The Aquila Report Archives - Page 22 of 942

Bearing Fruit

By T.M. Suffield — 5 months ago

Written by T. M. Suffield |
Saturday, October 5, 2024
We know that everything, everything, that dies in Christ comes to life. That includes all that ‘wasted’ effort on self-denial that didn’t bear fruit we could see. We need new creation eyes to learn that nothing done for God is wasted, no seed dies without bearing fruit, even if it isn’t the fruit that we were aiming for.

The seed that dies is the one that bears fruit. That’s what Jesus said in John 12,

Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12.24
A biologist might take issue with us saying a seed has to die before it grows, but they shouldn’t. That’s exactly what happens. It we take a seed and bury it in the earth, something that was once part of a living plant and is now pushed under the earth, what are we to call this but death? Quibbling here is, I think, a symptom of a brain that doesn’t read enough poetry. We could call it a kind of ‘modernist madness’ where everything is defined in the precise mechanistic categories of the natural sciences.
A grain of wheat—a seed—must fall into the earth and die. If it doesn’t it remains alone. If it does it bears fruit, it multiplies. In other words, when we look at the natural world, we learn a principle of the cosmos: things that keep on living die, things that die will live in multiplied life. That one seed grows into a plant that is full of seeds. If those seeds are planted, even if only a quarter of them grow as in Jesus’ parable of the soils (Matthew 13—often called the Sower, but it’s the Soils and the Seed that are in view), the number of seeds grows exponentially. It doesn’t take that long to go from one apple to an orchard, or from an orchard to a world dominated by apple trees, but each step requires the death of that seed.
Jesus was, of course, talking about himself. The seed (think Genesis 3) that dies bears much fruit. After death comes life, if you can be brave enough to submit to it. Jesus continued:

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
John 12.25
We have to be willing to lose our lives in order to gain them. Not just in martyrdom, which seems an unlikely prospect in the west.
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The Problem in Imitating Christ

By Jonathan Hayashi — 5 months ago

God is not interested in simply re-tweaking a few behaviors and calling them good. He is about repentance and radical transformation in our lives! Jesus is not about behavioral retraining of a therapeutic relationship which is reward-based. That is basically to stop bad behavior and start doing good behavior like training a dog! How does he sanctify us and make us more like Jesus?

“You’re Ready to Go!” Those are the words I received from my Senior Pastor! I felt pretty good about myself. I was 20, single, and was still in Bible college. What can go wrong right?
Now that I’ve been 15 years fast forward, I have been in ministry, and some may have the idea that it was an easy-breezy journey as it led to where I am today. But that was not the case. I went through a significant church conflict as a young pastor that has shaped the rest of my ministry.
Knowing where you start helps us understand how we can end at the final destination. Hope while suffering and strife, gives them fuel to run together.
God is not interested in simply re-tweaking a few behaviors and calling them good. He is about repentance and radical transformation in our lives! Jesus is not about behavioral retraining of a therapeutic relationship which is reward-based. That is basically to stop bad behavior and start doing good behavior like training a dog!
How does he sanctify us and make us more like Jesus? Sometimes, he brings great affliction. There’s nothing like the school of suffering is there? Trial, tribulation, testing, and temptation…. These were all part of the equation of becoming the person I am today.
What is Your Life About?
“What brings you in today?” That is often how I begin a counseling session. I sometimes wonder, how Jesus would approach us in the mess.
A humanistic approach in psychotherapy would say, “Not get too involved” because of transference. The clinical model is where you are the authority in the room and that is under your tool so you can be trusted and have a “cold” and “distant” relationship.
I’m thankful Jesus was not sent for a professional relationship, but Jesus seeks for a personal relationship. The world avoids messed up people, but Jesus runs to messed up people. Jesus would look at our suffering and he would give a word, a look, and a touch.
Jesus began his ministry of service by proclaiming the good news of God. What is this good news? Gospel which means “good news.” Specifically, it refers to the good news of salvation through Jesus. It comes from the Old English word god-spell (meaning “good news”) which comes from the Greek word euaggelion (Strong’s #2098, eu = “good,” angelion = “message”).
The good news is all about Jesus! The good news is both from God and about God. As one commentator put it this way, “Men and women have been longing to hear such a message. Now they not only hear it but encounter the One who can deliver it.”
Jesus then called the disciples to himself with his life. He wanted to communicate with a life of discipleship which is not easy. He sees the life of the disciples and they will suffer for their faith. Jesus’ call to discipleship is the main point that we see. What it means to carry the cross.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34). What does carrying the cross cost look like? Christians ought to believe and obey: It is not just knowing the Word of God.
So, what does a follower of Jesus look like practically? What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? What is the cost of the call to “discipleship” in the process of learning to become like Christ?
Who is Jesus Christ?
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” (Mark 1:2-3). This was a quotation from Isaiah from the Old Testament. He was quoting from the Old Testament Isaiah 40:3 with Elijah the eschatological prophet, “a voice crying in the wilderness”
Later in the context says, “Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.” (Mark 1:6). You may be thinking, what is up with this weird dude?
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Is Australia Under Judgment?

