5 Things to remember when Schedules fail

• Remember that God causes all things to work together for our ultimate good though we might not see it right away
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

• Remember that your times are in God’s hands because he planed and numbered your days with the events of those days
“My times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:15), “He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting” (Psalm 104:19). “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc 3:1)

• Remember that God changes events as he pleases and he has set a time for everything on earth
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons (Daniel 2:20-21). “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1).

• Remember that, that is the best God has for you at that time though it might not seem best to you
“I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11)

• Remember to do all your planning with a view of God’s sovereign control of the universe in mind
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15)

Christian Suffering

1. Suffering is a gift of God to his own. "It has been granted (bestowed as a gift) to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake" Phil 1:29

2. It is far better to suffer for Christ's sake than to enjoy fleeting worldly pleasure because there is reward for those who suffer for Christ's sake. "By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He (Moses) considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward" Heb 11:24-26

3. Suffering works in us (christian) virtues that we will not have otherwise. "we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, an endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame" Romans 5:3-5

4. Present suffering--of what ever nature--cannot sever us from Christ but will make us savor Christ more if we respond properly to it. "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.....for i am sure that neither death nor life....will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:35-39. "it is good for me that i was afflicted, that i might learn your statutes" Ps 119:71

5. If we suffer the lose of everything but Christ, we have everything in Christ. "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life" Matt 19:29. A w Tozer said, "he who has God as his one treasure has all things in one"

6. The present suffering are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" Romans 8:18

7. It is a privilege to suffer for Christ and with Christ since our hope is beyond this life. "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" Acts 5:41 "it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will" 1Peter 3:17

So, "count is all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds" James 1:2 for "through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God" Acts 14:22

Guidance in discerning the will of God

• Seek to get your heart in such a condition that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Do not depend upon feelings or impressions.

• Seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God.

• Take into account providential circumstances.

• Ask God in prayer to reveal His will clearly.

Thus, through prayer to God, the study of His Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. I have found this method always effective (Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace : 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions, Includes Indexes. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990), 234.)

“Good things” can keep you from “THE GOOD”

Jesus told his disciples a parable that we all need to learn today. The conception has been that only sinful things like sexual immorality, lies telling, deceitfulness etc can keep someone from entering the Kingdom of heaven. These things truly do hinder people from the kingdom. But, not only those things we generally know to be bad are hindrances to the kingdom.

In Luke 14:16-24, Jesus gives a parable of the kingdom, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. ¹⁷ And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”

Right at the time when the banquet was ready, the invitees all gave excuses (legitimate)

1. I just bought a field, and I must go out and see it

2. I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them

3. I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come

Buying a field, buying oxen, cars, televisions, dresses, cloths, etc are not sinful in themselves, but they can become great snares if God is not held in the right perspective. We should not let gifts hinder us from the GIVER. Gifts are intended by the GIVER to point us to him. A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Let no “good thing” keep you from ultimate Goodness.

For your ultimate Joy

First Snow

Today is Thanksgiving in the US, and i am having some good time with Travis and Susan Myers at the Schiemter's. The first most intense snow fall, quite and experience for me. Hope you all enjoying watching these pictures. May God be pleased to make our lives are white as snow for his name sake.

Thanks for your prayers

Thanks for your prayers. God has been very good to me most especially in drawing me closer to him. And he has given me a great family to live with. It is such a joy to live with the Stellers (Tom Steller).
In regards to studies I am enjoying my classes so far especially "Reading the Greek New Testament." At the beginning it was fussy but God through your prayers has been lifting the fork.

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf. Pray that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my ministry in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. Now may the God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

Romans 15:30-33.

God is Good

TBI Retreat

First Year TBI Guys with Tom Steller the first from the left and John Piper, $ Rick Melson the last two to the right

A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! Ps 84:10-12.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore Ps 16:11.

God gave us The Bethlehem Institute guys a privilege of spending three days of being in his presence. Here are some of the pictures from the retreat.

First Day in the US

The first picture where i am sitting on the computer is right in my room. That was when i was creating this blogspot. That same day 25 th Aug 2007 we went to the church for a wedding and after the program Pastor Tom snapped the other one outside of Bethlehem Baptist.

The wedding was very nice and brief and a little very different from the way it is done in cameroon. I enjoyed it.

