Is TB Joshua Mixing Voodoo & Chrislam?

John R. Houk

© March 31, 2016

In a recent email from Yurki1000, this question was asked:

Shalom John. Would you like to write about the Voodoo and Chrislam (and TB Joshua and the SCOAN)?

So exactly what is voodoo?

There are different types of voodoo depending on the influence of a region of origin. Rather than detailing the different types of voodoo I’ll use Wikipedia as a reference. Whether or not there are more forms of voodoo listed by Wikipedia or if the details are deficient, I don’t know or really care since I am a Christian.

Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo

… describes a set of spiritual folkways that developed from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Afro-American religions developed by enslaved West Africans and the French, Spanish, and Creole populations of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Voodoo is one of many incarnations of African-based spiritual folkways rooted in West African Dahomeyan Vodun. Its liturgical language is Louisiana Creole French, the language of the Louisiana Creole people.

Voodoo became syncretized with the Catholic and Francophone culture of south Louisiana as a result of creolization in the region resulting from the Atlantic slave trade. Louisiana Voodoo is often confused with—but is not completely separable from—Haitian Vodou and southern American Hoodoo. It differs from Vodou in its emphasis upon gris-gris, Voodoo queens, use of Hoodoo paraphernalia, and Li Grand Zombi. It was through Louisiana Voodoo that such terms as gris-gris (a Wolof term) and "Voodoo dolls"' were introduced into the American lexicon.

… READ THE REST

Haitian Vodou

Haitian Vodou^[1][2][3] (/ˈvoʊ.duː/, French: [vodu], also written as Vaudou;^[4][5]/ˈvoʊ.duː/ Vodun^[6][7] or Vodoun^[6][8] /ˈvoʊ.duːn/; and Voodoo /ˈvuː.duː/) is a syncretic^[9] religion practiced chiefly in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Practitioners are called "vodouists" (French: vodouisants [voduisɑ̃]) or "servants of the spirits" (Haitian Creole: sèvitè).^[10]

Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable Supreme Creator, Bondye (derived from the French term Bon Dieu, meaning "good God"). According to Vodouists, Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, and thus direct their worship toward spirits subservient to Bondye, called loa.^[11] Every loa is responsible for a particular aspect of life, with the dynamic and changing personalities of each loa reflecting the many possibilities inherent to the aspects of life over which they preside.^[12] In order to navigate daily life, vodouists cultivate personal relationships with the loa through the presentation of offerings, the creation of personal altars and devotional objects, and participation in elaborate ceremonies of music, dance, and spirit possession.^[13]

Vodou originated in the Caribbean and developed in the French Empire in the 18th century among West African slaves when African religious practice was actively suppressed, and enslaved Africans were forced to convert to Christianity.^[14][15] Religious practices of contemporary Vodou are descended from, and closely related to, West African Vodun as practiced by the Fon and Ewe. Vodou also incorporates elements and symbolism from other African peoples including the Yoruba and Kongo; as well as Taíno religious beliefs, Roman Catholicism, and European spirituality including mysticism, Freemasonry, and other influences.^[16]

… READ THE REST

Dominican Vudú

Dominican Vudú, also known as Las 21 Divisiones (21 Divisions), is a syncretic religion of Caribbean origin which developed in the Spanish Empire.

Beliefs

Dominican Vudú is composed of three divisions: the Indigenous American Division, whose spirits are of American origin (usually refers to Taíno spirits); the African Division, whose spirits are of African origin (usually Fon and Ewe spirits); and the European Division, whose spirits are of European origin (usually Spaniard and French spirits). The Indigenous American Division is one of the main features that distinguishes Dominican Vudú from other forms of Vodou.

