Evangelical Education in Bulgaria
September 15th marks the beginning of the school year in Bulgaria. For us it is always a very special time, due to our continuous involvement in the development of Evangelical Christian education in Bulgaria through the years. This year we partnered with the Church of God of Prophecy in national leadership training held in Bulgaria. This is the second annual training event we are completing together here, as at the same time earlier this year we participated in the 2009 Development Institute of the Church of God of Prophecy in Cleveland, TN.
Upon the invitation of National Presbyter Peter Georgiev, we traveled to the Danube River port city of Rouse, where the training was held with special guests General Presbyter Clayton Endecott from Frankfurt, Germany and the director of the Tomlinson Ministry Center, Rev. Dr. H.E. Cardin from Cleveland, Tennessee. Lectures and discussions continued all day long as we were able to fellowship with one another during the breaks. The event was broadcasted LIVE on the internet and on Thursday it was watched at the chapel service in our Alma Matter, the Church of God School of Theology, now known as the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. During the brief webcast we prayed for a special blessing over the students and their instructors. The prayer video can be watched at the following internet location: http://worldmissions.tv/user/videos/bulgaria The training sessions and the church services of the conference were recorded and can be viewed online at: http://bibliata.tv/user/videos/peppiy
We will be dynamically involved in three more educational programs as the school year unfolds in Bulgaria as follows: (1) the Church of God national educational strategy in Bulgaria (2) the master’s level program in chaplaincy and (3) a mobile Bible School, with special focus on the practical and effective training of small ministry teams for the needs of local and regional congregations.
2009 X Event: Transforming the Status Quo
X youth event, which was held on September 9, 2009 in the city of Samokov near Sofia was a complete success. Six Roma worship teams from the Bulgarian Church of God with special participation of the Elley gospel band from the Central Church of God in Sofia and the worship team of Pastor Iliya Panov participated in this three hour long event, which finished with preaching and prayer provided by Cup & Cross Ministries International. Several thousand were in attendance from various parts of Bulgaria and abroad. Some pastors brought their complete congregations, others attended with family and friends, but we all gathered together ready for a new touch from God.
We named this year’s event “Transforming the Status Quo” for three reasons. First, the date 9.9.9 itself is somewhat controversial and we chose it under the leadership of the Holy Spirit to transform it from a spiritualistic superstition into a spiritual celebration. Secondly, September 9, 1944 is the date when the Communist Revolution took place in Bulgaria, and this year on this very date we asked of God to change the catastrophe of communism to the abundance of blessings for Bulgaria. And finally, our event was held in one of the largest Gipsy ghettos of Bulgaria, where thousands of Roma people were touched by the power of the Spirit.
We are truly thankful to all who partnered with us and made this event possible as part of our annually Harvest Campaign in Bulgaria. This year the Lord allowed us to create the proper environment with a professional stage and lightning, over 50kW of sound equipment, professional cameras and photography crews. The complete event was broadcasted LIVE on the internet and watched by thousands of people in Bulgaria and abroad. But most important of all, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up above any other name at the 2009 X event in Samokov, Bulgaria.
40 False Teachings in the Church of the 21st Century
1. That Christianity is a religion and social status, rather than a personal life of holiness and relationship with God.
2. That Christians need standards and rules other than the Bible in order to live a Christian life.
3. That the divinely inspired text of the Bible needs human additions and alterations.
4. That the practices described by the Bible are not for today, as if the Bible is wrong.
5. That Christianity is religion for the weak.
6. That governments and countries are responsible for the growth and prosperity of the church.
7. That we must accept the world in order that the world accepts us.
8. That Postmodernity is Biblical teaching.
9. That the evolution theory is compatible with the Biblical teaching of the Creation.
10. That God needs our strategies, offices, plans and training based on the principles of the contemporary marketing and management in order to lead His Church like His strength has vanished.
11. That the church is successful only because of our personal participation.
12. That the personal works of righteousness are more important than the works of faith which the Word requires from us.
13. That life without sin is not possible.
14. That man has no free will, but is a subject of predetermined choice.
15. That once saved, a person is always saved regardless of the lifetime between his/her salvation and death.
16. That the Trinity is a composite of three different persons, and is not trinitarian nor monotheistic.
17. That Jesus Christ becomes the Son of God only after the incarnation.
18. That the leadership of the Holy Spirit is not needed in the church any longer.
19. That there is baptism of the Holy Spirit without speaking in other tongues.
20. That the gifts of the Holy Spirit can be practiced without a life of holiness.
21. That there is Biblical preaching without confirmation from the Holy Spirit with gifts and miracles.
22. That only elected men can preach the Gospel, as if the preaching of the Gospel is not an obligation of every believer.
23. That the Revival in the church is for a particular period of time and not a personal responsibility for every believer to live a life of revival.
24. That only because the Church does not operate under the anointing given to it, the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased to exist.
25. That only because we do not have personal discipline to pray and fast until God answers our prayers, He cannot do miracles as He has done before.
