You Tube Banning Emmanuel TV Touches the Very Heart of Jesus Gospel Message

 

When recently YouTube placed a ban on Emmanuel TV's YouTube Channel, citing a reason based on "Seemingly Social Justice" and not focused on "Sin and Redemption", we have been taken aback. Their reason and action strike on the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the need to be set free from sin and all its practices and not take comfort in a cosmetic social justice. The Bible commands us to take care of the helpless, the unfortunate and defend those who are oppressed. This is a very important part of what it means to live out our Christian Faith and which Prophet TB Joshua, the Bishop of SCOAN and founder of Emmanuel TV, has been preaching across the globe, not just in a remote Lagos neighbourhood.

Perhaps it is necessary to attempt to align YouTube and many others on the core message of Jesus Christ which has become Christianity and the Gospel. It is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and resurrected, and thereby reconciled us to God. This is the message that will truly bring freedom to the oppressed. If an organization the status of YouTube intends to contribute meaningfully to public life in the 21st century it should have an open door for all. They must also understand that the Bible must be preached entirely, with power and glory in Jesus Christ, without compromise.

We also want YouTube to be aware that many "Christians" today find the concept of God willing His Son to die on the cross to be embarrassing or even appalling. They even take it to be "child abuse,” the idea of blood atonement is de-emphasized or denied altogether, with social justice and good works enthroned in its place. Prophet TB Joshua and his ministries, including Emmanuel TV, have attracted world attention, not for the reasons alluded to him by YouTube but by the sound and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ coming from them. Social justice can be persuasive and enticing, but carried out to its logical end in many areas it is an assault on the foundational framework of Christianity, leaving it disarmed of its saving power. We encourage YouTube and its owners to consider this moment a time to pray about finding and supporting fellowships that are more "Biblically Faithful Church Communities" rather than banning them. Emmanuel.

Prof. R. A.  Ipinyomi, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.

YouTube walks dangerous line between tolerance and censorship in its decision to terminate channel of famed Nigerian pastor T.B. Joshua

 By Noah Pitcher( Global politics writer ) -  Today News Africa 

YouTube recently made the decision to terminate the channel of prominent Nigerian pastor and televangelist TB Joshua, claiming that his content repeatedly violated the company’s hate speech policy pertaining to discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In a statement made Wednesday to Today News Africa, a YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said TB Joshua’s channel, which had amassed over 1.8 million subscribers and 600 million views, repeatedly violated community guidelines pertaining to hate speech. In particular, she was referring to videos in which the prominent pastor claimed to cure congregants of their homosexuality.

“In accordance with our long standing three strikes system, we terminated the channel The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) for repeatedly violating our hate speech policy. Our Community Guidelines clearly prohibit content promoting violence or hatred against protected groups based on attributes such as sexual orientation,” the statement said.

Joshua responded to the labelling of his content as hate speech, stating, “Our mission is to share the love of God with everyone – irrespective of race or religion – and we strongly oppose all forms of hate speech! We have had a long and fruitful relationship with YouTube and believe this decision was made in haste.”

Many feel that it is a slippery slope to begin policing people’s actions or beliefs under the ambiguously defined label of “hate speech.” At what point does rhetoric become hate speech and stop being protected under the umbrella of religious freedom?

In the video that is most responsible for triggering the closure of Joshua’s channel, he “casts out the demon of homosexuality” from congregants.

The video’s description read, “God hates sin, not sinners. When the Bible says, ‘Do not judge so that you will not be judged’, it means we should hate sin, not the sinner because sinners can change… We should hate the act, not the people because our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spirit beings that cause all these acts.”

While YouTube is meant to be a platform where creators can openly share ideas and express themselves, many have taken TB Joshua’s ban as an affront to the teachings of Christianity and an infringement on free expression.

Community guidelines are an important aspect of any social media platform such as YouTube, and representatives of the company have repeatedly asserted that hate is not welcome on the popular video platform.

Clearly, heinous offenses such as the incitation of violence or the promotion of child trafficking should have no place on YouTube. Yet, the label of hate speech can feel loosely defined, all-encompassing, and open to subjective interpretation. There is much disagreement about the extent to which offensive content should be tolerated and at what point free speech turns into hate speech.