Some major deities venerated in Dominican Vudú include:

…

… Dominican Vudú is practiced through a Tcha Tcha (“maraca” – which means rattle) lineage.^[1] In Haiti, Vodou has come about and become more popular through another lineage known as the Asson. However, before the Asson, the Tcha Tcha lineage was the prominent lineage in Haiti. Thus the Tcha Tcha lineage is one of the oldest lineages within the Vodou tradition.^[1]

Dominican Vudú practitioners are often called “Caballos”, but they are also known as Papa Bokos and Papa Loa(masculine); and Mama Mambos and Mama Loa (feminine). One who has obtained this title has gone through the last and highest level of initiation that can take anywhere between 3 to 9 days and nights as well as have spent a time working for … READ ENTIRETY 

West African Vodun

This article is about the West African religion. For other uses, see Voodoo (disambiguation).

See also: Dahomey mythology

Vodun (meaning spirit in the Fon and Ewe languages, pronounced [vodṹ] with a nasal high-tone u; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is practiced by the Ewe people of eastern and southern Ghana, and southern and central Togo; and the Kabye people, Mina people, and Fon people of southern and central Togo, southern and central Benin. It is also practiced by some Gun people of Lagos and Ogun in southwest Nigeria. All the aforementioned peoples belong to Gbe speaking ethnic groups of West Africa.

It is distinct from the various African traditional religions in the interiors of these countries and is the main source of religions with similar names found among the African Diaspora in the New World such as Haitian Vodou; Puerto Rican Vodú; Cuban Vodú; Dominican Vudú; Brazilian Vodum; and Louisiana Voodoo. All of these closely related faiths are syncretized with Christianity to various degrees and with the traditional beliefs of the Kongo people and Indigenous American traditions.^[1][2][3]

Contents

1 Theology and practice

1.1 Priests

2 Relationship to Bò

3 Demographics

4 See also

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

… READ THE REST

Remember I am examining “voodoo” because of reputed West African TB Joshua. One of the criticisms toward Joshua is he is mixing voodoo with Christianity. I included the table of contents West African Vodun because if the accusation is true then Joshua most likely as a West African from Nigeria is dabbling into that lineage of voodoo.

Also Joshua is accused of mixing Islam with his theological practices as well hence the term “Chrislam”. So how do we describe Chrislam?

Wikipedia on Chrislam

Chrislam /ˈkrɪslɑːm/, is a pejorative term, defined by William Lane Craig as "neither Christianity nor Islam",^[1]referring to certain interfaith branches of Christianity and Islam. "Chrislamic" Christian sects would be those which reject the position of John of Damascus on Muhammad viewing him instead as an inspired Christian graced with the spiritual gift of prophecy. "Chrislamic" sects of Islam would be those which reject any interpretation of the Quran causing contradiction with the Christian Bible faith. The views are very similar to those expressed by the Nestorian Catholicos-Patriarch Timothy I of Baghdad in his famous "Apology for Christianity".^[2] Nevertheless, critics describe these sects as a new syncretic religion which mixes elements of Christianity and Islam.

…

Yoruba "Chrislams"

The most famous branches of Chrislam in recent years inspired by more agreeable elements of the Ansar movement of the Nation of Islam are two different religious movements in Nigeria, one called Ifeoluwa founded by Tela Tella in the 1970s and 80s^[7] and another called Oke-Tude founded by Samson Saka in 1999. They are also known as The Will of God Mission or The True Message of God Mission respectively^[8]

Ifeoluwa

Ifeoluwa comprises about 1,500 adherents^{[citation needed]} predominantly in Lagos. As in other Chrislamic movements, its followers recognise both the Bible and the Qur'an as holy texts, and also practice "running deliverance," a distinctive practice of spiritual running likened to Joshua's [Blog Editor: Biblical Joshua son of Nun and not TB Joshua] army circling Jericho, or the practice of Pilgrims circumambulating a Church for Palm Sunday or the Kaaba, and Jews around the Synagogue during Sukkot. In ancient Nestorian tradition, Ifeoluwa is still Sabbatarian with formal worship sessions being held three times a day on Sabat (Arabic for Saturday). This is seen as a suitable mid-way solution to avoid favouritism between mainstream Christians who worship on Sundays and mainstream Muslims who worship on Fridays.

