Preparing For Persecution XXXI

 Persecution identifies you with Christ and as one of His own, as nothing else does. It’s one thing to claim we belong to Him; it’s another to endure persecution for His name’s sake. Being persecuted is not a punishment for lack of faith, as some have proffered. It is not the judgment of God upon those who have not embraced the prosperity doctrine or those who haven’t sown seeds in a particular televangelist’s ministry. Persecution serves to test our faith; it is something we should expect to encounter at some point because chances are we will. No matter how far removed one might be from the reality of persecution currently, it must be an ever-present expectation if they are truly denying themselves, picking up their crosses, and following after Him.

Light wars against darkness. Righteousness is an offense to sin. Those who pursue Christ turn their backs on the world, and from that point forward, the world sees them as mortal enemies. The only way to be embraced by the world is to be like the world; if we are like the world, then we are not as Christ would have us to be.

Whatever we are called upon to endure for Christ’s sake is temporary. The reward for having endured, however, is eternal. Jesus didn’t try to sugarcoat what they would have to go through. He told them they would have to go through tribulation, some would be thrown into prison, and some would have to endure unto death. He wanted those of the church of Smyrna to be fully aware of what to expect so they would prepare accordingly.

The only thing holding back the whole counsel of God accomplishes is to create bitterness in the hearts of those who expected to live carefree lives of warm breezes and umbrella drinks only to be confronted with suffering and persecution. You’re not doing anyone any favors by omitting the reality of likely persecution during their walk. On the contrary, since they’ve not been forewarned, they are not forearmed; they are not prepared to endure and, therefore, will find reasons and excuses to deny Christ and obfuscate the truth in the hope of being spared.

Those of the early church, those who suffered and were martyred for the sake of Christ, didn’t have death wishes. They didn’t go looking to be devoured by lions or dipped in tar and lit ablaze for Nero’s entertainment, but they didn’t shy away from it either. They did not love their lives to the death, and were able to endure faithfully, being examples of faithfulness and courage from age to age.

If Christ had not warned that some of them would have to endure to death, or if they had not heeded His warning, they would have faltered in their walk, waned in their commitment, and oscillated in their faithfulness. They knew what to expect just as we should know what to expect, and when we see it, we will not flinch away but be reassured in the knowledge that the One who foresaw our season of trial foresaw the testimonies that would arise from it, and the crowns of life He would be handing out.

Faithfulness is a choice. Enduring to the end is a choice. You can pray for strength and boldness, but you must choose to remain steadfast and resolute in the face of the enemy’s onslaught.

1 Peter 4:12-14, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”

Strangely, so few have picked up on how contrary modern-day teaching is to the words of the Bible and how seldom we take the warnings we read within its pages to heart. It’s as though the average Christian does not have access to the Word or cannot perceive the words written therein. It’s simply written and does not require any advanced degree to understand its meaning, but we would rather believe men over the Bible because the words of men are soothing and comforting to the flesh, and we think that somehow we will be able to plead ignorance of the truth when we stand before the Almighty.

Peter wasn’t trying to be a hype man. He wasn’t trying to sell a product, insisting that he, too, used it every day and that for a limited time, you could get a great deal on whatever he was selling. It’s not as though encouraging people to suffer well would have mass appeal or open doors for him heretofore barred and locked. He was sharing his lived experience, the things he went through, and the aftereffects of having gone through them.

Enduring suffering or persecution is not a pointless exercise with no noticeable benefit. They are not hoops we jump through for God’s entertainment or things we experience for no practical reason. As one who had gone through fiery trials and partook of Christ’s sufferings, Peter testifies that His glory was not far behind. He echoes Paul’s words that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.

If we desire the glory of Christ, we must not shy away from partaking in the sufferings of Christ. The one opens up the way for the other. We may want the glory without the testing of our faith, we may want the glory without enduring, but Peter insists that suffering well is what activates the glory, and if we partake in the one, we will have access to the other.

When our focus is shifted from the things of this earth to the things above, when we are no longer living for the present but for the life to come, then whatever we might have to endure in the flesh will seem a small price to pay, something insignificant when compared with the reward our faithfulness will produce.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XXX

 We cannot view the prospect of persecution as some exception to the rule, as some out-of-the-ordinary experience a handful in a given generation were given to go through, but as something common to the followers of Christ, regardless of era or continent. If believers in a particular nation are spared persecution, they must be aware that it’s only for a time, only for a season, and it does not mean that it will never be visited upon them.

If we are not currently being beaten, maligned, imprisoned, tortured, and killed for the cause of Christ, we must see it as the grace that it is, not as the benchmark or the norm. There are more nations in the world today where persecution is standard than not. It’s like the silver spoon kids who grow up rich but never realize it because they think everyone else’s parents have three homes, an indoor pool, and vacations on their private yacht in the Maldives.

It’s not as though the devil’s hatred of God’s children has an off switch, and somebody flipped it after the Romans had their fill of the blood of saints wetting the Colosseum’s sands. The hatred never stopped; the vitriol never stopped; those who would take the lives of believers in service to evil have not ceased being willing to be its instrument. Throughout the ages, God has restrained their madness and allowed it sparingly, but faith untested is faith unproven. Throughout every generation, there are those who’ve had their faith tested and who’ve paid the ultimate price in service to their King. To them, it was the highest honor, yet to this present generation, the notion of being persecuted for Christ’s sake is viewed as a punishment and reprimand. Make it make sense.

Historically speaking, Smyrna was a prosperous city with much commerce, yet by Christ’s words, the believers were considered poor. Jesus did not consider them poor; on the contrary, He called them rich, but anyone who judged them based on their possessions and who used the world’s methods to gauge wealth would conclude that they were impoverished. Joel Osteen would have stood out like a sore thumb.

Our treasure is not to be counted in the physical possessions we’ve laid claim to, but whether Christ has laid claim to our hearts and we belong to Him wholly and unreservedly. Jesus knew all that they’d endured, yet His message to the church of Smyrna was that they were yet to endure more for His name’s sake. They were yet to be tested, they were yet to be thrown in prison, and some would have to endure unto death in order to receive the crown of life.

But that was then, and this is now, and all we have to do is wave a hand, pay Jesus some lip service, and off we go, meeting Him with the saints in the air before a hand can be laid upon us before a fist can strike our ruddy well-fed cheeks. Dare I say most of today’s church would feel out of place among the saints, among those who bled and died and suffered to their last, not denying the Christ, but that’s just an observation.

True soldiers tell war stories, not to boast but to remember those who have already gone to their reward and to glory in the providence of God that carried them through situations and circumstances they would have lost hope in, save for the promise of the glory, and the crown of life.

Fake soldiers relive the battles true soldiers have fought and armchair quarterback their actions, preening about how they would have done it differently. To have the audacity to insinuate that someone who saw their entire family being slaughtered before they themselves were martyred for being a believer could have avoided it had they believed in prosperity is beyond the pale.

