…Becomes 1st African Pastor to reach 5m FB followers
Founderof the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) Prophet TB Joshua has over theyears variously demonstrated Practical Christianity in its entirety which hasplaced him above his contemporaries, even as the world celebrates the birth ofJesus Christ. South West Editor, JOHN SILAS, writes.
One popular axiom scooped from socialmedia publications of SCOAN recently says ‘If millions of this generation is tobelieve, they must see the proof that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, todayand forever.’ Of course this saying is indeed an indisputable fact thatpractical Christianity is the only convincing testament that God cares for hispeople.
Throughhis Emmanuel TV Prophet TB Joshua has practically touched the world communitybringing prophecies, deliverance, healing and teaching to the world.
The prophet in the Synagogue, TB Joshua is also extending themighty hand of God Almighty beyond the Synagogue Church of All Nations bygiving everyone the chance to watch his live Sunday services.
Beyond his TV Evangelism he has also offered succourto several communities in distress, including provisions of transformers to alocal community, after their transformers were burnt beyond repair; donatedover N26 million towards the restoration of electricity in four localgovernment areas in Akoko area of Ondo State, where he hailed from; thus,bringing to an end over two years of power outage in the council areas.
TB Joshua has also made several large donations to thepolice force in Nigeria, Ghana and Colombia, among others; just as his churchruns a scholarship program for the academic needs of students in theirthousands, ranging from primary to tertiary education, including but notlimited to sponsoring a Nigerian student for Ph.D in Oxford University, withmedia reports claiming she received £100,000 from the church and anotherscholarship to a young Motswana to study at Harvard Law School in America
Just recently to attest to his popularity, TB Joshua becamethe first religious leader in Africa to surpass five million followers on thepopular social media platform Facebook.
Joshua who surpassed the milestone on the evening ofMonday 14th December 2020, thanked his followers in a Facebook postcommemorating the feat.
“Thank you for joining us in our mission of changinglives, changing nations and changing the world through the glorious Gospel ofJesus Christ,” he wrote, adding that “the best is yet to come”.
The cleric, who leads SCOAN and founded the popularChristian channel Emmanuel TV, beat other popular Nigerian Pastors accomplishthe milestone.
It is also discussed by popular opinion leaders that therecent #EndSARS protest which rocked major cities across the country may havebeen foretold by Prophet T.B Joshua, over seven years ago.
Prophet Joshua had on Sunday, July 14, 2013, over sevenyears, pronounced a prophecy that is in a striking resemblance to the #EndSARSprotest that rocked major cities and states of Nigeria in October 2020 and theenduring violence and looting and mayhem. A video of that prophecy resurfacedon the internet in the wake of the #EndSARS protests, calling for an end topolice brutality and extrajudicial killing by one of the most dreaded unit ofthe police, the special anti robbery squad.
In the July 14, 2014 video, Pastor TB Joshua pinpointedthe protests, which seem to have unraveled in October 2020, reading from a texthe titled ‘Carry Your Youth Along’
He said in the video, “God showed me this vision, notsitting down writing an article. This is not press conference. This is a visionI saw. Carry along your youths. I see a revolution; when I say revolution, Imean every revolution start by protests. And when that protest starts the powerthat be has the power to stop them but when it becomes revolution, no one canstop revolution.
“Revolution means everyone is ready to go for it. I repeatagain, I am seeing a revolution. I am seeing people taking to the streets; atthe beginning of that protests; instead of revolution, I say protests; insteadof revolution, I say protests. It is a parable. When it starts, you think it isa protest, but at the end of the day, you realise that this is a revolution.You can stop protests, but you can’t stop a revolution.
“Every revolution starts by protests. It will come; withpeople carrying placards, and you say ‘ah, this is protests;’ you carry policeetal and stop them. But when it becomes revolution, everybody is ready to die,so you can’t stop it.
“At the beginning of that protest, because the beginningof every revolution always looks like protest it might be stopped at thebeginning, eventually, it will become so big that it might not be stopped. ThisI see happen. “Nigeria, pray. God has given us the way up out. Listen to theway out: job creation for the youths and the creation of a new social valuesystem. No matter the education the youth have, whether Ph.D. or professorial,they feel they have no place in politics and there is no job to keep them busy.
“There must be a new orientation. In politics, the youthshould be considered for important positions, such as assistant to elders;while the elders are ministers, the youth should be junior ministers. In allappointments into departments of politics or administration, youths should beconsidered as second in command.
“By doing this, we are training them to take overtomorrow. This is because they are leaders of tomorrow. This is becauserevolution is a weapon of change that is coming.
“This is a vision. I am not preaching or teaching. This iswhat I saw. Revolution is coming, when people will take to the streets, becauselife has no value anymore to the people. Carry your youths along in yourpolitics and administration, especially in ruling your country. I have said it;none of these will go without being fulfilled.
He urged the world to read up his track record that hisprophecies never fails. “Read about me and my track record. This is thevoice of God. When we carry the youths along, whenever there is revolt orsituations, they will be available to readily speak to their colleagues. Becausepeople that going for revolution or protests, 90 percent of them are youths andthey would like to hear and listen to the voices of their colleagues, betterthat anybody talking to them.
“If the junior minister or junior chairman comes out, totalk to the protesters, and they know he is there to represent them, they wouldlisten to him better than anyone else. The youth want to see themselvesrepresented in every area of life. That is the answer to the problem. The comingominous signs are disastrous,” Joshua said.
This prophecy is probably one of the major prophesies ofthe clergyman that have come to be fulfilled. And from all indications, itseemed that not all prophecies are projected to be fulfilled immediately theyare pronounced.
The #EndSARS protests, which came up in October 2020, wasprophesied on July 14 2013, Just as the prophecy about the coming of Christ asmessiah, which was pronounced by the likes of David and Isaiah, did notactually materialised until almost 400 years later. As it is now in Nigeria, bytheir prophecy, you know who are the real men of God and this recentdevelopment has actually put Prophet T.B Joshua to be in the category of a realservant of the most High God.
Described as the “Oprah of evangelism,” and“YouTube’s Most popular pastor,” the SCOAN leader has garnered variousaccolades, the most notable being the award of the Officer of the Order of theFederal Republic, OFR, by the Nigerian government in 2008.
He was also voted the Yoruba man of the decade bypan-Yoruba media outlet, Irohin Oodua; while pan-African magazines, The AfricaReport and New African Magazine have named him one of the 50 most influentialpeople in Africa. International magazine, Forbes, in 2011, rated Joshua asNigeria’s third-richest pastor, although the claim was immediately denied in astatement by the church. A Forbes’ blogger also estimated that Joshua has spent$20 million on “education, healthcare and rehabilitation programs for formerNiger Delta militants,” as part of his philanthropic gestures.
He is also said to embark on a rehabilitation programmefor militants from the Niger Delta region, repentant armed robbers and sexworkers, who came to church for ‘deliverance’.
