Blog - Page 212 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Christmas and the Market

By John Armstrong|2008-10-26T04:25:00-05:00October 26th, 2008|Categories: America and Americanism|

There was a time when most of us thought that the Christmas season began after Thanksgiving. Then the retail stores began to start the festivities earlier and earlier in order to boost their year-end gains. I seem to recall that we began to hear Christmas music and see lights and Christmas-themed sales in mid-November just a few years ago. Yesterday, October 25th no less, I had to pick up something at the pharmacy at my nearby Costco. Low and behold Christmas music filled the aisles and sales were up and running. The place was packed. In fact the suburban roadways were in a state of traffic jam already. October 25th. Utterly amazing. And we are in a bad economy?

I wonder with the economy in the tank, so to speak, if Christmas will begin in September next year. Who knows, maybe we could eventually begin right after July 4th. Why not? A culture with little or no understanding of the meaning of the incarnation only has an aggressive sales plan left anyway. I have often […]

North & South

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:20-05:00October 25th, 2008|Categories: Film|

Elizabeth Gaskell's nineteenth century novel, North & South, is a passionate tale of love across the social divide of the agrarian south and the industrial north of mid-nineteenth century England. It is a book which tells a great love story while it brings the reader into the social context of the Industrial Revolution and how the impact of suffering and class struggle upon many ordinary people. The BBC produced, in 2004, a four-part mini-series based on the novel, also called North & South. It stars Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, both of whom are superb British dramatists.

Margaret Hale (Denby-Ashe) is the daughter of a middle-class English parson who looses his faith and can no longer follow the Prayer Book with confidence. Hale's dad decides to leave the ministry and relocate to northern England to take up teaching. Margaret's life is so fundamentally changed that she is forced to begin a whole new life in Milton (a fictitious town which is meant […]

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:20-05:00October 24th, 2008|Categories: Economy/Economics|

I wonder how many Christians in America really believe the teaching of Jesus? I mean, "How many really believe it?" I doubt that the number is actually that large. Jesus plainly taught that we should "Lay up your treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt and where thieves do not break in to steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mathew 6:20-21).

From observation I see few who actually live this teaching. Most of us believe that we are obligated to give God a tip, or maybe even 10% as a tithe, if we are really religious. (Remember, a modern tip is now 15%.) But the text does not stop there at all. It says that where our money is amounts to the place where our heart is. American Christians are finding out these days where their hearts really are and the picture is not that pretty. I have never seen so much fear and anguish. […]

What Do the Polls Mean?

By John Armstrong|2008-10-23T19:18:01-05:00October 23rd, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Would someone please explain why we have polls on the upcoming election that say Obama's lead is as high as 13% while two very reliable polls, released in the last 24 hours, that say his lead is 1%? (A statistical dead heat!) Is this wide range of numbers as odd to you as it is to me? I am not into conspiracy theories, as I have said numerous times, but something seems amiss when the range is so vast. And why do we have so many poll anyway? What purpose do they really serve? Every one of them is based on various bits of data directly rooted in the questions that are being asked and when they are being asked. None can say who will finally vote.

Does anyone remember that the polls in 2004 said that John Kerry was up by 10% in most of the battleground states only to have him loose these states and the nation, 51% to 48%. I am not an expert on polling but I do know that these numbers are so […]

It's the Economy Stupid!

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:20-05:00October 23rd, 2008|Categories: Uncategorized|

Bill Clinton ran and won, in 1992, on the economy. Barack Obama is attempting to do the same thing in 2008. He may succeed. John McCain is doing everything within his power to stop him and to show why he can be better trusted to resolve our problems. I believe both candidates fail to grasp the depth of the "real" problem. It's not the economy, it's the debt. You don't have to be an economist to figure this one out.

Who caused the financial panic of the last few weeks? Republicans blame Fannie and Freddie. Bill O'Reilly nightly gets angry at the greedy Wall Street CEOs and corrupt congressmen. Democrats blame President Bush and the run-away free market. Republicans blame the Cintonites for creating massive entitlements and starting this mess. Democrats believe "trickle down" economics has finally failed and Republicans believe "pork spending" is the culprit. There is blame everywhere. And there is truth in some of all of it.

