Blog - Page 110 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Anita Ruth Armstrong: The Happiest Person I Know

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:25-05:00July 7th, 2011|Categories: Marriage & Family, Personal|

My wife of 40-plus years celebrates her birthday today. (I doubt if she would care if I told you her age but I will not take the chance that I am wrong!) If you actually knew Anita you would agree with me that she has to be the happiest person you know. She has a spirit of optimism and a sense of fun that is second to none. She loves life, loves me and loves her children and grandchildren. And she loves our little dachshund like her third child, or pretty close to it. She finds joy in dark clouds and sees hope when I see failure.

Anita’s sense of humor knows only some bounds. She has learned to restrain her humor over the years. (Spurgeon once told a lady who rebuked him for being so fun-loving and full of jokes that if she knew just how much he restrained himself she would be impressed with his piety.) When Anita […]

Lectio Divina: An Ancient Way of Reading Scripture

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:26-05:00July 6th, 2011|Categories: Spirituality|

The contemplative tradition of Christian faith and practice was birthed in the monastery but quickly moved into the wider practice of the church. One of the most important practices that grew out of the ancient monastic tradition is called Lectio Divina (pronounced "Lect-see-oh Div-ee-na).

Lectio Divina (which literally means divine or holy reading) has long been a principal practice of the Benedictine tradition of spirituality. The monastic life seeks to directly cultivate a holy listening to God's Word — for God's self-communication — which is made manifest in Christ, in the scriptures, in the human heart and in the heart of the cosmos.

Lectio Divina is actually a method of approaching scripture. It approaches the Word with a deep desire to listen to the depths, seeking to encounter Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, as he is hidden in the words of the biblical text. The goal of Lectio is to move beyond a strict analysis of words and thoughts to a disciplined developing of […]

Engaging the Culture, Changing the World

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:27-05:00July 5th, 2011|Categories: Culture, Education|

The late Jewish novelist Chaim Potok, whose work I have read and treasured, said several years ago that “we live in a world of colliding maps.” Dr. Philip W. Eaton, the president of Seattle Pacific University, understands this “world of colliding maps.” In his new book, Engaging the Culture, Changing the World (InterVarsity Press, 2011) Eaton suggests that “each of us has constructed our own little, individual story, our map, out of the bits and scraps of information we have been given.” Eaton believes that the philosophical, cultural and educational orthodoxy of our time says that there really is no big map, no overarching story, no drama into which we are all moved. In this context everything is personal. Everything depends on us. Eaton says that we've, “deconstructed any meta-map we have been given and then [we try to] construct our own map.” Is human flourishing really possible on this planet where so much is colliding around the world?

One contributor to this chaos has been the […]

An Update on the Mission of Crossroads Kids Club

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:27-05:00July 4th, 2011|Categories: Evangelism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Unity of the Church|

I have written previously about the vision and mission of my son, Matthew John Armstrong. On this Independence Day (2011) I think it is worthwhile to share a little more about Matt's vision since he is working tirelessly to bring spiritual, eternal freedom to multitudes of young people across America. Matt served his nation in the Army in the 1990s and now serves the church through a mission that I hope multitudes will someday discover and use in their local church.

Matt helped to launch a strategic ministry to kids in the public schools over a decade ago. He has been an elementary public school teacher and is bi-lingual. He has a tremendous heart for kids and the poor. Toward the end of 2010 Matt began to sense that Crossroads needed to develop its unique blend of mission in schools with the whole Christian Church across the nation. He began in March to develop clubs in the tri-states: Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. (One club will likely begin […]

The NIV Bible Translation Debate 2011

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:27-05:00July 3rd, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|

What is a person who is not a translator, who does not understand Greek and Hebrew, and who does not grasp the ways in which a text can (should) be translated, do when Bible translation debates begin?

One response, which is all to common, is to ask your pastor. Honestly, this is not a very good response in most cases. Most pastors, if they are honest, have opinions about translation but they are not competent to translate. And most of the pastors who hold passionate views about this process are biased in one form or another. Someone has shaped their view just like your own and they depend on what they know and don’t know just like you and I do. When sheep think their human shepherd has all ability in all such matters it is not a sign of health in the church. Pastors who act like they can settle these issues should, in most cases, be more honest. And people who look to them to solve their problems (here and in many other areas) should stop. It strikes me as odd how evangelicals do this […]

Southern Baptists and the NIV 2011 Translation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:28-05:00July 2nd, 2011|Categories: Southern Baptists|

I wrote yesterday about the recent Southern Baptist Convention held in Phoenix June 14-15. I spoke of the new sense of unity in the Great Commission that many found encouraging, even historic. I sincerely hope that this will prove to be more than the euphoria of a convention in the desert. One of the great things that could happen for the church in America is for Southern Baptists to find their way again in terms of church planting and evangelism. It seems they have been in the wilderness with most denominations for some years now. All Christians should pray that all churches, where Christ is preached, will grow and mature.

