Patmos Baptist Church, Jouvence - Mbenda, Yaounde

26/08/2026

26/08/2026

PATMOS PACESETTER (August 26, 2926)
REPENTANCE PRECEDES RESTORATION
Unless you hear God fully, it is easy to mistake Him for being unloving, even wicked. My friend Pel lived close to the school where her father was head teacher. She felt privileged and took it for granted that the father would be merciful to her in any situation. One morning, she arrived at school a few minutes late. The father picked up his cane and had her well beaten. She ran back home to the mother and cried all morning. She and the mother could not understand how the father could be that harsh. After all, she was just a few minutes late. That evening, the father ignored the mother’s anger, took Pel into his arms, and seated her on his lap, explaining to her that as his child, she was supposed to set an example of discipline and obedience rather than be a bad example to others. He told her the effects of disobedience and indiscipline. She apologized for being late and adjusted her time for arriving at school. That day, the father planted love, obedience, and discipline in her. They guided her throughout life and made her what she is today. God disciplines those He loves and restores blessings and a good life when they repent.

God’s relationship with Israel demonstrates God’s desire for humanity. Most of what looks obscure in His relationship with Israel in the Old Testament is explained in the New Testament. When God was angry with Israel, first He told them to repent. Sadly, they had false prophets among them who told them that God is their God and too loving to punish. So, they refused to repent, and God punished them. They cried out for restoration, and God told them, “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:12-13). He promised restoration after repentance, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm- my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed (Joel 2:25-26). In His love and mercy, God rewards repentance. He allows hard times on His children so that they may repent and receive a more blessed future.

Dear friend, before you complain about your suffering, check your righteousness before God. Before you complain about the stress in your family, village, nation, or even the troubles in your church, check the state of righteousness there. Yes, we cannot expect your whole nation, village, family, even the whole church to repent because there are always die-hard agents of the enemy there. However, repent and cry for repentance. If you and a handful of others repent and cry out to God for restoration, God is merciful and just to restore. Often, hard times are His disciplinary period. He declares in love, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (Rev. 3:19a). Do not give up when God disciplines. Instead, repent, help others to repent, and trust Him for restoration. It shall come with great blessings, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. Rev. NFOR (+237) 677501196.

25/08/2026

PATMOS PACESETTER (August 25, 2026)
THE EVIL OF SILENCE WHERE THERE IS EVIL
One thing God hates is complacency; people watching evil and doing nothing because it does not affect them. When violence erupted in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, I was teaching in a faculty of theology where most of the students were French-speaking Cameroonians. In some of our classes, we discussed the situation the nation was going through. Even praying for the situation was hard because they only saw rebellion and refused to listen to the sufferings and feelings of marginalization that the people were revolting against. Their theory was that no matter how corrupt the government authority was, it could not be challenged because it was powerful and would crush anyone who stood against it. They did not easily understand that it is the pastor’s divine responsibility to stand for the oppressed and marginalized while remaining in the truth. When you stay silent for an issue or fold your arms and sit because it does not concern you, you are refusing to be God’s instrument in seeking solutions, and God cannot be pleased with you. Being silent in the face of the oppressed or marginalized is as serious a sin as being involved in the oppressive acts.

Solomon was an oppressive king. He used forced labor and high taxes to accomplish his projects. It is therefore revealing to read from his proverbs, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice” (Prov. 31:8-9). He learned! God wants justice in the land. His desire is for those who know Him to care for the marginalized and the poor whose situation is most often the result of failed political systems. Israel experienced terrible times in the time of the Judges when the leaders did not fear God and in the time of the kings when many of the kings were selfish and far from God. When His suffering people were ignored by the powerful and anointed of the land, God promised, “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day” (Ezek. 34:11-12). God knows how to get His people back to freedom. To the complacent (inactive) people who could make a difference, God says, “I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins. They think the LORD will do nothing to them, either good or bad” Zeph. 1:12).

Beloved, are you oppressed in any way by anyone? Relax, God will take care of you. If God has placed you where you can make a difference and something is keeping you from speaking or doing something useful for those who are marginalized and oppressed, seek God’s grace and speak up before God holds you to judgment. Remember that sometimes complacency or the attitude of, “It does not concern me,” is the highway to self-destruction. Do not walk on it. Walk on the way of the oppressed and be blessed for speaking for people’s freedoms, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. Rev. NFOR (+237) 677501196.