However, in contrast to other Chrislamic sects, Tela Tella, while claiming to believe in both the Qur'an and the Bible, says they are incomplete, and is writing his own book called the “Ifeoluwa Book”.^[5]

Tela Tella claims that an angel of God came to him and told him that he gave him the mission and the name "Ifeoluwa: The Will of God Mission".^[5]

In Ifeoluwa there is an annual pilgrimage to The Mount of Authority, where the people pray for three days, and other annual festivals put on by Tela Tella. Tella also leads the singing of hymns during the Saturday service. Tella claims that these hymns were revealed to him by the angels Gabriel and Michael.^[5]

Ifeoluwa has very strict regulations that Tella calls commandments. These commandments deal with behavior, morality, discipline, how to dress, what not to eat and how to eat it, and hygiene and purity. Tella says that these commandments were given to him when he was on the Mount of Authority.^[5]

Oke Tude

Oke Tude is slightly less recognisable to mainstream Christianity, resembling more interfaith worship with three different sessions or services that take place on Sunday. The first is a Muslim session, then a Christian session, and finally there is a joint session that Saka leads. During this he stresses the similarities between Christianity and Islamic beliefs.^[5]

… READ ENTIRETY

gotQuestions.org on Chrislam

Question: "What is Chrislam?"

Answer: Chrislam is an attempt to syncretize Christianity with Islam. While it began in Nigeria in the 1980s, Chrislamic ideas have spread throughout much of the world. The essential concept of Chrislam is that Christianity and Islam are compatible, that one can be a Christian and a Muslim at the same time. Chrislam is not an actual religion of its own, but a blurring of the differences and distinctions between Christianity and Islam.

…

While it is undeniable that there are many similarities between Christianity and Islam (and Judaism, for that matter), Chrislam ultimately fails because Christianity and Islam are diametrically opposed on the most important of issues – the identity of Jesus Christ. True Christianity declares Jesus to be God incarnate. For Christians, the deity of Christ is a non-negotiable, for without His deity, Jesus’ death on the cross would not have been sufficient to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the entire world (1 John 2:2).

Islam adamantly rejects the deity of Christ. The Qur’an declares the idea that Jesus is God to be blasphemy (5:17). Belief in the deity of Christ is considered shirk (“filth”) to Muslims. Further, Islam denies the death of Christ on the cross (4:157-158). The most crucial doctrine of the Christian faith is rejected in Islam. As a result, the two religions are absolutely not compatible, making Chrislam a concept both Christians and Muslims should reject. -READ ENTIRETY

CompellingTruth.org on Chrislam

Chrislam is a modern-day attempt to blend the teachings and practices of Christianity and Islam. Historically, Chrislam began under a Nigerian leader named Tela Tella in the 1970s. It recognizes both the Bible and Qur'an as holy books and reads from both sources during its gatherings. Likewise, both Christian and Muslim holidays are celebrated as equal. God and Allah are considered the same god.

…

Both biblical Christianity and traditional Islam reject modern attempts of Chrislam. The Bible teaches there is one God (Genesis 1:1) and that Jesus Christ is the only way to God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Islam rejects the idea of Jesus as divine, rejects the Christian view of God as Triune, and rejects the Christian belief in salvation by faith alone. These two religions logically contradict one another in numerous ways. The only way in which these two belief systems can be blended into one is to choose only those beliefs that fit one's preconceived notions or to reinterpret both the Bible and Qur'an to fit a particular agenda.

…

Some have begun calling interfaith gatherings in the U.S. that involve combined worship services with Muslim and Christian elements Chrislam. Theologically, this label is accurate, though these participants are not connected with the movement in Nigeria and would likely reject the label.

Ultimately, however, Christians must be aware that the blending of Islamic worship elements with Christian worship is to be rejected (Jude 3). Instead, Muslims need a clear example of Christians who stand firm in their faith, present the biblical view of Jesus Christ, and live the teachings of the Bible. Only then will the biblical gospel message be clear to Muslims who seek salvation. -READ ENTIRETY

If TB Joshua is mixing Islam with Christianity, he is in danger from Muslims demanding Quranic purity or else. I wonder how Joshua would fair in the hands of the Nigerian Islamic terrorists Boko Haram?

