Authority

 There is a descending order to authority that we would do well to remember. Only someone in authority can bequeath authority upon another, and that individual, in turn, was bequeathed authority by someone above him. The chain of command must remain intact for the authority to flow properly, and if the chain is broken, you are no longer operating under the authority of God but under your own.

Jude tells us that one of the ways we can uncover the ungodly men who have crept within unnoticed is that they will have an aversion toward authority. The way he words it, such individuals reject authority altogether because their purpose is not to do the will of God and further the Kingdom but to pervert grace and deny the Christ.

One who is in opposition to the will and purpose of God cannot sit under the authority of God. It would be akin to what silver does to a werewolf if werewolves were real. Now I will have the werewolf community up in arms along with the UFO community and the Beth Moore fans. My reach is getting smaller by the day, but that’s not what this was ever about, so I’m okay with it.

When someone is in authority over you, they have the right to not only give commands but make decisions on your behalf regarding everything. It’s hard for someone to think they’re a little god and be under authority to anyone else but themselves. This is partly the reason ungodly men reject authority, but it’s not the whole reason.

When you submit to the authority of Christ in your life, you are no longer your own. You speak what He commands you to speak, go where He commands you to go and do what He commands you to do. There is no argumentative debate, and there is no back and forth. An order is given, and you obey it. Since God would never undermine His kingdom, someone can’t be under God’s authority and deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

So let’s do in one sitting what would have likely taken you a semester in seminary as far as the descending order of authority is concerned. As novel an idea as it may sound, we will use the Bible to flesh this out.

Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Even though He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth, Jesus was still subject to the will of the Father. God had given authority to the Son, but the Son still remained under the authority of the Father.

Luke 22: 41-42, “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Jesus didn’t say, “I know this is what you want, but I’m going to use my veto power,” He submitted to the will of the Father, even though He’d have preferred not to drink the bitter cup.

Because God had given all authority to Christ, Christ, too, could, in turn, give the same authority to those who followed after Him. Because He remained under the authority of the Father, and they remained under the authority of Christ, His disciples were given the authority over all the power of the enemy.

Luke 10:17-20, “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.’”

For you to flow in the authority of Christ, you must remain under the authority of Christ. This is why I have a hard time with individuals who are flippant about the things Jesus said, dismissing them as though their opinion were on par, if not superior, to the words of Christ. You are subject to His authority, not the other way around. You bend to His will; He doesn’t bend to yours.

John 15:4-6, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

I met you once, so long ago; I waved my hand, you said hello.

Do you remember Lord? Do you remember me?

When I said stay, why did you go? I bid you come, and you said no.

I said abide, you said someday, you knew I was the only way.

I pled and pled do not depart; you turned your back and broke My heart.

Abide - verb – to remain, hold on to, follow, and obey.

Verb – a word that shows an action, occurrence, or state of being.

But hey, Joyce Meyer said you were saved because you touched your television once, and she seems credible enough.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Attrition

 It’s a sad day when the children of darkness outlast the children of light in their endeavors. The enemy is well aware that this battle of ours is one of attrition, and if he can wear down the children of God, he will have the upper hand. I’m assuming you’re well-versed enough in the Word to understand that his advantage is temporary, but just because Jesus wins in the end, it doesn’t mean we’re no longer meant to occupy until He comes.

Just because we know how the story ends, it does not nullify our responsibility to our King and His Kingdom, nor does it mean we should stand on the sidelines, hand on hips, watching the world burn and wondering if there are any more marshmallows.

At least Jonah entered Nineveh and cried out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” before making himself a shelter and sitting under its shade. Most Christians today can’t even be bothered to do that. Is it laziness, cowardice, or indifference? Why is the average believer so reticent in standing up against the enemy?

The sad reality is that it’s not the devil that’s gotten stronger; it’s the believer that’s gotten weaker over time.  It used to be that believers relished being in the presence of God. They would gather together in prayer and supplication without the need to be dazzled or entertained. Nowadays, if a prayer lasts for longer than three minutes, you can see people starting to fidget, get restless, and have that sour look on their faces as though they just bit through a lemon.

If your adversary is more committed to their cause than you are to yours, you will fold.

When Paul threatened to turn off the money supply to the shrine makers in Ephesus, they got the people so riled up against him that for two hours, a throng of people cried out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Two hours! When was the last time you were in a two-hour prayer meeting? And you wonder why evil is spreading like a malignancy?

I am well aware that this is an issue we would rather ignore or pretend is not as crucial as it is, but the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is vile. Because we thought it would draw a bigger crowd, we substituted the essentials for the irrelevant, and we ended up with churches full of lukewarm people ignorant of the power of prayer, supplication, and even of God Himself.

We look upon the hoards, and rather than declare there are more with us than there are with them, we cower in terror, hoping they’ll leave us alone for just a while longer so we can open the café in the church lobby as another income stream. Endurance is a cultivated virtue. It is not something you are born with; it is something you build up over time. That we lack the endurance to push back the darkness and grow weary before the other side even warms up should be an indictment against contemporary Christianity.

That the need for endurance, or prayer for that matter, isn’t taught in most mainline churches should tell you how inefficient and useless most mainline churches are. We are in a spiritual battle and aren’t taught how to wield spiritual weapons. Some, more than we would like to believe, aren’t even taught that they exist. You just take the mauling and hope you survive. But that’s not what the Book says. If they’d bothered reading it, they’d know.

We know the verse in Romans about being more than conquerors well enough but conquering a foe presupposes you fought him. It presumes that you stood toe to toe, gave better than you got, and saw your enemy felled.

