Christmas in Cameroon, 2001

[The Pinckney family spent the 2001/2002 academic year in Ndu, Cameroon at the Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary. Though near the equator, Ndu is at 6600′ of elevation, so is temperate and, at this season, quite dry. This is a lightly edited version of the letter we sent to our supporters on Christmas Eve, 2001. Near the close of the letter, I wrote: “We don’t know where we might be next Christmas.” By God’s providence, we ended up here – though on Christmas Day 2002 DGCC did not yet have a name – Coty]

Dear Friends and supporters:

Merry Christmas from Ndu! Though we know you won’t receive this until after Christmas, we want to share with you some new Christmas lyrics, along with some events from yesterday.

First of all, you must understand that for the last few weeks, when the power has been on we’ve heard Christmas songs blaring from some of the shops in town, including ones that seem singularly inappropriate to Cameroon, such as “Jingle Bells” and “Silver Bells.” To the tune of the latter, Beth, Erin, and Jonathan have written lyrics that fit our situation perfectly (note that we have had no measurable rainfall for 47 days; also note that any of the eight of us can be referred to as “white man”):

Dusty footpaths, busy market, full of holiday cheer,
In the air there’s a big cloud of red dust,
People shouting to the white man, “Come and greet me, my friend!”
And on every street corner you see:
Clouds of Dust, clouds of dust,
It’s Christmastime in Ndu!
Cough and sneeze in the breeze,
Soon it will be Christmas Day.

Sunday, December 23, 2001, 5:30 AM. The alarm goes off. I pry open my eyes, to little effect, having been awake for much of the time between 3:00 and 4:30, trying to get comfortable on our old foam mattress. The air feels chilly. “Maybe I can pray in bed instead,” I think, and begin to ask God to open my mouth later in the morning at Mbipgo, a church about 5 miles away. I pray through the Scripture passages that will be used, and the sermon outline . . . Beep-beep-beep-beep! The 5:45 alarm goes off, waking me again. “Up this time; no more lounging in bed,” I tell myself. I need a shower, but we have had no running water since Saturday afternoon; apparently there is an electrical problem with the school’s water pump. So, using water our younger boys carried up from the spring yesterday evening, I fill two tea kettles and put them on the stove. While they heat up, I return to my neglected prayers.

By 7:15, after washing my hair in the sink and grabbing a bite to eat, I’m ready to go, along with Beth and the three youngest boys. Victor Ndusho, the student who invited us to this, his home church, arrives, so I walk down the hill to get [fellow missionary] Gary Stephens’ car. Victor and I had planned to walk to Mbipgo, but given that the younger boys wanted to accompany us, and given the knee pain I’ve had the last few days, driving seemed a better option. But Gary’s 12-year-old Pajero has acted up some of late, and it chooses this morning to act up again. At first, turning the key has no impact on the electrical system. I open the hood, jiggle the battery wires, and try again – the starter turns, but then the car dies. No problem, it always acts this way when cold. But 15 minutes later, the engine has never turned over, and the battery is now dead. Furthermore, the car is pointing downhill, up against a fence. To push start it, we’ll have to push it uphill quite a ways.

I return home and declare that Victor and I will have to walk; the boys will have to remain at CBTS. Seven-year-old Joel cries, he is so looking forward to going. Victor also really wants to take the vehicle, so that his wife and 2-week-old baby – who has not yet been to his grandparents’ – can accompany him. Victor asks, “Can we try pushing it?” I answer, rather gruffly, “It will take at least 5 men to push it up the hill.” Victor gathers 7 within 5 minutes – most of whom have walked that way to get water. On our second try, the car starts and we are off.

The road is rough but passable, and we arrive at the church in about 25 minutes. Upon pulling up, I have a sense of déjà vu; but how could I have been here before? Then Beth realizes that this church is in a video we saw in the US, filmed on a short term trip last year; the many steps and strong stone structure make it easily identifiable. I recall that in that video, the missionary states the service lasted 3 hours . . .

I am able to spend some time in prayer before the service, asking God to center my thoughts on Him, and to put the drive and the stresses of the morning behind me. Sitting in front, looking out at the congregation of only 50 as the service opens (it will swell to over 300 an hour later), I begin to prepare to preach using John Piper’s acronym APTAT: Acknowledge my inability to have any impact on these people apart from the work of the Holy Spirit; Pray that God would enable me to fulfill His commands, such as those in 1 Timothy 4:13-15; Trust God to fulfill His promises, particularly this morning the promise found in 1 Timothy 4:16; then Act. Afterwards, I will Thank God for answering my prayers. I feel ready to preach.