Frankly I have had a bit of difficulty locating any of the actual practices of TB Joshua mixing Voodoo and Islam with Christianity EXCEPT from those who have been disaffected from Joshua’s ministry. Joshua can easily claim the sour grapes argument to criticize these detractors. NEVERTHELESS, that does not mean Joshua’s detractors are actually misrepresenting or lying about Joshua’s practices. It does mean a bit of a Joshua’s word vs. detractors’ word has to be weighed.

Also Joshua’s detractors have complained about cult-like practices which I might note, have similarities to other Christian cult spin-offs such as the Jim Jones cult (simple, clinical and historical), the Branch Davidian cult or various Mormon polygamous cults.

Here is an example of a former Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) minister sharing his experiences in private out of fear for his life from TB Joshua which reminds me of the scenarios of the cults in the above links:

Malawian staff of SCOAN accuses TB Joshua of faking prophecies

Respected Nigerian prophet, TB Joshua, has come under heavy bombardment from staff members of his church in Malawi who have accused him of making fake prophecies as well as stealing medical records of their former President, Bingu Mutharika and converting them into his death prophecy, making fame for himself along the way, reports My Zimbabwe.

The report that is making waves on social media in the East African country, adds that Joshua asked his trusted staff to get him the late president's medical records in 2011 when Muthurika was suffering from a serious a terminal disease and with it, came out with his 60 Day Death Prophecy.

This is how the popular online site captured the story:

"More than 3 months before TB Joshua ever opened his mouth, back in November 2011, Mutharika’s health and his impending demise were public knowledge such that the President would several times come out telling people, “I am not dead yet.”

Furthermore, in the days and months running up to President Mutharika’s death on April 5th, 2012, the Malawian president was regularly consulting the preacher on many things and documented letters reveal this fact.

Mutharika’s deputy at the time, Joyce Banda, who would soon afterwards replace him, also frequented the preacher’s private residence where she would secretly engage TB Joshua weeks before he made his prophetic claim as the church’s videos show.

Banda was at the time at war with her boss, Mutharika, the latter who was also seeking to fire her from government and so she would privately confide with Joshua."

What do you make of this allegations? (Malawian staff of SCOAN accuses TB Joshua of faking prophecies: The social media in Malawi is agog after some staff of Prophet TB Joshua accused him of fake prophecies; By Isaac Dachen; pulse.ng; 11/20/15)

There is a reason Isaac Dachen placed an as positive spin as possible to the bad news of TB Joshua being exposed. An example many critics of Joshua are metaphorically face-slapped for their criticism. A couple of years ago when one of Joshua’s ministry buildings collapsed from too much occupancy killing over 80 individuals, many Joshua critics hollered for an investigation especially when the structure was ruled in violation of construction protocols for several floors that would not be able to bear the weight. Joshua did not concur with the ruling but blamed a mysterious plane seen by no one flying by and causing the building collapse. One of those critics was a respected minister whose name is Rev. lsaac Owusu Bempah. Joshua’s attack machine immediately began the attack machine of the reverend’s credibility by impugning him with a how dare you attack:

T B Joshua’s Man Blasts Owusu-Bempah

THE credibility of Rev. lsaac Owusu Bempah, General Overseer of the Glorious Way Chapel as a man of God has once again been questioned by Pastor Alan Kwesi Nazantra, a senior pastor of the Redemption Gospel Ministry, a Navrongo based church.

Rev. Owusu Bempah’s call on Christians to be wary of the head pastor of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) after the collapse of the latter’s church in Nigeria, seems to have surprised and angered the Navrongo pastor.

“I was completely shocked and sad when I read in the dailies that Isaac Owusu Bempah had cautioned Christians to be wary of Prophet T. B. Joshua, founder and leader of SCOAN. I just could not believe that Bempah would go to that extent. Is he a true man of God”? Pastor Nazantra quizzed.

