After years of prayer and preparation, I finally get to serve at Bethlehem Seminary’s extension site in Yaoundé, Cameroon this semester. As most people know by now, God’s Church there is ravaged by the gangrene of the Prosperity Gospel. This false teaching abounds and remains largely unchallenged. From an early stage in my born-again Christian life, the Lord has given me an indomitable desire to give our African brothers what they truly need: solid biblical teaching. Indeed, the orthodox teaching of the Christian faith is the only way to breathe new life into gangrenous parts of God’s universal Church. By His grace, amputations are not always needed. There is hope. Most of our students are in fact ex-Prosperity Gospel preachers or believers. It is such a joy to now personally help Cameroon on the narrow road of biblical fidelity to our Lord (Matthew 7:14).
To help them along, I am teaching our seminary students two classes this semester: Principles of Biblical Interpretation and Foundations of Christian Hedonism. His grace has shone through both thus far and students are growing in their understanding of our God and his Word. For brevity’s sake, let me focus on one example which I hope will cause you to rejoice in what the Lord is doing and encourage you to pray for them, and for me as I teach them.
In Foundations of Christian Hedonism, I had them read chapters from C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, Pastor John’s Desiring God, and David Mathis’s Habits of Grace. During class, I asked them if there were any particular passages that stood up to them in Screwtape. One student shared having been struck by one of Lewis’s sentences. Listening to him, it is as if his soul had been pierced by a sword upon reading these words, just like our Lord’s Mother at the cross. Here is the Oxford scholar’s rapier: “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” In that chapter, Lewis defends that Satan seeks to lead us to Hell very much like one is supposed to boil the proverbial frog: gradually, lest the Christian feel the hellish heat and hop out to the Lord in fright. The student appreciated the profound wisdom of Lewis’s insight. Seeing it at play in his life sobered him to the bone. Many of his classmates concurred.
In God’s kindness, that quote was quickly coupled with what they had read in Desiring God, and Habits of Grace. They made the connection themselves: the main battleground where Satan concentrates his attacks is in our reading of the Word. One student confessed being stunned at how easily satisfied he can be with reading the Word simply to check the box on his reading plan. Another student admitted that being a student, a husband, and a father, it can be so easy for him to justify skipping his Bible time for good, earthly reasons. Yet another shared that he now realized how deeply every day should be a fight for joy in God’s Word. He resolved to never be satisfied until both his mind and heart find satisfaction as he is reading the Bible. Each of them talked in turn unceasingly. I did not dare to stop them from sharing to “stay on the lesson’s track.” This was a special moment. Even though their thoughts can seem grave—blending repentance and resolutions—they all championed a grateful smile, and praise to the Lord was coming from their hearts. This was a moment of education in serious joy. I told them afterwards that it was like attending a firework of God’s grace resounding in their hearts. God was definitely shown to be most glorified in them as they were most satisfied in him. I praised Him in my heart for this most appropriate and gracious mise en abyme.
Needless to say, I am perfectly aware that similar miracles of God’s grace happen across the world in many a seminary class. Praise God for the generous dispensation of his glorious grace! However, the peculiar beauty of this scene is enhanced for me by the knowledge that so many of my current students were not so long ago on that gradual and “broad road that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13) because of the Prosperity Gospel they were preaching. They treated the Word like a toddler deals with his food: with apparent gusto, but little respect for its Maker, flinging it around at their whim. So, what a joy it is to see them now resolved to enjoy the Bible like mature Christians who delicately savor solid food with thankfulness to the Lord in their hearts (Hebrews 5:12-14; Psalm 119:97-104). Pray that they would continue to grow into the type of men and eventually pastors we want to see come out of Bethlehem Seminary Cameroon, Minneapolis, and someday India: shepherds who treasure our Sovereign God and his Sacred Book for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. As you do so, would you also pray for me as I help Cameroon on the “narrow road that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14)? “Only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:14) Pray that these beloved would be found among them.
Timothée Davi, M.A.
Assistant Professor of Biblical and Historical Studies
Prayer Requests:
- Pray that the students of Bethlehem Seminary Cameroon will continue to grow into the type of men and eventually pastors we want to see: shepherds who treasure our Sovereign God and his Sacred Book for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.
- Pray for me as I help Cameroon on the narrow road of biblical fidelity to our God and his Word.
- Pray for the other professors serving our Seminary there.
- Pray for the church attached to the Seminary: Église Baptiste Bethléem Yaoundé.