Fundamental Doctrines, The Book!

Since I first posted the teachings on the Elementary Principles of Christ, I’ve been getting requests from individuals who wanted to print them out and distribute them to friends and family alike. Although I agreed, the posts were just transcripts of a series I did for our television program and I always felt as though they could be cleaned up a bit as far as grammar and punctuation were concerned.

As happens more than I would like, other projects got front burner status, and so this project got demoted to back burner status.

It was thus until a sister named April wrote and offered to help with both editing and layout of any books I wanted to publish. Her offer was an answer to prayer, and I want to take this opportunity to thank her for her effort and the time she put into this project. Thank you April!

As such, today I am pleased to present a new book entitled Fundamental Doctrines which contains the teachings on the elementary principles of Christ. I will post the link to Amazon, so if anyone wants one, they are welcome to it.

That was the news, not big, or grand, but nevertheless news.

Tomorrow and Tuesday I’m on the road, so Lord willing I will be posting again Wednesday. Until then, I’m also adding a couple of the ‘Truth in a Nutshell’ teachings we’ve been filming. They are the first two of a ten part series discussing the first few verses of 2 Timothy 3 in an exegetical manner, and also how they correlate to these last days.

Please keep me in your prayers as I travel, and also pray the Lord reward April for her labors on this project.

The times ahead promise to be exciting for the children of God, but also traumatic for those of the world and the lukewarm among us. More than ever we must pray for each other, feel for each other, and keep our gaze firmly affixed upon Christ Jesus our Lord, our King, our Savior and our Great High Priest.

With love in Christ,
Michael Bodea Jr.

Fundamental Doctrines

                                         Reality Check Part 1

                                          Reality Check Part 2

Speaking In Iowa

This Saturday, in fact, tomorrow will be my last scheduled speaking engagement before I head back to Romania. Time flies, we get older, but some things never change, and being with the ones you love during the holidays is one of those things.

Apropos of nothing, I got a real hardy laugh tonight when I read that our esteemed Secretary of State vowed to thwart the new Soviet Union. Ah, yes, in case you haven't heard, there is a move to re-Sovietise the region. I'm sure if you look for the article online you will no doubt find it. Good times.

I also have some news I will share with you on Sunday, nothing earth shattering, but something I thought you ought to know.

Anyway, this is where I will be speaking tomorrow:

Saturday, December 8, 2012 7:00 PM
Erickson Community Center
1401 11th Ave N.
Clinton Iowa 52732

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

Peace No More!

When God removes His peace, no matter how much men might try to manufacture it or otherwise politic their way to peaceful resolutions, it becomes impossible. Wherever one might look nowadays, there seems to be unrest, threats of wars, rumors of wars, and yes, even outright war.

It’s surreal to see everything Jesus said would usher in the beginning of sorrows coming to pass, yet many still refuse to remove their heads from the sand and acknowledge the time and season they are living in. The many I am referring to are not the Godless, or those who do not profess Jesus, but those who warm pews every Sunday, and bring string beans to the potluck, and even step in for the senior usher when he’s off hunting or at home with the flu.

I understand it. Believe me I do. To acknowledge that we are living in the last days would be to irrevocably shatter the illusion and expose the lies we’ve been telling ourselves for years on end. To acknowledge that we are living in the last days is to come to terms with the reality that every second is now a precious commodity, for if Jesus was right concerning the events of these last days then He was likewise right about night soon descending when no man will be able to work.

Cynical as the following may sound to some, I think what’s scaring a vast majority most about the times we’re living in is that they won’t be able to put off repentance for much longer.

There comes a time in every individual’s life wherein they have to make a choice and stop straddling the fence. Although some have made a career out of fence straddling, and others more enterprising folks a doctrine and a belief system, we can get away with the childish foolishness only as long as a semblance of civility still abounds. At a certain point reality becomes so vivid that ignoring it becomes impossible, and men are forced to make a choice.

It has become nigh undeniable that the inmates are running the asylum, and with each victory they become more emboldened in their attempt to stifle the followers of Christ, and do away with the very memory of Him.

As I’ve said before, one of the worst things God can do to a nation and a people, is to leave them to the desires of their heart, and allow them to pursue their appetites unhindered. Though the world waxes worse, we as children of God are neither absolved nor exonerated of the responsibility to be lights in the darkness, and faithful proclaimers of truth. Yes, with each passing day the chance that we will suffer persecution because we stand for truth multiplies exponentially, but it’s something the Bible warns of, and something we ought to have made our peace with long ago.

