Like a recurring theme in some demonic symphony, the drums of war are resonating yet again in Christendom. And it involves the usual suspects and eternal sparring partners, Prophet T.B Joshua, the General Overseer of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, and dandy pop artiste turned preacher, Pastor Chris Okotie of the Household of God Church. Joshua had announced that he was relocating to Israel because of the hostile Nigerian environment, saying, “This is the most persecuted ministry in the world. Who are the people persecuting the ministry? My people, Africa. That is why I choose to live a lonely life. If you want to see me, come to this church. I don’t go out. It has not been easy because I don’t know who is a friend or who is an enemy.
If you learn T.B. Joshua is not around, I am in a revival. I live in the church here. I don’t have a house outside. What happened to me from the beginning of my ministry is enough to chase me out of this country. But I am still in your midst.” He also said Israel had given him land in a choice area to establish his church if he eventually comes to the country. Responding, Okotie, an avowed and age-long critic of Joshua, described him as an attention-seeking ‘impostor.’ In a post on his official Facebook profile, Okotie stated, “He is controlled by a malevolent misanthropic spirit. His hypocritical jeremiad should be ignored. He is just another frustrated shaman seeking public sympathy.”
This recent tirade follows a long line of others. A few years back, a national honour was conferred on Joshua by the Umaru Yar’adua administration. Okotie was miffed, and he expressed this in no uncertain terms. “I think that President Yar’adua does not have the competence to determine who to receive an award in the Body of Christ. (Joshua) is not a Christian. He does not understand the complexity of the spiritual organism that is called the Church and for him to veer out of state matters and delve into matters that have to do with celestial issues is the height of presumptions. Number two, to give an award to a man like Joshua, who is possessed with the malevolent spirit, who has shown himself as a Shaman is to endorse Shamanism and occultism.”
