Meanwhile, I have been there.
This blog is in response to some very negative posts I found
online while researching about the synagogue earlier this year.
There are some particularly aggrieved individuals. One of
them is a Pastor Bill Randles from South Africa who is painstakingly and systematically
discrediting the SCOAN and in particular Prophet TB Joshua.
I wish to create venues where people who oppose the negative
views of these naysayers can come together
and share their thoughts. I judged this would be a step in the right direction. My first work is at www.destinyrestored.com. This is a chronicle of the exploits of our Lord Jesus Christ through The anointed man of God. Prophet TB Joshua and his wise-men.
I met with Prophet TB Joshua
at the Synagogue on Monday the 24th of September 2012. As far as demeanour
is concerned, what I saw in his eyes were compassion. compassion, and
compassion. So much that I forgot all the questions in my mind. How could someone so powerful be bothered to
attend to such amount of walking pains, live in the midst of these pains - not living in the affluent part of the city, as
well as function still in the midst of these pains, it is daunting. What I meant by pains is that for someone who
sees both sides, physical and spiritual. The milling throng of people, each one
representing a pain or many pains, yet, after decades of treating these pains,
he does still have so much compassion in him. It is beyond comprehension. As
such, it bothers me greatly, when I read the post as in these links. Knowing that
I am as well one of those bent on finding some relieve could easily have
been dissuaded from even making the attempt to go to the Synagogue by the like of people who created these posts.
I must admit, when the flight I took home landed in Lagos, this is after more than a decade of sojourn in Europe, my soul wept on seeing the hopelessness in the eyes of the people. So much possibilities, so little efficient use of these possibilities. So much pains wherever I look. I wish the people who created these Blogs would visit Nigeria, or other parts of Africa, where living is such a struggle, maybe then they can begin to comprehend the tasks that the like of Prophet T B Joshua faces. What he represent to people who are in pains. Just as the messiah said in Mark 2:17.
Not that I am judging them. I am not in a position to judge,
only that I wish to present to the world what I saw, what I felt, when I met
Prophet T B Joshua. I wish to present
this in a way that my readers will have no doubt in their mind that he is what
he professes to be; A servant of The Most High God. Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I
wish to encourage them, those that will eventually read my post to make a dash
for freedom from oppression, to visit the Synagogue like I did. That is, in spite of what the nay sayers have to say..
My Father is 86 years old. He still lives. Among his many avocations is farming. With acres of Cocoa farms. There is a particularly troublesome parasite of the Cocoa tree; Mistletoe. Invasion result in loss of branches and reduced yield to outright death of the infected Cocoa tree. The trees themselves are powerless against this parasite. The same way that millions of the people that find succour at the Synagogue are powerless against the myriads of ills that besiege them. I wish to write, so these people, like my Fathers’ Cocoa trees can continue to go to the farmer, T B Joshua, wherever they may be in the world, that they may have peace.
New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The same way that Jesus has his disciples, so also the devil has his disciples. That disciple may be in your sister or in your brother. Some of them are disciples by design, some unwillingly, some even unknowingly! So we pray for these bloggers, that Jesus may show them mercy.
Here are some of the posts;
www.destinyrestored.com
I have been to the Synagogue. This is an experience that one cannot easily forget for several reasons.
Foremost. the throng of people. The misery in their faces, the expectation, the desperation. I am talking of a living mass of people, each one bent on being positioned where they think they would stand the best chance of being met by either one of the Wise men or the Prophet himself. Imagine the challenge this poses. Here, coming by invitation is so invaluable. For the invitees, they get picked up by special coaches at the airport. Air conditioned coaches. By the way, Lagos is hot. Very humid, 28C with humidity at 78% and above is no joke, now imagine in Dublin, if it is 6°C with humidity at 87%, one feels the cold to the marrow. Compare this to Ekaterinburg at 62% humidity. In Ekaterinburg, the air is drier. It is less cold. But in Dublin, It is really cold because humidity is higher. So it is in Lagos. Because the humidity is so high, it is so hot. This is not what a regular Joe in Europe or elsewhere can imagine. It is balmy. It is hot. Be prepared. Anyway enough of the intangibles.
I spoke of the throng of people. These are not people that are there for a party. These are desperate people. Many have ailments lasting more than a decade. When one imagines that there is just this one life to live Living a day in pain can be a challenge. now imagine passing 3650 days in pain. Say a cancerous wound. Any sickness at all. In that condition, anyone will be desperate.
Remember, these people in most cases have had to find their way to the Synagogue sometimes by road from thousands of kilometres away. People come by road from even as far away as Sudan , Ethiopia, Mali and the Gambia. Not to mention neighbouring countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and the Cameroon. Then there are the south Africans, Kenyans, Malawian, etc.
These people come. One sharp desire. TO BE HEALED. Many have gone through hospitals and herbal homes, no peace, no cure. We are talking of thousands of people. 20, 30 thousands in any given service day.
I have been to the Synagogue.
I went without invitation. I had to go without invitation as I couldn't wait for my application for an invitation to come through. I went. Landed in Lagos. The trip from the Airport to the Synagogue took 4 hours 35 minutes. Price NGN 5000. Distance should be about 20 Kilometres. Imagine a a tram in that place, It will be like flying in a Jet from London to Birmingham. Circa 9/10 minutes.
Anyway I landed in Lagos. It was like landing in a foreign country. Motorbikes everywhere, like gnats. It was dusty. I sweat, the first real sweat since i left the continent decades ago, aside of the sweat that Sauna coerces out of me at the gym. But for the enormous stress in my life, the stress that brought me to Lagos, I might have relished the sweat.
Next comes the battle of where to stay. I haven't communicated with any acquittance in Lagos for ages. I was not loaded with money either. Real situation. Real challenge. With the aid of the Police men at the Synagogue, some area boys introduced me to a hotel about 500 meters from the Synagogue. Price; NGN 3000. This I think would the cheapest anyone can get in that area of the city. I arrived on a Wednesday evening. Thursday happened to be my target. The prayer line on that Thursday After spending about 6 months seeing video after video on emmanuel.tv, all I could think of was to get myself on the prayer line. I got a shock though as getting on the prayer line is strictly by invitation. Aside of emergency cases. I was devastated. I wept. I really wept.
That Thursday. I woke up around 1.00am, Got to the church a few minutes later. All the morning I hustled and jostled from one group to another, trying my best possible to get myself registered for the prayer line at all cost. No luck. One very strange thing though. I have said earlier that I wasn't loaded. However people keep asking me for money. Women, not one, not 2. After a while I kind of smell them afar, before they get to me, I change position. I wasn't loaded. The money I drew out of the machine was disappearing fast. Still 6 days to spend in Lagos. About 4.00pm, I started back to the hotel. All hope of getting into the prayer line lost. And then...., and then...., as I got to the main auditorium area, I saw an unmanned door. I didn't think, I went in directly. Saw a group in a section. I went to them and took an empty seat. Barely 5 minutes later, Some ushers came and moved everyone there to another part of the auditorium, close to the prayer line area. We were there for about 10 minutes, and then they came for us again. Prayer line direct. It was an eerie feeling of joy. I made it. I Michael. I made it. I am healed.
But there is a snag. I hadn't anything to show the Wise men as my trouble. Everyone has a piece of paper where their issue is written. I had only some literature with me. But I came prepared. I had a marker with me. So I hastily, privily wrote on the back cover of the literature what ails me. And then one of the ushers accosted me and asked me; what is written in that paper sir? The ushers. I think they are all ETs anyway. They sort of see through you. She chastised me to avoid causing confusion and that I should put it away otherwise....
I put away my paper and the laying of hands by the Wise men started. My man was Wise man Daniel. The first to get to me. He touched my chest. I meant he touched. But what happened to me in reality was like the force of a sledge hammer at a very close range. Some sound came out of me, forcibly when that hand hit me.
I fell like a log, Some ushers took me up, and again he touched me again and again it was the same force - sledge hammer blow. Down I went again. The ushers got me up again. The third touch was humanly. And then all the other Wise men , beside Wise man Christopher touched me. No more falling like a log.
I went back to the hotel a new man.
There is one thing about the ministry though. One big albeit little appreciated for now. The saying goes that charity begins at home. Yes, More than charity begins at home really. The way this ministry is reconciling families, so too it is reconciling the differences between the adherents of the two dominant religions in Nigeria. Christianity and Islam.
The reconciliation comes through 2 different fronts. Both equally effective. Meaning, the Prophetic and Healing ministry as well as the Giving Ministry via Emmanuel TV.
The Prophetic and Healing ministry brings together people from all the regions of Nigeria. No exception. The Hausa and the Ibos, the Yorubas and the Fulanis, etc. At the Synagogue, everyone is a brother and a sister to their neighbour When they leave, the part of them that harbours mistrust is discarded. A Muslim who has gotten delivered from one affliction or the other, he/she is unlikely to burn, loot or kill a Christian living in his/her community afterwards. Neither will a Christian who has been to the Synagogue be inclined to burn, loot and kill a Muslim in his/her community sometime down the road. It is awesome. And this is not unique to the Nigerian situation alone. It is now affecting the whole continent as a whole. South Africans, Ghanaian, Malawians, Kenyans, Sudanese, Maliens, just name it. Everyone meets at the Synagogue. The fear, the myth, the angst each one has for the other is being replaced with something else borne of the fruit of camaraderie in the face of common challenges. Challenges that are being met. Effectively and efficiently dealt with at the Synagogue, either via prophesy, deliverance, reconciliation, healing, blessing, breakthrough, hope, fulfilment, or via the giving ministry.
I have been to the Synagogue. Unlike people that stands far away, or should i say - unlike people that hide far away, behind the cloak of anonymity that the web guarantees, - people who stands far away and throws stones at the glass house. I have been there. What these people are saying are nothing but bollocks. Just bollocks.
Look. we talk of grace, yes, some people after visiting the Synagogue, their health or financial situation goes through an instant and dramatic transformation. Yes, transformations that are beyond their expectation. However, some class of people whose situation may transcend the need for instant transformation, whose need are better met when they participate actively with faith, may experience some lag. Yes, what they want is fish, braisée. What is in stock for them is a pond. A fishing pond. But they have to build the pond. hatch the eggs, raise them, then harvest, not one but millions of fish. But because what they were looking for is a fish braisée. ready to go et la carte. It may take them a while to realize that they need to start fish farming.
This interlude may be a very trying time. I am going through one myself. So I know what it is like.
TBC. Continuation at www.destinyrestored.com
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