According to Pastor Nazantra, a true man of God at this time would have prayed and sympathized with the deceased persons’ family. He continued that it was wrong for Bempah to have attacked the person of Prophet T. B. Joshua at a time when the church was faced with the death of persons from different parts of the world, who had gone there to seek the face of God.

He wondered why Rev Owusu Bempah is always quick to attack T. B. Joshua without any provocation from their Nigerian counterpart. “Is he Owusu Bempah telling us that he is the only man of God in this country? Why does he continue to attack T. B. Joshua when the man has not offended him in anyway? Pastor Nazantra quizzed.

Continuing, he condemned Rev. Owusu Bempah and others who attacked T. B. Joshua for not being able to prophesy about the collapse of his church hostel. He said true men of God understood that it was not always that God revealed everything to his prophets.

“Prophet Elisha as mentioned in the Bible in the book of 2Kings Chapter 4: 8-37, at one time prayed for a barren woman who went ahead to deliver a son. The said son later fell sick and died, which God did not reveal to Elisha.

The mother, upon the child’s death, went back to Elisha to seek God’s face and actually declined to tell the Prophet what had befell her as she approached him. It was when she got to him that she announced the death of the son to him. What would have been said about Elisha’s prophecy today, if he were with today’s generation? Pastor Nazantra asked.

He termed as a disgrace the claim by the Ghanaian reverend that the unfortunate incident, and the subsequent deaths of people at SCOAN Church Headquarters in Ikotun, Lagos State, was an act of human sacrifice.

… READ THE REST (Bold text is by Blog Editor - T B Joshua’s Man Blasts Owusu-Bempah; Ghana Trade)

As is typical of people who impugn the wrong person for speaking the truth the good Pastor Nazantra failed to relate the rest of the story about the dead son, the once barren woman and Elisha. Here it is:

²⁰ When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. ²¹ And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. ²² Then she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.”

²³ So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.”

And she said, “It is well.” ²⁴ Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, the Shunammite woman! ²⁶ Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’”

And she answered, “It is well.” ²⁷ Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”

²⁸ So she said, “Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”

²⁹ Then he said to Gehazi, “Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child.”

³⁰ And the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. ³¹ Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, “The child has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. ³³ He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵ He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶ And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷ So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out. (Bold text added by Blog Editor - 2 Kings 4: 20-37 NKJV)

Pastor Nazantra tried to allude that not all prophets get the full revelation of God on upcoming events thus trying to protect the reputation of TB Joshua. However, Pastor Nazantra fail miserably that God indeed honor the promise made through Elisha that she would have a son. And even though every mother’s nightmare occurred losing a son in death before her own did happen, the power of God flowed through Elisha and raised her son from the dead fully alive and well.

The rest of the story that Pastor Nazantra failed to share is actually one of the great revelations in the Bible of the power of faith. Please notice the Shunammite woman never agreed with the appearance of death even though her son did die. Instead, when her husband asked why she was visiting Elisha so hastily she simply answered, “It is well”. When Gehazi went to meet her before her arrival before Elisha, Gehazi obeyed Elisha and asked her if everything well with her, her husband and her son. She answered, “It is well”. When Gehazi went ahead of the Shunammite woman and Elisha then report back to the soon arriving Prophet his report was, “The child has not awakened.”

Gehazi did not say, “Bad news boss, the child is dead.”

Then Elisha prayed and acted in an eccentric manner by stretching himself twice on top of the boy who awakened from dead – WELL!

According Pastor Nazantra’s analogy TB Joshua should have utilized the anointing of God as a Prophet and raise the 80 or so dead victims of the faulty structure from the dead just as Elisha did in faith.

Now in full disclosure, I am one of those Charismatic-Pentecostal Word of Faith guys that are so heavily criticized for faith that the Word works just as much now as it ever has. But I have to tell you. There are people that exist who take on some mantle of ministry and deceive people with false prophecies, fake healings and twisting the Word of God for self-aggrandizement. Then fool people to give to his ministry under false pretenses. If TB Joshua does do this, God knows the truth. Again if that was the case, the Bible is clear a judgment will be exacted upon those who knowingly misrepresent God Almighty.

Honestly I know very little about TB Joshua so I do want to be careful before I outright pronounce him a pretentious faker out to exploit people of their finances and property.

With that said I suggest that one judge the fruit of TB Joshua not to convict him Judgment, that is in God’s realm. Rather judge his fruit to decide under the guidance of the Holy Spirit moving on your Redeemed new creation inner man if you should associate with TB Joshua.

Below is the edited email sent by Jyrki as a starting point to examine TB Joshua. I added a little of my thoughts as the Blog Editor.

JRH 3/31/16

Please Support SlantRight 2.0

*******************

Voodoo & Chrislam (and TB Joshua and the SCOAN)

By Yurki1000 (aka Jyrki Soini)

Sent: March 29, 2016 11:17 AM

A Cocktail of Christianity Voodoo and Chrislam

Joshua's critics, including prominent pastors in the country who don’t deny that he heals people. But they say he draws his power from indigenous African occultism, not from the Holy Spirit.

One person who has stayed silent about Joshua until now is Bayo Ajede, a 37-year-old man from Lagos who served as Joshua's assistant for four years. In 1996 Ajede ran away from The Synagogue--fearing for his life--and eventually became a Christian. He decided recently that he must warn others about the source of Joshua's power.

"People need to know that Satan can also perform miracles," Ajede said. "The Bible says that in the last days even the elect will be deceived."

Ajede claims Joshua never converted to Christianity and that he mixes Islam and African folk religion with Christian doctrines. Ajede also claims that when he worked at The Synagogue, Joshua used incense, candles, "magic writing" and demonic power to work miracles.

http://www.globalwatchweekly.com/articlea24mar16.htm

Did He Prophesy about Brussels?

March 24, 2016

Global Watch Weekly

2 photos TB Joshua

Temitope Balogun Joshua (born June 12, 1963), commonly referred to as T. B. Joshua, is a Nigerian prophet and televangelist. He is the leader and founder of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN), a religious organisation that runs the Emmanuel TV television station from Lagos, Nigeria.

He has been awarded various accolades, notably receiving the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Nigerian government in 2008 and being voted the Yoruba man of the decade by Pan-Yoruba media outlet Irohin-Odua. He was recognised as one of Africa's 50 most influential people by Pan-African magazines The Africa Report and New African Magazine and listed among the world's most famous people by the website thefamouspeople.com. He was recently ranked among the world's most famous prophets in history by American website Ranker.

Joshua is known for his popularity across Africa and his online presence, with 2,000,000 fans on Facebook and the most subscribed Christian ministry channel on YouTube which has amassed more than 120 million views. As of 2011, according to Forbes, Joshua was Nigeria’s third-richest pastor.

The Nigerian preacher has found plentiful earthly rewards for his ministry. In June 2011, Forbes estimated Joshua to be have a net worth of between $10-15 million. He has also developed friends in high places, including the late former Ghanaian president John Atta Mills and Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa’s left-wing opposition the Economic Freedom Fighters. His church has given much to charity: Forbes estimated that Joshua gave more than $20 million to causes including the rehabilitation of former Niger Delta militants between 2008 and 2011, and Joshua founded a Lagos football academy named My People FC, one of whose graduates, Ogenyi Onazi, now plays for Italian club Lazio.

According to Manji Cheto, Nigeria analyst at political consultancy Teneo Intelligence, “pastor-preneurs” like Joshua have struck a chord among Nigeria’s lower classes, who long for the lifestyles that their preachers have. “A lot of people that he attracts are working-class Nigerians, some very poor, and middle-class Nigerians either aspiring to retain or increase their wealth,” says Cheto. “That sort of miracle-working pastor, who has gained notoriety and is a bit of a celebrity, those are the sort of people he would appeal to.”

On Trial For Major Tragedy

The case relates to a tragic incident on September 12, 2014. A Lagos guesthouse belonging to Joshua’s church, the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), collapsed, killing at least 115 people, including 84 South Africans who had traveled across the continent for one of Joshua’s renowned healing services.

