Guys, lately there have been a lot of sex scandals in the church, including the one with Mike Bickle. I have seen many of these situations before, and it was sad to see once again how many in the church idolize celebrity pastors and seem to care more for the perpetrator of abuse than for the victim. It was sad to see once again how many are willing to cover up what they know is happening in order to protect the religious organization. And it was sad to see once again how many people are quick to treat the victim as if they were the villain, and the abuser as if they were the victim.

Not long after the Mike Bickle scandal, the pastor of the local church here was caught making sexual advances and exposing himself to a young woman who came for counseling. Then something came out in the news that at least 20 women had come forth with allegations since then, but it seems to have been removed, probably because of threats of legal action against the newspaper.

I thought of writing about the issue of systems that foster abuse instead of confronting it, and about discerning false apostles and leaders who are walking in the flesh, but I felt the Holy Spirit was saying it wasn’t time yet. If I had just written then, I might have presented a very one-sided perspective. I didn’t imagine that we would soon be dealing with a situation in which the accusations really were just slander. But now allegations against the influential Nigerian pastor T.B. Joshua have also come out, and this seems to be a very different story. Now I believe it’s time to write, not only about discerning the false, but about discerning what is true. We need to be wise, not presumptuous, quick to listen, and slow to speak.

The Scandal At Our Local Church

Some of you know part of the back story if you’ve been reading my blog for a while. I became involved in this church because of their mission groups, knowing that the whole system was broken but feeling that it wasn’t as bad as many other ones because it was less controlling. I wasn’t there for the leaders, but for the people and the missions. My wife was attending long before me. I work on Sunday, so my involvement has mostly been missions outreaches, the men’s group, barbecues, and more. Many people have been receiving healing and deliverance at such events.

Around 2021, the founder was caught in a scandal and accused of sexual abuse, but it was determined in court to be simply an adulterous situation with someone who seduced him, morally wrong but not illegal. However, they rushed to “restore the pastor.” Due to twisted values, many churches rush to “restore” an abusive leader to an exaggerated statues that God never intended in the first place, but fail to honor or receive those who really love and serve God’s people.

Many people were coming to receive Christ. However, the church took a dangerous turn into greed, bringing many false apostles who were self-serving. People were seeing the miracles in my life and telling me I needed to talk to the pastor and telling him he should talk to me because the church needed what I was walking in and we could have a group to train people. However, the day we were supposed to meet I stood up and walked out of the meeting because there was a strong demonic manifestation as a false apostle they invited abused the people and even said “God hates you if you aren’t tithing.” I tell the story in the post “Don’t Muddy the Waters.”

I became an outsider to the top leaders, but many who were closer to me personally saw and welcomed the Holy Spirit’s work. I was going to the services on Thursday nights, but it always felt like I wasn’t edified, wasn’t edifying others, and was losing family time. Finally, I had a vision of a demonic manifestation of a dark cloud when they took the offering and stopped going to services. But the men’s group and missions groups were wonderful. Those groups and home meetings became where I stayed in fellowship.

The Lord spoke to me very strongly over the last few years about how seriously He sees greed and financial manipulation in the church. I shared some of that in the post “Don’t Participate in the Sin of Others by Giving in Manipulative Offerings.” I even gave a teaching at the church men’s group about it. I shared from Titus 1, 2nd Peter 2, and Jude about greedy teachers who are willing to teach human commands and make up prophecies to bring in the money. It was probably clear to everyone present that I was specifically referring to common practices that their church and its guest speakers regularly engaged in. I warned that Scripture describes these greedy teachers as having “eyes full of adultery,” that Scripture treats greed as seriously as the sin of adultery, and that what these teachers were doing was a form of spiritual adultery.

Then a few months ago, my wife and daughter were saying how much they loved the pastor and asked why I didn’t like him. I said “It’s not that I don’t like him. I care about him. But he is living in rebellion against Jesus and you shouldn’t call him your pastor.”

It was only a few weeks later that the scandal became public. My wife was hurt and shocked. But I wasn’t surprised. I had warned her and others!

I rebuked the church in an Instagram live, saving and sharing the video. The church wanted to go on acting as if nothing had happened and this was just the sin of one man. But I told them they can’t keep going like nothing happened, and the whole church needs to repent. They needed to repent, first, of ignoring the Biblical qualifications for an elder. They needed to repent because many people knew what was happening and covered it up, thinking they were “protecting the church.” That’s what happens when you call an institution the church instead of understanding that the church is God’s people! They put people in danger to protect the system and were still hiding as much as they could of how bad it was. They disobeyed the scriptures that say to rebuke an elder who keeps sinning in the presence of all, and to expose the works of darkness, but instead lived in lies and darkness. I said other leaders who covered this up should resign. I learned that in the previous incident years ago, it was actually three women who brought allegations and the woman who went to court said she talked to all of the pastors about what happened and they said “Satan is using his mouth, but you need to forgive him to protect the church.” They hid it!