The service moves right along for a while, but the third choir number ends up being a youth drama. This lasts almost 25 minutes . . . and, while the heavy pidgin is hard to understand, as far as I can tell the drama is completely moralistic, without spiritual content. “Lord, prepare the hearts of your people despite this drama; do not let me be discouraged or disheartened.”

Finally it’s time to preach, more than 2 hours after the service began. Some are getting sleepy. Victor is not experienced at translating, and it takes a while for us to hit a rhythm. I wonder if illustrations are understood. But by the end, as we realize that the baby in the manger is also the final judge, as the contrast is drawn between those who hope in God and those who, through unbelief, are cast into the lake of fire, there is rapt attention – even from many who had been sleepy-eyed earlier. I finish with prayer, sit, and complete APTAT.

After the service, we are fed a meal and make our way down to Victor’s parents’ compound. Walking through the coffee and bananas, I almost feel like it’s ten years earlier, and I’m on the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro: red coffee berries shining in the light that makes its way through the upper canopy; coffee drying on mats around the houses; fruit – particularly oranges and lemons – in abundance. It’s amazing what a difference of 1500’ in elevation makes! Victor’s parents’ are delighted to see us, and Joel in particular loves this compound, asking “Can we come back and stay a long time?” For me, this compound is moving also, as it’s so much closer than Ndu to what comes to my mind when I think “Africa”.

We drive home, laden with oranges, lemons, sugarcane, and tree tomatoes generously given to us. I barely have time to wash up – with water from the barrel; the pump still is not operating – and finish up a couple of emails just before the 4PM radio time slot. On the way back, a knowledgeable friend says the electricians have looked at the water pump, and the prospects are not hopeful; there is almost no chance of water before the 26th, and we may have to haul it from the spring for weeks. I wonder how long the boys will be able to keep up their enthusiasm for this task . . .

About 6:30, as I try to complete the daily reading from the Greek New Testament necessary to meet my year-end goal, the power goes off. Sigh. No water and no electricity. We light candles, then Beth calls out, “Joel’s bath water is warm – could you please wash him?” “Nine more verses, and I’ll do it!” “Can you do it now? I’m trying to get supper ready.” “Nine more verses, and I’ll do it!” Happily, these last few verses are easy: with “Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν” (Philemon 1:25), I’m done. As I’m about to get up from the desk, the computer beeps at me – the power is back on!

Joel is standing naked in the tub, a bucket of warm water next to him. He asks, “Can we set a speed record for washing my hair?” We come close to a record, he looks as clean as he ever gets around here (meaning, not particularly so), and we two finish in time for Joel to get his hands dirty again before dinner.

Beth sends him back to the bathroom to wash his hands; Joel without thinking turns on the faucet. Seeing him do this, Beth begins, “There’s no running water, Joel; you’ll have to get it from the bucket.” But water is coming out of the tap! The pump must be fixed!

We sit down to a dinner of rice and potato curry with renewed thankfulness not only for the food, but also for running water, for electricity, for Mbipgo, indeed, for this whole year in Cameroon which God has worked out so marvelously for us. Afterwards, as we prepare to read a Christmas story and drink hot chocolate, Beth says, “Let’s go caroling!” So for the next hour we make the rounds of faculty houses and the women’s dormitory, introducing many of our Cameroonian friends to this wonderful tradition. All eight of us participate wholeheartedly; one neighbor says, “When I heard you singing, I thought it was a whole choir!” Our friends are greatly blessed, and so are we.

As we’re walking back, preparatory to finally drinking that hot chocolate, Jonathan quotes one of our favorite Christmas stories, “A Full House,” by Madeline L’Engle: “Just a typical Christmas Eve at the Austins’.” So it has been: a “typical” December 23rd with the Pinckneys. Last year at this time we had not even an inkling that we would be here this Christmas; now, we don’t know where we might be next Christmas. But we know that we are and will be in God’s hands, that wherever we are, we will be praising Him in song once again.