Should a preacher be banned for openly practicing his religious beliefs just because they are offensive or controversial? What is the line that preachers cannot cross without their rhetoric being labeled hateful and impermissible? This raises many concerns amongst religious communities about whether pastors can be punished for merely reading the teachings of Scripture.

It can be difficult to achieve the right balance between appropriately monitoring hate speech and simultaneously promoting the free expression of religious beliefs. For instance, how can YouTube best administer its community guidelines to make sure that conservative Christians and members of the LGBT community both feel welcome and respected on the platform?

A platform with 2.3 billion users around the globe, YouTube is a subsidiary of Google and holds immense power and influence all over the world. The decision of what type of content should be allowed or banned from being posted on the platform is incredibly significant and impactful worldwide.

If YouTube were to disproportionately police conservative content, it would be accused of imposing the company’s ideological perspective on its users. Therefore, conservative Christians ought to be entitled to the same freedom of expression as more liberal content creators regardless of whether or not YouTube agrees with their perspectives.

YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi asserted that all content creators are held to the same standard, saying of the decision to terminate TB Joshua’s channel for hate speech, “We enforce this policy consistently, regardless of speaker, nationality or religious affiliation.”

There is much controversy and disagreement surrounding the policies by which YouTube monitors content. If the organization wants to promote tolerance, it can be difficult to strike the right balance between respecting religious freedom and simultaneously protecting the interests of people groups.

While making sure that all users feel welcome on YouTube regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation is one of the company’s top concerns, it is no easy feat to pull off. Protecting the interests of one group sometimes means taking protections away from another group, leaving YouTube performing a never-ending balancing act.

There are many practical challenges for a company like YouTube, which is headquartered in California, United States but has grown to immense popularity worldwide. This provides for additional difficulties in monitoring global content, given the religious and cultural differences between different parts of the world. Throughout Nigeria and much of Africa, homosexuality is currently punishable by law.

As the world reacts to the removal of TB Joshua’s channel and many disagree about whether or not it was justified, the pastor urged listeners Friday to “be strong” and said, “I got to know what happened to YouTube when I saw the viewers complaining… I want you to help me pray for YouTube… Don’t see them the other way around; see them as friends.”

Nigerian-American Journalists Fault TB Joshua’s Emmanuel TV Suspension on YouTube

The Nigerian-American Press Association (NAPA) has faulted Google LLC, an American multinational technology company, for suspending Emmanuel TV, a Christian television network established by Founder of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Pastor TB Joshua on YouTube.

The association rejected SCOAN’s suspension in a resolution its executive members unanimously adopted after an emergency board meeting via conference call from Houston, Texas, United States yesterday.

NAPA is a major convergence of online editors representing leading mainstream media establishments in the United States of America and Nigeria.

YouTube, an online video platform of Google LLC and the second most-visited website in the world, suspended Emmanuel TV for uploading a video content, which it claimed, allegedly contained hate speech.

In a statement on Friday, SCOAN said: “Our mission is to share the love of God with everyone – irrespective of race or religion – and we strongly oppose all forms of hate speech! We have had a long and fruitful relationship with YouTube and believe this decision was made in haste.”

After its emergency meeting yesterday, NAPA in a resolution by its President, Mr George Otumu, said, “In a unanimous voice, we condemn the position taken by the management of YouTube to suspend the license of Prophet T.B. Joshua’s media channel.”

It explained that NAPA strongly believed YouTube’s decision was “condemnable, ludicrous, hastily-made, biased and vindictive in its entirety; as there were no correspondence or traceable records from YouTube, earlier warning Synagogue Church of All Nations ministry of its alleged offence; even after it hastily singled out seven videos it tagged ‘hate-speech’.”

Also, the association said: “YouTube so decided under the cover of darkness to take one out of the seven videos as a reflection of its ban on T.B. Joshua’s media channel, without allowing the Church in contention an avenue of a rightful channel of reply to deny the allegation.”

