Blog - Page 24 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Ted Talk: “Am I Dying?”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:46-05:00December 2nd, 2014|Categories: Death, Personal, The Future|

Some of you who read this blog will die in the next twelve months. All of you, including of course me as well, will surely die. (Unless of course the Lord returns at the end of this age first!) But so few of us talk about our own demise. We talk about sex as if there were no other important topic in our culture. But we rarely talk about dying unless it is about assisted-suicide or the death of someone already departed. Facing death honestly is the Christian’s responsibility and deep joy. We say, “I am going to meet Christ face-to-face.” But few of us act like we believe this to be true. In this TED talk Matthew O’Reilly is not dealing with the questions of faith. But what he says does make a great deal of good sense. I share it in order to help you pray, think and plan for your own demise. “It is appointed to mortals to die once, and after that the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, NRSV). Are you ready? What have you done today to prepare to “die once” and then face […]

ACT3 Network Video Story

By John Armstrong|2015-01-23T16:25:33-06:00December 1st, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, My Christian Unity Story|

A few weeks ago I posted the “new” version of the ACT3 Network story on video. I am delighted to once again encourage everyone to see this well-done presentation (special thanks to Tim Frakes who did the work). Please share this with your friends. Encourage them to support us in prayer and with financial help if the Lord leads them to do so. We need friends to grow the network into the new places where God is opening doors wide to us.

Why Unity In Christ’s Mission? Video

By John Armstrong|2015-01-23T16:25:33-06:00November 28th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Unity of the Church|

The best video that ACT3 Network has ever made is now available on our homepage. It is the way to “see” and “hear” our vision very clearly. Several months ago I made a shorter, simpler presentation about the WHY of ACT3. I am seated in my lovely gazebo where I pray and write each day that I am at home. I hope that today this video will give you fresh insight into the power of Christian unity.

The Great Degeneration

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:47-05:00November 27th, 2014|Categories: Books, Current Affairs, Economy/Economics, Personal|

What causes rich countries to lose their way? Obvious symptoms of decline, in the West in general and America in particular, abound: slowing growth, crushing debts, increasing inequality, aging populations, antisocial behavior. A significant number of social critics will agree that these are the general symptoms of cultural shifts in the West but few will agree on what has actually gone wrong and what really caused it. The answer, says author Niall Ferguson argues in The Great Degeneration, is that our institutions—the intricate frameworks within which a society can flourish or fail—are degenerating.

The Great Degeneration is based on four lectures that Ferguson gave in 2012 and then revised and edited for this book. Niall Ferguson (b. 1964) is a professor of history at Harvard as well as a research fellow at Jesus College, University of Oxford. Ferguson is also a controversial critic who has engaged in serious research as well as partisan political action. He is known for his provocative views in both history and economics.

Ferguson argues that representative government, the free market, the rule of law, […]

The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:47-05:00November 26th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Biblical Theology, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Personal|

Several weeks ago I preached at the Saturday Vespers service at the Lutheran Church of the Master (LCM) in Carol Stream. The lectionary text was Matthew 25:1-14. This text is the parable of the wedding banquet. This text is also often misunderstood by Bible readers. This particular sermon is quite short. It may help some of you grasp the essential elements of what this account is really about in light of the kingdom of God and the gospel of good news.

I will be leading and preaching at LCM this weekend at the Saturday Vespers at 5 p.m. (November 29). I will also lead and preach at the two Sunday services (November 30) at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Friends in the area are welcome to attend. Lutheran Church of the Master is located at 580 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. You are welcome to take part in one of these services of worship this weekend. I’d love to see old friends and meet new friends as well.

You can listen to the sermon on Matthew 22 below:

https://soundcloud.com/act3network/the-parable-of-the-bridesmaids-are-you-ready

Is This a New Era in Global Catholic-Evangelical Relationships?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:47-05:00November 24th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Unless you follow the various meetings and events which impact global Christian ecumenism closely you may well have missed one of the more historic meetings that took place in 2014. On November 6, in Rome, Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance, had a meeting with Pope Francis. This meeting included a group of dear friends who are exploring together how missional-ecumenism might be better understood and lived between Catholics and evangelicals around the world. Because I make it my personal practice to prayerfully follow such events, and to support them in every way possible, I share several reports about this meeting. (The translator for the meeting was a very dear friend who I’ve had the joy of sharing my life and vision with in a deep mutual friendship thus I also followed this meeting with particular prayer!) The report that follows was given by the WEA, which is the oldest such alliance of churches in the world.

