July 17, 2006
The times are upon us. Although there are events worthy of mention taking place in the world such as volcanoes, freak storms, rampaging fires, and madmen with itchy fingers on nuclear triggers, all these seem to pale in comparison to the very real possibility that we are on the brink of the third world war.
It would be superfluous for me to go into any sort of detail, since simply turning on the evening news, or listening to the radio on one's drive to work, is enough to bring you up to speed on the state of affairs the world finds itself in today. What amazes me, is the stunning rapidity with which Bible prophecy is beginning to unfold, the speed with which world opinion can lash out at a small nation surrounded on all sides by powerful enemies. The events unfolding in the Middle East today, as well as events that will continue to unfold with the passing of time, are by no means an accident. Chance, and coincidence are not in God's vocabulary, and all that occurs is with purpose, in order to bring His plans to fruition.
The reason for this article is not to rehash that which has been spoken, or try to explain the events that are taking place, since they are self explanatory, but rather to discuss the Church's reaction to all that is taking place.
Although chaos is mounting, although uncertainty casts a pale shadow on the life of every inhabitant on earth the church, the body of Christ, those who aught to be standing in the gap, slumber on. Although there has never been a more opportune time for sober mindedness, and spiritual maturity, we are like a one trick pony, banging the same drum, spouting the same rhetoric, unwilling to face the reality that is upon us.
Rather than encourage their followers to a closer walk with God, or expound on the benefits and necessity of righteousness, the talking heads that are the spiritual elite of America, continue to pacify their financial contributors with the same tired lines of sowing seed and reaping harvests, and comfort their worried hearts with the notion that any day now, we will all be caught up, nevermore to be concerned with what is taking place on this ravaged spinning rock.
The alarm is sounding, but who will hear it? God is calling out to His own, but His own are too preoccupied with the material to be concerned with the spiritual. Visions of thousand fold returns on their donations, leave no room for reality, and for fear of being stirred from their slumber, they plug up their ears to the truth. Sound doctrine, and messages of warning are quickly brushed aside, for uplifting testimonies of financial breakthroughs, and the search for knowledge and wisdom has been done away with because it eats into too much of the time we've set aside for looking at beachfront properties and private jets.
The time for plausible deniability is passed, as is the time for pleading ignorance. The world, those not of the house of God, is seeing the truth that the Church is vehemently refusing to acknowledge, and we who aught to know have adopted a passive, almost indifferent attitude to all that is happening around us.
It would seem, and tragically so, that it is not only the world that stands at the crossroads, but also the Church, for if we are unwilling to change our direction, if we are unwilling to make truth the solid foundation on which we stand, if we are unwilling to lay aside preconceived notions, fables, and imaginings, we will not weather the storm that is upon us now.
We have maimed and mutilated the Word of God to fit neatly into our personal doctrine, and view of the world, but reality and our preconceived ideology are clashing violently, and only one of the two will survive this encounter. When faced with truth, illusion has no hope of survival, for truth is as substantive as illusion is void of substance.
Time is slipping away, like sand slipping through the fingers of a child, and the longer the Church goes without redeeming the time, as God commands, the further we will find ourselves not only from the will of God, but also from His sovereign protection, for the two are conjoined, and cannot be independent of each other.
I pray that wisdom guide our footsteps, that truth open our eyes to the urgency of God's message, and that His Holy Spirit would compel us to seek His face all the more in this tumultuous hour.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.