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23.01.2012 Feature Article

Renowned Bible scholar and Lawyer Bill Subritzky examine the ministry of T.B. Joshua.

Renowned Bible scholar and Lawyer Bill Subritzky examine the ministry of T.B. Joshua.
23.01.2012 LISTEN

The undiluted word of God has been taken over by the prosperity message being propounded by Kenneth Copeland and the likes which has now shamelessly reverberated across Europe and Africa. People do not worship God in Spirit and in truth but now lean on their own their own understanding of what is good and just. The congregation is called onto give thousands within 24 hours in order to reap ten fold. The church is now operating as a National Lottery Company where people go on to stake money in order to win vast amounts of money. The Church being a charity is exempted from paying taxes as such we all expect the church to be more involved in caring for both the physical and spiritual needs of the people.

We should endeavour to follow the foot steps of the orthodox churches because as missionaries they came down to Africa and made it a point to establish schools, health centres and hostels for caring of the destitute and the physically disabled in society. To be candid, most of our educated men and women in Africa who parade around with big titles benefited immensely from these churches. What have we also done to improve the quality of life to our kith and kin? I want the giants or the so called giants of the Pentecostal churches to start moving in the direction of investing in the welfare of their congregation and beyond, instead of becoming experts on fund raising. Fundraising has now become a calling for some pastors and this is quite disturbing indeed. Competition is rife among pastors each wanting to undo each other in both dressing and the number of cars and planes they have.

A famous pastor in Ghana while opening a branch of his Church in Kumasi, Ghana had this to say, “No matter how rich you are in my church, I will not allow you to intimidate me with your wealth because you cannot even buy the perfume I use not to talk of the attire I wear,” he told the congregation at the church located at Abrepo. Hear him again, “As a Christian, you should wear the best of clothing, drive in expensive cars, and live in comfortable houses so that the glory of God could be seen in your life because the God you worship is very expensive,” he intimated. If this is a mentality of a man of God, then I plead with the God Almighty forgive us and deliver us from our sins. I am not writing to castigate this mighty man of God but every thing must be examined in the light of God's word. Let's ask ourselves, are his words biblical and in accordance with God's word? With that in mind we can get the answer. In London, I have virtually seen pastors begging visiting pastors from Nigeria and elsewhere to be their father in the Lord, some to the extent of paying huge amount of monies for that purpose in order for to preach on the platforms of these maga pastors and to be introduced to their foreign contacts.

A visiting pastor who used to frequent London from Wari, Nigeria on preaching engagements, stopped coming to London for a very long time because he fell out with the pastor of the largest African Charismatic church in London for referring to Eddie Long as his father in Christ, because according to him he helped him a great deal when he left the Four Square Church that brought him to London to form his now mega church in Walthamstow, London. This pastor has now resurfaced after many years of absence but still refuses to preach for this pastor in question. We Christians have forgotten the love of God that surpasses all understanding. We don't have the love of God in us, darkness has overshadowed the light in us and unless we expunge the darkness in us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (light) in us through prayers and the forgiveness of our sins we shall continue to be defeated souls. Let the love of God reign in us. Let us emulate Christ as Paul admonishes us to do. We should also pray for our jet flying pastors with flamboyant lifestyles who have joined the ministry with the sole purpose of making financial gains in the mist of squalor and poverty among the general population.

Though we Pentecostals or charisma tics lambast and make a mockery of the Catholics and the other churches, we have not been able to be in the fore front of outdoing them in giving to the needy. The only notable example of a giving Prophet is T.B. Joshua. He stands over and above his compatriots. Giving has become part of his life and that of his ministry. He as a pastor does not vilify the Catholic Church or any other faith but insist on people having a personal relationship with the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory. To examine whether a pastor is genuine or not, listen to his preaching and whether it is in accordance with the word of God and also ask God whether the person is really called by Him. God will definitely give you an answer. Don't rely on man to give you the answer.

In concluding the series, I paste an article by the world renowned Bible scholar and a prominent lawyer in New Zealand, Bill Subritzky, who led a team of seven of his church members to Lagos to examine the ministry of T.B. Joshua. Read below

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[COLOR=RED]As an evangelist who has proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ in many nations for the past 30 years and operated in the power of the Holy Spirit, I can assure you that the healings that we were received were not the work of hypnosis and shamanism. Why don't you go there yourself and check the situation out... read Bill Subritzky's full report here

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