Twisted doctrine will never lead to the straight path. Compromise in the small things will not make you faithful and immovable when the sacrifice you are called upon to make is greater than losing a job or being shunned by former faux friends. I agree with the sentiment that preparedness is critical, but I think those trying to sell buckets of gruel for a few hundred bucks are talking about something else.

Spiritual preparedness is paramount, and anything else God might have you do to prepare for what is coming takes second place every time. You can store, itemize, and label a thousand years’ worth of foodstuffs and water filters, but if you’ve not committed your ways to the Lord, sanctified the Lord in your heart, and given Him the place rightly His, it’s all for naught.

Jesus warns the church of Smyrna that they must prepare themselves to endure to the end. If you have a destination in mind and only travel halfway, then turn around, you never reach your destination. You started a journey you never finished, pursued a goal you never attained, and started a race you never finished.

Someone who’s preached a false Christ for all their life will not be willing to lay their lives down for the real Christ when called upon to do so. It just doesn’t happen. The foundation upon which they’ve built their spiritual house is shifting sand rather than the rock that is the Christ of the Bible, and so at the first tremor, the first sign of unease, they will retreat and cower in fear.

Those to whom Jesus was speaking had been faithful, endured, and suffered persecution, yet He insists that they must persevere and continue to be faithful to the end no matter what the enemy might throw their way.

The sad reality is that many today serve a god of their own making, one they’ve fashioned for themselves because they are unwilling to submit and humble themselves to the one true God. They were given license to do so by men who, while calling themselves shepherds, are no more than ravenous wolves seeking their own comfort and ease of life at the expense of the truth of the gospel.

Philippians 1:29, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake.”

Suffering for the sake of Christ is not a punishment, a curse, or something that comes about due to lack of faith, but a grace and a blessing. That someone is found worthy to suffer for His name’s sake is not something we should look upon as undesirable or off-putting but rather as something we gladly endure for the glory that will be revealed in us through it.

Those who do not understand this glorious truth of the gospel will bend and break under the weight of persecution. Those who do will shine like the sun, and their testimonies will be retold among those who likewise endured to the end.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Preparing For Persecution XXIX

 With the advent of the participation trophy, we’ve been taught to believe that half-measures are perfectly reasonable and acceptable. You don’t really have to try; you just have to show up, and someone will hand you a prize for something you never did and make you feel accomplished when, in truth, you accomplished nothing. We need to spare feelings because feelings have become the new currency. If you’ve got a winning smile and learn how to praise people who’ve done nothing praiseworthy, stroke their egos just so, and feed them spiritual scraps, leavings, and cast-offs, you’ll be living in high cotton with not a care in the world.

Whatever you do, however much your conscience hammers away at you, however often that doom-fraught sense that you are leading people into Sheol overwhelms you, if you want to retain the lifestyle to which you’ve become accustomed, you must resist the urge to preach the truth or rightly divide the Word. That way lies poverty and the vitriol of the godless. That way lies invitations to gladhand with Oprah, sip champagne on some rapper’s yacht, or attend a nonbinary wedding between two famous men drying up.

Clout chasing and the gospel are like oil and water. They don’t mix, never have, never will, and if you want to be well-received by the world, you must compromise the Word of God. Turning your face toward one necessitates turning your back on the other. You can have either the world or Jesus. You can’t have both. You must choose one.

Rather than being humbled by Stephen’s faithfulness unto death, as is the correct response, most Christians today tend to roll their eyes and find reasons why they think it was wrong for him to antagonize the ruling class and that, perhaps, he had it coming since he wasn’t willing to compromise, meet in the middle, give a little to get a little, and so on.

We have stripped the modern-day gospel of the Gospel, then wonder why there is so much confusion, division, and acrimony. Everyone’s a theologian, and they’ll make sure you know it given half the chance. Whenever anyone dares to point out that their theology isn’t Biblical, they’ll call you unenlightened and resistant to the spirit. If it’s unbiblical, it’s wrong. Yes, I am resistant to that spirit, as everyone who seeks the truth ought to be because great monsters have been birthed from within the household of faith who went on to persecute the saints because they placed their dogma above the Word of God and deemed it to be the final arbiter.

When someone’s counterargument to Biblical truth is to stone you to death or call for your demise, they have no counterargument and are lashing out in rage and vitriol. It’s to be expected. It’s something we were told to prepare for throughout the New Testament, but we’d rather listen to fairy tales about pet dinosaurs in heaven. Giving our last full measure, enduring to the end, and suffering for the sake of righteousness have become so anathema in the modern-day church that if anyone dares to mention it, they are looked upon as strange and out of touch.

It’s eye-opening to see how some churchgoers react to reading a Bible passage from the pulpit, as though they were hearing it for the first time or had never encountered something so controversial before.

Revelation 2:8-11, “And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write, ‘These things say the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.’”

Yes, I’ve heard the snarky theories of pampered boys in grown men’s bodies wearing horn-rimmed glasses and skinny jeans about how you don’t beat up your bride on her wedding night, and so because our ways must necessarily be His ways and our thoughts His thoughts, that childish anecdote should be enough for us to dismiss the words Jesus spoke through John the revelator.

We’re faithful; just take our word for it. We are committed and steadfast, resolute, and purposed to follow You to the end, but please don’t call our bluff.

In case anyone missed it, the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life, is none other than Jesus. It is He who gives the message to the church of Smyrna, encouraging them, but not in the way one might define encouragement where hurt feelings are compared to the worst of tortures and disagreement of any kind to the pains of death itself.

Jesus didn’t say he knew their tribulation and poverty but that soon they would prosper beyond their wildest dreams. Nor did Jesus say that they would be spared suffering, but rather that they should not fear the things they were about to suffer.

The image of a magic genie Jesus who’s there to serve at your pleasure and pamper you however you see fit, giving you everything, requiring nothing, and denying you nothing is a fabrication of the modern-day church, dare I say the Western church. It’s the only image that would have the mass market appeal they needed to push out enough product to keep them in the lifestyle after which they lusted and to which they’ve become accustomed.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that between a book on holiness unto the Lord and one on unlocking the keys to endless prosperity, the one about getting stuff will outsell the one on being holy a thousand to one. It’s market dynamics dictating what the shepherds feed the sheep, and if the demand is there for sin-affirming doctrine, the supply will manifest.

It’s not as though the church of Smyrna had not endured persecution up to that point. Jesus knew of their persecution and was preparing them for more persecution still. They had not shied away from it, but the foreknowledge of what was to come served as an encouragement to them to persevere and be faithful to the end. It’s not what we want to hear, though. Lord, don’t tell us that we’ll be persecuted; tell us that we’ll be spared persecution. In that case, we’re asking for Jesus to lie to us, and if He does as we will, then when persecution comes, we’ll shake our fists at the sky and call Him a liar.

