Today We are All Rodney Howard-Browne
“…Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—
and there was no one left to speak for me.”
~Rev. Martin Niemöller
Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested for having church on Sunday.
The charges: unlawful assembly and a violation of health emergency rules.
The state administrative order issued restriction on all “public or private gatherings, including community, civic, public leisure, faith-based events…” The “safer at home” allowed leave only for essential work or to pick up food and medication.
For us Pentecostals, going to church is like going for food or medication. Our supernatural healing proceeds from the atoning work of Christ. Our gathering together represents the resurrection of His body from the dead and our own resurrection from all disease, sickness and even death. It is a spiritual self-fulfilling need guaranteed in the Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Yet, during this state of emergency, both second degree misdemeanor charges somehow prevailed over the First Amendment.
Now, I can understand if many do not like Rev. Browne’s approach or praxis. I like him as much as the next preacher or practitioner of theology. But the seven principles of the Constitution still stand and right after federalism and republicanism it still reads individual rights.
In America where until today, Romans 13 carried a much different interpretation than when cited by communist agents in China, North Korea, Eastern Europe and beyond. And where since July 4, 1776 the Biblical imperative “Honor the King” aligns with Paul’s “bond servant of Jesus Christ,” meaning: not a slave to any earthly king, empire or any other new world order. For before anything else, every ambassador of the Kingdom of Heaven is accountable first to the Heavenly Call.
It is in this sense that today we are all Rodney Howard-Browne! If not, tomorrow we all could be arrested for having church on Sunday.
Police surveillance of phone and internet now allowed under new pandemic law in Bulgaria
Police surveillance of phone and internet now allowed under new pandemic law in Bulgaria
Those of you that are receiving our monthly printed report, already know of several proceedings in Eastern Europe and beyond as following. The new Bill on Religions voted in Bulgaria 2019, allows only “registered” ministers to minister in their respective denominations. The Social Service Act (Jan-Jun, 2020) allows social services to act upon an anonymous complaint to cease children and put them in a foster-home for up to 30-days until the legal parent is proven innocent in court. But none of these matches this current development…
As of today (March 25, 2020) under the current COVID-19 quarantine, the newly voted emergency law allows for the authorities to monitor telephone and internet activities. Data obtained from internet or telephone monitoring will be stored for six months, not twelve as had been previously provided. There will be judicial control over the requests for extension of the period for data storage, but no judge or court order is needed for obtaining of the initial phone or internet records.
The good news?
They tell us this is just a temporary measure until the virus goes away.
The rest is yet to come…
BibleTech or BUST: A Decade Later
CORONAVIRUS STATEMENT by Cup & Cross Ministries International
CORONAVIRUS STATEMENT by Cup & Cross Ministries International
The United Nations have just declared the Coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic. Most European flights are suspended and a number of countries in our area of ministry remain closed. Alternatively, CDC has issued a detail set of resources for faith-based communities and their leaders for preventing COVID-19. As a result, churches are cancelling their Sunday services, conferences and international assemblies.
Having full awareness of the above and convinced by the Bible that “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,” according to Mark 2:17
WE HEREBY AFIRM that:
- Divine healing [is] provided for all in the Atonement (Psalm 103:3; Isaiah 53:4, 5; Matthew 8:17; James 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:24 – 42nd A., 1948, pp. 31, 32)
- “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16)
- And that there is still “power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb” (L.E. Jones, 1899)
For 30 years now, every public prayer we have held around the Globe has ended with these words:
“WE COMMAND every sickness, every disease, every virus
and ever infection, every tumor and every cancer
to leave the body of the believer in the name of Jesus.”
This prayer includes the Coronavirus (COVID-19) as well and therefore
WE FIRTHER AFIRM:
- Our commitment to REVIVAL especially in the year 2020
- Our long-scheduled Revival Harvest Campaign in celebration of the First Centennial of Pentecostalism in Bulgaria (1920-2020)
- Our readiness to respond to every church, state and national office that contacts us with a request to schedule our ministry in due time.
The Cross of Calvary cancels every coronavirus!
