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Salt and Light: The Gospel Is Not a Getaway Plan

Allen Frederick Leave a comment
A Wake-Up Call to the Sleeping Church

We were never called to be museum curators of tradition, nor tourists waiting for heaven’s shuttle. The gospel is not a spiritual escape hatch. It is a kingdom invasion plan. Jesus did not say, “Hide in cathedrals until I come back.” He said:

“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Matthew 5:13–14

But today, many churches have traded their watchtowers for stage lights. We have replaced prophetic fire with polished programming, and bold witness with brand management. The result is a generation that knows how to sing worship songs but does not know how to stand against wickedness.

Salt That Has Lost Its Saltiness

Salt preserves. Salt purifies. Salt stings when it touches infection. But Jesus warned:

“If the salt loses its saltiness… it is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Matthew 5:13

Salt only affects something because it is different from what surrounds it. Light only affects darkness because it possesses something darkness does not. Once the Church begins taking its identity, values, methods, definitions of truth, and measures of success from the surrounding culture, it gradually loses the very distinction that enables it to influence that culture.

And that makes Jesus’ warning about salt especially sobering. The danger is not merely persecution from the world. There is another danger: assimilation into the world.

That is not poetic fluff. That is judgment. A church that refuses to confront sin, call out heresy, and stand for truth has lost its preserving influence on the culture it is trying to impress.

  • We have become therapeutic chaplains to a dying world instead of spiritual surgeons.
  • We have confused niceness with holiness, and tolerance with truth.
  • We have preached “God is love” while ignoring that the God who loves is also holy, jealous, and just.

Light That Refuses to Shine

Light exposes. Light guides. Light disrupts darkness. But too many believers are hiding their lamps under the pews, afraid to offend, afraid to be labeled “intolerant,” and afraid to lose followers.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16

This is not about performative virtue. It is about visible righteousness. It is about living lives so saturated with truth, purity, and courage that the world cannot help but take notice, forcing the question of what it will do with the Christ it sees reflected in us.

The Cathedral Is Not the Mission

Fancy buildings do not save souls. Fog machines do not cast out demons. A well-crafted sermon is no substitute for Spirit-led conviction. The early church had no cathedrals, no budgets, and no branding, but it had power, boldness, and truth.

  • Peter did not whisper at Pentecost. He proclaimed Christ boldly.
  • Paul did not tiptoe around idolatry. He exposed it and pointed people to the living God.
  • Stephen did not compromise his witness. He spoke the truth even when it cost him his life.

We do not need more comfortable Christians. We need courageous ones. We do not need more safe spaces. We need sacred spaces where repentance is real and holiness is non-negotiable.

The Gospel Ship Needs Righting

The church is not a cruise liner. It is a kingdom vessel on assignment. It is time to:

  • Raise the prophetic sails again.
  • Man the watchtower with discernment.
  • Sound the alarm when compromise creeps in.
  • Refuse to dock in the harbor of cultural appeasement.

We are not here to be liked. We are here to be light. We are not here to blend in. We are here to stand out. We are not here to entertain. We are here to equip, exhort, and evangelize.

The question is not whether the darkness is getting darker. The question is whether the light is still shining and whether the salt still has its savor.

“We don’t need more churches. We need more salt.”

ALTERING THE MASTER’S CLOCK

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The Historic Shift from Divine Order to Human Tradition

Twice a year, like clockwork, millions of people dutifully reach for their clocks to push the hands forward or fall back. We yield to human mandates without question, adjusting our sleeping schedules, daily routines, and working hours simply because an earthly authority declared it time to do so. In America, we toggle back and forth between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time—labeling it an “adjustment” for our own convenience.

Yet, the irony of Daylight Saving Time is striking: changing our clocks does not alter the actions or the arc of the solar system by a single second. The sun is not governed by digital displays, Timex watches, or human legislation. It is commanded by the Creator alone. The sun will rise when it rises, set when it sets, and deliver the exact measure of daylight ordained from the beginning of creation. Man’s attempt to manipulate time is nothing more than an illusion—a self-delusion that we can rewrite the heavens simply because we re-labeled the dial.

Standard time exists whether we acknowledge it or not. In the exact same way, God’s Standard Time remains fixed, absolute, and unyielding.

A far more catastrophic illusion has gone largely unnoticed within the walls of modern religion. Centuries ago, human institutions did not merely adjust an hour on an earthly clock—they presumed to dismantle the Creator’s divine timepiece altogether. They took God’s Standard Time, set according to His appointed times, and substituted it with human customs, pagan syncretism, and men’s traditions.

