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| Prophet TB Joshua |
Few days before the
passing on to glory, four select journalists spoke to Prophet Temitope Balogun
Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, in what appeared to be his last
interview, on sundry issues. He particularly spoke about his calling, which he
said could not be extended to his wife, Evelyn, except it pleases God hence she
has remained in the background in the ministry. Segun James presents the
excerpts:
How did you get the
vision to lead a church?
I was called right here many years ago. Just a few meters
away was the hut where I was staying as the other one is the hut where I pray
and meditate and also read in absolute serenity. Vision comes from God through
meditation amidst nature. Surrounded by nature you can concentrate. It is like
you are talking of good lawyers, every profession must have a library, where
you can sit down and do some studying. Without this place, I will not be able
to concentrate and speak with the Almighty. So this is where I started and I
must have a library and a place where I can enjoy nature, not the air condition
or fan. So having nature around you is very good. God is nature and without
nature you cannot understand the bible, because the bible is not history. When
you are reading the bible, you are reading the Holy Spirit. So if you don’t
allow nature, when you are reading, you will be reading history.
What is your dream for
the future of the church?
We intend to build a university of science, which will incorporate
our job here. When you talk of science, theology, medicine, these are the areas
we will concentrate upon. When you have a student, this is where they should
come and review whatever they are taught. You need some place like this, where
you leave everything outside and come and hear the cocks’ crow. But outside
here, when they are doing that, you can’t hear them because of noise.
So this place is very important to me. This is where I live,
sleep and everything I do. If I want to see people outside here, I go outside,
there is time for that, because the bible says that there is time to rest, time
to work, time to rest is time to receive from God and time to work is time to
give what you receive from God. And when you talk of time to rest, this is the
best place to rest, not in the midst of technology or going to New York or
travelling about but you rest in the midst of nature.
You said it all started
here, how did it start given that this place was a swamp?
This swamp is the rejected stone. God spoke to me and brought
me here, I have been following God’s vision and mission. When I am out of God’s
mission I am finished. That is why you cannot see me outside here, you cannot
hear me speak outside of here. What I want to show you now will leave you
shocked. My brother saw it three days ago and was surprised. God’s time is the
best and I always follow God’s time. So that is why I only called key people to
show them this. So I have been following God’s time, that is why you will not
see me preach every Sunday, or go on television to preach every day, I must
hear from God before saying anything. Every time can be good for you and every
time can be the best time for you, but for me, I must have a corresponding
grace or power, because the Holy Spirit must suggest what to do before I do
them. If not, I will not be able to have God’s result.
So this is why you are not seeing me out there – at weddings,
naming ceremonies and coming to your office to grant and interview, this is the
only church – the synagogue here in Ikotun and there is no other branch all
over the world but it touches everywhere in the world. So, I am waiting for God
to let me know if there will be branches or not. The important thing is that we
should focus on building the people and not the church.
Given what is here, not
much is reported, why?
They will soon get to know, we are just waiting for God’s
time. There are many things to be done in this place. So things are at about
80% completion. If people should know about this place now, we will not be able
to complete this job because it will cause distraction. So, it remains a bit
for us to get to 95%, when we are at 95% we will let people know. It is going
to be by grace, it is not something you pay money for, you can come and see
people moving and praying. So, people will get to know; we are waiting for
God’s time. After you leave here, I will like you to keep that information to
yourself.
Why is it that you
don’t want to talk about money?
Not that I don’t want to talk about money, because there are
so many poor people around, if I begin to display what I have, can you imagine
how much I will hurt those who are here? But whatever I can do to let them know
that I understand what they are going through, I will do it. To give them
money, to help them, supporting them, not to display what God has given me but
to give them the support that they need.
You are always simply
dressed, why?
If I have time to dress well I will do that.
Not much is known about
your wife and family?
I am very happy about this question. I have a wife and I have
children, and even my first daughter is doing her Phd and the second daughter
is doing her master’s degree in Oxford. In all, I have three daughters, the
last one is still in secondary school. I would have loved my wife to be like me
but I cannot make her what I am; it is God. It is not possible for me to anoint
her, God is the one that anoints people. So, it is not possible for her to sit
here at the same time, this is not biological issue; it is inheritance from the
saints, it is a partaker from the saints. Therefore, I should not use anything
in my biological life to stop my spiritual life.
I am a native of Arigidi Akoko but as for my divine nature I
am a partaker of the inheritance of the saints, therefore, it is so difficult
for me. This is an apostolic ministry. It is not a ministry you read bible, go
to theology school, you get it and you start preaching. No! It is purely
divine. So, it is so difficult for me to display my wife, she has to be ready
for God. As much as you are ready for God, God will display her.
Two things that are
striking about you. One, you love gigantic projects, and two, you are heavily criticised
by many people. How do you take them when you see them say uncomplimentary things
about you?
It is always good if at the beginning they don’t see what is
good about you. If they don’t see your journey at the beginning they will
criticise you. It is good for you, at the end. So, if they praise you from the
beginning it is not encouraging. If Nigeria has been accepting me right from
the beginning of my mission, I think that will affect my mission to the world.
I have gone all over the world, I am the only minister of God that organised a
crusade in Israel. I have the certificate which was given to me in Israel. And
I also went to Nazareth, where Jesus was born and organised a revival there. I
am the first man of God to do that and it was carried in newspapers all over
the world, Tell Magazine and the rest. An international cable news network
carried it live when I was doing the crusade and a certificate was given to me.
That is the greatest joy for any minister of God.
Why was there so much
controversy about the crusade?
…Because it happened to Jesus, I cannot be greater than my
master. A tenant cannot be greater than his landlord. If the landlord is
criticised, who is the tenant? That is exactly what happened to Jesus. They
said no, the Muslims were on the streets protesting, the Christian, Catholics and
all. But I let them know that God sent me to do the revival in Israel. And top
government functionaries, including Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu
also sent his representative. So, on the second day I finished the revival, it
was God that took me out of the place and millions of people attended. So, you
can imagine a man like that, you know what happened to my building when almost
200 people died in synagogue? The CD of what happened is out. If they can go to
the extent of killing 200 people spread all over the world, just to get me, so
anything close to Jesus can be attacked.
Sources: Thisdaylive.com
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