Missions for the Third Millennium (2009-2010)
This is a re-post of popular articles on Missiology from 2009-2010:
M3: Missions for the Third Millennium – A Public Position (2010)
8 Simple Rules for Doing Missions in the Spirit (2009)
Church of God Eastern Europe Missions: Leadership, Economics and Culture (2009)
The Great Tribulation
Rapture of the Church
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.
Read the full text of the presentation (PDF)
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)
2014: Year of the Glory of God
2014 comes with a word from 1 Kings 8 where the glory of God has filled the newly built temple for the very first time. The same glory, which the prophet Isaiah will later see in the year when the king has died, and the prophet Ezekiel will see leaving the Holy of Holies.
When the glory fills the Temple, it is time for the leaders to pray for the nation. But while Moses had prayed in the same situation with a prayer of recollection of the past miracles of God, Solomon prays with a prophetic prayer for the future of the people of God.
And right there in v. 38 it states that the prayer made by “any man of all Thy people Israel can return the nation back to God.” Verse 39 continues with a supplication that contains a prophetic promise, which turns the personal perspective of one man into a destiny for the whole nation:
“Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;).”
The prayer of one man whose heart is known to God can return a nation back into the glory. Are you that man in 2014?
See also:
- When you change a GENERATION you change a NATION
- See why this is important for US today
- On the Glory of God
The Missional Church
The nature of the church is missional, through the fact that its existence is powered by the Great Commission. The book summarizes the culture of today’s American spirituality and its relation to the apostolic church. The main question is, “What would a theology of the church look like that took seriously the fact that North America is now itself a mission field?”
Five Key Insights
1. The missional nature of the church – The place which the church takes in the surrounding world/society defines its nature as missional. How it interacts with the surrounding worlds identifies the church’s response to the needs of individuals and groups of people and results in its success/failure to fulfill its original mission. A valid point was the statement that the witness of the missional church is characterized by its integrity.
2. Recovering missional identity – Recovering the church’s original New Testament identity has been a subject of discussion for many various ages in church history. The volume of works written about it has indeed increased in the latter part of the 20th century. The discussion in the book claims that as truth, self, and society are rediscovered in postmodernism, the churches of North America will recover its missional identity. Thus, the individual search of identity will reflect on the corporate search of the church as a community and as the Body of Christ. Chapter four further claims that the churches missional identity is shaped by the gospel of the reign of God which Jesus preached.
3. The Holy Spirit and the community of the missional churches – The Chapter on the Holy Spirit, although very informative, did not integrate the connection between the Spirit and Missional outreach to a practical paradigm, but it was mostly a theoretic and philosophical proposition.
4. On spiritual leadership – the discussion on spiritual leadership is based on the axiom that leadership is focused on the reign of God. Only then the church assumes its mission. Solving problems and creating unity within the church is reached through the same focus on the reign of God.
5. The secular surroundings – the vision of the church may not align with the secular surrounds. Actually, it may often completely contradict them fulfilling its role as a prophetic utterance. At the same time, social, political and economical factors may oppose the message and the mission of the church, thus creating an atmosphere in which the church grows against the grain.
Distinct Historical Memories of the Bulgarian Mindset
Nearly 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall traces of communism still remain throughout Bulgaria. For those who lived directly under communism these traces include mental footprints which daily influence these individuals’ approach to life. For that generation who has no personal memory of communism, they find themselves indirectly influenced by the physical traces that will forever be a part of the undeniable history of Bulgaria.
Historically, Bulgaria, similar to other Balkan countries, has gone through turmoil, slavery and defeat. Though Bulgaria is the quietest and most obscure nation on the Balkan Peninsula, its people are confronted with the typical social obstacles that plague former communist-bloc countries: slow reform, economical, educational and cultural destitution and moral confusion.
Due to such rich history, Bulgarians have distinct historical memories and it is this distinctiveness that produces their national identity. These similar yet unique experiences of economic ordeals and historical legacy are what shape the Bulgarian mentality. The economical, educational, political and cultural crises have remained an indivisible part of Bulgaria’s reality. And Bulgaria’s evangelical community of more than 100,000 people has its own set of unique anxieties and hardships.