I also rebuked the church for accepting the sin of covetousness and said it would be obvious to them that the pastor was walking in the flesh if they had not accepted the sin of covetousness. And they were continuing to accept many other covetous teachers who have eyes full of adultery, serve only themselves, and abuse God’s flock. I named a few of these false apostles and gave reasons why, such as abuse and heretical teaching. Their churches operate like criminal organizations in the kingdom of darkness with lies, threats, and deceit. I told the church they needed to repent of participating in these people’s evil works by welcoming them.

As I made the video, I felt the Spirit of God flowing through me and power and love flowing through my mouth in the very same way as when I minister healing, rebuke a disease, or preach the gospel. Some liked the video or agreed, but I heard the church leaders were furious! Some wanted to sue me. But the video was made in pure love, pleading with people to repent.

The Works of the Flesh are Obvious

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV) The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 5:24-25 (NIV) The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.

Many people are surprised about allegations of misconduct, but they shouldn’t be because the works of the flesh were evident in that situation. Where you see one work of the flesh, there are probably more. But the distorted values of much of religious institutionalism blind people to what should be obvious.

In my rebuke to the church, I said that greed isn’t about having lots of money or little money, or about whether or not a person likes nice cars, but greed is about being willing to compromise the truth for financial gain. The two primary ways we see this in scripture are by using human commands and teachings to take the offering (Titus 1) and by false prophesy or prophesy from a different spirit meant to bring in the money. (2nd Peter 2 and Jude.) And scripture describes greedy teachers as having eyes full of adultery. The greed, selfish ambition, arrogance, dissensions, factions, fits of rage, and envy were evident, and are so often evident when there is a sex scandal, so in most cases, people should not have been surprised that there was also adultery. If they had not been idolizing preachers and had not accepted many other works of the flesh, they would have easily discerned that person was walking in the flesh.

Anyone who has read the Didache and other early church writings knows that the early church discerned who was true and who was false by the way they dealt with money! I can think of multiple other sex scandals in which pastors had to resign or be removed and people were shocked, but those pastors had embraced false prophecies and human commands in the offering time. One particular one in the last few years suggested that people could obtain their healing by what they put in the offering. Within a year, he was caught in adultery.

Many religious leaders are false brothers, false apostles, serving themselves. The church participates in their sin by receiving them. But not only are the works of the flesh obvious, but good deeds are also obvious. I believe this is why the Lord had me wait to write. We should not even need scandalous accusations to discern when someone is walking in the flesh, but on the other hand, we must learn to discern when the accusations are false and slanderous. Just as the works of the flesh were obvious in our local situation and many similar sex scandals, T.B. Joshua’s good deeds were obvious.

Some people seem to accept everything, and others seem to reject everything. But the Bible says to “Test all things; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

Discerning When Allegations Are False

I recently learned that BBC created a documentary series claiming that Prophet T.B. Joshua was leading a terrible cult. I didn’t know what to think at first. T.B. Joshua pastored Nigeria’s most influential church, and although I don’t have all the same beliefs as him, I have seen things that were commendable in his life and mentioned him in a positive light, especially in my book “The Trojan Horse of Tithing.” Soon after the allegations, someone asked me if I would like to remove T.B. Joshua’s name from my book. I wasn’t sure yet, but I decided to look into the allegations more.

I believe allegations of spiritual and/or sexual abuse should be taken seriously, not lightly dismissed, but should be tested. It seems such allegations in the US and Brazil where I live usually prove to be true. Even the way some people are defending T.B. Joshua makes me shudder, because some of them are simply saying “Let God judge,” “just ask God what kind of man he is,” and repeating other phrases that have often been used to silence victims in real cases of abuse like the one we just saw right here. I disagree with that kind of response and I think it’s useless and dangerous. I would much rather hear a response based on facts than a general “how dare you accuse this man!” Fortunately, enough people have provided strong evidence and testimony refuting multiple accusations against T.B. Joshua, and I am now convinced that those accusations are completely false and are in the context of religious persecution.

