Tag discipleship

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.

NO KINGS: AN EPISTLE FOR A FRACTURED NATION

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Introduction: A Nation at a Crossroads

As the United States approaches its two‑hundred‑and‑fiftieth year, we stand at a moment demanding sober reflection. Nations rarely collapse in a single day; they erode slowly, subtly, and predictably. Scripture gives us a mirror in the Book of Judges—a mirror reflecting not only ancient Israel but the modern American condition. Judges is not a children’s tale; it is a national autopsy. Israel had law, covenant, history, and identity, yet the nation disintegrated because it rejected the One who was meant to be its King.

The refrain that echoes through its pages is both diagnosis and verdict: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [Judges 21:25]. This was not enlightenment but erosion, not progress but decay, not liberation but fragmentation.

The Meaning of “No King”

When Scripture declares that Israel had “no king,” it is not describing a political vacuum but a spiritual rebellion. Israel possessed the Law of Moses, the priesthood, the tabernacle, and the memory of God’s mighty acts. What they lacked was a shared center—a unifying authority, a common truth, a moral anchor. They had law but no loyalty, commandments but no commitment, structure but no submission. Thus the psalmist warns: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” [Psalm 127:1].

Judges as a Mirror: Collapse Without a Center

Judges 2 summarizes Israel’s downfall: “They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked.” [Judges 2:17]. Their turning was swift and intentional. The result was a cycle of rebellion, oppression, desperation, deliverance, and relapse. The judges God raised up brought temporary relief but no lasting transformation, for the people desired rescue without repentance and deliverance without discipleship.

Micah’s homemade religion in Judges 17–18 reveals the heart of the problem. He did not reject religion; he reinvented it. He fashioned idols, hired his own priest, and declared God’s blessing on his own terms. Scripture summarizes this moment with chilling clarity: “Every man did what was right in his own eyes.” [Judges 17:6]. This is the ancient form of what our culture now calls “my truth,” “my reality,” and “my identity.”

The final chapters of Judges show the inevitable end of such thinking: violence, civil war, and near‑annihilation. When a society loses its shared moral center, justice becomes impossible, violence becomes inevitable, and unity becomes unattainable.

A Fractured Republic: Law Without Lordship

As America approaches its 250th year, we must acknowledge that we are no longer a truly “United” States but a fractured one. We possess a supreme law in the Constitution, a Supreme Court, a legislature, and an executive branch. Yet without a shared moral center, even the strongest institutions fracture. We are witnessing the modern expression of Judges: competing truths, competing realities, competing identities, and competing moralities.

The Constitution was never intended to be a self‑sustaining moral engine. It was built upon the assumption that the people themselves possessed a common understanding of right and wrong. John Adams warned that it was made “only for a moral and religious people,” and Scripture affirms the same truth: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” [Proverbs 14:34].

But today we possess law without loyalty, rights without righteousness, freedom without foundation, and unity without a unifying truth. This is the modern expression of the ancient refrain: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [Judges 21:25]. When truth becomes subjective, law becomes negotiable. When morality becomes personal, justice becomes impossible. When identity becomes tribal, unity becomes unattainable.

Scripture warns: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” [Psalm 11:3]. A republic without a shared center cannot remain a republic for long.

A People Who Expect Judges to Do Their Righteousness

There is a tragic irony in our present moment: we have become a people who look to judges to do what we ourselves refuse to do. We demand that courts “judge rightly” while we neglect the weightier matters of the law in our own daily lives. We expect the judiciary to act justly while we abandon justice in our dealings with our neighbors.

Yet Scripture does not assign righteousness to the courts; it assigns it to the people of God. The prophet declares: “He has shown you, O man, what is good… to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” [Micah 6:8]. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the same hypocrisy: “You neglect the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” [Matthew 23:23]. Isaiah warned a nation seeking legal remedies while refusing moral repentance: “Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean.” [Isaiah 1:15–16].

