A Request for Input

The following is the introduction to the next book I will be publishing, Lord willing, within the next few weeks. I know it is a project God kept putting on my heart until I finally relented and put it together. The book is called The Battle Ready Believer, and I believe it is relevant for the times we are living in.
I would appreciate your input on what amounts to the synopsis of this upcoming book, as well as any other chapters you believe should be included. Thanks in advance for taking the time, and God bless.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

We are living amidst a generation of spiritual marshmallows. A disproportionate number of those calling themselves soldiers for Christ and warriors of the cross know nothing of spiritual warfare, the weapons employed in said warfare, or what it means to stand one’s ground before the onslaught of the enemy. By and large they are soft, sickly sweet with political correctness, full of air, and melt at the first sign of heat just like a marshmallow.

We have replaced character and moral fortitude with snarky condescension, and rather than aspire to spiritual greatness like those who came before us we find reasons to demean them and degrade their accomplishments on behalf of the Kingdom.

Since when do hipsters with questionable degrees from online seminaries have the right to question Paul, Peter, John, Luke, Mark, or even Jesus Himself? Since when does a spiritual homunculus have the right to contradict the Word of God itself, and still have the temerity to call himself a pastor of one of the largest congregations in the world?

In the estimation of this present generation martyrs were only martyrs because they weren’t bright enough to doubletalk their way out of their predicaments. There is little to no understanding of duty in today’s modern church, and what passes for spiritual maturity is a cross between pathetic and terrifying.

When compromise becomes our banner and cowardice is seen as virtue is it any wonder that so few among professing believers today are battle ready?

We have been seduced. We have become so enamored with the world and this present life that we give not a thought to the reality that eternity beckons with every breath, and the enemy’s sole purpose is to keep us from spending eternity with God.

A battle is coming whether the church is ready for it or not. The enemy has assembled his armies, they have amassed on the battlefield, and in short order the final assault against the children of God will commence.

The level of your spiritual readiness will determine whether you will survive the battle or be so much fodder having fallen like so many others. One cannot prepare for battle on the battlefield. One cannot begin to know the weapons of his warfare as the enemy is charging, and the air is thick with the expectation of battle.

In understanding that battle is inevitable the wise will ready themselves in advance, learning what it is to be a soldier and taking the necessary steps to become it.

Men wage war for various reasons at various times. While some are compelled by patriotism or religious beliefs, others still are driven by ambition or lust for power. Whatever the underlying reason for war, it is powerful enough to cause an individual to risk their life for it.

In any battle, in any war, the possible loss of one’s life is implied. There has never been a war waged without casualties, and every individual who enlists does so with the full knowledge that it may very well mean their life.

Physical war is bloody, brutal, and taxing in every way possible. What believers seem to have forgotten over the years is that spiritual warfare is just as brutal, just as taxing, and just as ruthless as any war in the physical. Spiritual warfare also carries greater far reaching consequences than war in the natural does, because the consequences of spiritual warfare are eternal in their scope.

Wherever I happen to be on any given Sunday it seems I hear more about the victory party after the battle than I do about the battle itself anymore. Preachers don’t like to preach on spiritual warfare, parishioners don’t like to hear about spiritual warfare, and so we focus on the hereafter instead. We focus on that moment beyond time when the last sword will have been swung and the last blow will have been struck, utterly failing to prepare or even make the individual aware of the war they are currently embroiled in.

If you call yourself a son or daughter of God then you are at war. Since the fact that you are already at war is a foregone reality and you have no say in the matter would it not be wise and prudent to learn all you can about your enemy and about the weapons you have at your disposal?

Would it not be wisdom itself to learn how we can defend ourselves and even go on the offensive against an enemy who has already made it perfectly clear that he will take no prisoners?

Even though the spectator stands are overflowing and the warriors on the field of battle are decreasing in number at an alarming rate we who remain cannot give up the fight. We cannot lay down our arms, we cannot take off our armor, and we cannot surrender to the enemy, for if we do we will be counted among the rebellious and disobedient. We will be counted among those who ought to have known what it is to stand, to fight, and to overcome an enemy who fears our General, and who has given us the privilege and right to walk in His authority.  

Many claim bravery when there is no call for it, but very few exhibit bravery in the face of certain violence or mortal danger. In modern day parlance many Christians talk a good game, but when their mettle is tested, when the battle is upon them, they turn tail and run. They surrender to the enemy, or worse still become traitors to the cause of Christ attempting to weaken the household of faith from within.

If all we can do is talk a good game, if we have not trained, equipped, prepared, and honed our spiritual selves, when the day of battle is upon us, though we may think ourselves brave, though we may think ourselves steadfast, we will flee from before the onslaught of the enemy.

Battle presupposes many things, but certain ones are essential. Among the essentials of any conflict are armies, arms, tactics, strategy, and the knowledge of one’s adversary. If any of these essentials is missing, one’s loss of the battle is ensured even before the first blow is struck.

Without having the right soldiers, the right arms, the right strategy and a fundamental understanding of one’s enemy, we are inhibited and stunted in our ability to fight the fight in such a manner that victory is certain.

Brutal and coldhearted as it may seem, one need only give a passing glance to the current church to realize that though we might call ourselves an army we are weaponless, absent of strategy, ignorant of tactics, and woefully unaware of our enemy, what he can do, and the lengths he will go to in any conflict.

A soldier’s ignorance of his weapons on the battlefield will almost always ensure his demise. If he stands face to face against his enemy and does not know how to wield his sword, raise his shield, or have a passing knowledge of all the weapons in his arsenal, that moment of hesitation, the fumbling with one’s scabbard, the overreach of one’s sword, the wrong placement of one’s shield, and the enemy will strike the mortal blow.

By the same token, a soldier who does not know the tactics of his enemy or how to defend against them is at a serious disadvantage on the battlefield. We are warned, and forthrightly so in God’s word not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices. The reason this warning is found within the pages of scripture is because once we are aware of the devil’s devices, we will naturally begin to take steps to protect ourselves against them and guard our hearts against their influences.

If battle finds us unprepared, if the enemy finds us defenseless, if we find ourselves standing on the battlefield with no weapons of either defense or offense, know that our ill preparedness was not God’s fault but our own. We have been warned and repeatedly so to prepare, to put on our armor, to know how to wield the power granted to us by  the blood of the Lamb, and if we have failed to do these things, or believed that they somehow did not pertain to us, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

A wise man prepares. A wise man does his utmost to make certain that he has done his utmost, then trusts in the arm of God to do what he cannot.

Laziness has made many within the church indifferent toward the reality of the times they are living in and though the Word of God urges us to prepare, to be as faithful soldiers, to know the weapons of our warfare and be diligent about growing spiritually, many roll their eyes and fail at stifling their yawns.

This book is not meant for the indifferent. This book is not meant for the spiritually lazy. This book is meant for those who see the storm clouds on the horizon, those that understand on an very basic level that battle is inevitable, and who realize that they have little time to prepare but prepare they must.

This book is meant for those searching for truth, those who refuse to buy into the lie that we are impotent in the face of the enemy, that we have no weapons to speak of, or that we are at the mercy of evil and evil men.

We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. We were commanded to stand, and do all to stand, being fearless in our battle against the darkness, knowing that God stands with us, and fights alongside us.

By the end of this book you will hopefully be able to answer the following questions for yourself:

1.      Who taught you how to fight?

2.      What are you fighting for?

3.      How far are you willing to go?

4.      Are you mature enough?

5.      Have you built up your endurance?

6.      Do you understand your authority?

7.      Do you know your weapons?

8.      Do you know your General?

9.      Do you know your weakness?

10.  Do you know your enemy?

These are all questions we must answer individually, being honest with ourselves, and making the requisite changes if and where they are needed.

The time for sailing through our spiritual existence without consequence is far past. The time for spiritual immaturity has long since expired, and though many a man continue to espouse the fallacy that being battle ready is a choice rather than a requirement, what we are witnessing with our own eyes throughout the world is exposing such men for the liars they are.

In His grace God has given us time to prepare for the battle but whether or not we take advantage of this grace and actually do prepare spiritually is wholly and solely on us. God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves, nor will He force us to train and exercise our spiritual selves even if we don’t want to.

It is incumbent upon us as individuals to understand the days in which we are living and act accordingly. It is incumbent upon us as individuals to put away the childish things, and grow into the warriors God expects us to be.