Spine

 Just as there is no such thing as passive income, there’s no such thing as passive Christianity. But what about the guy on television that says if I work four hours per week for a month, I can then live on my own private island for the rest of my life with not a care in the world? If it’s so easy, why isn’t he doing it? Why’s he trying to squeeze thirty bucks out of you at two in the morning when he has the recipe for the secret sauce? Let me guess: he loves people, and this is his way of giving back.

Such magnanimity from someone that would put a used car salesman to shame. It’s a wonder we’re not all living on our own private islands by now, given how much wisdom their infomercial gave away for free. All it takes is an investment of thirty dollars and a bit of sweat equity, and the world can be your oyster too. Who knows, a few years from now, you’ll shoot your own infomercial.

When it comes to infomercials, there are no checks and balances. If you’ve got the money, you can shill whatever product or service you can come up with, and if it’s compelling enough, you’d be surprised how many people will pick up their phone and dial that number in an early morning stupor.

When it comes to the household of faith, however, there are checks and balances. When we hear someone telling an outlandish tale, we can go to the Word to see whether or not there is Biblical precedent for it or if it confirms it. If what someone declares - because they all love to use the word declare – is something that the Bible contradicts, then you know it’s a lie no matter how comforting, soothing, and ear-tickling it may sound. It may not matter what you say as long as you speak with inflection, but it should.

The only problem is that there needs to be someone with enough of a spine to call out the deception and do so consistently, loudly, and unashamedly. It’s people with a spine that we lack in the church today, not the means by which we can discern whether something is Biblical or unbiblical.

We’ve been fed this narrative that unless you’re quiet, subdued, non-confrontational, passive, acquiescent, and willing to defer to anyone about anything, you’re not a real believer. You have to allow for the possibility that after sister Edith ate Indian food for the first time, she was translated to heaven to meet with a talking unicorn. It’s her truth. After all, who are you to say otherwise?

If foolishness is not confronted, it spirals. Those who come into a congregation seeking to divide and destroy it will continue to double down until a Jude, Paul, Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or James stands up and says enough of this madness; it’s not scriptural.

Jude insists that such individuals are not inoffensive or harmless; they are dangerous, motivated by something other than love for the people of God or the glory of God. Anyone trying to steer you away from the foot of the cross, from the blood of Jesus, from repentance, regeneration, sanctification, and being born again, isn’t looking out for your best interest; they’re looking out for theirs.

In their quest to make themselves indispensable in your life, they’ll insinuate that the only way to the Father isn’t through Jesus; it’s through them and their brand of doctrine or teaching. It’s like having a pope but without the funny hat and seasonal confession. Run away from people who insist that they have exclusivity when it comes to the truth, the Gospel, or the power of God.

2 Timothy 3:2-5, “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Since the Bible already tells us we ought not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, we know that Paul was not referring to those of the world when describing what men would become. The godless don’t have a form of godliness; they don’t pretend at being sanctified. They’re of the world and in it and revel in their destruction. Paul wasn’t warning Timothy about those outside the church; he was warning them about those within the church, describing what they would become because spines would be at a premium, and the shepherds will be disincentivized from preaching the truth.

It’s not just the world harassing the true shepherds, calling them everything from unloving and uncaring to bigoted, hateful, and demonic. It’s also the lukewarm sheep that don’t like to be caught in the middle. They want passivity; they like the fence-sitting. They like not having to take a stand, or make a choice, or sacrifice anything for the sake of Christ. As far as they’re concerned, the world is fine, and they’re fine in it. Why rock the boat when you don’t have to? Just go along, keep your mouth shut, and say nothing of the grievous things happening in the church.

It’s gotten to the point that so-called pastors of Christian churches no longer identify as Christian but as spiritual. Even the cornerstones of the faith, such as Jesus being the only begotten Son of God who lived, and died, and rose again, are being called into question, and dispensations are being handed out telling people they don’t have to believe that to be the case to go to heaven.

