TB Joshua
For those who may not be familiar with the ministry of Prophet
T.B. Joshua, here is some biographical information about him and the
journey of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations thus far from
The SCOAN Website:
“God chooses grace rather than works (Ephesians 2:8-9).This
means that if the weak come to Him, He would help their weakness just
as He would help the strong. God knows we are weak – that is why He
chooses grace. If God had chosen works rather than grace, man would
have the autonomy to choose whom to help with his works and how to do
His works.The battle would be for the strongest leaving no room for
people like me. The race would be for the swiftest leaving no room for
people like me.” – T.B. Joshua
Isaiah 6:8 – “Then I heard the voice of the Lord
saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here
am I. Send me!”
T.B. Joshua is just one of those who have submitted to the will of
God. He acknowledges that if God had chosen works rather than grace,
no one would merit His mercy.In a sermon titled, “By His Grace”, he
explained:“Wisdom in the practical sense of ability and skill cannot
guarantee success in life. It is the goodness of our cause that
interests God more than physical and mental disposition. This explains
why the weak people like me who are without great strength, a smooth
tongue, fast legs or high learning should ever remain grateful to
God”.
Right from the onset of his incredible journey, the hand of God has
been clearly evident in the life of Prophet T.B. Joshua. He was born
on June 12th, 1963 in the small village of Arigidi in Akoko, Ondo
State, Nigeria. The pregnancy period of his mother was by no means
ordinary, as the baby remained in her womb for 15 months before he was
born. Significantly, almost a hundred years prior to his birth, it
had been prophesied that a young man would emerge from the poor Oosin
quarters and that God would use him mightily. Another remarkable event
occurred when he was three days old, as a large boulder crashed
through the roof of his house, missing the baby by mere inches. This
incident led to his mother naming him, ‘Temitope’, meaning, ‘What You
(God) have done for me is worthy of thanks’.
During his elementary education at St. Stephen’s Anglican primary
school, Arigidi, he was the leader of the Student Christian
fellowship. He was the smallest in the class but led the prayer during
the school devotions and was known as ‘small pastor’. He was unable
to complete his secondary education due to poverty.
Reflecting on his early life, he said: “I found myself in a family
background that irritated me.
My natural circumstance of birth was
poverty. I come from a very humble background. Poverty loomed large in
the family. The little education I had was through self-effort. I know
many people with a similar circumstance of birth who did otherwise.
They allowed their circumstance to influence their will. Their dreams
crashed on the rocks of disappointment, failure and setback …In those
early years of my life, we knew we would be blamed for what we gave
our attention to.”
Very early in life, he knew how much he needed God, so he did not
allow the situation around him to affect his relationship with God. As
described in his own words, T.B. Joshua recounts how he discovered
the direction of God’s calling for his life:
LIFE AFTER LIFE
“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.
The Bible that entered my heart symbolized Spirit and life (The
Holy Spirit). God’s Word is Spirit and life. He does nothing without
His Word. The Book of
Romans 8:16 says,
God’s Spirit joins Himself to our spirit to declare that we are
children of God. The Father gave the Spirit to make us like His Son.
Father, thank You for Your Spirit, fill us with Your love and
power, change us into Christ’s own image, day by day and hour by hour.
God Himself performs the divine anointing on all who have the wonderful privilege of becoming His children
(2 Corinthians 1:21-23 and
Luke 24:48-49).
Obedient to the divine call, T.B. Joshua, started a ministry with a
mere eight members, prophetically naming it, ‘The Synagogue, Church
of All Nations’ of which he is the General Overseer. Today, by the
grace of God, as a man of faith, he is both a representative of God and
of people. The ministry started very small, but has now grown far
beyond the shores of Nigeria.
Evidently, T.B. Joshua has come a long way, full of troubles and
hurdles, but all the way long, there has been an unseen hand of God
intervening in his affairs. In every situation, he has remained
focused on what God has to say.
For those whose lives are centred in Christ Jesus, the best is always yet to come…
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