In fact, various other Nigerian pastors who have proven themselves to be wolves through sex scandals and spiritual abuse have been hostile towards T.B. Joshua and leveled accusations against him for a long time. In videos, I can see the soft look of compassion and love in T.B. Joshua’s eyes contrasting with the darkness in their eyes. Adeboye, another pastor I mentioned in the Trojan Horse of Tithing, is one of them. Adeboye is the pastor who preaches that anyone who doesn’t pay their tithe will go to hell and anyone who fails to preach tithing will go to hell. T.B. Joshua was persecuted by many in the religious establishment because he was of such a different spirit, in contrast to the greed and self-serving of so many others. Some other prominent pastors refused to send condolences to his family, and some even made statements celebrating his death. On the other hand, even some Muslim leaders sent condolences to Joshua’s family when he died. They respected him because of his care for the poor.

It’s sad that so many American Christians were quick to defend Mike Bickle and assume all allegations must be false before the facts became clear, yet automatically assumed all accusations against T.B. Joshua were true without ever testing them or hearing the other side. They were presumptuous to assume that Mike Bickle was innocent, and presumptuous to assume that T.B. Joshua was guilty. Much of the BBC documentary about Joshua has already been definitively proven to be lies.

T.B. Joshua was of such a different spirit than so many others who’ve been caught in scandals. It was evident in the way he handled money with integrity, cared for the poor, and did not engage in so many manipulative practices that are common elsewhere. One example is when T.B. Joshua refused the $1000 offering of a woman who was healed and got out of her wheelchair because it might look like she was giving money in exchange for the healing. He asked her to help him by giving the money to the poor instead.

Greed is usually, maybe even always a mark of these preachers involved in sex scandals, but it was conspicuously lacking in everything I saw of T.B. Joshua. Furthermore, several very powerful deliverance ministries have been tremendously influenced by him, including Daniel Adams and Mark Hemans of Jesus Encounters Ministries. These are not reasons to automatically dismiss allegations, but they are reasons to pause, test all things, and not be presumptuous.

When Mark Hemans shared Wise Man Harry’s response to the allegations against Joshua, I especially paid attention. I love Jesus but I’ve seen so much abuse and I have no tolerance for greed and manipulation and little patience for mere human religion, I just want to hear about Jesus, and Jesus Encounter Ministries has been one of the purest ministries I’ve seen. Simple and preaching Christ with power.

I’ve heard several responses to the BBC documentary and so far one allegation after another from BBC has been definitively proven false or at least seriously called into question by video evidence, document evidence, and the firsthand testimony of multiple people. Following are a few examples with links to videos. You can click the links and watch them if you’re interested.

Ajoke claimed she was T.B. Joshua’s biological daughter with a woman who was not his wife, and he refused to acknowledge her. No. As proven by a police report and video of the day she was found with people saying what happened, and multiple witnesses, Ajoke is not Joshua’s biological daughter but was a baby who was abandoned and he adopted, and the real story of what happened is quite different. Here you can see more of the very people in the documentary on video contradicting each other’s claims and their own words about Ajoke by saying how much T.B. Joshua loved her (in contrast to saying he hated her in the documentary) and testifying that she was found as an abandoned baby and adopted. (In contrast to the claim that she was his biological daughter born out of wedlock.)

Listen to Wiseman Harry and other people giving first-hand testimony. Hear the other side of the story. And Wiseman Daniel’s testimony. T.B. Joshua had male disciples around him 24/7, and there was no way he could have been with women without them knowing it. Women who lived there testify that they weren’t even allowed to go anywhere alone without another lady and the allegations are absurd. Various women who lived at the Synagogue Church of All Nations are upset about the allegations and giving positive testimony of their experience. Hear the testimony of one lady responding to the allegation that T.B. Joshua had all the young virgins brought to him to “de-virgin” them. She says she came to the church as a virgin, she was still a virgin when she left, and there was never anything inappropriate. T.B. Joshua treated her like a daughter. She also testified that the miracles were real, and she was one of those who interviewed the people who were healed. In fact, when it was first released, the BBC documentary was flooded with comments from people saying they were healed when they visited the church!

Hear the real story behind some of T.B. Joshua’s accusers, including Agomah Paul and Besola Johnson, with video evidence of their own testimony contradicting their claims in the BBC documentary: At 22:56, watch the video of the event in which Besola Johnson claimed she was laid on the floor and beaten mercilessly. She was not beaten or mistreated. Rather, she was confessing to her own evil behavior. Some have testified that Besola Johnson believed she would replace T.B. Joshua’s wife at some point. Since T.B. Joshua remained faithful to his wife, she seems to have become enraged with him as Potiphar’s wife did with Joseph. The whole situation reminds me of Shawn Bolz sharing in one of his books about how he became a victim of stalking by girls who thought God told them they would marry him.

