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NEW WINE IN NEW WINESKINS

Allen Frederick Leave a comment
A Prophetic Editorial for a Calcified Generation Standing at the Edge of Promise

The Spiritual Disease of Calcification

There is a reason Jesus spoke of wineskins and Jeremiah spoke of clay. Both images expose the same spiritual disease: God refuses to pour His living, expanding, fermenting work into vessels that have become rigid, brittle, and unmoved by His touch. The crisis of our age is not a lack of churches, sermons, or ministries. The crisis is that much of what calls itself the church has become calcified — not merely hardened, but petrified; not merely dry, but fossilized; not merely resistant, but spiritually immovable.

Jeremiah’s Two Movements: Mercy and Judgment

Jeremiah saw this tragedy unfold in two movements. In the potter’s house, he watched clay spoil on the wheel — marred, imperfect, flawed, yet still soft enough to be reshaped. And the Lord said, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?”** (Jeremiah 18:6)**. That was mercy. That was invitation. That was the moment when repentance could still soften the clay.

But the story does not end at the wheel. God sends Jeremiah again — this time not to clay, but to a vessel already fired, already set, already calcified in its form. And the Lord commands him, “Break the bottle… Even so will I break this people”** (Jeremiah 19:10–11)**. This is not clay that can be remade. This is a vessel that has passed the point of pliability. It cannot be reshaped. It can only be shattered.

The Condition of Churchianity Today

This is the condition of churchianity today. It is not simply old; it is calcified. It is not simply traditional; it is petrified. It is not simply cautious; it is unyielded. It has become the bottle of Jeremiah 19 — a vessel that once had potential but now clings so tightly to its own shape that the Potter Himself cannot reform it without breaking it.

Jesus’ Warning: New Wine and Old Wineskins

And Jesus speaks the same truth in different imagery: “No man putteth new wine into old wineskins… the wineskins perish”** (Matthew 9:17)**. Old wineskins are not defined by age but by rigidity. They cannot stretch. They cannot expand. They cannot hold what God is pouring now. They are calcified containers — brittle, inflexible, and destined to burst under the pressure of new wine.

The Wilderness Generation: Stiff-Necked and Wandering

But this is not a new problem. It is the same spirit that kept an entire generation wandering in circles until their bones whitened in the wilderness. “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation… a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways”** (Psalm 95:10). They were wanderers because they were stiff‑necked. They refused correction. They rejected direction. They resisted perfection. And the Lord said plainly, “As I sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest” (Psalm 95:11)**.

Wanderers do not cross over. Calcified vessels do not carry new wine. Stiff‑necked people do not inherit the promise.

Stephen’s Indictment: Resistance to the Holy Ghost

Stephen echoed this same indictment when he cried, “Ye stiff‑necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost”** (Acts 7:51)**. Stiff‑necked people resist the very Spirit sent to transform them. They resist the Potter’s hands. They resist the stretching of the wineskin. They resist the call to become new creatures in Christ.

Paul’s Antidote: Becoming a New Creature

Paul declares the antidote: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”** (2 Corinthians 5:17)**. New creatures are not defined by nostalgia. They are not shaped by tradition. They are not preserved in the amber of past revivals. They are vessels continually softened by repentance, continually stretched by obedience, continually reshaped by the Potter’s hands.

Ezekiel’s Prophecy: From Stony Heart to Heart of Flesh

Ezekiel prophesied of this transformation when he wrote, “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh”** (Ezekiel 11:19)**. A stony heart is a calcified heart — unresponsive, unmoved, unteachable. But a heart of flesh is a wineskin that can stretch. A heart of flesh is clay that can be shaped. A heart of flesh is a vessel that can carry the new wine of God without bursting.

The Potter’s Work Today: Raising New Wineskins

The Potter is not confused in this hour. He is not negotiating with calcified vessels. He is not pouring new wine into containers that have already chosen their shape. He is forming a people who can bend, yield, expand, and be remade. He is raising up new wineskins for a new outpouring. And the only question that remains is whether we will remain calcified relics of what once was, or become pliable vessels for what God is doing now.

The Coming New Wine: A Call to Transformation

For the new wine is coming. The wheel is turning. The Potter’s hands are moving. And He will only entrust His work to vessels that refuse calcification and embrace transformation — vessels that refuse to wander, refuse to stiffen, refuse to fossilize, and instead surrender to the shaping of His hands.

