One of the founders of TB Joshua Watch has written a Guardian “Long Read” article examining the unlikely global following TB Joshua built and the devastating impact his ministry had on many families. Follow the link to read the full piece.
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TB Joshua: 1963 – 2021
It seems the news is confirmed: TB Joshua is dead.
We can only imagine the scenes at SCOAN at the moment. The disarray and emotional turmoil that his disciples and congregation will be going through. Our thoughts are with them.
We started writing this blog in 2011, with the intent of bringing attention to the abusive and manipulative side of SCOAN. We had personal experience of the devastating impact of his deceitful and toxic healing ministry. We’d seen how disciples’ messianic devotion to TB Joshua had destroyed families. We’d heard too many credible accounts of sexual abuse, as well as violence and psychological manipulation, to remain silent. We wanted to warn prospective visitors and disciples that there was more to SCOAN than the apparent signs and wonders shown on Emmanuel TV.
We are concerned that if the news of his death turns out to be genuine, the true nature of his ministry will be obscured by uncritical tributes. The article below, though out of date, still gives a good overview of why TB Joshua’s ministry is so controversial.
TB Joshua’s disastrous US election prophecy [VIDEO]
On Sunday the 5th November, TB Joshua claimed that 10 days prior, God had shown him the new president of the United States of America. He first declined to name who he saw, but later said that “The Lord said, there’s a state that enormously, 99% vote for this woman, and the woman [has a] narrow win”. This “prophecy” was nothing more than stating what the polls were also telling us at the weekend: that it would be a narrow win for Hilary. As we all now know, it wasn’t nearly as close as predicted, and the winner is most definitely not “the woman”. TB Joshua’s world prophecies are simply guesses based on closely following the news, with a bit of deceitful editing where necessary to polish off the rough edges. This time his strategy has badly let him down.
250 people die in Italy, but TB Joshua wants the attention
This vague undated prophecy (thought to be circa 2012) was released by Emmanuel TV to claim that TB Joshua predicted the recent deadly earthquake in Italy.
It hasn’t gone down all that well on youtube, here is a sample of the comments:
Even his supporters are chastising Emmanuel TV for putting out this shameful “prophecy” claim:
But not surprisingly many are still deceived:
If anyone has a link to the original, please post it in the comments.
An Easter Prayer
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As once you ransomed your people from Egypt
and led them to freedom in the promised land,
so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son.
May we, the first fruits of your new creation,
rejoice in this new day you have made,
and praise you for your mighty acts.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Book of Common Prayer
Happy Birthday to us! TB Joshua Watch is 5 years old
5 facts about TB Joshua Watch
- We are 5 years old
- We have nearly 300 posts
- There are over 20,000 comments
- More than 2 million people have visited the site.
- More than 1000 people receive our posts by email, 4000+ follow us on twitter and 4000+ “like” us on facebook.
In other words, the truth about SCOAN is slowly, but surely getting out. We hear from a lot of people who have found support through the site, some have found themselves shunned after leaving SCOAN others have lost family members to the ministry (cult). TB Joshua Watch shows them that they are not alone in their concerns or suffering. Others have found our site while investigating TB Joshua and have avoided the pain and loss that comes from devoting yourself to SCOAN by having the truth revealed about the ministry. Still more ex-disciples have told us their stories, releived to have a listening and sympathetic ear that they know will believe them. The testimonies you read on this site are only a selection of the ones we receive, some of the most shocking we’re not at liberty to publish.
To commemorate 5 years of TB Joshua Watch, here are the 5 most popular posts of all time:
5. TB Joshua’s evolving MH370 prophecy
The mysterious loss of MH370 was one of the biggest news stories of 2014, so no surprise that TB Joshua claimed to have prophecied it. This was one of the most revealing prophecies he’s ever made because he claimed he had predicted it right after the plane was lost, but as we all know – was no help at all in finding it. If you needed any more evidence that his prophecies are nonsense, I don’t know what to offer.
4. Must read article: TB Joshua, the man who tricked God?
Number 4 was a surprise one, but it’s always good to read well written critiques of TB Joshua from other sources – and the article linked to here was one of the best.
3. The damaging teaching about spiritual husbands and wives
Spiritual spouses is an unfortunate teaching that seems to have more grounds in traditional African spiritualism than Christianity. Not that heretical theology is ever a concern to TB Joshua and SCOAN. This article linked to quotes from Zambian pastor Conrad Mwebe’s excellent debunking of this damaging heresy.
