While there is no quick fix for immorality. No singular or simplistic response that will eradicate the influence of the plethora of cultural idols that shape our imaginations and calibrate our desires, forming in us a distorted vision of the good life.  There is an answer. It’s not new. It’s not quick. It’s not glamorous or perhaps exciting, but God’s answer is the gracious gospel call to a virtuous life in a covenant community. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 that “…being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves…” Perhaps it seems too simple, too obvious, but the starting point of a virtuous life is the local church.

The Church Is Still the Answer
All too often we hear of platformed evangelicals who have succumb to the “schemes of the devil” and the disordered “desires of the flesh” living as if they were unaware that the “passions of the flesh… wage war against your soul” (Eph. 6:11, 2John 2:16, 1Pet. 2:11).  Inevitably, blogs are written, situations dissected, and reflections offered.
However, it may be a good time to reflect on the broader issue of sanctification, and the call of a plodding virtuous community life for every single disciple of Christ. The truth is, we all struggle with idolatry.  In Colossians 3:5-6 we’re exhorted to ‘Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.’ 
Paul warns us about the pull and power of disordered desires that not only want, but actively pursue sexual pleasure, power, possessions and/or consumption. He describes these as “earthly” and ‘idolatrous’ things that we want more than God, even if they are good things, like work, family or sex. Calvin described these desires as ‘inordinate desires’, where we want good things too much, and those desires become disordered desires recalibrate our loves so we willingly or neglectfully disobey God. 
We often see these disordered desires prevalent in young Christian girls who date non-Christian boys, and young Christian boys who ask and pressure girls for inappropriate or even explicit photos on Snap Chat. These disordered desires are evident in widespread immorality, ubiquitous pornography, as well as the endless stupidity and triviality that is consumed in alarming daily doses of death scrolling and streaming media. They are evident in the married men who break almost every single commandment in an illicit affair, seemingly oblivious to the truck load of pain they will inevitably dump on their family, friends and church community. Then there are the ‘acceptable’ sins of greed and pride that redirect the good of work from provision and service to careerism and materialism. Not all such sins will get publicly dissected and discussed, but they are prevalent in almost every congregation in Australia, weakening and undermining gospel communities and their witness.
Augustine in his famous book ‘City of God’ pictured the spiritual battle between the two spiritual forces, the city of man (flesh) and the city of God (spirit).
Read More

Related Posts:

.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(–global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(–global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);padding-top:var(–global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(–global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd{background-color:#dddddd;}.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id223392_4ab238-bd > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}
.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(–global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column223392_96a96c-18 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}

Subscribe to Free “Top 10 Stories” Email
Get the top 10 stories from The Aquila Report in your inbox every Tuesday morning.

Written by M. R. Conrad |
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Because Jesus rose, those who believe on Him will also rise. Believers today experience the hope of Job and the joy of David because of the promise of God repeated throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus Himself guaranteed: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). The believer’s future resurrection is inevitable.

Jesus’ tomb was empty. But why? How? Who? So many questions filled the mind of Cleopas and his friend as they slowly walked the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. In the aftermath of their Savior’s crucifixion, they could not fathom the inevitability of the resurrection.
Encounter with a Stranger
Just that morning, a normally reliable group women—dedicated followers of Jesus—had reported seeing a vision of angels at the empty tomb (Luke 24:23). They said that the angels asked them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” (Luke 24:5–7).
Neither Cleopas nor his friend knew what to make of the women’s report until they met a stranger on the road to Emmaus. That stranger—Jesus Himself—gently chided them for their unbelief: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25–26). Jesus answered their questions by taking them through the Old Testament Scriptures. Then, He revealed that He was their risen Savior.
Revelation in the Upper Room
Later that evening, after Cleopas and his friend had raced back to Jerusalem, Jesus appeared in the upper room where His followers had gathered. Once again, Jesus emphasized what He had already told them and what the Old Testament had previously revealed: “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44–45).
The Necessity of the Resurrection
Then Jesus spoke these amazing words: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead” (Luke 24:46–48). Not only did Jesus say He would rise from the dead, but He also echoed the unbreakable words of the Old Testament Scriptures. “Thus it is written.” and so, He must rise. “It was necessary for the Christ . . . to rise,” and so, His resurrection was inevitable.
But what Old Testament passages did Jesus quote foretelling His resurrection? Luke 24 does not reveal those details, but here are four passages Jesus may have referenced as He convinced His disciples of the inevitability of the resurrection.
~2000 B.C.: Job’s Hope
In arguably the first book of the Bible ever written, the prophet Job finds hope in a future resurrection. He writes, “I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26). The foundation for Job’s hope of resurrection lies in his Redeemer’s resurrection.
Read More
Related Posts:

This is the art of the Christian life: reconciling what needs to be remembered with what needs to be forgotten—concerning both our faithful God and our sinful selves. Jesus and his disciples point us to this reconciliation of remembering and forgetting at the Last Supper and the days that follow Jesus’s death. As Jesus—a real-life flesh and blood reminder of the Passover Lamb—instructed his disciples as they took the bread and the cup.

In February of this year, I was diagnosed with a rare type of brain cancer. I am, quite literally, one in a million. A seizure brought me to my knees and was the catalyst for the discovery. A brain biopsy and a craniotomy followed in the days and months after. I went from being independent and in the prime of my life, just on the cusp of turning forty, to being dependent, unable to drive, living with family, and staring down the face of a life-altering diagnosis that is presently incurable. My tumor, well over two inches wide, sits in the right frontal lobe of my brain near the motor control strip, impairing most of the movement on the left side of my body. When I woke up from the craniotomy in April, I could not so much as wiggle my left toes or lift my left hand off the hospital bed. Even two months later, I didn’t have the strength to open a Ziploc baggie or the motor control to type with both hands.
Looking back on the months following the surgery, which were filled with countless rehab and doctor’s appointments, my memories of that time are like the Bermuda Triangle—memories went in, but most have never come out. I’ve sent out mental search parties to see if I can find the wreckage but all I come back with are remnants of debris—hazy, vague, and tattered around the edges. A doctor’s appointment here. A hard conversation with my family there. And then nothing but vast expanses of open water and tears in between. So much has vanished from the recesses of my brain, maybe to never surface again.
Perhaps it is more of a gift of grace than I realize that those memories haven’t surfaced and remain at the bottom of the mental ocean. Even the prophet Isaiah commends God’s people to forget the former things, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isa.43:18–19). As harsh at it may seem, maybe cancer is the “new thing” springing forth in my life, if only I would have eyes to perceive it as such rather than rail against it. I hold fast to the truth that he is making a way in this wilderness season, and maybe it is for the better some memories from those months are lost, perhaps forever. Maybe the mental search parties can quit working overtime.
On the other hand, some of my memories are very vivid. I remember my first seizure well, as the type of seizures I experience impact only one side of my body, and I never lose consciousness. I had a string of four seizures in the space of two weeks in late May, and I can recall every one of them. Why does my brain remember some memories, but forget others? There’s obviously a science behind what our brains do and do not remember, especially concerning trauma, and people far smarter than I can unpack that elsewhere. I’m more interested in how all this ties into our spiritual ability to remember and forget.
There’s a long list of things I’ve been asking of God since February, like healing, strength, coordination, and recovery of cognition. However, in more recent months, one prayer has chiefly risen to the surface, one which echoes bits of Isaiah 43: “Help me remember what needs to be remembered and help me forget what needs to be forgotten.”
Read More
Related Posts: