Blog - Page 18 of 318 - John H Armstrong

“Sanctuary” – A Chicago ABC Television Broadcast on the ACT3 Network Story

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:40-05:00March 23rd, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, Television, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

ABC television, Channel 7, in Chicago broadcast a special twenty-eight minute program called “Sanctuary,” that was devoted to the ACT3 story and to my life and work for missional-ecumenism. This program aired yesterday, March 22. Today you can see the entire program on our home page as well as here on my blog and Facebook page. I hope that you will be moved to pray for unity and the work that I do for ACT3 Network. We need many friends who will: (1) Pray for me and this mission, and; (2) Support us financially as we bring the word of Jesus from his John 17 prayer for unity to a wider circle of churches and leaders around the world.

One great way to help us is to subscribe to the ACT3 Weekly via our website. Each Monday you will get a short article as well as news and prayer requests. Go to www.act3network.com and sign up.

Real Humor is Always Good for the Soul

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:40-05:00March 19th, 2015|Categories: Humor|

I love religious humor, good humor. Sometimes such humor, if it is really good, can make a rather profound point. There are two bits of humor that I recently overheard that made me laugh while they also made a great point.

First, did you hear about the man who was an agnostic, dyslexic, insomniac?

His problem was that he sat up all night wondering if there really was a dog!

Second, did you hear about the aliens who landed in the Bible Belt?

The first persons to meet them were zealous Christians who told them all about the story of Jesus.

They replied to these Christians by saying, “He’s already visited our planet and we threw him a great party and everyone celebrated.” They asked the Christians: “What did you do when he came to your planet?”

Living in Community, Living in Love

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:40-05:00March 18th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Church Tradition, Culture, Discipleship, Friendship, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Prayer, Renewal, Spirituality, The Church|

Yesterday, I wrote about the desert fathers and mothers. One of the most prominent of them all was Antony of the desert. After reading Jesus’ words to the rich younger ruler Antony, sensing the spiritual deadness of his own soul and of the church of his time, retreated to the desert to seek God with his whole body and soul. For the next twenty years he wrestled with (in his own words) demons and the constant rigors of ascetic practice. His sole desire was to draw nearer to God. (He was not undertaking a “self-help protect” so that he might be saved by his good works!)

When Antony’s friends begged him to leave, and then dragged him, away from the desert twenty years later, his health was superb and the power of his ministry was unmistakable. Antony shows me what new life really costs–everything! He also scares me to death and he makes me tremble before the deep spiritual reality that he knew during and after the desert. But he also gives me hope. I’ve was in a […]

The Wilderness and the Desert: Images for Christian Living?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:41-05:00March 17th, 2015|Categories: Biblical Theology, Church Tradition, Discipleship, Patristics, Personal, Spirituality, The Church|

Two of the most lasting images used by the Christian church to describe the spiritual life, especially among the desert fathers and mothers, are wilderness and the desert. Had I not learned these two images in the early 1990s I am not sure I would have profited so deeply from my own spiritual journey.

First, the feeling of God’s absence became real to me during the late 1990s and all through the first decade of this century. I had known God’s presence in some remarkable ways previously but around 1998 this sense of his presence began to recede. I felt what the ancients called abandonment. I felt like I was wandering in a wilderness, a desert. I felt God was testing me. I felt a devastating absence for prolonged times. I read the account of my Lord suffering in the wilderness and identified with his heart in some ways.

Second, these images suggest an arid spirit but in reality I learned the opposite to be the case. I was being powerfully renewed in the desert. In Exodus, when the […]

Suzanne McDonald: The Power of Real Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2015-03-10T07:43:07-05:00March 16th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Last year ACT3 hosted the Lausanne Movement’s Catholic-Evangelical Conversation in Mundelein, Illinois. We will host this same event again on September 2-5 this year. During our meeting last year ACT3 hired a videographer to film each of the participants talking about the power and importance of unity. A few weeks ago I posted a segment of one of those interviews with Dr. Suzanne McDonald, theology professor at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. Today we hear the second of her excellent two-part response.

These interviews capture the heart and soul of the mission of ACT3 Network.