2. How to get your hands on TB Joshua’s anointed water
TB Joshua’s latest lucky charm is a prayer card, but his anointed water has been hugely popular over the years, despite being blasphemously called “The blood of Jesus” and “For the salvation of your soul”. This article looked at how the anointed water was distributed and whether or not it was free as SCOAN claimed. The information is now very out of date.
1. The tricks behind TB Joshua’s prophecies REVEALED!
At number 1, with over 110,000 views (and 500,000 views of the video) is our first article revealing the deceptive video editing that polishes up otherwise false prophecies. Since then there have been numerous other examples, but this post still gets thousands of hits a month.
1 year on – where is MH370 TB Joshua?
1 year ago today, Malaysian airlines flight MH370 disappeared. To date, it has not been found and nobody has any idea what happened to it. Immediately after the disappearance, SCOAN released an (edited) video claiming TB Joshua predicted it (in reality he predicted a crash at the end of a runway, but a bit of editing sorted that out). For a couple of weeks after, TB Joshua was chasing the news stories, dressing up new developments or speculation as “prophecies”.
On March 15th, 2014 he claimed that the missing airliner was just about to be found. You can listen to his words at the beginning of the video below:
TB Joshua Watch on Facebook
In case you didn’t already know, TB Joshua Watch is also on Facebook. From now on we are going to use facebook more regularly as a place to post brief news updates and links. The blog will continue to be used for less frequent, but more in depth posts.
To keep up to date with the latest TB Joshua news, please “Like” us on facebook.
A John Chi update
Here’s a quick taster of the messages we’ve received in the last 24 hours:
I have but this to say to TBJOSHUAWATCH and all you clowns that jumped the gun in an attempt to discredit the Prophet of God…………BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
JOHN CHI PREACHING RIGHT NOW ON THE ALTER AT SYNAGOGOUE…HAAA YOU LOSERS HAVE LOST AGAIN!!!!!! YOU TRIED TO CREATE A NON EXISTING STORY!!!!!…KWAAAAA
Shame on you Initiator or Moderator. John Chi is back. The God of mercy has seen him through. You can go to hell to serve Satan your Master
Now, you have been truly discredited, please close your false accusatory website! Turn to God, seek forgiveness of your many sins and leave TBJ alone!
These brood of viper pharesees Authors at T.b. Joshua watch have now gone beyound their boundaries. And this will bring plague upon them and their families.
Can you feel the love for us?
Let’s backtrack a little. Last week, TB Joshua announced that John Chi, one of the wisemen had been dropped. He didn’t go into much detail as to why but after doing our best to decipher his 25 minute meandering waffle, we gathered that:
- He had been tempted
- His voice had changed/gone(?)
- His anointing exceeded his character
TB Joshua was also very complimentary about John Chi, saying he was everyone’s favourite wiseman and the most gifted. Apparently John Chi had said he would not let go of God until God restored him back. He finished this segment by saying that if there any more unanswered questions, he would shed more light on them next week.
We interpreted from all this that John Chi had left SCOAN (as did many others). Some had different interpretations (we updated our post to acknowledge this) – all were perfectly valid considering the vagueness of the information given.
Fast forward 1 week…. and John Chi makes a triumphant return. No explanation, except to confirm that he had not left the ministry and was not sick. Queue lots of charming messages in our inbox!
Were we wrong? On the face of it yes. Sadly he does appear to still be part of the ministry. Perhaps he left and TB Joshua convinced him to come back? Perhaps he was sick and away for medical treatment? Perhaps he was there all along? Whatever the case, it seems very strange that they would go to the extreme lengths of announcing he’d been dropped only to seemingly reinstate him a week later.
If we have spread false information, then for that we apologise. Keeping up with the circus of SCOAN is a fulltime job, but it’s not our fulltime job.
However – if you think one tiny bit of (potentially) false information discredits this whole site, then there’s probably no helping you. Most people would agree that the false prophecies, the alleged sexual abuse, the cult characteristics and the deaths caused by false claims of healing are more than enough to validate this sites existence.
As for John Chi – keep praying for him. Pray that one day he, the other wisemen and disciples really will be fully and permanently set free from their bondage at SCOAN and restored to their friends, family and the grace of God.
Messages of support for Wiseman John Chi
There have been a number of rumours circulating lately that Wiseman John Chi had left SCOAN, today TB Joshua confirmed it. It is wonderful news that a senior leader in SCOAN has woken up and seen the light, but watch very carefully in the coming days at how SCOAN respond to it. Expect them to do everything possible to discredit him.
