Spiritual Problems and Solutions from the 7 Churches of Revelation
Network of the Seven Churches of Revelation
Although the Book of Revelation has been vastly studied and interpreted throughout church history, usually the focus is on one major issue within the text, namely, the role and future of the church. The main reason for this has been the in-depth prophetic and pastoral messages to the Seven Churches. The value of the messages to the Seven Churches of Revelation is constituted by the fact that they are the last recorded Biblical messages to the Christian Church. For this reason, the letters to the Seven Churches obviously do not contain all of the usual elements used in the New Testament epistolary form.
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20 SIGNS of the LAST DAYS
1. Spirit to be poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28)
2. Israel to be restored (Deuteronomy 28:64, 30:3 Jeremiah 29:14, 30:3 Isaiah)
3. Universal apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
4. Good will be called evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20)
5. The watering down of the gospel (2 Tim 3:5, Matt 15:9)
6. False prophets and false Christs (Mat 24:24)
7. Worldly knowledge to increase (Dan 12:4)
8. Earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues and diseases (Matthew 24 and Luke 21)
9. Peace taken from the earth (Matthew 24 and Luke 21)
10. Increase in the wickedness, murder and crime among men (Mat 24/Luke 21)
11. People will not believe the signs (2 Peter 3:3-4, Matthew 16:1-4)
12. Increase in persecution of Christians (Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:9)
13. The Spread of nuclear weapons as predicted in the Bible
14. Middle East tension
15. NEW tower of BABEL
16. GOG AND MAGOG
17. Revived Roman Empire
18. The Antichrist
19. The Mark of the Beast
20. FINAL SIGN: Gospel to be preached to all of the world (Mat 24:14/Rev 14:6-7)
Keynote presentations from our speaking itinerary
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Keynote presentations from our speaking itinerary
2013 Video Bible Project at Logos BibleTech Conference
2012 Historical and Doctrinal Formation of Holiness Teachings and Praxis among Bulgarian Pentecostals at Society for Pentecostal Studies at Seattle Pacific University
2011 The (un)Forgotten: Story of Rev. Ivan Voronaev’s Children at Society for Pentecostal Studies at Memphis Theological Seminary
2011 Broadcast Your Church at Leadership Development Institute
2010 Using Computer Technologies in the Making of the New Bulgarian Translation of the Bible at Logos BibleTech Conference
2010 The Untold Story of the Life and Ministry of Rev. Ivan Voronaev at Society for Pentecostal Studies at North-Central University
2009 Underground Web Ministry within the Postcommunist Matrix at Logos BibleTech Conference
2009 Ministry on the Internet at Leadership Development Institute
2007 Bulgarian American Congregations: Cultural, Economic and Leadership Dimensions at Society for Pentecostal Studies
2006 The Story of the Bulgarian Bible at Evangelical Theological Society (video)
2006 Introductory Chaplaincy Training Course at the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Quarterly Meeting
2005 Internal Motivation at the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Quarterly Meeting
2005 Bulgarian Churches in North America at the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance Annual Meeting
2004 Postcommunist Believers in a Postmodern World at the 4th Annual Lilly Fellows National Research Conference
Key Publications:
Spring 2013 Bulgarian New Testament (Special Study Edition for Bulgarian Churches and Diasporas Abroad), Spasen Publishers
2012 The Life and Ministry of Rev. Ivan Voronaev (with the (un)Forgotten:Story of the Voronaev Children)
2012 Bulgarian Churches in North America: Analytical Overview and Church Planting Proposal for Bulgarian American Congregations Considering Cultural, Economical and Leadership Dimensions, Spasen Publishers
2011 The Case of Underground Chaplaincy in Bulgaria (A Case Study for NATO’s Manfred Wormer Foundation)
July, 2007-present, Letters from Bulgaria: A Series on Bulgarian Pentecostal Heritage in Pentecostal Evangel
Spring 2006, When East Met West in East-West Church & Ministry Report
July 2006, Roberts College in Pro & Anti Newspaper
Fall 2005, Postcommunist Believers in a Postmodern World in East-West Church & Ministry Report
April 2005-2009, Bulgarian Protestant History Series in Evangelical Newspaper
April 2005-2010, About the Bible Series in Evangelical Newspaper (Published in one volume by Spasen Publishers)
March 2002, Bible Studies on the Church of God Declaration of Faith, Spasen Publishers
May 2001, Pentecostal Primitivism Preserved, Spasen Publishers
September 2000, To Harvard and Back a Hundred Years Later (A Biographical Sketch of Stoyan K. Vatralsky)
January 1994, “Going Up”, Christian News, Newspaper of the BulgarianChurch of God
1998-2003, Commentary on the Four Gospels for the Bulgarian On-Line Bible [http://www.bibliata.com]
Evangelism and World Missions
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 Evangelism and World Missions:
- We have ministered for over 30 years now on three continents, 25 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico (Map of our global ministry)
- We have spent seven consecutive years in missionary work in Bulgaria ministering to over 300 local congregations (Map of our ministry in Bulgaria)
- Since 1990, we have helped in the planting and team training of over 25 churches in Bulgaria as well as the Bulgarian congregations in Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Atlanta, London, Spain, Cyprus and Palma de Mallorca
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)
See also how we help churches grow through:
Teaching at the University of Nebraska Again
Chaplaincy Counseling Module Completed
During the month of September 2011 the Counseling Module of the first Bulgarian Master of Chaplaincy Ministry Program in Bulgaria was successfully completed. This was the last of three modules, which further included two semesters’ long study of chaplaincy and theology taught at the United Theological Faculty of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia, Bulgaria.