We’re singing songs of victory before we’ve even engaged the enemy in battle. We walk about, puffing out our chests as though we singlehandedly defeated the hosts of hell when we haven’t bothered to put on our armor.

We can’t be bothered to defend the truth, never mind going on the offensive, but somehow we have the temerity to look upon those who came before us with disdain. They were too blunt, too direct, too unyielding, too uncompromising, too rough around the edges. They didn’t understand diplomacy the way modern preachers do. They didn’t subscribe to the adage that you attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.

The only problem with that proverb is that you’re not trying to attract bees, you’re trying to win souls, and the vinegar you speak of is only vinegar to those who are perishing. To those who are being saved, it is the power of God. 

We keep trying to fix something that was never broken. We keep trying to find new ways to circumvent the old path, thinking that we know better than God and concluding that the number of bodies in the pews is confirmation of our supposition. If all they’re good for is supplementing the building fund and fueling egos, then all those bodies are a detriment to the Kingdom and not a benefit.

“How many soldiers are in your battalion?”

“A thousand strong,” answers the colonel.

“How many can fight?” asks the general optimistically.

“None. But they can lip-sync Hillsong like nobody’s business.” 

Battle doesn’t get postponed because soldiers aren’t ready. The enemy won’t take it easy on you because you haven’t trained with the weapons you’ve been equipped with. Soldiers must be prepared, fully expecting the battle to commence at any moment. For many, the battle started long ago. Welcome to the fight.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

You

 It’s disheartening to see how much ground the darkness has taken. It’s the one thing I hear from friends and acquaintances alike, and I can’t say I’m not in the same boat, pulling on the same oar. Even though we knew that evil men and seducers would wax worse and worse, seeing it in real-time makes your gut twist, usually accompanied by a sudden loss of appetite. Yes, it has gotten this bad. Yes, it’s going to get much worse.

Do I want it to be so? No, I don’t. Does it matter what I want? Not in the least. Not everything is set in stone, but most things are. Although we are inclined to point to Nineveh and hope for lightning to strike twice, we must grudgingly remind ourselves that once was enough of a miracle to be included within the canon of Scripture. It was no small thing for an entire city to repent in sackcloth and ash. Hoping that a nation will do it is a stretch. Am I saying it’s impossible? No, nothing is impossible with God. Is it, however, improbable? Kind of.

If you throw a ball, you can guess the general trajectory based on the direction and strength with which you throw it. Unless you’re flicking a boomerang, chances are, whatever you’re throwing, pitching, shooting, or firing will continue in the direction the aim, force, and momentum it was set upon. Bullets only curve in movies, and even in movies, they wouldn’t dare stretch your credulity enough to make a bullet’s momentum stop, then retrace its journey to come back on itself.

What am I getting at? The further and faster we move away from God, the harder it will be to stop our decline and make our way back. It’s not like we’re headed for an iceberg with plenty of time to turn and avoid impact. We hit the iceberg some time ago, and as long as the engines don’t fail, we’re bent on reversing, then plowing into the iceberg over and over again until we are no more. The iceberg will be there long after we’ve dashed ourselves upon its mass. It existed long before we came along, and for as long as God will allow it to roam, it will wait patiently for men to come crashing into it. Sin is an iceberg. You don’t succeed in overcoming it by repeatedly crashing into it but by understanding the danger it poses and circumventing it.

Jude warns us of the danger; he does his best to underscore the severity of it and, as though pleading with the church across time and space, admonishes us to contend earnestly for the faith. Paul calls it fighting the good fight of faith, but it all boils down to two options. It is as binary a choice as male or female. You can quit, or you can fight. There is no in-between.

I can’t make you fight. You must choose to fight. You must choose to strap on your armor and show up on the battlefield because anything short of that would be coercion, and if someone is coerced into going to war, they’ll rabbit the first chance they get.

I’d rather stand shoulder to shoulder with three men who are there to fight and know how to do it than a hundred cowards who only showed up because they couldn’t bear the embarrassment of not doing so. They left home with white kerchiefs in tow and have no reservations about waving them high in the air for all to see, signifying surrender.

If you’re not willing to earnestly contend for the faith to your last breath, stay home. You’re just getting in the way. Too many cowards are pretending to be great generals looking for any excuse not to bloody their swords. The one I hear most often is that whatever the issue is, it’s not a hill to die on. You’re supposed to pick your battles, wait for your opening, and be level-headed about these things. And, while we’re backslapping and glad-handing, telling each other how wise we were in choosing discretion over action, we’re running out of hills, and soon there will be none left.

The fight will have been fought, and we’ll still be waiting to find our hill. We’ve picked up some nasty habits from the godless, some of them being situational ethics, situational morality, and situational principles.

We’re either for or against something based on the current environment, not because it’s right or wrong. Suppose someone says we should defend life, the innocent, and the unborn. In that case, it’s inevitable that some sanctimonious halfwit who spooks at his own shadow will make a show of how spiritual he is and insist that our focus should be the heavenly things. If, on the other hand, someone insists we ought to contend for the faith, that selfsame gasbag will insist that we must do our best to influence the culture and not be so heavenly-minded all the time because it’s not relatable.

We can lie to ourselves all we want, and we may even get away with lying to each other, but one day, and one day soon, the General will return to assess His troops and see how much ground they’ve taken. What will be the modern-day church’s excuse for not even putting up a fight? What will He say to those who not only surrendered but mocked and ridiculed those who would stand?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

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.