Tag biblical teaching

America’s Crisis Is Not Biblical Illiteracy — It Is the Absence of the Living God

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Introduction

As America reflects on its moral and cultural upheaval, many commentators have pointed to biblical illiteracy as the nation’s defining crisis. They warn that without the vocabulary of Scripture, society loses the categories necessary to sustain truth, virtue, and freedom. This concern is understandable, and the erosion of biblical language in public life is undeniable. Yet Scripture itself teaches that the collapse of a nation does not begin with the loss of religious vocabulary but with the loss of the Living God Himself. America’s crisis is not merely that it has forgotten the words of Scripture; it is that it has forgotten the Lord of Scripture.

The Root of National Collapse

Throughout the biblical narrative, nations do not fall because they lack access to truth. They fall because they reject the God who gives it. The prophet Hosea declared, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6), yet the knowledge they lacked was not academic. It was relational. God continues, “Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” The issue was not literacy but lordship. Israel possessed the Scriptures, the priesthood, the temple, and the covenant, yet repeatedly turned to idols. Their downfall came not from ignorance but from unfaithfulness.

America’s Present Moment

This distinction is crucial for understanding America’s present moment. The United States has more access to Scripture than any nation in history. Bibles fill our shelves, apps fill our phones, sermons fill our feeds, and theological resources are available at the tap of a screen. If biblical literacy alone could preserve a nation, America would be the most stable society on earth. Yet the opposite is true. The problem is not that we lack the text but that we have abandoned the God who speaks through it.

Jesus’ Confrontation with Biblical Literacy

Jesus confronted this very condition in His own generation. The Pharisees were the most biblically literate people of their time, yet He told them, “Ye search the Scriptures… and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life” (John 5:39–40). They possessed the vocabulary of truth but resisted the Person of Truth. Their crisis was not interpretive but spiritual. In all their study, they had not found Christ.

The Example of Saul of Tarsus

The life of Saul of Tarsus underscores this reality with striking force. Trained under Gamaliel, zealous for the law, and fluent in the theological categories of his day, Saul embodied the very literacy many believe America must recover. Yet his mastery of Scripture led him to persecute the Church, not embrace Christ. Only when he encountered the risen Lord did the Scriptures he knew so well come alive. Reflecting on his former achievements, he wrote, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ… and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:7–8). His transformation came not through further education but through new birth.

The Crisis of the Church

This is the heart of America’s crisis. We have built churches that teach principles but do not produce disciples. We have created religious environments that inform the mind but do not transform the heart. We have defended biblical values while neglecting biblical obedience. We have celebrated Christian heritage while resisting Christian holiness. The result is a nation shaped by the language of faith but untouched by the life of God.

The Call to Discipleship

Jesus did not establish seminaries; He established disciples. He did not say, “Take My course,” but “Follow Me.” Discipleship is not an academic exercise but a supernatural work of the Spirit. It is the process by which men and women are born again, conformed to the image of Christ, and empowered to live as witnesses in a darkened world. When the Church abandons this calling, the nation loses its light. When the salt loses its savor, the culture decays. When the people of God trade the Living Word for religious substitutes, the nation loses the moral clarity only God can give.

The Loss of Biblical Life

The Scriptures warn repeatedly that when a people forget the Lord, they lose far more than vocabulary. They lose the very life that sustains righteousness. Moses told Israel, “It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life” (Deuteronomy 32:47). Jeremiah declared, “My people have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 2:13). Jesus said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). The crisis of America is not the absence of biblical language but the absence of biblical life.

The Path to Moral Recovery

If America is to recover its moral footing, the Church must recover its spiritual power. We must return to the fear of the Lord, the necessity of repentance, the reality of the new birth, and the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit. We must proclaim the gospel not as a cultural artifact but as the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). We must teach the Scriptures not merely to inform minds but to form hearts. We must once again become a people who do not simply read the Word but are read by it.

The Biblical Foundation for Liberty

John Adams famously warned, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” His concern was not institutional religion but the inner moral restraint necessary for liberty to survive. Yet Scripture goes further still. It does not teach that religion upholds a nation, for religion has toppled empires and fueled oppression. Rather, the Bible declares, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Holiness, not mere religiosity, sustains a people. And righteousness does not arise from education or tradition but from hearts transformed by the living God. A nation may be religious and still be corrupt; it may be biblically literate and still be spiritually dead. Only a people submitted to the Lord can sustain the freedoms they celebrate.