The Divine Blueprint: God’s Prophetic Master Clock

We have abandoned God’s Standard Time for man’s adjusted time, and in doing so, we have supplanted divine commands with human tradition.

Scripture introduces the sacred calendar not as a set of cultural rituals for a single demographic, but as the supreme framework of redemption. In the text of Leviticus 23:2, God establishes these observances with absolute clarity:

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.’” — Leviticus 23:2

The biblical text does not call them “the feasts of the Jews”; it calls them Mo’edim—the appointed times of the Creator. These seven feasts form a precise, two-part prophetic clock centered entirely on the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ:

•  The Spring Feasts (The First Coming): Passover (Pesach), Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot), Firstfruits (Bikkurim), and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot / Pentecost). These were fulfilled to the exact hour and day through Christ’s sacrifice, burial, resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

•  The Fall Feasts (The Second Coming): The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). These serve as ongoing prophetic rehearsals pointing directly to the awakening blast, final judgment, and the return of the King to dwell with humanity.

When the church abandoned these appointed times, it did not merely drop ancient historical observances. It disconnected itself from the divine prophetic clock that maps out the Messiah’s entire work.

The Historic Shift: How Human Tradition Replaced Divine Law

This shift from divine time to human tradition was neither accidental nor passive. History records a deliberate campaign by early political and religious councils to sever the Gentile church from its biblical roots and Jewish identity—effectively declaring to the Almighty, “Thanks Lord, but we’ll take it from here.”

Timeline / CouncilHistorical & Theological Impact
325 AD
Council of Nicaea		Emperor Constantine and church leaders officially severed the resurrection celebration from the biblical lunar date of Passover (14 Nisan). In imperial decrees, Constantine explicitly cited anti-Judaic motivations to justify departing from the biblical calendar, establishing an independent calculation for what became Easter Sunday.
364 AD
Council of Laodicea		Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea officially prohibited resting on the seventh-day Sabbath, mandating work on the Sabbath and enforcing rest on Sunday. The council declared those who continued to honor the seventh-day Sabbath to be operating outside church authority.
4th–6th Century
Calendar Syncretism		To replace the suppressed biblical feasts (Mo’edim), religious authorities adapted existing cultural and midwinter solstice celebrations—such as Saturnalia—into Christmas, while spring seasonal rites were reformatted into liturgical holy days, creating a church calendar rooted in human decree rather than divine command.

This historic pivot created a profound theological split. By creating a separate “church calendar” filled with traditions like Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas while ignoring the commanded Mo’edim, religious institutions established a completely separate system of worship.

The High Price of Good Intentions: Strange Fire & Ox Carts

Modern believers often brush off these calendar shifts with a comforting defense: “As long as my heart is right and I’m sincere, God accepts my worship.” But scripture strips away that delusion with terrifying clarity. Good intentions have never sanctified bad doctrine or unauthorized worship.

Look at the biblical record:

•  Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1–2): Aaron’s sons were ordained priests offering incense to the Lord. Their intent was to worship Him. Yet they brought “strange fire”—unauthorized fire that God had not explicitly commanded. Fire flared out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them instantly. Sincerity did not spare them from the consequence of substituting God’s command with their own method.

•  David, Uzzah, and the Ox Cart (2 Samuel 6:1–7): King David’s heart was pure in wanting to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. But instead of carrying it on the shoulders of the Levites as God instructed (Numbers 7:9), they copied a pagan practice from the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:7) and placed the Ark on a brand-new ox cart. When the oxen stumbled and the cart rocked, Uzzah reached out with a protective hand to steady the Ark—and God struck him dead on the spot.

Uzzah’s motive was noble, but his method was pagan. David learned a brutal lesson: you cannot use pagan methods to honor a Holy God.

When the modern church adopts pagan solstice festivals, spring fertility traditions, and man-made holy days, labeling them “sacred pageantry” to celebrate Christ, we are placing the holy things of God on a Philistine ox cart. We are offering strange fire on the altar and convincing ourselves that God must accept it because “our hearts are good.”

The Shift in Authority: A Counterfeit Lordship

When human institutions detached the faith from its scriptural roots and discarded the Mo’edim, the consequence was far greater than a change in holy days. It represented a fundamental shift in ultimate spiritual authority.