Everything the Bible said regarding the last days is coming to pass before our eyes, and we would do well to heed its warnings.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Patterns

 Character traits are consistent enough wherein they become a credible barometer. If you doubt me, think back to how you reacted when someone did something outside their character. A guy who’s always yelling is easily ignored, but if the quiet guy at work with the pocket protector and button-down collar suddenly starts screaming at the top of his lungs, you know you have a problem. Why? Because it was uncharacteristic of him to begin screaming, so either there was an emergency, or you saw someone snap in real-time.

Thankfully we know what to expect from the devil and his minions. They can never take us by surprise because their playbook is obvious, and the way they attempt to deceive those of the household of faith is, by this point, repetitive to the point of being monotonous. It’s not in their nature to do something uncharacteristic. They’re not creative that way, so you look for the telltale signs that clearly foreshadow their intent.

I find myself continually having to make this point because repetition is the mother of learning: The devil is not your friend, he doesn’t want what’s best for you, he is not misunderstood, he didn’t get a bad rap, and he doesn’t need a little time to grow on you. There is nothing redeeming about the devil, and there is nothing noble about his intent. He has no desire to be friends, pen-pals, or Instagram buddies.

To this day, people are shocked that the devil lies. It’s his nature. It’s what he does. It’s like being surprised that a scorpion stings or a snake bites. It should shock you if he didn’t lie, but that’s never going to happen, so you’re safe.

As Jude continues his letter to the church, he not only informs them of certain individuals who have crept in but also how to spot them. There are telltale signs that are consistent and obvious if you know what to look for.

The first is the blatant attempt to turn the grace of God into lewdness or licentiousness. In layman’s terms, it’s insisting that grace is a license to sin rather than an impetus to abstain from it. By doing so, these individuals are essentially devaluing the blood of Christ and not placing the requisite value on His sacrifice. If Christ died that you might have life but every chance you get, you’re dancing with death and embracing its bony fingers are you really honoring God? Once saved from death unto life, why would you want to return there?

Another telltale sign that Jude tells the church to be on the lookout for is denying the singularity of Christ as the only way, truth, and life. That whole nonsense about many paths to the same destination that Oprah was pushing, you know where that came from, and you were warned that it was coming, but still, the gullible took the bait and asked for seconds. Tell us how we can circumvent the authority of Christ. Tell us how we can live like the world and expect heaven just because we feel as though we’re entitled to it.

The truth of it is that if you’re looking for confirmation bias, you’re going to find it. If you’re looking for someone to wink at the depravity and carve out some special dispensation for you, there are enough liars, thieves, and fools who are more than willing to do so. At least be honest with yourself and admit that they don’t care about you, have no love for you, and can’t be bothered with the fact that save for repentance, hell is your final destination.

Rather than allow ourselves to be confronted by reality, we call good evil and evil good, and those who, out of love, tell those in darkness that there is light are deemed bigoted and hateful.

Jude 8, “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.”

What is it to defile the flesh? We can speculate, or we can go to Scripture and allow it to elucidate the matter. When you use the Bible to interpret the Bible, the conclusions you come to are undeniably Biblical. When you use opinion, especially subjective opinion, usually what you have is an interpretation of your own making.

Matthew 15:19-20, ‘For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murder, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

It’s only a matter of time before one of my daughters uses this verse to justify not washing their hands before dinner, but as far as what it means to defile the flesh, Jesus outlined no less than seven things. That these all proceed out of the heart is a lesson unto itself, going a long way to explain the current spiritual climate of the contemporary church, but each of these seven things corrupts or makes unclean those practicing them.

You cannot practice adultery, fornication, theft, blasphemy, or entreat evil thoughts and not be defiled somehow. Once defiled or corrupted, the individual in question remains compromised until such a time as true repentance is forthcoming. Other than the obvious public relations release about how they still love each other very much but have made the painful decision of going their separate ways, how can you tell if someone has been defiled? A surefire way is that the content of their messages changes dramatically from Biblical to Quazi-biblical. It shifts in a pronounced and visible way because they are subconsciously trying to justify their rebellion.