It added that going by YouTube’s action, it was crystal clear from all indications that their management had made up their minds to allegedly “end the rising profile of Nigerian based Synagogue Church of All Nations, against every lawful avenue or judicial remedy that may have been available for T.B. Joshua to correct the ill-fated narratives.

“For the records, we are aware a group in the United Kingdom (UK)-Open Democracy, filed a complaint against Synagogue Church of All Nations ministry regarding a 2018 video in the Church where Prophet T.B Joshua was alleged to have slapped one Ms. Okoye during a deliverance session.

“At no time, T.B. Joshua gave any time to refute the hate allegation made. At this juncture, NAPA Board members are fully behind the Synagogue Church of All Nations in this fight as we demand the following in the next 72 hours:

“That YouTube should immediately restore the Synagogue Church of All Nations’ channel without any further delay. That YouTube management should allow T.B. Joshua to appeal the suspension rightfully.

“That YouTube should tender an unreserved apology to Synagogue Church of All Nations ministry, for misinforming the public for reasons on the suspension, as we deem the overall action taken by YouTube on this matter to be hateful, judgmental and discriminatory on its face.

The body said it believed discrimination is hatred in disguise, and that it would not stop in updating the global public through “our various publications on this salient matter.”

Source: Thisdaylive.com

The Tyranny of Social Media giants and Modern Persecution of the Church

 

The recent suspension of Emmanuel TV YouTube Channel never came as a surprise. It was as expected as anything else. Since this was not the first time YouTube has suspended SCOAN’s Channel on its platform. We even wrote an article then saying that this present YouTube Channel that is now under suspension will also be blocked. The only thing that is a surprise is while the SCOAN have not until now develop their social media platforms where the gospel and the marvellous works of Christ through the ministry of Prophet TB Joshua can be disseminated without restrictions.

It is time the Church of Christ starts thinking outside the box, there are some things that Christ will not do for us when he has already given us the grace to do it for ourselves. The Church cannot continue to rely on the mediums and platforms of the world to preach the gospel that they hate.

Let us stop acting as if we are ignorant of the world and its antics. We know they are not comfortable with the gospel of Christ and there is no way they will continue to allow their platform to be used to propagate that gospel.

They claim their actions were based on ‘hate speech’ from a deliverance video. A video which to a true believer is an inspiring testimony of transformation.

That which is an atmosphere of deliverance and freedom to the Church is hate speech to the world. Can’t we see the conflict? Who is the determiner of hate speech? Who makes owners of social media platform the judge in determining our value system? Are they not supposed to be neutral?  This is simply the tyranny of the social media giant. Because it happens to TB Joshua today those not mean it won’t happen to you tomorrow. The Church and the lovers of truth need to wake up and understand that the world is no longer hiding their hate against the gospel of truth. They are coming out boldly in waging their war against the Church of Christ.

TB Joshua never forces anyone to come to his Church. The man who was delivered from homosexuality come to The SCOAN on his own. He felt he was under bondage and came to the SCOAN where he believed he could get his freedom. And that freedom he received. How do that affect YouTube and any aggrieved group?

Is this suspension that is without any legal and legitimate bearing by those purporting hate speech, not themselves promoting oppression and persecution?

What about the United Nations fundamental human right that said “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”. Why do you want to impose your belief and thought on others? Are you angry with TB Joshua’s ministry because God is using him to reduce your population – the homosexuals?

The man that was delivered from homosexuality was matured enough to know what is best for him. You don’t force your belief on others. If you believe that what you stand for is good and true, why not allow everyone the choice to decide for themselves if they are comfortable with it or not. Instead of forceful imposition and coercion.

This is clear tyranny in public display and we need to recognise that the world has gone past this stage.

The management of YouTube should not allow themselves to be used irrespective of the pressure they may be getting from these groups and even if they have a stake in these issues. They have to understand that these are sensitive issues. Taken side and suspending Emmanuel TV’s YouTube Channel is not the best way to go. They should instead learn to stay neutral. They should learn to differentiate between business ethics and their prejudice. This is important not only for the integrity of their social media platforms but for the future. Always remember that the future is a mystery.

