STOP MAKING EXCUSES

The design of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is to break the yoke of sin and Satan and thus remove the burden of guilt and corruption. The SCOAN, as an arena of liberty is indeed living up to this divine mandate. It is a place where you can see the name of Jesus working in the spirit. You can see the power of God working in the spirit, the power and anointing of Jesus Christ working against the kingdom of darkness, and the result of this is the healings, deliverances, breakthroughs, prophecies and reconciliations witnessed and experienced by all who come to fellowship at The SCOAN and even those who watch Emmanuel TV everywhere in the world.

The Bible makes it clear that miracles were proofs that the scriptures were true then and they still are. Jesus Himself declared in the book of John 4:48 that, ‘’unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.’’ The miracles of Jesus actually drew millions of people to Him, and this made Jesus become a centre of public attraction. Thanks to Emmanuel TV, millions are being exposed to the reality of the supernatural power of God manifesting in the miracles that occur on almost a daily basis in the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Lagos, Nigeria. The influx of people to the church in recent times is phenomenal as several canopies are erected outside the church auditorium every service day to hold the overflow congregation of worshippers, many of them being first timers. Indeed, for those whose lives are centred in Christ Jesus, the best is always yet to come.

WISE MAN HARRY’S TESTIMONY
There was so much to savour from last Sunday service, the 19th of September, 2010. The service began with the wonderful testimony and sermon of Harry, one of the Wise Men. As a native of the ancient town of Philippi in Macedonia, Greece, he narrated how he came to know T.B. Joshua and became one of the Prophet’s disciples before receiving the anointing to become one of the Wise Men today. He said he had read through the Bible when he was growing up as a young Christian, He read so much about the missionary activities of Paul the Apostle in Philippi, Macedonia and other ancient cities. He said his interest and zeal for the things of God began to wane when he realised that those miracles Paul performed in Macedonia and other places at that time were not seen in any of the churches where he fellowshipped. He thought to himself, ‘Does it mean the age of miracles has passed, when the Bible says the Miracle Worker, Jesus of Nazareth is still alive?’ He said since that time he longed to see at least one miracle performed by any minister anywhere in the world to prove that the Holy Bible was not just a history book and that the Acts of the Apostles are not mere fictions. (As he testified, footage of the archaeological sites in Macedonia where Paul Apostle lived and walked was being shown on the television screen.)

He said one day someone gave him a miracle video tape of T.B. Joshua to watch and after seeing all the miraculous healings and deliverances his zeal reawakened. He was determined that in any part of the world this Prophet of God lived, he must search for him. The same man who gave him the tape took him to The SCOAN branch in Athens where he met the Evangelist in charge and soon arrangements were made for him to travel to the church headquarters in Lagos. Harry said when he told his family about his new discovery and his plan to travel to Nigeria, they did not only frown at the idea, they threatened to disown him if he embarked on what they believed was a dangerous mission. He said their argument was, ‘Can anything good come out of Nigeria?’’. They wondered if he had forgotten that the New Testament of the Bible was written originally in the Greek language, and tourists from across the world come to Macedonia to see those places they read about in The Bible. Harry said he was so determined to come to Nigeria that he didn’t mind the threats from his people. Eventually he landed at The SCOAN in Lagos where he met the man of God and did not hesitate to join the discipleship to receive training under T.B. Joshua. While in training, he said his parents started watching Emmanuel TV. They saw those miracles he saw and they called him from Greece one day telling him on the phone that they were sorry for their actions in the past. Now they believed he was in the right place and that they too were planning to come to Nigeria to see the Prophet of God. They came, they saw and they became even more convinced. He said his entire family are now full members of the SCOAN, Athens branch. Harry the Wise Man promised to come to his hometown, Philippi in Macedonia with the same anointing of God that was in Apostle Paul to prove to his countrymen and tourists alike that Jesus lives, He never said ‘’goodbye.’’(Hebrews 13:8)

