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.
Preaching on II Timothy 1
Mission Bulgaria 2009: Ministering at Samokov Church of God
It is always a delight to return to the city of Samokov near Sofia and minister there. Recent developments have dictated that two Church of God congregation in near-by locations minister to over 3,000 Spirit filled members from the gipsy ethnos in the area. The growth is so tremendous, that one of the congregations have baptized in water 207 people last month alone. The other congregation is led by the national overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God, Pastor Alexander Todorov. We ministered in Samokov on the subject: 20 Signs of the Last Days and were also able to schedule other ministry appointments with the churches in the area. The regional leadership seminar was also discussed for a
time convenient for all pastors in the region, as it has been in the plans for sometime now due to our ongoing ministry in other areas of the country. It is our heartily desire that this ministry event combined with the prayers of the saints will result in the union of the Spirit-filled believers in the city of Samokov producing a mighty wave of revival in the lives of the people which will change the spiritual landscape of this area forever.
Church of God Eastern Europe Missions: Leadership, Economics and Culture
By the end of 2003, in a dissertation proposal for the Church of God Theological Seminary, which dealt with Bulgarian American congregation from an evangelical point of view, we suggested that there is not just one single problem that contributes to the struggle of these congregations to establish themselves permanently in the North American culture. The research which followed in the next couple of years, further showed that a multilayered dilemma consisting of economical, cultural and leadership factors was the reason for both the success or failure for the church communities established by Christians emerging from a postcommunist context.
The research results confirmed the originally proposed problem in ministry, not only within Eastern European congregations in North America, but also by partnering ministries, research foundations and practicing colleagues working in the former Soviet satellites. The majority agreed, that not only the existence of the described tridementional dilemma, but the lack of a properly applied solution for it, constrained Christian congregations emerging from this context from reaching their potential in their respective communities. Rather symbolic in this discussion still remains the remark made by one of the leading Bulgarian experts in religious freedom and human rights, who elaborated our statement that Bulgarian evangelical congregations remain “beggars in a land of plenty” not only in America, but in the European Union as well, being held prisoners of their own mentality formed by the communist past.
Our work in the Bulgarian evangelical context, gave us the opportunity to extend this research beyond the North American scope into Bulgarian immigrant communities in Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland. The study repeatedly confirmed that these congregations struggled with the same dynamics we had proposed originally, which naturally led to applying the research model in a native Bulgarian context.
Our direct work in the past five years with over 400 hundred Bulgarian congregations from various evangelical denominations has confirmed that the problem of ministry for the majority of Bulgarian protestant churches both in and outside of Bulgaria, emerges from three groups of factors related to (1) leadership, (2) economics and (3) culture. Problems and solutions of this nature or their lack thereof, conforms the work of any missional organization ministering in an Eastern European context. The work of the Church of God European Mission makes no exception to this rule, as the proper timely address of these issues with applicable and unambiguous resolutions defines the very foundation of the state of the Bulgarian evangelical church in the beginning of the 21st century.
National Leadership Seminar for the Bulgarian Church of God Continues
Levels 3-5 of the Leadership Seminar were presented on Saturday afternoon in the Gabrovo Church of God. The following topics were covered: 21 Laws of Leadership from a Biblical Perspective, 52 Leadership Principles of Jesus and 17 Laws of Teamwork for Churches. Plans have been made for the seminar to be held in Bourgas, Sofia, Samokov and Russe.
On Sunday we delivered a message entitled 10 Signs of the Last Days. This is a sermon accompanied by a powerful media presentation that informs of recent developments in Bible Prophecy and urges believers to prepare and stay ready for the final hour of Biblical eschatology.
After the morning service, we traveled south to meet with pastors in Kazanlak and Stara Zagora and reached the city of Dimitrovgrad located South of the Balkan Range. We were invited to speak to the hundreds of young people from Bulgaria, Ukrain, Russia and Molodva who had gathered there for a youth rally. As planned and expected we announced the release of the newest of our ministry websites – a GodTube like web community called Bibliata.TV.
Leadership Seminar for the Bulgarian Church of God
A month ago, Cup & Cross Ministries visited the Samokov congregation pastored by Church of God National Overseer Alexander Todorov. Our team then left for the Salvation Church of God in the capital Sofia, to hold the first level of the Church Leadership Seminar. We have worked on this course for the past two years and designed it to serve as a tactical ministry training element in our national strategy for Church of God congregations. The first module included topics such as:
(1) The leadership principles of Jesus
(2) Recognition, training and personal qualifications of a successful leader
(3) The principles of God’s timing
(4) Sacrifice, responsibility, investment and delegation
(5) The law of sowing and reaping
(6) The law of navigation
(7) Problem solving
(8) Psalm 23 for leaders
Subsequently, we released on the internet a 34-part series called the Successful Leader. Immediately after we held the course in Sofia, we began receiving invitations to hold the course in various locations in Bulgaria. As a result, we scheduled the first level of the leadership course with the churches in Sliven, Bourgas, Rousse and began planning its future presentation with the churches in Gabrovo, Yambol, and Samokov. We will be then returning to Samokov and Sofia in September to teach the second level of the Church Leadership Course in the Church of God congregations there.