The Empty Tomb as the Grave Couldn't Hold Jesus Christ's Body

Apostle Paul wrote that there were first-hand witnesses to confirm the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep ", (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). The Empty Tomb is significant evidence of the bodily resurrection. The women who went to the sepulchre very early Sunday morning, concerned about who would help them roll away the mighty stone, found the tomb already opened and empty and were told by an angel that Jesus had risen. The angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid His body", (Mark 16:6). Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, took responsibility for the burial of Jesus after His crucifixion in a new tomb he made for himself (Matthew 27:57).

By this resurrection (Philippians 2:9-11) God also has highly exalted Jesus, and given Him a name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is no longer a subject for any Pontius Pilate to preside over. He ascended into heaven in the glaring view of many witnesses (Acts 1:9). He keeps appearing to many to date and appointing prophets and priests over His Church. He is the Everlasting Reigning King, the Ruler of the universe, the Judge of all mankind, to Him be glory, honour and dominion forever and ever. He has indeed risen.

Jesus spent forty days after He rose from the dead giving the disciples further information on the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Even when He was about to ascend into heaven so the Holy Spirit could come (John 16:7) the disciples were still confused, as many still are today. They seemed only to remember the many stories and parables Jesus told about the kingdom of God.  So they asked Jesus saying, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). It can mean that we are all still after political powers, territorial possessions, powers to physically fight our foes, even though we desire the power and authority of the Messiah over it somewhat. Jesus had specifically told us that only God knows that time (Mark 13:32). The kingdom of God includes the restoration of the hearts of Jesus' followers (Ezekiel 36:26), from every tribe and nation (Revelation 7:9). The disciples are worried about when Jesus' kingdom will come but Jesus wants us to concern ourselves with who and how to be in that kingdom. The kingdom can't fully come until we have been Jesus' witnesses around the world (Acts 1:8). This is one reason we should rally around Prophet TB Joshua, Emmanuel TV, SCOAN, and promoting many national and international crusades periodically to find the sheep of the other folds (John 10:16). Jesus is risen, He is risen indeed. Emmanuel

Prof. R. A. Ipinyomi, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Walking with Jesus to Golgotha

 

The events leading to the journey to Golgotha happened very fast. The enemy will lose no time attempting to pursue a perceived foe. Jesus was arrested in the early hour in Gethsemane Garden (Mark 14:37, 14:41) and about six hours later put on the cross, (Mark 16:25). In this short period, He had been marched from this Garden back to the other side of Jerusalem and examined severally. He was examined first by the High Priest Annas, then by the Sanhedrin presided over by the High Priest Caiaphas (Matt. 26:57, Mark 14:55) and then taken to Pilate (Luke 23:1), to Herod Antipas (Luke 23:7), then back to Pilate (Luke 23:11) again. Pilate finally sentenced Him and handed Him over to the soldiers. They dressed Him up as a mock-king, then made to drag His cross to Golgotha to be crucified.

Several years later Apostle Peter wrote to the pilgrims, including those coming to SCOAN from all parts of the world today that, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time", (1 Peter 1:3-5).

We note that throughout this trial Jesus never complained, even with all the torture and great humiliation. Jesus does what he asks of His followers then and today. He takes on the difficult challenges of life knowing that in going through the difficult challenges we grow in faith and hope in the Lord. Jesus literally, picks up His cross and goes forward on the journey to Golgotha knowing what lies ahead. Showing the world that God’s love for all was too important to stop the journey. Prophet TB Joshua teaches his views that challenges are the soils on which faith grows. Jesus goes through this to secure our salvation.

At the cross Jesus finally said "It is finished", (John 19:30). We have no doubt that Jesus knew what His last words ought to be here in this life. He knew the power those final words would have for generations still to come. He had great purpose in them, which still breathe such life and meaning for our lives today. Jesus has reached His destination and all the scriptures fully fulfilled, in Him and only in Him. Happy Easter Season. Emmanuel.

Prof. R. A. Ipinyomi, University of Ilorin, Nigeria