CONNECTING THE DOTS OF JOSHUA SELMAN'S ANOINTING

By Akin Ojumu

Joshua Selman is not the type that shies away from talking about the sources of his power. When it comes to the root of his anointing, the guy is proud of his ancestry. On numerous occasions, he has told his followers and admirers that he is a beneficiary of encounters. Like a collector of fine things, Selman is a connoisseur of what he calls “graces.” 

From campgrounds to burial grounds, Joshua Selman goes to and fro and all over the place praying for encounters, craving for mantles, and seeking for anointings with hunger and expectation in his heart. 

Disciples of Joshua Selman are well acquainted with the names of the God’s “Generals” and powerfully “anointed” Fathers of the faith who have influenced him and his ministry over the years. They’ve heard him tell the story of a time while he was watching William Branham’s interview on the Television one night, he experienced a profound and strange phenomenon that radically changed the trajectory of his life. 

Let’s hear Selman narrate the story of his strange and profound encounter with William Branham.

“I always didn’t work in the prophetic like I do now, you know. Word of knowledge here and there. But I remember one of the most profound encounters that changed my life. I was watching William Branham. Watching him…you know, I had several of their videos. I would just watch in the night. And I remember, it was an interview, a very rare interview, and I was looking at the man, such a display of humility. This was a man who was mightily used by God. Now towards the end of his life, because of several things that happened, ignorant people who do not…have not even studied Church history and are not even students of revival kept making all kinds of blind, ignorant conclusions about him. This was a man who would sit to pray in the wilderness and would watch squirrels form and run into the bush. And I said, “Lord, but this man is your servant. I…I don't know whatever happened in his life, but this is very powerful. And I respect your working in him. How did you work in a man like this?” And then a miracle happened right there. It was like something left that laptop and just rested upon my head. A very cold sensation for over a period of 30 minutes it was just going down my body. I said, “What is happening to me.” Now, at that time…I…I’m…I’m…I’m by God’s grace, I’m a…I’m a rich beneficiary of encounters. I can teach on encounters. I’m not ignorant about those experiences. But here was something happening to me that was strange. And by the next meeting I went to, the power of God, the anointing is in levels.”

So, according to Joshua Selman, his life was changed after he had this encounter with William Branham, a heretic and a scoundrel who denied the Trinity and believed that the original sin that Eve committed was for engaging in sexual intercourse with the serpent. Joshua Selman received his prophetic unction from William Branham, a man who laid the foundation for the belief that black people are members of an inferior race because their lineage was a product of Eve’s sexual intercourse with the serpent. Selman’s prophetic prowess originated from a man who taught his followers that God revealed divine truth in three holy books, namely, the Zodiac, the Egyptian Pyramids, and the Bible. This was the man whom Joshua Selman claims conferred prophetic anointing on him.

If you thought that was bad enough, wait until you hear about another person from whom Joshua Selman collected his grace and anointing. This particular individual was a South African false prophet who believed and taught the manifest sons of God doctrine of the Latter Rain movement. His name was Kobus van Rensburg.

For those of you not familiar with the manifest sons of God doctrine, this footnote would be helpful. The manifest sons of God doctrine is a heretical teaching that originated from the now defunct Latter Rain movement. Proponents of this erroneous theology hold the view that a select group of believers, often referred to as “overcomers” or “Joel's Army,” will attain a state of sinless perfection, immortality, and supernatural power before the return of the Lord Jesus. They believe these spiritual elites will embody Christ on earth, establish the Kingdom of God, and dominate world systems, rather than simply waiting for a future rapture and Christ’s millennial Kingdom.

According to Joshua Selman, he attended Kobus’s pastors’ conference in South Africa. At that meeting, Kobus singled him out and prophesied over him that he would be a custodian of deep revelations of the kingdom. Since that time, Joshua Selman claims he started operating in a greater dimension of power. 

Let’s hear Joshua Selman tell the story of his encounter with Kobus van Rensburg in South Africa.

“I saw that man Kobus van Rensburg. Single handedly, he had raised more than 12,000 wheelchairs and crutches. I said, “This cannot be a pretense. There…they are in the church there.” And I went, I said, “I’m going. I will pay whatever price.” When I got to South Africa, I was fasting. People were just smiling…there were few Nigerians there. They were opening their teeth and behaving like fools. I went and locked myself, I said, “Lord I came for business. I respect this custodian.” Hallelujah! See, I was so hungry. I stayed in the…in the guest House of the chief usher of the Church. And when it was time, I…I sat there…I think it was row 2. I sat down there, passionately and hungry. Before Kobus started anything, even before the pastors’ conference started, he called me out by prophecy. And he looked at me and he said, “I see you being like Paul. You will be a custodian of deep revelations of the kingdom.”

Well, surprise, surprise. The same “prophet” Kobus van Rensburg from whom Joshua Selman received this prophetic impartation of a custodian of deep revelations of the kingdom was himself a protege of T.B. Joshua, a shaman and sorcerer. Kobus van Rensburg received his own impartation while attending T.B. Joshua’s meeting at the Synagogue shrine in the year 2000. Upon returning to South Africa, Kobus van Rensburg claimed he had now acquired great anointing and power.

Many of you reading this are fans of Joshua Selman. The vast majority of you believe he is a true “apostle” of the Lord Jesus Christ who is doing great things for God’s Kingdom. So, come now and let us reason together.

If Joshua Selman received his mantle and anointing from William Branham, a proven heretic and blasphemer, and if Joshua Selman received impartation from Kobus van Rensburg, a man who himself received impartation from T.B. Joshua, a well-known sorcerer and shaman, who do you think is the real source of Joshua Selman’s power? Who is the deity behind Joshua Selman? Whose servant is he, really?

I have collected the dots of the sources of Joshua Selman’s graces and anointings. Now, I leave you to connect the dots yourself.

People like Joshua Selman, who are enamored with esoteric encounters and are obsessed with power, fail to realize that supernatural phenomena are not, in and of themselves, proof that God is at work. Ability to perform miracles, signs, and wonders is not in any way a validation that the person doing all of these things is a true man of God. 

Matthew 24:24-28

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Fidelity to the truth of the Word of God is what differentiates a true man of God from charlatans and impostors. Theology and doctrine are the true metrics used to determine who is a true minister of Gospel. The true test of a prophet of God is the precision and accuracy with which they preach and teach the Word of God.

Isaiah 8:20

“To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no dawn.”

2 John 1:9-11

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

1 John 4:1-5

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

God would never put His stamp of approval on false teachers and heretics. It does not matter how many dead people a preacher raises, how many blind eyes he opens, how many crutches or wheelchairs he renders useless, if he does not abide in the teaching of Christ as accurately taught in Scripture and as understood by the original recipient of the Gospel in the First Century Church, such a preacher is a charlatan and a fraud. He is nothing but an enemy of God.

To the cult of following of Joshua Selman and his ilk, as long as you continue to consume and promote their teachings, you are partaking in their wickedness. And this you ought to know. There is a heavy price to pay for anyone who refuses to mark and avoid people like Joshua Selman.