What Now?

“Up until a few weeks ago I thought you were crazy. I heard some of your teachings online, and whenever you would talk about persecution coming to America I snickered, thinking it could never happen here. In my mind I compared you to the UFO folks; entertaining, but nothing more. I apologize. I see it now, and it scares me. What now? What will become of the church when persecution does come?”

This is how a lengthy e-mail I received over the weekend started. Even some who vehemently refused to see the writing on the wall can’t ignore it any longer, and the pervasive ‘what now?’ has become a constant drone, like white noise you don’t notice until you do.

Some have taken the position of being incensed, of calling the world out on its hypocrisy, duplicity, double standard, and willingness to gloss over the reality of persecution coming to a neighborhood near you, as though the world cares a whit that they are incensed.

In their mind your silencing is for the greater good, and that’s all the justification needed to come down like a hammer on any dissenters and individuals brave enough to point out the inconsistencies in any given matter.

Although far more believers are seeing the inevitable persecution on the horizon, there is still confusion as to what will become of the household of faith, and what will have to be done in order to get through it.

The first thing that will occur shortly after persecution begins is a great and mighty sifting in the midst of those calling themselves believers. Anyone not wholly committed to Christ, anyone not wholly sold out to Him, will fall by the wayside as so much dross, inventing ad hoc theologies to justify their cowardice and faithlessness.

Seeing as the world loves anything that undermines truth, they will promote and popularize these new heretical theologies, furthermore alienating true believers and those who realize there is no compromising with the darkness.

As the persecution will continue to intensify, true believers will have no choice but to go underground, to star meeting in secret, meeting in homes, in barns, wherever they are able to congregate and fellowship and encourage one another.

I believe it is at this juncture, wherein it will be dangerous to call yourself a Christian, and doing so may cost you everything, that we will see the power of God flood those who remain faithful, and as a direct result, the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit will no longer be a rare occurrence, but something common and even expected.

Good will come of persecution because it will inevitably draw those who are sincere in their desire to serve Jesus, closer to Him. Good will come of hardship because it will teach the faithful greater dependence upon God. Good will come of the fire because it will eliminate every impurity, and make the gold pure as it ought to be.

I realize some of you are torn between praying to be counted worthy to escape these things, and praying for boldness to endure to the end. I cannot tell you which to pray for, but I know which I am praying for.

Personally, I want to see the power of God manifest fully among His children. Personally, I want to walk through the fire without getting burned. Personally, I want to see God continue to prove His faithfulness in every area of my life, and as such the only thing I can pray for is courage, and boldness, and steadfastness to stare down the coming storm without an ounce of fear, and prepare my heart for what is coming.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

The Outsiders

I’ve been doing more praying than writing lately. I’ve been doing more praying than pretty much anything else if I am to be perfectly honest, and I think anyone seeing the world for what it has become, and watching the chess pieces moving on the chessboard with lightning fast speed can do nothing less.

We knew these things were coming, for long and long we knew. Seeing them up close, however, does make one catch their breath and realize these are just the outlying storm clouds. The brunt of the storm itself and the true fury thereof has not yet arrived.

My heart breaks as I watch more and more people tether their hopes to the church, thinking it a place of refuge and safety, only to have their hopes shattered at the revelation that the church is full to the rafters with godless wolves who are tirelessly bringing in destructive heresies, hoping to seduce, to tempt, to deceive, and to shipwreck faith in the Christ, as well as the Word.

It seems like every other day there is some Christian college somewhere embracing what God abhors, and lest anyone have the temerity to say anything about it, they’ve already taken preemptive measures and painted any who would object as being bigoted knuckle draggers whose only place on this earth is a cave somewhere.

There no longer remains reverence for the Word of God, and as such we can call it a story book, the ramblings of long dead people who had nothing better to do than sit down and scrawl some chicken scratches on some parchment, or an antiquated tome likened to an instructional manual on making buggy whips.

There is no outrage, and this outrages me. There is no outcry, no call for the immediate dismissal of those who would slander the Word of God and compare it to nothing more than useless dross and filler.

With each passing day those who continue to cling to Christ and stand on the Word will be labeled outsiders. With each passing day those that refuse to be indoctrinated into the new and glorious heresy will be marginalized, shunned, and made out to be the worst kind of humans.

Most of you already know this; you’ve prepared your hearts for it. You’ve steeled your constitution, and are ready to brave the crashing waves of hatred and vitriol. This post is not so much for you, but for those who still walk about with their heads in the clouds thinking if only they make enough compromises, if only they acquiesce enough, if only they become more and more like the world, the world will eventually embrace them.

As long as you cling to Christ, you are a foreign entity and the world’s singular purpose is to expel you. The only way to be at peace with the world is to betray the cross, and sadly more and more ‘spiritual leaders’ and men of renown are doing exactly that.

For the past six years or so I’ve been warning of coming persecution only to be mocked, ridiculed, and even laughed out of some churches. It’s good to see some are at least are catching up, seeing what’s on the horizon, and beginning to sound the alarm.

Make your peace about being an outsider. Make your peace with the reality that you will be ostracized, maligned, marginalized, and persecuted. Pray not to be spared these things, but rather pray for the boldness, courage, and strength to endure them.

The hour draws nigh, and He who sees all will judge in righteousness and holiness among His own. You will know when this has commenced from the wailing and mourning that will pierce the silence.  

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.