A more important question still is, what if they were never Biblical, to begin with? What if, for the entirety of their so-called ministry, all they were was a discount soothsayer who did nothing to prepare the people of God for what was coming?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Consistent

 Even though the devil’s been at it since the beginning of the church, it has been decided by people who likely use the Bible as a prop and not much else that he is no longer in the business of trying to deceive, seduce, and detour the children of God. They’ve determined that the enemy is no longer interested in perverting the way of truth, and his minions are no longer adamant about downplaying, denying, or circumventing the words of Jesus.

Every contributor to the canon of the New Testament contended with false teachers, false prophets, false doctrines, and false Christs. They all warned the children of God to be weary, cautious, on guard, and ever mindful of what they receive as truth, doctrine, or divine instruction.

Does anyone really believe that all of a sudden, the enemy stopped? Does anyone really believe that his agenda has shifted and that he no longer seeks to devour the saints? We still insist that a zebra can’t change its stripes or a leopard its spots, but apparently, the devil can change his nature. He’s so docile; he’s kid-friendly now.

Acts 15:1, “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

It took me a minute to figure out what was wrong with this verse other than the obvious. Maybe I’m just slow, but gold star for you if you can figure it out. Men came down from Judea to teach the brethren. It wasn’t Apostles; it wasn’t even other brethren who came to teach; it was certain men with a theory that they did their best to disseminate. Contrary to most leaders today, Paul and Barnabas would have none of it, and they got into what the Bible refers to as no small dissension.

I’m somewhat certain it didn’t come to blows, but how close it got is another matter altogether. A shepherd who is willing to put himself between the wolves and the sheep is a true shepherd. A shepherd who is willing to stand up to deception and call it out, using the Bible as the counterargument for whatever fresh wave of nonsense wafts through the church, is one who has my utmost respect.

Another question worth pondering is how did these men gain access to the brethren? Did someone vouch for them? Did someone introduce them as credible? Did they just wander into the fellowship and begin teaching unbidden? On whose authority did they come in and proceed to sow division?

These are all worthwhile questions to ponder because the same is being done today, and with a much greater success rate because those who ought to be watching are either distracted or disinterested to the point that falsehood outpaces the truth by a disturbing margin.

Wittingly or unwittingly, someone let these men in, and they caused such a division among the brethren that Paul and Barnabas, as well as Peter, had to come together with the other elders to consider and debate this issue in Jerusalem. Herein lies the danger of allowing extra-biblical teachings to worm their way among the brethren unchecked and unchallenged. It is also why I have an issue when a pastor is described as the nicest guy ever, wouldn’t offend anyone to save his life, or is inclusive of other opinions and viewpoints rather than being described as Biblical. That’s all a pastor needs to be: Biblical.

If they are Biblical, they will, by definition, be caring, empathetic, and conciliatory, but they will also have the boldness to stand on the Word of God and not be swayed by the feelings choir that sprouts up in so many congregations. If you lead out by telling me you feel the Bible means something different than what it says, that conversation is a non-starter for me, as it should for any true shepherd.

Once you put forward the idea that your feelings supersede the Word of God and that the dogma, creed, and theology of a church body must change to fit your interpretation, we’re not going to find common ground, and there is nothing further that we must debate. Pull the plug, fade to black, put a pin in it, we’re done.

The only people that see that as unloving are the wolves, who are mad at not being able to get to the sheep. The only ones incensed and accusing the shepherds of being uncaring are those who got stopped dead in their tracks and were not allowed to decimate the flock.

One of the most humbling things I can hear from a pastor who opens his pulpit to me is that he’s done his research, compared what I preach to the Word of God, and has found that he can entrust me to feed those he is responsible for. It also tells me more about the man than any title or office he might claim.

Love for the sheep is exhibited in protecting them from the wolves, not ushering them into their open jaws. Turning a blind eye to false teaching, false prophets, and false teachers is not a sign of love; it is a sign of cowardice and a self-serving narcissism that cares nothing for the welfare of those who see you as a spiritual leader, mentor, or teacher.