Another accuser has a reputation of seducing, accusing, and blackmailing many men and claims to have slept with almost every pastor she ever met, not just T.B. Joshua. She would try to seduce pastors to compromise them, recording videos to blackmail them when successful. The video I linked to includes as an example, a clip she recorded of herself beside a certain pastor who was snoring. Although she intentionally sought to record such compromising videos of others, she hasn’t produced any such compromising video of T.B. Joshua, yet has come out three years after his death with allegations of wrongdoing. Why? I would like a full disclosure about any money BBC that paid her and other participants in their documentary! At 25:42 into this video, see a repentant man confessing how he was involved in witchcraft and would go to great lengths, along with other journalists, to make up false accusations against T.B. Joshua. Here is the testimony of Joseph David who worked for 27 years in the ministry, met all the accusers except for Besola Johnson, and knew how most of them came and how they left.

Angie who accused T.B. Joshua of not letting her get married has her wedding recorded on video…and T.B. Joshua is the one who performs and blesses the wedding! And nobody was imprisoning her…the real story is quite different. Angie’s brother who was with T.B. Joshua for 17 years testifies that the accusations do not match his experience. He saw the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit at his time there.

I haven’t found any allegation against T.B. Joshua to be credible. Rather, the more we learn, the more it seems that the accusers all have strong ulterior motives.

It’s Scripture That We Can Expect False Accusations Against Righteous People

There have always been scoundrels, wolves, false workers, and pastors who feed only themselves. It’s nothing new.
There have also always been persecutions, false accusations, and slander against righteous people. According to the Bible, this is to be expected.

In First Kings 21, Ahab and Jezebel had false witnesses speak against righteous Naboth in order to seize his vineyard. Judas betrayed Jesus for money. Matthew 26:59 tells of how the Chief Priests and Sanhedrin looked for false evidence/testimony against Jesus to put him to death and “many false witnesses came forward.” Then in Matthew 28:12, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money to give false testimony denying Jesus’ resurrection. In Acts 6:13, they presented false witnesses against Stephen in order to kill him. Mark 14:56-59 also says MANY people falsely testified against Jesus, but their testimony did not agree. And the testimonies of the people in the BBC documentary against T.B. Joshua in many cases do not agree with THEIR OWN WORDS on video!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.” Slander is actually to be expected against anybody who lives a godly life, because scripture says that anyone who lives a godly life will be persecuted. (2nd Timothy 3:12)

T.B. Joshua has faced tremendous opposition from witchcraft, as many people doing deliverance ministry do. This usually involves false accusations. Thousands of Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria, and it is one of the worst places for persecution against Christians in the world. BBC has a known anti-Christian bias. It produced the documentary in collaboration with Open Democracy, a group funded by George Soros’ radical Open Society Foundation. It has been common for communist regimes and other governments hostile to Christians to fabricate evidence and accusations against Christian leaders. It happened regularly to many pastors behind the Iron Curtain…false accusations that they cheated on their wives, stole money, or anything to destroy them.

Opposition from false brothers. Opposition from witchcraft. Opposition from those promoting godless or pagan philosophies. Slanderous accusations. T.B. Joshua faced all of this, as did the apostle Paul and as many others who were sent by Jesus have faced. It’s time to wake up to the reality of persecution against God’s work in our world today, even in our own countries!

The triggers of persecution in Jesus’ ministry and in the books of Acts were often healing and deliverance ministry. Paul was beaten after a girl was delivered from a demon. Torben Sondergaard was persecuted for deliverance in Europe and a documentary was made deliberately distorting what happened and presenting a totally different picture. It is so clear it was false if you hear both sides of the story, but a law was made against him, he fled to the United States, and then was imprisoned for over a year with no clear charges, no evidence, and no trial. Senator Clay Higgins even made a statement about it as a case of religious persecution in the United States. Man of God Harry, one of Joshua’s disciples, was arrested in Greece for “operating the church without a license” and has been constantly harrased and threatened to stop doing deliverance ministry. And we are now seeing how many accusations against Donald Trump have been proven to be absurd and government agencies have been caught fabricating evidence and hiding exculpatory evidence to prosecute him and other political targets.

In the case of T.B. Joshua, many Christians have been caught off guard because of so many real scandals and have fallen for false accusations. It is just like Satan to both sow false apostles who create scandals, and at the same time sow false accusations against those who are true to create confusion. It would be appropriate to repent if we have been presumptuous, quick to speak but slow to listen, and too ready to believe accusations without testing them. I hope this post raises awareness of what is happening. When you see a documentary coming out trashing some Christian…take the time to test it and discern if it is true or if these are slanderous accusations. As Proverbs 8:17 says, the first to present his case seems right until he is cross-examined!