Scripture is explicit: the One who establishes the times, the covenants, and the appointed assemblies is God alone. In Mark 2:28, Jesus declared His supreme authority over divine time:

“So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” — Mark 2:28

To be the Lord of the Sabbath and the Master of the Mo’edim is a title reserved exclusively for the Creator. Therefore, when earthly leaders and church councils presumed to alter God’s calendar, replace His commands with human decrees, and sever believers from the cultivated olive tree, they did not simply “update” tradition—they asserted a competing authority.

By setting aside the commandments of Christ to institute man-made holy days, religious leadership positioned human tradition as the ultimate lawgiver. In doing so, modern practice inadvertently submits to a counterfeit lordship: choosing the arrogance of human councils over the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ.

One Olive Tree: The Grafted Reality

The primary justification for discarding God’s calendar within modern theology is the belief that the church operates under a completely separate identity from Israel, dismissing the feasts as “old dispensation rituals.” Yet scripture dismantles this wall of division. Writing to Gentile believers in Romans 11:17–18, the Apostle Paul clarifies our true identity:

“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches.” — Romans 11:17–18

Gentile believers were not given a separate tree, a separate covenant, or a separate calendar. We were grafted into the single, cultivated olive tree of Israel. We share in the covenant promises, the scriptural roots, and the divine commands given to God’s people. To reject the root is to cut ourselves off from the life of the tree.

A Call to Reset the Clock

The indictment against replacing divine instruction with human custom is not a matter of personal preference; it is a clear biblical warning. In Mark 7:8–9, Jesus directly confronted the religious leaders of His era with words that echo loudly today:

“You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions… You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” — Mark 7:8–9

Just as no human law can alter the rising of the sun, no religious decree can change the Master’s eternal calendar. Man’s church calendar will fade, but God’s Standard Time stands forever. Look at how the Prophet Isaiah describes the worship of the redeemed in the eternal Kingdom to come:

“‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘so shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord.” — Isaiah 66:22–23

If God’s appointed rhythms are the standard for eternity in the New Heavens and New Earth, why have we abandoned them today for human substitutes?

We stand at a critical crossroads. We can continue to run on man’s adjusted time, holding human traditions as sacrosanct while ignoring the commandments of the Most High. Or we can fall back to the truth, reject syncretized customs, and return to God’s Standard Time—the sacred, prophetic rhythms established by the Creator.

The Creator set the clock; man merely re-labeled the dial. It is time to reject man’s adjusted time and return to God’s Standard Time.

I See Dead People

Allen Frederick Leave a comment
But When I Lifted My Eyes, I Saw Jesus Only

There is a famous line from the movie The Sixth Sense that almost everyone recognizes: “I see dead people.” Well, apparently Peter did too. Long before Hollywood turned those words into one of cinema’s most memorable lines, Peter, James, and John climbed a mountain with Jesus and witnessed something astonishing. Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, His clothing became white as light, and suddenly two men appeared with Him: Moses and Elijah. Peter responded by offering to build three shelters, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Then, while Peter was still speaking, the Father interrupted him from heaven and directed the disciples toward His Son. When the disciples finally lifted their eyes again, Moses and Elijah were gone. They saw no one except Jesus.

Three Tabernacles

Peter was understandably overwhelmed by what he saw. We should be careful not to accuse Peter of intentionally developing a doctrine that placed Moses and Elijah on exactly the same level as Jesus. Nevertheless, the picture is striking. Peter sees three glorious figures and responds by proposing three shelters. Then heaven interrupts him.

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
Matthew 17:5

The Father does not say, “Hear them.” He says, “Hear Him.” The disciples fall on their faces in fear. Jesus approaches and touches them. When they finally lift their eyes, they see no one except Jesus. There is the picture, the message, and the heart of the matter: Jesus only.

Moses Had His Place

None of this dishonors Moses. God chose Moses for an extraordinary purpose. Through Moses came the Law and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. But Moses was not the Messiah, and Moses was never supposed to become the destination. Jesus Himself said that Moses wrote concerning Him. If we truly honor Moses, we follow the direction in which Moses was pointing. We do not honor the signpost by stopping at the signpost. We honor it by going where it directs us.