WHAT MUST COME DOWN BEFORE GOING UP

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

A Resurrection Reality Check for a Farcical Season

The Rhythm of Descent and Ascent

There is a rhythm woven into the Kingdom of God that the world cannot imitate and religion cannot counterfeit. It is the rhythm of holy descent followed by God‑given ascent, the pattern of a God who steps down so that He may raise the humble up. Heaven’s gravity works in reverse. What comes down in God’s hands does not remain down, because the Lord delights in lifting the lowly. Before anything rises in the Kingdom, something must bow. Before anything is exalted, something must kneel. Before anything goes up, something must come down.

This is not punishment but posture. It is the way of Christ, the way of the cross, and the way of every saint who has ever been raised by the power of God.

The Pattern of Humility from the Beginning

Moses came down from the mountain carrying the Word, the covenant, and the revelation of God’s character. “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai… the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” (Exodus 34:29). Yet Israel did not rejoice in what came down. They were too busy worshiping what they had lifted up, a golden calf of their own making. Humanity has always preferred what ascends when we are the ones climbing. We build towers, chase platforms, exalt ourselves, and admire the view from the top.

But God overturns this instinct. The Kingdom begins with going down, not in defeat but in humility, not in shame but in surrender, not in weakness but in obedience.

The Descent of Christ: The Model of All Humility

Jesus did not descend because He was defeated. He descended because He was humble. “Though He was in the form of God, He did not consider equality with God something to cling to, but emptied Himself… He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6–8). He came down from glory, laid down His rights, bowed down in obedience, and humbled Himself for our sake. His descent was not accidental but intentional. Because He went down in humility, the Father raised Him up in glory. “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9).

This is the law of the Kingdom: what bows low is lifted high.

Paul: Struck Down to Be Raised Up

Paul understood this truth because he lived it. He was the rising star of Judaism, educated, disciplined, respected, and zealous. Yet when Christ appeared, Paul had to be struck down before he could truly see. He fell to the ground, blinded and helpless. “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’” (Acts 9:4). Every accomplishment he once boasted in, he now called loss. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8).

Paul discovered that humility is not the lowest place but the safest place. It is the beginning of resurrection.

The Descent and Ascent of Jesus

Jesus came down from the cross lifeless and wrapped in linen. He went down into the grave sealed and guarded. He went down into the depths, into the territory hell believed it owned. “He also descended into the lower parts of the earth.” (Ephesians 4:9). Every downward step looked like loss, yet in the Kingdom, down is never the destination. It is the doorway.

The same Jesus who descended also rose. He went up the hill, up the mountain of transfiguration, up out of the grave, and up into heaven. “He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9). He will one day raise His people with Him. “He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 2:6).

This is the divine reversal: what comes down in humility must go up in glory.

The Farce of Our Seasonal Jesus

Every year the church calendar reenacts the same tragic cycle. In December, Christ is placed back in the cradle—small, harmless, and sentimental. In spring, He is placed back in the tomb—tragic, noble, and safely contained. Then the props are packed away, the pageantry folded, and life returns to normal.

We reenact His birth, His death, and His burial, but we rarely reenact His reign. We do not enthrone Him, crown Him, or place Him at the center of our will. We keep Christ in the cradle because a baby makes no demands. We keep Christ in the tomb because a dead man issues no commands. But a risen, reigning Christ requires surrender.

We treat the resurrection as a holiday rather than a hierarchy, as a story rather than a sovereign, as a symbol rather than a King. This is why the calendar feels farcical: it keeps Christ rotating through roles He has already outgrown. He is not the baby in the manger, the victim on the cross, or the body in the tomb. He is the Head of the Church, the Lord of Glory, and the One seated far above all rule and authority.

Israel made the same mistake with the ark. They carried the ark on their shoulders, proud of their proximity to God, but they never embraced the God within the ark. They carried Him, but they never let Him carry them. We do the same. We carry Jesus into our holidays, traditions, and services, but we do not let Him carry our will, our obedience, or our lives.

The Real Resurrection Direction

The resurrection does not point down to the cradle, back to the cross, inward to our emotions, or outward to our traditions. The resurrection points up to the enthroned Christ who reigns now. The only way to rise with Him is to bow before Him. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6).

Humility is not the end of the journey but the beginning of resurrection. It is the doorway into the Kingdom. The proud cannot enter because the doorway is too low. The humble rise because they kneel.