If the Word of God tells us to prepare for persecution, and if Jesus insists that being hated by the world is a certainty and not a possibility, then it doesn’t matter how many degrees those speaking to the contrary might possess; they’re still wrong. One is a declaration by the omniscient Creator of all that is; the other is the opinions of men who see the world through the prism of having never had their faith tested nor ever having endured hardship for the sake of Christ.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XXVIII

 If you think you’re going to get a fair shake from the godless, you’ve got another thing coming. The same goes for those within the household of faith with hidden agendas, vested interests, and pursuits other than the glory of God. It doesn’t matter what the thing they value more than Jesus is, whether a specific denomination, a theological bend, or a particular individual; they will fight tooth and nail to defend it and are willing to use nefarious means to silence any opposition.

Then you have the profiteers. Those who see the children of God as so many bleating sheep ready to be sheered and fleeced because not only are many of them gullible, they won’t do anything about it once they realize they’ve been taken to the cleaners. The profiteers know they have no credibility or standing, so they attempt to employ those who’ve amassed some sort of trust equity to shill their products and try to sell people worthless things. You may get a nice kickback from selling self-assembly nuclear bunkers or radiation-deflecting underoos, but is it worth the price of your integrity and credibility? If you believe in the product, it’s one thing; if you’re in it for nothing more than filthy lucre, that’s wholly different.

You can’t defend God with lies. It’s not that people don’t try; it’s that it’s impossible to do so. Men can band together, form coalitions, try to shout the truth down, and become vitriolic when you don’t fall in line, but God is still God, He is still on the throne, and He knows the intent of men’s hearts.

The ego and pride of unteachable men led to Stephen’s stoning, and though he tried his best to open their eyes so that they might see the truth, they would not. Their hearts were hard as stone, their minds were made up, and though his face looked as that of an angel, and his words cut them to their hearts, their reaction was one of hatred and their intent one of murder.

You can’t control how those to whom you speak the truth will react to it. Your duty is to speak the truth of Christ’s power to save, restore, and reconcile men unto God; how they respond to it is solely on them. The presumption that everyone will welcome the message with open arms and consider you a friend for speaking truth into their lives is demonstrably false. Yes, some will receive the message, but some will reject it and do so violently. You must be prepared for either outcome and willing to endure the backlash of the hard-hearted when their rejection is made manifest.

Jesus commands us to love those who hate us, to have compassion for their fallen state, and to do our utmost to bring them to truth, light, and life, even at the risk of our comfort, well-being, or lives. He never said it would be easy; He just said it is what we must do. For anyone who believes it’s easy to love one’s enemies, they’ve never had a true enemy. An enemy is not someone who is passive, indifferent, or otherwise neutral regarding your well-being but someone who is actively trying to undermine and destroy you. That some of your enemies will turn out to be those whom you once called brother or sister is doubly painful, and I say this as someone who has lived it.

It is undeniable that Stephen is an example, a prototype of what it means to walk humbly with God and suffer well. Just as Stephen had his heroes, we, too, have ours, and the entire point of it is to look upon their lives and learn from them. Stephen knew the history of God’s people. He highlighted those to whom he looked up and took the time to learn everything he could from their lived experiences walking with God. It’s an odd thing that we know more about baseball stats or the football rosters of our favorite teams than we know about the Word of God, the things Jesus said, and the things the forerunners of the faith had to endure for the sake of Christ.

We learn about things we respect. We learn about things we value. We learn about things that we deem needful. How is it that learning the Bible is so far down the list for so many calling themselves Christians and followers of Christ? Stephen didn’t mumble himself through a weak defense of his position. He knew what he was talking about, and it showed. It was largely the reason those who heard him despised him, so because they could not refute his arguments.

While growing up, there wasn’t much for us to do as children. Gaming consoles hadn’t yet made an appearance on the scene, so our primary entertainment was playing chicken with some rusty lawn darts a neighbor gave us rather than throw away. It was fun for a while until my middle brother Sergiu decided he wouldn’t move, and I planted a lawn dart in his foot. After that, we were prohibited from using them, so we switched to rocks. We’d stand a few feet apart and toss rocks at each other’s heads; whoever flinched or moved was the loser. I never said we were overly bright, but it was entertaining, and no, we weren’t throwing underhand. I mention this only because I know what it’s like to have a rock bounce off your kisser, and even then, it was a small rock compared to what they were using to stone Stephen.

Being stoned to death is not like being beheaded or speared through the heart. It takes time for the individual to expire depending on how many people do the throwing, how big the rocks are, and how violently they are throwing them. Given that the same people who stoned Stephen were the ones who gnashed at him with their teeth, chances are they weren’t holding back.

Through it all, Stephen never once prayed for himself but rather for those who were slowly murdering him because that’s what it was. Imagine being surrounded by men whom you once considered brothers, lobbing stones at your head, being struck over and over, yet having the presence of mind to pray for them. It’s one of those details that is often overlooked but one that is profoundly impacting if you think through it for a breath.

Just as Stephen was not alone during his final moments, neither will any of God’s children if they must walk the road of persecution and martyrdom. He looked up and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. In his darkest hour, God’s presence was made manifest. He was not absentee; He was not otherwise engaged; He was present and revealed His glory to Stephen as he gave his full measure for the sake of Christ Jesus his Lord.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Preparing For Persecution XVII

 We’ve become so mealy-mouthed and duplicitous that bonafide theologians have questioned Stephen’s actions, insisting that he could have denied Jesus presently and repented for it later. He didn’t need to be that confrontational, that standoffish, that unwilling to bend and compromise, or in the least omit the things he knew would trigger those to whom he was answering.  

He could have placated them, couldn’t he? That way, they say, he could have gone on to minister and preach the gospel and kept himself from being martyred. You live to fight another day. That’s the end goal, isn’t it? Actually, no. If you have to deny Christ to live another day, then the cost of living another day is not worth it.

Numerous people have tried to find excuses for cowardice and even encouraged others to practice it. Still, none of them can definitively state where the cowardice will end once it begins. Is once the cutoff? Is it twice or three times? How many times can you deny Jesus to get out of a scrape or avoid hardship before it becomes one too many? Those who insist Jesus would understand denying Him in certain circumstances conveniently ignore Christ's words, wherein He declared that if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before the Father because, to them, looking out for number one is their number one goal.

And you wonder why we’re not seeing the presence of God in most churches today? Do you still have to wonder why so many are lukewarm and willing to betray Jesus at the drop of a hat if it means elevation, promotion, or being left alone by those who would see harm come to the household of faith?

