A Discernment and Apostasy watch site for African Saints.
Prove all things..(1 Thesa.5:21)
Test Spirits..(I John 4:1)
Like the Bereans, check whether things are so(Acts 17:11)
Photo Credit: FacebookLAGOS, Nigeria — The
office of an African false prophet says that it “mistakenly” deleted
his recent prophesy of Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 presidential
election now that Clinton lost the election to billionaire business
mogul Donald Trump.
T.B. Joshua is the leader of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations
(SCOAN) in Lagos, Nigeria and the founder of Emmanuel T.V., one of the
largest Christian-identifying networks in Africa. On Sunday, he posted
to Facebook that God had given him a vision of the new president, and
that it was a woman.
“Ten days ago, I saw the new president of America with a narrow win,”
he wrote. “The new president will be facing several challenges over
many issues, including passing bills, attempts to possibly pass a vote
of no confidence on the new president. The boat of the new president
will be rocked.”
“By the way, in order not to keep you in suspense, what I frankly saw is a woman,” Joshua added.
But following Tuesday’s election and backlash over his prophesy being
false, Joshua’s office deleted the post. Some sneered that his words
had been removed and created captioned photos in mockery.
One post was a photo of Pinnochio with the caption “T.B. Joshua:
Hillary will win,” and another showed a boy writing a letter with the
caption, “Dear T.B. Joshua, this is two write to you about the false
prophesy about Hillary Clinton winning the election.”
However, Joshua’s post was later reinstated,
and the Social Media Department of Joshua’s office told reporters that
it was “mistakenly removed and has been reposted as such is not our
policy.”
Reaction to Joshua’s reinstated post has been mixed, but with the majority being quick to defend him.
“My prophet can’t lie, so much believe in him. He saw it ten days
ago, but God can still change things under a second. That is why He is
God,” one commenter wrote. “For mockers [I] am very sorry; may God open
your eyes because it take a prophet to know a prophet.”
“There’s no mistake in this prophesy,” another asserted. “If God says
that the president is a woman, no matter what it looks like,what is
said shall come to pass. God honors His word and the world will know
that through these elections!”
“Our great prophet T.B. Joshua blew this one!” a third wrote. “When
last week I read about his prophesy regarding the US presidential
election, I said rather silently to myself that TB Joshua padded his
message with a little bit of political commentary that might turn out to
haunt him later. We deserve an explanation from him, for his
credibility is at stake.”
“Do you know the level of mockery T.B. Joshua has reduced
Christiandom and his followers to? The Muslims right now are laughing at
you guys,” another stated. “He even deleted the post before; he is
behaving like a corrupt politician. What I [don’t] understand is how
someone reasonable thinks or says that God changed His prophecy at [the]
last minute.”
Reader in History and American Studies, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Jerry Falwell Jr. at the 2016 Republican convention.
EPA/Shawn Thew
Evangelicals, or born-again Christians, account for approximately 25.4% of the US population – and Donald Trump should thank them for their support. Exit polls show that roughly 80% of white evangelicals voted for Trump. That percentage is even higher than what George W. Bush received from the faithful in 2000 and 2004.
Clearly, Baptists, pentecostals, charismatics, and others were
willing to overlook Trump’s myriad sins: the misogyny, the implicit and
explicit racism, the religious bigotry, his remarks about never having asked God for forgiveness. On the whole, they thought, Trump would uphold their values.
He would appoint Supreme Court justices who had strong pro-life credentials. Trump promised to support religious liberty laws, which allow private businesses to deny service to individuals they deem sinful (read: homosexual).
Trump’s running mate Mike Pence fought a hard battle as governor of Indiana to maintain that state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which relaxes anti-discrimination restrictions on businesses. The Pew Research Center
reports that “evangelicals also overwhelmingly prefer Trump to Clinton
when it comes to handling a wide variety of specific issues, from gun
policy to the economy, terrorism, immigration and abortion”.
