Prophet TB Joshua is a man of God
who a lot of people have criticized in the past and are still criticizing. In
this new interview with Punch, the prophet explained why people think his
church is devilish, how they have been managing the negative criticism and why his church is more popular outside Nigeria than in Nigeria. Continue below.
Why is it that your ministry seems
to be more popular outside Nigeria than in Nigeria?
As it is written in the Bible, a
prophet has no honour in his country. I am not an evangelist or a pastor, I am
a prophet. If my people had understood the work from the beginning, it could
have affected the glory of God in my life today.
Praises and adoration can make you
a local champion.
I may not be accepted by some
people in Nigeria but my acceptance in the world has been announcing me to my
world. When you look at the people working with me, you see that the ratio of
Nigerians working with me are not more than 10 per cent.
Sometimes when I see some
ministries printing handbills, using signboards to advertise their church, I
say those things are not necessary. God is the one inviting people, if you
allow him to do it, the solution to their problems will be waiting for them.
At synagogue, our critics are our
advertisement. They are people that don’t want to hear about us. They tell
other people that ‘that church is devilish;’ unknowingly, some of the people they
tell get inquisitive and they will want to come here and see what a devil looks
like since they haven’t seen one before.
God has been using this as
advertisement for us. Ninety per cent of people who come here do so in the bid
to come and verify what they had heard about this church.
When some of them get here, they
will sit at the back, fearing that they could be hurt. Some put on dark glasses
or disguise in a way that will not allow people that know them to recognise
them.
But before the service is over,
some of them will pick up their bags and move to the front seats. They
eventually become my prayer warriors.
Let me tell you something that
amazes me and that I always thank God for – those who are with me are more than
those that are against me. They keep supporting me all over the world. I have
more, more, more people around the world. Whenever I say this, tears flow from
my eyes (sobs for a while).
These are tears of joy. I get so
sad when I hear people’s confession when their eyes become open to what God is
doing here. Some say, ‘I wish I had known this, my mum would not have died. She
asked me to bring her here but because of what I was hearing about this place,
I refused until she died. I hope that she will forgive me.”’
But many people see you as mystical,
they think you are not a believer in Jesus Christ; that you belong to some
other sect. What is the source of your power?
Your question is funny. We don’t
get power, it is faith we have. The power in our life is released by faith
through our mouth. The issue of getting power is wrong. We don’t talk about
getting power here. If you don’t have faith, power will remain dormant.
In Mark, Jesus said this kind won’t be possible but by prayer and fasting. The disciples had power but lacked faith to release it.
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