Last night, as I was finishing up the last outline of a sermon series on the loveliness of Christ, which ended up being six parts rather than four, I turned on the news to see what was going on in the world. Among reports of arrests throughout the country, of people suspected of plotting terrorist attacks, I saw another nugget that has gotten some airtime, which made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, and brought back some very unpleasant memories from my early childhood.
If you’ve never lived through it, you cannot possibly understand how insidious and destructive the philosophy of indoctrination could be. You mold clay while it is still malleable and soft, and you plant seeds into the hearts and minds of children while they’re still young.
For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, I am referring to a you tube clip, of some elementary school children singing what amount to songs of worship and adoration directed not at God, but rather our new president.
This troubled me, because I lived through it as a child in Romania. Although the melody was different, and the name we were instructed to praise was Ceausescu, the similarities were so overwhelming that I simply couldn’t bear to watch it anymore. I had actually started having flashbacks of my white shirt, patriot tie, black slacks, standing with all the other children, and singing in a chorus, how Ceausescu had saved us, how he was like a father to us, and how we were supposed to serve him even though we were young.
Since the school officials knew that my parents and grandparents were of the Christian faith, I got a double dose of indoctrination for the three years I attended school in Romania. Besides the songs we had to memorize that praised the ingenuity, love, and greatness of Ceausescu, I would also be subjected to a couple hours of being told that my parents were backward fools, who believed in something that didn’t exist, poor souls that were trapped in the past, unwilling to see the glory of a socialist state for what it was. I was told my parents hated me if they taught me about God, I was told that God did not exist, and I was told that if I believed in God I was less than human, a throwback worthy of pity and contempt. All this, by those who were supposed to be teaching me how to read and write, learn addition and subtraction, and where our country was positioned on the globe.
Like I said, if you haven’t lived through it, you can’t possibly know the damage that it does to a young and fragile mind.
My salvation, the thing that kept me from believing what I was being told in school day after day, was that my parents and grandparents knew what the teachers were trying to plant in my heart and mind, and did everything they could to keep those seeds from taking root. I’ve often spoken about this when giving my testimony, and the one thing I can liken it to, from what I’ve read anyway, is that I would go through a daily process of being detoxified whenever I came home from school.
Whether it was my mother or my grandfather, every day, without exception, they would sit me down and read to me from the Bible, they would tell me that God exists, and they would take the time to educate me, and teach me the ways of the Lord.
I know allot of you are parents, and are deeply concerned. I’ve gotten more than a few e-mails asking for advice as to what parents should do seeing everything that’s going on in the school system. ‘Should I yank my child out of school?’ This is perhaps the most often asked question.
The only Biblical advice I can give, is raise your children in the ways of the Lord. Take the time consistently to read the Bible together, take the time consistently to talk about Jesus, and above all live the life you preach.
Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Make no mistake, there is a war raging for the hearts and minds of the next generation, and the enemy is bringing out his entire arsenal. If we do not live what we preach, if Jesus is not evident in our lives, if the only time we mention Him is in church services and only then sparingly, we will lose this war, and we will not recognize our own offspring ten or fifteen years from now.
Even though the world is spinning into chaos, even though new dangers are sprouting up on a weekly basis that threaten to envelop the world, it would seem there are still those whose purpose is so all consuming that they will let nothing stand in their way. Those who promote sin, and deny God seem to have a laser like focus when it comes to their plans, and are unwilling to take into account that the further we distance ourselves from God, the more hellish this world seems to become.
Pray for your children, teach your children, love your children, and be a parent to them. If you won’t teach them, someone else will!
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Rebellion
It didn’t take long for the bloodline of Noah to forget the awesome power of their ancestor’s God, or the magnitude of His fierce anger. Within the span of six or seven generations, the hearts of Noah’s lineage had grown dark and evil. It was in this darkened state that they concocted a plan, one that would, allow them to reach the heavens. It was to be the first organized rebellion against God, and it has been a reoccurring theme in the world for thousands of years ever since.
The plan that their rebellion had concocted was no small thing. It would take organization, intense labor, and a commitment of decades instead of mere days, but in their evil hearts they believed the payoff would be worth the struggle, the toil, the sweat, the tears, and the bloodshed.
They would make bricks, and bake them thoroughly, they would use asphalt for mortar, and they would begin to build a tower, for one reason alone; to reach the heavens.
Although Biblically the size of the tower of Babel is never mentioned, one would only have to consider the final goal of the plan, that of building a tower high enough to reach the heavens, to realize it was truly a monstrosity of a project.
