Blog - Page 40 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Ending Modern Slavery – The Global Freedom Network

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:43-05:00March 26th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3|

Despite the endeavors of so many countries and entities global slavery and human trafficking continues to expand. Victims are often hidden from plain view; in places of prostitution, in factories and farms, on fishing boats, in illegal establishments, and in private homes within cities and villages and slums where abject poverty is the norm. It is estimated that 29.8 million people are forced to live in slavery in the world today. This need cries out for an all-out war to end modern slavery. If anyone ought to be at the forefront of ending slavery it ought to be the Christian church.

To eradicate such slavery the Global Freedom Network was launched a few days ago at the Vatican. The GFN aims to eradicate slavery by encouraging governments, businesses, educational and faith institutions to rid their supply chains of slave labor. The goal is to end slavery by 2020. Can this happen? I have no idea but I am sure of this one thing – it cannot happen unless we […]

Divergent: What To Do With the People Who Do Not Conform

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:43-05:00March 25th, 2014|Categories: Film, Personal, The Future|

The much anticipated science-fiction film Divergent opened this weekend to mixed reviews. Divergent is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based upon human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is warned, via a test given to every sixteen year-old, that she is divergent. This warning means that she will never fit into any one group of the five groups in this post-war culture. When Tris discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all divergent’s she must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James). Four becomes her ally and love-interest (refreshingly without sexual scenes or nudity). Tris and Four must find out what makes being divergent so dangerous to the various “tribes” before it is too late.

Divergent only received a 40% “fresh” rating by the popular movie site Rotten Tomatoes. In spite of this I took the bait and went to see it over the weekend. While it did not have a great script it actually played out rather nicely on the screen. It […]

The Divine Interpretation of Christ’s Death

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:43-05:00March 24th, 2014|Categories: Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Jesus, Love, Sacraments, The Church|

As I have been working my way through writing the first draft of my book, Our Love Is Too Small, I have confessed that nothing draws us more deeply into the love of God than the death of Christ “for our sins.” I have also suggested that theories of the atonement often get in the way of our experiencing the death of Christ at the very core of our soul.

A friend suggested last week that I read a chapter in the famous A.B. Bruce book, The Training of the Twelve (1871), and see what he had to say about the death of Christ and the love of God. In a chapter titled “In Memoriam; Or, Fourth Lesson on the Doctrine of the Cross,” A.B. Bruce says:

Besides commemorating Christ’s death (“This do in remembrance of me”), the rite of the Supper is used to interpret the Lord’s death. He says the eucharist throws important light on the meaning of the solemn event. The institution of this symbolic feast was in fact the most important contribution made by […]

God’s Plan of Salvation Is One

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:43-05:00March 21st, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, God's Character, Gospel/Good News, The Church|

The cornerstone of the Christian faith is expressed in the Shema. In Hebrew the text of the Shema is only six words, but in English it reads: “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” The Shema is said at least twice daily by observant Jews. It is the first portion of Scripture that a Jewish child learns. When it is said in the synagogue, Orthodox Jews pronounce each word carefully and cover their eyes with their right hand. The complete Shema is recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It consists of three parts linked together in a complete unity.

In Mark’s Gospel we read an account from the ministry of our Lord:

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with […]

Bible Reading or Bible Engaging?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:43-05:00March 19th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Culture, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Education, Personal, Scripture, The Future|

My own tradition puts a lot of emphasis upon reading the Bible, even reading it each day as a part of morning devotional practice. I heard about Bible reading from as far back as I can remember. I also read the Bible at the breakfast and dinner table with my family. As soon as I was old enough to read the Bible for myself I delighted in reading the text. I was given my first Bible, which I still possess, at age six. My mother’s inscription reminds me of the supreme value that we placed upon Scriptures in our family and church.

It is often shocking to people with my background to realize that for centuries, before movable type and the printing press, almost no Christians “read” the Bible. Christians in the early church did not “read” the Bible either. Most of them only “heard” it read and most of the time they only heard the Old Testament until centuries after Pentecost. This is why 1 Timothy 4:13 says: “Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading […]

Missional-Ecumenism in Early 20th Century India

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 17th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Love, Missional-Ecumenism|

Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (August 17, 1874 – January 1, 1945), simply known as V. S. Azariah, was an Indian Anglican bishop. He was also a very important pioneer of Christian ecumenism in India. Azariah became the first Indian bishop in the churches of the Anglican Communion when he was consecrated in the diocese of Dornakal, December 1912. Interestingly, he was considered by Gandhi to be postcolonial India’s “Enemy Number One” because he followed Jesus first, not the politics and culture of the West.