WEA Secretary General Visits Pope Francis,

Sees ‘New Era in Evangelical and Roman Catholic Relations’

New York, NY – […]

Cardinal O’Malley: ‘If I were founding a Church, I’d love to have women priests’

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:47-05:00November 20th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Emergent Church, Evangelism, Faith, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

I was in Boston for three days last weekend working in a number of exciting missional-ecumenical contexts. Boston is best known, in terms of its Christian leadership, for the work of Cardinal Sean O’Malley. I pray for Cardinal O’Malley, a leader who represents Pope Francis and his vision as well as any American leader in the Catholic Church. Let me explain some of what I mean by sharing about my recent experience in Boston.

On Sunday evening (November 16) I met with twelve ecumenical leaders from the city. Included among those at the table were some wonderful folks such as the leader of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the newly appointed dean of the Orthodox Cathedral, the evangelical catalyst for overseeing the joint efforts of ten seminaries in the greater Boston area, a lay leader in the office of ecumenism for Cardinal O’Malley and various religious leaders, both clergy and non-clergy. We were Catholic, Orthodox, charismatic, evangelical, mainline Protestant. We were Asian, white, black and hispanic. We were male and female, young and old. It was quite a […]

Lausanne Catholic Evangelical Conversation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:47-05:00November 18th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Evangelism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

During the days of September 11-13, 2014, the second Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation took place at Mundelein Seminary in suburban Chicago. Twenty-six leaders, thirteen Catholics and thirteen evangelical Protestants, met to consider again what the Spirit is saying to us about a new “springtime” of unity in Christ’s mission. The rest of the conversation was private. A report of this private dialogue will be posted here soon.

The only public meeting that we held included two papers and two responses. This evening meeting began our formal conversation on September 11. Four of us participated in this public, formal conversation. ACT3 Network secured a videographer to make a high-quality film of the entire evening. This includes the dialogue and some questions from the audience. Remember, the audience response does not reflect the actual private dialogue that the twenty-six of us shared throughout three wonderful days.

We rarely post anything of this length on our ACT3 Network web page or here on my personal blog site. We do so today because this material is extremely useful to the work of missional-ecumenism, the work that I have given my life to as a minister […]

A Gospel Call in Montreal (4)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:59-05:00November 14th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

The Gospel Call renewal event that I shared in Montreal two weeks ago has four specifically stated goals:

To deepen our Christian sense of identity and solidarity with one another.
To enable the co-sponsoring congregations to envision their mission differently.
To identify concrete ways that congregations can act together in the future.
To increase awareness of the biblical call to unity in faith, worship and mission.

Gospel Call is a ministry under the oversight of the North American Paulist Ministry Center in Washington, D.C.. Further information is available at the Paulist site.

On the last day of our Gospel Call mission in Montreal Fr. Tom Ryan and I led a “follow-through” event at the Lutheran Church. After a meal we invited leaders from the nine participating churches to come together as a group for prayer and one more symbolic expression of our oneness. In this instance the liturgy was quite simple and did not include a sermon. We placed an open Bible before the congregation and offered prayers.

Following this opening time of gathering we broke into six small groups around various ministries within the […]

A Gospel Call in Montreal (3)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:59-05:00November 13th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

The final Gospel Call worship celebration in Montreal (October 28) was the last large event that Fr. Ryan and I led together. This evening event was also the last of three preaching times. The focus was on the word “Sent.” Fr. Ryan and I again preached as a team, taking turns and both speaking for about five minutes and then stopping to allow the second person to speak. Back and forth the flow went as we challenged the people to go out into the world as God’s “sent” people to be the missional people of Christ. What is different about the charge that we gave is that the context called people and churches to specifically cooperate, collaborate and practice unity. We are not asking Catholics to stop being Catholic or Protestants to cease to be Protestants. We are calling everyone to realize that we are all part of the same Christian family. As fellow members of the one body of Jesus Christ we can share in his mission better as those who are “sent” in unity into […]