Brick by brick, day by day, the inched their way closer to their designated goal, but there was no purity in the intent of their hearts. They did not desire to build this tower to behold the face of God, they did not desire to build this tower to have a more intimate fellowship with Him, but rather to satisfy their own selfish ambitions, and warped desires.
“Let us make a name for ourselves”, was their motto, and they let nothing deter them from their plans. This motto is alive and well to this day, and not only in the world around us but within the body of Christ as well. Whether an individual, a ministry, or a denomination, this desire to make a name for oneself is seen more readily in the actions they undertake, than in their verbal expressions. No one says they want to make a name, but their actions betray the desires of their hearts, and every move they make, every position they take is geared toward the goal of elevating their status, of bringing them to the forefront, or praising them, and of honoring them. In all the tumult, Jesus has been all but forgotten, and the motivation for our worship, the motivation for our sermons, is not to draw men to God, or to reveal the wonder of His loving kindness and mercy, but to coddle men and placate them that they might in no way, shape or form feel convicted or be stirred to repentance. Instead of bricks and mortar we are using words and actions, but our rebellion is as evident now, as it was in the days of the tower of Babel.
If those building the tower of Babel wanted to reach heaven still in full possession of their sinful nature, today men and women with beaming smiles, and fidgety eyes, are trying to tell the masses that they too can reach heaven, still in full possession of their sinful natures, by simply supporting them financially, or giving sacrificially. There is only one path to heaven, there is only one way by which we can be reconciled unto God, and that is by being born again, through repentance and obedience to the Word of God.
Jesus said there was only one way, and He was that way, and no matter how many voices rise up claiming the opposite, the words of Jesus will stand as witness against them on the Day of Judgment.
Today the religion of self justification has taken root in the hearts of many, and it is as wicked and unacceptable in the sight of God, as was the building of the tower of Babel. The root in the hearts of those attempting to find another way to heaven, other than Jesus, is the same naked rebellion that was visible in the hearts of those who purposed in their hearts to build the tower itself.
In its most basic definition, rebellion is the refusal to accept authority. When we see these newfangled teachings concerning the many paths that lead up to the same destination, or that the god of your choosing, no matter who or what it might be is sufficient to ensure your entry into paradise, all they really are, are the refusal to accept the authority of Christ. It is this refusal, this outright rejection of humility in the hearts of men that causes them to wander, and to receive in their hearts destructive heresies that lead them to spiritual death.
In the midst of all the confusion, in the midst of all the voices vying for our attention, we have the promises of Jesus that not only encourage us but comfort us as we see the world descending into greater and greater darkness.
John 14:1-4, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may also be. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
There are two truths that are of paramount importance in this passage. First, we know where He went, and second, we know the way to get to where He is. In His loving kindness, and glorious mercy, Jesus not only went to prepare a place for us, but He has show us the way, He has revealed Himself and the power of His grace, that we might follow the way He set forth, and be with Him in eternity.
Rather than attempting to build our own path toward heaven, brick by brick, may we simply submit ourselves, and humble ourselves in repentance, receiving the priceless gift of salvation from the throne room of God.
Just as God confronted the rebellion of those who were attempting to build the tower of Babel, turning their well laid plans upside down, and keeping them from succeeding in their quest, He will soon expose the foolish doctrines of foolish men who are attempting to strengthen the hands of the wicked, and make the hearts of the righteous sad. God will not be mocked, and the day of reckoning is upon us.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
The plan that their rebellion had concocted was no small thing. It would take organization, intense labor, and a commitment of decades instead of mere days, but in their evil hearts they believed the payoff would be worth the struggle, the toil, the sweat, the tears, and the bloodshed.
They would make bricks, and bake them thoroughly, they would use asphalt for mortar, and they would begin to build a tower, for one reason alone; to reach the heavens.
Although Biblically the size of the tower of Babel is never mentioned, one would only have to consider the final goal of the plan, that of building a tower high enough to reach the heavens, to realize it was truly a monstrosity of a project.
Brick by brick, day by day, the inched their way closer to their designated goal, but there was no purity in the intent of their hearts. They did not desire to build this tower to behold the face of God, they did not desire to build this tower to have a more intimate fellowship with Him, but rather to satisfy their own selfish ambitions, and warped desires.
