Blog - Page 178 of 318 - John H Armstrong

A Further Reflection On the Coral Ridge Schism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:47-05:00September 24th, 2009|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

My comments on the tragic controversy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) , posted over the last two days, generated a good deal of response. Some of it can be read as posts on this site. Some of it was sent to me in private. Almost all of it was written in a spirit that entreated me as a brother and a friend, not as an enemy.

Several people informed me of concerns that I could not have known unless they wrote to me since I am far removed from the actual struggles within this large congregation. In the spirit of pursuing peace, and with the goal of preserving the unity of Christ in this church, I feel compelled to respond to the input […]

Lessons From the Coral Ridge Controversy

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:47-05:00September 23rd, 2009|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

Yesterday, I reported the news released on Sunday evening from the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, regarding a congregational meeting to vote on retaining or removing the new pastor of the church, Tullian Tchividjian. Tchividjian only became senior pastor in March so his critics gave him no time to adjust or lead in his new role. It seems that they were ready to respond from day one.

This well known mega-church, founded and pastored by the late D. James Kennedy for 50 years, went several years without a pastor while a search process was formed and carried out with considerable care. The leaders knew, in calling a new pastor, that they would face serious problems and it seems they anticipated the likelihood of what happened on Sunday.

Shortly after becoming the new pastor Tchividjian stopped the television ministry of Dr. Kennedy. He also merged Coral Ridge with his former congregation, a more youthful flock called New […]

Controversy and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:47-05:00September 22nd, 2009|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

I believe Western civilization is at a crossroads. I have no idea where it will go long term. The Christian consensus has been lost and the influence of Islam is rising. It is doubtful that the Europe of 2050 will look anything like the Europe of 1950. Demographics alone will almost surely guarantee a radically different future. America, on the other hand, remains highly religious but with less and less understanding of what the claims of Christ really mean. While I am not a futurist I do know that the changes we are passing through are huge.

What I find particularly tragic, and quite often write about in these posts, is that the church is also at a crossroads. God’s truth remains. His Word will not pass away. But judgment begins at the household of God. God’s Word speaks of warnings and of hope. It also warns us of judgment, both remedial and final. Nations come and nations go but the church will remain. In some contexts the church flourishes while in others it is in decline or […]

Your Church Is Too Small: An Update on My Book

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:48-05:00September 21st, 2009|Categories: Missional Church|

Most readers know that I began work over two years ago on a book about the mission of the church and unity. That book is titled: Your Church Is Too Small. I envisioned this book about three years ago. I realized that God had clearly given me a vision of mission and that I needed to explain this vision openly and seek to create a movement of leaders and churches that shared this vision. I began to collect my thoughts and planned to write. I contracted to publish this book in November of 2008 with Zondervan. I initially expected that the book would be released by this fall. But a number of things beyond my control happened to create many delays. Further delays came as we edited the book over recent months. My […]

Moderate Muslims and the Islamists

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:47-05:00September 21st, 2009|Categories: Islam|

If radical Islam is to be countered in North America and Europe it seems that it will take much more than military force and positive education. The key to a successful resistance against jihad is quite likely to be found in the efforts of moderate Muslims who resist the Islamic fascists inside their own communities. Thankfully there are a number of courageous Muslims who are willing to make this very dangerous effort in the West.

The 2007 documentary film Islam vs. Islamists: Muslims Against Jihad, produced by Canadian novelist and veteran documentary filmmaker Martyn Burke, tells the story of these moderate Muslims and their efforts to resist radical Wahabbism. (Wahabbism is the radical Muslim sect that is the force behind the most militant expressions of Islam.) The story of attacks upon moderate Muslims by Muslims is very troubling. It is most troubling because Westerners have little or no grasp of the real dangers inherent in this courageous Muslim stance. This two-disc documentary ought to […]

You Build Trust By Trusting

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:48-05:00September 20th, 2009|Categories: Economy/Economics|

A key to any business, and its economic success, is building trust with both its employees and its customers. The world financial markets nearly collapsed last fall because people in the financial industry lacked trust. Credit almost stopped flowing. Even the biggest banks refused to lend to each other because they were not sure they would be repaid. This is the way Dov Seidman, the founder and CEO of LRN, sees it. LRN is a company that helps businesses develop ethical corporate cultures. Seidman is also the author of How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life). Seidman believes we went through a time in which we took trust for granted. But this all changed last year.