Come, Desire of nations come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the Woman’s conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the Serpent’s head.
Adam’s likeness now efface:
Stamp Thine image in its place;
Second Adam, from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
”Hark!” the herald angels sing,
”Glory to the Newborn King!”

Once again, our love goes out to each one of you. May you continue to rejoice in the God of all comfort this season, and may the New Year bring you deeper and deeper into His love.

Coty

What Changed at Pentecost? Part 1

Acts 2 describes the events of the day of Pentecost. Before the day ended, God had saved 3,000 people. But if God saved 5,000 people tomorrow, Pentecost would still be a far more important day.

Why? Why should we consider Pentecost to be one of the most important days in the history of the world?

Most Christians would answer: Pentecost is important because on that day the Holy Spirit came. But we know the Holy Spirit was active prior to this day. So what changed? And why is this change so important?

Let’s look at this by, first, considering how the relationship of the Holy Spirit to believers is the same before and after Pentecost. Next week we’ll consider how that relationship changes on this momentous day.

How is the relationship of the Spirit to Believers Similar Before and After Pentecost?

Five ways:

1) The Spirit gives life to those who believe

This statement is true of all believers of all time

Consider Ephesians 2:1-5, one of the most important biblical passages describing salvation:

You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Paul makes clear that he is not speaking only about the readers of this letter, for he says we are by nature objects of God’s wrath. That is, God, as the moral authority of the universe, must mete out punishment in response to our sinful nature, not only our sinful deeds. And since this holds “for the rest of mankind,” this is true of all men everywhere at all times since the Fall. No one is able do anything on his own to change his being under God’s wrath.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

“But God!” Only He could change our condition. He makes us alive; He enables us to believe; He cuts through the blinding fog so that we might see Him.

There has never been anyone saved by any means other than by God’s grace through faith. This is true before Pentecost and after Pentecost: The Spirit gives life to those who believe.

2) The Spirit gives love for the character of God, and thus for His Law

The Law is a reflection of the character of God, helping us to know Who He is. So the one who loves God must love His Law.

This is one of the New Covenant promises in Jeremiah 31: That His people will have His Law written on their hearts. There will be an inner change, not only external obedience to rules.

But while Jeremiah 31 is not fulfilled until after Pentecost, there are those in the Old Testament who have a similar inner change – who have the Law on their hearts, who love God’s Law. Consider the following verses:

  • Isaiah 51:7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.
  • Psalm 119:97  Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
  • Psalm 119:18-19   Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!

Note that in Psalm 119:18-19, the psalmist acknowledges that this love for God’s Law is God-given.

So before and after Pentecost, God engenders love for His character, for His Law, in the hearts of people.

3) The Spirit is constantly with those who believe

This is clearly true after Pentecost, as it is another of the New Covenant promises contained in Ezekiel 36:27: “I will put my Spirit within you.”

But hear what David says:

Psalm 139:7-10  Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

David is not only saying, “God is everywhere.” He is also saying, “No matter where I go – even if I am being rebellious, trying to flee from You – You are with me, leading me, holding me.”

So the Spirit’s presence with believers was real before and after Pentecost.

4) The Spirit enables obedience in those who believe

Again this is obviously true after Pentecost; it is the Spirit that bears the fruit of love, joy, and peace in believers (Galatians 5:22-23). And Ezekiel had prophesied that God would “cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezekiel 36:27).

But before Pentecost, David says, ‘He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:8)

Or as the author of Psalm 119 writes:

Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways. (Psalm 119:35-37 NAS)

The Spirit enabled obedience in believers before and after Pentecost.

5) The Spirit enables perseverance in those who believe

Once again, this is clear after Pentecost; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 and many other passages teach this truth.

But consider the perseverance in faith of Old Testament characters. We have already seen from Ephesians 2 that faith is a gift of God. In Hebrews 11, the author lists many Old Testament characters who display extraordinary faith. After summarizing the difficulties they endured, he concludes:

Destitute, persecuted and mistreated– the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith (Hebrews 11:37b-39a)

This is extraordinary perseverance. And it is the result of Spirit-given faith.

The Spirit has always been at work. No one would ever believe, ever obey, ever persevere apart from the Spirit. As Jesus says in John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” He was speaking to his disciples, using present tense, before Pentecost. And His statement is therefore true of all men, of all times.

Next week: How then does the relationship of the Spirit to believers change after Pentecost?

