Seasoned and Matured

I love hearing stories of how over some twenty years someone worked their way up through a company, from being a lowly janitor to vice president, or even CEO. It says a lot about the individuals themselves, who dedicated the bulk of their lives to rising through the ranks of a corporation, but it also serves as a lesson to those who want everything, right now, without delay.

It would be laughable if someone applying for a job walked in for the interview, and when asked what position he was applying for, he would say, “boss! I want to be the boss!”

Never mind that others were there before him, or that he wasn’t qualified for the position he desired, he wouldn’t know what to do if someone made them instant boss in the first place. In order to perform in a particular job, you need a certain set of skills. Those skills are learned over time, through diligence and effort. One must be seasoned and matured to succeed in the real world, but for some reason, we do not apply the same metrics to the spiritual world.

When it comes to spiritual things, when it comes to spiritual gifts or callings, we have no patience whatsoever. We wake up one morning thinking we know better than everyone else, and what’s worse, we take it upon ourselves to set things right, demeaning and talking down to individuals who’ve been walking in obedience for decades on decades.

Their maturity level doesn’t matter. The fact that they are proven and seasoned, called and equipped doesn’t matter. We’ve shown up on the scene, and now we will show the world just how smart, brilliant, and theologically sound we are.

If anyone dares contradict the fallacy of our argument or insist that perhaps we should take a while to pray, fast, read the word, and grow spiritually before considering ourselves juggernauts and titans of theology, we throw a tantrum and call everyone unloving.

Then, just for good measure, we adopt a persecution complex accusing everyone of unwarranted backlash because those we are trying to convince of our brilliance are standing on the truth of scripture rather than relenting and seeing things as we would like them to.

What so many of today’s new breed of in your face upstarts fail to realize is that their own actions and tantrums betray their lack of maturity. The fact that they are unwilling to allow for the reality that some things will remain a mystery and that the Word must have the final say regarding spiritual matters reveals just how much they must grow before they come to the place of being able to teach others.

Nobody wants to start on the janitorial staff anymore. Everyone wants the corner office, company car, and golden parachute before their first day in the trenches, and that’s just unrealistic.

If not for the very real possibility that those who ignorantly go off halfcocked will cause harm to the innocent and those who are babes in Christ, their actions could serve as a cautionary tale and nothing more.

It is because they inevitably cause harm and bring shame to the household of faith that maturity must be insisted upon, and the standard of the Bible must be upheld at all cost. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

The Next Step

There has been a wave of elections throughout Europe of late, and all of them point to one undeniable reality: the average citizen is not enamored with globalism, and they have made their voices heard by casting their vote.

Even Australia got in on the act, going against opinion polling, and electing Scott Morrison, a conservative, to a full term as prime minister. Everywhere you look, the little people are rebelling against the notion of a one world government, and the power players in the shadows, those who pull the strings of those who pull strings are not very happy.

It seems we little people just can’t see reason. It seems we little people just don’t know what’s good for us, and we keep kicking against the goads when it comes to being ruled by sniveling, spineless technocrats, for whom the whole of humanity is nothing more intriguing than a number on a spreadsheet.

Throughout history, humans without humanity have been responsible for the worst atrocities known to man. When everything gets boiled down to a numerical reference when you don’t see people but numbers, it’s easy to talk about doing away with half the world’s population because of diminishing resources, and all the other frightening things the mind trusts at Davos and other elite gathering places seem to want to implement.

However much they try, however, it seems the one sticky wicket, the one fly in the ointment, is the average, hardworking, tax-paying, voting citizen who likes his national identity, who likes the idea of borders, and who likes the notion of keeping what he earns rather than financing the irresponsible behaviors of other nations.

So far, they thought it was a fluke, a blip on the radar to be overlooked in the great scheme, but now that a pattern is emerging, the globalist cabal will soon have to employ contingencies to keep the dream of utopia alive and kicking.

The easiest and fastest way to bring people to heel is chaos. War, famine, pestilence, disease outbreaks all serve a purpose as far as they are concerned, and one does not need prophetic insight to understand that these are the things which are about to be unleashed on the world.

They’ve worked too hard for too long to give up so easily. They’ve worked too hard for too long to let some peasants dictate their futures by voting. If they can’t rule it, then they’d rather see it burn.

Once you understand the mindset of such individuals, you understand that there is no line they will not cross, no immoral plan they will not employ, if they believe it will serve their ends. They think themselves superior to you and me, and as such have granted themselves the right to dictate how we live, and if you don’t like it tough luck; they know better, and you just haven’t figured that part out yet.

Because things are not going the way they planned, the next step is violence, instability, war, famine, and all manner of dastardly things, on a global scale. This will be done in the hopes that the citizenry will conclude that self-rule and self-reliance are not for them and embrace the globalism so many are pushing for nowadays.

The upside is that they did not expect this pushback. They did not expect this resistance, and it took them by surprise. They are discombobulated, off-kilter, and angry. It is inevitable that they lash out, but perhaps, the human spirit will surprise them once more, and men’s inherent yearning to be free will sustain them through the schisms and upheavals.

