TB Joshua

T.B. Joshua is the head of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations in Lagos, Nigeria. Here is biographical information from The SCOAN’s Website about T.B. Joshua:

BY HIS GRACE
“God chooses grace rather than works (Ephesians 2:8-9). This means that if the weak come to Him, He would help their weakness just as He would help the strong. God knows we are weak – that is why He chooses grace. If God had chosen works rather than grace, man would have the autonomy to choose whom to help with his works and how to do His works. The battle would be for the strongest leaving no room for people like me (T.B. Joshua). The race would be for the swiftest leaving no room for people like me (T.B. Joshua).

Isaiah 6:8 – “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ “

T.B. Joshua is just one of those who have submitted to the will of God. He acknowledges that if God had chosen works rather than grace, no one would merit His mercy. In a sermon titled, “By His Grace”, he explained:“Wisdom in the practical sense of ability and skill cannot guarantee success in life. It is the goodness of our cause that interests God more than physical and mental disposition. This explains why the weak people like me who are without great strength, a smooth tongue, fast legs or high learning should ever remain grateful to God”.

Right from the onset of his incredible journey, the hand of God has been clearly evident in the life of T.B. Joshua. He was born on June 12th, 1963 in the small village of Arigidi in Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. The pregnancy period of his mother was by no means ordinary, as the baby remained in her womb for 15 months before he was born. Significantly, almost a hundred years prior to his birth, it had been prophesied that a young man would emerge from the poor Oosin quarters and that God would use him mightily. Another remarkable event occurred when he was three days old, as a large boulder crashed through the roof of his house, missing the baby by mere inches. This incident led to his mother naming him, ‘Temitope’, meaning, ‘What You (God) have done for me is worthy of thanks’.

During his elementary education at St. Stephen’s Anglican primary school, Arigidi, he was the leader of the Student Christian fellowship. He was the smallest in the class but led the prayer during the school devotions and was known as ‘small pastor’. He was unable to complete his secondary education due to poverty.

Reflecting on his early life, he said: “I found myself in a family background that irritated me. My natural circumstance of birth was poverty. I come from a very humble background. Poverty loomed large in the family. The little education I had was through self-effort. I know many people with a similar circumstance of birth who did otherwise. They allowed their circumstance to influence their will. Their dreams crashed on the rocks of disappointment, failure and setback…In those early years of my life, we knew we would be blamed for what we gave our attention to.”

Very early in life, he knew how much he needed God, so he did not allow the situation around him to affect his relationship with God. As described in his own words, T.B. Joshua recounts how he discovered the direction of God’s calling for his life:

LIFE AFTER LIFE
“I was in a trance for three consecutive days, then I saw a hand that pointed a Bible to my heart and the Bible entered my heart and my former heart seemed to immerse with the Bible immediately. Then the awareness came and I saw the apostles and prophets of old with someone whose head I could not see because He was tall to the heaven and suspended, which I believe was our Lord, Jesus Christ sitting in their midst. I also saw myself in their midst. After a while, I saw a hand of the same tall man; I could not behold His face, which was glittering with an unimaginable light, tall to the high heavens and suspended in the air. But other apostles I could see their faces, particularly Apostles Peter and Paul, Prophets Moses, Elijah and others. Their names were boldly written on their chests.

I heard a voice saying, ‘I am your God; I am giving you a divine commission to go and carry out the work of the Heavenly Father’. At the same time, the same hand of the tall man gave me a small cross and a big Bible, bigger than the one that entered my heart with a promise that as I keep pressing in His time and name, I would be given a bigger cross but if I fail the opposite would occur. I also heard a voice of the same tall man, I could not see His head, saying, I am the Lord your God who was and who is – Jesus Christ, giving orders to all the apostles and prophets. The same voice said to me, ‘I would show you the wonderful ways I would reveal myself through you, in teaching, preaching, miracles, signs and wonders for the salvation of souls’.

Since then, I have been receiving in my vision, every year according to my faithfulness to God, a bigger cross that means to me more responsibilities.

The Bible that entered my heart symbolized Spirit and life (The Holy Spirit). God’s Word is Spirit and life. He does nothing without His Word. The Book of Romans 8:16 says that God’s Spirit joins Himself to our spirit to declare that we are children of God. The Father gave the Spirit to make us like His Son.

Father, thank You for Your Spirit, fill us with Your love and power, change us into Christ’s own image, day by day and hour by hour.

God Himself performs the divine anointing on all who have the wonderful privilege of becoming His children (2 Corinthians 1:21-23 and Luke 24:48-49).”

Obedient to the divine call, T.B. Joshua, started a ministry with a mere eight members, prophetically naming it, ‘The Synagogue, Church of All Nations’ of which he is the General Overseer. Today, by the grace of God, as a man of faith, he is both a representative of God and of people. The ministry started very small but has now grown far beyond the shores of Nigeria.

Evidently, T.B. Joshua has come a long way, full of troubles and hurdles, but all the way long, there has been an unseen hand of God intervening in his affairs. In every situation, he has remained focused on what God has to say.

For those whose lives are centred in Christ Jesus, the best is always yet to come…

EVERYTHING BIG STARTS LITTLE
“I found myself in a family background that irritated me. In those early years of my life, I knew I would be blamed for what I gave my attention to – so I took a different direction in order to achieve a different solution.

Before this time, I was a member of the Anglican Church and participated actively in many church activities. On three different occasions, I was appointed the chairman of Children’s Harvest/ Thanksgiving ceremony. During my elementary education at St. Stephen Anglican Primary School, Agbalaku, Arigidi, I was leader of the student Christian fellowship.

I taught my colleagues the Scriptures without formal Bible training. In my dreams, I was always taught the Scriptures; that gave me an edge over other student colleagues, even my teacher. I was the smallest in the class but led the prayer during the school devotions. My teacher, Mrs Margaret Tolani Adejumo and my colleagues usually called me ‘small pastor’.

I recognised early enough that victory obtained through Christ was a time past victory. I mean, it is victory assured. Rather than despair and blame my situation on family background, I began to be proud of my situation in order to feel Christ’s victory over me.

I became content with my situation, knowing that my situation is redeemable through Christ and that the redemption was a time-past one. I mean, redemption assured. Then I began to take God at His Word in order to have His way.

Nobody is too good or too bad to qualify for His grace. Remember, it was possible for me to sit somewhere and begin to make excuses for my situation. I never did. Whatever I am today is a product of that conviction that victory through Christ is victory indeed. The rest is history.

Today, many people blame their situation on family background. Some would say, ‘I am poor because everyone in my family is poor’. If you make excuses for being poor, your poverty cannot be excused. Remember, you are responsible for what you give your attention to; so it is unnecessary to blame your situation on anyone. Today, it is common for people to blame their failure on their family background, whereas they attribute their success to their personal effort. If you attribute your success to your personal effort, you should also accept the blame for your failure. When we make excuses for our wrongdoing, such misdeeds would not be excused.

God has a time for everything: A time to grow, a time to face realities of life, a time to overcome and a time to show the proceeds of victory (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

I want to let you know that this record is not in anyway intended to show off – I mean, it is not a way of saying, ‘I have arrived’, but my own way of glorifying God for what He is doing in our lives. It is my own way of giving testimony to the goodness of God in my life. First, to show my total dependence on God and second, to encourage the weak that there is hope; Jesus is the hope.

Life is a warfare, and in a war there are many battles to be won. Each time God leads us through a battle, it is in our own interest to testify to His goodness, as a way of thanksgiving for not allowing our adversaries to triumph over us. If God had not overcome for us, there would be no need to show this record, just as there would be no need for this story.”

MY STOPPING INTERVALS
“In our spiritual walk with the Lord, we have good times and hard times. When the going is good, we say we are in good times. When the going is tough, we say we are experiencing hard times. Remember, life itself is a mission. While we are on the go, we need to stop between steps, to re-focus on the Word and the Will of God. While we are on the go, I mean, while we are on the mission, we need to sometimes stop at intervals to assess our progress and prepare ourselves for the challenges ahead. Certain challenges on our way usually make us stop awhile – I mean, for a moment. When you stop awhile, you are not down. What are these challenges? They could come in the form of sickness, failure, setback, imprisonment, poverty. For instance, if I receive a sack letter from my very lucrative job, there is a natural tendency for me to cry and lament, if I do not view the situation from the maturity that comes from faith. It takes faith to realise that the situation is a mere stopping interval – a short break between two events.