26. That because some prosperity teachings have over exaggerated some doctrines God does not supply needs any longer.
27. That one can change the spiritual laws and reap without having sowed.
28. That it is more blessed to receive than to give.
29. That to show mercy is an act of weakness.
30. That the minorities in the church, which form its ethnic variety, are its worst part.
31. That you can be a part of the Church without being part of the Spiritual Warfare.
32. That you can be victorious without Christ, without his sacrifice on the cross and without the power of his blood.
33. That when you are personally upset with certain people you have the right to simply leave the church.
34. That not going to church as an act of protest is an acceptable form of Christian behavior.
35. That cell groups without leadership and accountability are the apostolic model for the church.
36. That there are two kinds of Christians – layman and clergy, and that the Church must be without structure and hierarchy.
37. That there is no Rapture of the Church.
38. That the Rapture and the Second Coming are the same event.
39. That the Rapture is not before the Tribulation.
40. That the unrighteous and the ones who evidently live a life of sin will participate in the rapture of the Church and will be resurrected with the righteous dead.
Anouncing 2009 X Event: Transforming the Status Quo
Our team is preparing for our annual X youth event, which will be held on September 9, 2009 in the city of Samokov near Sofia, where six Roma worship teams from the Bulgarian Church of God are already preparing. Please join us in prayer and fasting in the next few days, while we are approaching this spiritual battle together as the Church of the living God. The political forecast for Bulgaria says that political unrest is on the way. The economic forecast for Bulgaria claims that this fall season will bring even heavier crises for the country. And even the weather forecast for the week calls for heavy rain with early snow in Bulgaria. But we will continue to trust the heavenly report, which says: “Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well” (Isaiah 3:10). For God called us to minister in the times of peace and prosperity and even more so in the times of crises and battles. Pray for BULGARIA.
Dr. Dony K. Donev: My Pentecost
Live Broadcast from Bulgaria
Cup & Cross Ministries International will be broadcasting the annual 2009 X event LIVE from Samokov, BULGARIA on September 9, 2009 at 12:00 PM ET
Renewing of the Evening Services in Yambol
We report that with the assistance of our team and the help of many partners in ministry, the renewal of Sunday evening services at the Yambol Pentecostal Church has been successful.
In the course of this work, we were able to witness a dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit during a ministry event with the participation of the team of our longtime ministry partner and personal friend Pastor Vasil Petrov from the Gabrovo Church of God. This particular service began at 6 PM on Sunday and continued until 10 PM that night as some 100 hundred people were prayed for at a two hour long alter service, which followed the message. We are still receiving reports of various healings and miracles that occurred that night, among which are:
(1) A lady of the worship team, who has played the violin in church all her life, scheduled for surgery that same week due to a bone-ligament condition was instantly healed during the prayer.
(2) Deliverance of multiple cases of headache, migraines and sinus were reported at the end of the alter service.
(3) As the church continued in several hours of prayer, around 9 PM a lady threw herself on the floor with screams and convulsions and was delivered from a demon.
(4) An elderly gentleman with a chronic condition in his vestibular apparatus due to a foot injury reported instant improvement and ran joyfully through the church.
(5) Several people reported improvement in their eyesight and hearing.
(6) Instant disappearing of pain and discomfort in bones, muscles, ligaments and chronicle conditions in back, hip and neck areas were reported during the prayer.
(7) A lady with a broken arm, who was watching the service live on the internet, later reported that her pain disappeared during the course of the service.
(8) Several people, who were brought to service from the local Dialysis Treatment Center, also reported instant relief. We are now waiting for doctoral reports as confirmation for the healings.
Preaching on II Timothy 4
A Truly Pentecostal Water Baptism
The Tundja River is a popular tourist attraction being one of the longest rivers in Bulgaria. It is an ancient waterway, which runs from the heart of Bulgaria down through Stara Zagora and Yambol all the way to Turkey. The river is a haven to much wildlife, a retreat to fishermen, and simply a tranquil sight to those passing by. But on August 22, 2009 the Tundja River served a different purpose. It was the location where 14 more new believers were baptized in water.
Cup and Cross Ministries along with the home mission team from the local Pentecostal church and a step-mission team from Spain met and had a baptismal service at the base of the Tundja River in the outskirts of the Hanovo village near Yambol. The service began with praise and worship in the Roma language, in Bulgarian, Spanish and English as representatives of these ethnos groups worshiped the Lord by the river. We shared a brief teaching on the subject of Water Baptism from the Church of God Declaration of Faith to encourage the new believers from the local village churches and to establish the Scriptural base of our gathering by the river.
Then we stepped into the cool waters and in the hot summer day, 14 new souls dedicated their lives to God and came out of the Thundja River resurrected for a new life with Him. Spontaneous singing, prayers of praise and cries of worship continued throughout the entire time in all languages that the people in the congregation spoke to form one truly Pentecostal water baptism service by the running stream waters, as we were all reminded of the old Gospel spiritual:
As I went down to the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord show me the way …