One thing I know: If you have God, you will weather the coming storm. If you live a life of obedience and surrender, having humbled yourself at the foot of the cross, then come what may, He will be there, a guiding light, an ever-present help, a comfort, a shelter, and a provision. This one thing is the only thing that will set you apart from those whose hearts will fail them for fear of what is to come. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Entitled, Weak and Soft

Going out for breakfast at a local greasy spoon has become somewhat of a tradition for the Boldea family. It’s a way of breaking up the monotony of oatmeal in the morning for the kids, and not having to wash dirty dishes afterward is just a bonus that both the wife and I thoroughly enjoy.

Yesterday was no different. After the kids were up and dressed, we packed into the car and drove the ten or so minutes to the restaurant. We were greeted, seated, our order was taken, and as we were waiting for our food to arrive a couple walked in that just caught my eye, and are the roundabout inspiration for this writing.

Neither of them could have been more than thirty, but both were well into adulthood. She was wearing pajamas and carrying a pillow, he had on a pair of shorts that had seen better days, and a shirt he must have been wearing for about a week given all the food stains down the front of it.

They were seated at a booth next to ours, and the first of many complaints was that the booth was too tight. I’m a hefty fellow, and I was seated in an identical booth with room to spare. For a good three minutes, the pajama laden woman who also happened to be a good hundred pounds over the threshold of obesity berated the waitress for the booth being snug, while the waitress apologetically explained that she hadn’t built the booth, but would pass it along to management.

This was only the first volley of what would be a good thirty minutes of macabre drama from which I couldn’t look away. A drama replete with demands for a free meal, asking for another omelet even though over three-quarters of the omelet that was deemed inedible had already been eaten, and a request for the manager to complain about the rudeness of the waitress.

I was there. I heard every word, and the waitress had not been rude. Had it been me, they would have been asked to leave five minutes in, but I have a low threshold for entitlement and rudeness.

They finished their meal, left without tipping, and made sure they were loud enough in their adamant insistence that they would never return to this dump as they walked out.

I’d never seen anything like this in my life, but upon talking to the waitress afterward, apparently, it’s happening more and more in recent years. I realized with dread that it would only get worse as my daughters grew into adulthood, and a sense of sadness overtook me thinking about the world they would have to navigate if the Lord chooses to tarry.

We see a generation enter adulthood for whom words are violence, weakness is a virtue, and who feel entitled to other men’s labors for no discernible reason. We’ve gone from sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, to needing safe spaces because someone dared to disagree with us, or challenged our lunacy.

If you believe words are violence, then you’ve had violence done to you, and for this, you should feel fortunate. If you believe others will gladly labor until their fingers bleed just so you could take the lion’s share of their labors, you should perhaps pursue sobriety, and acknowledge that weed smoking isn’t harmless just because it grows from the earth.

We have become a nation that is soft, weak, and entitled, and that makes us ripe for the picking.  This is just one more reason to reject the notion that peace, safety, and bright skies are ahead for us as a nation. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Some Gave All

I have never served in the armed forces. I was never required to leave my family, my wife, and my children behind, fly off to some far off land and run the risk of bleeding out in the desert under a hot sun. I have never had to see good friends die in my arms, or tell someone who just had half their face blown off that it’s not so bad. I’ve never had to put pressure on a wound and tell a brother in arms to hang in there, even though I knew the wound was fatal. I have never been forced to take another human life to defend my own.

I have never been in the heat of battle with bullets buzzing by my head, I’ve never had to question if we were doing the right thing, nor have I ever had to write a letter to the family of a fallen soldier informing them that their loved one was coming home in a box.

I have never had to live with the nightmares of the hell I had to endure on the battlefield, I have never had to contend with being spat upon by the selfsame people for whose freedom I put on the uniform and waged war.

I will not be so vapid as to try and put myself in a soldier’s shoes, or in the shoes of a family who has lost a loved in one in combat.

I do not know what it’s like to be a soldier, but I respect those with the wherewithal and fortitude to do the hardest job known to man.

It’s easy to conflate the wars which politicians choose to entangle a nation in, and the soldier himself. If for some reason we deem a war unjust, then we tend to transfer the questionable morality to the soldier himself. The distinction must be made, and we must separate the nobility of the war from the nobility of the soldier. The soldier follows orders as a good soldier must. He defends the nation and the homeland at the risk of his own life because he took an oath to do so.

This is memorial day weekend. It is a weekend set aside not to debate the fundamental morality of the wars this nation has engaged in, or whether it was the right thing to do at the time, but to remember those who have fallen in defense of this nation. It is an opportunity to reflect, and once more acknowledge that this freedom we are so readily willing to cast aside came at a price, and throughout this nation’s short history noble and decent men laid down their lives to preserve it.

It has been said that if you can’t intelligently argue for both sides of an issue, then you don’t understand the issue well enough to argue for either. To an extent, I agree. I believe I can hold my own arguing both sides of entangling ourselves in foreign conflicts, both for or against, but this weekend is not about that.