White evangelicals made their decision as the American political landscape darkened noticeably.
Sure, mudslinging, character assassination, and downright nastiness
have long been part of the dark art of politics in the US since the days
when candidates wore knee breeches and powdered wigs. What’s different
now is that the nastiness emanates from the candidate himself. In years
gone by, largely anonymous party hacks did the dirtiest work; in 2016,
Trump did it himself.
And yet, millions of conservative white Christians turned out for him. Why?
Wilful ignorance
Their willingness to forgive Trump his sins was no secret. During the firestorm over the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about his sexual prowess and lewd attitudes towards women, Jerry Falwell, Jr. proclaimed: “We’re all sinners, every one of us. We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t.”
To further allay fears of those within the fold, Franklin Graham, son
of famous evangelist Billy Graham, assured fellow believers that
everyone has sinned, and that God had used many individuals in the Bible
who had deep flaws, including King David and Moses. Perhaps they now
hope the Trump presidency will turn out to be little short of a true
Biblical epic.
Franklin Graham’s bus on tour in Austin, Texas.Robert Cicchetti/Shutterstock.
After the election, Graham’s Facebook page
said that the massive Republican victory had divine roots. “Political
pundits are stunned,” he wrote triumphantly. “Many thought the
Trump/Pence ticket didn’t have a chance. None of them understand the
God-factor.”
But there was something else at work besides the “God-factor”,
something that doesn’t get covered in the press all that much: Trump is
as committed a knowledge-denier as many of the evangelicals are.
Another world
For years, evangelical Christians stood firm on the front lines of
the culture war, which they regarded as a fight against the agents of
secularism, pluralism, political correctness and science. To paraphrase
Michael Gove, Britain’s former justice secretary and staunch Brexit
campaigner, evangelicals have long been saying: we have had enough of
experts.
With the far-right Breitbart News Network
in his corner, Trump grounded his campaign in conspiracy-driven
politics and bold-faced lies. Before voting in the primaries even began,
the University of Pennsylvania’s FactCheck.org reported that:
In the 12 years of FactCheck.org’s existence, we’ve never seen
[Donald Trump’s] match … He stands out not only for the sheer number of
his factually false claims but also for his brazen refusals to admit
error when proven wrong.
Approximately 64% of white evangelicals reject human evolutionary science; like Pence has done, many of them also promote what’s known as “conversion therapy”,
pseudoscientific treatments purported to “cure” people of
homosexuality; and they lash out at the “liberal media” and the
professorial overlords of left-leaning colleges and universities.
Evangelicals believe that Trump will protect them from the onslaughts of
secularism at a time when traditional Christianity is losing ground in the US.
In 2015, 37% of evangelicals polled
said “there is no solid evidence that the earth is getting warmer”.
Another 33% believed that global warming is happening, but that it is
not caused by human activities. They probably cheered at the sight of a
notorious Trump tweet from 2012,
which read: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the
Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.”
Perhaps not wanting to disappoint the devout, Trump has just named arch-climate change denier Myron Ebell
to head his Environmental Protection Agency transition team. White
evangelicals may also be elated to know that fellow Christian
conservative and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, of “drill, baby,
drill” fame, is being considered for Secretary of the Interior.
And so here we are, at the end of what the New York Times recently called
an “exhausting parade of ugliness”. That’s an apt description – but
this particular parade has now been extended by at least four years. We
can expect Trump to stay vulgar, cavalier and ill-informed once he’s
sworn in as president in January 2017. He will keep up his brazen
denials of truth, keep pandering to the bitter angels of the white mob’s
nature, and keep piling on the invective.
Evangelicals, like many others who voted Republican on Tuesday, see
in Trump a powerful, non-establishment figure, who will shake up
Washington and champion their values. In a matter of months, the scales
may fall from their eyes.