Pravetz Church of God
The Lord called me for the ministry in the end of September 1990 in a small house at the outskirts of a mountain town in Bulgaria by the name of Pravetz. In 1990 I was only 16 years old. At the time, Pravetz was known as a stronghold of communism where the communist president who ruled Bulgaria for 36 years was born. Yet, a small group of Pentecostal believers had kept the faith during the long years of persecution during the Communist Regime. It was there that the Lord called me for ministry, as He later called many others that are today spread around the world.
I began working with a small group of students from the local Computer Technical School. Our number was twelve to be exact. The work was not without the help of more experienced Christians and the pastor of the local Church of God. Coming out of the persecutions, the church had no building, and we met at private homes. We studied the Bible and practiced what we learned from its words. All night prayer meetings were a weekly event, and the chain fasting almost never stopped. No one of us knew or had ever experienced a genuine spiritual revival, yet deep inside ourselves we all wanted to be closer to God.
In the spring in 1991 it all came together. The church was able to rent a small building formerly used for a Communist club. A number of young people from the local schools began attending the services. Many of them were my schoolmates, as I myself was a student at the Computer Technical School in Pravetz. Soon enough we had to start a separate service for teenagers, which was held on Tuesday evening. On some of the services we witnessed up to fifteen people getting saved and baptized with the Holy Spirit. Our number grew rapidly and we had to move our meetings to the larger facility of the Pravetz Youth Center. More and more students were interested in what God was doing. The lives of many who were well known drug addicts and alcoholics were dramatically changed forever as they were delivered from sin and saved.
In the fall of 1991 I returned from my summer break with a fresh strategy. I started a verse-by-verse study on the book of Revelation. I was only seventeen and I had only preached for a year. I was using an old Bulgarian translation of Larkin’s 1919 book on Revelation. At this time our youth group was over 100 and growing. The study continued nine months challenging our desire for deeper knowledge and spiritual growth.
We gathered for prayer every morning before school. Since the dorms did not open until 6:30 a.m., we often had to jump through the windows of the first floor to go to the church for prayer. At that time the church had rented another building known as the Officers Cafeteria for its meeting. In the cold winter mornings we went to the church for prayer sometimes having to walk through the fresh snow that had covered the streets of the small mountain town during the night. In the spring we went up on a small hill outside of the town called Monovetz. It was during this time that one of the school officials spread derogatory remarks about our prayer meetings. Many of us were called into the offices and interrogated for our beliefs. Yet, nothing was able to stop the revival. The youth group was growing rapidly. On some meetings we counted up to 175 people. The year was 1991.
More than ten years later, I am again reporting this story not to brag about its success, but to express my desire for revival. The old times are now gone. Many of the members of the Pravetz Church of God youth group now live around the world. Beside Bulgaria, there are many in the United States, Canada, Austria, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Israel, South Africa, etc. Yet, in my thoughts I often return to the small mountain Bulgarian town. I climb the quite hill before dawn breaks and I pray a silent prayer. I pray to God to see and bless every one who participated in the Pravetz Revival wherever in the world they may be. I pray that He somehow gathers us once again in this lifetime, and reconciling every one and each of us with Himself to let us find ourselves again in His presence of love and anointing. I pray that He somehow reaches us wherever we may be and revive us again. I pray for a new revival because revival must go on …
Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God in Chicago
This is the story of the first Bulgarian Church of God established in the Untied States. The church was started in the building of the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago which at the time was pastored by Rev. Sean O’Neal. Led by a dynamic cross-cultural vision, the congregation expanded in several ethnic branches. Using a strategy home mission’s approach the church soon became an important religious center for the Chicago metro.
In December 1994, the Lord led me to participate in a step-mission trip to Chicago organized by the students of East Coast Bible College. As preparations were made we learned of several Bulgarians who attend the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago. Unfortunately, they had been hurt by some Bulgarian ministers who had visited them before and were very suspicious of any organized church work. Yet, I was introduced to them and was able to minister to them in several services.
By the end of our mission trip Pastor O’Neal invited me to join him in his attempt to begin a Bulgarian church in the city. Although at this time Chicago was a center for more than 12,000 Bulgarian immigrants no one had attempted to start a Bulgarian Protestant church.
After much prayer I arrived in Chicago on May 27, 1995. In the remaining part of May we created a strategy to reach as many Bulgarians as possible. This included visitation of families, attending Bulgarians social functions, and establishing contact with several Bulgarian organizations active in the Chicago area such as the Bulgarian Club and the Orthodox Church. In June we executed this plan with much success. During this time I lived with a Bulgarian family and slept on the balcony of their apartment on Jackson Boulevard. Often, I had to spend the night in the church building as well. But the most important thing was to carry the vision to the end.