This weekend is about those who gave their last full measure of devotion, those who sacrificed everything because their nation called on them to do so. Such men must be remembered. Such men must be admired, and the memory of them must live on. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Sometimes It Is!

Better late than never! I’ve heard this saying bandied about more often than ever before recently, and in reference to a wide variety of things. I will not deny that the saying is true sometimes, but then again, sometimes it’s not.

If we’re discussing going on a diet to shed a few pounds, or going to the gym to get in shape, I suppose it is better late than never. If it finally dawns on you that you might be in danger only after the wolves have boxed you into a corner and are showing their fangs, the saying may do very little for you at this juncture.

I wonder when it was that the average Roman citizen realized the empire had crumbled? I wonder when it was that the average Roman citizen realized that the empire was no more?  I wonder when it was that the average Roman citizen realized they would die at the hands of those they had taken into their bosom?

History tells us by the time the average citizen realized it the dye had been cast, and there was no turning the tide, but I still wonder how long before the deathblow did it dawn on them that their choices had brought them their inevitable demise.

As has been the case with the fall of every great empire, it is certain some saw the writing on the wall far in advance, tried to warn and sound the alarm, and were mocked and ridiculed for their efforts.

Self-destruct? Us? We are the great Roman Empire, and nothing will topple us. Yes, we have grown soft, but it is our right. Yes, we have opened our gates and welcomed in our midst those who would do us harm, but we cannot live in fear. Yes, our governing class plots and schemes towards its self-interest and is actively working against the will of the people, but we are too busy with circus and bread to concern ourselves with such things. We are the eternal city! We will never fall!

After the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a lady was quoted as having asked Benjamin Franklin, “what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To this, Benjamin Franklin simply replied, “a republic if you can keep it.”

It was the selfsame Benjamin Franklin who said that the moral and religious system which Jesus Christ transmitted to us is the best the world has ever seen, or can see.  

Undergirding it all is yet another Franklin quote which profoundly states that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.

To understand the peril this nation finds itself in, and determine whether or not we are repeating the destructive ways of empires past, we must come to terms with three undeniable truths:

1. We are no longer a virtuous people.

2. We have abandoned the moral and religious system which Jesus Christ transmitted.

3. Too few are willing to stand for the republic in order to keep it.

I wish I had better news. I wish I could bring myself to sugarcoat the situation we currently find ourselves in, but I am a realist, and I respect those who read what I write far too much to attempt any sleight of hand or twisting of the truth. 

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr. 

Picking Battles

There’s a war on for everything nowadays. There’s a war on poverty, a war on drugs, a war on the patriarchy, the system, capitalism, babies, political correctness for and against, your mind, your wallet, your kids, your individuality, fur, meat, God, Christianity, reason, science, and the list goes on.

Everyone is fighting for or against something nowadays. Some things are noble and necessary like the war against abortion on demand, while others are less so, like the war on Christmas. It goes without saying that you can only fight so many battles at any given time. Hence the reason for picking and prioritizing which battles are worth fighting. Notice, I did not say picking which battles you are likely to win, I said picking battles that are worth the fight.

If the criterion upon which you pick your battles is whether you will win or not, every victory will be hollow. It’s like a heavyweight boxer picking a fight with a wheelchair-bound anorexic. Sure, technically he can put another notch in the win column, but does it really count?

If you never pick a fight with a giant, you will never slay a giant!

Not engaging in a battle because you are outnumbered or because you believe your odds of winning are less than optimal, is not pragmatism, it’s cowardice. This is why I have no respect for Christians who choose not to engage the enemy based on political expediency, or positioning. It is a fowl thing to sheath one’s sword and acquiesce to the enemy because you believe it will benefit you personally at some point in the future.

There are vivid examples throughout the history of mankind, wherein certain individuals chose to betray their principles, their nation, and their brothers in arms for personal gain, or to save their own skin. Whatever their reasoning, however iron clad their defense of their actions, such men were branded traitors, and their names live on in infamy.  

Timidity has no place on the battlefield. You stand, you fight, you do the hard thing because it’s the right thing to do, with no consideration of how others will perceive you, or what others will think of you.

Fear of man fuels cowardice, and once we give in to it, we will always find an excuse for why we didn’t stand, and why we didn’t make our voices heard. In our unending quest to please men, we have surrendered to impotence, and because the heart of man is exceedingly wicked, we grow to resent those who still dare to fight.

I have no qualms about burning bridges as long as I know I’m on the right side of the bridge. I have made my peace with the reality that I will be hated for His name’s sake, and it is a badge of honor I wear proudly. The mindset of the warrior isn’t whether his enemy will like him, or think he is a nice fellow. The mindset of the warrior is to vanquish his foe and survive the day.

Be prepared, be on guard, and be ready. Whether you pick your battle, or the battle comes to you, the battle is inevitable. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

The Devil Inside

It takes a lot to make me cringe. It takes, even more, to make me wince. I’m not what one might call easily rattled. I’ve seen a lot in my forty-four years of life, some good, some bad, and some grotesque, enough so that it takes something out of the ordinary to make me react.