Like so many young men in his era Azariah was converted to faith in Christ through the work of the YMCA. He became a YMCA evangelist before he was made a bishop in 1912. From 1895-1909 he was the general secretary of the YMCA in south India. He came to believe that indigenization was central to the fruitful ministry of Christianity in his native country. Azariah saw that the very mission of the Church should be an expression of its unity. (This is what I mean by the term missional-ecumenism in my book, […]

Friendship, Mentors and Divine Love

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 13th, 2014|Categories: Friendship, Love, Personal|

Someone recently wrote to me about relationships – comparing the various kinds of human relationships we have in terms of our different kinds of friends; including our peers and mentors/mentees.

The dictionary says that a friend is a person known well to another and generally regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate. It may also include an ally in a cause, or an associate. I think most of us have three kinds of friends. We generally have a few people who constitute a small group of our intimate friends who become very, very close to us. This may, on one level, include only three or four people, perhaps a few more. These people share life with us at the deepest level through bonds of affection that are without sexual overtones in any sense of the word. The second kind of friendship is one that I personally enjoy with scores of people, maybe even a hundred or more if I stop and count. These are friends that I regularly communicate with via meals, telephone and the social media. I […]

Visions of Vocation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 12th, 2014|Categories: Apologetics, Books, Culture, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Ethics, Ideology, Kingdom of God, Philosophy, The Future|

Author Steven Garber wrote one of those rare modern books that I have read twice. Some years ago I developed an answer that I cleverly gave to folks who, upon seeing my immense library (before I sold nearly 15,000 books over the last few years), would gasp at my floor-to-ceiling library shelves and ask me, “Have you read all of these?” I calmly answered, “I’ve read some of them twice.” This was true. Hoping I could read them all was only a pipe dream but unless pressed hard I did not admit to that until I gave up reading them all in my late 50s and realized I should break up the Armstrong collection sooner than later.

Steven Garber’s book, The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior (IVP), was one of those books that I actually did read twice. It is a truly magnificent book. I recommend it to everyone who reads this blog.

Steven Garber taught for many years on Capitol Hill in the American Studies Program and then became scholar-in-residence for the Council of Christian […]

Bishop Tony Palmer and Pope Francis on Christian Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 10th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

The recent informal video of Pope Francis, made on a smartphone by the British charismatic Anglican bishop Tony Palmer, has now become a viral phenomenon. The seven-minute greeting by Pope Francis, seen by millions of viewers, called upon all Christians to set aside their differences to pursue a deep “longing” for Christian unity.

I prayed for this January 14 private meeting @ the Vatican in early January when Bishop Palmer asked some friends to privately pray for this one-to-one meeting. I also knew that the first airing of the video would be at the Kenneth Copeland Ministries center in Texas. I privately expressed my concerns about this “context” to Tony but when he explained his friendship with Copeland, and his relationship with Pope Francis, I knew that he was right in what he did and why he did it in this context.

As you will see in the now-edited version of this presentation, made available last week by Bishop Palmer, the pope urges all Christians to put aside their divisions and to pray that the Lord “will unite us.” […]

Blogging and Writing

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 7th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Personal|

I confess that I generally enjoy writing my blogs. I think I would have quit this if I merely wrote blogs out of a sense of duty. I write because I enjoy it. I also write because it seems that these posts are edifying and useful to some readers. At the same time I need to take a break now and then. The time to take a break for me is now.

There are several reasons why I will write fewer blogs, and comment less, in the coming weeks. (I expect, and sincerely hope, to return to a daily blog writing pattern after a few weeks of rest.) Here are some reasons for my time away from daily writing.

1. I am working on my manuscript for a book: Our Love Is Too Small. This demanding work is far more important to me, and to those that I seek to serve, than these daily blogs. It has more permanent importance and demands much more of my mind and body than blogging.

2. I can write something every day but this […]