Blog - Page 167 of 318 - John H Armstrong

What Has Happened to Evangelicalism in America?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:23-05:00January 4th, 2010|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

The famous historian of theology, H. Richard Niebuhr, once called theological liberalism a religion devoted to "a God without wrath [who] brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross" [The Kingdom of God in America, (The Wesleyan University Press, orig. 1937; 1988), p. 193].

I can’t think of a statement that better sums up much of the problem inside the church in our time. Where once liberal theology ravaged the older churches of the so-called mainline denominations, and the fruit of this ravaging and bitter fruit is now self-evident, much of the same emphasis can now be clearly found in our more evangelical churches. Note what Niebuhr’s quote sets forward as the problem:

1. We have a God without wrath

Regardless of how we understand the doctrine of hell, and the early church was not of one mind about […]

American Violet

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:23-05:00January 3rd, 2010|Categories: Film, Race and Racism|

American Violet is one of those films I truly wish every Christian I know would see. It reveals the deep seated impact of racism on black America and shatters the typically conservative stereotype that the problem is all but over. The film, released in April of 2009 to a limited number of screens in apparently small towns, is based on the true story of Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four living in the small Texas town of Melody (which is the fictitious film name for the town of Hearne). Dee is dragged away from work one day in handcuffs, and dumped in the women's county prison for twenty-one days before her bail can be met. The local district attorney leads an extensive drug bust, sweeping her housing project with military precision. Dee soon discovers that she has been charged as a drug dealer, crack-cocaine. Even though she has no prior drug record, and no drugs were found on her in the raid, […]

For My Father: A Penetrating Look at Palestinian Terrorism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:23-05:00January 2nd, 2010|Categories: Film|

For My Father is “a transcendent and powerful film” says critic Eric Alterman on The Huffington Post. I have to agree. I cannot remember seeing a film that deals with the Israeli/Palestinian struggle that so powerfully moves the mind and heart at the same time. It is not an accident that this Israeli film won seven awards within Israel. Raymond Murray, another professional film critic, calls it “Gripping yet sensitive . . . . warmly humanistic.” This is an understatement.

Terek, a Palestinian forced on a suicide mission in Tel Aviv to redeem his father's honor, is given a second chance when the fuse on his explosive vest fails to detonate. Forced to spend the weekend in Tel Aviv awaiting its repair, Terek must live amongst the people he was planning to kill. To his surprise he connects with several Israelis on the outskirts of society, including the beautiful Keren, who has cut off contact with her Orthodox family and […]

My Surprise Christmas Gift

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:23-05:00January 1st, 2010|Categories: College Football, Personal|

Christmas is about many things. Giving and receiving gifts is a lovely, even fairly ancient, custom. But it is vastly over-rated in the West. Between the modern commercialization of Christmas and the huge marketing campaigns that we are annually faced with this season can be anything but Christ-centered. For this reason I have not been big on Christmas gifts, at least those that I receive, for some years. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy receiving gifts and some are an expression of thought and generosity for sure, especially from my family. This year my wife and I agreed in early December to not exchange gifts, for both personal and practical reasons.

Childhood was another matter altogether. Every Christmas Eve I anticipated the occasion with joyful glee. I still have some old photos of my brother and me opening our wonderful presents and smiling while our parents took pictures. These photos bring back some great memories of the four of […]

Thinking About Time

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:23-05:00December 31st, 2009|Categories: Biblical Theology, Current Affairs|

As we come to the end of another calendar year we all think about time, at least to some extent. Time has passed and time is ahead of us, or so we think. Most of us give thanks for the end of 2009. For many it was not a great year at all. But for most of you who read this blog you are likely to be grateful to God for so many things as you come to the end of 2009. I am and my health and finances both declined in 2009 to varying degrees.

But what really is this thing we call time? Since Aristotle philosophers have tried to understand the nature of time. After the work of Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) many came to believe that time was something that had many parts to it. By this understanding philosophers meant that time had several parts to it. And by this they were saying that a particular time […]

The Case for ACT 3: Part Two

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:23-05:00December 30th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

Yesterday, I said that "the evidence is clear that the church in America is in spiritual, moral and numerical decline. Since the Second Great Awakening (1800-1830) we have not seen decreases like those we now see in the American Church. The church seems to have become a dysfunctional family with little or no impact. God’s solution is found in the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17." This analysis is at the heart of the case I am making for you to help me bring about a change that is long overdue.

Admittedly, our imperfect state requires we “make every effort to maintain the unity of the spirit.” God knows that given our selfish, prideful roots it isn’t easy to actually do this. His call to making disciples in the unity of the Spirit falls on each of us, and is the core of the ACT 3 mission for the renewal of the visible church. Our unity in mission can only be empowered and fulfilled in […]

The Case for ACT 3: Part One

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:24-05:00December 29th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

The evidence is clear that the church in America is in spiritual, moral and numerical decline. Since the Second Great Awakening (1800-1830) we have not seen decreases like those we now see in the American Church. The church seems to have become a dysfunctional family with little or no impact. God’s solution is found in the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17. It is that we would be united in Christ, and that thereby we would advance his mission. Christ’s call to all churches and Christians is to embrace this apologetic of love, because only by this means may people know that God the Father is real.

Please prayerfully consider what is presented in these few pages, especially in light of how God has called you to serve Him in His Kingdom.

The Root Problem: Since World War II we have witnessed the most radical transformation in cultural values in recorded history. Some believe the catalyst for this change came […]

The ACT 3 Story

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:24-05:00December 28th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

Each year churches and missions express gratitude to their benefactors at the end of the calendar year. Most will also appeal for much needed year-end gifts. I have followed this pattern for seventeen years. But this year I have done something very special. We recently mailed a special thank-you gift to all 425 of our donors. This gift is a new 29-minute video: “The ACT 3 Story.” Here you can see and experience the unique vision that God has given to me. I now want to invite every reader of this blog to see this same video. You can watch it on our Web site at: www.act3online.com. It downloads as soon as you open the homepage so plan to take a half hour and watch this story at your earliest convenience. I would love to receive your comments in some form. Each one encourages me very deeply.

This new video tells a story that I am fully persuaded you will find compelling. […]

Cleanliness and Godliness: Are They Related?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:24-05:00December 27th, 2009|Categories: Culture|

Lauren F. Winner, in the July-August issue of Books & Culture, writes of “the evolving standards of cleanliness” in our culture. If you have ever heard that “cleanliness” and “godliness” are related then her review of three interesting books on the subject will show you how the two became related. Such was clearly not always the case.

Did you know, for example, that in the first millennium of Christianity that believers castigated people who were preoccupied with cleanness and that Hindus and Muslims considered Christians indifferent to bodily hygiene? Christians had then, even as we do today, a “vexed relationship with the body.” Add to this the licentiousness of the Roman baths and early Christians had more than enough reason to not buy into the cleanliness notion. The stress of much theology, in the first thousand years or so, was on baptism being a true cleansing of the spirit while the cleansing of the body was superficial in contrast. One saint, St. Melania the younger, […]

Anita Will Always Be the Love of My Life

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:24-05:00December 26th, 2009|Categories: Marriage & Family, Personal|

Everyone who knows me personally, and who has met my wife Anita, knows that without her I would never be able to live the life I have been called by God to live for his kingdom. The best decision I ever made, besides the decision to follow Christ for these past 54 years, was to marry Anita 39 years ago this day. Yes, we were married on the day after Christmas. We were so crazy, and in love, that we didn't want to wait until I graduated in May of 1971, which would have been very sensible. I was a senior, and on Christmas break, and Anita was a first-year middle school teacher in St. Charles, Illinois and also on break. It was, for us, the perfect time. I think we forgot about everyone else but then we were in love. I did say that, right?

The truth is I did not fall […]