SERMON: STOP MAKING EXCUSES
Wise Man Harry defined an excuse as a reason whether genuine or fake which we give to explain or defend our wrongdoing. When the children of God make mistakes, they do not run from God – instead they run to Him, because they know that if you make an excuse for your mistakes, your mistakes cannot be excused. He quoted the book of Genesis 3:8-13 where excuse making actually began. He said Adam had disobeyed God’s instruction not to eat the fruit of a particular tree in the Garden of Eden where he lived with his wife, Eve, and enjoyed good fellowship with God. The consequence of disobeying God and eating the fruit was death. Eve was deceived by a serpent to eat the fruit, and she shared with her husband, Adam – and since then, life changed. Their eyes became opened and they started hiding from God because they realised, for the first time, that they were naked. When God asked Adam why he did that evil, instead of admitting his wrongdoing, Adam blamed God that it was the woman He gave to him that gave him the apple to eat. Eve, on her own part, blamed the serpent for deceiving her. So they both made excuses for their sins, but their sins could not be excused, hence the punishment of sorrow and hardship we inherited from the first-parents.

Nearly everyone has become a conscious sinner. A conscious sinner is one who knows his sin but does them and makes excuses for his actions, oftentimes shifting the blame to others. The Bible says no one is righteous, not even one. Perfection eludes all of us. This means mistakes will come – but the question is, how do you handle it? He concluded the message by saying that until a person is willing to admit that he is a sinner in need of salvation, he cannot experience freedom from guilt and condemnation. So stop making excuses for your wrongdoing, admit your guilt and receive God’s forgiveness which makes the future possible.

CONFESSIONS
The entire congregation was shocked and silence reigned as they listened to the terrifying confessions of some of the armed robbers, ritualists and cultists who were arrested by the power of the Holy Spirit during last week’s service because of the spirit of destruction they possessed. These are their confessions:

Mr. Ebere Nwosu, 28, confessed how he used his manhood for a money-ritual. The witchdoctor he was introduced to had demanded two names from among his siblings or close companions. Ebere submitted the names of two of his friends to be used for the ritual. When he went to the witchdoctor again, thinking the ritual had been done, he was surprised to hear from the witchdoctor that the ritual could not be performed because the names he had submitted could not be used. So the witchdoctor asked Ebere if he could use his manhood for the ritual, which he consented to.

The witchdoctor said the way the manhood would be taken was for him to bring his early-morning urine. The ritual was done, but there was one more thing left to do. The witchdoctor asked Ebere to go to his hometown and perform some sacrifices with a fowl, and then come back to his shrine within four hours – a feat Ebere knew was not possible. So he thought of abandoning the project, but the witchdoctor, sensing his motive, took him to a graveyard to make an oath, never to run away or reveal the matter or else he would die. After the oath-taking at the graveyard, Ebere still ran away because of fear. From that moment, he was pursued by the spirits of death in his dream and he began experiencing failure in everything he laid his hands on. He travelled to another State where his auntie resides. After narrating his story to his auntie, she gave him transportation fare to come to The SCOAN.

Mr. Eze Nwaiwu, 29, joined a cult with an evil desire to make quick money. He was initiated and given some demonic powers to manipulate his customers to buy as many goods as he wanted them to, even at exorbitant prices. Business was moving well until his cult members demanded his blood sister for a sacrifice, for him to make more money. As he was discussing his issue with a friend, his girlfriend overheard and reported the issue to his father. When his father confronted him, Eze denied and even swore that he never planned such. So, Eze went back to the cult members and told them that his plan had leaked to his family and they should give him two years when he would have married and had his own child, and then he would be willing to donate either his wife or child for the ritual.