To go into Stephen’s entire discourse would be a book unto itself since he went through the entire history of Israel’s journey from Abraham to Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, reminding them of the prophecies given concerning the Christ and pointing out the resistance of their fathers to the Holy Spirit just as they were resisting the Holy Spirit. He encapsulated Israel’s journey up to that point in time and pled with them to open their eyes and see the truth of Jesus.

It likely wouldn’t have mattered if Stephen had been more conciliatory in his discourse because these men who had plotted his demise had been humiliated, and whatever he said would have landed on stony hearts anyway. If you believe compromising the truth will ingratiate you with those who hate you, you’re in for a surprise.

Why humiliate and prostrate yourself before the godless when their hatred of you will not be tamped down, and their desire to see your destruction will not be satiated? Perhaps, for a little while, they will leave you be, using you as an example to others who’ve not been cowed. Still, eventually, unless you renounce your faith altogether and join the forces of darkness in persecuting the followers of Christ, they will still see you as an enemy.

We’ve all seen what happens to those who give in to the pressure. Although they spoke something demonstrably factual, they backpedaled, apologized, and groveled, only to be shunned and ostracized by those they were trying to placate. Not only are they left with nothing, but they’ve also betrayed their ethics, values, and morals.

Know the truth, live the truth, and speak the truth. Then let the chips fall where they may because although you can control your actions, you can’t control the world’s reaction to who you are.

Acts 7:54-60, “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.’”

They knew Stephen's words were true; they just didn’t care. It’s as simple as that. These were supposed fellow saints who could not bear the thought of being theologically humiliated and so orchestrated the murder of a man whose only desire was to see the hearts of men turned to Jesus.

It takes monumental rage to gnash at someone with your teeth, perhaps something even beyond rage. I’ve been angry in life, but it never once crossed my mind to gnash at someone with my teeth. These men were convicted and cut to the heart, yet their pride kept them from seeking repentance. If you can’t kill the message, go target the messenger, hoping the message dies with him.

If there had been a shadow of doubt in Stephen’s conviction, if, at any moment, he had valued his life more than Jesus, his story would have had a different ending. If man has not purposed in his heart to endure what may come for the sake of Christ, he will find a way to bypass suffering, hardship, and martyrdom. The opportunity to do so will be presented.

It is a far greater boon for the devil to coerce someone into denying Jesus than to facilitate their murder for His sake. Martyrs have the undesired effect of being looked up to as examples of steadfastness and faithfulness, while cowards are dismissed, and rightly so. The enemy would far rather see a church full of cowards than one of committed saints willing to pay the ultimate price for the sake of Christ. A coward can be brought to heel one way or another. One whose life is forfeit and whose only desire is to do the will of God is impossible to corral.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XXVI

 When winning is the only thing that matters, man can justify any action undertaken in the pursuit of victory, both to himself and to others. The object of the exercise was not to play fair, play nice, play by the rules, make sure everyone’s having fun, or that everyone gets to participate, but that you win. Last man standing, all foes vanquished, bring me my medal, my giant trophy, and the heads of my enemies on a platter! To the victor go the spoils; as an added bonus, more often than not, the victor gets to write the story of how it all went down.

If the agents of darkness see it as war and you see it as a game, who do you think will win?

Come on now. We all know Jesus wins in the end, don’t we? Yes, He does win in the end, but if you treat the entire exercise as nothing more than fire insurance and consider this faith of ours as nothing more than a game we play to ensure our perpetual comfort, are you still on team Jesus?

When ensuring my comfort supersedes His glory, I will find a way to skirt, bypass, or otherwise circumvent enduring or suffering for His name’s sake. If I’m more concerned about me than I am about His glory, I will find a way to beg off the difficult season, justifying it as prudence rather than cowardice, self-preservation rather than betrayal.

When we are committed to Christ, we will not look for ways to bend the truth, massage it, or otherwise omit it for fear of what others might think, say, or do in retaliation. Stephen knew full well that he could have lived to see another day if he was willing to compromise the truth. He knew he could have worded his response in such a fashion wherein the crowd's anger would have been tampered down, and the situation de-escalated. He likewise knew that doing so would betray his conviction of who Jesus was and the message of a risen Christ who was the only way, truth, and life.

While Stephen did not set out to get martyred, he didn’t shy away from the possibility of it or betray Jesus for the sake of his own continued existence on this earth. He was not needlessly antagonistic, nor did he insult those to whom he spoke on purpose. He spoke the truth of Christ fearlessly and committed His ways to the Lord wherever they might lead.

We are already experiencing a soft tyranny when it comes to speaking the truth, unadulterated and undiluted. Whether it’s social media platforms that strike you when you get out of line or entire denominations who demonize you when you point out that the Bible says things contrary to what they are preaching, the silencing of truth is already well on its way. For fear of being de-platformed or no longer allowed on certain mediums, many have taken to self-censoring and holding back the things they know they ought to be trumpeting.

As yet, there is no threat of physical persecution, but that will come in time, and if someone is willing to compromise the truth today, they will surely do so when the threat of violence and death come to the fore, and those who wield power begin to condone it.

You don’t show up to a weightlifting competition, having never lifted weights in your life, and expect to place or win. Some things in life require preparation, dedication, focus, and commitment. People train for years on end just to be able to deadlift three times their body weight or run a marathon without their hearts quitting on them, but they have a goal firmly affixed in their minds and will let nothing stand in the way of achieving it.

When our minds and hearts are prepared for the advent of persecution, and we purpose therein to speak the truth no matter the threats and consequences, when the time comes that we are called upon to make a choice, we will not hesitate or retreat.

At some point along the way, Stephen likely saw where this was going. If you read through his discourse, you realize this was a wise man, if not a learned one, whose dedication to the word was proven out in the handful of truths he reminded those he stood before. This was no monosyllabic troglodyte who could barely put two words together, so when he saw false witnesses accusing him of things he’d never done, he likely put two and two together.

He knew where this was going and could have put it in neutral. Stephen could have backpedaled and obfuscated as we’ve seen so many self-professing spiritual leaders do time and again when asked about whether abortion, adultery, homosexuality, and all manner of hot-button issues being a sin, but he knew that by omitting the truth, he would be betraying it, thereby making himself unworthy of the name Jesus.

The Christian message has been so sterilized and neutered in our day and age that when someone stands boldly on the truth of God’s word and declares it unashamedly, we view them as brave, bold, courageous to a fault, and a rarity among men. It should not be so. Boldness should be the standard, not the exception. Courage and speaking the truth should be the baseline, not the unattainable ideal.

