Blog - Page 234 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Biblical Historical Consensus or Prudential Judgment

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:59-05:00April 8th, 2008|Categories: Biblical Theology|

The Christian Church has been plagued by false teaching from the beginning. Sometimes what is first believed to be questionable is tested, in various ways and over much time, and then is accepted as true. In the ancient Church a process allowed various truth claims to be vetted and the result was a series of orthodox formulations that we call the early creeds. These creeds are not infallible but they are tools that give us consensus in theology. The councils that helped write them were anything but perfect but they are important. They help to underline and emphasize those things that are agreed upon by all Christians to be central to the faith.

The ancient Church agreed that doctrinal truths such as the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, the death, burial, resurrection and coming again of Jesus, the forgiveness of sin in Christ, the reality of heaven and hell and the infallibility of the Holy Scripture were all consensus doctrines. Since that […]

Baseball is a Family Friendly Conversational Sport

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:00-05:00April 7th, 2008|Categories: Baseball|

One thing I love about baseball is the way you can pass it on to kids and grandchildren as well. I was in Washington, D.C. today and enjoyed a visit to the new Nationals Park, the home of the Washington Nationals that just opened. (This was the second game ever played in the stadium.) At a board meeting of The Institute on Religion and Democracy today Fred Barnes, editor of The Weekly Standard and a Fox New political commentator, with me during lunch. (Fred shares season tickets with several friends.) He asked me if I wanted to go to the game tonight and it took me less than one second to say "Yes." What a glorious evening it was, though it was a bit chilly. We talked about everything from family to faith, and politics to baseball. It is an understatement to say that I had a blast.

Then I got got some lovely pictures of my wife and grandchildren at the home […]

The Third Sunday of Easter

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:00-05:00April 6th, 2008|Categories: The Church|

I have often written about my love for various aspects of divine liturgy and the Christian calendar, especially over the past few years. Today, for those who followed a Western Church calendar, we celebrated the third Sunday of Easter.
I led the worship at Lutheran Church of the Master, preaching from Luke 24:13-35. I then served the Eucharist as a minister of Word and sacrament. My soul was flooded with the sheer wonder of God’s grace by and through the resurrection of the Son of God.

The entire liturgy was built around the theme of "seeing" Jesus the risen Lord. One of our statements I made during the liturgy was quite moving:

Risen Lord Jesus, help us to empty ourselves of all that hinders our awareness of your presence with us. Fill us with the joy of knowing your continuing presence, so that, like those travelers on the road to Emmaus, we will joyfully share this great good news with others.
[…]

The Cubs Magic Number: 9-1-1

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:00-05:00April 5th, 2008|Categories: Baseball|

Chicago is a real baseball town. But we have two teams, something that makes for an intense rivalry and much partisanship every year. Only rarely do the fans of the Chicago Cubs celebrate a White Sox success and rarely do White Sox fans do the same for the Cubs. When the White Sox won the World Series in 2005 it ended a streak without a championship that went back for more than eighty years. Their futility was over. With Boston winning twice in the last four seasons their streak is over too. Cleveland now has the longest American League streak, dating back to the 1940s. But the Cubs have not won a World Series, the ultimate championship in baseball, since 1908! This makes 2008 the magical, or dismal, celebration of their 100th anniversary of a championionship. It qualifies as the longest run of any professional team in history without a champion. The Cubs, quite frankly, are the very definition of the phrase often […]

Juan Williams on King, Obama and Race

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:00-05:00April 4th, 2008|Categories: Race and Racism|

One of my favorite writers and news commentators is Juan Williams. He has told the story of the African-American experience as well as any black writer that I know. He is intelligent, seemingly a moderate liberal politically, and speaks truth in ways that I think are helpful and insightful. (He is also a thoughtful Christian.) His opinion column in today’s Wall Street Journal is an excellent follow-up to my blog on the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., forty years ago today.

