Blog - Page 125 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Religious Trends That Bear on My Vision of Missional-Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 17th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church|

Some facts reported in a recent religious survey include the following:

80% of a church's first-time visitors heard about the church through a friend, co-worker, or family member.
52% of pastors who decided as kids to follow Jesus did so at children's summer camp or VBS.
65% of U.S. 18–29-year-olds identify themselves as Christian, 14% as atheist or agnostic, 14% no religious preference, and 8% other religions, according to LifeWay research.
65% of U.S. 18–29-year-olds rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray alone.
65% of U.S. 18–29-year-olds rarely or never attend worship services.
67% of U.S. 18–29-year-olds do not read the Bible or sacred texts.
72% of U.S. 18–29-year-olds say they're "really more spiritual than religious."
79% of American Christians believe in the second coming, and 20% believe it will take place within their lifetime.
Just 27% of Canadians 15 and older attend worship at least monthly, 25.3% a few times a year, 21.1% have no religious […]

Our Perception of Reality

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 16th, 2011|Categories: Hermeneutics, Postmodernity, The Future, Theology|

Author James P. Danaher writes, in his excellent book, Eyes That See, Ears That Hear: Perceiving Jesus in a Postmodern Context (Liguori, 2006):

Our perception of reality is changing. We are rapidly moving beyond the modern world to which we had become so accustomed over the last three hundred years. What is the blessing God has for us in these changes? God always has a blessing, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear (see Romans 11:8). So how are we to perceive this changing world order that we do not miss God’s blessing? (xiii).

Many have labeled this changing new reality as postmodernism. The problem with this label is that few bother to explain what they mean when they use it. For some this word is a 2 x 4 with which to club anyone who raises serious questions about how we believe the gospel in the 21st century. I rather think the word is a “scare” word and should be avoided in most contexts.

The […]

An Unlikely Oscar Voter

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 15th, 2011|Categories: Film, Roman Catholicism, Spirituality|

A Guest Blog

When the votes are counted for the Oscars this year, one vote will come from a most unlikely source. Mother Dolores resides at the Abbey of Regina Loudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut. She was reinstated with voting rights as a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990, allowing her to vote for the Academy awards each year.

Dolores Hart entered the Abbey in 1963, as soon as she completed her last autograph-signing session. For the previous seven years, Hart was an actress with Paramount and MGM, starring in ten movies, including Come Fly With Me, Where the Boys Are and Francis of Assisi. In her first major movie, Loving You, at the age of 18, she played the love interest of another new face to the filming set, Elvis Presley. Hart carries the distinction of being one of the first women to kiss Elvis on screen.

Hart first visited the abbey while she was starring in the Broadway production, The Pleasure of His […]

Negotiating the Use of Social Media

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 14th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Personal, Social Networking|

I have become increasingly interested in what we now call “the social media.” You are interested too, at least to some extent, if you are reading this blog. I have expressed both praise and concern for this new media/social form of connecting people and information. I am reading and interacting a great deal more with friends who have made a serious study of this subject. Some of this input is rightly critical. I am reading books that are positive but some of the negative ones are also important to me. I am personally convinced of two things, at least for now.

First, this is a time of real and important change in human history. Such moments of real emergence only come around every 300-500 years, or so it seems, and this is one of those times in the 21st century. Whether we like it or not this new form of learning and communicating has changed the way we all live and it is changing the world in the process. Only a complete Luddite would disagree with this conclusion.

Second, social media is completely out of control in many […]

God and the Dog

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:50-05:00February 13th, 2011|Categories: Personal|

You know I love my dog. Just ponder my photos here and elsewhere. Here is one Anita took just this week of our senior doxie, Neo. Neo lights up our lives every single day by just being the sweet little dog God made her to be.

After I mentioned my doxie recently a friend linked me to a great video called "God and the Dog." Enjoy this fun clip and if you, like me, love your dog then you too will give thanks today for your loving and adoring pooch.

