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 …
Preaching on II Timothy 3
New Sermon Series in Yambol
What tremendous services we have had at the Yambol Pentecostal Church this year again, as we began a new sermon series on II Timothy as one of our summer projects. For four weeks now we have gathered with the people on Wednesday night for payer and worship and God has honored our meetings. The church has been packed full and hundreds more have watched the service live via the internet. Miracles and healings have taken place during and after the service times, as one elderly lady reported instant disappearance of pain in her broken arm during the altar prayer as she was watching the service at home on her grandson’s computer.
This is the second year in a row that we have included the Yambol church in our summer ministry, as last year we completed a 10 week teaching on the Gospel of Mark. Our work in the region, which includes parts of Sliven, Nova Zagora, Stara Zagora and Bourgas will also focus on leadership training for the village ministry teams on location with the anticipation to renew the evening services in the church before the end of the month.
Blue Fire
By Kathryn Nell Donev
This past weekend while camping on top of the mountain of Petrohan with fellow believers, the Lord displayed his glory in many unique manifestations. Some people were baptized in the Spirit, while others received a fresh blessing with new direction for their lives. Many more were healed instantaneously, as the Lord’s presence was both glorious and gentle remaining with us throughout the night.
Saturday evening, while in prayer around one of the torches which surrounded the perimeter of the tents, the Lord revealed to me in an ever peaceful way that we are to be “Blue Fire”.
The blue fire is the part of the flame which one does not really consider when thinking about a flame. It is the element, which is at the base of the flame burning closest to the source. Therefore, the blue fire is the part with the most oxygen which allows for complete combustion. It is in this state, leaving no residue, where the flame is the purest. The blue fire is the hardest to blow out and remains light even in the strongest winds. And despite popular belief, the blue part of the flame, and not the red one, is the hottest part of the fire.
The red flame receives its color from the impurities in the air that are being combusted. These impurities absorb heat and are the cause for the red fire not being as hot as the blue fire. Since the red fire is not hot enough to reach the state of complete combustion not being close enough to the source, it leaves a soot residue, which contaminates its surroundings. And when the wind blows it does not remain strong.
We are not simply to be on fire for God with a red flame, but we are to be on fire for God with a blue flame. We are to be “Blue Fire”. We are to be the hottest and most constant of the fire. And it is in doing this that we provide true light to our surroundings and not residue. We are to remain as hot as blue fire in order to be without impurities, uncontaminated by the world. For it is the blue fire which does not to waiver in the wind; and it is the blue fire which remains as one with the source of the flame.