If you can get the same thing from Tony Robbins as you would from your pastor, then your pastor is not teaching the gospel of Christ. Your spiritual man is not being fed, and though you may not notice it momentarily, it is being starved and weakened due to a lack of spiritual succor. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If we eliminate the Word of God from what we are hearing, are we not faithless, powerless, rudderless souls who are as vulnerable to the storms of life as the godless among us?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XXV

 One could say Stephen was overqualified for his position as he served widows day in and day out, but God’s plan wasn’t for Stephen to serve tables for the rest of his life. By the same token, Stephen didn’t beg off the responsibility or point out that the task was beneath him. It reveals his servant’s heart more than any words he could have spoken, and it is a testament to the character of those who made up the early church.

Imagine going up to one of the pompous peacocks masquerading as clergymen who siphon the glory rightly due God unto themselves, reveling in the praise of men and asking them to do something they might consider beneath their station. The tongue-lashing you would get would likely give you flashbacks to the one your mom gave you when she discovered you’d eaten a Costco-sized jar of Nutella in one sitting. How dare you ask someone of their station to sacrifice the time they set aside for golfing to serve food to widows. I mean, if one of them inherited a nice investment portfolio from her late husband, they could, perhaps, pencil her in, but just run-of-the-mill widows?

For the Apostles, it was a time issue, and they needed to prioritize preaching the word. It wasn’t that they thought the task was beneath them; they just realized their time would be better spent focusing on prayer and the ministering of the word. It’s not a sin to delegate, but it is a heart issue when the reason for delegating a certain task to others is because you deem it beneath you or your station. Whether it’s mopping the bathroom floor, feeding widows, or preaching the gospel, they all fall under the umbrella of obedience and are rewarded in like fashion. Obedience gives value to the action; the action does not assume value on its own. It matters not how grand a thing you do if God didn’t tell you to do it. However, even the smallest of things is seen and recorded by God if He commanded you to do it, and you obeyed.

Those who were plotting the demise of Christ’s followers knew that targeting Peter, John, or any of the others who’d garnered name recognition and were seen as those through whom God did miracles was out of the question. As yet, the people were on their side, and going after them would incur more blowback than they were ready to endure, so they hatched a scheme to go after a lesser-known individual, fabricate a crime so heinous that it may sway the populace, and make an example of them.

What they had not yet realized is that the power of the Holy Spirit and the working of miracles was not reserved exclusively for the twelve. God doesn’t work based on a caste system, and He does not imbue with power only those who are deemed to be in leadership but all who hunger for His presence and purpose to live lives worthy of the name of Jesus.

Acts 6:8-15, And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.’ And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.”

If you’re expecting the devil or his minions to play fair, you’ve got another thing coming. There are no lengths to which the devil will not go, no depths to which he will not sink in order to upend, hurt, damage, or destroy the people of God.

Knowing full well that Stephen was innocent, those who would see him come to harm set up false witnesses to accuse him of blasphemy. Keep in mind it wasn’t the Roman soldiers or Pontius Pilate that was after Stephen’s head; it was those of the Synagogue of Freedmen who’d debated him and were not able to resist his wisdom. If you can’t nullify the message, you seek to destroy the messenger, hoping the message dies with him.

I have no counterargument to your declared position, so I’m going to plot and scheme against you personally, get others to join in, accuse you of things you never did, and hopefully, everyone’s blood will be boiling by then, and they’ll do something to you they’ll live to regret, and which will be a stain on their conscience until the day they die. But hey, eggs and omelets and whatnot. At least we’ll be rid of the instigator, the person who says things we can’t refute, and in such a way that it draws others to his cause.

There have always been instigators and useful idiots who get steered into doing their bidding. Rather than acknowledge the inferiority of their argument or receive Jesus as Lord, they chose door number two, inducing men to say things Stephen never did and finding false witnesses to corroborate their stories. And you thought the old Soviets came up with the notion of showing them the man, and they would show you the crime. The old religious order had one-upped them two thousand years prior when they concluded that since there was no crime, they’d fabricate one out of whole cloth.

Do you think the servants of darkness today would hesitate for one second to accuse you of things you never did and even find false witnesses to corroborate their claims?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Preparing For Persecution XXIV

 The first recorded martyr of what would be countless martyrs throughout the history of the early church and beyond was a man named Stephen. History may have forgotten some of the names of those who gave their full measure for the name of Christ, but God has not forgotten a one. Every name, to the last, is remembered and cataloged, and their reward has already been set aside. There is nothing any principality, power, demon, or the devil himself can do to take away that reward or erase their names from the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Studying how persecution came about in the early church is worthwhile because although the enemy has refined his methods, his methods have not changed. When it comes to the attempted silencing of those who preach a risen Christ or those who would hold firm to the faith once delivered to the saints, he reacts in much the same fashion, hoping that the next generation of believers will be weaker or less committed than the previous one.

There’s no escalation from torture and death. That’s the end game for the enemy, and it’s the last hand he can play. His hope is that you don’t endure to the end. His hope is that somewhere along the way of escalation, you give up, cry, uncle, and retreat.

One of the most fascinating things about the early church that few notice today is the standard to which everyone who was tasked with ministering was held. When we dig down and see what Stephen’s function was within the body, we come to realize that there are no menial tasks in the kingdom, and the standard of faithfulness, maturity, and righteousness is the same across the board for everyone who is called to serve.

Perhaps the reason God is not moving among believers today as He was among the early church is because what was once the standard has been erased altogether, and individuals with divided loyalties would rather remain so than surrender their all to Christ that they might walk in the fullness of what belongs to those who are His by right.

Acts 6:1-6, “Now in those days, when the number of disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable that we should leave the world of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.”

It didn’t take long for the grumbling to begin. Whenever the New Testament writers speak of grumblers among the brethren, they are speaking from experience. This time, it was the Hellenists, who were Greek-speaking Jews who had returned to Jerusalem. They, too, were believers, but they felt as though their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution and began to raise a fuss. It only took one voice to insist that they were being neglected because they spoke Greek and not Hebrew, and soon enough, it snowballed into a big enough problem wherein the twelve had to summon the multitude of the disciples and task them with choosing seven from among themselves which they could appoint to the task of serving the Hellenist widows.

The twelve understood the dangers of division among the brethren well enough to try to ameliorate the situation, but some people just can’t be placated, and they will continue with their invectives even when they are shown grace and deference.

To put it into context, the men who were singled out to serve widow women were supposed to meet the standard of being of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. These men were to be glorified waiters, yet these were the qualifications they were supposed to possess in order to be considered for the position.

If we were to use the same standard today, not for glorified waiters but for church elders, a good chunk of America’s pulpits would be left empty and void of leadership. Again, perhaps we should consider that we’ve lowered our standards while God has not rather than insist that God stopped being God and making Himself known to His children—just a thought.

Of the seven, two are mentioned again in the Book of Acts: Stephen and his martyrdom, and Philip, who went on to preach the gospel in Samaria and baptize the Ethiopian man whose chariot he outran on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

It doesn’t matter where you begin within the body. Wherever it is God needs you, whatever it is God calls you to, do it faithfully and to the best of your ability, because if you are given little and are faithful in it, you will be called to greater things.