If there is a silver lining in all the global turmoil, upheaval, war, uncertainty and violence, is that men will have to choose a side, and stand. The halfhearted, the uncommitted, the duplicitous or the lukewarm will fall by the wayside like so much chaff, and what remains when the fire has come and gone, is the pure and spotless bride that stands ready to shine gloriously, and do great exploits through Christ, and in His authority.

The world is about to get much darker, and we will need the peace only Christ can grant more than ever before. In Christ there is no fear for tomorrow, there is no uncertainty or distress, because we are in Him, sheltered, kept, and protected from all harm.

John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray! Part 205

Prayers of the Old Testament
The Prayer of Solomon continued...

Often times God need speak only a handful of words to turn our entire world upside down. The words He spoke to Solomon in his dream seemed simple and straightforward enough, but what they implied was unimaginable in scope.

God did not qualify his offer to Solomon. He did not say Solomon could not request something over a certain amount, or something not easily attainable, God left the offer wide open wherein Solomon could have asked for absolutely anything.

‘Ask! What shall I give you?’

I have often wondered if I would be as wise as Solomon in what I would ask for if God were to give me the same opportunity.

What would you ask for if you could ask for anything, and know you would receive it?

It is a far more complicated question than it would first appear. For many it would depend on the precise moment the offer was made, for others whether their pride was overriding their sense of reason, for others still if their focus was on the material rather than on the spiritual.

It’s easy to say we would choose a wise and understanding heart as did Solomon, but saying a thing and following through to the point of actually doing the thing we said we’d do are very different animals. It all goes back to the heart, and whether or not the heart is surrendered to the plan and will of God. When God makes an individual an offer such as this, they will ask for what their heart desires most, because the offer of ‘anything’ amplifies the desire of one’s inward parts. We know Solomon desired wisdom, or a wise and understanding heart, because it is what he asked of God when he could have asked for anything.

Another aspect of this exchange impossible to ignore is the generosity God exhibited toward Solomon.

There were no stipulations; there was no maximum price set by God. Anything Solomon would have asked of Him, he would have received.

Throughout the Scriptures God proves His generosity, and we see His tendency to exceed man’s petitions, prayers, or expectations. Ask in faith, and you will see the generosity of God manifest in your life. Ask in faith, ask according to His will, do those things which are pleasing in His sight, and whatever you ask, you will receive from His hand.

1 John 5:14, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Many people ask of God, they do so repeatedly, fervently and passionately, yet they do not ask according to His will. The key to this verse is that we ask according to God’s will and not our own. God’s desire for our life is oftentimes very different than our desire for our lives.

If we are honest with ourselves, most all of us would desire a life of ease, of comfort, of accomplishment, of success both materially and relationally, because it’s human nature to want the best for itself.

When our prayers include anything other than for God to be glorified through our lives, whether through our joy or our sorrow, our abundance or our lack, our sadness or our gladness, we are not asking according to His will, but according to our will.

For most professing Christians today, the glory of God is irrelevant as long as their physical needs are met, and the trinkets and toys they desire are given them. As vehemently as some might disagree with me on this point, the evidence supports my supposition. Men who teach other men avarice, selfishness and greed are themselves rewarded by those they teach with the material excesses they instruct their followers to covet.

Men with divided loyalties and corrupt hearts seek teachers who will not challenge their lifestyle and encourage them to continue pursuing the things of this earth, and the hireling shepherds exploit their niche to its fullest by continually focusing on this one topic.

Our confidence comes from knowing that we have asked according to the will of God. It does not come about due to our own perceived righteousness, nor does it come about because we think we’ve racked up enough good deeds to deserve an answer from God.

I’ve met individuals who were certain God would answer a wholly selfish and hedonistic prayer, just because in their mind they’d done enough good to warrant an answer. We’re not trying to cash in frequent flier miles here; we’re coming before the God of all creation and petitioning Him for something. Whatever that something might be, we will never have been able to deserve or earn an answer from God, but in His goodness, His love, and His mercy, He does hear us and answer us when we pray according to His will.

1 John 3:22, “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

When we keep God’s commandments, when we do those things that are pleasing in His sight, we can approach God with confidence, and come before Him with assurance.

