And right on cue, once more, the end of the world is nigh. No longer are men forewarning of calamitous catastrophe because some guy a few thousand years ago ran out of rock and thus ended his calendar, now it’s an asteroid that will do us in.
As always seem to be the case it isn’t the world that’s going around buying helmets and head gear for fear of space rocks falling on their heads, it’s the church, or those who profess to be of the household of faith.
When we start to believe extra biblical theories in lieu of what the Bible says, we are implicitly denying the Word of God by our very actions.
The Bible tells us the world will not be done in by an asteroid, a meteor, a giant rock, space junk, or whatever else men have been saying. Yes, there will be signs both in the heavens and in the earth, and those signs are already being made manifest if you know where to look.
So what’s my problem with the apocalyptic mindset? Why can’t I just live and let live and allow some good folks to make an honest buck off some titanium helmets? Because these things distract us from our primary purpose as believers, saints of God, and children of the Promise.
Whether it’s 88 reasons why Christ was to return in 1988, Harold’s May 2011 miss, the Mayan calendar, Nibiru, space aliens, black holes, or grandma’s toaster, whatsoever serves to distract us from the pursuit of Christ and living out righteousness and holiness in our daily lives must be summarily rejected and excised.
If the enemy can keep you from growing in Christ, if he can keep you distracted with looking behind every bush and under every rock for either the end of the world or some demonic entity or another, he’s won.
Immature, foundationless individuals will be nothing more than fodder in the days to come, for they will bend with the breeze and break with the pressure, and cause more harm than good due to their duplicitous nature.
I for one do not believe that when the Word tells us the just will live by faith it is to be received as hyperbole or exaggeration. Knowing the just will live by faith, one must conclude that in order to live by faith one must foremost possess faith. This is the battle at this juncture. This is the crux of the issue. This is the linchpin of the entire construct.
The devil knows we will need faith to weather the storm, and as such is doing everything in his power to prevent us from understanding faith, having faith, and growing in faith. The distractions seem to be working, and with each new marker we set looking afar off to a certain date, we’ve squandered that much more time. The utter tragedy is that this is time we could have been spending in prayer, in reading the Word, and in learning to trust God in all things and not just the easy things.
Have you ever had to trust God for sustenance? Not because you were too lazy to get in your car and drive to the local drive-thru place, but because there was nothing to eat, and nowhere to buy food from, and nothing to buy food with.
I realize that in a world glutted with varieties and options having to depend on God for food seems like a stretch, but times change and they change rather quickly and what was once unequaled excess can become dire need overnight.
We either grow in God and learn the benefits of being His own possessing true faith and an unshakeable dependency on Him, or we will despair along with the world when need and lack and scarcity will be the only things on their mind.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Great post, as always. May I put forth a request, or a suggestion for teaching topic? Yes, foundationless individuals will be fooled by half-truths or outright nonsense if phrased in pseudobiblical language. But what about those of us who DO study and ponder the scriptures, and still are baffled by things such as Wormwood. What is it? - an asteroid, a small planet - some translations say star, but a literal star would engulf and incinerate the earth, not spash into the ocean. How do we interpret visions described by men of God long before there were any words for what they were seeing? And I'm not suggesting that we emphasize visionary symbolism at the expense of the basics of repentence and daily working out our salvation with fear and trembling. For those of us who did not have the benefit of a lifetime of instruction - my parents knew and taught me little to nothing about God, I found Him as an adult - it would be SO appreciated if you would teach on this. I watched your hour-and-a-half teaching on end times video from Omegaman, filmed in 2005. Great teaching on the churches in Revelation but there is so much more. I have looked through the material on your website and have not found anything on this yet. Is there anything you could direct us to, or could you do a teaching on this? How about a nutshell teaching that morphs into 25 or 30? Many of us HAVE and continue to repent when we fail or just do less than we should; likewise pray daily for faith and strength in persecution, should it come to us; you've got several audiences out here and there have got to be many like myself who have got it about the basics, and would like to hear what your thoughts are on these deeper and more complicated things. You said you are working on more radio shows, recorded things, etc - any of it on this? Any possibility of teaching on this? How about another BOOK???? You are not kidding the hour is late. One EMP attack and that will probably be the end of the internet around here.