Is God De-voodoolising the witchcraft of the
Catholic Church in Uganda?? More Catholic priests rebel against Archbishop
Lwanga: Gunfire at Ediofe cathedral, Christians attack bishop’s home
Before the charismatic Rev Fr
Jacinto Kibuuka was suspended by Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga in
July, little was known about the Antiochian rite of the Catholic Church.
Now, this branch of Catholicism is
gaining a foothold in Uganda, riding on the influence of priests that
have fallen out with their bishops in the mainstream Roman Catholic
Church.
On Saturday, this group of ‘rebel
priests’, notably Kibuuka, Fr Deogratius Ssonko, Fr Vincent Byansi and
Fr Bruno Muhindo joined Dr Tom Sibayirwa Kiiza, the presiding bishop of
the Antiochian rite in Uganda, to ordain two new priests. The
newly-ordained priests; Sylvester Rwakaikara Adyeeri and Joseph Nkumbya
Birungi had remained at the rank of Deacon for several years, with their
bishops reluctant to elevate them to priesthood.
The ordination ceremony took place at
Mubende High School, located a few kilometres outside Mubende town.
Until the Saturday event, the school fell under the jurisdiction of
Kiyinda - Mityana Catholic diocese where Rwakaikara, its proprietor,
held church responsibilities.
Father Kibuuka (L) with some of the newly-ordained priests and the Antioch leadership
On the eve of the ordination, the bishop
of Kiyinda-Mityana, Anthony Zziwa, visited a nearby church, St Kizito
sub-parish Namagongo, and cautioned Catholics against associating with
the breakaway group. The school is now the seat of the Evangelical
Orthodox Church (branch of Catholicism that follows the Antiochian
rite).
LITURGY
Bishop Zziwa’s threat to deny sacraments
to Christians seen at the event appears to have impacted on the
turnout. By 10am, the scheduled time for the service, a handful of
people had gathered at the venue. Others stood outside the school gate,
looking on with curiosity. But people started gathering in numbers after
identifying some of the nuns.
Confused locals could be heard debating
whether the name Evangelical Orthodox Church suggested this “new
religion” was associated with the Namungoona-based Uganda Orthodox
Church. However, after the mass began, it became clear that the
vestments, order of mass and other liturgical practices are not
different from the practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
According to Fr Kibuuka, one of the key
differences lies in the fact that the Antiochs don’t block anyone from
taking holy communion so long as they are baptized Christians.
“We don’t discriminate; we don’t have it
that the body and blood of Jesus is for only Catholics who meet certain
conditions,” Kibuuka said.
“So long as one is a baptized Christian,
whether a Catholic, Anglican or Pentecostal, they can receive holy
communion, and the confession of sins we make at the beginning of mass
is enough,” Kibuuka told the congregation at Mubende.
In this rite, priests are also allowed to marry.
“It is biblical to be married more than
it is not to be married. Celibacy is a discipline that is only in the
Roman rite...not marrying is not what makes a priest, but it is the
calling from God,” Bishop Kiiza said.
Kiiza has been married to Reena Daurave since 2009. The rite also preaches against consumption of alcohol.
NOT JUDGES
In his homily, Fr Kibuuka took time
castigating his former bosses in the Roman Catholic Church whom he
accused of persecuting some priests under their care.
“Many, including myself, have been
innocently accused to the extent of concocting cases against us but we
are grateful that Bishop Kiiza welcomed us, and counseled us,” Kibuuka
said.
He ruled out the possibility of the
break-away priests going back to the mainstream Catholic Church, telling
the church leaders to repent instead of praying for their (rebel
priests) return.
“They should repent for their evil acts,
it is easy to dress as a priest but act differently. Holding a high
priestly office is not enough when you have a bad heart and engaging in
evil acts,” Kibuuka said.
“A priest should not be vindictive, a
priest should encourage and give comfort to his flock other than
harassing them and stealing from them,” he added.
Kibuuka accused Archbishop Lwanga of turning himself into a judge who determines the true believers.
