It’s been almost two years since I made a declaration that Prophet T.B Joshua is indeed a True man of God. I made that declaration out of my conviction and interpretation of the scriptures. I strictly relied on 1Timothy 3:1-5. which set out the qualities of a Bishop or a Pastor depending on how it’s called in your denomination. That scripture states and I quote ‘This is a faithful saying: If a man reaches out for the position of a Bishop, he desires a fine thing.
A Bishop then must be Blameless, the Husband of One wife, Temperate, Sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his household well, having his children in submission with full reverence’.
Judging by this lofty standard set forth in the Bible, I strongly believed Prophet T.B Joshua meets these qualities and qualifies as a true man of God. It is instructive to state that two years has gone down the line and many things have happened and several changes have occurred which has made some of my readers question if I still hold on to these same views. I have to state that defending a True Man of God is daunting as Satan has convinced the world that people who believe in Men of God in this age are either stupid or lazy. Let me quickly state one of the change that have occurred and examine whether it negates Prophet TB Joshua’s standing as a true Man of God.
1. Collapse of the Synagogue Building: We heard a harrowing news of how a building housing some guests of the synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed, killing over 100 guests who have journeyed to the SCOAN in search of spiritual nourishment. As usual with the haters, news went viral with most questioning why a True Man of God couldn’t accurately foresee the collapse of the building thereby preventing those painful deaths. Some went as far as assert that these deaths were sacrifices offered to a suppose false god and other lies that clearly is borne out of ignorance of the scriptures. Now let’s ask, does being a true man of God means no calamity can befall you?? Can a man of God see every calamity that will befall him?? Can a True Man of God predict every situation that will come his way? Let’s examine the scriptures for answers.
God is the creator of the heaven and earth; he also created humans with the first couple being Adam and Eve. God created both humans perfect with a purpose of filling the earth with righteous inhabitants. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve broke God’s trust in them when they ate from the forbidden fruit and became washed with sin. The consequence is the numerous problems we continue to face today due to our limitations. Now the question is: If God is ALL-KNOWING God, why didn’t he foresee that Adam and Eve will become disobedient to him by eating the fruit? Does it mean our God is not powerful or fake because he couldn’t foresee that Adam and Eve will break his law and plunge the whole human race into sin? Far from it!! Let’s take another example.
Isaiah was a True Prophet of God who foretold several prophetic messages of God which came to pass. Isaiah was one of the most effective Prophets in the Old Testament who fearlessly and boldly proclaimed the judgmental messages of God during the time of the great apostasy in Israel. Isaiah proclaimed doom for Isreal if they do not turn away from their bad deeds and come to Yahweh, their God. Now, if this amazing gift of Prophecy did Isaiah see his own death coming? How did Isaiah die?? According to Bible scholars, Isaiah was sawn asunder by wicked King Manasseh!! Yes, King Manasseh used a saw to cut Isaiah into two! Isaiah could have seen that King Manasseh was after him and probably disappear or escape but No! God allowed Isaiah to suffer this painful death even though he stayed true to him throughout his life! Can we argue that because Isaiah did not see his own death, or prevent himself from dying in the hands of King Manasseh so he is not a True Man of God? Far from it!!!
James was a disciple of Jesus Christ who walked with him throughout his ministry. Apart from being Christ’s disciple, he was also his cousin and thoroughly loved by Jesus. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, James was one of the disciples who saw Jesus Christ off to heaven and received Christ final instruction. James was a loyal servant of Jesus Christ! Now what happened to James? At Act 12:2, it was reported that James, the Disciple and cousin of Jesus Christ was brutally killed with the sword by Herod Aggripa, the ruler of Judea at that time! Yes! James, the cousin of Jesus Christ couldn’t foresee his own death and ‘allowed’ Herod Agrippa to kill him!! Can we then argue that James was not a faithful disciple of Christ because he couldn’t foresee and prevent his own death?? Far from it!!
Why have I given all these examples? To prove that calamities do indeed happen to children of God! When calamities happen to Men of God, it’s unacceptable to question their standing in the Lord because they couldn’t foresee and prevent it. Now why do calamities sometimes befall Men of God? Why does God allow calamities to befall his anointed ones?? The answer can be found at Ecclesiastes 9:11 which reads: ‘I returned and saw under the sun that- the race is not for the swift, nor the battle for the strong, nor bread to the wise nor riches to men of skill; but TIME AND UNFORSEEN OCCURANCE BEFALL US ALL’! Do you see the highlighted part? Yes, Time and Unforeseen occurrence befall US ALL, not selected few of protected Men of God! This is the reason why a Man of God can die in an accident, be killed by armed robbers or maimed by a collapsing building and this will never prove he wasn’t a Man of God!
God sometimes allow unfortunate things to happen to his people to prove a point. God allowed the devil to bring calamities upon Job to establish the fact that Job will remain faithful to him no matter the cost. God allowed Jesus Christ to be tortured and die like a common criminal just so salvation can reach me and you. Yes, God is all-knowing and all-Powerful. We can neither question his ways nor judge his methods.
The collapse of the Synagogue Building was unfortunate and could emanate from several factors including sabotage, terrorism or just natural occurrence. In whatever the case, only God can know the true course of what happened. It will be erroneous and wrong to either assert that Prophet TB Joshua loses his God given standing because he could neither foretold or prevent the collapse of the Synagogue building. From the examples I have given, it clearly shows that God sometimes allow situations to happen including painful ones like the death of the 100s in the Synagogue building. This is due to Time and Unforeseen occurrence that happens and this affects all of us.
In conclusion, I still maintain that Prophet T.B Joshua is still a Genuine Man of God with God’s anointing on him to direct all perishing souls to Christ which leads to salvation.
Henry Kpakpo Allotey
0243-370764
kpakpogh@yahoo.com