There is an implied reciprocity in this passage, one we would do well to heed and understand. It is because we keep God’s commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight that we receive from Him whatever we ask.

When we are obedient toward God and when we are wholly surrendered to His will for our lives, when we pray, we know God will answer. We have access to God as His beloved, as His children, and not as ones who are illegitimate or whom the Father does not recognize as His own.

One of the many benefits of living out our faith, of pursuing righteousness and holiness unto God, is that we are able to come before Him fully assured that He hears us when we pray to Him. It is when we allow duplicity to worm its way into our hearts that our prayers are uncertain and there is no confidence in our petitions toward God.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray! Part 204

Prayers of the Old Testament
The Prayer of Solomon

There are many worthwhile conclusions one can draw from the fact that the wisest man on earth was also a man of prayer. Wisdom and prayer, it seems, go hand in hand, and when one has attained wisdom, they tend to spend more time in the presence of God than those who continue to prefer ignorance.

For some unexplained reason, especially in our modern age, the enemy has hijacked the narrative and convinced a great majority that only fools still take the time to commune and fellowship with God, or even believe in Him. Yet here we have arguably the wisest man to have ever walked the earth, and in researching his life we realize he was a man of profound prayer.

Like his father before him, Solomon was an imperfect man. The son of King David and Bathsheba, as controversial as his father if not more so, Solomon took up the mantle of leadership after the death of David, inheriting a kingdom that was stable and well managed.

Because none of the surrounding nations were strong enough to cause Solomon problems, he begins to exert and extend his control reaching as far as Egypt on one end, and the Euphrates River on the other.

Due to the wisdom God granted him, Solomon was a good king, one who was able to perceive Israel’s strategic position, and exploit it in the trading of goods, becoming a land bridge between Egypt and Asia.

Solomon had wisdom, glory, wealth, and the necessary vision to build the temple of worship his father David had dreamed of.

Even with all the wisdom God had granted him, and the potential instilled in him, Solomon strayed from the path of righteousness, compromising his convictions in order to appease his wives, coming to the point of worshiping the foreign deities his wives had brought with them.

As is often the case, a good beginning does not ensure a good end, nor does being born into privilege ensure that one’s heart will be perpetually thankful for all that they’ve been given.

Taking into account Solomon’s own words in the book of Ecclesiastes we also realize there was a time of repentance in his life, a time of turning, and of coming before God broken and contrite asking for forgiveness.

Although not many of Solomon’s prayers have been recorded, there are a handful of prayers he prayed worth discussing and meditating upon. Of them all, a prayer he prayed in his youth, long before he built the temple, is one that stands out as most honest and most compelling of all.

It is this prayer we will be considering as we delve into the prayer life of Solomon, one of the most influential kings of Israel, a man tasked with building the temple, a man of untold wisdom, yet also a man with a weakness, which led to his separation from the truth of God’s way.

One event that inexorably marked the life of Solomon was when the Lord appeared to him in a dream and spoke to him. This was the pivotal moment in Solomon’s life.

It has been Biblically established that God speaks to His servants through dreams whenever He might so choose. It is one of the many ways in which He communicates with mankind. Although employing dreams as a means of communication seems to have been more common during the olden days when we did not have the Word of God, it still happens to this day.

Job 33:14-16, “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction.”

It is not something man can manufacture or make happen, nor is it something we can demand of God. It is God who chooses the means by which He communicates to us. Our duty is to know His voice, and obey when He speaks.

1 Kings 3:5, “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’”

It is not known if God had communicated with Solomon before Gibeon. Was this Solomon’s first experience with seeing the Lord in a dream and hearing Him speak, or was he accustomed to something so awe inspiring? Was this the first time God had tried to communicate with him, or was it just the first time Solomon acknowledged the presence and voice of God?

All these are questions that stimulate the intellect, but for which we will never have a definitive answer while on this earth.

What is known is that Solomon went to the tabernacle of meeting at Gibeon, and brought a great sacrifice before God, and God received it.

2 Chronicles 1:1-3, “Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly. And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses. Then Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.”

The people gathered before the tabernacle of meeting and sought the Lord. They were not there for the food, the prizes, the raffles, the giveaways, they were there to encounter God, to be in His presence and glory in Him. It was here that Solomon brought a great sacrifice to God consisting of a thousand burnt offerings and that very night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and spoke to him.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

What's In Your Hands?