The South African government reacted angrily to the event, calling on Nigeria to conduct a thorough investigation. Eventually, in July 2015—10 months after the incident—a Nigerian coroner ruled that SCOAN was culpable of criminal negligence, since the structure had more floors than the foundation could hold, and that those who built the guesthouse should be investigated. The Lagos state ministry of justice indicated its intention in November 2015 to charge the SCOAN’s trustees, of which Joshua is one.

For their part, Joshua and the SCOAN rejected the coroner’s findings as “unreasonable, one-sided and biased.” The Nigerian mega-preacher and his church maintained the collapse was connected to the presence of a mysterious aircraft, which they alleged had been circling the building prior to its collapse.

Even if Joshua is found guilty of criminal negligence, his reputation will not be damaged among his legions of devoted followers, according to Maria Frahm-Arp, an expert in Pentecostal Christianity at the University of Johannesburg. “Right from the beginning, he’s been spinning this story of this mysterious airplane and the idea that this was an attack by Satan,” says Frahm-Arp. “The court can find whatever the court finds, but it’s going to be seen [among Joshua’s followers] as an attack by Satan to try and undermine and discredit him.”

One wonders how a man who claims to know so much about people and their misfortunes could not predict the collapse of a building under his nose, killing the very people who came to him for hope.

TB Joshua promotional photo

Holes in His Claims of Prophetic Revelation

Joshua also claims to have prophesied in advance the occurrence of multiple world events, from the death of Michael Jackson, to the shooting down of MH17 in Russian airspace, to the November 2015 attacks in Paris.  However it his claim about the recent events in Belgium which have cast serious questions about his sincerity.

Go to his website at http://www.scoan.org/media/prophecy to see their specific reference to Brussels.

The blog https://tbjoshuawatch.wordpress.com has been following Joshua for years and provides the following insight.

The last 24 hours we’ve been grieving for the people who are injured or bereaved as a result of the horrific attacks in Brussels, however during this time TB Joshua’s media team were hurriedly searching the archives to piece together a video (seen below) to claim he predicted it. Well we were right, but what they came out with was rather underwhelming, the gist of it was:

A French country should watch out, evil people are in town looking for an assembly to launch an attack, a lot of people will die.

…

[Blog Editor: Next are two videos. The first video is of TB Joshua giving a vague prophecy that more French people would die after the Paris attacks. This video is unedited. The second video is an edited version that provides the appearance that Joshua correctly prophesied that acts of terrorism would occur in Belgium. The comparison is bad news for TB Joshua because it shows a bit of exploitation to self-aggrandize himself when clearly he was off the mark about the victimized nation. Then the succeeding paragraphs analyze the two videos to prove this very point.

I’m skipping all that to get to the portion that is scary. That part is explaining Joshua’s penchant for Chrislam and the occult.]

A Cocktail of Christianity Voodoo and Chrislam

Joshua's critics, including prominent pastors in the country who don’t deny that he heals people. But they say he draws his power from indigenous African occultism, not from the Holy Spirit.

One person who has stayed silent about Joshua until now is Bayo Ajede, a 37-year-old man from Lagos who served as Joshua's assistant for four years. In 1996 Ajede ran away from The Synagogue--fearing for his life--and eventually became a Christian. He decided recently that he must warn others about the source of Joshua's power.

"People need to know that Satan can also perform miracles," Ajede said. "The Bible says that in the last days even the elect will be deceived."

Ajede claims Joshua never converted to Christianity and that he mixes Islam and African folk religion with Christian doctrines. Ajede also claims that when he worked at The Synagogue, Joshua used incense, candles, "magic writing" and demonic power to work miracles.

On an altar in Joshua's bedroom, Ajede said, the mysterious prophet kept a Bible, a Quran and an occultic book. Joshua also boasted that he could visit members of The Synagogue in their dreams.

"[Joshua] used to say he was the Jesus for the present age," Ajede said. "He would say that God had passed over the Jews and had raised up a black Christ."