A Call to Yield to the Risen King

Time is growing short, and the hour demands clarity. Christ is not waiting to be rediscovered in a cradle or reburied in a tomb. He is not a seasonal figure to be lifted up for a holiday and set aside when the calendar turns. He is the risen and reigning Lord, seated at the right hand of the Father, calling His people to bow before Him in humility and truth. The path upward begins with the posture downward. The Kingdom does not rise on the strength of the proud but on the surrender of the humble.

The psalmist understood this long before the empty tomb. “My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.” (Psalm 131:1–2). This is the posture of ascent. This is the doorway into resurrection life. This is the heart God lifts.

Let us therefore lay down our pride, our self‑importance, our insistence on carrying Christ on our shoulders while refusing to let Him carry us. Let us bow low before the One who descended in humility and rose in glory. Let us yield our will to the King who reigns, so that in due time He may lift us up. What comes down must go up, because the One who calls us to kneel is the same One who raises His people to stand with Him in the heavenly places.

Hollow Rabbit Religion

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The Hollow Rabbit Problem

Easter is the second most important candy‑eating occasion of the year for Americans, who consumed 7 billion pounds of candy in 2001, according to the National Confectioner’s Association.

  • In 2000, Americans spent nearly $1.9 billion on Easter candy, while Halloween sales were nearly $2 billion; Christmas, an estimated $1.4 billion; and Valentine’s Day, just over $1 billion.
  • Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.
  • Chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first, according to 76% of Americans. Five percent said bunnies should be eaten feet first, while 4% favored eating the tail first.
  • Adults prefer milk chocolate (65%) to dark chocolate (27%).

They are fanciful, often gold‑wrapped, usually elegantly packaged, full‑color presentations. From all appearances, those chocolate creatures are a delightful treat to eat. On the surface these beauties are elegant and proud. Inside, however, they are an empty hollow shell.

I do not know about you, but I prefer solid chocolate rabbits over the hollow ones. I much prefer to bite into a solid milk chocolate bunny. I have been fooled in the past into purchasing what looked like a solid chocolate rabbit only to get home and find out it was not. One bite is all it took to know I had been deceived. Although it had the appearance of being solid, it did not pass the bite test. Of course, I could have employed the pinch test at the store, but that would have only left a broken bunny on the shelf where once stood a proud whole rabbit.

After Easter, mark‑downs can be found on the broken chocolate rabbits even before the holiday buying season ends. The chocolate still tastes as good as it did when it was in the form of a full standing rabbit, but since it now resembles a pile of chocolate flakes, it lost some of its value. Although the chocolate did not lose any flavor, it was no longer pretty to look at.

Hollow rabbits outsell solid rabbits primarily because of the cost. You can get a gigantic 12‑inch rabbit for about half the price of a much smaller solid one. Children love the fact that they have this huge chocolate rabbit to eat, when in reality the amount of actual chocolate in that 12‑inch rabbit is less than half of the smaller sized version.

Outwardly these proud rabbits stand tall, but apply just a little amount of pressure and they will crumble. There is no real substance to them. They are of little value when faced with just the slightest bit of pressure. By contrast, their solid shelf‑mates can withstand tremendous pressure. Have you ever tried biting the head off a solid rabbit?

Solid or hollow — which do you prefer?

Solid or Hollow Worship

Our church worship could be looked at from the viewpoint of solid or hollow. Are we worshipping with our whole hearts, souls, minds, spirits, and strength, or is it more of an outward show to win favorable ratings from onlookers?

“In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.” (2 Chronicles 12:9–11)

The gold was gone. It was replaced with bronze. Although it had an appearance of gold, it wasn’t. Bronze is far cheaper to produce than gold and thus less valuable. Although stripped of all the gold, the king made a show of worship anyway. If anyone came to steal these bronze shields, would they get anything of value when compared to the golden shields that had been there? Are we taking away anything of value from our worship services — any golden nuggets?

“Be careful not to let anyone rob you of this faith through a shallow and misleading philosophy. Such a person follows human traditions and the world’s way of doing things rather than following Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, GW)

All across our land many church houses are filled with bronze where once stood gold. What once was solid biblical preaching has been replaced with hollow messages of self‑improvement. These messengers appear to preach solid biblical counsel, yet their teachings contain no substance. Unable to offer the solid meat of God’s Word, they are left with only hollow arguments to the world’s ills. These solid‑looking brass shields, though golden in appearance, lack the value of pure gold.