[This is an edited, shortened excerpt from the sermon ”What Changed at Pentecost?” preached 10/19/08. The audio is available here. The two previous sermons on Acts 2, “The Promise of the Father” and “The Crucified is Both Lord and Christ” are also relevant. John Piper’s sermon “How Believers Experienced the Spirit Before Pentecost” is another helpful resource on this topic.]

The Power of the Resurrection

[From D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians 1 (Baker, 1978), excerpted from p. 399-422. These chapters are based on three sermons on Ephesians 1:19-20 preached in 1954; audio of those sermons is available online: first, second, third.]

[The resurrection] is the proof, beyond every other proof, of the fact that every obstacle and hindrance and enemy set in our path shall be overcome. The raising of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is proof positive and absolute, that even the ‘last enemy’ has been conquered and defeated….

Whatever may be true of our experience, whatever may be true of the world and its darkness, whatever may be true of the seeds of decay and of illness and of death that are in our bodies, and howsoever great is the power of the last enemy, we can be certain and confident of this, that nothing can prevent the carrying out of God’s purpose with respect to us. There is no power that can withstand Him; there is no might or influence that can match Him, there is no possible antagonist that can equal Him. The mightiest foes, the devil, death and hell have already been vanquished, and the resurrection of Christ is the proof of it….

Do you realize the exceeding greatness of His power in you? Do you realize the energy of the strength of His might that is already working in you? And do you realize that because it has begun it will continue, and continue until you will find yourself ‘faultless and blameless, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing’ in the presence of God?…

It is most important that we should realize that the Apostle is praying here, not that the Ephesians may have more power, but that they may come to know the greatness of the power of God that is already working in them…. We are not Christians and cannot be Christians apart from this mighty working of the power of God…..

The most urgent practical question for every Christian is this: Are we aware of the fact that the almighty power of God is working in us? Do we realize that we are what we are solely and entirely by the grace and the power of God? Do we realize in our own personal lives and experiences that it is this exceeding great power of God that accounts for everything in the Christian life? I press these questions again because I am convinced that the main trouble with most of us is our failure to realize the greatness of the salvation into which we have been brought, and which we enjoy together.…

Somehow or another we do not grasp the idea of this mighty working of God in salvation. Far too often we think of it solely in terms of forgiveness. We think of the Christian life as just a matter of knowing that we are forgiven, and then our living the Christian life as best we can…. When we come to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, do we realize that it was the greatest manifestation of the energy of the strength of God’s might that the world has ever known. According to the Scriptures nothing but the almighty power of God could have raised Him again from the dead, and exalted Him to the high position where He is at this moment at the right hand of God. We forget that He was ‘declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead’” [Romans 1:4]….

Nothing but the power of God can make us believers. But it is also by this selfsame power that we continue in the Christian life. It takes the same power which enabled us to believe to enable us to continue at all in the Christian life. We would not be able to stand for a single hour in the Christian life were it not for this power of God that is working in us….

If you have the life of God in you, if He has started ‘a good work’ in you, He will not give it up, He will bring it to perfection. If you will not be led by Him, you will be driven; if you refuse to be enticed and attracted, you will be chastised. God wills our perfecting, and he will stop at nothing less. The work will go on, the power of God will continue to be exercised in us until we are faultless…. He wills that we should be holy and without blemish in His presence.

Is there anything more important for us than to know all this? We are in the hands of God, and He is working in us. He has given us the power to believe, He is working in us now, fashioning us, molding us, bringing us to perfection. We cannot escape it, we are in His hands and He will go on with the work. Blessed be his name!

Oh that we might know this more and more, and realize the high privilege of our calling, the marvel, the miracle of this new life which is all from God, and which is all by God. My comfort, my consolation, my strength, my assurance, is to know that God is working in me; and that He will never cease to work in me until I stand before Him in glory.

What Do You Set Your Mind On?

What do you set your mind on?

We often set our minds on the past – how so-and-so talked down to me, how I failed or succeeded on that recent test, how nice it was to receive a compliment – or on the longer-term future: what job I want to be doing a few years from now, whom I will marry, how many children we should have, what retirement will look like. We also tend to set our minds on our immediate needs – such as what we will eat for dinner, what we will say to an angry child, how we will avoid a traffic jam, and how we will spend the weekend.

