Blog - Page 108 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Winning and Losing: Culture Markers That Destroy the Quest for Unity in the Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 26th, 2011|Categories: Missional Church, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

The idea of “winning” and “losing” prevails in our culture. No one likes to come in second thus we are all conditioned to win. In fact, we now have a culture that seeks to promote winning while at the same time we are seeking to compensate for all those who are not first so they will not be damaged psychologically. Ask any teacher about grades and students and you will understand what I mean.

But my point today is rather simple and obvious. We live in a culture that is marked by patterns of belonging that are shaped by the spirit of voluntary association. Because of this freedom we can belong to and leave groups, organizations, associations and communities any time we desire. We can even opt out of families if we desire. (Some will legally change their name, as NBA player Ron Artest, whose new name come August will be Metta World Peace!)

These cultural patterns of belonging are reinforced by a prevailing individualism and complemented by a consumerist orientation. […]

My Struggle with The GOP’s Hard Stance on Social Services

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 25th, 2011|Categories: Current Affairs, Economy/Economics, Politics, Poverty|

The Republican Party opposes the continual escalation of government with a passion. (The consistency of this stance is debatable historically but I’m not addressing this matter in this particular post.) How will we stop the ever rising debt that we have created and save our federal government from financial collapse? The answer, if we are honest, is anyone’s guess. Both parties have delayed for so long that the dangers are profoundly real. They will not go away this week or next. One scenario has us bailing out on our debt. Others have towns and cities, even states, going into bankruptcy. What this will do is almost beyond imagination. I personally stand to lose my small pension and be very adversely impacted.

Having said this I cannot agree with the irresponsible way many in the GOP speak about cutting certain social services for the poor. Let me explain.

About 60% of the elderly in nursing care rely on Medicaid to pay for their services. And at the beginning of life […]

A Reformed Liturgy for Communion

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 24th, 2011|Categories: Reformed Christianity, Sacraments, The Church|

I am often amazed at just how little some Christians understand their own church and the theology that church affirms. This is particularly true with regard to the understanding many in the Reformed churches have of communion.

Very few Reformed Christians realize that John Calvin actually held this meal in very high regard. He believed it was more than a memorial of Christ. It was the “real presence” of Jesus with his church. He also hoped weekly communion would become the norm.

For some years I have longed to receive the Eucharist often. Minimally, I want to come to the Table once a week. Ideally, even more often.

I recently looked at the Liturgy of the Reformed Church in America regarding the communion service and found the following words:

Together we proclaim the mystery of the faith:

Christ has died!

Christ is risen!

Christ will come again!

This affirmation is followed by this prayer:

Send your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray, that the bread which we break […]

Dealing with Consumerism Through Biblical Asceticism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 23rd, 2011|Categories: Business, Economy/Economics, Spirituality, Wealth|

Let’s face it – there is a growing personal freedom that comes by living in a culture deeply rooted in materialism and consumerism. If I have enough money, and the desire to spend it, I can buy a new car, a bigger home or a new iPhone or iPad. In fact, I can have all of this stuff and never even pay for it, or at least not for several years anyway. This is not all bad. But this particular kind of consumerism feeds into two major problems – individualism and hedonism. And these two problems create devastating moral consequences in our society. This explains, I believe, why so many well-intentioned Christians link free markets with consumerism and them reject them both in the process. I tried to show yesterday why this connection was false.

Make no mistake about this — the dangers here are very real. In fact, a great deal of modern evangelistic practice has fallen into a consumerist trap. We seek to fill a personal niche by appealing to consumer needs and desires. We tell consumers (the non-Christians we are evangelizing) that they need […]

Does Economic Freedom Lead to Consumerism?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 22nd, 2011|Categories: Business, Economy/Economics, Wealth|

A number of false conclusions are drawn by focusing only on outcomes. A common one focuses on the dangers of free markets and an open economy. Critics, especially earnest Christian critics, often attack economic freedom and capitalism based upon the very real dangers of consumerism. This association between markets and consumerism is so common that it often goes unchallenged. I hear it almost daily. But is the connection between free market capitalism and consumerism correct? Does opposition to consumerism, which is clearly a rampant problem in the church in the West, obligate one to oppose markets and growing a (global) business? Keep in mind, before you leap into this debate, that you should always ask a few questions before you leap.

