Blog - Page 26 of 318 - John H Armstrong

ACT3 Network Story Video (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:02-05:00November 3rd, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Evangelism, Film, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

For more than a year I have desired to present a well-done video that shares the vision of ACT3 Network as clearly as possible. Given the time span that people will give to viewing such a video online this presentation needed to be designed to run for less than five minutes. It also needed to feature some of our ACT3 friends, our “big” story and my personal vision for missional-ecumenism. Finally, we have produced this new video. I am genuinely excited about it and the potential it has to help our mission. When you now go to our website you will see this film on the homepage.

Today I introduce you to this new ACT3 Network Story video. I will tell you more about this video, and how it can be used to read the flame of missional-ecumenism, over the next few days. Please watch it if you are interested and then share it with your friends as widely as possible.

Please allow the Spirit to lead you as you watch. We need donors and friends who will help us make this vision “viral.” To this end please pass this link to the […]

Truth Is First a Person: Learning the Missional-Ecumenical Paradigm

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:02-05:00October 31st, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future|

During our recent Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation at Mundelein Seminary we had a presentation designed for the public that took place on the opening night. I intend to post this entire event in video format as soon as possible. I think we should have this video by the end of November, or sooner. It will be a well-made film and include questions and answers. (If you missed the same event in 2013 the video of that dialogue is also on our website.)

One of the respondents in this particular dialogue was my co-chair, and very good friend, Fr. Thomas A Baima. Baima is the Dean of the Graduate School of Theology. A professor in the Department of Systematic Theology, Father Baima is Vicar for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is nationally recognized as an specialist in these fields. Fr. Baima is one of the best missional thinkers that I know personally. In his response to the evening presentations he made several noteworthy statements, several of which I now share with you.

As Christians, we are standing […]

The Palestinian-Israel Debate Among Evangelicals and Why It Matters (Part Two)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:02-05:00October 30th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Current Affairs, Israel, Personal, Politics, Religion, The Future|

My point yesterday about the assumptions of many Christian writers who defend Zionism, and attack younger evangelicals for their liberal views on this issue, is made quite well by Luke W. Moon’s final sentence in his article I cited: “American evangelicals should think very hard about whether they want to give up the opportunity to be a blessing to the nation that blessed us with Jesus Christ.” Wow! If we do not support the modern secular state of Israel then we are missing out on the opportunity to bless the Jews!!!

My response to this sentence is really quite simple: “Are you kidding me?”

I write as one who freely dialogues with rabbis, has some great relationships with Jews and really does believe that the modern state of Israel should exist politically. I also support the broad-based support for Israel against terrorism and extremism. I also write as one who believes that the history of Christianity reveals a tragic response to the Jews that has been anything but consistent with regards to the teaching of Christ, who was himself a […]

The Palestinian-Israel Debate Among Evangelicals and Why It Matters (Part One)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:02-05:00October 29th, 2014|Categories: Biblical Theology, Current Affairs, Israel, Kingdom of God, Politics|

A growing divide between evangelical Christians, regarding the state of Israel and the Palestinian problem, has arisen in recent years. This debate, and the subsequent divide that grows out of it, is prompted by very passionate voices on both sides. Many conservative churches and leaders support Israel without equivocation. As I understand what has happened this support often comes without serious questions about whether or not injustice has taken place on the part of Israel. Others, often with a more progressive political agenda, support the Palestinian cause, sometimes in ways that reject the whole notion of Israel’s existence and future.

An example of this growing divide recently came to my attention via a Christian political publication called Faith & Freedom (Fall 2014). Author Luke W. Moon, the co-director of the Philos Project on Christian engagement with Israel, contributed an article to this issue titled: “The Latest Threat to Evangelical Support for Israel.” By the title you can readily see the author’s intent. He argues, and it seems rightly, that only a small percentage of evangelical leaders actually challenge “support […]

Nature’s God: The Origins of the American Republic and Why It Matters (Part Two)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:03-05:00October 28th, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Culture, Current Affairs, History, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Renewal, The Church, The Future|

Matthew Stewart’s Nature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic is, at least to my mind, one of the most interesting, readable and important books I have read in 2014. I could hardly put it down. It reads easily and demonstrates quite convincingly most, though not all, of the author’s claims.

Stewart argues that the ideas which directly shaped the American revolution were largely ancient, pagan and continental (i.e., European not English). The Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius, and the natural divinity of the Dutch Jewish heretic Benedict de Spinoza (photo at right), largely shaped the views of most of our American founders.

Stewart draws deeply from a study of European philosophy, without becoming bogged down in ideas that you cannot comprehend. He shows how the philosophical ideas of the founders were shaped by thinkers that were anathema to the clergy of the time. These American revolutionaries hated the idea of God’s law and rejected supernatural revelation.