When Christian magazine, Charisma, confronted Joshua with such claims, he denied knowing Ajede. When asked about magic writing, Joshua scribbled some marks on paper and said he possesses the gift of spiritual language. "This [writing] is purely divine. The human hand cannot write it," Joshua said.

Photographs obtained by Charisma prove that Ajede lived and worked at The Synagogue. Also, Ajede's current pastor, Ladi Thompson, of Living Waters Unlimited Church in Lagos, said he has indisputable evidence that Ajede worked for Joshua.

"It has been confirmed by people who saw [Ajede] regularly during those years," Thompson said. "T.B. Joshua is lying through his teeth."

Ajede said he lived in a cultlike environment while serving as one of Joshua's handpicked disciples. He slept in The Synagogue with 16 men in the same room, and they were told not to eat meat or fish, he said, "in order to have more spiritual power." They were also forbidden to leave the compound. "We were told that something terrible would happen to us if we ever left," he said.

Another man from Lagos who served Joshua as a disciple from 1991 to 1995 told Charisma that he constantly had nightmares while living at The Synagogue. He also confirmed that Joshua used soap and palm leaves to heal people and sometimes swatted away demons with loincloths.

"He did many things that were not biblical, but I thought he was of God because he used the name of Jesus,” said the man, who requested anonymity because he fears reprisals from Joshua.

"I was becoming a spiritual captive there," the man added. "I was becoming subservient to the spirits that ruled that place."

Many charismatic Christians side with Joshua. Since the mid-1990s they have flocked to The Synagogue from Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. They come in large tour groups and are offered housing on the expansive compound, which is equipped with a dining hall and bread factory.

When visitors arrive they are shown videotaped scenes of Joshua praying for the sick. The videos also include glowing endorsements of Joshua's ministry from international church leaders.

SCOAN

[Blog Editor: “SCOAN” are the letter representing the Synagogue Church of All Nations. I’m not sure for the reason Jyrki provides the exact same link as just above unless it was to point to the article’s explains what “SCOAN” is.]

http://www.globalwatchweekly.com/articlea24mar16.htm

Emmanuel TV

[Blog Editor: The Emmanuel TV link below is a Christian television network from Nigeria promoting the ministry of TB Joshua.]

http://emmanuel.tv/

[Blog Editor: The About Page to Emmanuel TV provides what appears to be the mission of a legitimate Charismatic-Pentecostal ministry, yet from what I have read about TB Johnson the legitimate sounding mission does not match his practices. Here is an About Page excerpt:]

About Us

Who we are

Emmanuel TV is a television station with one way and one job. The way is Jesus and the job is to talk about Him to others through words and deeds. Our motto is: Changing lives, changing nations and changing the world. God’s Word is the most effective instrument for change. The people hear and change. Nations hear and change. The world hears and changes.

Emmanuel means God is with us! (Matthew 1:23) Watch Emmanuel TV and witness the power of God in action. God keeps giving us plenty of evidence to believe in Him. (About Us [i.e. Emmanuel TV])

[Blog Editor: The below link is to Emmanuel TV’s YouTube Channel.]

https://www.youtube.com/user/scoanvideos

Luckily God's children can't be deceived. "IF POSSIBLE" 

http://biblehub.com/mark/13-22.htm

[Blog Editor: The above link will take you numerous parallel versions of Mark 13:22. I will excerpt the first three versions as an excerpt:]

Mark 13:22 

Parallel Verses New International Version For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. New Living Translation For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. English Standard Version For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

Blessings

Jyrki

______________________

Is TB Joshua Mixing Voodoo & Chrislam?

John R. Houk

© March 31, 2016

Of potential interest:

http://www.charismamag.com/site-archives/154-peopleevents/people-and-events/758-church-leaders-still-at-odds-over-credibility-of-faith-healer-tb-joshua

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2608411/Nigeria-preacher-Healer-controversial-leader.html

____________________

Voodoo & Chrislam (and TB Joshua and the SCOAN)

Edited by John R. Houk

Any text or links enclosed by brackets are by the Editor.

© Yurki1000