By Mark Powell — 5 months ago

In rejecting the millennial reign of Christ Jesus, our nation has progressively lost its moral compass. We are at such a nadir spiritually that the drastic prophetic actions of the immoral Levite are what might even be needed. Over 70,000 children are dismembered through abortion each year in Australia. If the death of one woman is horrific, how much more the treatment of those whom we have been entrusted to love and care? There is none more defenceless than a baby, and so the callousness and cruelty associated with how they are currently being treated is all the more reprehensible.

The title of this article may sound hyperbolic, but it’s not. It is my contention that the nation of Australia is currently experiencing the wrath of God. This is demonstrated by the prevalence of wickedness which exists throughout our land. While things could always get worse, it’s my hope in writing this that in the Lord may use it to lead his people to repentance and so revive the work of the Gospel in this place (2 Chron. 7:14).
The reason I believe that we are as a nation under judgment can be found in the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 1:18ff. Note that Paul says that “the wrath of God is being revealed”, i.e. at this present time. How exactly is this demonstrated? By God giving us over to the sinful desires of our hearts – in particular, withdrawing the goodness of His grace which restrains us from doing whatever our sinful desires want to do.
In the context of Paul’s letter to the Romans this is expressed sexually when men and women become inflamed with lust for one another, and is an integral component of what Paul means that we are receiving in ourselves the “due penalty for their perversion” (Rom. 1:27).
All sexual acts outside the holy and sacred covenant of marriage are wrong. But there is something ‘unnatural’ about homosexuality and thus, particularly degrading and even shameful. However, it’s not just homosexuality which is an expression of God’s wrath and righteous judgment. Paul goes on to write:
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them. (Rom. 1:28-32)
This is an apt description of the people in every nation throughout the Western world today, including for those of us who live in Australia. I completed an undergraduate liberal arts degree, majoring in anthropology, at a Lutheran university in the United States of America. In my course, we learnt that there were four main ‘rites of passage’ which every culture throughout the world observes. These involves ceremonies surrounding birth, puberty, marriage and death.
The Culture of Death
Just consider what has taken place then throughout the West since the turn of the twenty-first century:
a) Regarding birth we now have late term abortion even for psycho-social reasons where the mother’s mental health is viewed as being at risk.
b) Regarding puberty we have politicians and doctors championing transgenderism where children are being surgically castrated and permanently sterilised.
c) Regarding marriage we have the misnomer of ‘gay marriage’ involving people of the same biological sex when they cannot naturally form a family.
d) Regarding death we have doctor assisted suicide or, as it’s appropriately referred to in Canada, M.A.D. ‘Medically Assisted Death’.
Western civilisation has entered into what is appropriately referred to as a ‘culture of death’. Not even Aldous Huxley in his dystopian classic Brave New World perceived just how morally depraved we would quickly become.
Learning from God’s Word
There is a biblical precedent to all of this which is especially apt. And that is the horrific incident found in the book of Judges chapter 19. The sordid tale involves a Levite (who was from the tribe of Israel which provided religious scribes and priests) and his concubine whom he callously allows to be sexually abused throughout the night by a group of Israelite men who were initially trying to rape him.
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God’s Blueprint for a Godly Family

By Benjamin George — 5 months ago

The family, as the smallest of the three institutions, is headed by the father, followed by the mother, who submits to her husband’s authority. Under them are the children, who submit to both parents. The family is not only the smallest unit but also the foundational one, created by God before both the church and government. These two realities have far-reaching implications for both the church and society. If families are unhealthy, the church and society will likewise be unhealthy. Conversely, healthy families will lead to healthier churches and stronger societies.