The standard is the standard whether you’re serving tables, preaching the gospel, or being used to perform signs and wonders. The problem is that some start out being of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and falsely conclude that the greater the ministry God calls them to, the laxer they can become in their walk.

You begin with a good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and grow from there. You don’t decrease; you increase and build up your most holy faith as you see God's presence and power move in ways that leave you humbled and in awe. We must be daily refined, perfected, and made more vividly into the image of Christ, for that is the natural way of the believer whom God can use in greater and greater ways.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XXIII

 It didn’t take long for the forces of darkness to mobilize. It didn’t take long for threats of violence to become actual violence. The enemy does not make empty threats, and when he reveals his purpose and his desire to destroy the household of faith is verbalized and on full display, be prepared for him to follow through. When anyone is vocal about their intent to do you harm, take them seriously and take them at their word. If someone says they’re intent on your destruction and the destruction of everyone you hold dear, you can’t assume they’re joking or that, at some point, they won’t attempt to carry out their threats.

There is one chapter in the Acts of the Apostles between the arrest of Peter and John and the escalation to deadly violence, and it’s filled with all the apostles being arrested, this time not just Peter and John, an angel of the Lord opening the prison doors, and them preaching in the temple. Once more, they were brought before the council, but this time, they didn’t get away with just a verbal warning.

So incensed were those who’d ordered Peter and John to keep silent that now they had to deal with six times the original number that they plotted to kill them outright. The ‘we got off on the wrong foot’ heart-to-heart hadn’t worked, and neither had their threats of intimidation because, you know, we can coexist as long as you do everything I say and stop doing everything I don’t like. The problem had not been fixed, the threats had not been taken to heart, and what’s worse, now there were more of them. Save for the intervention of one man, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, they would have likely followed through with their plot, but his was a voice of reason and one that could not be readily ignored.

His argument against killing the apostles outright was logical. Others throughout the ages had claimed divine inspiration or revelation, but they’d all come to naught. No action needed to be taken regarding those others, at least not anything close to the drastic measures the council was proposing, and the matters had worked themselves out without them having to get their hands dirty.

Acts 5:38-39, “And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it – lest you even be found to fight against God.”

As far as closing arguments go, it was a solid one. Calling back on recent history, Gamaliel pointed to two previous examples where the fervor died down, and those causing a ruckus blended back into the background, returning to society and no longer making nuisances of themselves.

Acts 5:38-39, “And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

Peter and John got off with a warning. This time, they had the apostles beaten. The next time, a life would be taken. There is always escalation, and it’s always evident. What I’ve always found fascinating is how matter of fact Luke was about the council having the apostles beaten. They went, they preached, they got arrested, they were beaten, and then let go. Wait a minute; one of these things is not like the other.

There are no details forthcoming as to how long or how aggressively they were beaten, but it was enough for them to rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.

Threats had not deterred them, and now neither had a beating. They continued doing what they’d been called to do even though they knew that at some point, the Pharisees, Sadducees, high priest, and Sanhedrin would stop playing nice.

Their purpose and desire was not focused on themselves, their well-being, their safety, or security, but rather on preaching the Christ to all who would hear, whether daily in the temple or in every house. They were more committed than the Pharisees because their love for Jesus burned bright. Although Gamaliel’s counsel may have been wise, at some point, they realized this was something new, something different, something they’d not encountered before, and ignoring it wasn’t working. They were multiplying, growing, expanding, and drawing ever more people to their cause, and there was no sign of their slowing down. What had been but a mere nuisance had turned into an existential crisis and a direct threat to their power and control.

It’s hard to deter a person or a group of people who believe that suffering shame is honor and death is gain. The early church had no hidden agenda, no vested interest, no dreams of blueberry pies, gated seaside mansions, blinged-out chariots, or personal profits, so trying to bribe them was also out the window. They’d found that one guy, Judas, and he’d been so guilt-ridden he found the nearest sturdy tree and a strong rope and played hangman before he spent a piece of the silver they’d paid him for his betrayal. All that was before they started talking about a risen Christ. Now that these people were fully convinced Jesus had risen from the dead, and they were doing miracles that no one among the Pharisees could explain away, they’d become a real problem and one that needed to be dealt with.

There’s nothing left to threaten them with; there is nothing left you can use as a deterrent because the thing you think will harm them or hurt them they perceive as joyful. For them, it was a distinction, a mark of honor to suffer beatings and shame for the name of Jesus.

These were not the kind of people who would see reason as far as the Pharisees were concerned. There was no negotiating with individuals who sold everything they had and gave it to the poor and who were over the moon about being beaten because they deemed it a badge of honor. A man that can’t be moved can’t be moved, whether by threats or actions. His purpose is clear, his course is set, and come what may, he will faithfully follow the way of Christ.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Preparing For Persecution XXII

 What Peter and John, along with those who had assembled together, prayed for is telling, if not outright revelatory. Knowing that the course you’ve set upon will likely cost you your life and continuing to tread upon it is no small feat. These people were not soldiers on some battlefield half a world away; they had families, friends, businesses, and lives, yet they counted it all as a loss for the excellence of Christ Jesus, their Lord. That is the cost of the calling to which we have been called. God demands nothing less of us than He did of the early church, and perhaps it’s because we are unwilling to pay the price that we see so little of His power and presence in today’s church. If anything in your life holds preeminence over Christ, Jesus Himself said we are not worthy of Him.

Matthew 10:37-39, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

They knew it was only a matter of time before things escalated. They understood because of what Jesus had said that it would not stop with threats but that it would turn to violence because even though this coddled generation has come to believe that words can hurt, they don’t hurt nearly as much as being tied to a whipping post and lashed with a whip.

Jesus didn’t try to bait and switch His followers. He didn’t promise them mansions, only to be led into a dungeon. He didn’t promise them prosperity, only to be confronted with persecution. It was because He prepared them for what was to come that they did not hesitate or grow despondent. They knew what was coming; it was only a matter of when. Once they saw it clearly, they cried out to God, not that they might be spared or escape, but that they’d be given boldness in the face of certain death. All men die, but not all men die well. All men live, but not all men live lives worth living.

Acts 4:29-31, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

Their prayer was neither self-serving nor self-aggrandizing. They didn’t pray for money or new chariots; they didn’t even pray for their safety or protection. Their singular desire was for God to give them the boldness to speak His word and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Jesus.

They knew they were dependent upon God and could do nothing without His presence and power in their lives. They likewise knew that if they were to endure to the end, they needed boldness because it’s one thing to speak of Jesus when everyone loves you; it’s another to speak of Jesus when everyone is throwing stones at your head. That much of today’s church is unwilling to be bold for Christ when there is no threat of violence or death makes one wonder how many will do so when the cost of doing it will be their friends, families, jobs, homes, or even their lives.

