Blog - Page 273 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Loving and Listening Without Condescension

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 20th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

Learning to listen well is necessary in all healthy relationships. And learning to listen well is both a grace and an art. It is something that we should seek from God and it is something that we must develop much the way an artist develops a story or a picture.

Everyone who would learn to listen to others must work very hard against the way we are taught to cultivate the all too common attitude of condescension. Condescension makes us we feel better than others. It is a way of feeling superior and then of lowering ourselves to the place where we begin to think someone else is less important than us, at least in our estimation. This is why Paul says, "Knoweldge puffs up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). And this is why theology can become a knowledge that is used to destroy relationships.

The question we should ask, when we desire to really hear someone else, is this: "How can I listen well?" Can I keep my faculties of reason and good judgment and also highly regard others enough that […]

Delivered from Darkness

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 19th, 2007|Categories: Apologetics|

Last evening we held our first ACT 3 Forum of 2007. It was a great blessing for many who came. Comments and responses were almost all positive. We also attracted the largest crowd for such an event that we have ever had in Chicago. We hope to build on this beginning and see these types of forums grow in their impact upon Christians and churches. The next one will be held May 6, at 6 p.m., at Lutheran Church of the Master in Carol Stream. (Details are on our Web site at www.act3online.com.) The speaker for that evening, retired physician and author Dr. Charles McGowen, will address the issue of stem cell research. The event is free and all are invited.

Ron Nollet’s story last evening was moving and inspirational. It revealed the bondage that a person lives in day-in and day-out under the authority of a cult like the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. If you know a little or a lot about Jehovah’s Witnesses you would find his presentation extremely helpful. He and his wife, […]

My Catholic Brother and Our Visit

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 18th, 2007|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

Several years (1999) ago I met an evangelical brother through a conference we conducted called: "Word & Spirit—The Renewal the Church Needs." This event was a major turning-point in my journey and was held at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (PCUSA) in Dubuque, Iowa. This brother who met me back in 1999 graduated with an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has proven again and again to be a fine Christian man with a deep love for the mystery of Christ crucified. In 2005 our paths crossed once again, also in Dubuque. Following this meeting we got to know one another as real friends very quickly. By this point my evangelical brother had entered the Roman Catholic Church and was a novice in a monastery near Peoria, Illinois. I twice visited him there, where I made other new friends and where we discussed a good deal of our common Christian faith and our remaining differences as well. We read from Pope Benedict on Christian unity and we discussed the nature of the gospel of grace too.

This same friend came by […]

Bono, U2 and Religious Pluralism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 18th, 2007|Categories: Music|

A few weeks ago I wrote some brief, but very positive, comments about Bono and his U2 band. A common criticism of Bono’s confession of the Christian faith, which reputable people take very seriously and his music and actions clearly do support, is that he is a pluralist. I am increasingly inclined to believe there is considerable misunderstanding about what Bono is saying and why. Not only does this misunderstanding impact those who falsely judge Bono but it impacts the entire Christian, Jewish and Muslim discussion in the wider culture and throughout the world.

Bono believes that Jesus is the Messiah and that true peace is found in Jesus. What he also believes, and so do I, is that there are multiple religions in the world and we are going to have to deal with this fact the more we become a globalized community. A friend informs me that a writer who knows Bono says he has repeatedly suggested that the best way for these different religions to be brought closer together is for all Christians, Jews and Muslims "to meet the prince […]

24

By John Armstrong|2007-03-17T11:21:53-05:00March 17th, 2007|Categories: Film|

OK, I broke down an decided to watch the popular television series 24. (I watch very little television, though I love movies of various sorts.) I have so many good friends who are avid viewers of 24, and when I call them they tell me to call back later when the show is over, that I became intrigued by the rage. I decided to do the rational thing, I think, and rent the videos of the first season. I saw the entire season one the last ten days. (I think the program is in its sixth, or maybe seventh, season now but avid fans can inform me.) I watched the final episodes of season one last evening. The suspenseful ending just blew me away. This is not your father’s happy ending stuff. These writers want you to believe that almost anything can happen and it quite often does on 24. I can almost see office pools forming to wager on who the next "mole" is in CTU or what odd turn will impact the nation next?

The series is built around the work […]

Fabricating Jesus

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 16th, 2007|Categories: Apologetics|

Craig A. Evans, a Canadian New Testament scholar, understands the nature and shape of the modern attacks upon the historical Jesus. Evans is a first-rate scholar and a fine teacher. I had the opportunity to hear him do a seminar today titled: "Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels." (This is also the title of his IVP book that came out in late 2006.)