A blueprint is a guide for constructing something — it’s a design or pattern that can be followed. Want to build the best house? Draw up a blueprint and adhere to the design carefully.
In its literal sense, a blueprint is a detailed plan printed on blue paper, traditionally used for constructing buildings. However, the concept of a blueprint extends beyond architecture to encompass strategic planning in various areas of life. For example, a business plan can be seen as a blueprint for achieving profitability. Religions or philosophies offer blueprints for guiding one’s way of living. A blueprint, thus, serves as a guide to help you know what steps to take. In the same way, God has designed a blueprint for the family, the church, and the government.
There are three key observations I would like to make about God’s blueprint for the family:
1. Authority:One defining characteristic shared by all three institutions—the family, the church, and the government—is authority. Each has its own God-ordained structure of authority, with God being sovereign over all. For example, the king is the authority over the government, the elders hold authority within the church, and the father is the authority within the family. These structures are vital for maintaining order and fulfilling God’s purpose for each institution.
2. Love:In both the church and the family, God has designed these institutions to function in a posture of love—towards Him and towards one another. Authority without love distorts the very purpose of these institutions. A family or a church that operates under authority but lacks love will not flourish according to God’s design. Imagine a family where children are disciplined but not loved; such children would likely grow up emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged. Love, therefore, is a critical component of God’s blueprint for families, ensuring that discipline and guidance are rooted in care and compassion.
3. Training ground:The family, as the smallest of the three institutions, is headed by the father, followed by the mother, who submits to her husband’s authority. Under them are the children, who submit to both parents. The family is not only the smallest unit but also the foundational one, created by God before both the church and government. These two realities have far-reaching implications for both the church and society. If families are unhealthy, the church and society will likewise be unhealthy. Conversely, healthy families will lead to healthier churches and stronger societies.
Another way to say it is that families serve as the ‘nursery’ for both the church and society. Just as plants in a nursery are tended to carefully until they are ready to be transplanted into a more permanent setting, the family nurtures children in a context of loving authority. Here, children learn submission, love, and discipline before being ‘transplanted’ into church membership (if they are truly converted) and into society as law-abiding citizens. If they are not healthy within the family, they won’t thrive once they step into the church or broader society.
God’s Blueprint for the Husband-Wife Relationship
Husbands – For the Husband to love his wife like Christ loves the Church:
Eph. 5:25-33 gives God’s blueprint for husbands:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
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8 Godly Men of the Bible Who Still Needed a Savior

By Le Ann Trees — 5 months ago

Adam was made in righteousness and holiness, but he also had a free will that could choose to obey or disobey God. Sadly, Adam chose poorly. He listened to his wife Eve and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden him to do. Because of Adam’s transgression, every person is guilty before God, since Adam represented all humanity. Additionally, everyone has a corrupt human nature, because all humans are descendants of Adam who fell into a sinful state of being.
Still, Adam had faith that God would provide a savior as promised in Genesis 3:15. He demonstrated this faith by naming his wife Eve, which means “the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20).
2. Noah

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A Whole List of Reasons to Consider Marrying Young

By Tim Challies — 5 months ago

Part of the beauty of marriage is that it involves a second person coming alongside to help, strengthen, encourage, support, and care for you. More years of such blessings may prove a greater benefit than fewer years. This is perhaps especially true when those blessings come in your formative twenties.