John Adams understood this biblical truth: a righteous people do not need to be governed by an army of judges, for righteousness governs them from within. But an unruly people—a people who reject the King—will always become a mob, and mobs cannot sustain a republic.

Christ the Cornerstone

The answer to Israel’s chaos was not merely the arrival of a human king but the restoration of divine kingship. The psalmist declares: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” [Psalm 33:12]. And the call of 2 Chronicles is not addressed to the world but to the people of God: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray…” [2 Chronicles 7:14].

Jesus Christ is not merely a king; He is the King. He is the Chief Cornerstone [Ephesians 2:20], the Rock [1 Corinthians 10:4], the Foundation that cannot be shaken [Hebrews 12:28], and the King of kings and Lord of lords [Revelation 19:16]. Nations tremble, empires fall, republics rise and collapse, but those who build upon the Rock will stand.

Our Lord declared: “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” [Matthew 7:24]. When the storms come—and they will—the house built upon the Rock will not fall.

Conclusion: Return to the King

Judges is not ancient history; it is a prophetic warning. A society without a King—without a shared center of truth—does not rise into progress; it collapses into Judges. But a people whose King is the King of kings and Lord of lords can stand firm even when the nations tremble.

Let us return to the King. Let us build upon the Rock. Let us stand upon the unshakable foundation of God’s Word, for those who trust in Him will never be moved.

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the only true King, the Cornerstone who holds all things together. Amen

In One Ear and Out the Other: When the Word Never Reaches the Heart

Allen Frederick Leave a comment


A Funny Story With a Not‑So‑Funny Truth

Three men went deer hunting, and as they crossed a field on their way to the woods, a massive buck jumped up right in front of them. All three fired at the same moment. The buck dropped instantly, and the men hurried over—only to realize they had a problem. Who actually shot the deer?

As they stood there debating, a game warden approached to check licenses. Hearing the dilemma, he knelt down, examined the buck, and said, “One of you is a preacher, right?” Sure enough, one of them was. The warden nodded and said, “Well, the preacher’s the one who got him.” The men stared at him in disbelief. “How can you know that?” The warden shrugged. “Simple. The bullet went in one ear and out the other.”

It’s a humorous story, but beneath the laughter lies a sobering truth—one James warned the church about with prophetic clarity when he wrote, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

When Hearing Becomes Self‑Deception

Hearing is not the problem. Hearing without obeying is. A message that goes in one ear and out the other never reaches the heart, and the heart is the only place where real transformation takes place. Jesus Himself said the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). The mind matters. The mind is essential. But the mind is not the destination. It is the doorway. The heart is the target.

The preacher in the story fired a shot that passed through the deer’s head but never touched the heart. It produced death, not life. It left a carcass, not a conversion. And that is exactly what happens when the Word of God is received only at the level of intellect. It may pass through the mind, but if it never penetrates the heart, it cannot produce obedience, repentance, or new life. It becomes information without transformation.

A Wound That Never Heals Becomes Fatal

Here is the deeper truth: a bullet that never reaches the heart can still kill you. It can wound you. It can tear flesh, rupture arteries, and leave you bleeding out. A wound is not harmless simply because it missed the center.

And the same is true of the Word when it is only received intellectually. A sermon aimed at the mind alone may not transform you, but it can still wound you. It can leave you convicted but unchanged, aware of truth but still resisting it. You can feel the sting of conviction without ever surrendering to it. And that kind of wound, left unattended, becomes spiritually fatal.

The writer of Hebrews says, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two‑edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is designed to pierce. It is meant to cut deep enough to expose motives, confront sin, and bring healing through repentance. But when the Word is only admired, analyzed, or agreed with—when it is heard but not obeyed—it becomes a cut that never closes. Over time, the soul begins to hemorrhage. Not because the Word failed, but because the heart never yielded.

When the Lips Say “Amen” but the Heart Stays Distant

Jesus described this condition when He said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). The mind can say “Amen” while the heart remains untouched. The intellect can applaud truth while the will refuses to bow to it.