This evening i went for Saturday evening worship service at the Bethlehem Baptist Church where Pastor John Piper was the preacher. It was really wonderful. He preached a sermon titled "Spectacular sins and their global Purpose for the Glory of Christ: 'the fatal disobedience of Adam and the Triumphant Obedience of Christ" from Romans 5:12-21. what a wonderful sermon. Please you might want to visit desiringgod.org to read or listen to that sermon. I felt so lifted in my spirit. I hope and pray that God will give me more of such times during my stay here in the US.

After the worship service i came back home and had super with the Stellers. What a welcoming people they are.

In short Bethlehem members are really very welcoming so far as i have seen. What a blessing from God is it to be here!

Thanks for visiting this blog.

Dieudonne Tamfu

Journey and first morning Prayer

Acts 20:24 "I do not count my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only i may finish my course and the ministry that i recieved from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

Greetings precious Friends
Again I want to thank you for striving in your prayers to God for me. Finally I arrived the US and I am writing to you from my room.

I left Cameroon on Thursday at 8:20 pm Cameroon time and we reached Paris at 6:10am local time (5am Cameroon time). There in Paris I waited up until 11:30am for the next flight to Atlanta. At almost that time we left Paris for the US. God gracious gave me a wonderful friend (Emmanuel) in the plane and we had a very good time discussing. I am so thankful that I had someone to talk with because the flight from Paris to the US was really long I am sure that was the longest trip I have ever taken, but God made it such that It will not be boring by providing a friend with whom I talked all the way. I could not read because of the tiredness of the journey. Finally we arrived Atlanta international airport at about 3:30 local time (about 9pm Cameroon time). there in Atlanta there was a very long Wait because of the weather. The plane I had to board was not coming. I lingered in the airport till 1am local time (6am Cameroon time) but finally by God’s grace we left for Minnesota. While in the plane to Minnesota I was praying and wondering what Pastor Tom Steller could be going through since he knew that I will be arriving at 9:56pm and not 3am and I had not called him. But amazingly God kept him waiting for me. He said to me that some who were with him to welcome me had to go back but he could not. Finally when I arrived he picked me up and we went to his home. Though late in the night or very early in the morning, he did to me a little introduction of the town. I saw Bethlehem Baptist church where I will be fellowshipping Lord willing; we passed through Pastor John Piper’s house and then Pastor Sam Captree and David Livingston and we finally went to his home (Ps Tom’s home) where I will be living. I took a bath and went to bed with all the tiredness. But God has graciously woke me up this morning which for you in Cameroon in afternoon (2:24pm as I write). And I am looking forward to beginning my first day in the US.
I am now looking forward to beginning a new kind of life. New in the sense that I will be a student in a totally new environment. Please join me in praying that God will greatly stretch my love for him and my love for his glory filling the whole earth as I study so that I may not be deceived by the beauty of Minnesota and miss out on the purpose of my being here but that Minnesota should be Minnesota and Jesus be Jesus to me.
I will give you updates as time goes on. I cannot even write so well this early morning because I have not rested very well.
God’s blessings on you
See you after who knows how long. Let us pray that it be soon.
For his name sake
Tamfu Dieudonne

Below is my first prayer to God this morning as I am preparing to see the city. Please join me in praying these things before God.

My Prayer the first morning in the US
“Lord I will be going out to see the new world into which you have brought me. I do not now know how it looks like but I can guess it is wonderful for it is your design. All you ever design is good. Help me Lord by your Spirit to truly appreciate the beauty of this city and America only to the degree that it helps me see you. May I not be won by its beauty and miss out on the beauty of the glory of God on the face of Christ. Take my eyes and let them be fully consecrated to you. May this city and America at large remain what it is or rather will be to me when I set my eyes on it in a few moments. May Jesus mean everything to me! Spare me Lord from becoming more American than becoming more Christ-like in my stay here in the US. May US be US and Jesus be the all-satisfying Jesus still and more. May I not for once trade the beauty of Christ with the small and contingent beauty of America. Help Lord that I may never decide to stay here for there is work to be done back at home. May the thought about the new earth and the new city Jerusalem fill my heart so much that I will seek its coming by doing what you have called me to do. Indeed your glory has to fill Cameroon and Africa as the water cover the sea. May I live and study while here for that great end. Oh God help for I cannot do without you. Guard my burden for the church in Cameroon and the unreached tribes in Cameroon and Africa that I will always want to go back to serve. In the name of my all-glorious and all-satisfying Christ” AMENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN