It’s
been a whirlwind sort of week. From flying out to Dallas on Thursday, to
spending the next three days at the conference while simultaneously trying to
spend a few minutes here and there with my wife and daughter, I had no time to
check e-mails, respond to correspondence, or even answer phone calls.
After
arriving back home last night I started going through the e-mails that had
amassed, some one thousand or so, first weeding out the offers for section 8
housing, meals in a box, cheap airfare, carpet cleaning, hair plugs, and
countless other things that just clutter my inbox to the point of coming real
close to mass deleting everything, then going through what remained to see
which e-mails I needed to answer, and how soon.
As
I was scrolling through them, the title of one particular e-mail caught my eye ‘You Should Have Listened’, said the
title, and when I checked the date, it had been sent the morning we flew out to
Dallas.
Since
the title of the e-mail intrigued me, I clicked the icon and opened it to find the
following message, “In your pride and
arrogance you ignored the prophets. Not only that, you endanger your family by
bringing them with you since there will be a biological attack at the meeting
this weekend.”
Since
I am typing this at 4:25 in the AM on Tuesday morning, you might have surmised
there was no biological attack at the conference. The closest we came to a
biological attack was someone pooping in the pool, but thankfully there was no
need for hazmat, nor did anyone get quarantined. All it took was an aging
gentleman named Ramon and a pair of latex gloves to solve the problem.
Now
I don’t know who started spreading the rumor about a biological attack at this
meeting, nor do I particularly care, but this entire situation serves as a
teachable moment on a couple of fronts.
First,
prophecy does not trump the Word of God, and the word of God commands us not to
fear. If we run and hide every time there is the potential for danger, then
soon enough no one will be preaching anywhere anymore, because persecution is
on the horizon, and the attempt to silence the church is in full swing.
Even
if there had been an issue, I know that God would have kept both me and my
family safe. It was neither pride nor arrogance that convinced me to attend
this conference, it was obedience.
Second,
could we please stop throwing the title of prophet around as though it were
some common thing? Could we exercise just an ounce of discernment once in a
blue moon and not glob on to every feeling, emotion, or impression and spiritualize
it to the point that we call it revelation? Projecting one’s feelings or
desires does not prophecy make!
The
difference between a sentry, a sentinel, or yes, even a watchman and a dog is
that the sentinel uses discernment and discretion as to when to sound the
alarm, while the dog barks at everything.
Though
we may take these things lightly, God does not. It is a fearful thing to speak
in the name of God when He has not spoken, and assign to Him things He never
said.
As
far as the conference itself is concerned, although I cannot speak for anyone
else, this is what I saw there:
I
saw people who sacrificed both their time and resources to come together in
fellowship. I saw men, and women, young and old, some who drove for forty hours
just to hear the truth. I saw hunger, I saw tears, I saw repentance, I saw
restoration, I saw the name of Jesus glorified, and I saw hearts pierced by the
Word of God.
(If the sister
with the brain tumors happens to be reading this, or someone reading this knows
of whom I speak, please know that I looked for you but did not find you the
next morning. Know that you have been in my prayers. Contact me, and if at all
possible I will come to meet you and pray with you wherever you are.)
The
presence of God was undeniable, and even I was moved to tears on more than one occasion.
The
world is quickly spinning out of control, and the household of faith seems to be distracted with vendettas, personal agendas. Just now as I was brewing my first
pot of coffee, I glanced at a newsfeed that said Bruxelles was hit by a
terrorist attack. The storm is here, and we’re about to feel the full effect.
Can
we please stop wasting time and playing these childish games, and get back to
preaching Jesus? Can we actually start walking in the callings to which we were
called and stop trying to poke each other in the eye?
Can
we try, maybe just a little, to make it about Christ rather than about
ourselves? Just try. It may turn out to be the most rewarding thing we’ve done
in a long, long time.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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