence or did the president listen to the counsel from TB Joshua and act according to it? Did TB Joshua send a message to the president, giving him God’s opinion on the crises at hand?

It doesn’t take Albert Einstein to see the connection between TB Joshua’s words and the action taken later that day by the President and the Federal Government.

TB Joshua is a renowned minister known world over, particularly for his prophetic ministry and his humanitarian services. Most recently, it was said that he had accurately predicted the street protests in Nigeria, stating in October 2011 that he could see people protesting from street to street, from state to state. He mentioned that the people that really make this economy work, the grassroots would soon be on the street and that the nation would come to a standstill as the big men would wonder how they could do the job by themselves.

One might ask, if the president and Nigerians had listened to this prophecy at the time it was given and sought advice on how to handle the crisis, we might not have lost the billions of naira that the catastrophe cost our nation. Perhaps our president should learn from the leaders and kings of old, who always sought God’s opinion from a prophet regarding the matters of the nation.

SOURCE http://www.zimeye.org/?p=44244

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TB JOSHUA – THE PROTESTS ARE OVER

On Sunday 15^th January 2012, at around 12pm, TB Joshua addressed the nation of Nigeria in his sermon, saying that the crisis and the restrictions are over. He said, “People of Nigeria – the issue of crisis, put it behind you. Some of you are worrying that you will not go out on Monday and that you will be restricted. No. God is on top of it. He is in control”. He said that there would be free movement on Monday and that the protests would be over as from Monday. He added that there would be a consensus between the government, labour leaders and civil society groups; they would agree to shift the ground.

He emphasised that the lesson we can learn from this is that in this world, anything can happen. He said: “What we have experienced last week, we have never experienced in this country. Therefore, in everything remember God. When you are eating, when you are sitting, remember God”.

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Is TB Joshua A Prophet Among Us? – The Times of Zambia

SOURCE: Times of Zambia – http://www.times.co.zm/news/

 THERE has been so much controversy surrounding Nigerian prophet TB Joshua, a man renowned world over yet most vilified over for his miracle healing services and predictions. The controversies have been raging ever since TB Joshua’s ministry stormed into the public domain bringing into question the legitimacy of his works. In talking about legitimacy, I am referring to the standards as set forth in the scriptures, which would help us, identify a genuine prophet. Who then is TB Joshua?

TB Joshua whose full names are Temitope Balogun Joshua was born on June 12, 1963, in a village called Arigidi, in Ikare Akoko, Ondo State of Nigeria. He is married to Evelyn and has four children. TB Joshua, the founder and pastor of The Synagogue Church Of All Nations is said to have sparked controversy starting with his mysterious birth. He allegedly remained in his mother’s womb for 15 months before he was born. He attended primary school at St Steven Anglican school from 1971-1977, but failed to complete one year of secondary school. But as he was growing up, he was known as a “small pastor” because of his love for the Bible and ability to predict things to come in his community. He further gained reputation for spiritual prowess after confronting and disarming a madman who was wielding a machete in the school premises. While in school he was the leader of a scripture union.

When Joshua started the Synagogue Church of All Nations in 1987, he just had a handful of members but since then the church has grown far beyond the shores of Nigeria. More than 15,000 members attend the weekly Sunday service. Numerous videos have been produced documenting the healing of incurable sickness, cancer, paralysis, AIDS, showing people’s conditions before, during and after prayer. Medical doctors have examined the patients before and after and have testified to a supernatural activity beyond medical science. TB Joshua does not even claim to be healer but says, “I am just God’s servant”.

TB Joshua has made phenomenal predictions in full view of a global audience on the satellite Christian Television, Emmanuel TV and all of them have come to pass. He predicted the death of president Levy Mwanawasa a month before it happened, the disastrous cyclone in Myanmar, the attempted assassination of the prime minister of Lesotho Pakalitha Mosisili, resignation of Pakistan president Pervez Musharaf, the comet slam into planet Jupiter which caused quite a fray in the scientific community and more recently the death of American pop star Michael Jackson.

On Michael Jackson’s death, the prophet was seen by a global audience via his television network saying, “I see a star being rushed to the hospital but he wont come back home, the whole world will be shocked. He is a great star in his world”. To add mystery to this prediction, TB Joshua sent a message through the pop star’s associates to let Michael come for prayer and deliverance in Nigeria. The associates thought the message a bit misplaced, because Michael was declared medically fit by his doctors and he was billed for a world concert tour beginning July 13. But alas! That was not to be, he died on June 25 before seeing Prophet TB Joshua.

Despite all these happenings Prophet TB Joshua has come under heavy attack from many, some of whom have labelled him a false prophet. And the debate about the authenticity of his ministry unfortunately has been orchestrated by a section of the clergy within the charismatic Pentecostal brand of Christendom. This has left many lay people unfamiliar with scriptures, let alone issues of Christian theology confused, as reverends or bishops are keener to criticise prophet TB Joshua than providing Biblical counsel.

Since the beaming of Emmanuel TV on free channel stations in most parts of Zambia, we have witnessed an unprecedented following of TB Joshua’s programmes.  As a result, emotive debates have emerged from the pulpits to the pews, between clergy and lay people. The man has arrived on the scene, should we dismiss him or his utterances as the ravings of a madman? How do we know for sure that we have a prophet among us?

This article is written on the assumption that the readers hold to the sacredness of the Bible as the inspired scriptures from whence we would draw our authority in judging a matter as heresy or sound doctrine. It is against this background that we seek to examine the ministry of this man, in the light of scriptures. There are fundamental rules in the scriptures, which must be used to judge whether something is of God, or not. In the absence of this knowledge, one would easily find themselves opposing God or abetting apostasy. To begin with, if one does not subscribe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, they will have nothing to do with this subject at hand because there would be no basis by which any meaningful discourse can rest upon.

But if we want to find out if he is a fraud as some are claiming, or a true servant of the Lord, we can only do so with the aid of scriptures. Let’s examine for example the standards used in the scriptures to test a prophet. Deuteronomy 18:20; “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death. You may say to yourselves, ‘how can we when a message has been spoken by the Lord? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, do not be afraid of him”.(New International Version)

The precise knowledge of the future according to this scripture, is a preserve of the Most High God, and only God can reveal detailed events to happen in the future to His servants. Therefore, if a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the events take place, then you need to pay heed lest you find yourself opposing the Holy Spirit.

In the book of 1 John 4:2 :“This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God; every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the anti-christ which you head is coming and even now is already in the world”. The authenticity of any ministry is tested by how they profess about who Jesus Christ is. From all accounts, TB Joshua proclaims Jesus Christ to have come in the flesh hence his motto “Emmanuel” which translates God with us. His messages and sermons lift Jesus as the Christ! And what more?

Signs and wonders are daily phenomena in his ministry, just the way it was as recorded in the book of Mark16:20: “then the disciples went and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by signs that accompanied it”.

TB Joshua’s humanitarian effort touches the needs of widows. The physically challenged and orphans have benefited in his educational support projects. Recently the federal President of Nigeria, Musa Yar’Adua, a Muslim himself awarded him with “Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic” in recognition of his humanitarian efforts. Anyone who is a true seeker of truth can know in the light of scriptures that for sure there is a prophet among us.

By BONIFACE MWANZA

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