James continues this warning by saying, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror… and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23–24). The problem is not the hearing. The problem is the forgetting. The problem is the lack of response. The problem is the absence of obedience.

Truth that only grazes the mind can still leave a person spiritually dying. Truth that never reaches the heart cannot save. Truth that never produces obedience becomes a slow bleed. Eternal death does not always come from outright rebellion. Sometimes it comes from a lifetime of sermons that never penetrated deeper than the intellect.

The Word Must Be Received With Surrender, Not Just Agreement

This is why preaching must aim for the heart. This is why hearing must lead to doing. This is why the Word must be received with surrender, not merely agreement. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). Hearing is the beginning. Doing is the evidence. Obedience is the fruit. Transformation is the result.

Do not let God’s Word pass through you without penetrating you. Do not let it skim the surface of your mind without sinking into the soil of your heart. Do not let it go in one ear and out the other. Slow down. Meditate. Respond. Obey. Let the Word reach the place where life is changed. Let it pierce, not to destroy, but to heal. Let it cut, not to wound, but to free. Let it strike the heart, for only there does the Word bring life. It isn’t about how much Bible you know or can quote but how much you actually put into practice.

Don’t let His Word go in one ear

and right out the other!

The Indwelling Christ: A Test of True Faith

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

A Call to Honest Examination

Paul’s command in 2 Corinthians 13:5 is not gentle counsel but a summons: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” He does not ask us to recall a moment of sincerity or to lean on a memory of spiritual awakening. He calls us to look honestly at the present reality of our inner life. The question is not whether we once believed, but whether Christ is truly dwelling within us now. Paul presses the point further: “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” The test is not about religious activity. It is about indwelling. It is about whether the life of Christ is actually present and active within the believer.

Christ Within: The Only True Evidence

Scripture makes this standard unmistakably clear. Paul writes, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). If Christ is in us, there is hope. If Christ is not in us, there is no glory at all. John echoes this reality when he says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). Life is not found in religious familiarity but in union with Christ Himself. Paul goes even further in Romans 8:9: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” The dividing line is not church attendance, doctrinal agreement, or moral behavior. The dividing line is the presence or absence of Christ within.

The Danger of Overestimating Ourselves

This is why Paul warns us not to overestimate our spiritual condition. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Romans 12:3). We are prone to assume devotion because we participate in religious environments. We sit in church, we sing the songs, we nod at the sermons, and we assume these things testify on our behalf. Yet Jesus confronted the most religious people of His day with devastating clarity: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). External proximity is not internal reality. The Pharisees prayed, fasted, tithed, taught Scripture, and yet Jesus said, “You are like whitewashed tombs… outwardly you appear righteous to men, but within you are full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27). They failed the test not because they lacked religious activity, but because they lacked the indwelling Christ.

The Voice That Reveals Our Allegiance

Jesus Himself defined the test of true discipleship with piercing simplicity: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). The evidence of belonging to Christ is not merely hearing Christian voices but hearing His. It is not following Christian culture but following Him. The modern church has trained many believers to outsource their spiritual discernment to pastors, authors, influencers, and institutions. Yet Jesus did not say, “My sheep hear their pastor’s voice.” He said they hear His. And He warned that many who assume they belong to Him will discover otherwise: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father” (Matthew 7:21). Words are not proof. Obedience is.

The First Commandment as the True Measure

This is why the first commandment is the true measure of the heart. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). That word all dismantles every rival authority. To love God with all your mind means His Word outranks the voices of media, academia, science, politics, and even our own understanding. Proverbs speaks directly to this: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). To love Him with all your heart means no affection competes with His. To love Him with all your strength means obedience is not occasional but the natural outflow of devotion. Jesus tied love and obedience together when He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Love without obedience is sentiment. Obedience without love is religion. True discipleship holds both.