We can’t and shouldn’t avoid thinking about such issues. But the Apostle Paul tells us that our focus, our central mindset, should be different: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Why are we to do this? He explains: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). That is: The You that was focused on the things of the earth has died. Yes, you are still in the body. Yes, you still need to eat and sleep. Yes, there are still the pressures, joys, and sorrows of earthly life. But via the sacrifice of Jesus you are reconciled to God – and He promises that He will never leave you or forsake you, that He will bring you safely to His heavenly Kingdom, that He is working all things on this earth together for your good and the glory of His Name. He has united you with Christ so that He sees Him when He looks at you. You have an inheritance that will never perish, that has no blemish, that will never fade, kept for you in His presence – and He will grant that inheritance to you at exactly the right time.

Furthermore: “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). Jesus will come back at the end of the age to punish those who continue in rebellion against Him and to complete the work begun in all of His people. Our life is now hidden in Him, but on that Day the glory of our new life will appear. Note that “in glory” is not a location but a description of who we will be when Jesus appears. On the earth, in this fallen world, we may appear to be ruined, weak, and powerless; we may feel abandoned, hurt, and confused; we will be tempted to lose hope, to quit striving, to give up. But in the midst of all our trials, our true life remains protected with Christ in God – whatever happens around us or to us, it is safe with Him! And Jesus is certain to return. At that time we will appear with Him and be seen for what we truly are in Him: glorious, spotless, perfected, His delight and joy.

So set your mind today on such things – not that you ignore all these other concerns, but that you interpret all other concerns in light of who you are in Christ. Because of who you are in Christ, you can thank God for the gifts and kindnesses and joys around you; you can persevere through the trials and temptations; you can slough off insults, mockings, and demeaning words; you can love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; you can love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Christian, Jesus is your life. He will return. In Him you are glorious, spotless, perfected. Set your mind on that– every minute of every day.

 

Watch and Pray

How important is prayer? How important is watchfulness – for ourselves and for one another?

Travel with me to Gethsemane, the night our Lord will be betrayed. He is sorrowful and troubled. He asks His closest friends, Peter, James, and John, to come to the garden with Him, and to sit while He prays. He is in deep need. He wants their presence, their prayers. Yet after a while, He returns and finds them sleeping. He asks:

“Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:37b-38)

The hour has come. The betrayer is at hand. Both Jesus and His disciples are about to undergo severe trials. And yet Peter, James, and John neglect to watch and pray.

Jesus knows they want to stay awake, to remain with Him, to intercede for Him: “The spirit is willing.”

Their flesh, however, is weak. They are exhausted. They lack focus. Rather than spur each other on to watchfulness, they become silent; their eyelids droop; and they sleep.

In noting that their flesh is weak, Jesus is not providing them with an excuse. Quite the opposite. Because their flesh is weak, they must call upon God to help them fight temptation. They must help one another to remain watchful.

What about us? Our flesh is weak, just like the disciples. And we have the same enemy assaulting us, tempting us, lying to us, deceiving us. Furthermore, just like the disciples, we must have more than a willing spirit; our statement, “Yes, Jesus, I will follow You!” is not sufficient for us to truly follow Him, to avoid temptation, and to live to God’s glory.

Given our weak flesh, given the power of our enemy, what must we do?

We must do what Peter, James, and John did not do that momentous night: We must keep alert; we must rouse one another; we must be aware of our weaknesses and Satan’s wiles.

And that means we must pray. The road set before is challenging and dangerous. We cannot travel it individually by our power. Indeed, we cannot travel it together by our human power. Yet just as Jesus instructs His disciples, all Scripture instructs us: Pray without ceasing. Depend on God. Call out to Him in the day of trouble – for yourself and for your brother and sisters. He is the God of all comfort; He is the God of all might; He is the Father of mercies. So pray for watchfulness and strength; pray for eyes to see reality as it is; pray for one another in this battle; pray for God’s Kingdom to come, His will to be done; pray against the schemes and power of the devil.

A Bible scholar of the last century wrote, “The essence of the road of the righteous is this: it is a road too difficult to walk without the companionship and friendship of God.” This God stands ready to strengthen and confort you, to enable you to build up and comfort others, to cause you to watch and pray effectively. Know that your flesh is weak. So don’t be content with a spirit which is merely willing. Cry out for the resources only God can give you to be able to watch and pray and encourage and persevere.