Blog - Page 111 of 318 - John H Armstrong

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 […]

Donor Fatigue?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:30-05:00June 27th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Donors and Funding|

It is my intentional practice to rarely ask for donor support, through this blog or by any other means. We do not do donor meals, donor fund-raising specials or phone calling for support. I actually know most of our donors personally and most of them do not need to be reminded that we need their support. Historically ACT 3 has mailed only two appeals per year. One is the President’s Letter sent in May. The other is a Year End Appeal which is sometimes from me and more often from the chairman of our board. In the pre-Internet era we mailed our appeals via the postal service. Now we mail only one each year. This year I did not send the President’s Letter in May.

Recently I received an appeal from my friend Jim Kushiner, at Touchstone. He referred to what some have called donor “fatigue.” This is a real feeling that some have experienced in our present economic downturn. Jim noted that when he shared his concerns about "fatigue," a donor responded with the following comments:

–I work part-time as a Youth Director at a small church. […]

“I Have Never Found Anyone in Israel with Such Faith” Part Two

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:30-05:00June 26th, 2011|Categories: Faith, Incarnation|

Yesterday I showed how God coming into this world made this the “visited planet,” to quote one of my favorite lines from the late J. B. Phillips. Today I want to explain further what this means for true faith.

I begin by making a statement that I have come to understand over the last decade. Until I understood the incarnation as I now do I would have said what the evangelical Protestant church needs the most is a bigger view of God. I would now disagree with myself and say what we need even more, to the surprise of many who read these words perhaps, is a much bigger view of humankind. We have a radically deficient anthropology because we have a radically deficient view of both creation and incarnation.

So when Jesus says of the Centurion that he had never found such faith as that which he expressed in all of Israel it was more than an exaggerated statement for effect. He was saying that religion can never produce such great faith. Only faith in the person of Jesus – his wisdom, grace and love – can […]

“I Have Never Found Anyone in Israel with Such Faith” Part One

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 25th, 2011|Categories: Faith, Incarnation|

In Matthew 8 we have an astonishing account of true faith. I have heard many theological definitions of faith given over the years but none comes close to this story. (Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not give definitions of faith but stories that reveal what true faith looks like in a person’s actions?) This is such an account.

⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such […]

The Hope of Future Life

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 24th, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Resurrection|

I am amazed at how easily people speak of life after death with no real basis for what they think or say. It is apparent that Christian thought has so permeated our culture that even when Christian thought no longer holds prominence in morals, or in day-to-day decision making and living, people still cling to the Christian idea of life after death. Simply put, they believe they will go to heaven, whatever and wherever it is in the universe. Their views of heaven are undefined, or ill-defined, but they speak of it all the time at funerals and when they think of a deceased relative or friend. In fact, the requirement for going to heaven now seems to be simple: you die!

An extremely important part of Christian faith is the hope of triumph over death. It is common to most people, even in other religions and systems, to believe that they will live again after this life is over. There is no evidence that any other creature […]

Jesus: The Central Theme of the Bible

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 23rd, 2011|Categories: Jesus, Kingdom of God|

The central theme of the Bible is Jesus. The greatest and most humble of Christians have recognized this profound truth. Jesus came to call people to be his disciples from every tribe, nation and tongue (Revelation 14:6). He is the Shepherd and we are his sheep. He calls his sheep by his Spirit, through the good news of the gospel, into the communion of the church. P. T. Forsyth, a famous theologian more than a century ago, rightly said, “The unity of the church lies not in itself but in its message, in the unity of the gospel that made the church.”

The gospel that specifically called the church into existence is the gospel of the kingdom (cf. Matthew 4:23; 5:3; 6:10; Mark 1:14−15; 4:11. 26, 30; 9:47; Luke 4:42−43; 6:20; John 3:3, 5). This kingdom is God’s reign. What is promised to the church in the New Testament is not the kingdom but the Holy Spirit whose presence gives witness to the reign of God. The Spirit […]

A Lunch with Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 22nd, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Roman Catholicism, Spirituality, Unity of the Church|

Several weeks ago I had the privilege of spending some wonderful days in New York. Because of my friendship with Rev. Colleen Holby, chaplain at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry (Wheaton ‘55), I was introduced to Fr. Benedict Groeschel, who has been a friend of Colleen’s for many years. Fr. Groeschel has been a huge supporter of the ecumenical work done at Children’s Village, a residence for young teens since 1851.

The mission of The Children's Village has been to work in partnership with families to help society’s most vulnerable children so that they become educationally proficient, economically productive, and socially responsible members of their communities. The teen boys at Children’s Village often have this one last opportunity before they may go to prison. (I toured Children’s Village later on the same day that I had lunch for Fr. Benedict.) There is a chapel program at […]

What is the Future of a Post 9-11 World for America?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 21st, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, The War on Terrorism|

The war in Iraq has been a disaster from almost every perspective worth considering. And the war in Afghanistan, combined with the severity of the Great Recession, have profoundly impacted the minds of most leaders on the need to rethink the role of American military might in the world. I welcome this new direction.

Consider that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, has called the national debt the "biggest single threat to national security." (Read that again!) The Pentagon, which is often the last to admit that it should ask for cuts, actually proposed its own cuts several months ago. On April 13, weeks before the death of bin Laden, the president announced his proposal to reduce defense spending. He framed this proposal—cuts as great as $400 billion over ten years—not only as a response to the fiscal crisis but also as part of a "fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities and our role in a changing world." Only the most […]

Why Are More and More People Pro-Life?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 20th, 2011|Categories: Abortion|

According to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute 576 measures related to abortion have been introduced (in 2011) in 48 states. Most of these will never pass committee. Yet by early April, 142 abortion-related provisions had passed at least one chamber of a state legislature, compared with only 67 in 2009. More than half of these 142 bills introduced this year seek to restrict abortion access, compared with only 38 percent in 2010.

About 40 new anti-abortion laws were passed into law by mid-April. These include:

expanding the waiting period requirement in South Dakota from 24 hours to 72 hours, and requiring women to visit a crisis pregnancy center in the interim.
requiring a physician who performs an abortion in South Dakota to provide counseling on all risk factors related to abortion.
allowing any hospital employee in Utah to refuse to "participate in any way" in an abortion.
making it a felony in Arizona to perform or provide money for abortions sought because of a baby's race or sex.
prohibiting insurance plans that participate in the state insurance exchange from including abortion coverage in Virginia, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, […]

A Theology of Negation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 19th, 2011|Categories: Mysticism, Patristics, Personal, Postmodernity, Spirituality|

In the fourth century three eminent Greek theologians, called the Cappadocian Fathers, gave birth to a theology that has remained in the church through the centuries. I am quite persuaded that a recovery of this theology is underway among some Christians in the West. Let me explain.

Two brothers, Basil of Caesarea (icon at left) and Gregory of Nyssa, together with their close friend Gregory of Nazianzus, began to stress the incomprehensibility of God. This emphasis, which was later called apophatic theology (from the Greek for negation), reached a climax by the end of the fifth century in the divine darkness of Dionysius. It was Dionysius who introduced into theology the terminology of mysticism. For Dionysius the word theology meant wisdom, indeed theology was the highest form of wisdom. Theology was not an end in itself but a wisdom that should be used to serve and love God. The word mystical is thus derived from the word mystery. In mystery there is a hidden, dark and ineffable sense […]