In keeping with the journalistic tradition of looking back at the recent past, we present the top 50 stories of the year that were read on The Aquila Report site based on the number of hits. We will present the 50 stories in groups of 10 to run on five lists on consecutive days. Here are numbers 31-40.
In 2025 The Aquila Report (TAR) posted over 3,000 stories. At the end of each year we feature the top 50 stories that were read.
TAR posts 8 new stories each day, on a variety of subjects – all of which we trust are of interest to our readers. As a web magazine TAR is an aggregator of news and information that we believe will provide articles that will inform the church of current trends and movements within the church and culture.
In keeping with the journalistic tradition of looking back at the recent past, we present the top 50 stories of the year that were read on The Aquila Report site based on the number of hits. We will present the 50 stories in groups of 10 to run on five lists on consecutive days. Here are numbers 31-40:
This year’s Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) General Assembly had the potential to be one of the most significant in the history of the PCA, but it did not live up to its full potential. Nonetheless, this was a successful Assembly as it largely continued the status quo of the last five years or so: upholding our Constitution and steadily progressing in appreciation for the Reformed Faith.
If a man reserves his strongest words only for outsiders, it is not courage at all. Prophets did speak to the nations, but they saved their heaviest blows for the idols closest to home, and they bore the cost. When the fiercest edge cuts elsewhere, it is not prophetic steadfastness but crowd-pleasing performance. Catering to the crowd is never prophetic.
Charlie Kirk was not a man of hate. He spoke truth. He debated ideas. He was a husband, a father. And he was slaughtered in front of his wife and children for daring to live and speak his faith…Yet even as the darkness deepens, I know my God has not abandoned us. He has given us a mission —not to meet violence with violence, but to proclaim His kingdom. I will stand. I will protect my family. I will protect my church…But my greatest and first weapon is not steel or lead—it is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
Until the last 50 years, the Reformed tradition has been absolutely clear and consistent on the topic of homosexuality because the Bible is clear and consistent on homosexuality. Any Presbyterian denomination that ignores this biblical truth is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. What has tragically transpired in the mainline Presbyterian church shouts in contemporary ears. Presbyterians should beware of playing the fool again by being duped by worldly philosophies and the gay Christian movement that attempts to normalize homosexuality and change the mind of the church.
You might ask, “Pastor Ball, what is this view that you hold that is so shocking?” Well, here it is—it was a big mistake for America to allow Jews, Muslims, and Hindus to construct places of worship on American soil. Not only do I believe that this was a major error, but I believe it was contrary to the Bible. This problem has come to the forefront lately with the secularization of America, the replacement of Protestant Pluralism with National Polytheism, and the rise of Christian Nationalism.
The main point is that the theological underpinnings of paedo-communion undermine the need for a covenant child’s conversion. That’s because the need for conversion presupposes that one is not already in actual communion with Christ, which paedo-communion denies. Therefore, and in the final analysis, paedo-communion opposes evangelical Christianity because it’s at odds with the gospel. Yet, and understandably so, there’s something sinfully alluring about leaving one’s children to the bare sacraments as opposed to pursuing the rewarding labors of covenant nurturing.
Following the death of George Floyd five years ago, the Stated Clerk of the EPC released a lengthy statement declaring a day of lament, prayer, and fasting. When Charlie Kirk was gunned down, the Stated Clerk and Office of the General Assembly did not acknowledge his death or issue any statement whatsoever. The silence was deafening.
The multicultural American experiment is done. The city-to-city era of church planting is living on borrowed time. The church “for the life of the city” is a slogan that proved presumptive. Churchly emphasis on artistic engagement is even worse, and has proven a costly three decade case study in mission drift.
My sense is that Dr. Coffin’s comments have not properly represented the nature of the fallout from the podcast. To imply that the situation was stirred up by some bad actors, when, in fact, it was actually an unfortunate mistake that resulted in an unnecessary controversy within the PCA and beyond. With all due respect to Dr. Coffin, this controversy did not arise from a mob. This controversy was born out of the statements and actions made by our Stated Clerk on a podcast; statements for which he has since repented. It is from these circumstances that we must move forward.
Publicly disavowing Russell Moore at this point in time is not about one man. It is about fidelity, even if it means saying hard things about one we once counted as “one of us”. It is speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) to warn the beloved bride of Christ of a present danger. Far better to have a temporary turmoil now, clearly resolved, than a slow-burning confusion for years to come.
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