Prophet T.B JOSHUA Of SYNAGOGUE Church
Why Many Pastors Are Angry With Him
Founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet T. B. Joshua, is in the news again. This time, the popular man who runs one of the biggest and most followed churches in Africa, The Synagogue Church of All Nations, has angered some of his colleagues with his recent statement related to the re-opening of churches. The Federal Government had on Monday lifted the ban on mosques and churches in the country based on guidelines and protocols agreed with state governments. But the Lagos State Government on Tuesday said opening churches and mosques might not occur now due to the peculiar nature of the state.
However, in his reaction to the relaxation of the ban, Prophet TB Joshua said in a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday that the church would be open when God asks him to do so. He has said during one of his telecasts that he will reopen his church only when he receives direction from God to do so.
“Viewers, don’t forget there was a revelation three times concerning the church closing,” he said in the statement.
“Viewers, that same God we are waiting to hear from on when to reopen – when things will go back to normal – as usual. God’s time is the best. We are waiting at His feet for that time. We are tarrying for the Holy Spirit’s instruction. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
“Meet us as usual on Emmanuel TV until we hear from God when to reopen, the same God who gave us the prophecy three times about the church closing. It is God’s work, not our work. Here, our thanks go to the authorities for understanding. Jesus is Lord!”
This certainly has not gone down well with other men of God who felt the prophet should’ve been a bit more careful with his utterances regarding his decision to keep his church shut despite the lifting of the ban on religious gatherings by the government. They fear that utterances such as this might send the wrong signals to the government who may believe that some pastors are really not bothered about the continued closure of the churches and so could remain unmoved about the shutdown of religious places.
Churches and mosques have been shut for well over two months now, and the expectation was that the government would lift the ban soon. And now that the ban on religious gatherings has been lifted, both Christian and Muslim worshippers are excited and the men of God are heaving a sigh of relief. Right now, all they are waiting for is the directives from the government regarding the modalities by which the places of worship would be allowed to hold services. It therefore came as a shock to many when Prophet TB Joshua revealed he was not in a hurry to open his church yet, when many expected he would, like other pastors, be excited at the prospect of re-opening his church and welcoming members to come in and worship God like they used to.
This position of the prophet as to his unwillingness to immediately open his church for services to begin, has begun to raise a lot of questions regarding his faith. Some men of God have wondered what the prophet is afraid of, suggesting that he may probably be scared of the virus finding its way into his church and spread through to the congregation. And if this is the case, they ask, where then is his faith and most especially, his acclaimed healing powers? If anyone should be afraid of Covid-19, they opine, it should not be the prophet TB Joshua. So, what then is the reason why he said he is not ready to re-open the church just yet? What is he afraid of? Why is he waiting on God before he can re-open the church when it was not God who ordered him to shutdown the church in the first place? Many are waiting to get answers to these questions. Hopefully, soon, the man of God himself would proffer answers to them when the Synagogue is finally opened and ready for services to begin.
-WALE LAWAL