What Conservatives Do with Government

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:41-05:00March 13th, 2015|Categories: Ideology, Politics|

Liberals and conservatives are waging, it seems to me to the bitter end, a constant debate about the role of government. Conservatives generally do not trust government and want to see it decreased. Such conservatives often call the other side a bunch of socialists while Liberals say the conservatives are heartless and greedy business owners. “Conservatives do not care about the poor or the well-being of society,” they tell us.

Last year I heard a noteworthy conservative say that the problem with most conservatives is they end up turning modern government into a “private sector bidding war.” The result, he added, was that they gave us: “Government by entrepreneurship.” That was one of the most honest reflections on the dangers of conservative views of modern government that I’ve heard. One can hope that both sides would learn to see their own weaknesses and then learn how to work for the common good. So far I’ve not seen much of this since the 1970s. I’m not holding my breath but I am hoping for better leadership, eventually.

Jeff Gokee on Christian Unity and Why It Matters

By John Armstrong|2015-03-07T10:12:28-06:00March 12th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

One of my very best friends is Rev. Jeff Gokee, who serves PhoenixONE and is a recent addition to the ACT3 Network board of directors. Today Jeff speaks about the power and importance of Christian Unity.

A Liberal Confession that Conservatives Can Affirm

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:41-05:00March 11th, 2015|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Gospel/Good News, Missional Church, Personal, The Church|

Today’s Guest Blogger: Dr. David Lescalleet

There was an interesting recent editorial on dailybeast.com entitled: Why I’m coming out as a Christian. Columnist Ana Marie Cox who has written for a number of periodicals and has quite the following on twitter (1.3 million and counting) wrote the article. I heard about it today when Ms. Cox appeared on the cable morning show Morning Joe on MSNBC and talked about the reasons she chose to ‘come out’ of the religious closet. A week ago the news cycle had picked up on a comment made by Governor Scott Walker who was questioning President Obama’s Christian faith. Ms. Cox, a liberal commentator and obvious supporter of President Obama, opined if the President wasn’t a Christian than what did that make her? In her television interview this morning she did a decent enough job in trying to explain her own Christianity (enough for me to hunt her article down anyway and read it for myself), and what I found was a testimonial mixture of both good and bad. I don’t mean […]

Two Modern Films That Define Us as Americans, Part Two

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:41-05:00March 10th, 2015|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Immigration, Personal, Politics, Poverty, Race and Racism, The Church, The Future, The War on Terrorism|

In complete contrast with American Sniper the new film McFarland USA is a Disney movie. It is also based on a true story. It is an against-all-odds story of the 1987 McFarland high school cross country team in an economically challenged community in the central valley of California. Some reviewers think the film is “corny” and hopelessly romanticized. I found it pure, unadulterated inspiration. Kevin Costner plays the lead role as a high school teacher and coach who is stuck in a small town with a largely Hispanic population of poor immigrant farm workers. (The issue of documented or undocumented people never arises in the movie but reality says both kinds of immigrants are in the story!) The story revolves around a family of four moving to this small California farm town of McFarland, which really is the name of the town. (McFarland is about ten miles from where one of my best friends lives, Rev. David Moorhead. David a Reformed Church in America church-planting pastor in Shafter.) Costner’s character takes a job as a science and physical […]

Two Modern Films That Define Us as Americans, Part One

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:41-05:00March 9th, 2015|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Film, Immigration, The Church, The War on Terrorism|

I have not reviewed a movie here for many months, maybe for a year or more. I am not sure why this is true. I simply lost interest in film reviews I suppose. I’ve also seen some fairly bad movies in the last year. I think the Academy nominees for this year included some of the weakest films and performances in years. But I have not lost my interest in film.

In the first few months of 2015 I have seen several films that I enjoyed. Today I’d like to compare and contrast two films that capture something of the spirit of America. One is being deeply debated, American Sniper. The other film, McFarland USA, is not so well known but should be. (I will give the compare and contrast part of my blog in tomorrow’s post.)

American Sniper is a critically acclaimed movie that is debated left and right. It features Clint Eastwood’s sure-handed direction and has a gripping central performance from Bradley Cooper, who plays the lead role as a sniper in Iraq. It is tense, violent, […]