It may be milk and it may be chocolate, but is it solid? What is your worship made of? Will it stand up under pressure? What is behind that golden appearance? Is it solid or simply hollow? Can you worship when times are rough? Has the enemy come in and taken all the value out of your salvation experience and left you with just a semblance of true worship?

“But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.” (Isaiah 40:31, BBE)

The Status Quo Has Got to Go

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Introduction

There comes a moment in every generation when polite silence becomes a form of rebellion against God, and when maintaining the familiar becomes more dangerous than confronting the truth. Scripture shows us that this moment arrives whenever God sends help, correction, or reform – and the people who need it most refuse to receive it. As John writes, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:11, KJV)

Light Exposes What Darkness Protects

Jesus explained the deeper reason for this resistance: “Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19-20, KJV) People do not reject truth because it is unclear; they reject it because it is inconvenient. Light reveals what darkness has been protecting, and the status quo prefers the safety of shadows to the discomfort of exposure.

The Diagnosis: A People Who Will Not Turn

Long before Christ walked the earth, Isaiah diagnosed the spiritual disease that afflicts every generation that refuses correction. God declared, “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:10, KJV) The tragedy is not that healing is unavailable, but that the people will not turn to receive it.

Jesus repeated this same diagnosis in His own ministry, saying, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matthew 13:15, KJV) The disease is spiritual stubbornness – a refusal to hear, to see, to understand, and therefore a refusal to be healed.

Moses: Resisted by His Own People

Before Moses ever confronted Pharaoh, he confronted the unbelief of his own people. When he attempted to intervene between two Israelites, one of them retorted, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14, KJV) The very people crying out for deliverance resisted the deliverer God sent.

Jeremiah: Punished for Telling the Truth

Jeremiah warned Judah of coming judgment, but instead of repentance, he received hostility. The leaders declared, “This man is worthy to die: for he hath prophesied against this city.” (Jeremiah 26:11, KJV) Later, they cast him into a dungeon (Jeremiah 38:6) for daring to speak what God commanded.

Amos: Told to Take His Message Elsewhere

When Amos confronted Israel’s corruption, Amaziah the priest told him, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah… but prophesy not again any more at Bethel.” (Amos 7:12-13, KJV) The status quo always tries to export the voice that confronts it.

Isaiah: A People Who Prefer Smooth Things

Isaiah described a people who begged their prophets to stop telling the truth: “Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” (Isaiah 30:10, KJV) They preferred comforting lies to uncomfortable truth.

Stephen: Exposing the Pattern

Stephen summarized the entire history of resistance in one devastating sentence: “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts 7:51, KJV) The problem was not new; it was inherited.

Jesus: Without Honor Among His Own

Even the Son of God experienced the sting of familiarity: “A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” (Mark 6:4, KJV) The people who watched Him grow up could not imagine God using someone they thought they already understood.

Samuel: The Rejection Behind the Rejection

When Israel demanded a king, God told Samuel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me.” (1 Samuel 8:7, KJV) Every rejection of God’s messenger is ultimately a rejection of God’s correction.

The Danger of a Hardened Heart

Hebrews warns repeatedly, “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15, KJV) A hardened heart is the final defense of a dying system. Proverbs adds the sobering consequence: “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1, KJV)

A Loving Rebuke

This is not rebellion, arrogance, or a call to chaos. It is a call to truth, courage, and spiritual clarity. Real love does not protect dysfunction, preserve decay, or defend a system God is trying to dismantle. Real love says, “Enough. This is not working. The status quo has got to go.”

Final Call to Return

God has never left His people without a path home. Even in the midst of judgment, He speaks mercy. He says, “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7, KJV)

This is not a political strategy. This is not a cultural campaign. This is the mercy of God extended to a people who have lost their way.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV)

As Jesus said to the churches, “He that hath an ear, let him hear.”

GOD’S SAVINGS TIME: REDEEMING THE TIME WE HAVE

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The Ritual That Changes Nothing

Twice a year we perform the same ritual. We move the hands of our clocks forward and backward as if time itself were clay in our grasp. We complain about losing an hour or gaining one. We often discuss “saving time,” although no one has ever saved a single second. The sun still rises and sets on the schedule God ordained in Genesis. The day remains twenty‑four hours long, no matter how many times we adjust the numbers glowing on our screens.