Wiseman John Chi – we commend you for taking the bold step that you have, and pray that you find safety, peace and above all experience the abundant grace of God, who does not condemn, does not slander, does not hold grudges but who loves unconditionally. If you wish to make contact with others who have made the same move as you, email tbjoshuawatch@hotmail.co.uk. We’re not after your story, but will do all we can to help your transition.
Please leave your messages of support for Wiseman John Chi in the comments below. If you are one of the many readers who does not comment – please consider making an exception here, and posting a message to the Wiseman. It is impossible to know what he’s going through right now, but he will need all the support he can get. It is very likely he will come across this page, so it is currently the best way to get messages to him. The comments on this post are for messages of support and encouragement only, and they will be moderated as such.
We leave you with the following piece by Jan Groenveld called “It Hurts”:
IT HURTS to discover you were deceived – that what you thought was the “one true religion,” the “path to total freedom,” or “truth” was in reality a cult.IT HURTS when you learn that people you trusted implicitly – whom you were taught not to question – were “pulling the wool over your eyes” albeit unwittingly.IT HURTS when you learn that those you were taught were your “enemies” were telling the truth after all — but you had been told they were liars, deceivers, repressive, satanic etc and not to listen to them.IT HURTS when you know your faith in God hasn’t changed – only your trust in an organization – yet you are accused of apostasy, being a trouble maker, a “Judas”. It hurts even more when it is your family and friends making these accusations.IT HURTS to realize their love and acceptance was conditional on you remaining a member of good standing. This cuts so deeply you try and suppress it. All you want to do is forget – but how can you forget your family and friends?IT HURTS to see the looks of hatred coming from the faces of those you love – to hear the deafening silence when you try and talk to them. It cuts deeply when you try and give your child a hug and they stand like a statue, pretending you aren’t there. It stabs like a knife when you know your spouse looks upon you as demonized and teaches your children to hate you.IT HURTS to know you must start all over again. You feel you have wasted so much time. You feel betrayed, disillusioned, suspicious of everyone including family, friends and other former members.IT HURTS when you find yourself feeling guilty or ashamed of what you were – even about leaving them. You feel depressed, confused, lonely. You find it difficult to make decisions. You don’t know what to do with yourself because you have so much time on your hands now – yet you still feel guilty for spending time on recreation.IT HURTS when you feel as though you have lost touch with reality. You feel as though you are “floating” and wonder if you really are better off and long for the security you had in the organization and yet you know you cannot go back.IT HURTS when you feel you are all alone – that no one seems to understand what you are feeling. It hurts when you realize your self confidence and self worth are almost non-existent.IT HURTS when you have to front up to friends and family to hear their “I told you so” whether that statement is verbal or not. It makes you feel even more stupid than you already do – your confidence and self worth plummet even further.IT HURTS when you realize you gave up everything for the cult – your education, career, finances, time and energy – and now have to seek employment or restart your education. How do you explain all those missing years?IT HURTS because you know that even though you were deceived, you are responsible for being taken in. All that wasted time…….. at least that is what it seems to you – wasted time.THE PAIN OF GRIEFLeaving a cult is like experiencing the death of a close relative or a broken relationship. The feeling is often described as like having been betrayed by someone with whom you were in love. You feel you were simply used.There is a grieving process to pass through. Whereas most people understand that a person must grieve after a death etc, they find it difficult to understand the same applies in this situation. There is no instant cure for the grief, confusion and pain. Like all grieving periods, time is the healer. Some feel guilty, or wrong about this grief. They shouldn’t — It IS normal. It is NOT wrong to feel confused, uncertain, disillusioned, guilty, angry, untrusting – these are all part of the process. In time the negative feelings will be replaced with clear thinking, joy, peace, and trust.YES – IT HURTS BUT THE HURTS WILL HEAL WITH TIME, PATIENCE & UNDERSTANDINGThere is life after the cult.(copyright (c) Jan Groenveld)
Update: It appears that the situation is not as clear as we first thought. TB Joshua explains the situation in his usual obtuse way here (leaving us none the wiser), for full context see this video (it starts just before the 1hr mark). We still believe the evidence points to him having actually left, but time will tell. In any case, he needs support and prayers – either for help piecing his life back together on the outside, or for strength and opportunity to make the break and get out of SCOAN.
TB Joshua Watch 