Yesterday I had to change the oil on my wife’s car. It was long overdue, and the blinking service soon light had gotten to the point of being annoying, so much so that I finally relented and made the appointment.

There isn’t much to do in one of those waiting areas other than wait, so I started surfing news sites on my phone when a headline caught my eye. It had to do with counter protesters at a pro-life rally because nothing says Tuesday like protesting against people who want to keep babies from being murdered.

I clicked on the link, and thankfully, the volume on my phone was turned to low. The scene was of an elderly woman who in any other context would be deemed grandmotherly, screaming profanities at a young woman holding up a pro-life sign, with such force, ferocity, and determination, that I couldn’t help but wonder if the screaming harpy voice wasn’t dubbed over the gray-haired woman as she moved her lips.

It took me a full second to realize that no, it had not been dubbed, this was not some well put together scam, the devil was screaming through this elderly woman, and the things coming out of her face were vile enough to make a sailor blush. Her demeanor and the violence of her renunciations went beyond passion. They went beyond someone peacefully, coherently, reasonably trying to get their point across. 

The devil in this woman raged, and as sure as the sun sets in the west if this woman would have been given half the chance, she would have chocked the life out of the pro-life protester without batting an eye.

Evil is real. Evil exists. Evil is evident in our day and age, but it surprises you when it is made manifest through an octogenarian who would not be out of place bouncing grandchildren on her knee and baking chocolate chip cookies.

It is the closest to rabid I have seen a human being, and I’ve visited mental institutions and insane asylums. Only darkness can make someone manifest in such a manner. Only the devil can project such naked hate toward someone whose singular desire is to save a human life.

The battle before us is not one that is simply a difference in political ideology. If you believe this, then you are deceived. This is a battle between light and darkness, between a cult of death, and the defenders of life. It is not a battle we can afford to lose, nor is it a battle we can fight halfheartedly.

A cornered animal only gets more aggressive as it approaches its demise. For the first time in a generation, the godless are seeing their agenda collapsing, their certain victories becoming less certain, their momentum slipping through their fingers. They rage so because they know they are losing ground, and the more ground they lose, the more they will rage.

It’s not as though they won’t put up a good fight; they will. Their father, the devil, will speak through them, threatening, mocking, insulting, demeaning, but it is from a position of impotence and weakness, not one of confidence and strength.

They are backed into a corner, and they know it. Even if they never admit it, somewhere in their darkened hearts, they know they are advocating for the termination of a defenseless human being, the purest form of evil. They have made their bargain, they have sold their souls, they have capitulated human decency because only such a one can call a baby nothing more than a parasite. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

It's What He Says!

A baby faced devil is still a devil. It’s one of those things that seems to have escaped us, even though we have seen throughout history that the look of a man is irrelevant as far as potential for evil is concerned.

I am more interested in an individual’s character, in the words that he speaks, and the passion he speaks them with because it is those things, the nuances of them, that reveal the heart of a man far more readily than his appearance.

I’ve run across men in three-piece suits that were hard-pressed to put a coherent sentence together, and I’ve run across men in overalls with blistered hands, that spoke with an eloquence likened unto poetry. Appearance is meaningless. Content is everything.

I have children. Therefore I have a vested interest in the future of this country. I cannot bring myself to sit idly by, twiddling my thumbs, scoop out some navel lint, and wait for the rapture bus to come rolling by. Even if I believed that we would be caught up into glory before all the nasty bits of the Bible start coming to pass, it would not absolve me of my responsibility to be salt and light. It would not absolve me of my responsibility to sound the alarm when I saw danger on the horizon.

I’ve been watching the twenty some odd individuals vying for the Democrat party nomination intently. Most of them are certifiable, droning on about policies that would bankrupt the country if implemented, and making promises they have no intentions of keeping. It’s as if they’ve all come down with logorrhea, and they can’t help themselves.

As I said, most of them are too crazy to be dangerous, but there is one that has my warning bells going off, and not in a good way. To look at him, one would think he is harmless. To hear him speak, one immediately realizes there is a deep seeded hatred for the people of God, the ways of God, and the Word of God. The rage this individual feels towards Christians is almost uncontainable, and once in a while, it comes spilling out. What is worth noting, is that he, himself identifies as a Christian, all while openly glorying in a lifestyle the selfsame God he claims to serve, condemns.  

It’s beyond narcissism to call oneself a Christian, then proceed to systematically discount everything the Bible says because you think God was wrong. It’s beyond narcissism to call oneself a Christian, then equate Christianity to Islam and contend they are equally violent faiths.

Individuals who feel as though they are entitled to rewrite Scripture to suit their proclivities are inherently dangerous because once that horse has been let out of the barn, it’s next to impossible to corral it once more. Once you twist scripture to make one allowance, you’ll do it over and over again, and each time insist that you are doing God’s work, that you are noble and pure as the driven snow, when in fact you are living in rebellion, practicing that which God considers an abomination.