There are a few trends that seem universally associated with a modernizing society. Wealth increases, for example, and standards of living rise. Meanwhile, marriage and fertility rates decline. So too does the average age of marriage. Over the past few decades, marriage in many Western countries has transformed from a rite-of-passage into adulthood to something more like an optional add-on to middle-age.
Contra the culture both within and outside of the church, I remain an advocate of marrying young. That’s not to say that there is anything wrong with waiting to marry until you are older or that you should marry young. However, I do I suggest you at least be open to the possibility of it. It’s not to say you should plow recklessly ahead with your first crush, but that you should move forward only with the guidance and wisdom of parents and Christian community. And it’s definitely not to say you should marry when you are still a child—so perhaps we can define “young” as being something like twentyish to twenty-sixish—ages that are within the bounds of adulthood but still significantly younger than the contemporary average.
With that in mind, I direct this brief article to Christian young people and offer them several reasons they should be open to marrying when they are young.
There is something sweet and significant about building a life together. While there is nothing wrong with building separate lives and then combining them in your late twenties or thirties, it is a special joy to begin with nothing and build it all as a couple.
While the Bible offers no explicit directives on the age of marriage, it does at times seem to assume or commend it as an aspect of being younger rather than older. For example: “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18). Sure, part of this may be related to the realities of an ancient agrarian culture, but still, the Bible’s assumption for marriage generally seems to point to youth more than age.
Once you are certain that you have found the person you would like to marry, there is often little benefit in remaining unmarried for a long period of time. Conversely, there may be difficult struggles and temptations.
It is powerfully counter-cultural to not only reject cohabitation, but to embrace marriage. Everyone expects you will get married someday, but few expect you will get married until you have tried many partners and trialed many relationships. Young marriage testifies to God’s plan for men and women to form exclusive and lifelong partnerships—to not only choose to build a life with another person but to forever reject all other possibilities by deliberately closing out your options. Such a decision is guaranteed to provoke interesting and biblically-based conversations.
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Who Are the Poor in Spirit?

By Mike Ratliff — 5 months ago

Once the incredible gulf between God’s Holiness and Righteousness and their utter spiritual bankruptcy is revealed to them, they respond in brokenness. They are now Poor in Spirit. They see their utter lostness for the first time. We see this clearly in Ephesians 2:1-10. Jesus is calling them to come to Him for rest. They then respond by repenting and believing according to the gift of faith given to them by God. (Ephesians 2:8) Now they have rest for their souls because they are now saved by grace through faith. They are the Poor in Spirit and their’s is the kingdom of heaven.

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 (LSB)
One the most disturbing aspects of the churches who practice Christianity “lite” is the near total abandonment of a call to personal holiness. Even more discouraging is the fact that they preach a version of the gospel that has had any mention of repentance severed from it. The reasoning behind this, of course, is that they are building bridges to the unchurched. If they preach the whole gospel they will drive away those they are attempting to draw to join their churches. The problem with that sort of reasoning is that it is based in pragmatism. It is based on fleshly reasoning and the ways of the world. It is actually unbelief in the form of ministry. The architects of Christianity “lite” do not believe that God is still building His Church, therefore, they will do it themselves using marketing techniques constructed around “cultural-relevancy.” They reason that if they build “cool churches” that it will draw people who hate “traditional church.” They may not go to the old Baptist Church on main street, but they might go to a gathering that is more of an entertainment venue than a church.
They claim that they are bringing thousands into the Kingdom by doing church this way. However, we must remember that the gospel they preach goes something like this: “God’s got a great plan for your life. Jesus wants you to be happy and fulfilled. So, why not let Jesus come into our life so He can redecorate it in such a way that you will find true happiness.” Of course, this is just one example, but the gist of this sort of gospel call is all man-based. It presents God as the servant and man as the determiner. There is no mention of sin and the fact that all sinners are condemned in their sin because our Holy God cannot even look upon it. Since this is never mentioned then the call to repent and believe on Jesus is never mentioned either. Instead, it is a call to ask Jesus into their life. Of course, since these folks are not regenerate, they continue in their sins. They may feel guilt about not living like a Christian consistently, but they are not Poor in Spirit. They are not broken and grieving over their sin. Their Christian leaders tell them that their faith has saved them and there is really no need to worry about obedience and repentance. They counsel them to try to live holy lives, but they have no way to help them do so because they don’t believe that Christians are actually changed at the new birth.
What does the Bible say about this? Look at the passage I placed at the top of this post. Read it carefully. What does it tell us? Who has the Kingdom of Heaven? Is Jesus telling us that the Kingdom of Heaven will contain the poor in spirit plus everyone who professed Him as Saviour? No, this is telling us that those who are genuine Christians are those who are not self-sufficient. They humbly recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy apart from God.
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You Need a Well-Oiled Gospel Memory

By Paul David Tripp — 5 months ago

It’s vital to remember that we not only experienced his forgiving grace at the moment of our conversion, but continually experience his grace as a lovingly patient process of restoration. God has forgiven you again and again, he has restored you to himself again and again, and he will continue to do so again and again.

