Blog - Page 16 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian (A Review)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:32-05:00April 27th, 2015|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Friendship, Sexuality, The Church|

Today’s guest writer is Dan Brennan, author of the important book, Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions: Engaging the Mystery of Friendship Between Men and Women.

“Where was I to find love? Where was I to give love?

If Scripture and the Christian tradition were right that I shouldn’t

try to find a husband, surely the apparent corollary couldn’t also be

right—that I was therefore cut off from any deep, meaningful

form of intimacy and communion. Could it?”

Wesley Hill

As an evangelical who has significant interest in the connection between sexuality and friendship, I was eagerly awaiting the delivery of Wesley Hill’s Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian. He did not disappoint.

Although Hill writes from the perspective of a gay celibate, he writes as an evangelical who seeks to integrate a post-Freudian view of sexuality with friendship. To be clear, Hill doesn’t use that phrase. That comes from take. In my own language, some of the distinctive features of a post-Freudian sexuality are that it 1) affirms we are all spiritual-sexual beings, 2) expands the meaning of sexuality beyond […]

Are We Ignoring Domestic Violence?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:33-05:00April 24th, 2015|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Marriage & Family, The Church|

The growing problem of domestic violence has come under profound scrutiny in recent months because the problem has surfaced quite often in the world of professional sports. Sports Illustrated, which has a great knack for solid journalism and good writing, has done some remarkably insightful reporting on the problem in several recent issues.

In the April 13, 2015, issue of Sports Illustrated, in a column called “Say What?,” the magazine reports that Dallas radio broadcaster Tim Cowlishaw asked female Dallas Cowboys fans to call into his program to complain about the team’s signing of defensive end Greg Hardy. Hardy, a talented and needed defender, recently had charges of domestic violence against him dropped. Cowlishaw writes that, “We got [only] three callers, and [they were] fully in support of it [signing him].” Cowlishaw added, “Cowboys fans want to get that next victory more than they care about moral implications.”

Before you castigate sports in general, or even Dallas in particular, think about this again. Wide-scale cultural shifts are not created by sports but […]

What a Classic Movie Can Teach Us About the Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:33-05:00April 23rd, 2015|Categories: Church Tradition, Culture, Current Affairs, Film, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Today’s Guest Blogger is Dr. Dave Lescalleet

Every year our family watches the 1952 classic movie The Quiet Man as a way to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. This film, because of its Ireland location, is more and more associated with this national holiday. The story, set in the 1920’s, stars John Wayne as retired American boxer Sean Thornton who returns to the village of Inisfree, Ireland, where he was born, in the hopes of finding peace and quiet but in the process finds love. The beautiful and equally talented Maureen O’Hara plays the female lead as Mary Kate Danaher. The feisty Danaher, quickly falls in love with the affable Thornton and easily proves his equal, giving as good as she gets.

The Quiet Man is a ‘fish out of water’ story as Wayne’s Thornton must not only integrate himself into the odd but endearing community of Inisfree, but along the way learn their old Irish customs and how they do life together. To say that this is one of my all-time favorite films is an understatement. From the […]

Christianity East & West: An Evangelical Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Dialog (Video)

By John Armstrong|2015-04-21T15:08:19-05:00April 21st, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Missional-Ecumenism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Several years ago ACT3 staged a dialogue on unity and diversity between two Orthodox theologians and two Protestant evangelical theologians. This Sunday evening event was hosted by First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Greetings were given by Fr. Wilbur Ellsworth, an Orthodox priest who served as chairman of the ACT3 board for a number of years. I moderated the conversation. This is the first time we’ve made this older resource available for wider usage.

This dialogue runs for nearly two hours so you might want to mark it for use when you have the time to watch it. There are some real gems within the discussion we had on this evening.

Cardinal Francis George (1937-2015): My Personal Tribute to My Friend

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:33-05:00April 20th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Death, Leadership, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Christian charity is a virtue that is widely recognizable. Where the church goes compassion and care for the poorest and weakest follows. Missionaries and Christian teachers have opened hospitals, cared for orphans, the widows and the poor. Where the Christian faith has advanced universities and day care have followed. Churches, from the beginning, have given to those in dire need with no expectation of direct response. One mark of the Christian faith is caritas, or love. In fact, the word caritas (Latin) means love.

But Pope Benedict XVI taught us that there is a somewhat less recognizable form of love for others that can rightly be called “intellectual charity.” Mother Teresa, respected in India and beyond, for her deep commitment to “material charity” said, “We are not social workers, we are brides of Jesus Christ.” She thus makes it clear that though material charity is important to Christian love “intellectual charity” is even more important.

The danger of material charity is that we reduce the other to a mouth to feed, a body to clothe, a need to be […]

Aaron Niequist on the Power of Christian Unity

By John Armstrong|2015-04-13T12:42:30-05:00April 16th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Last week I shared some dynamic material from the ministry of my friend Aaron Niequest. Today you can hear Aaron on the power and importance of Christian Unity. His voice is one of a growing number of younger leaders who understand the importance of missional-ecumenism.

The Killing That Stunned America: April 14, 1865

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:33-05:00April 15th, 2015|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Civil Rights, Culture, Current Affairs, Race and Racism, The Church, The Future|

One hundred-and-fifty years ago on this day America was emerging from its long nightmare, a war between the states that we call the American Civil War. More Americans died in this four-plus year conflict than in all other military operations in our entire history put together. During this great ordeal brother killed brother and entire families were torn apart. Towns and cities were devastated across the South. Though slavery was formally and legally ended what followed was another one-hundred plus years of “virtual” (economic and social) slavery that created major problems we are still unable to solve as a free people. We have, if I read present events correctly, never fully recovered from this time. We are defined by race (itself an artificial and unscientific distinction) as much as any modern and free society in the world.

As a son-of-the-South I can tell you that the memory of this Civil War abided in my own family heritage as something that we understood as deeply life-changing. (I can still remember hearing the War referred to as: “The Way of Northern Aggression.” If you think […]

Facebook & Twitter: My Life Course Corrections (2 of 2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:34-05:00April 14th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Friendship, Leadership, Love, Marriage & Family, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Renewal, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church, Web/Tech, Weblogs|

Yesterday I wrote about my personal journey in using the social media. In particular I wrote about Facebook and Twitter. I am not an expert on these media resources by any stretch. I do know how they have impacted my personal life. As a result of reflecting upon these social media resources I shared in that previous blog post how I will make changes beginning this week.

I will continue to blog. I will post my own material on this (my) blog site. I will also publish material from guest bloggers who hold various viewpoints and who are in my network of friends and Christian leaders. These will not be mere links to public sites and news feeds but articles and opinions that I post on my blog site with my knowledge and oversight. Generally, I will post only once a day. My sense of frequency feels like I will post 3-5 times a week. Most posts will be 300-500 words, some longer. It depends on the content and time I have to write. I will link all […]

Facebook & Twitter: My Life Course Corrections (1 of 2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:34-05:00April 13th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Culture, Current Affairs, Friendship, Personal, Social Networking, Web/Tech|

Like so many of you who are reading this blog post I have been on-again and off-again with Facebook and the social media. Recently I embraced them and began to devote more time to interact with friends and acquaintances via this means. As of today I am taking a “leave of absence” to rest from this medium. I want to rethink what I do with these resources over the next few weeks. One thing I am sure of, I do not need to be a “presence” in this world of social media. I do not criticize those who use this medium for its many good purposes but I have had to take personal inventory over the past few months. Here are my thoughts.

I find several reasons for using Facebook and Twitter that have encouraged and benefited me (and I hope some of you):

I have come to know some readers (who I have not personally met yet) who pray for me and sincerely care for me as a person. Some of these friends I feel as if I know quite […]

John Hagee: Reflections on My Facebook Post (Part 4 of 4)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:34-05:00April 10th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, America and Americanism, Church History, Current Affairs, Eschatology, Evangelism, Kingdom of God, Politics, The Church, The Future|

When I previously wrote about John Hagee I defended my link and comment by saying that Hagee is misleading multitudes. I believe this is apparent once you read the biblical texts above and then read what Hagee is saying. Then follow his actions on behalf of the state of Israel. (Have you ever seen photographs of his studio/auditorium where his services take place? His platform is surrounded by the flags of both the U.S. and Israel. And have you ever followed the money trail of his Christians United for Israel mission and asked where does Hagee send significant funds to support a nation, not a mission? And have you heard what he says about the gospel and the need for the Jews to believe in Jesus as the Messiah?) To suggest that I should read the entire Four Blood Moons book before I comment on his teaching is nothing short of preposterous. For beginners I have read all of John Hagee that I care to read. His exegesis is terrible, his theology is worse and his public […]