When you read the Declaration of Independence you should ask questions: “What is […]

Nature’s God: The Origins of the American Republic and Why It Matters (Part One)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:03-05:00October 27th, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Civil Rights, Culture, Current Affairs, History, Ideology, Religion, Renewal, The Church|

The American patriots who were directly responsible for the founding of our nation were considered, by almost all orthodox Christian ministers at the time, to be “radicals” and “atheists.” So goes the essential claim of philosopher/author Matthew Stewart in his exciting new book, Nature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic (W.W. Norton, New York, 2014). His claim is, at least to my historical mind, beyond reasonable doubt. What is more intriguing to me is why and how we have lost our collective awareness of the real philosophical and religious origins of our nation.

The standard narrative goes something like the following as I understand it:

American was founded by deeply religious men. Some of these men were deists but even these deists respected Christianity. For this reason they favored it, at least in terms of the dialogue about the nation’s political and religious future. Most of the framers and founders were members of churches and most all of them were honest, Bible-believing, orthodox Christian men. Yes, they used ideas they borrowed from men like John Locke but even […]

The Moravian Daily Texts and My Contemplative Practice in 2014

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:03-05:00October 24th, 2014|Categories: Books, Church History, Discipleship, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Prayer, Renewal, Spirituality|

A dear friend, Gerald Stover (PA), gave me a lovely gift at the Luminosa Award ceremony in June. I have used this gift, The Moravian Daily Texts, regularly in 2014.

Most historians agree that the Moravian Church, which began as a renewal movement within the Catholic Church, was started through the work of a Catholic priest named Jan Hus (the English is John Hus) in the early fifteenth century. The Moravian movement was a reaction to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Hus wanted to return the Church in Bohemia (the homeland of my wife’s family line) and Moravia to the practices of early Christianity. His reforming efforts sought a liturgy in the language of the people, the allowance of the lay people to receive both the bread and the cup during communion, and the elimination of Papal indulgences and the idea of purgatory.

Interestingly, some (but not all) of these practices were altered, five centuries later at Vatican II. The Moravian movement gained royal support and a certain independence for a while, even spreading […]

Mother Antonia Brenner: “Prison Angel” (1926-2013)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:05-05:00October 23rd, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|

Just a little over a year ago Antonia Brenner died (1926-2013) in Tijuana, Mexico. I had never heard of this amazing woman until a few weeks ago when I discovered some things that she wrote. I then read her story for the first time.

Born Mary Clarke this amazing woman was known over the last
thirty years of her life as Mother Antonia Brenner. She never took formal orders as a Catholic. Brenner died in La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Mexico. So why is she remembered so warmly by many who miss her a year after her death? The answer is one that glorifies the gospel.

Mother Antonia voluntarily entered a Mexican prison where she spent the last thirty years of her life. She committed no crime. In fact she received a call from God while she was living in Beverly Hills. She abandoned a luxurious lifestyle, took religious vows and walked into a dark and harsh prison to spend the rest of her life serving others for Christ.

Mother Antonia, born December 1, 1926, as Mary Clarke, lived a very different life […]

Christian Unity Week @ Judson University, Part Three

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:06-05:00October 22nd, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Orthodoxy, Personal, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

We ended Christian Unity Week at Judson University on Friday, October 10. The final message was given by one of my dearest friends on earth – Fr. Wilbur Ellsworth. Fr. Ellsworth, pastor of Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Warrenville, Illinois, has been my friend since the 1980s. He came to Wheaton, from a pastorate in Kent, Ohio, to serve as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church. We have shared many times of ministry, and growing friendship, over the last twenty-five plus years.

Fr. Ellsworth and I have built a relationship over meals, prayer, conversations about theology and church, as well as special family events. We have celebrated birthdays, weddings and times of grief. We have given unique gifts to one another that we both value deeply. The intimacy of our friendship is something I treasure very, very profoundly. When Fr. Ellsworth began his private journey toward the Orthodox Church some years ago I knew of his direction long before it was made public. We entered into much healthy and engaging dialogue. Both of us learned a great […]

Christian Unity Week @ Judson University, Part Two

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:06-05:00October 21st, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Evangelism, Gospel/Good News, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

On Wednesday, October 8, I introduced Fr. Thomas Baima to the Judson University community. I do not know if Judson has ever had a Roman Catholic priest speak as a primary preacher in their chapel but on this gorgeous fall day it happened. The anticipation and prayer was palpable to me. A lot had gone into this service behind the scenes, including dialogue over many months, a meal that we all shared together, and much planning about details and liturgy. Music was provided by my friend Aaron Niequist as well. Aaron is a fellow-traveler and shared in the Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation in September.

This particular chapel began on a very sad note. A great trial touching the entire Judson family was shared with the students at the beginning. But we proceeded by asking God to meet with us in our prayers and worship. Fr. Baima ended by offering a rich and pastoral response on behalf of the Judson community through his closing prayer.

Many have said to me, for an entire lifetime, “I have never heard a Catholic priest […]