3D

Mark 1:10 - As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Lots of films these days come out in 3D. I haven't seen one yet, but I can imagine what it must be like. Something that was only a two-dimensional reflection comes alive, right out of the screen! The effect is clearer, and much more exciting!

There are all kind of things happening in the spiritual world that we can't see! If we could put on spiritual glasses, we could see the angels, the demons and the battles raging. If we could see the heavens when we pray, if we could see what God and his army is doing, we would be forever changed!

Imagine what is happening in the spiritual world when someone is baptized! Death is destroyed, and that person comes in contact with the blood of Christ. They are washed of all sin, the eternal damnation bill is paid, the darkness surrounding them is shattered!

God enters them, at that moment their name is written in the Book of Life! Rejoicing! Angels! Satan is banished! Demons flee! The words of God come alive --"you are my Son, whom I love! With you I am well pleased!"

We long to hear those words.  We trust the scriptures and we know we are God's children. We know He loves us, and we know he is pleased with us! But won't it be wonderful to hear those words out loud?

I think the Father used his Son's baptism, although different from ours, to give a physical illustration of what happens spiritually to us!. The Spirit enters us! We become His son! He loves us, and he is pleased with our decision!

It never hurts to see it and hear it.

Pray for Sofia

Sofia has a history that goes back thousands of years. Through the centuries, many nations have inhabited it and added to its rich and diverse history. The Thracian Serdi tribe settled here in the 7th century BC and gave the first recorded name of Sofia--Serdica.  The Byzantines called it Triaditsa and the Slavs called it Sredets.

The modern city of Sofia was named in the 14th century after the Basilica St. Sofia. (In Greek, the word "sofia" means wisdom.)  In the 3rd century AD, the Romans built strong walls around Serdica, their capital of Inner Dacia and an important stopping point on the Roman road from Naisus (present Nish, Yugoslavia) to Constantinople.

I want to share some good news from this past Sunday. We had the first baptism in the Sofia Church for several years, and we want you all to share our joy from that! It was very encouraging and faith-building for all the disciples to see this miricle of God come true, and it was great to see the disciples sharing their hearts, thoughts and dreams with our new brother, Ivan.

I know that some of you are aware of the story of Ivan meeting the church, and some of you have even been praying specifically for him (for which we are deeply thankful), but let me share it briefly once again, as it is encouraging to me how God always has His special ways to work in our lives.

There is a Bulgarian couple who lives in Ireland, who celebrated their wedding in the fall of 2009 in Sofia. For their special day they invited many people who came from distant places around the globe. They also invited a special Bulgarian brother and his Filipina wife, who live in Dubai now (Niki and Jasmin). As it was her first time in Bulgaria and they would spent just couple of weeks in the country, Niki wanted to show his wife as much of the beautiful country of Bulgaria as possible.

Driving on the highway, Niki saw a hitch-hiker with very long hair, and told Jasmin that he knew the guy and would pick him up. So Niki started slowing down the car and staring in his mirror, when he realized that he didn't know the guy who was already running toward his car. Even though he didn't know the man, Niki chose to pick him up, they had a friendly talk and eventually Niki invited him to church. Ivan promised that he would come in a week or two, and he did!

Later on, Miro invited him to study the Bible and we had many meetings and studies since then. This past week Ivan had a couple of meetings with Krassi, making an overview of what we had studied previously, and on Wednesday he called me saying that there would be a baptism on Sunday.

There was no way no get any better news on that day. I believe new people wanting to live and walk with Christ would be the best news we could have every day! Greetings, hugs and love from Sofia!

Please pray for the church in Sofia. They, like Athens, are praying and waiting for a full time couple to come and minister and help the church on to maturity. Please pray that God puts it on someone's heart to lead and care for this church! Pray that the missions contribution would enable us to send such a couple and support them in the ministry. Pray for more open hearts to be converted, and that the church there will be strengthened from holding to the scriptures.