Excepts taken from “LOOKING OVER the WALL”
A Psychological Exploration of Communist and Post Communist Bulgaria
Copyright © April 12, 2012 by Kathryn N. Donev
© 2012, Spasen Publishers, a division of www.cupandcross.com
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[ ] National Identity and Collective Consciousness of the Bulgarian Community
National Identity and Collective Consciousness of the Bulgarian Community
In understanding the history of the advancements in psychotherapy in Bulgaria and the foundations of the country as a whole, we gain a glimpse into the national identity and collective consciousness of a community; one which was formed by a strong people; a people that strive for religious freedom and the quest for knowledge; one that overcame oppression, trial and, hardship.
For many Bulgarians, communism was not simply a set of ideological directives, but it permeated nearly all spheres of social life. Communism and the lasting effects on its population is not one that is comfortable to recollect. It is neither something that is easy to understand and we may never fully comprehend the post communist mentality. And perhaps we should question those who make such claim.
However, if left ignored, we ignore an undeniable part of history and identity. The danger in not recollecting is that we may in doing so, ignore the possibility for change. Recognition is the first step toward change and empathy. It is only via the shoes of empathy that we can walk in the paths of genuinely comprehending the post communistic mentality and another culture.
Excepts taken from “LOOKING OVER the WALL”
A Psychological Exploration of Communist and Post Communist Bulgaria
Copyright © April 12, 2012 by Kathryn N. Donev
© 2012, Spasen Publishers, a division of www.cupandcross.com
RELATED ARTICLES:
[ ] Obama, Marxism and Pentecostal Identity
[ ] A Psychological Exploration of Communist and Post Communist Bulgaria
[ ] Insight into Communist Agent Techniques in Bulgaria
[ ] The Bulgarian Evangelical Believer and Communistic Consequences
[ ] Distinct Historical Memories of the Bulgarian Mindset
[ ] National Identity and Collective Consciousness of the Bulgarian Community
The Bulgarian Evangelical Believer and Communistic Consequences
The collapse of Bulgaria’s previous social order, communism, left the country with a moral and ideological void that was quickly filled with crime and corruption. A culture originally shaped by communism currently is influenced by capitalism and democracy. Post communist mentality with definite Balkan characteristics rules the country as a whole. This mentality holds captive nearly every progressive thought and idea. In the post communist context, the atheistic mind is a given and even when an individual experiences a genuine need for spirituality, in most cases he or she has no religious root to which to return other than Orthodoxy. This lack of alternative or spiritual choice produces a pessimistic morale.
From an environment of uncertainty and hopelessness, the Bulgarian Evangelical believer turns to the continuity of faith in the Almighty Redeemer. Pentecostalism as practical Christianity gives a sense of internal motivation to the discouraged. In a society that is limited in conduciveness for progression of thought or self actualization, one finds refuge in the promises of Christianity. It becomes a certainty which can be relied upon. Historically, having undergone severe persecution, the Bulgarian Evangelical believer is one who possesses great devotion to his or her belief. Having to defend the faith fosters a deep sense of appreciation and in an impoverished country, faith becomes all some have. Christ becomes the only one to whom to turn for provision. In the midst of this complete dependence is where miracles occur. Furthermore, it is in the midst of miracles where the skepticism which is prominent in post communist Bulgaria is broken. When those who believe are healed from cancer and even raised from the dead, there is no room for disbelief or low self-esteem. Surrounded with insecurity and uncertainty, the Bulgarian Evangelical believer finds great hope and comfort in the fact that God holds the future in His hands. Christianity is a reality that is certain.
Excepts taken from “LOOKING OVER the WALL”
A Psychological Exploration of Communist and Post Communist Bulgaria
Copyright © April 12, 2012 by Kathryn N. Donev
© 2012, Spasen Publishers, a division of www.cupandcross.com
RELATED ARTICLES:
[ ] Obama, Marxism and Pentecostal Identity
[ ] A Psychological Exploration of Communist and Post Communist Bulgaria
[ ] Insight into Communist Agent Techniques in Bulgaria
[ ] The Bulgarian Evangelical Believer and Communistic Consequences
[ ] Distinct Historical Memories of the Bulgarian Mindset
[ ] National Identity and Collective Consciousness of the Bulgarian Community
