Blog - Page 124 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Discipleship

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:49-05:00February 25th, 2011|Categories: Discipleship|

No word has more often vexed Christians than the word discipleship. The word disciple occurs 28 times in the New Testament. The word disciples (plural) occurs 245 times. The possessive word disciples’ and the words fellow disciples one time each. Depending on the translation you use that is somewhere between 270-280 times the idea occurs. The word is mathetes and comes from the root word manathano, which means “I learn.”A disciple is one who learns from another person. It carries the idea of mentoring in our modern usage.

The word disciple is used to refer to the 12 apostles of Jesus, one of whom fell away. Other followers of Jesus are also called disciples. Even the broader circle of his friends, his companions, were disciples. Consider also Acts 6:1ff. 9:1,10; 11:26; 14:20ff to see how the early church employed the terminology. Even Moses is said to have had disciples in John 9:28.

The emphasis in the New Testament is not on formal education when it speaks about discipleship. This does […]

The Pastor and His Children

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:49-05:00February 24th, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Leadership, The Church|

Nothing has vexed me, in serving churches and pastors, quite like the way discussions about the pastor and his children have developed over the course of my lifetime. Let me explain.

1 Timothy 3:4-5 says the bishop/overseer “must manage his household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way—for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?”

Assuming the overseer is the same office as that of the pastor/elder (I do assume this and some Christians will not agree) then such leaders must “manage” their own household, or their family, well. Later, in 1 Timothy 3;15 Paul refers to the church congregation as a household/family. This is clearly the language of analogy. As a parent leads in the family so that same parent, if given leadership in the church, leads in the spiritual family. The ability to “manage” in one sphere is connected with the ability to do the same in the […]

Misusing the Proverbs

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:49-05:00February 23rd, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Counseling, Personal|

Perhaps no part of the Holy Scripture has been more frequently abused, at least in my background, than the book of Proverbs. In reading the Bible Through in 90 Days I read Proverbs last week in two days. I was struck again at the obvious: proverbs are general statements that affirm godly values and virtues. The proverbs are not promises but rather sayings that are meant to inform the life of the wise. Wisdom is the foundation of a godly life and these sayings will help you gain wisdom in daily living and decision making.

The classic illustration of the way to understand Proverbs is found in Proverbs 26:4-5.

Do not answer fools according to the their folly, or you yourself will be just like them.

Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.

So which is it? Should we answer, or not answer, a fool?

It should be noted that Proverbs 26:1-13 describe the condition of a person who has little or no discernment. […]

Christians for Biblical Equality

By John Armstrong|2011-02-22T16:43:07-06:00February 22nd, 2011|Categories: Feminism & Women|

I am happy to be a member of a wonderful group committed to the equality of men and women called Christians for Biblical Equality. I happily encourage you to check our their special membership campaign and even sign up today or tomorrow and save some money in the process. CBE produces a number of helpful resources and makes a real different for many of our sisters in the church-at-large.

Chicago Events on Immigration and the Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:49-05:00February 22nd, 2011|Categories: Immigration|

Dr. Richard Land, head of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be giving a talk at Wheaton College on the evening of Wednesday, March 2, discussing “A Moral and Just Response to the Immigration Crisis.” Dr. Land, who leads the public policy arm of the largest evangelical denomination in the U.S., was named by Time as one of the 25 most influential American evangelicals. An unabashed conservative, Dr. Land does an excellent job of articulating the need for just and compassionate immigration reform to individuals from across the political spectrum. This free event is open to the public and sponsored by the Wheaton College Republicans, the J. Dennis Hastert Center, the Department of Political Science and International Relations, and World Relief DuPage/Aurora. For more information, see http://bit.ly/e4Uujp. I plan to attend and hope to see some of you there next week.

On the evening of Friday, March 4 and on Saturday, March 5 in West Chicago (IL), the annual Mission on Your Doorstep conference will be focusing on the issue of immigration. This year’s conference, “God’s Kingdom without Borders,” will […]

Joel Osteen on Divine Providence: Amazing

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:49-05:00February 22nd, 2011|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Theology, Unity of the Church|

For many years I have been asked again and again, “Is Joel Osteen a heretic?” In many instances the question itself reveals more about the questioner than it does about this sometimes controversial preacher. Let me explain.

First, we need to ask: “What is heresy?” A modified (and helpful) answer from Wikipedia provides the following (slightly edited) insight:

In Christian history and practice heresy is the rejection of one or more established beliefs of orthodoxy. Christian heresy refers to non-orthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches. In the West, the term "heresy" most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by the Catholic Church prior to the schism of 1054. In the East, the term "heresy" most commonly refers to those beliefs declared to be "heretical" by the First Seven Ecumenical Councils. However, since the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, various Christian churches have also used the concept in proceedings against individuals and groups deemed to be heretical by those churches. The Catholic Church considers the Protestant denominations to be heretical and […]

God in America: A Series Worth Your Time

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:49-05:00February 21st, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, Religion, Separation of Church & State, The Church|

The PBS television series God in America was aired in 2010. I did not see it when it was aired on television. I finally saw it last week on DVD. It is simply superb. The series consists of six parts, each about 55 minutes long when the various trailers and ads are skipped. The subtitle is very accurate: “How Religious Liberty Shaped America.”

The series, which features both actors who are cast in bit roles as famous American figures and scholars who teach about various issues in the history of religious history, sets out to give the viewer an accurate account of religious liberty in America. How has religious liberty been used, abused and developed over the past four centuries plus? Religion professor Stephen Prothero (photo) is clearly the most frequent voice in all six episodes but shorter appearances include well-known evangelicals such as Grant Wacker, Harry Stout and […]

How Many Churches Do You See?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 20th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Unity of the Church|

Theological blogger Alan Knox of Raleigh, North Carolina, offers a recent (short) review of Your Church Is Too Small that grasps one of the more important points that I made in the book. Check it out. Alan’s regular blogs on the church are often short, simple, insightful and challenging. I commend them.

The Full Body Blow of the Divine Embrace

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 19th, 2011|Categories: Love, Spirituality|

The Catholic mystic and popular spiritual teacher Richard Rohr has often helped me understand certain Christian truths in profound ways. In a CD teaching resource titled: Christ, Cosmology and Consciousness: A Reframing of How We See he says, “Ordinary Christianity has emphasized that we should love God. This makes sense, but do we really know how to do it? What I find in the mystics is an overwhelming experience of how God has loved us! That’s what comes through all of their writings, and I do mean all—that God is forever the initiator, God is the doer, God is the one who seduces me in my unworthiness. It’s all about God’s initiative! Then the mystics try desperately to give back, to offer their lives back to the world.”

He then adds: “As my father Francis put it, ‘Love is not loved! Love is not loved! I want to love back the way I have been loved!’ But mystics are not trying to earn God’s love by doing good […]

Seventeen U.S. Campus Ministries to Serve in a Missional-Ecumenical Context

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 18th, 2011|Categories: Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism|

Seventeen Christian ministries that work on U.S. college campuses have established a new standard of cooperation and mutual respect for their work with college students and faculty. Meeting in a Chicago suburb last October, leaders of these several campus ministries agreed to eight basic points of unity in mission aimed at keeping their work on campus cooperative rather than competitive. I still remember the first such agreement in 1971. I was a college senior and deeply involved in Campus Crusade at the time. I remember the late Bill Bright telling us how important this agreement was for mutual respect and evangelism. Little did I realize then the impact this kind of thinking would have upon me.

This new statement is called, very simply, the “Chicago Agreement.” It is really an update of the 1971 agreement forged between leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, Young Life, and InterVarsity. Now it includes a number of other missions and ministries.