Adam, Eve, and Abraham: Two Portraits of the Test

Scripture gives us two vivid portraits of this test. Adam and Eve failed it because they trusted another voice above God’s. The serpent questioned God’s character, and they embraced the lie. The text says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food… she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6). They trusted their eyes over God’s Word. They leaned on their own understanding instead of His command. Their failure was not about fruit; it was about allegiance. Abraham, by contrast, passed the test because he trusted God’s character even when the command made no sense. When God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love… and offer him there” (Genesis 22:2), Abraham obeyed. Hebrews explains why: “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19). Abraham trusted God’s voice above his own logic, above his emotions, above the visible circumstances. That is what passing the test looks like.

The Inner Witness of the Spirit

When Paul tells us to examine ourselves, he is calling us into that same clarity. He is asking whether Christ is truly the center of our affections, the anchor of our decisions, the voice that shapes our convictions, and the Lord who governs our steps. John gives us a simple diagnostic: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3). Not perfectly, but sincerely. Not flawlessly, but faithfully. The presence of Christ produces repentance, humility, endurance, holiness, and a growing love for truth. The absence of Christ produces apathy, compromise, self‑rule, and selective obedience. Paul’s command is not meant to create fear but honesty. It is not meant to condemn but to reveal. And when Christ truly dwells within us, His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).

Christ in You: The Only Hope of Glory

For if Christ is in us, His presence will not remain hidden. His life will press outward. His voice will rise above the noise. His truth will confront our excuses. His holiness will shape our conduct. And His glory will begin to take form within us, even in quiet and unseen ways. But if Christ is not in us—if our faith is merely cultural, inherited, intellectual, or performative—then no amount of religious activity can compensate for His absence. Jesus warned of this with sobering clarity: “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Without Him, we may appear spiritual, but we will lack the life that only He can give.

Returning to the Center

This is why Paul’s command matters. It calls us back to the center. It calls us to the first love. It calls us to the first commandment. It calls us to the living Christ who does not merely inspire from a distance but dwells within those who belong to Him. The hope of glory is not found in our performance, our knowledge, our traditions, or our religious habits. The hope of glory is Christ in us. And nothing less will do.


The Road Already Traveled

Allen Frederick Leave a comment



The snow had fallen heavy across the fields, a white blanket covering everything in sight. Yet as I drove my route, the roads beneath my tires were clear. Someone had gone before me. Road crews had braved the cold, plowed the snow, and laid down salt so I could travel safely. I didn’t see their labor, but I reaped its benefit.

That picture stayed with me: the unseen work of those who prepare the way. And I realized—it’s not just true of winter roads. It’s true of the life of faith.

Scripture tells us we are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). Men and women of faith who endured hardship, persecution, and trials have gone before us. They cleared the path, leaving behind testimonies of endurance and courage. Their footprints mark the way, showing us it can be done.

Paul could say at the end of his journey, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). His words are like mile markers on the road, encouraging us to press on. The prophets, apostles, martyrs, reformers, and even faithful family members who walked with Christ—they all labored so we could travel confidently along the pathway they laid.

And here’s where the “comfort angel” comes in. Paul also writes that God comforts us in our affliction “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). That’s the ministry of comfort: what once was frightening becomes manageable because someone else has already walked it, received God’s mercy, and left behind encouragement. Their testimony is like salt on icy roads, turning danger into safe passage.

Just as I thanked the road crews for their unseen work, I thank God for those who prepared the way of faith before me. Their endurance clears my doubts. Their testimony salts the icy patches of fear. Their example plows through the drifts of discouragement.

And now, the responsibility is ours. We are not only travelers—we are road crews for those who will come after. Our faithfulness today prepares tomorrow’s pathway. Our endurance becomes encouragement for the next generation.

So drive forward with confidence. The road is not uncharted. It has been traveled, tested, and proven. And as we follow Christ, we prepare the way for others to follow Him too—comforting them with the same comfort we ourselves have received.

We can travel the road of faith with confidence because of those who’ve cleared the way.