On July 9, 1995 the first organized Bulgarian Church of God was established in Chicago city. I was privileged to preach on the subject of forgiveness as 10 Bulgarians attended. Little I knew that in the years to come much forgiveness will be needed as the church will be torn apart by deep bitterness, personal ambitions, frequent confusion and lack of mission. Yet, while the works of men fails, the work of God remains.
By the end of the summer of 1995 the Bulgarian Church in Chicago had grown to 42 people. Thanks to the faithful and united work of Bulgarians and Americans in the fall of the same year the number was 64. On October 7, 1995, I was able to visit the church in Chicago again and present it to the National Overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God, Pastor Pavel Ignatov who visited the church for the first time. The church became not only the first officially registered Bulgarian Pentecostal congregation in the United States, but also an important social and educational center able to minister to the 100,000 Bulgarians that live in the Great Lake region today.
Called to another mission, I left Chicago on July 30, 1995. The church bulletin upon my departure under Farewell and Appreciation read: “Today we are saying thank you to Dony for a job well done this past summer. He has served our church faithfully, and has been a tremendous blessing to Narragansett Ministries. Immediately following worship this morning, there is a dinner in Dony’s honor in the fellowship hall. And everyone is invited to attend.”
The church congregation presented me with a plaque that represented my efforts and work in Chicago. But for me, this plaque represents much more. It represents the prayers and the vision of many who are continuing the work today, establishing and leading Bulgarian churches around the world to providing pastoral care for many who have left the homeland in search for a better life. To these ministers goes my personal token of appreciation and thanks, “Well done thou good and faithful … “
Window for the Price of a Church
January 20, 2007 by Cup&Cross
Filed under 365, Publication
As a Pentecostal Christian, I love the church. I love going to church, participating in church and simply being the church. It is my only true passion. I love making the church a better place. If there was a phrase “born to church,” it would define me completely. In the words of an unknown preacher, “I’m as churchy as Noah was arky.”
I love to worship with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs with all people regardless of age or ethnicity. I love singing from the old red-back hymnal, just as much as singing contemporary songs. Southern gospel pleases me, but Christian hard rock, techno or gospel rap does not scare me one bit. I cannot help but often wonder if one day Christian rock lyrics will be on the pages of the red-back hymnals.
I also love listening to the message, whether it is delivered inside or outside of the church walls. A good sermon always inspires me. Some sermons touch my soul while others simply entertain me. And I do have to admit, that some preachers bore me. I wish that I could tell them to keep their day job, for after all if you are going to be doing the work of the Lord, please do it right.
And then, there is the prayer at the alters, which I also love. I know this may sound very Pentecostal, but in our postmodern context of worship there is really no other time during service where people finally hush and allow God to speak.
But something has been bothering me lately. Every time I sing, listen to the sermon or pray at the church altar, I have to face a wall with a huge stained glass window. I know it cost as much as a brand new AMG Mercedes Benz and this disturbs me a bit. My concern arises because I am personally familiar with locations where a brand new church could be built for this same amount of money. I guess I have chosen a different value system and I cannot help but ponder, “How many souls will come to Christ because they saw the light reflected through this magnificent stained glass window?”
I know that some will say, “Well, if you don’t like the window, just turn the other way.” And I mustask, “What would happen if every time we see something wrong with our church we turn the other way?”
So next time, when you worship, listen to your pastor or pray facing that stained glass window, which costs as much as a church, please ask yourself the question, “Should a window cost as much as a church?” Just something to think about …
Services at the Central Church of God in Sofia
We returned from yet another exciting trip to Sofia where we ministered at the Central Church of God with pastor Pavel Ignatov. After a six year building program, the church is now equipped with a new multifunctional center. Although this is not our first service there, we were amazed again how the new building enhances the ministry of the church through its multiple ministry applications.
To begin with, the location of the new worship center is close to downtown Sofia. This is important because as the capital of Bulgaria, the city has experienced an escalated growth in the past ten years reaching a population of over two million. The Central Church of God is conveniently located at the very heart of the metropolis as at the same time it is close to the main roads, which can easily lead to the city loop and out of the city.
The convenient setting provides for a multitude of ministries. For example, the social center in the new building daily provides lunch for a large number of elderly people whose pensions of a limited amount are not sufficient for all expenses of a life in the big city. The food is delivered to them fresh at the same time every day and is free of charge.
The church’s center is also used for a number of conferences and church leadership meetings. Just in the past several weeks along with the regular services, they have completed a revival, Christian Advocates conference, youth rally, ministerial training course, national advisory meetings and a great number of weddings (normal for this time of the year in Bulgaria). The congregation is currently planning a nationwide evangelization meeting for the beginning of November.
The service we held at the Central Church of God was encouraging for us. At first, the large auditorium with over 1,000 seats looked a bit empty due to Sofia’s main streets being blocked for a city marathon. Yet, soon after the worship team began, the auditorium filled up as people continued to arrive until the end of the sermon. At the end of the service, we asked the congregation to join us at the altar and pray with us a special prayer for the unity of Bulgarian Pentecostals. The final benediction urged the church that revival must go on, but this would only happened if the people of God stand as one.
