There is a Prophet of the Lord in SCOAN

As we celebrate the 58th Birthday of the Man in the Synagogue, Prophet TB Joshua, many of us already know him as a Prophet of the Lord. Today, just as in the days of King Ahab of Israel there are many self-acclaimed prophets in every town. Remember that Jesus Christ is the Forever Prophet and He has appointed some prophets for our time too. 

In 2 Chronicles 18, we read a very interesting story about King Ahab and his guests. The king of Judah at that time was Jehoshaphat, very wealthy and greatly respected. Jehoshaphat had made an alliance by marriage with Ahab, and after several years went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle to honour Jehoshaphat and those who came with him. He persuaded him to join in an attack against Ramoth Gilead. King Ahab of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I will support you; my army is at your disposal and will support you in battle.” Then Jehoshaphat added, “First seek an oracle from the Lord.” So the king of Israel assembled 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” They said, “Attack! God will hand it over to the king.” But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord still here that we may ask him?”  The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will. But I despise him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but always a disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things!” The king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah". As it turned out the first 400 prophets were false, prophesying only property, what people want to hear, but prophet Micaiah was a prophet of the Lord.

As of June 12, 2020, the number of self-proclaiming prophets from various Christianity sect alone operating in Lagos State, Nigeria, Africa or globally is unknown but could be in hundreds of thousands. The king Ahab in various State headquarters worldwide raised many of them and paying them. In Daniel chapter 1 we come across Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who built a house for his god, created a King's College to train his eunuchs, people skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace. Daniel was among them. Every generation needs prophets of the Lord. A prophet is a person who receives a divine message and speaks to other human beings on behalf of a deity. They are called by God to serve God, they are humans like others though may have their unique areas of interest and characteristics. In the order of hierarchy, we have as topmost the God Head (where Jesus belongs), the Holy Angels of God, fallen angels (where Satan is head), the Holy Prophets of the Lord, then the Apostles, etc. We don't know where to classify the fallen angels since the Holy prophets have power over them and can cast them out. We witness Prophet TB Joshua of SCOAN doing this casting out and pulling down the gates of darkness. He does his own in a scale that resembles the days of the early Apostles. People who work close to him are taping in the anointing.

How did King Jehoshaphat of Judah recognise that they needed to hear from a prophet of the Lord after listening to 400 prophets of King Ahab, his in-law? How can we recognise the prophets of the Lord today? Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 that, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?"

We are celebrating TB Joshua because he is a lover of people, a helper to the helpless, a preacher and teacher of the Word, and so on, including the fact that he is a Prophet of the Lord of time. Anyone may wish to study the number of very difficult cases TB Joshua had solved for many individuals, between families, within and between nations. We think that if he had been appointed a national chairman of eg COVID-19, like Joseph who solved a famine for Egypt, or like Daniel who interpreted dreams with solutions, or Elisha who helped a widow overcome her debt, Prophet TB Joshua could solve such national problems. Being a prophet isn't just future telling or forecasting and predictions that are done in mathematical sciences using models, but hearing from God and telling the public what was heard. Science may be wrong many times because the underlying conditions on which our models are built can change, but the prophets of the Lord are always right. EMMANUEL!!!

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

The Wold Should Keep On Watching Emmanuel TV

The Emmanuel TV, of the Synagogues Church of All Nations (SCOAN), was launched on March 8, 2007, with the slogan, “Changing Lives, Changing Nations, Changing the World”. Hitherto in the late 1990s the ministry of Prophet TB Joshua, the founder of SCOAN, began to gain international attention especially through video cassettes showing Prophet TB Joshua's early ministry in miracles and charity. At that time SCOAN was airing its programmes on State Nigerian televisions. But under the instruction of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo (President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999-2007) the Nigeria National Broadcasting Commission banned Ministries showing miracles on TV in 2004. Thereafter SCOAN broadcasts were taken off the air. This created a necessity for the emergence of Emmanuel TV on March 8, 2007. All along, either through the cassettes, state televisions or now Emmanuel TV, SCOAN has always broadcasts Christian programmes, with the singular mission to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to all mankind.