Dr. Evans showed us that the more scholars, and they quite often are not real biblical scholars, depart from the traditional view of Jesus the more the popular media jumps on their bandwagon. This sometimes shakes the faith of young Christians or provides seemingly intellectual cover for those who do not want to consider the biblical claims of Jesus. But why do some scholars fabricate new Jesus stories with the slimmest of serious scholarly reasons? What causes them to pre-suppose that the biblical story cannot be the correct one?

These fabrications range from the more serious work of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus to James Tabor’s book, The Jesus Dynasty. Popular treatments include Michael Baigent’s The […]

Just Tell the Truth the First Time

By John Armstrong|2007-03-15T19:28:20-05:00March 15th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

My mother and father always taught me: "Just tell the truth the first time and you will never have anything to worry about." And, if you lie just once, do not lie again to cover up the first one. Admit it and things will improve much more quickly. Apparently baseball’s former superstar Pete Rose was never taught such an ethic in childhood. He surely hasn’t learned it by the age of 65.

Since 1989 Rose has been banned from baseball for life. The reason? He bet on baseball games as a manager. He originally denied this accusation, and in fact vehemently denied it for well over a decade. Then a few years ago he openly admitted it. He even wrote a book and made a pile of money off his new version of the story. He told a little more of the truth at that time. Now, in 2007, he admits that he actually bet on every single game the Cincinnati Reds played when eh managed them but he says he always bet on his own team. (I feel quite sure he didn’t […]

Faith and Pessimism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 14th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

Religious faith and personal optimism go together concluded an Angus Reid World Poll based on a survey of 20 nations in late 2006. "Despite variations across the globe, spirituality clearly does seem to have an influence on the way people actually feel about life day-in and day-out. 60 per cent of global respondents who expressed optimism about the future say religion is very important to their daily lives. Conversely, 63 per cent of respondents who felt pessimistic about their outlook think religion is simply not that significant."

The Angus Reid Poll found that religion was on the decline in both Europe and Canada, which is no surprise to those who pay attention to these things. Indians, South Africans, Mexicans and residents of three Middle East countries still consider religion an important part of their lives. France was at the bottom of the list, with only 17 per cent of respondents expressing an interest in religion, with Britain at 23 per cent, Germany at 24 per cent and Spain at 31 per cent. Italy is the lone exception among continental European nations with […]

What Makes the Economy Soar in Russia?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 13th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

Walls Street Journal writer Guy Chazan reports in today’s edition of the Journal that segments of the Russian economy are soaring right now, thus providing Vladimir Putin with an approval rating of nearly 70%, an unheard of number since the fall of the Soviet Union. The reason is quite simple—segments of the Russian economy are finally growing, and growing at a rapid pace, producing new and better paying jobs and directly raising an ever increasing number of people out of poverty.

Quite simply an investment boom is transforming Russia’s industrial landscape. Recently Belgian investors put $100 million into Bor’s growing car industry which is producing Western automobiles, including the Ford Focus. (The city of Bor was once the center for military hardware production and an awful and dreary place!) Since Putin’s election in 2000 the per-capita gross domestic product of Russian has quadrupled and it is now estimated that 20 million people have been directly lifted out of poverty. Not only is the Ford Motor Company expanding production in Russia so is Intel. Opinion polls show Soviets are optimitic about their future […]

Can the Mainline Be Saved?

By John Armstrong|2007-03-12T20:15:03-05:00March 12th, 2007|Categories: Renewal|

One of the enjoyable aspects of my life and public ministry is coming to Washington, D.C., twice each year to share in a two-day meeting of the Association for Church Renewal (ACR), a group of individuals who working informally as a network to speak truth to the mainline Protestant churches in North America. Included among this group of people are representatives of the Methodist Church, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ and various Canadian groups as well. I am always inspired by the stories of such people who are courageous and faithful, especially in places where it is very hard to be faithful to the gospel.

The question we always ask seems to be this: "Can the mainline denominations be saved?" I do not mean saved soteriologically but rather saved as apostolic Christian communities (denominations) for the "faith once for all delivered to the saints." The answer in some cases appears now to be "No." In others the answer is "Maybe." In some it seems to be "Yes." New forms of the church are shaping and forming even […]