But no one seems willing to […]

The Evangelism of Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:20-05:00October 22nd, 2008|Categories: Evangelism|

I have not followed the controversies surrounding the evangelism methods of Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort until I saw the movie Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron. Then, in discussing this movie with friends, I got into this story.

Ray Comfort is an evangelist from New Zealand who has created quite a storm in his appearances across the United States. He is bold, if nothing else. And he is determined to never water down the rough edges of the gospel, at least as he understands it. Cameron, who also starred in the Left Behind movies and Growing Pains in the 1990s, has linked his efforts with Comfort in an approach called "guerrilla evangelism." In late 2001 Cameron and Comfort launched The Way of the Master to teach Christians how to share their faith "simply, effectively, biblically . . . the way Jesus did." Something about this troubles me, especially the assumption that they are sharing "the way Jesus did." What makes them so sure? And is this claim truthful […]

Fireproof: A Movie Made By Christians for Christians

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:21-05:00October 21st, 2008|Categories: Film|

The new movie Fireproof is is conceived and produced by the same folks who brought us Facing the Giants, the football movie that stirred some evangelicals so deeply. The congregation of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, is to be commended for its noble efforts to present the gospel to modern men and women. The church, and numerous friends of this congregation, have invested thousands of dollars and probably millions of hours of personal sacrifice to produce these two films. I have no doubt that some people have been profoundly changed by seeing both films. I saw Facing the Giants on DVD and I saw Fireproof in the theater a few weeks ago. I had not planed to go but more than a few Christian friends urged me to, so I spent an afternoon at the theater.

Fireproof highlights the marriage of a non-Christian couple in Albany. The man (Caleb), played […]

Pray for My Dear Friend Sean McCallum

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:21-05:00October 20th, 2008|Categories: Personal|

Sean McCallum is the Web master for ACT 3. He is a talented and wonderful 31 year old designer. He is a great husband and father. And he is one of my dearest friends. I simply could not do all I do without him. I met Sean about four years ago and we connected instantly. I loved his humility, teachableness, generosity of spirit and commitment to do a job right. The more we got to know each other the more we liked one another. We often share meals and brainstorm about ACT 3 stuff. We talk about everything under the sun. We even like baseball and share games. (Sean is an extra special friend since he is a Sox fan and likes the Cubs about as little as I do.) He has become more than a employee for me, he is much more like a son.

One of the things I learned about Sean early in our friendship was about his transplanted heart. He was the first such person I had ever met as a friend. In 1991, […]

How and When Did the Present Financial Crisis Begin?

By John Armstrong|2008-10-20T05:00:00-05:00October 20th, 2008|Categories: Economy/Economics|

Several of you have perhaps seen this already, but friends have been circulating an article from the New York Times taken from a September 1999 issue that now has huge bearing on the present financial crisis in the United States. Most people can now understand what the writer was warning about now that we have seen the collapse of the housing market in America.

Many ask: "Who caused this mess?" Well there is enough blame to go around for sure. But a major share of it should be laid in the right place. This article, coming from the New York Times as it does, makes that place abundantly clear. Numerous financial voices were raised about this problem for nine years but we merrily moved along without listening. Now we are paying the price. Read and then pray and weep for our nation while politicians play games with our lives.

STEVEN A. HOLMES

New York Times (September 30, 1999)

In a move that could help increase […]

Andrew Jackson: His Times and Ours

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:21-05:00October 19th, 2008|Categories: America and Americanism|

The two-hour DVD Andrew Jackson is a well conceived historical account of the life and presidency of our seventh president. The story of Jackson is of great personal interest to me because as a school boy I was routinely taken on school field trips to his home and burial site in Tennessee: The Hermitage. What a boy sees, a man must come to understand. So it has been with my lifelong interest in Major General Andrew Jackson, born in backwoods North Carolina, but an adopted native of my home state of Tennessee.

Jackson was orphaned at age 13 and scarcely educated in any formal sense. By his late teens he had read law and became a Tennessee attorney. He was fiercely jealous of his honor and even killed in a duel a man who cast an unjustified slur on his wife Rachel. Jackson prospered in Tennessee so much so that he was able to buy slaves and […]