Give Thanks
Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to Him through God the Father (Colossians 3:17)
The Scripture advises us to give thanks to God at all times and on all occasions. It also gives thanks itself: Genesis gives thanks for the creation. Exodus gives thanks for the deliverance. Leviticus gives thanks from generation to generation. Numbers gives thanks for each generation. Deuteronomy gives thanks for the law. Joshua gives thanks for the Promised Land. The historical books give thanks because His mercy endures forever. Psalms give thanks with a song. Proverbs give thanks with a word of wisdom. The Prophets give thanks for the coming Messiah.
The Gospels give thanks for the Messiah who has come to the world. Acts give thanks for the Holy Ghost. The Epistles give thanks for we were delivered from sin, saved, sanctified, baptized, adopted to the family of God, healed, restored, blessed and wonderfully placed on the firm rock who is Christ Jesus. Revelation gives thanks for He is coming again to deliver us from the trials and tribulations of the present world and to bring us to the abundant life in the Heavenly City.
We are thankful to God who is our hope for both today and for eternity. Happy Thanksgiving, from all of us at Cup & Cross Ministries.
Cup & Cross Presenting at ETS
November 20, 2006 by Cup&Cross
Filed under Publication
Cup & Cross Ministries presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Washington, D.C.. The research dealt with a long-term project of ours, namely “The Story of the Bulgarian Bible.” The complete paper is available online here. You can view the complete PowerPoint presentation here.
Revival Campaign in the United States
What a great and exciting month of ministry. We held 33 services in 24 days in Bulgaria during the month of October as part of our 2006 Revival Harvest Campaign. Many were touched and transformed by the power of God while ministering during two revivals and a number of regional meetings and youth rallies in major Bulgarian cities. On Monday night during our last revival before our departure which was held in the oldest Bulgarian Pentecostal church in the Black Sea port city of Bourgas, a lady received her miracle and was healed from cancer. The case was later confirmed by her doctor.
We are happy to announce the continuation of Revival Harvest Campaign 2006 in the United States, as we have already scheduled ministry appointments in Washington D.C., Chicago, throughout South Carolina and Florida
Healing in the Midst of Revival
After the Monday night service of the revival we held in Sofia, a lady came to us and testified of a healing in her left arm where she had been experiencing tremendous pain to the point of not being able to move it. She further reported that during the service the pain completely left her body.
While in revival services in Bourgas a similar healing took place. In the middle of the alter call, an elderly lady testified with a shout and with her hands raise to the Lord in thanks for a physical healing. This lady testified that before the service she could not move her arm or leg on one side of her body and that during the time at the alter she received an instant healing in which she was able to walk without hindrance and could move her arm and open her crippled hand. We also just received confirmation that a lady was healed from cancer during the revival in Bourgas.
Revival is a time of restoration but it is only after we humble ourselves, pray, seek his face and turn from our wicked ways that our sins will be forgiven and there will be healing in the land. We praise the Lord for this dynamos healing power and know that He in not finished with the work He has begun.
Chaplaincy Course at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute
A chaplaincy course has been in the preparatory stages for the past two years. It was first taught as a pilot class in the spring of 2006 to approximately twenty regional superintendents who oversee army chaplaincy groups in large Bulgarian towns. It was then recalibrated for the Bulgarian context and presented to the board of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance for accreditation. We were able to teach the chaplaincy course for a first time in the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute during the month of October, 2006. With my wife Kathryn as a co-instructor, we taught the course to active chaplains and Christian consultants. As a result, the course has been approved by the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance and accepted in the program of the Institute to become the basis for the masters in chaplaincy ministry program which the Institute is initiating in 2007.
Some recent chaplaincy developments in chaplaincy ministry in Bulgaria:
November, 2006 – A master program in chaplaincy ministry has been developed for the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia
October, 2006 – A contextualized course for chaplaincy ministry is offered at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia
August, 2006 – The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was officially registered
July, 2006 – Cup & Cross Ministries submitted a research paper to NATO\’s Manfred Wörner Foundation dealing with the case of underground chaplaincy within the Bulgarian Armed Forces
March, 2006 – A contextualized course for chaplaincy ministry was offered in Veliko Turnovo
February, 2006 – www.kapelanstvo.com was released to serve as the official website of the chaplaincy movement in Bulgaria
October, 2005 – A national training seminar in Veliko Turnovo was held
October, 2005 – The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was presented before the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance
September, 2005 – Regional meeting in Nova Zagora which addressed the current issues
August, 2005 – A regional chaplaincy meeting in Sliven
July, 2005 – Publication of camouflage New Testaments and Bibles, some of which we distributed to Bulgarian army personal including the divisions currently serving in Iraq
Cup & Cross in the Church of God News
The work of Cup & Cross Ministries was again recognized by the World Missions Media Department. Two reports were published, the first one dealing with our October ministry appointments (http://www.cogwm.org/news.cfm?sid=2638) and the second one covering the tour in Bourgas, Mega Youth Rally in Varna and the Ten-Year Anniversary of Bibliata.com (http://www.cogwm.org/news.cfm?sid=2640).