The Frozen Chosen: A Prophetic Editorial to the Body of Believers

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

“By Now You Ought to Be Teachers” — The Divine Indictment

The modern church is filled with believers who have mastered the art of showing up without ever truly growing spiritually. They attend services faithfully, sing with enthusiasm, and serve occasionally, yet they remain unchanged in their spiritual maturity. These are the saints who occupy the church building but never embrace the deeper promises of faith. They are what I call the “frozen chosen.”

The Spirit addressed this condition long ago, warning believers through the words of Hebrews: “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12). This is not a gentle suggestion but a stern rebuke.

The Lord is essentially saying that you have been part of the church long enough to grow, to mature, and to reproduce spiritually. You should be teaching others by now. Yet, instead, you still require someone to reteach you the basics repeatedly. This confusion of longevity with maturity is the tragedy of the frozen chosen.

The Highchair Church: When Milk Becomes a Lifestyle

Paul’s words to the Corinthians express a similar frustration: “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat” (1 Corinthians 3:1–2). Milk represents the beginning stages of faith, while meat symbolizes spiritual growth and maturity.

Unfortunately, many believers have made milk their permanent diet. They seek comfort without conviction, blessings without burden, inspiration without obedience, and sermons without surrender. They grow older in the church but not deeper in Christ. A church filled with believers who refuse to develop spiritually will never be able to fully digest the truth.

The Immaturity That Weakens the Witness

Paul warns the Ephesians about the dangers of spiritual immaturity: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro” (Ephesians 4:14). Immature believers are easily swayed by trends, follow personalities rather than Christ, fall for false teachings, get offended quickly, and require constant supervision.

Such believers cannot stand firm because they have never learned to walk in faith. They cannot discern truth because they have never learned to listen to the Spirit. They cannot lead because they have never learned to follow Christ. A church filled with spiritual children cannot confront the mature darkness of the world.

The Mission Failure: When the Church Refuses to Go

At the heart of this editorial lies a deeper issue: the church has failed its mission. Jesus did not command believers to sit and wait, stand in one place, or hope that people would come to them. Instead, He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15).

The mission is to go, not to stay; to make disciples, not merely maintain programs; to teach, not tolerate; to preach, not preserve. We are called to be living stones (1 Peter 2:5), lights in the world (Matthew 5:14), salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), witnesses unto Him (Acts 1:8), and ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Yet many believers have become stationary stones, dim lights, flavorless salt, silent witnesses, and passive attendees. We change pastors, churches, worship styles, and programs, but we rarely change our posture. Discipleship demands action and commitment.

We desire salvation without surrender, calling without cost, and purpose without participation. But Jesus said, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Hearing without doing is not discipleship; it is self-deception. “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

A church that refuses to go is a church that refuses to grow.

The Illusion of Progress Without Transformation

Many congregations mistake activity for advancement. They celebrate anniversaries, programs, conferences, installations, and renovations, but none of these guarantee true transformation.

Jesus did not say, “By this shall all men know you are My disciples—that you attend faithfully.” Instead, He said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit” (John 15:8).

A church can be busy yet barren, full yet fruitless, loud yet lifeless. If the people are not growing, the ministry is not succeeding.

The Lampstand Warning: When God Removes What Man Preserves

The Lord Jesus gives a final warning to churches that refuse to mature: “Repent… or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place” (Revelation 2:5). The lampstand symbolizes God’s presence, approval, witness, and authority.

A church may hold onto its building, programs, traditions, and calendar, but if it refuses to grow, God will remove its lampstand. He will not endorse immaturity, empower stagnation, or anoint apathy.

A frozen church is only one step away from becoming a forsaken church.

A Resolution for the Body of Believers

Let every believer hear the Word of the Lord: “By now you ought to be teachers.” Growth comes quickly to those who pour out what God has placed within them. The whole concept of sowing and reaping applies to doing the work of the ministry. Do not be a perpetual student, lifelong infant, or spiritual dependent. Leave the Father’s house and go to work in the field.

Resolve to grow beyond milk, hunger for meat, go into the world, preach the gospel, teach the nations, shine as lights, live as witnesses, obey the Word, and bear lasting fruit.

For the Spirit is speaking to the churches: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7), before the lampstand is removed.

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.