Elijah Had His Place

The same principle applies to Elijah. Elijah stood boldly against apostasy and witnessed extraordinary demonstrations of God’s power, but Elijah was not the destination either. Christians have long recognized in Moses and Elijah a fitting picture of the Law and the Prophets standing in the presence of the One toward whom the biblical story was moving. They do not compete with Christ; they testify to Him. The Law has its place and the prophets have their place, but Christ occupies the place belonging to Christ alone. Then the representatives disappear from view, and the One to whom they pointed remains: Jesus only.

Why Are You Consulting Me?

There is another strange biblical encounter with a departed servant of God that belongs in this discussion. Samuel had died. The Philistine army had gathered against Israel, and Saul was terrified. Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him through dreams, Urim, or prophets. Saul then sought a medium and specifically requested Samuel.

When Samuel appears, Saul explains exactly what he wants. God is no longer answering him, so Saul has called Samuel to tell him what to do. Samuel responds with a haunting question: “Why do you consult me?” Saul’s fundamental problem was not that Samuel was unavailable or that Saul lacked information. His problem was broken obedience before God. Yet instead of confronting the real issue, Saul searched for another avenue to obtain spiritual direction. When our relationship with God becomes strained, when obedience becomes costly, when God seems silent, or when He has already spoken and we do not like what He has said, we are remarkably capable of looking for another route.

Saul’s consultation with a medium should not be carelessly equated with later Christian practices of requesting the intercession of departed saints. They are not identical practices. Nevertheless, Saul’s story establishes a principle worth considering: a servant of God is never a substitute for God, and seeking the servant does not repair a relationship with the Master.

Then Why Do I Need Another Mediator?

Roman Catholic teaching deserves to be represented accurately. Catholicism does not officially teach that saints are additional gods competing with Jesus. It understands the saints within the communion of the Church and teaches that saints in heaven may intercede for believers. The strongest biblical objection is therefore not simply to accuse Catholics of worshiping dead people. The more difficult question is this: Why do I need another intermediary?

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
1 Timothy 2:5

That verse does not belittle faithful believers who have gone before us. It puts them in their proper place while putting Christ in His. Moses is not my mediator. Elijah is not my mediator. Samuel is not my mediator. Peter is not my mediator. Paul is not my mediator. Mary is not my mediator. Jesus Christ is my mediator. Saints may testify concerning Christ, prophets may point toward Christ, and apostles may preach Christ, but none of them reconciled sinful humanity to God. That belongs to Jesus.

We Already Have Access

The wonder of the Gospel is not that Jesus brings us close enough to God that we can begin searching for somebody else to carry us the rest of the way. Jesus Himself is the way.

“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Ephesians 2:18

Look carefully at that movement: through Him, by the Spirit, unto the Father. The believer does not have to stand outside God’s throne room searching for someone spiritually important enough to obtain an audience. Jesus Himself taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father.” Hebrews tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace. If Christ has already opened the door, why are we searching for another entrance?

Honor Is Not Mediation

There is nothing wrong with honoring faithful believers who came before us. Scripture remembers the faithfulness of God’s people across generations. Their faith encourages us, their failures warn us, and their lives can strengthen our own walk. But honoring someone is not the same thing as making that person part of our approach to God. I can thank God for Peter without praying to Peter. I can admire Paul’s faith without asking Paul to carry my prayer to Christ. I can recognize Mary’s extraordinary place in the history of redemption without requiring Mary to provide access to her Son. They have their places within God’s redemptive story, but they are not its center. Jesus is.

The Danger of Building Three Tabernacles

Perhaps Peter’s instinct on that mountain exposes something that exists within all of us. Human beings love building tabernacles. We build them around people, movements, denominations, theological systems, traditions, pastors, teachers, reformers, saints, and even particular eras of church history. Something God genuinely used can gradually become something we elevate until our attention subtly shifts from the One who used it. Then heaven speaks into our tabernacle-building: “This is my beloved Son… hear ye him.”

This is where Protestants need to stop congratulating themselves. We may never kneel before the image of a saint, yet we can elevate a favorite preacher or theologian until that person’s interpretation becomes practically unquestionable. We can do the same thing with catechisms, confessions, systematic theologies, denominational statements, and traditions. Those things are not necessarily wrong. Good theology is a gift. The problem begins when the servant replaces the Master, the signpost replaces the destination, or the thing that testifies about Christ becomes a substitute for coming to Christ Himself.