“One of the 14 charges that were brought
against me was that I was praying for non-Catholics. But who am I to
judge anyone? Am I the one who created the Muslims, Anglicans and all
the others? If Jesus prayed for the Pharisees and Gentiles, who are you
to tell me not to pray for the non-Catholics?” Kibuuka said.
“We are one holy Catholic and apostolic
church, we have the same sacraments, the only difference we have is that
there is no discrimination here. If they deny you any sacraments, here
we will administer them. If they refuse to pray for your dead, we will
because it is not our duty to judge anyone,” Kibuuka said.
The two priests who were ordained went
through Katigondo and Kinyamasika major seminaries but their journey to
priesthood had stalled at the level of deacons, which is the last step.
Rwakaikara had given up hope and eventually got married but remained
committed to the church, while Birungi remained hopeful.
Fr Ssonko, formerly a lecturer at Ggaba National Major Seminary, presented the two deacons for ordination.
“After nine years of suffering and pain
for no reason, I am happy to declare Rev Fr Joseph Birungi a
duly-ordained priest of the Evangelical Orthodox Church,” Bishop Kiiza
announced amid ululations.
Fr Ssonko was in turn declared
bishop-elect during the event. Fr Kibuuka, a former confidant of
Archbishop Lwanga, broke ranks in July after the two parties failed to
agree on how to conduct his popular exorcism activities.
Until last Saturday, October 29, little
was known of the head of the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC), a
splinter group from the Roman Catholic Church that follows the Eastern
(Antiochian) rite of Catholicism.
In fact many adherents of the Antiochian
rite did not know who their presiding bishop was. All they knew was Rev
Fr Jacinto Kibuuka, who fell out with Kampala Archbishop Dr Cyprian
Kizito Lwanga over his charismatic preaching.
Born on December 5, 1976 at Bweera in
Kasese, Dr Tom Sibayirwa Kiiza is the pioneer bishop of the EOC in
Uganda but with churches under his jurisdiction in Benue state, Nigeria
and Texas, USA.
He attended primary school at Kamukumbi
in Kasese between 1983 and 1990. In 1991, aspiring to become a Catholic
priest, Kiiza enrolled at St Mary’s Seminary Virika in Fort Portal until
August 1999 when he joined the Consolanta Missionaries. They took him
to their Kenyan seminary for further formation studies, graduating in
2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies.
He was then posted to Mozambique for
pastoral work for a year, giving him opportunity to travel to Portugal
and South Africa. In 2003, he went back to Kenya and joined the Catholic
University of East Africa (CUEA) for a Master of Arts degree in
Theology, graduating in 2007.
“That is when I crossed to EOC because
my mind and conscience told me I wouldn’t be happy under the Roman
Catholic Church; so, I wrote a letter requesting to be allowed to leave,
and I was allowed,” Kiiza told The Observer. “I was never suspended. I
left on my own and once they accepted my request to leave, I was let
free to serve God in any church.”
In 2008, he enrolled for a joint
Master’s and doctoral program in Religious Studies and Theology at St
James Seminary Florida, USA, which is operated by the Holy Catholic
Church International, and an affiliate of Dayspring Christian
University.
He got his PhD in 2011 two years after
his consecration as bishop of EOU at a low-key function held at a hotel
in Namugongo near Kampala.
“I was ordained on September 17, 2009 by
Archbishop Rodney P Rickard. In fact it is that day that we consider as
the birth of EOC in Uganda,” Kiiza said.
Despite being a bishop of a faction of
the Catholic Church, he got a teaching job at CUEA in 2011 until 2013
when Mountains of the Moon University, Fort Portal, hired him as
academic registrar.
“I am also in community development
running an NGO, Ekisande Rural Development Centre in Kasese. I also run a
number of schools, health centres and orphanage support programs,”
Kiiza said.
Kiiza is married to Reena Daurave from Kerala, India.