Listen to what such individuals say, the words they use, the hatred with which they address those who still insist on the truth of Scripture, and you just may get a glimpse of the future if ever such individuals gained power. 

With love in Christ, 

Michael Boldea Jr.

The Vengeful Gnat

If Christians stood up against darkness half as much as they stab at each other, we just might get somewhere. Before I get flooded with e-mails, I must delineate a nuanced point that seems to escape some folks nowadays. There is a difference between standing up for truth and calling out individuals when they attempt to insert heretical teaching into otherwise Biblical doctrine, and running around screaming Ichabod because someone wears a wedding band and you chose not to. What is troublesome is that most Christians will do the latter rather than the former far more passionately, because for some unexplained reason we are more willing to defend personal preference to the utmost, than we are to defend the truth. 

It is something that has been happening with disturbing regularity of late. Someone has a personal conviction about something the Bible does not identify as sinful or harmful, yet they take it upon themselves not only to make general doctrine of their personal conviction, they insist anyone not willing to shave their heads and wear clothing made out of hemp exclusively, is a spawn of darkness itself.

They are the self-appointed bouncers to heaven’s gates, and they will deny you access for any trivial thing they deem inexcusable. If perchance you don’t fall in line right away, if you attempt to point out the fallacy of their argument, not only are you eternally banned from entering heaven, you are summarily sentenced to the outermost darkness.

We isolate ourselves from each other by the demands we place on each other, allowing not an ounce of grace to shine through. It’s our way or the highway, and if it’s the highway, then buddy, it’s the highway to hell.

Instead of happy warriors with one common enemy, we have become vengeful gnats that buzz around each other’s heads, more of an annoyance than anything substantive, but somehow pleased to no end with ourselves. We actively look for points of contention with other believers rather than attempt to find common ground. Something as trivial as worshipping on a particular day of the week is enough to cause a schism.

While we bicker and backbite, and feel spiritually superior to our fellow brethren because we do some arbitrary thing while they do not, the enemy is advancing, his armies are purposeful, and they are ready for battle.

I know, I know, Jesus wins in the end, so we have nothing to worry about. If it were that simple if it were that perfunctory, why are we repeatedly instructed to put on the armor, to stand, to fight, and to overcome?

Either God is an alarmist, and He just wanted to harsh your mellow by including all those verses in His Word, or there’s more to it than staring at our navels and wondering where the fuzz comes from.

It’s easy to think it’s easy until reality demonstrates that it’s not. Men who considered themselves on solid footing have been swept away because they were too self-assured, and did not guard their hearts. Men who seemed like the spiritual juggernauts of a generation were brought low because they did not anticipate the enemy's attack, and were blindsided.

Don't be one of those people who realize they can't take on an army by themselves only when they're surrounded, and the enemy is closing in. Lone wolves are great in movies but don't do so well in real life. We need each other, we need to be able to count on each other, we need to fight side by side, and together as one advance against the darkness. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr. 

What It Is!

Clumps of cells don't have beating hearts. Clumps of cells don't have hands, fingers, toes, and feet. Clumps of cells don't have chubby cheeks and crooked smiles. Clumps of cells have none of these things, but human babies do.

The debate regarding abortion is raging in this country. For the most part, the lines have been drawn, sides have been chosen, and flags have been planted. Granted, there are outliers like Pat Robertson, who is willing to let babies die presently for a possible, potential future repeal of Roe vs. Wade.

Thankfully, the vast majority of those embroiled in what is quite literally an existential battle as far as the babies in question are concerned, understand that you do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. You do the moral thing because it is the moral thing to do. You don't gamble with the lives of the unborn because you think the current bill is too extreme, and would never be upheld by the Supreme Court. You take the win, live to fight another day, and face the next foe when it appears.

Let's just say, for argument's sake, that Pat Robertson is right, and when it finally gets to the Supreme Court, the Alabama ruling will not be upheld because it is too extreme. How many dead babies would he have been comfortable with from this time to that? A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand? What’s the cutoff? When does it go one baby too far?

You don't indulge a lesser evil because you hope that at some point, you will do away with a greater evil. 

You fight every evil, great or small, with every breath that you have, and every ounce of energy you can muster. You win enough battles, and eventually, you will win the war. But if you give up ground consistently in the hope that you will one day find the perfect opportunity to strike a deathblow to your enemy, chances are you will eventually run out of ground to surrender, the opportunity will never come, and your enemy will defeat you without you ever having struck a blow.

How many lives is the off chance of potentially overturning Roe vs. Wade worth? That is the question we must grapple with. The question we must answer honestly. What I know is this: because of the bill that was signed into law by Alabama’s governor, lives are presently being saved. It is not hypothetically, it is not potentially, it is literally. It is an undeniable fact that murder of the unborn is currently, presently, at this very moment being prevented because of this new law.

Let's not be coy. Let's not beat around the bush and try to soften the blow. Abortion is murder. Alabama has made the killing of babies by abortion illegal, and punishable by time in prison. This is a good thing.