An Open Letter to the Presbyterian Church (USA)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:51-05:00February 12th, 2011|Categories: Renewal, The Church|

I so profoundly resonate with the following open letter that I happily publish it to provoke thought and prayer for renewal in the PCUSA in particular and the mainline Protestant denominations in general. The Presbyterian Church (USA), much like other mainline churches, is clearly dying. Millions of people have left and scores of congregations (maybe several hundred more still) are thinking about leaving. In the end staying or leaving is a question of conscience. But a number of pastors of the largest congregations in the denomination, and the leaders of renewal ministries much like ACT 3, have issued an open letter that expresses a different way to understand this crisis and a direct way to respond to it in faith joined with real missional hope. Some of the signatories are good friends and one is a former ACT 3 board member. Here is the letter without any editorial changes.

An Open Letter to the Presbyterian Church (USA)

February 2, 2011

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

To say the Presbyterian Church […]

Acton University June 14-17

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:51-05:00February 11th, 2011|Categories: Culture, Economy/Economics, Leadership, Money & Stewardship, Wealth|

I am honored to be on the faculty for one of my favorite conferences in America, the Acton University. AU meets June 14-17 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For four days each June, the Acton Institute convenes this wonderful ecumenical conference of pastors, seminarians, educators, non-profit managers, business people and philanthropists from more than 50 countries. It is simply one of the most interesting and impactful events that I have ever attended. I have been several times in the past. This year I will go to teach “Protestant Social Ethics.” (See the faculty link below.)

600 people of faith gather at AU to integrate and better articulate faith and free enterprise, entrepreneurship, sound public policy, and effective leadership at the local church and community level. With this week of fellowship and discourse, participants build a theological and economic infrastructure for the work of restoring and defending hope and dignity to people around the world. This is the core of what is called Acton University.

Registration is now open for the […]

Christian History Magazine: A Periodical Worth Your Time

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:51-05:00February 10th, 2011|Categories: History|

I do not sell or promote the sale of items as an end in itself. I do encourage readers to take advantage of resources that I sincerely believe are useful to Christians in general and leaders in particular. This I see as consistent with the mission of ACT 3: “Equipping leaders for unity in Christ’s mission.”

One of my favorite periodicals over the years was Christian History Magazine. Begun by the late Ken Curtis, about whom I wrote a personal tribute a few weeks ago, CHM was later a part of the Christianity Today family of publications. A few years ago issue #99 became the last issue CT published of CHM. (By the way, a wonderful CD of the first 99 issues is available and worth your purchase and use as well.) You can also find excerpts and a list of back issues at the CHI site. Now, the Christian History Institute in Pennsylvania, under the leadership of Ken’s son Bill Curtis, is re-launching the magazine […]

Deacon John Green, Emmaus Ministries and Missional-Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:51-05:00February 9th, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|

When I wrote Your Church Is Too Small I wanted to tell stories to my readers that would clearly demonstrate the power of the idea that I was advancing for the future of the church. This is why I included ten different examples of missional-ecumenism in the next to last chapter of the book.

I have heard both Catholics and evangelical Protestants insist that we can share in pro-life, and related cultural issues, as Catholics and Protestants but we can never share in evangelism and making disciples for Christ as partners in mission. I reject this conclusion. I once held this view very tenaciously so I have great sympathy for those who still hold to it. I was over 50 years of age before my mind was changed about this matter.

One of the things that forced me to change my thinking was meeting Deacon John Green in Chicago. When I saw how Emmaus Ministries worked with people I had to intentionally refuse the obvious or walk away in unbelief and, for me at least, disobedience. Emmaus uses various people in their mission from many churches and […]

The Annual ACT 3 Board Meeting

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:51-05:00February 8th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

Our ACT 3 board met on Monday at noon to adopt our 2011 budget, to choose a new member of our board (Sean McCallum), and to hear our executive director Tom Burns lay out a vision for 2011. As many of you know Tom came to work with me last September 1, 2010. He brings over thirty years of business experience to ACT 3 as well as an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Tom left a lucrative and successful business to serve the kingdom in mission outside of his first half of life. He is a coach, a mentor and a trained Christ-centered leader. He champions my vision of missional-ecumenism with clarity and precision. He took the lead in our meeting yesterday and showed us all how the Lord has opened new doors that invite an intentional and prayerful response from ACT 3. We will share more about this in coming weeks. It is late on Monday evening […]