Dazzling smiles and toothless sermons will work until they don’t. Reality and fantasy are destined for a head-on collision, and while reality is made of steel and metal, fantasy is all paper-mâché. One will obliterate the other, and those believing that good vibes and positive thoughts are enough to carry them through the storm will realize just how wrong they were.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Birds and Feathers

 Birds of a feather flock together, as do pigs and swine. Rats and mice will have their choice, and so will I have mine. This is a nursery rhyme. At least it was back in the day when everyone wasn’t so sensitive about everything except for permanently disfiguring children, which, as it turns out, is a human right. We’ve expanded that list of what human rights are quite a bit in recent years, and we went from life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to baby murder and child disfigurement. That’s progress for you. At least, that’s what the brilliant minds who get paid for regurgitating word salads would like us to believe.

It’s worth noting that every new addition to the human rights roster deconstructs the notion of family and even the continuity of the human race. If God wasn’t going to judge the nations, it’s likely that we would have self-destructed all on our own without any assistance from Him.

It may have taken longer, and the decline would have continued far beyond the point where God said “enough,” but once the narcissism boulder starts rolling down the hedonism hill, it’s almost impossible to stop. The only way to stop it is divine, supernatural intervention ushered in by national repentance. Still, since even the church can’t utter the word repentance anymore without breaking out in hives, I’m not holding out much hope for the world.

We made it clear that, as a nation, we want nothing to do with God. Thanks for the tuition money, Grandpa, but I think I got it from here. What would you know about what I should do with my life or what I should major in? Perhaps the gender nonconformity of the Amazonian tribe of Flick might not be something they would have chosen as a major in your day, but that’s why you still think capitalism works. Even when Grandpa points out that it was capitalism that paid for their tuition, the cognitive dissonance is so all-encompassing that they just don’t get it.

We are spoiled, coddled, self-obsessed, petulant children who balk at the idea of personal accountability, taking responsibility, pursuing the way of righteousness and truth, or considering the laying down of our burdens at the foot of the cross. By burdens, I mean sins, and we all know that we’ve talked ourselves into believing it’s the sin that makes life worth living, not a life in service to God.

Other than how we can get God to make that McMansion happen for us, we want nothing to do with the Bible, the will of God, or the plan of God for our lives. Everything is theoretical until it comes to stuff, then we’ll stand there like man babies yelling something about money flowing unto me at the top of our lungs, without a care for how unbiblical or ludicrous it is or how others might perceive it. Would we speak of Jesus in the same manner, with the same passion and conviction? Surely not; what would people think of us?

There is a certain profundity to what has been brushed off as a nursery rhyme that we would do well to heed as believers and followers of Christ. Before we can win the culture for Christ, we must win supposed Christians for Him. If everyone professing to be a believer were a true believer, then there would be no need for judgment to begin in the house of God, but it will. God wasn’t wrong about that one either, and the list of things He was right about keeps getting longer and longer, while no one can, as yet, point out one time where God was wrong.

Even so, we will bicker, question, and sow doubt; we will twist words and take phrases out of context; we will reinterpret the interpretations of long-dead men just to get a different outcome than what is clearly written within the pages of Scripture.

If everyone identifying as a Christian contended earnestly for the faith, the culture itself would be different from what it is, and the darkness would have been beaten back by the light the Word tells us we must become.

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and up it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Notwithstanding that, Jesus dared to speak the words that ought never to be spoken, good works, He didn’t say you will possess light; He said you are light. You are the light of the world! If it is so, why is it so dark? It’s not as though you can be light and not shine, possess truth and not exude it, live righteousness and not encourage it.

When the Word tells us that narrow is the way and few find it, God wasn’t trying to be mean-spirited. He was stating a fact. We’re doing a lot of moaning and complaining but very little striving, and it shows.