The purposes of general broadcasting and Christian Programmes broadcasting in particular in our contemporary days are numerous. Otherwise, why would Prophet TB Joshua, right from its inception, keep his Ministry works in cassettes, broadcasting them on paid National TVs and now owning a whole Emmanuel TV with all its huge attendance costs? The need to inform, educate all people about Jesus Christ in these last days implies we leave no stone unturned. In the case of SCOAN and Prophet TB Joshua, the opposition comes from every direction and to counter a few of the people have to see the work in SCOAN openly. Of course, believers also need some inspiration and a positive sense that Jesus is alive and remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Also, so many fields in the world are difficult terrains for one-on-one evangelism. The Scriptures are disallowed from entering such societies or from circulation. But Emmanuel TV Channel, in addition to its YouTube Channel, and slogans such as, “Distance Is Not A Barrier”, “Pray Along’ with Prophet T.B. Joshua”, “Touch the Screen”, is reaching every corner of the globe with resulting testimonies.

The SCOAN Chapel in Ikotun Egbe Lagos is a most-visited Christian or religious centre worldwide of our time and Prophet TB Joshua the most renowned living prophet of this generation according to www.Ranker.com survey of 250 million votes worldwide. The Emmanuel.TV Channel cannot show all that happens in the Chapel because many of the “Big Time Visitors” choose not to be recorded on tape or come at Nicodemus night time. But one thing everyone should know about Prophet TB Joshua is his humility and ability to keep our secrets. When Prophet TB Joshua is in the spirit and you’re fortunate to sit around him he knows all about you. He knows whether you are a thief, a fornicator, a witch, a liar, a Christian that has been struggling but failing, and he also knows about the way out. This unique hiding characteristic of our prophet makes him stand out from all others. Emmanuel TV is not created to promote him but to expose the work of Satan and promote the Lord Jesus Christ and His coming kingdom. The world needs the Emmanuel TV Channel.

Some Christians had thought that broadcasting the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Radio or Television was the devil’s work. However many ministries, including TB Joshua’s Ministries, have turned that around to mean that a world on fire needs the flames of the Holy Ghost to quench those evil flames and that there is no hiding place for such evil spirits. Emanuel TV Channel is sending some Holy Ghost flames to quench thirsty souls and feed stomachs that are empty with the Living Word. We don’t know what Paul and Silas would say about TB Joshua’s Ministries but they wouldn’t classify him as one preaching another gospel, or building on a different foundation. Today, unfortunately, many popular ministries are built on different foundations and promoting a different Jesus Christ and yet they are too quick in castigating others. Emmanuel TV has come to improve on Christian Broadcasting in such a way that people in distant places still feel the power of Jesus Christ touching them. Through the Channel words of exhortation go out with power to,”…warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, encouraging none to render evil for evil but to follow what is good. . .”, (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15).  

Has Emmanuel TV arrived at its peak? No, but it is growing with Prophet TB Joshua who launched it 13 years ago when he was 45 years old. Nevertheless, all of us in the SCOAN family, including every Emmanuel TV Partner, need to keep working to build and improve the Channel so that the rest of the World will Keep Watching it to stay in faith with Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Therefore it is not all up to TB Joshua alone working to improve our world in this age of decadency when a harlot would command an imperial king to give her the head of a John the Baptist, (Mark 6: 24-25). On the contrary, we are working so that such kings in the midst will have the courage to install Emmanuel TV in any part of their palaces. By watching Emmanuel TV people see the evidence that there is more to life than wickedness and brutality, that there is a need for good governance, that Jesus is the only King, and much more that with God all things are possible, (Matthew 19:26). EMMANUEL!!!