Revival must go on…
Sincerely,
Dr. Dony & Kathryn Donev
Cup & Cross Ministries International
Regular Attendance Is Less in 2020
How churches define regular attendance has changed in the last few decades. An active member used to be defined as one who attended at least three times a week. Now, that number is three times a month or less. This doesn’t mean they’re out of reach though.
Global Network of Bulgarian Evangelical Churches outside of Bulgaria (2020 Report)
Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in the European Union (2019)
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Germany
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Spain
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in England
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in France
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Belgium
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Italy
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Cyprus
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Crete
Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in America (2019 Report)
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Chicago (2019 Report)
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Texas (2019 Report)
- Bulgarian Evangelical Churches – West Coast (2019 Report)
- Atlanta (active since 1996)
- Los Angeles (occasional/outreach of the Foursquare Church – Mission Hills, CA)
- Las Vegas (outreach of the Foursquare Church – http://lasvegaschurch.tv)
- San Francisco (occasional/inactive since 2012, Berkeley University/Concord, CA)
Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Canada (2019 Report)
- Toronto (inactive since 2007)
- Toronto/Slavic (active since 2009)
- Montreal (occasional/inactive since 2012)
CURRENTLY INACTIVE CHURCHES/CONGREGATIONS:
- New York, NY (currently inactive)
- Buffalo, NY (occasional/inactive)
- Jacksonville, FL (occasional/inactive since 2014)
- Ft. Lauderdale / Miami (currently inactive)
- Washington State, Seattle area (currently inactive)
- Minneapolis, MN (occasional/inactive since 2015)
READ MORE:
- First Bulgarian Church in Chicago Opened in 1907
- Gateway Cities for Bulgarian Evangelical Churches
- How to Start a Bulgarian Church in America from A-to-Z
- Unrealized Spiritual Harvest as a Paradigm for Cross-Cultural Ministries among Migrant and Disfranchised Ethnic Groups in America Today
When the Church Process Hurts our Children
Policy and procedure and process are not to be feared. Without regulation, disorder and self-empowerment become a dangerous reality. However, can we truly hear from God when we become victim to the Process; when we hide behind procedure so our earthly agenda can be met? The voice of the Process can be so overwhelming that it overshadows our judgment for Truth. Dollar signs and numbers begin to replace genuine salvation and genuine miracles and genuine Holy Ghost baptism. We become too concerned with following procedure all while hurting our brothers and sisters and our spiritual mothers and fathers. We do so with no remorse because ultimately we were faultlessly just following protocol. Nevertheless these people have a voice to process events and forgiveness can be extended in which healing can occur.
But unfortunately, the ones which we always disregard while following the Process are the little ones that do not have a voice. So I speak for the children of the church who become the real victims to the Process. I speak for the ones who remain on the sidelines in the shadows under the pews; the ones who cry out for justice with their actions because this is their only way to be heard. Acting out is their way of screaming to anyone who will hear, “Don’t forget me in your Process”. Their tears say, “Stop with the politics”. I also speak for the unborn children of an infertile womb who desire to be born into unity and love. Please do not leave our innocent heirs without a place to worship, without a pastor to lead them into God’s presence and for some, without a desire to even go to church. Is the Process, with the illusion of democracy that divides, worth loosing our children in the midst? Join in saying, “No” with our actions.
-K. Donev, LPC/MHSP, NCC
Believers Without A Home in 2020
Sometimes it’s easy to feel discouraged about low attendance numbers, but that doesn’t mean people don’t still believe. Many believers who don’t attend regularly or at all have valid reasons, such as:
- Can’t find the right church (23%)
- Poor health (9%)
- Sermons aren’t engaging (18%)
No Connection To Faith in 2020
On the other hand, the same study from above shows that 20% of adults attending services monthly or more say they don’t feel any real connection to God during church. A surprising 40% don’t feel a connection to their faith.
Believers Practice Outside Of Church in 2020
Believers Practice Outside Of Church
Some Christians who may not have a church they like nearby or had a bad experience at a previous church haven’t given up on their faith. Instead, the Pew Research study found that 37% of Americans who rarely or never attend church, practice their faith in other ways. This shows that having a presence online could be beneficial to reaching those Christians.
