Blog - Page 214 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Financial Freedom

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:22-05:00October 11th, 2008|Categories: Economy/Economics|

Pope Benedict XVI, in one of his World Youth Day messages, said: "It is incumbent upon religious people to demonstrate that it is possible to find joy in living simply and modestly, generously sharing one's surplus with others."

This comment strikes me as both balanced and extremely important, especially given our present financial crisis in the U. S. Money is a tool given to us by God to accomplish responsibilities that he has entrusted to us. When money is viewed as an end in itself unhealthy desires will grow. The Catholic Catechism (No. 2536) says: "Our thirst for another's goods is immense, infinite, never quenched. Thus it is written: 'He who loves money never has money enough.'"

There are many philosophies among Christians about making, managing and giving money. There are a clearly a number of legitimate, and illegitimate, ways to make money. I think the pope's counsel is wise to keep before us regardless of the way we seek to make wealth.

We have clearly overextended ourselves as a society, or should we say many of us have personally […]

The Cubs Drought Reaches 100 Years

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:22-05:00October 10th, 2008|Categories: Baseball|

I have noted several times this year that the Chicago Cubs might make the post-season in 2008 but that they would likely fail in their mission to finally win their first world series since 1908. I could not imagine that I would be proven right so quickly and with such ease. The Dodgers, as baseball fans know, swept the Cubs in three games late last week. This means that the Cubs have lost nine consecutive post-season games dating back over their last three appearances.

Former player Dan Plesac put this well in our local paper. He said the players were tight, error-prone and playing not to lose. I am of the opinion that the fans bring this about as much as any single source. Loyal fans even began to boo their beloved Cubbies when they self-destructed this year. There can be no doubt that the atmosphere around the Cubs was very tense. Dan Plesac said before game three, that "this team is too […]

The Death of Common Sense

By John Armstrong|2008-10-09T05:00:00-05:00October 9th, 2008|Categories: Culture|

The following piece on "common sense" was sent to me by a reader of this site. I found it both humorous and all too real for comfort. I checked the dictionary and to find that common sense was "ordinary good sense or sound practical judgment." Here is the witty but all too true article.

My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life, and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. It seems he was always around in my early years, but less and less as time passed by, until today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance. For Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations.

Obituary
Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

[…]

Two Senators Debate the Issues

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:23-05:00October 8th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

The second of three presidential debates was held last night in Nashville, Tennessee. The final debate will be held next Wednesday, October 15. We are now less than four weeks from the presidential election. I am not a political pundit but I have no serious doubt that Barack Obama will win this election. I have watched both debates carefully, as well as the vice-presidential debate, and I have seen nothing to dissuade me from this view. Baring a last minute "shift" that is rooted in events that we cannot foresee, Barack Obama is the solid leader in all the polls and should win, perhaps in a landslide.

What happened last night could best be described as two senators having a debate (a discussion seems the better word to my mind) about how to solve major problems that our nation faces. McCain needed to stop Obama's momentum and he simply failed. Why? I have no idea. I think both of these candidates debated like two men […]

How the Modern Generation Lost Its Way Morally and Socially

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:23-05:00October 8th, 2008|Categories: Emergent Church|

Time and time again David Gelernter, a national fellow of the American Enterprise Institute and professor of computer science at Yale, speaks precisely to something that I have been thinking about for some time. It was David Gelernter who argued, in the pages of The Weekly Standard about three years ago, that America needed another great awakening on the college campus and that it just might actually happen. He spoke of the typical campus as “biblically illiterate” and thus a veritable “tinder-box” for a spiritual fire if the Bible were to become relevant again to students. I pray daily that he is right and I work to this end with all that is inside of me.

Well, David Gelernter did it again in a recent (October 6) article in The Weekly Standard. In an article titled: “Obama in Leftland,” Gelernter writes:

[…]

Miracle at St. Anna

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:26-05:00October 7th, 2008|Categories: Film|

Spike Lee's new film, Miracle at St. Anna, involves four African-American soldiers behind enemy lines in Italy in World War II. It is a story that needed to be told given the way war stories have been written and filmed since the 1940s. Finally someone has paid tribute to the sacrifice of black Americans for their part in this great war.

The two hour and forty minute film opens with an old black man watching a John Wayne movie about the war and muttering to himself, "We fought that war too." The next day he goes to work at the post office and does something that startles you instantly. This opening scene adds time to the story but does not actually help the story that much. From this scene the movie then goes back to the 1940s and the war. The movie ends with another scene that does not play that well but includes a feeling of deep emotion. The closing music […]

One Long Epiclesis

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 6th, 2008|Categories: The Church|

The late Roman Catholic theologian Yves Congar was one of the most important theological writers on the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the 20th century. I was introduced to Congar's work about twenty years ago. I prize his three volumes as some of my finest material on the Spirit. Father Richard McBrien says Congar's theology has six principal elements in it. I would like to underscore only one of them: epiclesis.

Epiclesis refers to a special section in the offering of the prayer at the Mass. Since the Reformers rejected the idea of sacrifice in the Eucharist they also rejected this term.
The idea behind epiclesis is to offer thanksgiving to God for his past mercies and to offer petition for his continued benevolence in the present. In ancient liturgy it was rooted in the Didache which said, "Remember, […]

Planned Parenthood and Politics

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 5th, 2008|Categories: Abortion|

President John Adams once wrote: "Facts can be stubborn things and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." Never was a statement more true than with regard to the present issue of abortion and politics.

Planned Parenthood is a huge organization. A 2007 Wall Street Journal report said their budget now exceeds $1 billion. Read that again and let it soak in for a moment. Of this budget $336 million comes from the government, thus from our taxpayer monies. Planned Parenthood is responsible for helping one in four mothers have an abortion in the United States. Planned Parenthood also remains deeply involved in the politics of abortion. (If you think this issue is not political then you are fast asleep.)

Planned Parenthood has what they call […]

My Day at a Crimson Tide Game

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 4th, 2008|Categories: College Football|

Some months ago my brother phoned me and said, "Would you like to see Alabama play Kentucky on Saturday, October 4?" I didn't have to think about it at all. And I didn't know then that I would see two undefeated teams play in a nationally televised game (2:30 p.m. CDT, CBS) if I said "Yes." Sure glad I could say yes and I am even more glad now that I am going to see a great college game in a great place, Bryant-Denny Stadium. (I lived across from the press box in 1968 and still recall where I was standing, looking at the stadium, when my roommate said, "Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis!")

At the time my brother called a few months ago I wasn't convinced that Alabama would be this good this season, but I knew they had recruited well and had some juniors and seniors who were now ready to really play for Coach Saban. […]

Can Blogging Be a "Mean-Free" Zone?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 3rd, 2008|Categories: Personal|

I have touched upon this question on several previous occasions. Can blogging be done without the meanness that often attends writers and responders? I think so and remain committed to this as my goal. I weigh my words and ideas carefully and thus always ask: "Is this honest, fair and helpful to someone?" Most of my blogs are about ideas and responses that I have to politics, culture, movies, life and Christian faith. A few of them are about my private personal interests; e.g., baseball and college football. Once in awhile I throw in personal thoughts and travels because so many of my friends desire me to do this because they have a relationship with me. For some reason they care about me as a person. My blogs are thus both columns/articles and personal reflections/narratives.

A local columnist, whose politics are much more liberal than my own, recently asked if his own newspaper column was a "hate-free" zone? This question led me to ask the question above about being "mean-free" in blogging. By mean I refer to "being bad-tempered, disagreeable or malicious." […]