Trust is absolutely essential if long-term enduring relationships are to be built in any area of business. It drives risk-taking and this leads to innovation and progress. But how do you […]

Lessons on Diet from the World's Oldest Person

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:48-05:00September 19th, 2009|Categories: Humor|

It might be a sign of my advancing age but I found the recent report of the death of the world's oldest person humorous. Let me explain.

Gertrude Baines died a few days ago in Los Angeles at the ripe age of 115. Gertrude appeared in a much watched You Tube video clip last year when she voted for Barack Obama. The world's oldest person is now believed to be Kama Chinen, who lives in Japan. But Gertrude lived in Los Angeles. My first response was very very simple: "How does the world's oldest person live in L.A.?" You have to be kidding I thought to myself. L.A.? Smog, traffic and too many people. L.A.?

Gertrude Baines was born in Shellman, Georgia, on April 6, 1894, when Grover Cleveland was in the White House, radio communication was just being developed and television was still more than a half-century from becoming a ubiquitous household presence.

She was 4 years old […]

The Power of Social Media and the Internet Revolution

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:48-05:00September 18th, 2009|Categories: Web/Tech|

I listen to many people in my generation who remain skeptical about the impact of the media revolution that we are clearly in the middle of in 2009. There can be a certain smugness that comes from older people who believe that the young are always talking about things that are not going to happen or will not make a real difference in the end since this was not the way things were in our day. Well, my peers could not be more wrong in this particular instance. We are seeing a huge social revolution that is impacting everything from purchasing to learning. It has helped to elect a president and it is creating interest in the claims of Christ every single day. If you want to see just how much this revolution has already changed things, and get a good feel for what is coming very soon, watch this You Tube link. It is very impressive stuff.

There is […]

Judging Others

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:48-05:00September 17th, 2009|Categories: Unity of the Church|

There are some obvious tensions that we encounter when we read the Scriptures. One such tension that often causes significant problems between Christians is the biblical teaching regarding judging others.

The Scriptures do teach us to avoid judgmental attitudes toward others, especially in dealing with Christians. At the same time we are clearly encouraged to developing a discerning attitude that can evaluate people and ministries carefully; e.g, 1 Cor. 5:12-13; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 6:1-6; Matthew 7:15-20; 2 Cor. 11:10-15. This is the tension I refer to here. How can we follow both of these standards? No matter how you apply these texts you will soon have to admit that judging and discerning sometimes do get very close to one another.

The temptation to pass judgment upon the life or testimony of other individuals is clearly warned against in the New Testament. If you have lived in a Christian context where the truth of your church or mission is extremely important than the tendency will always be to err on the side of passing judgment […]

Some Final Thoughts About the Problem of Modalism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:48-05:00September 16th, 2009|Categories: Christ/Christology|

As Christian thinkers continued to deal with various errors regarding the incarnation and the Trinity they eventually developed a formula called the “communication of attributes.” This expressed the idea that although Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man, he is but one person. Because he is one person, and thus a single subject in both a psychological and grammatical sense, what is said about the person of Christ may logically be said about both God and man. For this reason it is always right to say that God was born, suffered, died and rose. But this statement is only right if we also affirm that while the Son is God, God is not only the Son but also the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Martin Luther developed this idea about the attributes even further. He wanted to stressed the communication of the attributes so profoundly that he insisted the human body of Christ possessed the divine attribute of omnipresence. This would […]