When We Start Looking for Another Way

The problem beneath all of this is ultimately a problem of the heart. Human beings have a recurring tendency to seek alternate spiritual routes when trust and obedience become difficult. Saul reached backward for Samuel. Peter wanted to preserve the moment by building three tabernacles. Religious people throughout history have repeatedly been tempted to build systems around those whom God used rather than continuing toward the God to whom those servants pointed. The forms change, but the temptation remains: give me something I can consult, systematize, or control rather than requiring me to trust the living God with all my heart.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5

The Saints Should Point Us to Jesus

A genuine servant of God should never want to become the destination. John the Baptist expressed the heart of true ministry perfectly: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” If Moses could stand before us today, where would Moses point us? Jesus said Moses wrote concerning Him. If Elijah stood before us, would Elijah direct attention toward himself or toward the God whose Word he proclaimed? The faithful servant continually points beyond himself: Don’t stop with me. Look to Him.

I See Dead People

So yes, the Bible shows us departed servants of God. Samuel appears in that strange and troubling episode at Endor. Moses and Elijah appear with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. But notice what Scripture does with those encounters. Saul goes looking for Samuel because he desperately wants spiritual direction, and Samuel asks why Saul is consulting him. Peter unexpectedly sees Moses and Elijah standing with Christ and wants to build three tabernacles, but heaven interrupts him: “This is my beloved Son… hear ye him.” Then the disciples lift their eyes. Moses is gone. Elijah is gone. Scripture leaves us with one of the simplest and most profound pictures imaginable: “They saw no man, save Jesus only.”

Perhaps that is the picture the Church needs again. We can remember those who came before us, honor their faithfulness, learn from their testimony, read their writings, and thank God for their obedience. But we do not need to build another tabernacle. We do not need another mediator. We do not need another way to the Father. The Law couldn’t get us there. The prophets couldn’t get us there. The saints can’t get us there. Our denominations can’t get us there. Our theological systems can’t get us there. Religion can’t get us there. But Jesus did.

He crossed the chasm, reconciled sinful humanity to God, opened the way into the Father’s presence, and invited us to come. So when every other figure fades from view, when every human name resumes its proper place, and when every substitute we have constructed falls to the ground, may we lift our eyes and discover again what Peter, James, and John discovered on that mountain: No man, save Jesus only.

When Government Takes a Left Turn, Ruin Quickly Follows

Allen Frederick Leave a comment
A biblical warning about spiritual deception, political salvation, and the King who alone belongs on the throne

There is something deeper behind the political condition of a nation than parties, platforms, elections, and personalities. Scripture tells us that spiritual forces are at work in this world, including what John calls “the spirit of antichrist,” a spirit opposed to the truth and authority of Jesus Christ.

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist… and even now already is it in the world.”
1 John 4:3

That spirit does not always announce itself by openly declaring war against God. Deception is more effective when rebellion is disguised as enlightenment, bondage as compassion, dependence as security, and human government as the answer to problems that are ultimately spiritual.

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them…”
1 Thessalonians 5:3

There is something tremendously appealing about peace and safety. Tell frightened people that you can protect them, provide for them, remove their risks, solve their problems, and secure their future, and they may willingly surrender things they would never relinquish by force. The deception works because the promise tells people something they desperately want to hear.

Tell Us What We Want to Hear

Paul warned Timothy that a time would come when people would no longer endure sound doctrine, but would gather teachers around themselves according to their own desires. The problem, therefore, would not merely be deceptive teachers. There would also be willing listeners.

That principle reaches beyond the pulpit. People choose pastors who affirm what they already believe, commentators who reinforce what they already think, and political leaders who promise what they already desire. Eventually truth itself becomes offensive because truth sometimes tells us precisely what we do not want to hear.

Give Us a King

That brings us directly to 1 Samuel 8. Israel came to Samuel demanding a king “like all the nations.” They wanted visible leadership, political security, and a ruler who would fight their battles.

“They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
1 Samuel 8:7

Israel thought it was making a political decision. God called it a spiritual rejection. They wanted visible human power instead of dependence upon God, and He warned them exactly what their political salvation would cost.

The king would take their sons and daughters, their fields and vineyards, their harvests and livestock. The government they expected to serve them would eventually make servants of them.

“And ye shall be his servants.”
1 Samuel 8:17

God warned them plainly. They wanted the king anyway.

Before Government Takes, Government Promises

Government seldom begins by saying, “Give us greater control over your life.” It says, “Let us help you.” It promises security, provision, protection, fairness, peace and safety.

The danger arises when people begin expecting government to provide what belongs to God, family, personal responsibility, community, and conscience. The more government is expected to give, the more government eventually must take.

