Blog - Page 217 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Lipstick, Pigs and Partisan Politics

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 13th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

The American two-party political system is both wonderful and severely flawed. It allows us to conduct free elections and to promote our ideals through a political means that can actually accomplish something for the overall good of the nation, or at least it did at some points in our history. At the same time this wonderful, and sometimes efficient, two-party system is severely flawed. I am inclined to think that what it does best, at least in the present context, is to keep one single group from dominating and forcing radical change. By this means it preserves us through a time when we are an almost evenly divided nation about a number of political and social issues. Being an incrementalist I believe one of the reasons the founders, for example, set up three branches of government was to hinder the prospect of future revolutions. Yet we still had a bloody Civil War. No system is perfect!

I have quoted former-president Harry Truman […]

Brother Yun

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 12th, 2008|Categories: ACT 3|

I wrote a blog on the Chinese pastor Brother Yun sometime last year. As a result of that blog, and the kindness of God, I will now host Brother Yun in his Chicago area appearances related to his book tour that Zondervan is conducting for his new book Living Water. You can get information about this at our Web site.

I will also be speaking in chapel at Wheaton College next Wednesday, September 17, at 10:35 a.m. CDT. This chapel program is associated with the World Christian Fellowship at Wheaton. I am speaking on the global church in preparation for Brother Yun’s visit to campus on Sunday evening, September 21. Brother Yun will also speak for ACT 3 in a special Saturday morning event at Northern Seminary in Lombard at 9:30 a.m. and at Village Bible Church in Sugar Grove, Illinois in their morning service on September 21. Again, you can find all this information on our […]

9/11: The Day We Should Never Forget

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 11th, 2008|Categories: America and Americanism|

Because the "war on terror" is so hotly debated I believe most Americans have little or no concept of what our civilization is engaged in right now. I know this sentence is controversial to some readers but I am convinced it is true. I majored in history and have always had a great love for the subject. I have studied twentieth century history in particular. It was the "bloodiest" century in human history. I think both World War I and World War II were not necessary, at least not initially. The problem is that many "wished" for the best and then did little or nothing to prepare for defending the West against the onslaught of ideologies and leaders who hated our values. In the case of World War II this was particularly true. One only has to recall Neville Chamberlain to know how unpreparedness set the stage for a longer and more costly conflict.

On this date, September 11 (seven years ago), […]

Another 9/11: September Dawn

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 10th, 2008|Categories: The War on Terrorism|

More than a hundred years before September 11, 2001, another terrorist attack took place on American soil that most of us know nothing about. I refer to the Mountain Meadow Massacre on September 11, 1857, in the Utah territory. The disturbing and horrific film September Dawn tells the story of the actual events of this attack. The film story is woven around a fictitious love story that gives a certain human texture to what would otherwise have been a documentary in the end.

Historians do not agree about the full story but even Mormon historians now admit the massacre actually happened. They put a spin on it and the debate rages on in many circles. But raw facts have a way of forcing you to admit the truth, even about your own religious fathers, when 150-plus years have transpired. Meanwhile the debate about whether Brigham Young actually knew and approved of this massacre still rages on in Mormon circles. You can read […]

An Evening with Steve Brown

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 9th, 2008|Categories: ACT 3|

Last Friday evening we celebrated the 17th Anniversary of the mission of ACT 3. My very good friend Steve Brown came from Orlando to speak for us at the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton. We had a wonderful evening. The attendance was far and away the best we have had for such an event in many years. And more than half of those who came had never been to an ACT 3 event previously, which thrilled us.

Steve spoke about The City of God, following the teaching of Jesus and St. Augustine’s classic book. He showed how you can love your country, the city of man, very deeply. But he also showed that Christians must keep their priorities clear and make the city of God their greater pursuit. His central point was that people in the city of man cannot hear the message the city of God gives to them unless they see "our tears." He took his central thought from the […]

ACT 3 Luncheon Forums : Preaching as Worship with Michael Quicke

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 8th, 2008|Categories: ACT 3|

Do Women Face a Different Standard?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:31-05:00September 8th, 2008|Categories: Feminism & Women|

Did anyone see the interviews this week with former aides to Senator Hillary Clinton during the RNC? Several of these former Clinton aides have openly criticized the “sexist” attacks on the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. These attacks have led many to question her devotion to her family. Check out politico.com for more.

Howard Wolfson, a former top Clinton adviser, said: “There’s no way those questions would be asked of a male candidate.” And Paul Singer, who worked with Wolfson on the Clinton presidential campaign, said: “There’s no question that the issues a woman has to deal with are different. The real indictment that needs to be prosecuted is about her views, not her personal life.” He believes Hillary was victimized by sexist news coverage as well. Singer cited articles “on Clinton’s cleavage,” and whether she had the personality of a “bitch.” Palin has already heard various statements about her appearance as well. The even more tourbling stuff is the scandalous rumors about her family and the suggestion that she is being a bad mother. Is anyone as sick of […]

Did Governor Palin Sell Her State Jet on e-Bay?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:32-05:00September 7th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

The main stream media (MSM) is all abuzz today about the supposed lie that Governor Palin told in her acceptance speech on Wednesday evening. I thought to myself, as I read all of these accusations, "I do not recall her saying she sold the jet on e-Bay" but rather that she listed it there and sold it. But one commentator after another is writing about her lie. So I decided to go back and read her speech and find the offensive line that is being debated so heatedly.

Here is what she actually said:

"That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay."

Read her words slowly. She doesn’t say she sold it on eBay but that she "put it on eBay." The truth is that is exactly what she did. It did not sell on eBay so it was sold later and thus she said nothing untruthful or misleading at all. If this is how we hear […]

What Can a Climatologist Know About the Future? A Sane Look at Climatological Models

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:32-05:00September 6th, 2008|Categories: The Future|

This question about the future of the climate is the leading idea of John R. Christy’s essay in the book, The Way We Will be 50 Years from Now (Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 2008). Christy is professor of atmospheric
science, and the director of the Earth System Science Center, at the
University of Alabama in Huntsville. He was awarded NASA’s Medal for
Exceptional Scientific Advancement for developing a global temperature
data set based upon the microwave data observed from satellites. He was also the
lead author for the UN reports on climate change. He shared in the same Nobel Prize that was awarded to the whole group of scientists and former Vice-President Al Gore. As a result of this fact I did not think his essay would provide much more than the usual "religious" babble on climate change. I was pleasantly stunned. As a result I now read Dr. Christy’s reflections wherever I can find them on the Internet. (Do a Google search with his name.)

Christy […]

The Real Nick Saban Has a Real Wife and It Makes a Real Difference

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:32-05:00September 5th, 2008|Categories: College Football|

No coach in all of America gets the attention these days that Nick Saban, the head coach at The University of Alabama, gets in the media. (Readers know I went to Alabama for two years and remain a shameless die-hard Tide fan!)

Saban’s uncompromising commitment to excellence in every phase of the football program is beginning to yield success for the Crimson Tide. The veteran head coach has achieved resounding success on the college level with three different programs. He has justly earned a reputation as an outstanding tactician, leader, organizer and motivator. Those qualities have sparked impressive turnarounds at every stop in his college career. (The one exception, critics will cite, was his two-year stint with the professional Miami Dolphins, where he had a sub-par winning percentage.) Coach Saban’s teams have often overcome adversity to achieve victory and like him or not he is a brilliant coach.

Saban can be abrasive, angry and sometimes cute. He is never dull. He […]