Your hands are clean but are they also full? What will you stand before Him with on that day? Will your self-righteousness suffice? Will you be able to stand before He who knows all and justify inaction and indifference by insisting it was all to keep your hands clean?

It is not enough not to have blood on your hands! Your hands must not be empty when you stand before Him.

What have you done with your life? What have you done with your gifts? What have you done knowing that the world is dying, the end is nigh, and that soon no man will be able to work?

There is an urgency and a sadness in me giving way to travail.

I sit and watch how the slumber of the church is birthing clerics with stranger and more aberrant doctrines than the last generation, and how the masses flock, anxious to hear about an even wider path than the one they had been on.

Some sheep wander, others trade eternity for worthless baubles, others still are bought and sold to pacify the greed of their hireling shepherds, and no one weeps, and no one toils, and everyone does what they’ve been told they ought to be doing, which is seeking to live their best lives now.

The older I get the more fearful I become of standing before my God not with bloody hands, for that I have always strived to be innocent of, but with empty hands, having nothing to offer Him, nothing to show for what He has given.

The more I read the parable of the talents, the more convinced I become that not only does God expect His initial investment returned to Him, but a return on His investment as well.

Call it what you want, call it works if you must. I’m tired of having the same tired conversations about works being anathema in the life of a believer, when the word of God clearly tells faith without works is dead.

I don’t know who this is for, but whoever you are, just know that grace is not an acceptable excuse for slothfulness, indifference, laziness, fear, or absence of love for the lost.

All men will stand before God on that great day, some with bloody hands, some with clean but empty hands, and some with clean hands overflowing with the return on God’s investment.

I pray daily, and each day more earnestly that my hands will not be empty when I behold Him in all His glory, and I labor diligently towards this end with ever increasing urgency.

Yes, I know we were supposed to start on Solomon’s prayer life today, but try as I might these thoughts kept distracting me until I found no way of ignoring them.

I don’t know who these words were for, perhaps just for myself, but there they be nevertheless.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

No Returns! No Exchanges! No Exceptions!

It is because of buyer’s remorse that more and more stores are implementing no return policies. Sure, that hot pink dress shirt two sizes two small seemed like a great idea in the store, but once you got home and realized you’d have to lose fifteen pounds just to snap the buttons shut, the allure of it wore off rather quickly.

Some establishments do offer in store credit for returned items, but what if there was nothing else in that particular store you wanted to buy? What if you finally realized that though the idea of being forever twenty-one is a mighty tempting one, shopping at a place with the same name just didn’t have the same appeal?

It matters not in the least to them if you’ve already purchased the item whether you’re having buyer’s remorse, or no longer want to be in possession of the item you purchased. You own it! It’s yours, and there are no returns, no exchanges, and all sales are final.

By its very definition an epiphany cannot be planned or otherwise foreseen. Epiphanies come when they will, turning your world upside down in an explosion of realization and comprehension.

Although epiphanies cannot be planned for, they can be forced upon certain individuals by external events and circumstances. Recently I was invited to a pastor’s conference, and since I had a couple days of downtime, I decided to attend. As men of varying ages and nationalities introduced themselves, I had the sudden epiphany that I was the dumbest person in the room. Every man I met, introduced himself as some sort of doctor, whether a doctor of theology, or a doctor of ministry, an apostle, or a bishop, and all I could do was smile and say, ‘I’m Mike, yeah, just Mike.’

So what am I babbling on about?

Simply this: It is inevitable that more and more individuals will experience moments of epiphany in this country. Because of their moments of epiphany, they will want to go back and undo what they’ve done. The more they try and fail, the more they hear ‘no returns, no exchanges, no exceptions,’ the more their bitterness will amplify. The more amplified the bitterness of an ever growing populace, the more chance there is of a spark setting off the powder keg.

The one thing the engineers of the movement to socialize America did not take into account is that those who embraced socialism and communism in other lands were already beaten, and stripped of their individuality before the system was instituted.

Granted, they’ve succeeded in assimilating and brainwashing the young generation, but there are still those of the older generations who remember what once was, and how sweet true freedom tastes, who will not acquiesce and who will not go gently into that good night.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

P.S. To Fiona B, Sorry about that. Please send me your name and address, and I will send you a paperback copy of the book. The e-book is getting fixed by the folks who broke it as we speak. God bless.