Remember the Gospel
It is important to have a well-oiled, activated gospel memory. It’s important to require yourself never to forget. Few things are more spiritually benefiting than rehearsing the story of God’s rescuing, forgiving, and restoring grace in your life. It’s vital to remember that we not only experienced his forgiving grace at the moment of our conversion, but continually experience his grace as a lovingly patient process of restoration. God has forgiven you again and again, he has restored you to himself again and again, and he will continue to do so again and again.
God knows that between the “already” and the “not yet,” living in a fallen world and with sin still inside of us, we will mess up. There will be times when we think, desire, and do wrong things. There will be times when we willingly step outside of God’s holy boundaries. This side of eternity we will sin. This is why God’s commitment to forgive us and restore us is so beautiful and hopeinspiring. If you are at all humble, then you know you’re not perfect. You know no day in your life is totally sin-free. You know you are a person in need of daily forgiveness.
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Pay Attention to What You’re Singing

By Todd Alexander — 5 months ago

We must not approach the worship of God for what it can do for us. This kind of idolatrous mistake is responsible for many churches losing their way with worship. The aforementioned benefits of paying attention to what we sing are simply byproducts of genuine worship—the benefits to the human spirit of encountering and rightly responding to God.

As Christians who live in a predominantly pagan culture, we regularly hear words or phrases that betray commonly held but false assumptions based in a pagan view of reality. We filter these out daily in nearly every context, from academic lectures, to media consumption, to conversations with family and friends: “billions of years,” “karma,” “follow your heart,” or even the kindly stated, “good luck.” Discerning Christians find themselves continually filtering what they see and hear through the lens of a biblically informed conscience.
Unfortunately, Christians often have to filter language even in church. How we worship God and what we say in our worship necessarily shapes our beliefs about God, just as what we believe about God informs how we worship Him. When you attend church, pay attention to what you sing, because what you sing will tell you a lot about what your church really believes. Just as a tree is recognizable by its fruit, a church’s theology will be recognizable by the way that she worships and the songs that she sings.
If you aren’t paying attention to what you are singing, you could be missing out on some of the richest spiritual moments of your life.
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Why the Big Fish is Not the Craziest Thing in Jonah

By Peter Witkowski — 5 months ago

To love as God loves, we must long to see our enemies saved from the wrath to come. This is the most radical aspect of the book of Jonah…the sovereign mercy of God. May God give us the grace to love the Ninevites in our life as God loved us.

The most shocking element of the Jonah narrative is not the fish that swallows the cantankerous prophet. It is the providential mercy of God who saves both the cantankerous prophet and the people of Assyria.
Why was Jonah’s Sin?
When Jonah receives word to go to Ninevah, he disobeys God and heads into the dark hull of a ship destined for the other side of the known world. Though some scholars believe Jonah’s revulsion to the Assyrian empire was driven by racism and cultural prejudice, the author of Jonah makes no such claims. Jonah most certainly did not view the culture that made a name for itself by creating towers with its captives’ skulls favorably. But he did not run from them because of unsubstantiated fears about what they might do to him. He ran from his God because he desired to save the wicked.
Though Jonah’s nebulously short sermon might appear to be an early Bible-thumping, fire and brimstone message, it was nothing of the sort. It contained illusions to both God’s wrath and his mercy. The word translated ‘repent’ in Jonah 3:4 could also mean to overturn or change. In other words, Jonah’s message could have had a double meaning: destroy sin or be destroyed by sin. Moreover, Jonah’s mention of 40 days would have also reminded the original Hebrew listeners of both Moses and Noah. After 40 days, Moses came down from the mountain and condemned the nation of Israel for having worshiped a golden calf. Conversely after 40 days, Noah emerged from the Ark having survived the flood. Thus, number 40 contained both the potential for death and salvation. And it was this very possibility of forgiveness that troubled Jonah’s soul.
When the prophet gives us unfiltered insight into his motives, he says, “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (4:2).” Jonah ran not from geopolitical realities but from the idea that God would save the sinners…sinners who cared nothing for the laws and regulations of God’s wordIn other words, Jonah took no issue with the salvation of those who offered sacrifices and faithfully read the Torah.
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