The lines have been drawn, the birds of a feather have flocked together, and the messaging is straightforward: comply, go along, be docile, and whatever you do, don’t wake up! Some of them are so brazen and even go so far as to claim that Jesus would have been as docile and compliant as they’re encouraging you to be.

A day is coming when your faith will cost you something. If you are unprepared to pay the full freight, you’re just playing a game. The problem is, the devil isn’t.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Good Fights

 I can’t say I’ve been in many scrapes. Even in my youth, I was not known as a scrapper. Usually, save for a handful of times in Junior High, I was able to talk myself out of a situation before it came to blows. Some people like to fight. It’s in their blood, and they have no qualms about throwing fists. Although they might not have a problem with the idea of having their jaw wired shut, I’ve always had better things to do, so I avoided getting into fights for the most part.

While most fights are unnecessary, some are unavoidable. While you can walk away from most conflicts, some necessitate that you stand your ground and take on your adversary lest you have a permanent enemy that will track you down and hound you for the rest of your life. Some people have nothing better to do than pick fights. Perhaps they haven’t yet figured out that getting punched in the face hurts, but especially with the younger generation, they are far too quick to resort to violence.

That said, some fights need fighting, and the Bible tells us we must not shy away from doing so. When Jude insists that we must contend earnestly for the faith, another word for it is to fight. I understand that passive Christianity is all the rage nowadays. Whatever excuses we come up with for sitting on the sidelines and allowing the enemy to do as he wills, however, will not suffice when we stand before the Almighty.

If you’re unwilling to contend for the faith, then there’s nothing you’re willing to contend for. This is why the notion of finding a hill the contemporary church is willing to die on is a false dichotomy, an empty hope, because there have been hills upon hills we should have been willing to die on but didn’t.

We keep telling each other that one day we’ll get our act together. We keep assuring each other that we’re just warming up for a good fight, but in reality, we’re mentally running through the Rolodex of excuses to see which one we will use in this particular instance. It’s not the right time. It’s not the right place. It’s not the right issue. It’s not the right temperature. It’s too muggy. It’s too cold. I’m constipated. I’m not feeling up to it today, maybe tomorrow or the day after. I can’t risk my reputation. I can’t risk my job. I can’t risk my position, and on and on we go, doing naught else but sitting on our hands while the ravenous beasts of darkness and despair glut themselves on the innocent.

1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

This is not a case of those that can’t do, teach. This is a spiritual father writing to his spiritual son, encouraging him to pursue righteousness, fight for the faith, and do his utmost to be a faithful servant because he had done likewise and had seen the fruitfulness of a life faithfully lived.

He had tread upon the ground that Timothy was going to tread; he had traversed the peaks and the valleys, had

 seen the glorious power of God, and felt the pain of betrayal and rejection. He had known privation, pain, lack, and loss and still encouraged Timothy to fight the good fight of faith because, in the end, it would all be worth it.  

2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

While Timothy’s race was just beginning, Paul’s race was ending. Through it all, he kept the faith and fought the good fight, so he could encourage Timothy to do the same without duplicity or hypocrisy.

Our contending for the faith cannot be situational. We can’t be bold only when we have numerical superiority on our side or when we are confident that the person we’re debating is our intellectual inferior. We fight the good fight and contend for the faith, whether it’s popular or unpopular, whether a thousand are standing beside us or none bothered to show up.

It is a matter of individual merit. Paul didn’t write to Timothy telling him he needn’t bother fighting the good fight because Paul already had. He wrote to him insisting that Timothy must fight just as Paul had because you won’t receive a crown of righteousness based on someone else’s accomplishments. That would be akin to me going to the gym on your behalf and you expecting to get in shape based on my exertion. That’s not the way it works.

And herein lies the danger of trying to pass the buck. If you’re unwilling to contend for the faith, who’s to say the other guy will? We’re always counting on someone else to do the things we fail to do, not realizing that it’s very likely someone is counting on you for the things they failed to do. This is why there are no spectators when it comes to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This is why we can’t have the option of a cheering section or a fan gallery.

Everyone must fight the good fight so that at the end of their journey, they won’t have to wonder whether or not a crown of righteousness is waiting for them but declare it with certainty and conviction. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr 

First

 It’s a wonder how some things became sayings. One that always baffled me is not putting the cart before the horse. How many people had tried that back in the olden days that it became such a common saying to have survived into our era? Were there people everywhere just tying their horses to the back of their carts and then wondering why the cart wasn’t moving? Were peasants with glazed-over eyes just loitering by the side of their barns with the confused look of a modern millennial needing to change a tire so far out of their element that they just sat in the dirt and wept?

It’s common sense, isn’t it? The horse goes before the cart because the cart must be pulled, and the horse does the pulling. Granted, some would conclude that was just too simple and try to complicate it somehow, but for the most part, the mechanics of how a cart operates and what a horse’s place in the operation of said cart is, is pretty straightforward.

While Jude had started out intent on writing to the church about our common salvation, he ended up with a powerful tome encouraging the brethren to contend earnestly for the faith instead. The reason, in principle, is the same as why you don’t put the cart before the horse. If your faith is misplaced, perverted, or otherwise skewed, any talk of salvation must be tabled until we get the faith right.

Salvation comes about by faith in Christ, while faith comes about by hearing the Word. If the enemy can somehow cause those professing to preach the Word to preach something other than the Word, then the hearer’s faith will be tethered in something other than Christ, thereby making their salvation tenuous.

If you want to poison a waterway, you pour the poison in as far upriver as you possibly can. If at all feasible, you try to find where the waterway begins and dump the poison there so that everything from that point onward is befouled and corrupted.

The pulpit drives the church. The man standing before the sheep feeding them every week is responsible for what he feeds them, and if he has been compromised or was among those who have crept in unnoticed, his entire focus will be a slanted faith in something or someone other than the Lord Christ Jesus.

This is why shepherds are so high up on the enemy’s target list. You can’t get much further up the ladder than shepherds of flocks, so if you can get one of them to teach some heretical nonsense about how important, perfect, strong, and confident you are, how being self-centered, self-obsessed, and self-entitled are virtues rather than defects, the cascade effect and impact those lies will have had are incalculable.

Do you think it’s an accident that certain teachings and teachers are amplified by the world to the point that you can’t walk into a bookstore or a supermarket without seeing their leering faces? Just ask yourself this question: if the devil is the nemesis of Christ, and his minions are the enemies of believers, why are certain supposed Christians being promoted and praised by the servants of darkness? That should be your first clue that something is fishy. That should be the first warning bell that should go off in your head.

Why is the world lavishing praise on a supposed evangelist, pastor, bishop, or preacher? Why is the darkness so enamored with supposed ambassadors of the light?

If the same people who hate Jesus love the evangelist you call your spiritual mentor, you have a problem, even if you don’t want to admit it.

The second warning sign, if a second one is needed, is to see what these people say when they open their mouths to speak on the platforms that the godless have offered them. Dollars to donuts, they’re not talking about Jesus, repentance, sanctification, or holiness, but feelings and emotions, learning to love yourself, and letting go of the regret of having accused your ex-husband of something he didn’t do even though it landed him in prison.

Are they contending for the faith, or are they apologizing for the words of Jesus or what the Bible says as though they were ashamed? When they start to stutter or repeat the question just to buy a bit more time to think up an acceptable answer, you know the Christ and the cross have just been betrayed live on television.

What if the Lord is opening doors for them so that the worldly folk can get won over for Jesus? Since the same people are blaspheming God decades in, poking fun at His followers and insisting Christians are backward in their thinking and antiquated in their beliefs, I’d say that’s likely not the case.

You’ve got to give credit where credit is due; it is a brilliant strategy. First, you sneak some nefarious agents into the house of God, then use the agents you have on the outside to amplify the message and reach of those on the inside, thereby causing those on the inside to stumble and those on the outside to never find the narrow gate. Efficient and efficacious.