ReplyDeletethanks
Apparently you don't understand the capability of certain toasters Michael...
ReplyDeleteI understand that churches in my area are going to host a televised football game in their churches this Sunday. It's at 10:00 in the morning, so you know, God needs to adjust His schedule a bit. After all, the Seahawks need this win to go to the superbowl, so He should understand right?
On the other hand, most of these churches don't seem to have God in them anyway, so I guess they aren't really missing anything.
Love in Christ,
Kevin
You know what's weird, people flock to the latest fad be it the Mayan calendar or Nibiru or some space rock, and no matter how many times those things prove to be wrong they still fall for the next one; yet if you try to talk to them about what the Bible says is going to happen, that is somehow thought of as uncool. Very strange.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteIf they have not received divine revelation on the topic, anyone who speaks on such matters as Wormwood is merely regurgitating hypothetical conjecture.
John described it as a star because he had no concept of space shuttles at the time.
Only hypothesizing, but we've been sending virulent strains of everything from salmonella to the plague into space to see how being in space might transform them.
Evidently, being in outer space does change these viruses, and makes them more virulent.
What if one of these shuttles crashes and whatever virus was on it becomes self replicating poisoning a third of the waters as a result?
Again, hypthesis.
I don't like to hypthesize, because my thoughts are not God's thoughts, and one can easily go off the reservation and lose sight of Jesus and the cross when beginning to contemplate such things.
I teach and preach and write about things I know, things I am certain of, and things that are necessary for the spiritual wellbeing of believers.
Yes, in my private time I meditate and contemplate such things as Wormwood and other hard to understand passages in Revelation, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, and even Habakkuk, but until I get a release to share, or a confirmation that I'm on the right track with my deductions and suppositions, let's just say there are enough people out there guessing at things, throwing handfuls of ideas against a wall to see what sticks, and I refuse to be counted among them.
That which we possess knowledge of is just as important as the fact that we possess knowledge.
GOd's people perish for lack of knowledge of Him, His power, His grace, His majesty, and His gifts, and this is the calling to which I have personally been called. To spiritually equip the children of God that they might have a fighting chance when the darkness comes.
Some of the things with which we wrestle, and even some of the things of which we think we are certain will turn out to be something wholly different than what we first believed, because God has a way of surprising us, and bringing low the pride of man.
I am working on a few new books actually, the first volume of the book on prayer is being edited as I'm writing, and if the Lord leads, I may do a teaching on the head scratchers in Revelation when I get back to the States.
We have entered a season wherein practical Christianity is more necessary than ever before, and where subjectively hypothetical constructs based on fanciful presuppositions are just a waste of time and mental energy.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
As far as the food goes, I think the world has more than enough food for people to have been fat from day one. The thing is that people just can't get enough of the material. They are scared they won't have enough, so they just hoard more and more, even in their own bodies. This is all gluttony.
ReplyDeleteFear is lack of faith, which is also counted as sin. First you fear and then you start acting out in destructive ways. Practicing faith is the secret to staying focused on what really matters and not wasting time on things that only sicken you.
Most people are terrified of the end times, but faith puts it all in perspective. Instead of obsessing over dates and details, you can just take in the information as more signs of the times. The signs are meant to signal believers that their redemption draweth nigh, so that they may even rejoice.
There is a huge difference between being aware/alert and being obsessed with studying evil. Granted evil is more exciting sometimes. But in the quest to figure out the great mysteries, we forget the greatest truth: God is in control. Fear not, sin not, edify yourself with foundational truth. Do you trust Christ or knowledge?
ReplyDeleteHere is fortifying knowledge: Seek Him, add discernment to the armor you don daily, and you will reside in the safest place on earth: inside His will.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
For Christ,
Meema