It appears Missouri is in the process of enacting the heartbeat bill, Louisiana is not far behind, then other states are soon to follow after that. Why would any rational human being put off saving a human life? Why would any Christian sit idly by in the hopes that nine people in black robes will do the right thing in some future time when we can stop the bloodshed now?

All one need do to understand how impacting this heartbeat bill is is watch the reaction of the godless and those for whom the slaughter of innocents is a religion unto itself. If it were meaningless, if it had no teeth, if it didn't have the very real potential of saving countless lives, they would not rage so. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Defiance!

Two friends met for coffee one morning. It was something they did on occasion, but this particular morning one of the friends had a certain look about him that the other picked up on.

“Is everything alright?”, he asked with concern.

“Not really. I just saw a guy get mugged right in front of my apartment. It was scary to watch. I thought I lived in a safer neighborhood than that.”

“What color socks was he wearing?”, his friend asked.

The man's brows arched, and with an incredulous look on his face, he said, "I think you're missing the point. You're focusing on the wrong thing."

We are seeing a world in upheaval, a culture in decline, a generation lost, broken, disillusioned, and misguided, and still, with all the aggregate data available to us, we continue to focus on the wrong thing.

What we are seeing are symptoms of an overarching disease, one that began near the genesis of it all when the serpent whispered to Eve that if she partook of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, not only would she not die, her eyes would be open, and she would be like God.

The serpent lied. In hindsight, I’m sure even Eve realized this, but the damage was done, the bell had been rung, the milk had been spilled, and there was no going back.

Nothing is about what everyone says it is about. I realize that sounds convoluted, but it was the best way I could phrase it. The big push for abortion, gender identity, homosexuality, and all the other issues that have bubbled up to the surface of our society of late is not about the issues themselves, it’s about defiance and rebellion. What we are seeing is creation’s impotent attempt at poking the Creator in the eye, telling Him He was wrong to His face and insisting that it can play god.

It’s about having the power of life and death, it’s about saying God made a mistake, it’s about taking creation and defacing it, disfiguring it to the point that it is no longer recognizable as what it once was.

In the end, it's always about defiance. In the end, it's still about rebellion, schism, and disobedience.

Why is it that women long past the point of being able to bear children are frothing at the mouth mad about new legislation that is aimed at protecting the sanctity of life? Why is it that openly homosexual men are screaming at the top of their lungs about reproductive rights, and a woman’s inherent right to choose to murder her baby even after it has left her womb? They will never be affected by these laws, yet they rage, and fume, and curse, and spew, because it wasn’t about the abortion, it was about the rebellion.

It is as it has always been about defiance. It is about the ability to thumb one’s nose at God and say, you gave it life, and I will snuff it out! You created it in your image, but it will never see the light of day, or breathe a lung full of air.

Some say the devil is getting bolder, while others say the devil is getting desperate. I tend to think it's a bit of both. In one respect, the devil is getting bolder because for the longest time there has been no pushback from the church, in another, he is getting desperate because he knows his time is short. 

The reason the godless rage so is because finally, after what seems like an eternity, some in the church are starting to shake off the dust, and realize the devil has no limits, and he doesn’t hold to gentlemen’s agreements.

We hopscotched from safe and rare only when the life of the mother is threatened, to late-term abortion, to partial birth abortion, to outright infanticide, and if there had been no pushback someone would have inevitably floated the idea of being able to dispose of one’s child if their SAT scores weren’t high enough.

The same can be said about homosexuality, where we went from tolerance to acceptance, to validation, to celebration, to the point wherein practitioners of a perversion are now a protected class unto themselves, and if perchance you voice the belief that it is sin, they will come down on you like a ton of bricks.

We are beginning to witness that battles can be won, but they must be fought. Spiritual problems require spiritual solutions. Spiritual battles require spiritual warriors. Light prevails over darkness at its very appearing, but the presence of the light must occur for darkness to be shattered. Let your light shine.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr. 

Transformed!

Once there was a man who started feeling ill. At first, he tried to ignore it, pretend as though the feeling wasn't there, but it just kept getting worse. Soon it began to show in his countenance, and as he glanced into the mirror one morning, he was horrified at what he saw. His face wasn't his own anymore. The man staring back was haggard and sallow, his eyes sunk into the back of his head, and his skin had taken on a sickly pallor.

The man realized he could not continue on this way, and he finally broke down and sought the help of a physician. It was not easy for him to seek help. He was a proud man. The physician was welcoming and open, he asked the man his symptoms, and without much ado told the man what ailed him.

The physician did not try to sugar coat the man's condition, nor did he attempt to minimize the severity of his sickness. The physician was forthright as he could be, informing the man that if his illness went untreated, it was terminal. The mortality rate was 100%, but the good news was that there was a treatment for it, and once administered, had a 100% success rate.

“That’s wonderful,” the man said, “is there a prescription?”

