RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR: ENTER the BIRTH PANGS
Takeaways from our recent message series on Last Minutes of the Last Days: Last Things before the Rapture
Jesus pointed out that in the last days just before his imminent return there shall be terrible times characterized by wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, these are the beginning of more sorrows to come. We’re all witnessing these things NOW in our generation.
The last minutes of the last days are unfolding before our eyes. After two years of pro-pandemic thinking, just in the past few weeks we’ve been introduced with a series of Eschatological Milestones.
WAR on UKRAINE (Pointing toward Israel): ENTER the BIRTH PANGS
WAR
Nuclear instability not at one, not at two, but at three major nuclear plants in Ukraine
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1085427380/ukraine-nuclear-power-plant-zaporizhzhia
U.S. President Biden visiting Eastern Europe only days after Kamala Harris visited there.
Belarus to get involved https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-says-russian-aircraft-fired-belarus-ukrainian-air-space-2022-03-11/
Iran attacks American consulate in Iraq AGAIN https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/missiles-target-us-consulate-north-iraq-casualties-83412862
China warns of ‘worst consequences’ for any country that supports Taiwan militarily
https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-worst-consequences-taiwan-military-support-warning
NATURE
Turkey is ready to flood a second channel from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Dries up the Euphrates and Tiger rivers (as in Revelation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxrgKfRIdW0
Earthquakes in Utah (of ALL places in the world)
ECONOMY
Digital Dollar as last stop before setting the financial system of the Apocalypse
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/tech/us-digital-dollar-cbdc/index.html
Saudi Arabia Considers Accepting Yuan Instead of Dollars for Chinese Oil Sales
BULGARIA
Bulgarian Army now drafting while the Bulgarian government suddenly re-examines our network of bomb shelters long forgotten from the days of the Cold War.
US defense chief’s visit to Bulgaria ‘extremely significant’
Bulgarian ex-Prime Minister and Cabinet members in police custody https://www.novinite.com/articles/214334/Bulgarian+Former+PM+Boyko+Borissov+Spent+the+Night+in+Police+Custody?fbclid=IwAR2Pu1cHhQDhThna3Ye0vajQMHiouZ2v7bx6r7za-5CAgpGkVGZIn6c7Cnk
Brink of NUCLEAR war: Ex-RAF chief warns the world could be only ‘a few steps’ from atomic weapons being used as increasingly desperate Putin struggles to win his war in Ukraine
- Air Marshal Edward Stringer says nuclear war is ‘no longer unthinkable’
- He claims atomic weapons ‘could’ be used as Russia’s invasion continues
- EX-RAF Assistant Chief of Air Staff says it could be ‘only a few steps away’
Need more be said that the time to prepare for Christ’s imminent return is NOW?
“NOW learn a parable of the fig tree: (Israel re-birthed as a nation May 14, 1948) When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, THIS GENERATION shall not pass, till ALL these things be fulfilled.” Matt 24:32-34
- It’s been 6,000 years, or 120 jubilees, since the Biblical creation (Gen. 6:3; 2 Pet. 3:8).
- It’s been 70-plus years, the span of a Biblical generation, since the “fig tree,” the Nation of Israel was reestablished and began putting forth leaves (Matt. 24:32-34; Ps. 90:10).
- The stage is set for the global Ezekiel 38 war-conflict, the emergence of the 10-nation beast as a governing system, and the global economic collapse told by John in the Revelation (Rev. 6:6; 13:7; 17:12-14).
- Multiple peace deals between Israel and its Arab-Muslim neighbors are on the table or in the works (1 Thess. 5:3).
ALL that remains to happen before the Church is SUDDENLY COUGHT AWAY is the sound of the TRUMP of GOD (not angelic trumpet, not the 6th or the 7th trumpet but the last trumpet, which belongs only to GOD)
When that awesome trumpet sounds, there will be only TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE on earth: those ESCAPING judgment and those being LEFT BEHIND to face it. (Luke 21:34-36). The stage is set. The foreshadows (signs) of Daniel’s 70th Week are too evident to ignore; the final 7 years can’t begin as long as the Church is still on this earth as the Restrainer (2 Thess.2:6)
“For God hath NOT APPOINTED US TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Thessalonians 5:9
To be part of the escaping group, one must be saved and in a real relationship with Jesus. If you’re unsure where you stand with God, call on Him now, confess Him as Your Lord and Savior and turn away from sin. Time is running out…
Refugee Week at LEE UNIVERSITY
Eastern Pneumotology
Dony K. Donev, D.Min.:Eastern Pneumotology
Eastern Orthodoxy can be expressed in one word: theism. The purpose and meaning of life is to become more like God. Deification is pursued by all means of human existence. This quest for divine likeness often includes the typical for the Eastern Church, speculation on the divinity and humanity of Christ, traditions on the doctrine of the Trinity and non-traditional mystical experiences. They appear in the context of both physical and spiritual characteristics in individual and corporate ecclesiastical environment. The role of the Spirit in the process of deification is threefold and involves: creation, re-creation and theism.