Israel discovered that truth thousands of years ago. They wanted a king to fight their battles. They got Saul. But when Goliath appeared, their political savior stood frightened with everyone else. Deliverance came through David, a shepherd whose confidence rested not in office or military power, but in the Lord.

“I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts…”
1 Samuel 17:45

Israel wanted a king. God reminded them that they still needed Him.

The Left Turn

That is what I mean by a nation taking a “left turn.” It is deeper than Democrat versus Republican. It is the ancient spiritual turn away from God’s authority toward confidence in human power.

The left can promise salvation through government programs and centralized authority. The right can fall into the same trap by placing messianic expectations upon politicians, personalities, national power, or political victory. Antichrist is not simply “the other political party.” The spirit of antichrist is opposed to Christ.

That makes the political question much larger than “Who will govern us?” The biblical question is: Who will reign over us?

America’s founding principle that our fundamental rights come from the Creator rather than government recognizes an essential distinction. Government does not create our liberty, and therefore should not become its master.

Government Is Not God

Civil government has a legitimate purpose. It should administer justice, restrain wrongdoing, and protect the innocent. But government cannot redeem the human heart, legislate righteousness into existence, manufacture peace, or save us.

Yet political salvation remains attractive because it requires something much easier than repentance: a vote. Repentance requires us to change. Political salvation merely requires us to change who is in charge.

The Turn We Really Need

That is why another election alone cannot heal America. Elections matter. Laws matter. Leadership matters. But politics cannot cure a spiritual disease.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways…”
2 Chronicles 7:14

Notice the direction. God does not begin by telling His people to change the government. He tells His people to turn.

While everyone argues about whether America should turn left or right, Scripture calls God’s people to make an entirely different turn: back to God.

When Christ is displaced, no political movement can save us. When truth becomes unwanted, people will find leaders willing to tell them what they want to hear. And when government assumes the place of provider, protector, and savior, Samuel’s warning begins sounding remarkably familiar: the king will take.

So vote. Participate. Discern. Hold leaders accountable. But never confuse Caesar with Christ.

Government can occupy an office. Only Jesus belongs on the throne.

Trick or Treat: The Bitter Beneath the Sweet

Allen Frederick Leave a comment
A Prophetic Call to Axe the Root, Smash the Altar, and Restore True Worship

The Siren Song of the Canopy

When autumn arrives, the culture presents a visually captivating scene: colorful falling leaves, cozy cornstalks, glowing pumpkins, and innocent family fellowship. Like the mythical Sirens whose sweet songs lured sailors to destruction, the aesthetic of October 31st sings an attractive tune. It invites the Church to admire the beauty of the leaves, listen to children’s laughter, and enjoy the sweetness of candy—all while calling the celebration harmless fun.

A common modern defense rests on the premise that, because idols have no inherent physical power, participating in Halloween is merely harmless make-believe. But this argument makes a grave spiritual error: it evaluates a tree solely by its leaves while ignoring its root and its fruit.

“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.”
— Matthew 7:18

When believers admire the aesthetic canopy of a festival associated with darkness, they risk falling into the same pattern of seduction that beguiled Eve in the Garden of Eden—choosing what pleases the eyes over obedience to God’s command.

The Edenic Beguilement: Good to Look At, Good to Eat

In Genesis 3, the serpent did not present sin as grotesque, terrifying, or vile. He presented it as beautiful, intellectually liberating, and wholly desirable. When Eve looked at the forbidden tree, Scripture records three fatal impressions:

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
— Genesis 3:6

This is the same mechanism by which the Bride of Christ can be beguiled today. The modern celebration of October 31st—whether observed on neighborhood sidewalks or adapted for church parking lots under the banner of “family outreach”—is presented as good to look at (festive lights and cheerful costumes) and good to eat (sweet candy and community fellowship).

Yet, just as in Eden, stepping beyond God’s holy boundaries to taste the sweetness of a cultural counterfeit brings spiritual poison. When the Church accommodates what it should expose, it repeats Eden’s tragedy, trading the unblemished glory of God for the decaying fruit of human pragmatism.

From Samhain to the American Halloween

Ancient Samhain was a seasonal Gaelic festival marking summer’s end and the approach of winter. Although evidence for its earliest rites is incomplete, the surviving historical tradition consistently associates the season with sacred fire, divination, the dead, fear of otherworldly beings, disguises, and offerings intended to appease spiritual powers. Those features place Samhain within the broad category of pagan religious practice that Scripture commands God’s people neither to imitate nor adapt for worship.