“Yes, the doctor said, and because it’s so outside of your ability to pay for it, I will cover the cost of the medicine. There are, however, certain lifestyle changes you will need to make, such as what you eat, and the kind of exercise you get, but as far as the medication itself, it is covered.”

Upon hearing this, the man's countenance changed, and he became visibly angry.

“But I like my lifestyle. I like what I eat. Isn’t there another way? Can’t I just take the medicine? Maybe I should get a second opinion. I think I read somewhere online that there are holistic remedies.”

"There is no other way," the physician replied calmly, but the man would hear none of it.

"We'll see about that!" the man barked as he stormed out.

We are living in a time wherein there are many self-titled, self-appointed, and self-anointed physicians who insist that all you have to do in order to pass from death to life is take the medicine. They insist that no repentance is required, that transformation is not essential, and that all one need do is raise a hand and say a prayer, then go on with their lives as though nothing happened.

Eventually, they'll bring up the issue of tithing, but as far as repentance is concerned, that is a topic that will turn off most people, and they know it. Never mind the fact that without holiness, no man will see God, or that once forgiven Jesus told the woman at the well to go and sin no more.

This is a new age, a new era, and we need to make it easier for people to get saved than what was prescribed in Scripture, or we run the risk of building colossal sanctuaries and no one showing up.

Unfortunately, there is no Hippocratic oath for pastors and evangelists. They gamble with men's souls for temporary gain and deceive countless individuals into believing they have been healed when all they've done is made them comfortable as they die. The church has become a gigantic hospice care facility that manages the pain of dying, while not addressing the dying itself.

Yes, you will run the risk of some walking away if you insist on repentance. Yes, you will run the risk of being hated by those you love enough to speak truth to if you stand on Scripture. Yes, you will be misunderstood and branded a zealot, a hater, an intolerant knuckle dragging fear monger, but at least you won't have blood on your hands when you stand before the Almighty.

Be brave enough to tell the lost that they don't have to die in their sin. Be brave enough to say to them that repentance brings about forgiveness and that the blood of Jesus can wash them clean. Most may reject you, but some will listen, be transformed, and live. 

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr. 

Wait For It!

Some ten or so years ago I got talked into a new diet that was supposed to do wonders for me. It was supposed to be magic, if you believe in such things, wherein you can eat anything you wanted, never exercise, and watch the fat melt off as though you were a slab of bacon in a furnace.

Every other diet heretofore was to be made obsolete, and the reason it hadn’t caught on like wildfire was because the health and wellness industry was attempting to stifle this new innovation. It would decimate the whole billion dollar industry,  and they just couldn't risk having it made public. Okay, a bit conspiratorial, but sure, let's go with that.

Like every other chunky person, when I heard I could eat whatever I wanted, not exercise and still lose weight, I was on board. All I had to do was drink a thimble of apple cider vinegar every morning before eating anything, then bring on the pies, the waffles, the pancakes, and the crapes. That's right, crapes!

It was a fantastic diet as far as restrictions were concerned. Nothing was off limits! Everything was permitted in whatever quantities you so chose. The only problem was that after about two weeks the scale started heading in the wrong direction. I was supposed to weigh less, not more. I had been taking my thimble full of apple cider vinegar religiously, every morning. Something wasn’t adding up.

I approached the person who sold me on the diet and asked why I was seeing the opposite results to those advertised, and he soothed my concerns by telling me my body was warring against the powerful forces of the vinegar and I was retaining water. In reality, I was losing body fat, but that was being offset by the water I was retaining.

I gave it a couple more weeks, then I realized the person was either insane or was trying to sell me a bill of goods because the vinegar did nothing as long as I kept eating the same things I always had. 

I fear the same disconnect is taking place among those who insist that national revival is just around the corner, while the whole of society, including the church itself, is headed in the opposite direction.

"Wait for it! Wait for it!", They cry like the man who bought the biggest firework he could find on the 4^th of July only to see it smoke, fizzle, and sputter. Something has to happen! It has to. We’ve been fed the constant diet of imminent revival for so long, that even though we are seeing the diametrical opposite take place, we’re still sitting back waiting for it.

I woke up this morning to an article written by a Baptist pastor and published in USA Today, that insists the Bible can't be trusted, and for the church to survive, it must receive into its bosom open LGBTQP members, without reservation or call for repentance.

This was penned by a supposed pastor, not some gay activist, or some godless busybody who has no clue as to what the Bible says.

This is where we are presently. Indifference has become tolerance, tolerance has become acceptance, acceptance has become validation, and now, if perchance you still dare to quote the Bible, people who call themselves pastors and shepherds will be the first to eviscerate you and condemn you for your intolerance.

We are headed in the opposite direction from revival. We are headed in the opposite direction from repentance. We are embracing abomination, yet are being told it really isn’t so. We are getting further and further away from the light - and I’m not talking about the world - yet insistent voices keep screeching wait for it!

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr. 

Life's Journey

I have a tendency to speed. It is not intentional. It is not like I set out to break the speed limit. I have what some refer to as a lead foot, and it’s only when I realize that I’m passing everyone on the road that I look at my speedometer and take my foot off the accelerator.