“Let us make a name for ourselves”, was their motto, and they let nothing deter them from their plans. This motto is alive and well to this day, and not only in the world around us but within the body of Christ as well. Whether an individual, a ministry, or a denomination, this desire to make a name for oneself is seen more readily in the actions they undertake, than in their verbal expressions. No one says they want to make a name, but their actions betray the desires of their hearts, and every move they make, every position they take is geared toward the goal of elevating their status, of bringing them to the forefront, or praising them, and of honoring them. In all the tumult, Jesus has been all but forgotten, and the motivation for our worship, the motivation for our sermons, is not to draw men to God, or to reveal the wonder of His loving kindness and mercy, but to coddle men and placate them that they might in no way, shape or form feel convicted or be stirred to repentance. Instead of bricks and mortar we are using words and actions, but our rebellion is as evident now, as it was in the days of the tower of Babel.
If those building the tower of Babel wanted to reach heaven still in full possession of their sinful nature, today men and women with beaming smiles, and fidgety eyes, are trying to tell the masses that they too can reach heaven, still in full possession of their sinful natures, by simply supporting them financially, or giving sacrificially. There is only one path to heaven, there is only one way by which we can be reconciled unto God, and that is by being born again, through repentance and obedience to the Word of God.
Jesus said there was only one way, and He was that way, and no matter how many voices rise up claiming the opposite, the words of Jesus will stand as witness against them on the Day of Judgment.
Today the religion of self justification has taken root in the hearts of many, and it is as wicked and unacceptable in the sight of God, as was the building of the tower of Babel. The root in the hearts of those attempting to find another way to heaven, other than Jesus, is the same naked rebellion that was visible in the hearts of those who purposed in their hearts to build the tower itself.
In its most basic definition, rebellion is the refusal to accept authority. When we see these newfangled teachings concerning the many paths that lead up to the same destination, or that the god of your choosing, no matter who or what it might be is sufficient to ensure your entry into paradise, all they really are, are the refusal to accept the authority of Christ. It is this refusal, this outright rejection of humility in the hearts of men that causes them to wander, and to receive in their hearts destructive heresies that lead them to spiritual death.
In the midst of all the confusion, in the midst of all the voices vying for our attention, we have the promises of Jesus that not only encourage us but comfort us as we see the world descending into greater and greater darkness.
John 14:1-4, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may also be. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
There are two truths that are of paramount importance in this passage. First, we know where He went, and second, we know the way to get to where He is. In His loving kindness, and glorious mercy, Jesus not only went to prepare a place for us, but He has show us the way, He has revealed Himself and the power of His grace, that we might follow the way He set forth, and be with Him in eternity.
Rather than attempting to build our own path toward heaven, brick by brick, may we simply submit ourselves, and humble ourselves in repentance, receiving the priceless gift of salvation from the throne room of God.
Just as God confronted the rebellion of those who were attempting to build the tower of Babel, turning their well laid plans upside down, and keeping them from succeeding in their quest, He will soon expose the foolish doctrines of foolish men who are attempting to strengthen the hands of the wicked, and make the hearts of the righteous sad. God will not be mocked, and the day of reckoning is upon us.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Best of Intentions
Well, finally back on American soil. I had the best of intentions to sit down and right something insightful and spiritually nourishing for the blog, but my schedule permitted me no such respite. The days turned into weeks, and here we are.
This Friday I am going to be at a prophetic conference in Michigan, we're getting back Monday afternoon, and by then I hope I will have gotten over the jet lag, caught up on all the letters, and finally had time to write something more than just a scribble, or a short note.
Some time ago I mentioned a new work that our ministry was being led into, and this week everything solidified, so I can share with you.
Starting Wednesday, October 14 at 9:30 PST you will be able to see our television program entitled 'the truth for today' every week on the inspirational channel. Believe me I am just as stunned as you are, but we serve a God of miracles, and believe me when I say this was indeed a miracle.
We've been busy filming and editing, and will continue to film more programs. This is by no means the fluff some have gotten used to on Christian television. This is meat, and it is the Word of God. Please keep this program in your prayers.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
This Friday I am going to be at a prophetic conference in Michigan, we're getting back Monday afternoon, and by then I hope I will have gotten over the jet lag, caught up on all the letters, and finally had time to write something more than just a scribble, or a short note.
Some time ago I mentioned a new work that our ministry was being led into, and this week everything solidified, so I can share with you.
Starting Wednesday, October 14 at 9:30 PST you will be able to see our television program entitled 'the truth for today' every week on the inspirational channel. Believe me I am just as stunned as you are, but we serve a God of miracles, and believe me when I say this was indeed a miracle.
We've been busy filming and editing, and will continue to film more programs. This is by no means the fluff some have gotten used to on Christian television. This is meat, and it is the Word of God. Please keep this program in your prayers.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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