Daylight Savings Time is a perfect picture of human illusion. It feels important, but it accomplishes nothing of eternal value. It shifts the clock, but it does not shift the heart. It rearranges the hours, but it does not redeem them. It is a semi-annual ritual. It signifies our desire to feel in control of something we cannot command.

Scripture, however, calls us to something far weightier. We are not commanded to save time. We are commanded to redeem it.

Redeeming Time, Not Rearranging It

Paul writes, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16). The word redeem means to buy back, to seize, to rescue from loss. It is the language of urgency, stewardship, and eternal purpose. We cannot redeem the hours on a clock, but we can redeem the opportunities God places before us. We can redeem conversations, relationships, moments of influence, and windows of grace.

Paul reinforces this in Colossians 4:5: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” This is not about managing schedules. It is about reaching souls. It is about recognizing that every moment carries eternal weight.

Daylight Savings Time pretends to give us more daylight. God’s Savings Time calls us to walk in the light while it is still available.

The Call to Watchfulness

Daylight Savings Time is a harmless ritual, but spiritually it mirrors a far more dangerous pattern. Twice a year we adjust our clocks without adjusting our lives. We move the hands forward or backward. We feel as though we have accomplished something meaningful. Yet, nothing in eternity has changed. The sun rises and sets exactly as God ordained. The hours remain the same. Only our perception shifts.

In the same way, many believers have been lulled into a false sense of security. This is due to soothing messages and comfortable routines. A Christianity that promises rest without responsibility can also be misleading. We have been told to relax and settle in. We are encouraged to enjoy the blessings of God as if the Kingdom were a recliner. We treat discipleship as though it were a leisure activity. But Scripture paints a very different picture. The Kingdom of God is not a lounge chair; it is a field. It is not a place for slumber; it is a place for labor. It is not a retreat from responsibility; it is a call to action.

Paul’s warning becomes clearer in this light: “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” (Romans 13:11).. He is not speaking to the world; he is speaking to the Church. He is speaking to those who have drifted into spiritual Standard Time. They have become comfortable, predictable, and unhurried. They are unaware of the lateness of the hour. He follows with a phrase that cuts through every illusion of delay: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” (Romans 13:12).

This is not a poetic flourish. It is a diagnosis. The night is not approaching; it is already advanced. The day is not distant; it is pressing in. The time is late, and the work is urgent. The fields are not waiting for us to feel ready; they are already white for harvest. Jesus said, “Lift up your eyes… the fields are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35). Harvest time is not a season for sleep. Proverbs warn, “He that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” (Proverbs 10:5).

The Church has been comforted by complacency, but the Kingdom is calling us into wakefulness. We are not here to adjust clocks; we are here to redeem time. We are not here to preserve our comfort; we are here to rescue the lost. We are not here to drift through days; we are here to work while it is still day, because Jesus Himself declared, “Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4).

This is the heart of God’s Savings Time. It is not about gaining an hour of sunlight. It is about seizing the hour of salvation. It is about recognizing that every moment carries eternal weight. It is about refusing to sleep through the harvest while souls hang in the balance. It is about waking up, rising up, and stepping into the fields before the final night falls.

The Fields Are White, Not Waiting

Jesus told His disciples, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35). The harvest is not someday. The harvest is not when we feel ready. The harvest is not when the Church is comfortable. The harvest is now.

Proverbs adds its own warning: “He that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” (Proverbs 10:5). We are not called to sleep in harvest. We are called to labor in it.

Daylight Savings Time may shift the clock, but it does not shift the urgency of the harvest. Souls are perishing. Hearts are hardening. The night is approaching. The Church can’t afford to drift into spiritual Standard Time. Routine, complacency, and delay must be avoided. God is calling us into His Savings Time.

Numbering Our Days

Moses prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12). Numbering our days is not about counting them. It is about valuing them. It means understanding that every day is a gift. Each moment involves stewardship. Every opportunity is a divine appointment.

We cannot save time. But we can redeem it. We can invest it. We can sow it into eternity.

Daylight Savings Time is a ritual that changes nothing. God’s Savings Time is a calling that changes everything.

The Question That Matters

The question is not whether we have adjusted our clocks. The question is whether we have adjusted our lives.

Are we redeeming the time? Are we awake? Are we working while it is still day? Are we living in God’s Savings Time?

Because the night is coming. The trumpet will sound. And the work will be finished.