After having his first child, a boy, Eze was no longer willing to keep to his promise, so the ‘cult-members’ became furious and threatened to use every evil means at their disposal to get Eze’s wife or child. Soon Eze’s wife got pregnant again and one night, she was attacked spiritually by the cultists and she had a miscarriage. The next day, the cult-members told Eze that his wife’s miscarriage was just a sign to prove that he had nowhere to run to or hide as long as he continued to cheat on them. From that time, life became miserable for Eze as his business went downhill. He sent his wife and little son to the village, but he took the son’s photograph to the cult members and they told him they would snuff life out of the boy on the 28th of this month, September, through convulsion. They advised him to go to the village to see his son for the last time. Meanwhile, his wife was pregnant again.

Eze became confused and ran away to Jos where his aunt resides. After explaining his case to the aunt, she advised him to go to The SCOAN where she believed he could be rescued. During the mass prayer, the Holy Spirit exposed him as he felt out from his seat, screaming, and then began to confess.

Mr. Aniedi Jonah, 32, was captured through the prophecy of the man of God, TB Joshua, in last Sunday’s service. During the Mass Prayer, TB Joshua prophesied that there was a man in the congregation who was a cultist who had a garment he carried everywhere he went, and that he kept the garment outside the church auditorium. Aniedi confessed that the white garment was an occultic garment which he carried with him everywhere he went, so he could fellowship with other cult members anywhere he came across their conclave (fellowship centre). He joined the cult for money-ritual and during his initiation, he was blind folded and asked to eat some strange things on the floor including raw human flesh. They later had a communion with human blood in a calabash. Aniedi was asked if he was willing to give out his wife, son or daughter for ritual – if that was all that was required to make him rich, and he answered in the affirmative. So he was taken to an evil forest where some rituals were performed and he was offered a post in the cult, at the price of his son.

Meanwhile, he became accustomed to drinking human blood. Whenever the evil spirit came upon him, he would seek all means to get human blood to satisfy his evil thirst. One day, when the evil spirit came upon him and he could not find human blood, he rushed to the back of his house, caught a live duck, slaughtered it and quickly drank the blood. He fell on his bed and slept off. His wife, who didn’t know that her husband had gotten himself into such spiritual bondage, began to suspect him when each time he returned home, there were fresh blood stains on his clothes. She also noticed the white garment he carried about in his bag. But she was afraid to ask him any questions because there was a day he returned home furious, pounced upon her and almost strangled her to death. Since that time, his little baby would suddenly scream at night, and his 3 year old daughter usually complained to the mother that she used to see strange invisible dogs. The climax of it all happened recently when he became bloodthirsty and the evil spirit told him to slaughter his newborn baby boy. He took the baby from the room where his wife laid him to the sitting room, and when he went in search of a knife to slaughter the child, his wife who had witnessed the day he slaughtered the duck and drank the blood, suspected something strange was about to happen. When she could not find the baby where she laid him, she rushed to the sitting room, found the baby carelessly dropped on the table, picked him up and ran out of the house. Aniedi ran after his wife, but she luckily escaped. Because he had watched Emmanuel TV on a few occasions, Aniedi decided to come to The SCOAN, when he felt he could no longer live this kind of atrocious life.

Commenting on the shocking confessions, Prophet T.B. Joshua said, “Demons are behind the Godless activities and destructive elements we see around today. They cause people to lose control and commit all shameful acts (Romans 7:13-15). Demons are the cause of the enormous growth of sorrow, pain and bitterness, violence and suffering going on in the world. Demons fire men’s brains and senses with lust for drugs, drink and delinquencies. Therefore, refuse to be satan’s dumping ground – where satan produces physical infirmities, sickness, disease, hardship, poverty, nightmare, depression, mental unsoundness. Stand your ground fearlessly, without wavering.”

There are not enough words to express all that happened during the service. However, one thing is clear – demons know they must submit to the Name of Jesus Christ. At His mighty name, every knee must bow. We believe these confessions serve as a warning to the children of God everywhere, that demons are real, and Christianity is not to be practiced as a hobby. Therefore, watch and pray and let your commitment to God be total, not partial!