A total of fifteen students attended this final module. Ten of these students successfully finished their masters’ level studies and are now set forth for practicum in their respective areas of ministry and consecutive thesis defense prior to their graduation in the spring of 2012. Many of them are already ministering in hospital and prison settings, as well as among military and police personnel.
During the course of the program, we were able to finalize the long awaited negotiations with New Bulgarian University and signed an agreement with which every student chaplain will be able to graduate with a government accredited diploma from the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and New Bulgarian University.
This program in its entirety was only made possible through the personal efforts and tireless teaching of the following friends and partners in the ministry: Major General Clay Buckingham, USA (ret), Chaplain Colonel Rich Young of the IAEC, Dr. Jim Ellis from Union University, legal consultant on European Union religious issues, Dr. Hristo Berov from the Potsdam University in Germany, Dr. Roumen Bostandjiev from the Psychology Department of New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria, Dr. Dona-Gene Mitchell from the Political Science Department of the University of Nebraska and professors from the United Theological Faculty under the supervision of Dr. Dony & Kathryn Donev from the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association.
Read more about chaplaincy in Bulgaria in the following HISTORY of EVENTS
NEW REVIVAL in BULGARIA
Unprecedented revival is sweeping the country of Bulgaria again and has started among the Pentecostal Church of God. We have spent the last full month in traveling and preaching in key churches crossing the country from the capital Sofia to the Black Sea and from the Danube River through the Balkan Mountains to the Thracian Valley.
While people in general are struggling with the economic and political crises and the church is in continuous leadership dilemmas, God is on the move with a new revival mainly among the new generation of young people. We saw this in recent national youth events like our spring 2011 youth leaders gathering near Yambol and the regional youth revival in Silistra during Easter. Similar meetings were reported in Eastern Bulgaria in May and in the capital Sofia in June with the arrival of praise team from Hillsong, which gathered over 7,000 people in one single event. And last but not least, various meetings of Roma leaders and youth, to which we had the privilege to contribute as well.
We are now looking forward to combining these experiences within our national Bible Camp which we hold for young ministers and youth leaders, followed by the New Wave camp at the Black Sea and the traditional Karandila Youth Camp in the Balkan Mountain. For when one generation looses touch with God, as described in Jeremiah 5:31, God always brings a new generation to serve Him. Today, God is raising a generation of young and faithful people full with the Holy Ghost, and we simply cannot afford to stay out of this great move of God in the last days.
LONDON 2011: I Shall Never Leave You nor Forsake You
European Conference of Bulgarian Church and Ministries – London, 2011
Revival in South Georgia
We just returned from a revival in the Shelter Church of God in Ambrose, GA – a new ministry started by pastor Kevin Bounds. The small, but growing congregation, which meets in a store front location in downtown Ambrose, already has a vision for establishing a strong ministry center in the area. We had three days of revival and enjoyed the wonderful fellowship of the pastoral family and the congregation.
But our connection with Pastor Kevin Bounds and the Shelter Church of God began long before Kevin was a pastor and the church ever existed. It began several years ago one cold winter morning in Bulgaria, while we were struggling with the dilemma of how to continue ministering there with a virtually exhausted annual budget.
Just as we prayed in our office in Yambol, Bulgaria asking the Lord for direction, we received an email from Pastor Kevin. We had never met before and there was no way he knew of our situation. But led by the Spirit after reading about us on the internet, he delivered a prophetic message over our ministry, which brought about a miracle which empowered us to continue to minister in Bulgaria in the years to come.
So needless to say, although we were meeting for the first time in this revival, we had been partners in the ministry for a very long time. In times of crises like the ones we live in, it is this prophetic move of the Spirit that the Church must follow. And it is this unity created by the leadership of the Spirit that empowers us all to continue in the ministry even when times are tough and keep building for the Kingdom.
Lecturing at the University of Nebraska