But the SBC is generally a mixed-bag. This year was no different. A resolution was introduced, from the floor of the convention, regarding the 2011 New International Version of the Bible. It was pointed at the so-called “gender neutral” language of this updated version. (It must be noted, that the committee on resolutions did not bring this […]

Whither Southern Baptists? Unity and Controversy in Phoenix

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:28-05:00July 1st, 2011|Categories: Southern Baptists|

Many readers know that I grew up a Southern Baptist (SBC). While I am not a Baptist now I have huge respect for my childhood church and my spiritual formation in this context. I tell some of this story in my book: Your Church Is Too Small.

I have expressed my concern about the direction of the SBC for some years. Much of that concern is not limited to Southern Baptists. In some ways, Southern Baptists ARE American evangelicalism in one large cantankerous and evangelistic group. You’ve never seen a real old-fashioned democratic shoot-out until you been in a Southern Baptist meeting with many different opinions being expressed. It is truly the best and the worst of congregational polity on a very big stage.

Over the course of the last thirty years the SBC engaged in a serious debate over the Bible. The buzz word was “inerrancy.” Eventually the more conservative party won. But a lot was lost in the process. The SBC affiliated seminaries were all impacted […]

Is Political Conservatism Rooted in Reality?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:30-05:00June 30th, 2011|Categories: Politics|

I do not generally write about partisan political issues or personal candidates. I do not believe, as I noted in a book review just last week, that politics is of primary importance in the public square. In fact, I think we have been lulled into thinking this is the case since 1976. Far too much of the church, on the political left and the political right, believes elections really determine our future. I profoundly disagree. In fact, as a historian I do not believe the best and most insightful history of a people, a nation, or a civilization, is told by recounting the lives and deeds of kings/queens or presidents/prime ministers.

Catholic writer George Weigel expresses my view well when he says: “History is driven, over the long haul, by culture — by what men and women honor, cherish, and worship; by what societies deem to be true and good, and by the expressions they give to those convictions in language, literature, and the arts; by what individuals and societies are willing to stake their lives on” (cited by Philip W. Eaton in Engaging the Culture, […]

A Reasonable Catholic and Evangelical Dialog

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:30-05:00June 29th, 2011|Categories: Apologetics, Roman Catholicism|

Blogger Joe Heschmeyer is a Roman Catholic and an attorney in Washington, D.C. He has been reading my blogs, and interacting with me via these blogs, for several years now. I have found Joe to always be a reasonable, intelligent and fair-minded apologist. He is a very conservative and devout Catholic. I disagree with a great deal of what he writes. But he, like me, is not a “read meat” fighter. He is a lover of all things related to Jesus and the church, especially the Catholic Church. His all roads lead to Rome stance is common among many young bloggers but it is unconvincing to me. Yet I find him often helpful and always fair. A Catholic friend, who is reader of Joe’s blog and of mine as well, sent me a link to an article that Joe wrote on June 15 about the movement of people (converts) between Catholic and evangelical Protestant churches. (I wrote about Catholic reasons for leaving their church […]

Why Should You Give to ACT 3?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:30-05:00June 28th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Donors and Funding|

I often consider why questions. Why should I pray? Why should I faithfully attend and support my church? Why should I give to Christian missions and specific workers? Today I want to answer the why question about my work and the mission of ACT 3. Why should you give (or consider giving) to ACT 3?

The vision of missional-ecumenism is profoundly important. Very few churches understand this message and even fewer actually do something about it. Almost none presently budget anything to support this important biblical vision. My best guess is less than 5% even think about this and less than 1% give to anything to nurture it.
Leaders need to be “equipped for unity in Christ’s mission.” This is what I do every day — intentionally and prayerfully “equip leaders for unity in Christ’s mission.” I do this by writing, teaching and mentoring. I do not limit this to young leaders but I specifically target them because I believe the future will require leaders who understand this […]