I’ve tried to be more aware of my speed, I’ve even taken to using the cruise control, and I realized very quickly that I do not like the cruise control function on my car. It speeds up when I think it should slow down, it doesn’t accelerate as quickly as I would like, and it all makes for a very uncomfortable experience until a few minutes later when I tap the break and disengage the function.

Many Christians are in much the same predicament spiritually speaking. They have no issues with letting Jesus take the wheel, but they still want to control the speed at which they go through life. Having control of the pedals, having control of when you speed up or how abruptly you slow down, is oftentimes the most challenging thing to surrender because there is always the opportunity to play armchair quarterback.

It's been a while since I've driven with my dad. He is one of those people who not only tries to pump the breaks in the passenger seat, he reacts verbally and physically whenever he thinks I'm too close to another car, or that I'm doing something behind the wheel he disapproves of, like driving aggressively. It makes for some good comedy, especially if my brothers happen to be in the car as well, but he can’t help himself. It’s just his nature.

Most of the time we think Jesus is driving too slow. We chew our fingernails to nubs because in our mind we don't think he is going fast enough. Our mind starts roiling, believing that such and such ought to have happened by now, and eventually, we run out of patience and we try to punch the gas.

It's all about getting there, isn't it? It's about the destination, not the journey, and the sooner we get to where we're going, the sooner we can roll up our sleeves and get to work. Jesus is busy, he's got a lot on his plate, maybe he didn't notice the speed at which He was driving. Perhaps we should help. That’s usually when things go sideways, and when we run into the ditch and have to claw our way out again.

It wasn’t God’s fault that you didn’t wait patiently for him to bring you your life mate and decided that the one you knew in your heart wasn’t right for you would make do after all. It wasn’t God’s fault that you didn’t wait prayerfully for Him to send you out, and you went on your own, only to return bleeding and naked like the seven sons of Sceva.

We miss out on so much in this life because we are so focused on the pit stops along the way, rather than take the entire journey in. You are not alone while you're traveling from here to there. It is not a waste of time, it is an opportunity to grow in intimacy with God and establish a relationship.

If you've decided to let God take the wheel, then you must also let Him control the pedals. He knows when you need to speed up or slow down. He knows when you must be sent out, how you must be sent out so that it's all for His glory and purpose. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Playing Dirty

If you can't win fair, play dirty! By all accounts, this seems to be the new motto of the left, and they are taking to it like a fish to water, or a pig to….truffles. Their dogged tenacity is admirable, but there comes the point wherein that dogged tenacity turns into something more akin to a childish tantrum.

It’s when elected officials start stomping their feet and holding their breath just because they didn’t get their way that their actions are no longer admirable, laudable, or commendable, but instead turn into something grating and loathsome.

If this keeps up, they'll be investigating whether or not Donald Trump ate his vegetables when he was a toddler, and if not, then contemplate whether or not to consider impeachment because of it. If it were not for the very real possibility that a handful of buffoons with an ax to grind will spark a civil war all while on the public dole, this would be laughable.

It is troublesome when elected officials have no regard for the wellbeing of the nation. It is disturbing when power is the only thing they understand, and the only thing they are concerned with. If they’re not playing for power, then they don’t want to play, the little people be damned.

I have come to believe that the reason most of the political class loathe this current president so goes deeper than the fact that he was not supposed to win, or that he threw a monkey wrench into their plans for globalism.

I believe the reason the political class on both sides of the aisle, both Republican and Democrat hate this president with a white-hot hatred is because he exposes and highlights their true nature. For all his faults, Donald Trump loves America and the American people. Most politicians consider their constituencies beneath them, mindless drones to be manipulated every four years to vote them in for another term.

It is also why I believe this president is so loved by those who support him, even when he sticks his foot in his mouth, or says things in a less congenial way than the pearl-clutching folk would have it. It reminded me of vitriol and hatred protestant Christians endured at the hands of Orthodox priests when they first ventured into Eastern Europe after the end of Communism.

The reason the priests detested us is because the people saw that while they built mansions we built orphanages, while they bought Bentleys we bought cows for the poor, while they shopped designer, we gave clothing to the naked, and the list goes on.

Our actions peeled back the mask and exposed the greed, selfishness, and self-serving tendencies they exhibited. I believe the same sort of unmasking has taken place in regards to the political class, and vast swaths of people are seeing that for most of the monosyllabic politicians who would have no marketable skill in the real world, public service is not an end unto itself, it is the means to a self-serving end. If you think these people will voluntarily walk away from their gravy train now that they’ve firmly planted themselves at the taxpayer trough, you’ve got another thing coming.

The political class does not despise Donald Trump because of his politics. The political class hates Donald Trump because he exposed them for the leeches they are, and they just can't have that. To protect their Ponzi scheme not only will they play dirty, if allowed they will bend the law, break the law, see good men's reputations shredded and torn to tatters, and what's worse, they won't lose a minute's worth of sleep over it. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.