Eastern Pneumotology follows the graduate process of theism development. The Spirit is involved in the original creation of the world as well as the new-birth experience. His work however, does not end there, but continues throughout the process of personal deification of the believer.[1]
The emphasis of Eastern pneumatological deification is the relationship between the Christian individual and the Holy Spirit as agents of the visible and invisible worlds. This association is reached through a continuing process of deep-devotional prayer, severe fasting and self-denying asceticism, resulting in an enlightening mystical experience, accompanied by the individual’s denial of self and world and faithful dedication to God.
The variety of spiritual experiences in the deification process can be categorized in three main groups. The first category focuses on the “sensory perception” of the Spirit. This includes experiencing the Spirit as vision of bright light, extraordinary feeling of “untold ecstasy” and even a sweet smell.[2] This category includes experiences through a long stretch of time from Pseudo-Macarius (ca. 300–ca. 390) to Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022). The second category argues that the Spirit can be experienced only intellectually in a high level of understanding and knowledge that is not limited by the human mind’s perceptions of reality. This experience is defined and defended by Evagrius Ponticus.[3] Maximus developed the third experiential category, the Confessor (ca. 580-662). It claims that God, as light, can be experienced only in the uttermost darkness where all other created light disappears and only God’s light remains true.[4]
Prayer is a central and essential part of the above experiences. Without prayer one is not prepared to experience the Spirit, neither is he ready to understand and recognize the power and existence of the divine. Gregory Palamas (XIV c.) further claims that such understanding and recognition leads to an experience, which “transfigures the whole human body after the pattern of Christ’s own transfiguration.”[5] Supernatural miracles, spiritual gifts, knowledge and wisdom are often the reflection of such an experience in one’s life. Such an experience of deep emotional state in a mystical context evolves into a total dependence on divine direction, as a replica of Christ’s obedience.
[1] Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on Canticles, in Herbert Musurillo trans., From Glory to Glory: Texts from Gregory of Nyssa’s Mystical Writings (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961), 190.
[2] John Cassian, Collationes 4.5, PL 49:col. 589.
[3] Alphonsi Mangana, Woodbrooke Studies 7, Early Christian Mystics (Cambridge: W. Huffer and Sons, 1934), 71.
[4] Stanley M. Burgess, The Holy Spirit: Eastern Christian Tradition (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1989), 4.
[5] Burgess, 5.
When leaders fail to lead themselves
A leader who lacks character or integrity will not endure the test of time. It doesn’t matter how intelligent, affable, persuasive, or savvy a person is, if they are prone to rationalizing unethical behavior based upon current or future needs, they will eventually fall prey to their own undoing. Optics over ethics is not a formula for success.
Cup & Cross Ministries Offers Ministry Leadership Table
Empowered by the vision for a continuous revival within the church of the 21st century, we have chosen to make the mission of our work this one statement: We help churches grow.
One of the approaches we have taken to accomplish this ministry goal is Consulting and Coaching:
- We have successfully worked with over 50 churches toward their effective missions programs and growth through (1) leadership training and team building seminars, (2) in-depth case study of church and ministry evaluations and (3) implementing individually designed strategies for ministry development
- Currently, our team provides continuous education to over 200 church leaders and ministry teams around the world through teaching and lecturing on a weekly basis along with daily prayer support
- We extend our efforts toward church growth by helping build strong family connections through relations counseling and parenting classes implementing play therapy as Board Certified LPC
Beside personal presence and team building strategies, we implement the media in virtually every approach of ministry. We have published several research monographs as well as film series about our ministry work. Our team holds a weekly TV program called the Bible Hour. (Learn how we help churches build their own and unique web presence)
Areas of Ministry:
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Daily Ministry Reach:
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Read also: Church of God Eastern Europe Missions: Leadership, Economics and Culture
The Road Ahead
Rewind 30 Years of Missions
Exclusive Report: Pentecostal Primitivism Preserved
20 Year Challenge
January 20, 2022 by Cup&Cross
Filed under Featured, Missions, News, Publication
East Coast Bible College and Byrd Dorm
Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Germany (2022 Report)
Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Germany (2022 Report)
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P-r Trajan
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Rosen
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Duisburg
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Hannover
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Okšan
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Limburg
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Offenbach a.M.
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Sali Ahmed 01771470903
Nedelja ot 17:30 http://www.iyihaber-offenbach.de/
Osnabrück
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Limburg
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Mönchengladbach
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Saarland / Ramiz Ognjanov
The Central Church of God Ministry Center in Sofia (Bulgaria) Today
At the end of each year, we have made it a tradition to share the projects completed in the past months of hard work and labor for the Kingdom. But as we are approaching now 20 years of ministering and teaching with the Church of God denomination together, we have decided to recall some more long-term projects.
Exactly 20 years ago, my wife landed in Sofia, Bulgaria for the first time on a snowy December day. In fact, it was so cold that my mother worrying she would be coming from a much warmer subtropical climate, bought the biggest winter jacket she could find, so we could wrap her with it on the way from the airport. Not the most glorious meeting or welcome party as I recall it today.