24/08/2026

PATMOS PACESETTER (August 24, 2026)
RELAX, GOD, SHALL DO A SIFTING
I can imagine that there are still celebrations and cries in homes across Cameroon from the results of the General Certificate of Examination released last week. The exam results prepare people for high school and others for the university. Therefore, it is a significant issue in a nation with a literacy rate of 73% (2018). The road to these exam results this year was very bumpy, but at last, the results came without any complaints. Hopefully, the integrity of the exam has been restored. The marking was well supervised and guided. Though trustworthy, one cannot say that the marking was perfect. There is always an element of error in anything done by humans. Sadly, as one looks at the nation and all the problems that are making Cameroonians sad, depressed, disabled in many things, and destabilized in many areas of their lives, the desire can only be for God to do a liberating exam for the nation and the continent and deliver it from the corruption and corrupters who have kept the nation in limbo for so long. Is your own country, or family, in the same situation? God will do it for us all, and His exam has no error margin.

God’s desire for Israel was always that they should be an exemplary nation for the nations around them. He gave them great success. They were doing well, but people became complacent and never thought they could have any problem. They quietly slid into evil, and many compromised their commitment to the Lord, to righteousness and justice. God reminded them that He had a sifting to do among them. “I, the Sovereign Lord, am watching this sinful nation of Israel. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will never destroy the family of Israel,” says the Lord. “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. But all the sinners will die by the sword- all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us’” (Amos 9:8-10). God did not spare the nation He specifically chose as His. But He was not only concerned about Israel. The text says God would shake Israel, “along with the other nations…” including yours. The essence of the shaking, sifting is to get off the evil doers of the land; those who ensure that God’s will for the nation is not done. The great thing about this is that in so doing, “not one true kernel [authentic righteous one] will be lost. He will preserve His own.

Beloved child of God, are you troubled by the troubles of your nation? Hand it all to God and have your peace. He will judge. He will pass everyone through a test of righteousness and justice. All those who are plaguing your family with evil, keeping your life from progressing, and all those making your nation depressive will be taken out of the way. It may not necessarily be by death, but if death is what they resist the Lord up to, God will do it for the liberation of His people whom we are. However, be sure that your walk with Him is right. Then be sure you will not pass through the sieve and be destroyed. You will be kept, and it will be well with you, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. Rev. NFOR (+237) 677501196.

23/08/2026

"BUY THE FUTURE
(JOHN 11:1-44)

23/08/2026

"BUY THE FUTURE"
(JOHN 11:1-44)

21/08/2026

MUSTARD SEED CONFERENCE
Patmos Baptist Church

21/08/2026

PATMOS PACESETTER (August 21, 2026)
YOU ARE A god NOT GOD
That God has given us the grace to be His representatives is great, wonderful, and tempting. Nsa loves the biblical phrase, “You are gods” (Psalm 82:6), but falls into the temptation of concluding that God should get away and stop telling us that we are sinners and allow us to exercise the power of the gods that we are. Humanity is suffering from people who receive power from God and their followers, and quickly forget that it is a derived power for the glory of the one who gives it. So, the family head shouts, “I am the head of this family, respect and bow to me,” without bowing to the one who made him that head. The village chief makes his word paramount and unalterable, forgetting that he is there on behalf of the people, without whom his authority is useless. The President becomes a terrible dictator when his or her word becomes law such that even the laws of the nation bow to him or her. In my nation, most politicians thank the head of state for everything, attribute their statements to him as if they have neither brains nor authority is their ministerial and political responsibilities. Even local authorities like village chiefs give him superiority (as Fon of Fons, for example) over jurisdictions that he does not even understand the implications of. It makes no sense, therefore, for anyone to question his authority, and many around him even think that even God has no authority over him. Maybe to them he will decide the day of his death! No! We are gods, not God. You are a god, not God!

The context of the Biblical expression is clear: “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler” (Psalm 82: 6-7). God wants justice but expresses it through people. To the judges in the courts He says, “Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it” (Deut. 1:17). To all humanity He says, “Whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Rom. 13:2). With such great responsibility for justice, the Psalmist declares, ” God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”: Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed” (V.3) and warns, “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked” (v. 2)? The grace (v.6) is this, we are gods because we are children of God and as gods we are mortals who will die like every other ruler. God is the only one who will not die because He is God. Use His authority for His glory, god!

Dear god, reflect on the authority God has given you as His child in your home, community, church, and nation. Exercise that authority for His glory. If you abuse it, you will face judgment. It is a great privilege to be His child. Use it for His glory and the good of all humanity without ever trying to take over from God, and it will be well with you, and you will be a great blessing to your people, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. Rev. NFOR (+237) 677501196. If you are in Yaounde, please join our celebratory Conference from today, Friday, to Saturday evenings (5-7pm) and Sunday morning, 9:00am.

20/08/2026

ANNIVERSARY PRAYER EVENING.
"POWER WITH GOD AND MEN"
Gen 32:24