Blog - Page 193 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Beeson Pastors School: A Summer Treat for Ministers

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:22-05:00May 8th, 2009|Categories: The Christian Minister/Ministry|

Conferences and seminars for pastors abound, especially during the summer months. These kinds of events spring up like clockwork, much like the welcomed daffodils and tulips I see growing in the Midwest right now. In the various magazines, and on numerous online sites, ministers are encouraged to attend such gatherings. Each one appeals to the minister to consider their event as unique time for teaching and refreshment. I have spoken at a number of these kinds of events over the years. And prior to speaking widely myself, since around 1990, I enjoyed attending one or two pastors events like these each year.

I have not become a cynic about such events but I now see that most of these seminars and conferences are “personality driven” events. If you loved the "big person" (always a male in the circles I traveled in) then you just had to attend or you might miss out on something very important. I found that if you get the biggest names to speak, create an intensely loyal following for a high profile successful pastor/author, slay […]

The Mission of Oprah

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:22-05:00May 7th, 2009|Categories: Television|

The gospel of health and happiness is widely preached in America, especially on television. Indeed, it often appears to be the central message of some of the best known evangelical ministers in the land. But no one comes remotely close to perfecting the power of this message quite like television and media star Oprah Winfrey. She has made this message into a type of "salvific talk" that is widely popular in mainstream culture, especially among women. O, the magazine that Oprah publishes, even refers to her work as her “mission.” The magazine often features themes such as fun, couples, freedom, strength, forgiveness, life redemption, etc. She even talks a lot about god in her columns and programs. In an April 2002 issue of O she wrote: “I used to ask God to help me master a new virtue every year.” Her brand of self-help religion is quintessentially American and fits well with the kind of Christian-lite moralism of our recent past.

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President Obama's Controversial Degree from Notre Dame University and a Profile in Courage

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:22-05:00May 6th, 2009|Categories: Abortion|

Principled people in public leadership are too rare these days. This is what made former Vatican Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon’s (photo at left) simple, and rather non-dramatic, refusal to accept Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal at this year’s commencement a profile in courage. Glendon rejected the honor primarily because the university is also awarding an honorary doctoral degree to their commencement speaker, President Barack Obama.

The Notre Dame/Obama controversy has been discussed and analyzed, right and left and at all points in between, for the past six weeks. Patrick Buchanan asked, in a March 31 article in the very conservative paper Human Events: “Is Notre Dame Still Catholic?” I’ll give you one guess what he concluded.

At the center of this storm is Notre Dame’s president, Father John Jenkins. Why has he chosen to openly celebrate the contributions of the most pro-choice president in history? (I will not endeavor to prove this point about President Obama since it is […]

The Annual ACT 3 Board Meeting

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:22-05:00May 5th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

Each year, in early May, the entire board of ACT 3 meets for two days. We begin on a Monday evening with dinner and prayer. We get better acquainted, hear the stories of new board members and then pray. This year we have asked Rev. Phil Miglioratti, featured on this blog a few weeks ago, to lead our prayer time. Then on the Tuesday, which happens to be today, May 5, we do our primary business. We approve a budget, go over our financial statements, receive a report from the president (me) and envision the future of this mission. This day starts with what may seem like mundane reports and decisions but it ends with dreaming and thinking outside the box. Today will be no different, except that we are taking a sober look at our financial needs and the funds that we have to meet those needs. (We have less than in the past.) We will also take a good look at the future. I am sixty years old and this means we need to ask: "What specifically should we be […]

ACT 3 Luncheon Forums : Uncompromised Faith: Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity with S. Michael Craven

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:23-05:00May 4th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

Did Naperville Violate Free Speech When It Canceled a Bill Ayers Speaking Engagement?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:23-05:00May 3rd, 2009|Categories: Politics|

Naperville, Illinois, located 28 miles west of Chicago, is home to more than 145,000 people. It is located south of Wheaton, and thus located near to where I live. The city’s Web site describes Illinois' fifth largest city, which was once a rather small town when I came here in the 1960s, this way:

Naperville consistently ranks as a top community in the nation to live, raise children and retire. The city is home to acclaimed schools, what the city calls the best public library system in the country, an array of healthcare options and an exceptionally low crime rate. With ready access to a variety of transportation, housing and employment options, this booming suburb attracts thousands of new residents each year, making it one of the fastest growing communities in the United States. Naperville’s diversified employer base features high technology firms, retailers and factories, as well as small and home-based businesses. Residents also enjoy world-class parks, diverse worship options and […]

Is America a Christian Nation?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:23-05:00May 2nd, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

This question is a classical Catch-22. No matter how you answer it you will be right in some ways and wrong in others. Let me explain.

First, one must define what they mean by a "Christian" nation?

If you mean a nation that was deeply and profoundly shaped by Christian beliefs and values, and a nation in which the church had a major role in the shaping our forms of culture and government, then the answer is a qualified yes. America is a Christian nation only in this very limited sense.

The majority of early Americans were sympathetic with most Christians ideals. But, and this is rarely noted the overwhelming majority of Americans (1790) did not go to church at all, some estimating the percentage to be as high as 90% before the First Great Awakening. The number today still exceeds 30%.

But this […]

Who Is Arlen Specter?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:23-05:00May 1st, 2009|Categories: Politics|

Politicians change parties. Some have done so for very noble reasons. They have changed their political philosophy and then acted in accord with those changes, much the way Christians do when they change churches out of deep conviction. I am thinking here of my friends who have either gone from evangelical churches to the Roman Catholic Church, or from the Roman Catholic Church to a Protestant evangelical church. I have shared in this difficult process as some go through this gut-wrenching decision in order to make a hard choice. So I am not opposed to people like Arlen Specter changing political party. I am however, like most who have followed this man for nearly thirty years, not surprised by this decision either. He has always been to the left of his own party and now, to a certain extent, he finds himself to the right of his new party. This is what it is. This is politics.

What stuns me, though I am not so easily stunned by politicians anymore, is the reason(s) Arlen […]

Something the Lord Made

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:23-05:00April 30th, 2009|Categories: Film|

The finest made-for-television film that I have seen in 2009 has to be the HBO production Something the Lord Made (2004). It is the dramatic story of two men—one a wealthy white chief surgeon, the other a poor black lab technician from Tennessee. Together, as a remarkable and inseparable team, they achieved a monumental medical breakthrough. One, the white surgeon, received international accolade when he became the first surgeon to operate on the human heart. (The title comes from the response of some clergy, who argued that the heart should never be operated on since it had an unusual place as the seat of the soul.) The second man in the story, an African-American with nothing but a high school diploma and apprentice type training as a carpenter, excelled all expectations to become the vital assistant to the famous Dr. Blalock. (Thomas and Blalock met in Nashville when Blalock began his career at Vanderbilt University Medical […]

Columbine Ten Years Later: The Story of Two Pastors Who Were There

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:23-05:00April 29th, 2009|Categories: The Christian Minister/Ministry|

A recent issue of Newsweek (April 20) provided a very moving account of the lives of two pastors who ministered to the grieving during the time of the Columbine High School massacre ten years ago. This is “the rest of the story,” or at least a significant part of it. Christians should pay attention to this story.

The two pastors cited in the article could not be more different. One, the Rev. Don Marxhausen (at the left below), is a Lutheran (ELCA) minister who is described by the article as “liberal-minded.” The other, Rev. George Kirsten (at the right below), is the senior pastor at West Bowles Community Church, an independent evangelical congregation. The article notes that these two pastors, from differing ends of a theological spectrum, are “still haunted by the school massacre.” This is an understatement to say the least.

Marxhausen arrived in Littleton in 1990 and built St. […]