Author: Kancho Georgiev
Located in: Bulgaria / USA
Submitted: March 13, 2017
Tell us a little about yourself. I am a Bulgarian Christian and minister. God called me to serve Him right after my conversion in 1990. My passion is discipleship, which most essential feature is training God's people to read and study God's words for themselves. The focus of our ministry is small groups where Christians can share their views in a loving and creative atmosphere, so that they may grow into Christlikeness.
What was your motivation behind this project? I was fascinated by the Sermon on the Mount from the very outset of my Christian faith. I studied and taught it for some time and gradually a desire began to develop in my heart to write a commentary that will benefit those who are willing to go deeper into knowing and practicing Christ's principles for godly living.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? I believe many Christians will be challenged by these seemingly known messages of Jesus. First, because they appear to be quite easy on the surface. The problem is that we have become so used to them that we do not even realize how superficial our approach to them is. They are much deeper and broader of what they initially look like. Secondly, there are some difficult passages that need special investigation to be properly interpreted and applied. One of them, for example, is the "Lead us not into temptation" clause in the Lord's Prayer. How come that we are to pray to God who does not tempt anyone and to lead us not into temptation? Quite strange, isn't it? The book gives answers to such knotty and delicate segments.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? I was tremendously blessed and greatly rewarded during all these years of studying and meditating on Jesus' demands of how our Christian life is to be conducted. Of course, I learned a lot more while researching and writing, but the real fruit of my work was the reshaping of my values that became more grounded on the Bible, for often subconsciously we import secular views into our believing and practicing Christianity. For instance, Jesus clearly states that even a lustful look means adultery, however we do not consider divorce a sin anymore or at least, we find good reasons to "biblically" justify it.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? My greatest source of influence is my pastor, Mladen Mladenov, who suffered a lot under Communism but remained faithful to the Lord even to this day and therefore, his sermons were inspired by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He helped me immerse in the deeper knowledge of God.
A host of authors and ministers have influenced my thinking through the years as well. Augustine, John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, John Stott, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Oswald Chamber, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster are just a few names. I owe much to these people who have made extensive research before me and laid the foundation of critical topics.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: I would love to see my readers passionate about God's precepts. Similarly to Jeremiah the prophet, I want to see them thrilled and along with him saying, "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight." Hope they will have a resembling experience while reading my commentary on the Teaching on the Mount.