The name All Hallows’ Eve is Christian: it denotes the evening before All Saints’ Day. Yet as Christianity spread through Celtic lands, the church calendar and older seasonal customs existed alongside one another and, in popular practice, sometimes blended. Bonfires, disguises, concern with wandering spirits, divination, guising, and offerings of food survived in changing forms. Thus the modern observance is not simply identical to ancient Samhain, but neither is it historically detached from the pre-Christian religious world that shaped many of its enduring symbols.

Irish and Scottish immigrants carried related customs to North America during the nineteenth century. Turnip lanterns became pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns; guising, souling, and neighborhood mischief contributed to door-to-door solicitation; and the phrase “trick or treat” emerged in North America during the 1920s. After the Second World War, suburban neighborhoods, mass-produced costumes, and individually wrapped candy transformed the observance into a national children’s festival.

American commerce softened the appearance but preserved much of the old symbolic vocabulary: ghosts, witches, divination, frightening disguises, wandering dead, appeasement through food, and ritualized demands at the door. The candy is modern; the pumpkins are American; the retail machinery is recent. But the imaginative world being marketed still draws upon inherited themes of death, spirits, fear, disguise, and supernatural power. For the Church, the question is therefore not whether every modern participant consciously practices pagan worship. The question is whether changing the packaging changes the spiritual meaning of the symbols and customs being celebrated.

The Golden Calf Syncretism: Polishing Baal in the Parking Lot

To trace how such compromise enters the house of God, we must examine the ancient pattern of syncretism. Syncretism blends pagan forms, rituals, or calendar rhythms with the worship of the true God, on the assumption that religious language can “sanitize” the borrowed tradition.

When Israel grew impatient at the base of Mount Sinai, Aaron did not openly declare allegiance to an Egyptian deity; he fashioned a golden calf and proclaimed, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord” (Exodus 32:5). The people adopted a pagan form—a visible idol crafted by human hands—and attempted to direct worship through it toward the Lord. God’s anger burned against them because the manner of worship mattered to Him.

“Take care that you be not ensnared to follow them… and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I may do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.”
— Deuteronomy 12:30–31

Moving a festival historically associated with Samhain—an observance linked with fear of spirits and ritual appeasement—into a church parking lot and wrapping it in Christian terminology risks repeating the logic of the golden calf. It seeks to baptize a pagan form rather than reject it. Throughout Israel’s history, comparable compromises led to spiritual blindness, God’s righteous judgment, and bondage to the customs Israel had adopted.

Where Is Jesus in These Traditions?

This is the question the Church must stop avoiding: where is Jesus in these traditions? Scripture does not show Him observing Samhain, All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, or All Souls’ Day. It does not show Him sanctifying customs built around wandering spirits, disguises, divination, appeasement of the dead, or prayer directed toward the departed. Giving such observances Christian names does not establish the authority of Christ behind them.

Jesus did, however, walk within the appointed times revealed by God. He went up to Jerusalem for Passover (Luke 2:41–42; John 2:13), taught during the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2, 14, 37–38), and fulfilled the meaning of Passover through His death and resurrection (Luke 22:14–20; 1 Corinthians 5:7–8). The apostles likewise proclaimed Him through the pattern of Passover, Firstfruits, and Pentecost. God’s calendar was not an empty ritual system; it was a prophetic framework pointing to the Messiah.

The tragedy is not merely that institutional Christianity added observances Scripture never commands. It is that the Church elevated those traditions while largely neglecting the appointed times God explicitly declared to be “the feasts of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:2). Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles reveal God’s redemptive order. Yet many believers know the symbols of Halloween more readily than the appointed times that illuminate the work of Christ.

This reveals the deeper conflict: mankind prefers a calendar it can reshape, commercialize, and control. God’s appointed times require us to enter His pattern on His terms. Human tradition asks God to bless what we have chosen; biblical obedience receives what He has already appointed. When our preferred customs resemble the religious practices of the nations more than the pattern modeled by Jesus, Deuteronomy 12:30–31 confronts us: “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.”

The issue, therefore, is not whether candy is physically evil or whether every child understands pagan history. The issue is authority. Why imitate a world of masks, spirits, fear, and death when God has given His people a better way—an appointed calendar centered upon redemption, holiness, harvest, atonement, the coming Kingdom, and Jesus the Messiah?

