Category Insights on Scripture

Deep thoughts from the well spring of life

From Manger to Marriage: Preparing the Bride, Not the Cradle

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

God’s Jealous Holiness

The very first commandment thunders: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). This is not a suggestion—it is the foundation of covenant faith. God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24), a jealous God who refuses to share His glory with idols (Isaiah 42:8). When His people profane His name by mixing pagan practices with worship, His wrath is stirred. Israel learned this the hard way: when they borrowed from Baal and the nations, He sent them into exile (Jeremiah 7:30–34).

Today, the church risks the same judgment. By elevating Christmas—a festival grafted onto the pagan worship of Sol Invictus, the sun god—we profane His holiness. We call it “the Christmas story,” but nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to honor His birth. The gospel is not about repeating manger scenes; it is about Christ crucified, risen, and returning.

The manger is past; the marriage is coming.

The Days of Noah Revisited

Jesus warned: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37–39). In Noah’s day, people ate, drank, married, bought, and sold—business as usual—until judgment swept them away.

Is it any different now? We have Christmas parties, shopping frenzies, and sentimental carols. There are decorated trees and manger displays. Meanwhile, the church remains oblivious to the urgency of Christ’s return. We are living in the days of Noah again: distracted, unprepared, blind to the storm clouds of judgment.

The manger is past; the marriage is coming.

The Gospel’s Completeness

The Incarnation was necessary because of sin, but it is not the center of the gospel. Scripture declares: “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). Once born, once crucified, once risen. The manger is history; the cross is complete.

We do not rebirth Him every December. We do not repeat the gospel cycle of “baby Jesus” year after year. The gospel is eternal, not seasonal. Christ is alive, reigning, and coming again.

The manger is past; the marriage is coming.

The Bride vs. the Cradle

  • Christmas Sentiment: Preparing straw, donkeys, sheep, and manger scenes.
  • Kingdom Reality: Preparing garments of righteousness, hearts of repentance, and readiness for the Bridegroom (Revelation 19:7).

The church’s obsession with the cradle blinds it to the call of the Bride. Jesus is not looking for another manger; He is looking for a bride clothed in holiness, ready to receive Him.

The manger is past; the marriage is coming.

Hebrews 6: A Rebuke to Infancy

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…” (Hebrews 6:1–3).

This is the piercing word for our generation. Year after year, the church lays again the same foundation. It presents Jesus as a baby in a manger. It shows Jesus on a cross and Jesus in a tomb. We rehearse the same scenes, decorate the same altars, and sing the same sentimental songs. But we never move on to the deeper things. These include resurrection power, eternal judgment, the indwelling Spirit, and the preparation of the Bride.

God’s Wrath Against Idolatry

The prophets declared that God hates corrupted festivals (Amos 5:21–23). He judged kings who tolerated Baal worship. He destroyed altars that profaned His name.

Christmas is not harmless tradition—it is a borrowed glory, a pagan overlay baptized into the church. God’s wrath is against all ungodliness and idolatry (Romans 1:18). To elevate Christmas as a “high holy day” is to risk His jealousy.

The Prophetic Call

The Spirit is saying: Stop profaning His glory with borrowed festivals.

  • Return to His appointed times—Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles—the feasts Christ fulfilled and will fulfill.
  • Celebrate the living Christ, not a sentimental tradition.
  • Prepare not for another manger, but for the coming King.
  • Grow up into maturity—leave behind childish cycles and walk in the fullness of Christ.

The manger is past; the marriage is coming.

Closing Admonition

The jealous God is not looking for decorated trees or nostalgic carols. He is looking for a bride clothed in righteousness, ready to meet Him. The manger is past; the marriage is coming. The days of Noah are upon us—business as usual while judgment looms.

The call is urgent: repent, prepare, and watch, for the Bridegroom is at the door. Let us leave behind infancy and tradition, and go on to maturity in Christ.

The manger is past; the marriage is coming.

Candles for the Temple, Stones for the Christ

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

It was winter in Jerusalem. The temple glowed with borrowed fire, its lamps trembling against the night. Oil surrendered itself to the wick, a fragile flame destined to die. Songs rose in memory of deliverance, yet the Deliverer Himself walked unwelcomed beneath the colonnade.

Candles for the temple, stones for the Christ.

Stones in Their Hands, Darkness in Their Hearts

The stones they carried were not merely weapons—they were confessions. Hardened hands revealed hardened hearts. They lit external lights to honor a miracle of oil, but their souls remained unlit, their lives filled with shadow. The menorah burned in the temple, but the flame of faith was extinguished within them.

The Porch of Exclusion

Christ did not stand in the center of the temple, enthroned as High Priest. He walked the porch, the margins, the place of debate and suspicion. Even His location was a parable: the true Temple treated as an intruder to their festivities. Dedication was celebrated in stone, but the Dedicator Himself was pushed aside.

The Ancient Substitution

This pattern is older than the stones themselves:

  • The Ark adored, while the God of the Ark ignored.
  • The Temple exalted, while the Lord of the Temple rejected.
  • The Feasts observed, while the God of the feasts forgotten.

And the pattern endures: wafers raised while Christ is sidelined, Christmas packaging adored while the Lord of all is reduced to a seasonal diversion. Humanity clings to symbols because they can be controlled; it resists substance because it demands surrender.

Admonitions as Questions

  • Do we decorate the season and neglect dedication?
  • Do we polish the temple while ignoring the God of the temple?
  • Do we idolize the wrapper while discarding the gift?
  • Do we cling to ritual light while resisting the eternal Light?