I was eager to show her my Church, the Bulgarian Church of God, then second to none in the country with 32,000 membership strong and 400 congregations. Many of them newly started and 28 of them in the two-million people capital alone. The Central Church of God in Sofia, where I preached and ministered in 2001-02, had almost 1,200 people at that time. Its main meeting place was the multifaceted Church of God Ministry Center in a prime location in the growing European capital – a project we had undertaken in 1998 with the faithful will and support of some two dozen Church of God congregations from Florida. The documents from my personal archives tell the story best:
December 2, 2001 – I had just returned from Romania bringing with me World Missions Director Lovell Carry and Field Director (Central/Eastern EU/CIS) Dieter Knospe. They were in Bulgaria on a special visit to transfer the new building to the ownership and operation of the Central Church of God in Sofia per the contract signed with our overseer in the Spring of 2001.
The days of Ministry Weeks 17-19 that followed in December, 2001 and which my wife recorded here: https://cupandcross.com/2001/12/ are excruciating to even remember today. Sunday service with Sunday School and preaching, then again on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then special Saturday services in Pravetz and many other places. Similar schedule plus the traditional celebration services in the following Christmas week. Repeat again for the New Year’s week. And all of these done in extremely cold weather and tons of snow on the ground – so much that my wife was delayed for days leaving for the States mid-January with all flights out of Sofia cancelled as the ice never melted enough to clear the runway and defrost the airplanes.
And all through this, the building never stopped. Regardless of all difficulties, we were all working eagerly and anticipating greater results. The multifaceted Church of God Center in downtown Sofia was to encapsulate all our ministries and many more, giving our young freedom generation the opportunity of a lifetime to make a difference for the Kingdom…
Today, when the building of our Ministry Center is being sold and it will be used for something the will of the donors never intended it to be, our Church of God denomination in Bulgaria is split to no less than 12 fractions all registered since 2005. All of them still carry a variant of the Church of God name and consist of the same people I grew up with under the Communist Regime of Bulgaria. We were promised a democratic leadership formed by indigenous people, but instead ended up with mini-bosses, regional micromanaging oversight, multiple splits and everything that characterizes a very typical colonial type of missions.
With the church organizations split time and again until torn into pieces, many of my peers chose alternative paths. Some left the ministry, others were hurt or divorced, a few even died and many simply gave up and moved on. With the rest, I have an appointment at the End of the World!
But none of this gives any pleasure or satisfaction to share. Especially when reminded that the dreams we all once dreamed are now hang on the willow trees by the rivers of Babylon. When reaching those waters of deeply troubled cross-cultural crises of faith and conviction, all bridges to people have sunken with no hope to recover again. God’s Kingdom has no gain in any of this!
Our prayer has hence turned into a prophetic protest for a new reality – not merely for a new mission paradigm, but one of a whole new mission… A Spirit-led ministry that forgoes all man-made politics and business-like models, but instead aims to build a New Church that is nothing less than the very cross-road where we encounter God and others in the Spirit of Pentecost.
CONFESSIONS of a Pentecostal Preacher
To Mark Alan
We know not why good people have to die,
but we do know we must tell their story…
Chapter I: Beyond the Church and into God
Be without fear in the face of your enemies.
Be brave and upright that God may love thee.
Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death.
Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong.
That is your oath.
~Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Separation of church from politics of false religiosity
The phone rang heavy and long. It was 4 AM in Bulgaria, but I was already up. A friend on the other end of the line was calling from South Carolina with a warning of some bad situation. The following morning, I was going to be contacted by the Director questioning why we were ministering in churches outside of our denomination.
The truth was we had ministered in some 300 local churches across the Balkan country of Bulgaria crossing all denominational boundaries and gathering youth from just about every confession. God had used us not only to reach and minister and to lead, but to step into an untouched spiritual realm, to undertake an unfamiliar ministry paradigm and to approach a brand new dimension of reality where He was to be the center of it all. And we had obeyed without questions. Now it was time to pay the price!
* * *
Our denomination, the one to which I remain both critically loyal and loyally critical, spreads over some five generations. Through its century old existence, the struggles and tension between theology and praxis has been in the center. And there, in the very essence of Pentecostalism itself, while some are always celebrating and being celebrated in the office or temple, others are always pushed in the periphery of normal life, hidden from the world behind closed doors and seeking a much deeper experience with God.
These modern day mystics are not only forgotten, but often forbidden. For their riot for righteousness cannot be conceived, contained and controlled by the religious norms of organized officiality. They speak as prophets to a world they so fervently try to escape from, about a reality that does not exist in the normal believer’s mindset. A stage of spirituality that cannot be preached without being lived in the social existence. And a relationship of God that goes far beyond common relationism and into God himself. That God, Who does not abide in offices and temples, but on the cross outside of the city walls…
But I knew nothing of this until that cold winter morning when the phone rang through darkness of the night. Knowing what is coming, rarely changes what we have done to get here.
7 Years in Bulgaria: CONFESSIONS of a Pentecostal Preacher
by Dony K. Donev, D.Min.
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