I do not need to go very far to cite or give an example of what I am saying because my experience in life is enough to illustrate this philosophy or principle of life. As we said earlier, many things could cause one to stop between steps. I could still remember vividly when I sat for and passed the entrance examination into the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

I was invited for the interview and I had to board the train from Lagos to Kaduna. Behold, on our journey the train developed some serious faults that kept us in the bush in Jebba for six horrible days with little or no provision. Remember, I was going for an interview that was billed to hold the following day. I was on the railway line in Jebba while the interview was going on in Kaduna and there was nothing I could do to help the situation as I lacked the means to arrange for an alternative way of transporting myself to the venue of the interview, so I missed the whole thing.

This was how the ambition to enlist into the military was aborted by what was obviously an act of fate. Who knows what would have happened if I had successfully attended that interview. I actually felt very bitter I had missed another chance of making it in life. With a very heavy heart I went to the village to complain to my mother of how so many opportunities had slipped by. Little would I have reasoned that it was one of those stops between steps in my spiritual walk with God until my mother did her best to calm me down, saying: ‘My son, do not mind the seeming appearance of things as of today. If I am ever confident of any child, you are that child. Do not be afraid of what the future holds for you, because I know if anyone is destined to fail, you are not the one. So, be patient and you would see what God would do in your life. I am so sure of your future breakthrough, considering the strength of the predictions and prophecies about you even before you were born. I cannot forget so easily what I experienced when I was pregnant with you, and I know God cannot lie. My son, whatever you may be going through today, just take it as a temporary setback, meant to prepare you for the challenges ahead. Don’t forget your name is ‘Temitope’ and, by the grace of God, the whole world shall have the cause to thank God for your sake.’

After this encounter with my mother, I began to look at whatever came my way with a more mature mind whose focus was on God alone. I mean, the maturity that comes from faith in the finished works of our Lord Jesus Christ. My case was already settled in Heaven. Here I am today in your midst; I can boast of what God is doing for us. Hallelujah! You are all witnesses.

In my spiritual walk with God I have experienced both good and hard times. Who knows what would have happened if those temporary stops did not come at intervals. Consider how my education suffered ‘epileptic fits’; today I am in school, the next day I am out. Remember, when God is executing His plan in our lives, He also designs and arranges events which continue to unfold until His purpose is revealed. The ups and downs in my education were part of the events that revealed the purpose of God in my life. Remember, the man who is poor is not the man that has no money, but one without a dream. They are suffering that have no dream. They are poor that have no dream.

Before I knew it, I had gone around six different colleges in less than one year. I enrolled for the examinations of JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board) four times and on each occasion it was either I forgot my acknowledgement card and other necessary documents or there was an accident on the way to the exam venues. People who saw what was happening to me simply attributed my predicament to either sin or non-seriousness on my part. But those with the maturity that comes from faith, like my mother, saw it as mere stopping intervals or natural stops in my spiritual walk with God.

In James 4:7, we are told to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. If we examine carefully – our attitudes toward certain situations - we would see how much we willingly submit ourselves to the devil each time we view things with the maturity that comes from the experience rather than of faith. The maturity that comes from experience is based on what is seen, what is heard and what circumstances look like. When your maturity is derived from circumstantial factors other than faith, your level of maturity would continue to fluctuate rather than being stable. This is why I am enabled to maintain a balance and stable approach to the challenges that come my way every day. I am not moved by what people say or do concerning my relationship with God. I submit myself to His direct will which is good and perfect with no evil in it. Sometimes, God uses foolish things to strengthen our desire for Him.

In Luke 22:32, Jesus said to Peter, ‘I pray that your faith would not fail’. This means, all men make mistakes but people of God get back up. Certainly we would fall but with Jesus supporting our position, we would soon get back up.”