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

Jesus Said, Come Follow Me

The Lord Jesus Christ had used those words when He called Peter, Andrew, James, John, the tax collector Matthew to be His disciples (Matthew 4:19-20, 9:9). “And immediately they left their nets, and followed Him”. These disciples immediately detached themselves from personal interests and attached to Christ. Implied in the call of Jesus was a turning from sin to Him in order to be saved. Again after Jesus had risen from the dead, while the disciples were on a fishing trip, Jesus told Peter, “Follow Me” (John 21:19). These words were not just for the twelve disciples; they are also for us today. Discipleship means following Jesus in a personal way, and it is a call to obedience, not a mere invitation. The early disciples came to Jesus straightway, at all cost, without a question. They also came to quit old habits, to follow their leader without stipulation or reserve; they came in an act of simple trust in Christ. It is impossible to follow Jesus without trusting Him. If we do not follow we are not committed to Him. We are following our own goals or someone else’s. The call to follow Jesus also means to submit to His lordship, to come and die with Him, to deny self and take up our cross and follow Jesus. “….For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:24-25). Hence will you follow Jesus today in a life of obedient faith?                         

Why would Jesus say “Follow Me”? When Jesus saw “Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt 4:18-19). Therefore following Jesus means to drop everything and follow Him, no matter what it costs. That doesn’t mean you quit your job and leave your family, but that does mean you seek first the kingdom and His righteousness (Matt 6:33), and that is found in the King of the kingdom, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The call is to join the army of King Jesus to build a new kingdom of righteousness and truth, faith and love, a kingdom for the redeemed. 

Jesus expects total loyalty and obedience from His followers. Jesus calls us His disciples but we call ourselves Christians. Today being a Christian has become a fairly generic term. For some, it might simply mean that “I’m not a Jew”, “I’m not a Muslim”, “I’m not an atheist”, etc. Satan loves that people think living a Christian culture equates to living as a Christian. Therefore consider the young man that came to Jesus asking, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16-22). Jesus said unto him, (and unto us), “If thou will be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me”. The young man went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.

The call to follow Jesus is always ringing to every ear and a few people are responding to the call in their different ways. Some after receiving this invitation from Jesus will retreat to a prayer mountain for further instruction and strength from the Lord Jesus. Right there on the mountain, Satan is there too. At that high mountain, some of these would-be followers of Jesus would be shown endless stress of forest and they may start to pray so that the endless forest can be turned to a cluster of modern cities, with mansions of worshipping centres across the globe and golden streets. A few others would ask for the Promise of the Father and His power. Jesus was equally tempted by Satan when Satan carried Jesus to an exceedingly high mountain to show Jesus all the kingdoms of the World and the glory of them. Others may refuse the invitation to follow Jesus. Abraham sent his servant to look for a wife for Isaac his son in his former country. The servant asked Abraham, “Peradventure the woman will not be willing to Follow Me”. Abraham said, “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again”, Genesis 24:5-6. We can’t force people to follow Jesus but we must not go back to them to live our old life again. 

Prophet TB Joshua teaches frequently that faith shouldn’t be based on immediate physical improvement after prayers. Rather whether Jesus heals or not, whether the ministry has the largest congregation or not, whether the call is to serve in the city or the rural area, as long as we have the promised presence of the Holy Ghost, our ministry will be a success. Further, Prophet TB Joshua has reduced all the existing “Christian Ministries” to two; those who follow Jesus but using today’s carnal language and those who use the Bible spiritual language. Everyone should self-assess how he or she is following Jesus and what provisions needed from Jesus. Jesus will provide all our need, according to His riches in glory, to everyone He calls to the field. 

As we anticipate the 57th Birthday of Prophet TB Joshua June 12, 2020, our aim is not to further promote SCOAN or TB Joshua, but to let us pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to equip us to follow Jesus in the fullness of his power. The prophet also had prophesied that the work of God would suffer after the ongoing COVID-19. Nevertheless, we know that Jesus left us with a passing glorious Promise saying, “But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me …, (Acts 1:8). Hence Jesus is calling us to be partaking in changing individuals, nations and the entire world. This mission is the same motto that the Synagogue Church of All Nations of Prophet TB Joshua has set for itself. Emmanuel!!!

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