At this juncture, you may accuse me of being jaded and cynical. I like to think of it as realistic. Given over thirty-five years of ministry, starting at 12, and having seen different iterations of the same lie perpetrated upon the people of God, I can’t help but call it what it is. What would be the point otherwise?

With love in Christ, 

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Exceptions

 Even if there was an exception to the rule, why does everyone assume they’re the exception? You’d have better odds of winning the lottery than being that one out of seven billion people that God shows exceptional mercy to, and given that you knew better and much was given to you, it’s not that you didn’t have the time or opportunity to repent, you’re likely in rebellion.

It’s always the thief on the cross, isn’t it? What about him? Given that he’d have likely been dead by the next sunrise, exigent circumstances came into play. It wasn’t as though he could have revisited the topic of eternity at a later date. When you’ve been hanging on a cross in the midday sun, finding it harder to breathe each time you inhale, everything becomes crystal clear.

We can infer from his words that the thief on the cross had never met Jesus until that time. It’s not as though he’d run into Him by the sea of Galilee, heard Him speak, saw Him do miracles, and decided to pass on the whole salvation thing. This was his first opportunity to be in the presence of Christ, and he believed Him to be who He claimed to be. “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” is not something one says if one doubts the veracity of Christ’s lordship. From his brief interaction with Jesus, the man had faith and believed, and as such, Christ promised him Paradise.

Many people are banking on being the exception to the rule and not treating the prospect of eternity and where they will spend it with the requisite seriousness. True, you only live once and can only die once, but after this, the judgment. It’s that last part nobody wants to consider because it puts a damper on the whole life in the fast lane mindset.

This morning has nothing to do with Jude. Consider this a public service announcement, and whoever this was meant to be for, whoever will run across it either today or a year from now, though you may not acknowledge it, your time on earth is as finite as the thief’s was as he hung on that cross. You may not be enduring the horrors of crucifixion, but will it take that to come to terms with your mortality? I hope not.

It is estimated that some 330,000 people die every day in the world. Thankfully, if you’re reading this, you were not among them today. Can you guarantee you won’t be tomorrow? That’s the crux of it, the factor the devil is hoping you won’t consider until it’s too late: The reality that tomorrow is guaranteed to no man, myself included.

Contrary to the myths you may have heard, you’re gone, and there’s no workaround once you're gone. It may comfort those left behind to light candles or pray for the souls of the dearly departed, but while you lived, you made choices, and your choices will have eternal consequences. There’s no changing one’s trajectory after they’ve breathed their last, no matter how many candles you light on their behalf. You can burn the world in the hope of lighting someone’s way out of the pit, to no avail.

Who you were here, what you accomplished in the world, the status you achieved, or the renown you amassed hold no weight on the other side. The great leveler comes for us all sooner or later. Rich men and poor share the same dirt once they are no more; the only difference is that one likely gets a nicer box than the other. Beyond that, eternity. Heady prospect, I know, but not as heady as the two destinations available to man, as well as the itinerary for each.

Call it Heaven, Paradise, or Abraham’s bosom; it is markedly different from the other destination afforded to man. In case you were wondering, it’s a binary choice. There are no alternatives, and there is no third destination. While Heaven is a place of rest, where those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord will be in the presence of God for all eternity, Hades is a place of torment where fire is the predominant theme. But you’re thinking; I like the heat; it’s why I moved to Arizona. Nobody likes it that hot, and it’s not a dry heat.

Contrary to the devil’s propaganda, hell is not a place where you rock out with long-dead musicians; it’s a place where the fire burns, the worm never sleeps, and the last thing on anyone’s mind is a jam session. As Jesus tells it, a man in the torments of Hades begged Father Abraham for nothing more than for Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue.

You’ll always get the short end making deals with the devil. You will always be underwhelmed when it comes to collecting, no matter what he promised you. No matter how much he might try to pretty up the notion of hell, the reality of it is still undeniable and bleak enough to make any sane person want to stay out. There’s only one way of staying out of hell: Jesus. If you’re reading this and you don’t yet know Him, don’t delay; all you may have is today.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.