It’s not as though Peter and John had not shown boldness in the face of those who threatened them, but they realized they would need more if they were to persevere and continue preaching a risen Christ. If you have no boldness, pray for it now, not when the whole world will be set on your destruction. Don’t put off praying for the things you know you will need when the time of persecution comes because the fog of war is no time to strap on your armor or learn how to use a sword.

The early church knew it was coming, and they prayed for boldness before it arrived. If you know a storm is coming, you don’t wait until it starts pouring and the thunder is rattling your windows before you start laying the sandbags down.

I live in an area that gets its fair share of snowstorms. The first thing I do before the first snowflake falls is make sure I have enough salt for the steps, and my shovel at the ready. Usually, those who wait until the last minute discover that everyone’s sold out of salt, and as far as shovels are concerned, they’re on backorder, but they can get one to you in a week’s time.

Don’t wait until the storm to figure out what you’ll need during the storm. By then, it will be too late, and you’ll be at someone else’s mercy to come and dig you out or share their salt so you don’t break a hip walking to your car.

Entreat God today for the things you will need tomorrow, whether that happens to be boldness, strength, endurance, faith, or direction. He is a good God and will answer the prayers of those who seek to do His will, who ask for things not of this earth or for this earth but for the power and gifting that can only come from His hand and will be used to further His kingdom.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XXI

 When the future is crystal clear and what is to follow is evident, as a child of God, you will have two choices: submit, surrender, give up, and hope to blend into the background, or persevere, endure, and commit all your ways to the Lord. You can’t avoid the hard thing forever. You can’t avoid making a choice, thinking that the storm will pass you by.

When Jesus said that all would hate us for His name’s sake, He meant it just as readily as He meant it when He said He would return. We tend to gravitate toward the positive declarations Jesus made while avoiding the ones that have a negative connotation or foretell of suffering and grief. They are no less important, however, and a wise servant takes the whole counsel of Christ to heart and not just the parts that are pleasing.

Matthew 10:21-22, “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

Peter and John were present when Jesus spoke these words so what was happening didn’t come as a surprise, yet they were self-aware enough to know that they needed God’s help in order to endure what was coming. When they returned to their companions and reported what had gone on, they didn’t set about seeing what compromises they could make to appease the high priest, nor did they proceed with an endless celebration that they’d been freed. Rather, they raised their voices to God in one accord and cried out to Him. They knew where their help would come from, and it would not be a government body or any man but God Himself.

If you’ve ever been desperate, then you know the type of prayer this was. This was no subdued, formulaic prayer. It was a heart cry borne of a desire to see God's power and presence and to be equipped for the challenges that lay ahead. They knew what was coming, and they knew what they lacked. They didn’t beat their chests telling each other how great they were or quibbling about whose name would go on the ministry header. They never made it about them. It was always about God and about having the boldness and fortitude to continue preaching His word when the world was set against them.

Whether it had started due to jealousy or fear of losing market share, the followers of Christ were now in the crosshairs of the Sanhedrin, high priest, Pharisees, and all the other religious luminaries of their time, and the disciples understood what this meant. It’s funny how, during the days of the early church, the Pharisees and their ilk spoke of miracles in the past tense, just as some speak of them in the past tense in our day.

If asked directly, all of them would likely have agreed that God was a God of miracles, but they would point to the days of Moses and Elijah and say He did miracles, but in those days, during that time, not so much today, so just come and bring your offerings and nevermind all that supernatural stuff. When confronted with the true power of God and the reality that God remained the same as He’d ever been, able to heal, restore, and do miracles because they could not humble themselves or wrap their minds around the idea that though they thought themselves spiritually superior a couple of fishermen had outshined them, they chose the attempted eradication of those whom God had chosen to turn the world upside down.

There’s a lesson in this we would do well to heed because history has a way of repeating, and though they might go by a different name, a Pharisee can’t change its stripes.

A Pharisee will be content with an emotional response rather than insist upon a transformed life. It makes for good television to see a thousand people raise their hands at a crusade, but how many of those thousand come back the next day, humble themselves, repent, and submit to Christ? How many of them deny themselves, pick up their crosses, and become true disciples of Jesus?

Those who had gathered together to cry out to God were not interested in superficial religiosity. No one lays down their lives for something superficial or something they can get in any other religion without the threat of reprisal. I hear Buddhists are great on the tambourine, too, as are the Hare Krishna, and if you’re looking for positivity or structured purpose, there’s always Hinduism or Scientology. There are nearly four thousand recognized religions in the world, but only one faith whose head died on a cross rose from the dead on the third day and then ascended into heaven. There is only one faith that insists upon a relationship with God rather than blind adherence to a set of rules.

Those who had gathered together had found truth, had found light, had found life, and they were not about to capitulate and surrender this greatest of treasures. When we understand the value of something, we are more likely to hold it near, protect it, prioritize it, and sacrifice for it. The early church knew what they had, and no amount of threats or persecution would sway them from following Christ. Jesus is the treasure. He is the pearl of great price, and those who come to the knowledge of Him are no longer their own but surrender their lives to Him in all things.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Preparing For Persecution XX

 Once the enemy has all his pieces in place and persecution commences, any presumption of innocence goes out the window. It has been a pattern since the early church, continuing into our modern day, and it will be so until the return of Christ.

Because of the freedoms we’ve enjoyed in America for as long as this nation has been a nation, we’re naturally inclined to believe that if we are innocent, then all this talk of persecution shouldn’t concern us because we will have recourse in a court of law whereby we will be shown to be innocent.

What were Peter and John’s crimes? They had committed none, yet the captain of the temple, along with the Sadducees, laid hands on them and put them in custody. They weren’t cordially invited, they weren’t asked to cooperate, and chances are that when hands were laid on them, it wasn’t gentle. The day will come, and in many instances, it’s already evident, wherein the law will be perverted to such a degree that those putting you to death will think they are doing something noble and virtuous.

They’ll be doing God’s work by golly, ridding the world of people who just won’t go along with, accept, and embrace the new paradigm. I mean, why won’t they trust the science? It’s science, after all; what do they know that scientists don’t? Well, obviously, that men can’t get pregnant, girls can’t be boys, and gender is fixed and absolute, but there I go, being a science denier all over again.

In their minds, you are already guilty. You have already committed the unpardonable sin of questioning their narrative or, worse still, their perceived authority. Even when they are proven to be wrong about a given thing they insisted was essential for human survival or about an existential crisis that would only be solved by face diapers and repeated chemical injections; they’ll never apologize or admit they were wrong. Rather, they’ll double down and dare you to imagine how bad it would have been had they not scared the world half to death and arrested mothers for the high crime of allowing their children to breathe fresh air and play on some monkey bars.