Socialists Win Elections Again
Incumbent President Georgi Parvanov was re-elected with a majority of 77.6% votes vs. 22.4% in favour of nationalist opponent Volen Siderov, according to exit polls of Scala agency. Exit polls were released by Bulgarian media immediately after the last polling station closed at some time after 7 pm on Sunday. Alpha Research quoted preliminary figures of 77.1% for Georgi Parvanov and 21.9% cast for Volen Siderov.
Voter turnout averaged the levels from the first round and hardly exceeded 40%, preliminary data showed. Unlike the first election round, the turnout doesn’t play a role here and the candidate who garnered the larger amount of the ballots cast became Bulgari’s next president. Parvanov faced Siderov in a run-off because the turnout in the first round of the elections fell below the 50 % of eligible voters required for a straightaway victory.
Presidential Elections 2006
Bulgaria’s current Socialist President Georgi Parvanov took a further lead in the presidential race, the final votes count revealed. Parvanov garnered a record high 64.033 % of the votes, while the rival he will face at the run-off, leader of ultra-nationalist party Attack Volen Siderov won 21.491% of the votes. Parvanov’s other main rival, the hardliner right-wing candidate Nedelcho Beronov ranked third with 9.737 % of the counted votes.
Fourth came the other rightist runner Georgi Markov, former constitutional judge and a symbolic figure of Bulgaria’s transition to democracy. Markov, who ran together with young businesswoman Maria Ivanova, garnered 2.716% of the votes.
Parvanov ran together with Vice President Anguel Marin as an independent, but had the backing of the governing Socialist Party. An eventual victory would make him the first politician to win re-election, as no president has ever been re-elected since the collapse of the communist regime in 1989.
A total of about 11,400 polling sections across the country were opened for citizens to vote and more than six million Bulgarians were eligible to partake in the elections. The sites in the capital only were guarded by almost 2,000 police officers.
Bulgaria’s Re-Election Headed President Georgi Parvanov is most likely to win in run-offs, gaining the lead over nationalist Volen Siderov, show surveys of drvrral sociology agency. According to the poll there will be no change in turnouts on Sunday, compared to October 22. Parvanov will win a convincing victory over Siderov in run-offs and is likely to get three quarters of the votes, MBMD pollster Petar Zhivkov said.
According to MBMD’s exit polls from the first round of the elections, 40 % of the people who voted for rightists’ candidate Nedelcho Beronov have declared they will not vote in run-offs if they are between Parvanov and Siderov. Part of the people will vote in run-offs not because they actually support Parvanov, but because they want to protect the European appearance of the country from ultra nationalist influence.
Revival in Sofia: Power United
This week the capital Sofia hosted a national revival meeting organized by Cup & Cross Ministries to celebrate 100 years of the Azusa Street Revival and 10 years of the beginning of the www.Bibliata.com website. The revival opened Sunday night at the Future and Hope United Church of God with a mega youth service in which we officially celebrated the 10 year anniversary of our website bibliata.com. The Bulgarian gospel band Face to Face performed at the opening with several of their latest hits. Bulgarian Christian rock band Extremum was also present at the concert. Praise and worship was followed by a fresh Word on Christian Liberty and Unity. More than twenty members of the www.bibliata.com team located in Sofia attended and after the service there was a special time of fellowship. Some drove for over three hours just to be a part of what the Lord is doing. Others we met in person for the first time as all of our communications have been over the internet.
Monday and Tuesday nights followed with praise and worship led by the Elley praise team from the Sofia Church of God. In a tag team style, Dr. Dony K. Donev and Pastor Tony Elenkov brought two extraordinary messages on God’s holiness and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. There was a convicting spirit followed by a joyous liberating spirit which brought those present in tears. At the alters, this indescribable holy presence was so great that people could not stand and where falling in the Spirit even without the laying on of hands. About ten people received the baptism.
Wednesday night was the concluding service. The Institute for Bulgarian Protestant History brought a three-part lecture on the origins of the modern Pentecostal Movement, its beginning in Bulgaria and its future developments. This service was very unique due to that it was more of a service which lectured on the history of Pentecost in Bulgaria. The three ministers who spoke represented three different Bulgarian Pentecostal denominations. It was amazing that the revival brought in unity worship teams, ministers and people from many different denominations. The presence of the Lord during all services was very strong and full of power.
Services in Sinemoretz
Along with our regular services in the Black Sea town of Ahtopol, we have continued to hold services in the close by village of Sinemoretz. Sinemoretz is located almost at the Bulgarian-Turkish border. As a matter of fact, in the near past the village was in a closed area accessible only by people who traveled abroad carrying all necessary documents to cross the border. Times have changed and now Sinemoretz is a modern sea resort equipped with everything necessary for luxury and functionality. The five-star hotel, Prima Vista, is located at the very coast of the Black Sea and along with a number of other local facilities it forms the new skyline of the sea resort. The Pentecostal church in town is small, but growing. It is comprised predominantly by locals, although in the summer months it has many visitors. We have been holding two services a week in Sinemoretz on Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons.