The first question should be obvious? What exactly is consumerism? So far as I can tell the term "consumerism" was first used in 1915 to refer to the "advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers" (Oxford English Dictionary). But this is not the common way most […]

Why Did the University of Notre Dame Fail It’s Own Christian Standards and Ideals?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 21st, 2011|Categories: College Football, Current Affairs, Personal|

Blogging is a rather amazing phenomenon. It has impacted politics, the church and almost everything else in between. When I began to write blogs in April of 2005 I had no idea what I was doing or where this would go. I began blogging because I enjoyed writing and believed I could express my thoughts in this form and thereby help and serve both God and some of his people. My core values were clear: speak the truth in love, always correct my mistakes when they became known to me and encourage people in every way possible to think, grow and change in the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. For about five years now I have written a blog almost every day of the week.

To this end I soon began to write about a whole panorama of issues and ideas. Now, more than six years later, I write to an audience that includes Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox. I write to non-Christians and I write to people on both sides of issues that divide us; homosexuality, abortion, health care, etc. I generally avoid partisan politics because […]

Notre Dame and Big-Time Football: Something Isn’t Right in South Bend

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 20th, 2011|Categories: College Football|

It is a widely known fact that I love college athletics, especially D-I football. Why? I grew up watching Alabama and Bear Bryant and then went to the University of Alabama. I am, thus, a die-hard Crimson Tide fan. Having said this I must admit that my alma mater has done more than its fair share of wrong over the course of my lifetime. It has cost Alabama dearly, putting it on probation several times and taking its storied tradition to the proverbial “dog house” of big-time football. So, let it be duly noted here, “The one without sin should cast the first stone.” I am not, however, comparing apples and apples in what I am about to say. I am speaking about a university that is the premier Catholic university in America and one that prides itself on a storied tradition that is supposed to be above the common lot of college football programs. Not so.

In late June the Department of Education handed down a decision […]

A Global Survey of Evangelical Leaders: Unity Not a Major Concern

By John Armstrong|2011-07-19T04:00:00-05:00July 19th, 2011|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

Newly released data from the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life provides the results of polling gathered from 2,196 evangelical leaders from 166 countries and territories who were invited to attend the Third Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa, last October. The results make for a very insightful discussion about the state of evangelical Protestant Christianity around the world.

Evangelical leaders who live in the Global South (sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and most of Asia) are generally optimistic about the prospects for evangelicalism in their countries. But leaders who live in the Global North (Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) tend to be more pessimistic. The reasons are quite obvious if you read the poll and the attendant comments on it.

One that stands out – evangelical leaders around the world view secularism, consumerism and popular culture as the greatest threats they face today. More of the leaders expressed concern about these aspects of modern life than expressed concern about other religions, internal disagreements among fellow evangelicals or government restrictions on […]

Bishop Kallistos Ware: “The Center of the Christian Message”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:23-05:00July 18th, 2011|Categories: Christ/Christology, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, Orthodoxy|

A few months ago Christianity Today editor David Neff did an interview with Orthodox Bishop Kallistos Ware. This interview is now available online. Bishop Ware, who is from Great Britain, was an Anglican before he entered the Orthodox Church as a young adult. His story is widely known and can be accessed online as well. He is probably best known for his written work, much of it explaining Orthodoxy to the non-Orthodox. Unlike so many leaders in the Orthodox Church Bishop Ware understands and loves evangelical Protestant Christianity.

The Christianity Today interview was actually conducted while Bishop Ware was in the Chicago area speaking at North Park University and Wheaton College. I heard the Wheaton address at the Billy Graham Center. His lecture at Wheaton was titled: “What Have We to Learn from One Another?” He answered, at the outset, “We need one another to be truly human!” I shall never forget this answer so long as I live. This is at the core […]

John R. W. Stott: An Appreciation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:24-05:00July 17th, 2011|Categories: Leadership, Personal|

Perhaps no evangelical thinker and writer has more influenced me over the last 45 years than John R. W. Stott, who turned 90 in late April. I’ve met John Stott on several occasions and keep a cherished photo of him in my study. The last time I saw him was in Carol Stream about four years ago.

Jim Packer has been a true friend, indeed a mentor. I’ve shared a great deal of time and fellowship with him over the last thirty years or so. He has personally encouraged me and been a profound theological influence. His frequent visits to serve as a senior editor for Christianity Today afforded us many evenings of sweet fellowship. But it is Stott that I write about today.

David Neff, editor of Christianity Today, wrote a tribute to Stott a few months ago and suggested that two things struck him as he read two different collections about his life. First, John Stott has remarkable discernment. Second, he has incredible discipline. My friends who […]