NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART XI)

“A Jesus-like Apparition Visited Joshua Selman”

By Akin Ojumu

Given the prevalent cultural milieu of myth and mysticism in which it exists, Christianity in Nigeria is largely driven by an insatiable quest for the manifestations of supernatural experiences. Church crusades are commonly advertised with promises of spectacular phenomena and their Holy Ghost conventions are usually promoted with assurances of otherworldly occurrences.

Subliminally, a large swathe of Nigerian Christian converts often conflate spiritism with spiritualism. They are programmed to believe that to be spiritual is to have insights into the spirit realm. Because these people come from a background of idol worship, their perception of the Christian faith is shaped by their antecedents in mysticism.

Like a moth to a flame, many self-identified Christians in Nigeria are drawn, in droves, to the Myth and Mystery category of Churches scattered all over the country’s landscape. These horror houses appeal to the natural instincts of the average Nigerian Christian because in there, authentic Biblical Christianity has been replaced with new-age mysticism.

Typical worship in a Nigeria Myth and Mystery house of horror is nothing more than indigenous traditional African religious practices all piously dressed up as deep Christian spirituality. Worshippers in these places are known for gibberish speaking (aka groaning in the spirit), ecstatic dancing, hypnotic shaking, soporific jerking, and somnific writhing, all in the name of being slain in the spirit.

Just as the priests and priestesses of occultic shrines fascinate and capture the imagination of their adherents by shrouding themselves in a veil of deep secret knowledge and divine encounters, the apostles of the Myth and Mystery churches mythologize their stature in the eyes of their followers by laying claim to divine secrets known to and attainable by only a select few.

Quite commonly, leaders of the Myth and Mystery churches express profound dissatisfaction with the concept of Sola Scriptura i.e., Scripture Alone. Believing there’s something lacking in their Christian experience, they are always looking for something more. Having bought into the erroneous notion that the Christian life is powerless and ineffective unless and until miracles begin to happen at the same consistency as you have in the Bible, these apostles of realms and dimensions spend their lives in pursuit of power and esoteric experiences. 

This insistence that having mystical experiences is proof of deep spirituality is exemplified by Joshua Selman, one of the most sought-after celebrities of the Myth and Mystery house of horror. On numerous occasions over the years, Selman has narrated the story of how, early in his ministry, he was very dissatisfied with Scripture. The reason for this disenchantment, as he put it, was because what he read in the Bible wasn’t working. And by “not working,” he meant miracles, signs and wonders weren’t happening.

It wasn’t until an apparition, which he claimed was Jesus, appeared to him in his bedroom. And it was from this entity that he obtained the power which, literally, caused his ministry to take off like a rocket. 

In this video, Joshua Selman described that first encounter with the apparition:

“Listen. Listen. Pastor, I started my Christian experience asking men of God questions why what I read here was not working. I asked questions, they gave me theological answers, they gave me emotional answers, they gave me answers that were communication of anger. I asked why the sick were not healed. I asked why the oppressed were not delivered. I asked why a man of God will open a ministry and nobody will come. There are 7.2 billion people on earth. How can you claim Jesus is in a place and no one wants to hear?”

For years, these questions and disquiets swirled inside Joshua Selman’s mind. Then, whoosh, someone or something he described as Jesus showed up in his bedroom:

“One night something happened to me. I was not even praying. I was not even fasting. All of a sudden, brothers and sisters, my room disappeared, and a stranger walked in. Jesus himself. I have seen Him. He’s not a…he’s not a storybook. He’s not a historical fact.”

Unable to find the right words to describe what this mysterious thing in his room looks like, Selma wants you to believe him, nonetheless:

“Brothers and sisters, he was standing before me. I was like a speck of dust on the ground. I don’t even know what part of him I was looking at. I still don't know how his face looks like, believe me when I tell you.”

Recounting the oddness of this supernatural entity that visited him, Selman claims:

“He never opened his mouth to speak to me, but I was knowing many things at once. How do I describe this now? When you meet him, he doesn’t have to talk for you to receive. He is the word. Everything about him is speaking to you. His mouth is not the only weapon of communication. The light from him speaks to you.”

It was during this visit that the apparition gave Joshua Selman the power that people see him manifest today:

“Do you know part of the assignment he gave me, in later years as I would have several other encounters, was that everywhere I travel to that light he released upon me I must extend it to the people. That’s what produces the miracles that you hear. That’s what produces the signs and the wonders that you hear about.”

Joshua Selman then goes on to recount another encounter: 

“One time I had another encounter. And the Lord said to me, he said, “Son from today, I give you my presence as a gift.” And all of a sudden, my eyes were opened.”

During this later encounter, the same Jesus apparition informed Joshua Selman of the special angelic bodyguard he has been assigned:

“He said, “There is an angel that will walk with you.” He said, “He’s called the angel of the Lord's presence.” I never read that.”

Like Selman, even myself have never heard of such an angel. But the man continues:

“He said his presence would produce the signs, the wonders, the miracles, to the glory of the Lord. Everything you have heard about what this young man is doing is because of this.”

Let me be clear. The apparition that appeared to Joshua Selman is most definitely not the Lord Jesus. The God of the Bible would never endorse a charlatan by sending him His holy angels. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would not validate the aberrant theology of a false teacher by showing up in his bedroom.

In his own telling, the doctrines that Joshua Selman teaches are not something he learned by diligently studying the Bible like the rest of us. The source of the mysteries of realms and dimensions he is known to preach is the apparition that showed up in his bedroom many years ago. It is this “angel of the Lord’s presence” that accompanies him that whispers the deep extra-Biblical knowledge into Joshua Selman’s ears. 

In the Epistle of Jude, we read about people like Joshua Selman who build their faith on the foundation of esoteric experiences. Such people are likened to the children of Israel who were saved from slavery in Egypt but perished in the wilderness because of their unbelief (Jude 1:5). 

Folks like Selman are compared to the fallen angels who married daughters of men (Jude 1:6) and who, as a result, are kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. Mysticism chasing types like Joshua Selman share common traits with the debauched people of Sodom and Gomorrah who serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment (Jude 1:7).

“These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” (Jude 1:12-13).

Joshua Selman’s kind are grumblers and malcontents who hang their precious faith on the feckless hooks of dreams and visions. These are loud-mouthed boasters who flatter others just to get what they want. Like Balaam, they exploit their followers for gain. And like Korah, they will perish in their rebellion.

Stay tuned for next time.