The Call

The Festival of Lights burned in the temple, but the Light of the world was nearly snuffed out in the colonnade. Stones in their hands mirrored the stony hardness of their hearts. Candles in their temple masked the darkness of their lives. And Christ on the porch revealed their refusal to welcome Him as High Priest.

Rededicate not the stone, but the soul. Adore not the wrapper, but the Gift. Welcome not the flicker of ritual, but the brilliance of His presence

Once Born, Once Slain, Once Risen, Now Reigns

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The church has been lulled into cycles of repetition, borrowing pagan customs and sentimental traditions that obscure the gospel. But the Word of God cuts sharper than any ritual. Here are four truths that stand immovable, each one a pillar of the greatest story ever told.

Christ was born once.

The incarnation was not a seasonal myth or a cycle to be replayed every December. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). That moment in Bethlehem was the opening act of redemption, the eternal God stepping into human frailty. He came once, and that was enough. To rehearse His birth as if it were an annual event is to reduce the incarnation to pagan repetition.

Christ died once.

The cross was not symbolic theater—it was the decisive sacrifice. “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Pagan gods die endlessly in cycles, but Christ’s death was final. It satisfied the wrath of God, fulfilled prophecy, and broke the curse. There is no need for repetition; the penalty has been paid in full.

Christ rose once.

The resurrection is the hinge of history. “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). Unlike Baal or Sol Invictus, Christ does not rise each year with the sun. He rose once, never to die again. His empty tomb is the triumph that validates our faith and secures eternal life. This is not seasonal hope—it is eternal reality.

Christ forever reign.

The story does not end at the tomb. “He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). His ascension enthroned Him, and His reign is ongoing. He is not a Babe to be revisited each December—He is the King who rules now and will return in glory. The finale is not nostalgia but the appearing of Christ in power.

Admonition

Stop rehearsing pagan cycles. Stop lighting candles for what has already been fulfilled. Preach the gospel: once born, once slain, once risen, now reigns—soon to return.

Expect the Unexpected

Allen Frederick Leave a comment



For four hundred years the heavens were silent. “The word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation” (1 Samuel 3:1). From Malachi to Matthew, no prophet spoke, no angel appeared, and generations were conditioned to believe nothing would ever change. Yet at the appointed time, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4).

Zechariah & Elizabeth

They prayed for a child. Years of barrenness and advancing age convinced them it was no longer in the cards. Discouragement? Perhaps. Resignation? Certainly. Biology said it was too late. Yet Gabriel appeared in the temple and declared, “Your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13). Heaven answered a prayer long thought dead. Their doubts remind us that God’s timing often collides with our resignation. His mercy surprises us when we least expect it.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Mary

Mary wasn’t seeking an immaculate conception. She wasn’t imagining herself as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. She was simply living quietly in Nazareth. Yet Gabriel greeted her: “You have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30). Her first response was confusion: “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34). Mary’s bewilderment shows us that favor often comes wrapped in impossibility, and surrender is the only doorway to miracle.

Joseph

Joseph’s world collapsed when he learned Mary was pregnant. Human reasoning told him the obvious: she had been unfaithful. He resolved to end the betrothal quietly, because he knew how this works… except heaven interrupted. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Joseph’s wrestling reminds us that obedience often requires us to lay down logic and trust God’s word above our assumptions.

Shepherds

Shepherds were the lowest of the low, never picked first, always picked last. They weren’t expecting anything spectacular to happen in their lives. Yet God needed a witness. “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people” (Luke 2:10). The angelic choir split the skies above their fields, not the palace or the temple. The shepherds remind us that heaven’s glory often comes to the overlooked. God delights in choosing those who are last to be first. (Matt 20:16)



The Admonition

None of them were looking. None of them were expecting. Yet each was chosen for a divine appointment. Heaven broke silence, history shifted, and God did what man could not.

He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John 1:11). More missed His birth than experienced it. The angelic choir did not awaken the whole town; only the shepherds saw. The world slept while heaven sang. And so it will be again. “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38–39).

Beloved, this is not a season for nostalgia. Advent is not merely remembrance of Bethlehem—it is readiness for the skies. “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

With all these witnesses and with the Scriptures as our foundation, we know Jesus will soon appear. We do not know when, but we are without excuse—for He told us He would return, and He told us how. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:3). “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:12).

Therefore, we must believe and be ready. “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching” (Luke 12:37). “Let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37).

The Watchman’s Call

Do not be lulled to sleep by ritual or routine. Do not be distracted by the noise of the world. Heaven broke silence once, and it will break silence again. Expect the Unexpected. Believe His word. Be ready for His appearing.

A Proclamation for Advent

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The Herald’s Proclamation

We are not entertainers, nor seasonal well-wishers. We are heralds of the Most High, entrusted with a royal decree that cannot be diluted or deferred. The gospel we proclaim is not a cultural tradition, nor a sentimental greeting—it is the eternal announcement of victory through Jesus Christ.

We declare that:

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

He was buried, and He rose again on the third day.

He ascended in triumph and will return in glory.

This is the good news—the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. It is the message entrusted to us, the trumpet blast that awakens the nations, the light that pierces the darkness.

We are commanded to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations. We are charged to make disciples, baptize, and teach obedience to His Word. We are sent as witnesses, empowered by the Spirit, to proclaim liberty to the captives and sight to the blind.

We do not gather to flatter Him with birthday wishes, as though He were a man bound by time. We gather to proclaim Him as the eternal Son, the risen Lord, the reigning King.

Final Charge

Preach the gospel—not wish Him a happy birthday.