What is the legacy of Dr. King? How does Obama relate to it and how should we view his staying at Trinity United Church of Christ for twenty years under Wright’s leadership. As always Juan Williams forced me to rethink a couple of my own points and he also opened some new ones that I think are a serious part of the race conversation we are having at this moment.

Forty Years Ago Today

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:00-05:00April 4th, 2008|Categories: Race and Racism|

It was one of those days you never forget. I remember precisely where I was when I heard the news, standing on the balcony of my second floor apartment across the street from the football stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama. I feared for the future of my country and what would happen. I refer, of course, to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, at the young age of only 39 on April 4.

It was hard to believe at that precise moment. I feared rioting would be unleashed and our society impacted profoundly. Both proved to be true as the weeks unfolded. Later that year the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was shot in Los Angeles just after winning the California primary.
These two deaths, in such a […]

The Nation's "Preacher-in-Chief"

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:01-05:00April 3rd, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Sally Bedell Smith is a bestselling author who has given us the best portrait we have of the Bill and Hillary Clinton years in the White House. She is not a partisan, revealing nothing of an agenda to promote or attack the Clintons, much like several biographers who have written about Bill alone.
Smith’s excellent book, For Love of Politics, is an immensely interesting, even entertaining, sketch of how this couple navigated personal issues as well as politics for eight years as a team. (Make no mistake about it they are a team!)

Today I cite only one comment from the book. Special negotiations were underway to sign NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Bill learned of secret negotiations, without U.S. involvement, that had been underway in Norway for months to try and solve the issue of the Palestinians and the West Bank/Gaza Strip debate. Bill, being quick to grasp the value of being seen between Rabin and Arafat invited them to […]

Can Christ Be Truly Glorified in Blogging?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:01-05:00April 1st, 2008|Categories: Personal|

I just concluded a phone conversation with a young man that I deeply respect. He is a well-trained brother in New Testament studies with an advanced degree in the field, some years of pastoral experience and is now working in the marketplace. He gives me great insights and a lot of loving input as my friend and peer. I feel like he is my son, at times, and love him dearly. He is also a guy who thinks both biblically and outside the box of conservative/liberal Christian political correctness.

As we spoke on the phone I shared with my friend a growing doubt about the value and place of blogging, or at least the kind of blogging that I have done for nearly four years now. What I have done is similar, at least in form, to what almost everyone else is doing in this Internet medium. Here are the positives I see in such blogging:

1. I am a writer and […]

A Roman Catholic and Reformed Forum on the Eucharist

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:01-05:00March 29th, 2008|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

Tomorrow evening, at 6:00 p.m., ACT 3 is pleased to host another one of its regular forums for the general public. This one will feature Father Thomas Baima and myself on the subject of the Lord’s Supper. Tom contributed the Catholic chapter to my book, Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper. The book also includes a Lutheran, Baptist and Reformed view of the Eucharist. I hold to the Reformed view. So the two views we shall discuss tomorrow are from these two different perspectives. The event will not be an acrimonious debate but a dialog among friends. Tom and I have shared much personal fellowship over the last four or five years. We have also shared the same platform a number of times now.

I am well aware that there are those who think such an event is, in itself, a "sell out." Obviously, I think otherwise or I would not take part in it. I believe that you would learn […]

Economic Plans Do Matter: Keeping Markets and Morality Close Together

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:01-05:00March 28th, 2008|Categories: Economy/Economics|

As Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton draw nearer to a very important primary race in Pennsylvania they seem to continually seek to "one-up" each other with the newest economic solution packages for what they think will gain votes for their respective campaigns.
One cannot be exactly sure what they are actually promising voters without a good deal of careful reading. Says one writer in a paper today, "They often appear to be playing a game of policy leapfrog." Sen. Clinton proposed a $30 billion package on Monday that would provide grants and loans to localities so they can acquire foreclosed properties, make improvements and then sell them. The aim, she says, is to head off big clusters of foreclosures that can undermine neighborhoods.

Then yesterday Senator Obama countered Clinton with his own $30 billion package, although he says his would help financially […]