Critics will still cry foul, but their indignation exposes the imbalance this article confronts. Many will defend Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, and inherited church customs with greater urgency than they defend the feasts God actually calls His own. They will research every possible argument for preserving a man-made observance, yet show little interest in Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, or Tabernacles. They demand generous allowances for tradition while treating God’s appointed times as obsolete, foreign, burdensome, or irrelevant.

That disparity is not a minor inconsistency; it is evidence of misplaced allegiance. Why does questioning an inherited custom provoke more resistance than neglecting an explicit appointment of God? Why are believers offended when a cultural celebration is examined, yet unmoved when the calendar Jesus honored is ignored? The issue is not merely which days appear on a calendar. It is whether our zeal belongs to the commandments of God or to the traditions we inherited from men (Mark 7:8–9).

The Jezebel Influence and the Cowardice of Compromise

Why does the institutional Church repeatedly yield to this seasonal rhythm? Beneath familiar appeals to relevance and outreach may lie a quieter motive: fear—the fear of social rejection, of being labeled “intolerant,” and of provoking influential cultural voices.

This pattern can be compared to the biblical influence of Jezebel: a system of intimidation that controls the narrative, pressures believers toward cultural compliance, and threatens social ostracism against those who call for uncompromising holiness. Under such pressure, believers may retreat like Elijah beneath the broom tree, convinced that they stand alone.

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
— Proverbs 29:25

God met Elijah in that place of fear and isolation, corrected his distorted sense of being alone, and reminded him that an uncompromised remnant remained. Submission to intimidation paralyzes the prophetic voice.

Elijah and the Mandate to Tear Down the Altar

True revival has never come through accommodating counterfeits; it has come through the bold and uncompromising confrontation of false altars.

On Mount Carmel, Elijah did not negotiate with the 450 prophets of Baal. He brought the contest into public view, repaired the broken altar of the Lord, and called upon God, who answered with fire (1 Kings 18). The biblical record—not a later legend—establishes the governing principle: God’s people are called to reject false worship, restore the true altar, and refuse accommodation with idolatry.

Samhain was not historically the worship of the Canaanite deity Baal, but the similarities are spiritually significant. Both systems arose outside God’s appointed pattern and organized communal life around sacred seasons, agricultural concerns, unseen powers, ritual acts, and the hope of protection or favor. The comparison is therefore theological, not genealogical: Scripture places the religions of the nations under the same prohibition—“You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way” (Deuteronomy 12:31).

Scripture repeatedly shows that tolerated altars remain recurring snares. Gideon was commanded to tear down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah beside it (Judges 6:25–26). Josiah broke the pillars, cut down the Asherim, defiled the high places, and removed the vessels made for Baal and the host of heaven (2 Kings 23:4–14). Israel was told not to rename, repurpose, or manage the nations’ sacred objects, but to break their pillars, burn their Asherim, and destroy their names from the place (Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:2–3).

This is why the seasonal counterfeit persists. It has been commercialized, sentimentalized, and repeatedly given Christian alternatives, but rarely confronted at the root. The altar was moved rather than demolished; its symbols were repackaged rather than renounced; its calendar was accommodated rather than rejected. What is not torn down continues to demand recognition from the next generation.

Elijah’s confrontation therefore remains urgent. He did not organize a family-friendly version of Baal’s feast or place the Lord’s name over Baal’s altar. He exposed the false worship, called Israel to choose whom it would follow, repaired the altar of the Lord, and demonstrated that the Lord alone is God. Revival begins when divided allegiance ends.

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
— Ephesians 5:11

The Remnant Standard: Fruit Fit for the Kingdom

The goal of the Remnant is not to produce fruit that appeals to the world—fruit pleasing to the eyes and sweet to the taste of a fallen culture. Our mandate is to bear fruit fit for the Kingdom of Heaven, flowing from steadfast obedience to God’s Word.

The axe has been laid to the root of the tree (Matthew 3:10). The siren song has been unmasked. Syncretism within the Church and intimidation from the surrounding culture must be cast aside. It is time to refuse participation in customs built upon darkness, recover the appointed times of the Lord, teach the next generation the beauty of set-apart holiness (kadosh), and follow the pattern modeled by Jesus. The Church does not need a baptized counterfeit. It needs the Messiah at the center, the Word as its authority, and worship ordered according to God’s better way.