They know full well they have no way of proving it would have been worse, but that’s their story, and they’re sticking to it because the story is all they’ve got.

The devil doesn’t need proof or justification to persecute the children of God; he just needs an excuse. The devil is not interested in playing fair, above board, or being consistent about his accusations or whether they’re true or fabricated. You healed a lame man in the name of Jesus? How dare you? Unacceptable is what that is. You’d better stop it if you know what’s good for you.

They didn’t hurt Peter and John because they couldn’t, not because they didn’t want to. They feared the people’s reaction to the point of deciding to let them go because they’d been around long enough to know that people are fickle, opinions change, and today’s hero can become tomorrow’s villain with the right narrative and backstory. They chose to bide their time and began recruiting henchmen, muscle, and those who would go out and become the scourge of the followers of Christ for decades to come.

To their credit, Peter and John understood what was going on, so they didn’t sigh in relief and go off singing Hillsong for a few hours, thinking that it was a close one. They knew this was the shot across the bow, the moment everything changed, and they went in search of the brethren.

Once you know what’s coming, it is incumbent upon you to prepare for it. If you need boldness, strength, grace, faith, or know of any other thing you are lacking or short on, use the time of freedom you have left to pray for those things and do so consistently.

Acts 4:23-26, “And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.’”

When everything changes in an instant, it’s always good to have someone to run to, someone to share the burden with, someone to draw strength from, fellowship with, and lean on. Yes, God is ever present, always there to listen and comfort, but that does not mean we are called upon to be the lone wolves of Christendom, wandering the wilderness, absent of camaraderie and brotherhood. We will yearn tomorrow for the things we forsake today, and the assembling of ourselves together is one of those things.

Upon being let go, Peter and John went to their own companions. They didn’t go to the courthouse to file briefs or in search of a lawyer to sue the Sanhedrin for mistreating them. They understood that they would not find justice from men because corrupt systems do not produce just outcomes, and corrupt men do not lend their ears to the truth. It’s a hard lesson that some will learn shortly, and the injustice they will suffer at the hands of those supposedly doling out justice will be like an unexpected gut punch to the solar plexus.

If those making the laws despise God, hate Jesus, and detest His followers, what makes you think that their laws will be just? Great atrocities have been committed by those whose justification was either that they were just following orders or they were just following the law. Prepare your heart for a time when you will have no recourse and when you will suffer for doing good because it is coming.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Preparing For Persecution XIX

 Only in our day and age would the godless have the gall to insist that what people are seeing really isn’t and what they’re hearing is likewise not as it is. If they can’t convince you that you imagined it, they’ll revert to arguing that your experience was anecdotal and so cannot be trusted to establish something as fact. That is until the shoe is on the other foot, and they insist that anecdotal evidence is science, and if you deny it, you’re a murderer of the worst sort.

Those who had put Peter and John on trial didn’t even bother trying to convince them that they were mistaken, that perhaps they’d imagined Christ rising from the dead, or that it was a hallucination brought upon by grief. You can tell when someone will not be moved from their position when their faith is solid and true and rooted in the divine.

Despite the threats they faced, Peter and John stood their ground. Their response was not one of fear or subservience but of unwavering faith. The authorities, who were accustomed to manipulating, intimidating, or browbeating others, could not read fear in their eyes. This display of courage likely left the authorities planning their next move in frustration.

If you fear dying for Jesus, you’re never going to truly live for Him. If the goal is to spare your life and not to faithfully follow after Him, you’ll always find a way of avoiding confrontation with the darkness but at the expense of compromising your values, beliefs, ethics, and morals.

It’s a slippery slope. One compromise will lead to another, and one omission will lead to ten. Because the focus is on preserving the flesh rather than the preaching of the gospel, you will justify any compromise, including denying Him before men.

I’ve seen it happen even in the best of times, where men compromised themselves for something as trivial as being glad-handed by Oprah or appearing next to someone they know full well is an enemy of the cross. The justification is always that it’s a bigger platform, and they can reach more people, but somehow, they never get around to preaching a risen Christ once that occurs.

If you’re lukewarm and mealy-mouthed before your sit-down interview with Larry King, then you’ll be lukewarm and mealy-mouthed during your sit-down interview as well. Boldness is birthed in the hearts of those who have seen and heard, who have known the Christ and not just known of Him, and there are many today who have been elevated to the heights of fame, even deemed spiritual authorities, who’ve only heard of Jesus but have never had an encounter with Him.

We must accept the reality that although we do not intend to offend the world by preaching a risen Christ, the world will take offense nonetheless. This does not mean that we should cease preaching Him or, worse, deny Him before men so we might retain their favor or approval. Our goal and purpose is not the world’s approval but Christ’s approval.

Acts 4:21-22, So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.”

That their frame of mind was to punish Peter and John for having healed a lame man is telling. There was no wonder in being unable to explain how the miracle had occurred; there was no pause or contemplation that perhaps they should allow the truth spoken to them to take root in their hearts. They just wanted to do away with the inconvenience and potential danger of it all, but they couldn’t because of the people.

The people had likewise seen the miracle, and they were glorifying God. If Peter and John happened to disappear mysteriously, there would be questions, perhaps even an uprising, and they just couldn’t risk it.

The devil learns from his mistakes. He’s realized that in order to be able to persecute the followers of Christ at will, he first has to demonize and marginalize them to the point that public opinion is turned against them. Granted, they hadn’t had enough time to foment hatred against those of the way. It had been less than a day between the lame man being healed and Peter and John being brought before them for trial, but time was on their side, and although they couldn’t punish them on that day, their sleight would not be forgotten or forgiven.

From this day forward, they would always be considered foes, adversaries, and enemies of the status quo and would have to be dealt with. Once they had the people on their side, all pretense of civility would disappear, the mask would slip off, and their true nature would be revealed.

It’s a ruse the church has fallen for over and over again. The enemy plays nice until the moment he has consolidated power in any given generation; then, the persecution commences in earnest. People believers thought to be allies and friends turn on them in an instant, and the whole notion of coexisting goes out the window, memory holed, with the godless pretending as though they never subscribed to such infantile theories. Why would we want to coexist with those standing in the way of progress? Why would we want to coexist with those standing in the way of a brighter tomorrow and a glorious future?

By the time they realize tomorrow is darker rather than brighter, that the future is bleak rather than glorious, the plans have already been put into motion, the children of God have already been crushed beneath the weight of their animus, yet what remains when the dust settles, is a refined, purified, tested, and glorious church. We tend to fear the fire, the hammer, and the anvil, but only until we realize that without these, iron can never be shaped or sharpened. We tend to fear persecution only when we fail to acknowledge that a martyr’s reward awaits those who are called upon to lay their lives down for the gospel’s sake and endure to the end.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.