Blog - Page 41 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Thomas Merton on the Catholicity of Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 6th, 2014|Categories: Discipleship, Love, Mysticism, Personal, Poverty, Religion, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, not too far from Louisville. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism.

When I first encountered Merton I had no earthly idea how to understand him or to make sense of his voluminous writing. (It strikes me that I am still working on this project and will never finish it.) Initially, Merton struck me as a liberal Christian because he embraced views on certain political and social views that were not conservative as such. Further more, I had no comprehension of how to make sense of his mysticism. Merton said, “The theology of love must seek to deal realistically with the evil and injustice in the world, and not merely to compromise with sin.” That sums up his overall perspective well.

Merton […]

The Cross of Christ & the Love of God – What Saves Us?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 5th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Jesus, Liturgy, Love, Orthodoxy, Personal|

I am currently writing a book on love, both God’s love and our love. In writing the first half of my book I have sought to deal with the cross. I do not know how you can talk about God’s love and not go to the cross. Every reader of the New Testament can readily see that the cross is central to the story of God’s love and redemption.

“Christ died for our sins” is central to the earliest confessions and is a bottom line teaching of the New Testament. But how we understand what happened on the cross, in terms of God’s saving us through the death of Christ, is another matter. Several theories of the atonement have been debated and embraced by various Christians over the last ten-plus centuries. (The early church also held a view and in general I do not fully agree with this view either as I shall show in my book.)

I have decided to make my way into this controversy, with fear and trembling in one way, precisely because I believe that […]

Dialogue vs. Dogma?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:44-05:00March 4th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Apologetics, Church Tradition, Creeds, Culture, Current Affairs, Evangelism, Ideology, Love, Personal, Philosophy, The Future|

The word dialogue is very important to me, and my view of truth, at least in terms of the way Christians live with one another, and with non-Christians, in the modern age. What do I mean by dialogue? Could it be that the very idea behind this word is deeply flawed, as some cultural and religious conservatives maintain?

Back in 1971 I was in the candidate process for the assistant pastoral role in a church near Wheaton, where I had begun graduate theological studies in mission and theology. The senior pastor preached a sermon one Sunday that fatally finished my intent to work with him. The title of his sermon is one I shall never forget: “Dogma or Dialogue?” He made the case, rather poorly I thought, that dialogue was always the enemy of Christian dogma and true belief. I could not tell you why he was wrong, at that time, but I knew that he was. I began a journey to figure out why I thought that he was wrong. I was only a twenty-one year old […]

Can Money Buy Happiness? The Real Answer Might Surprise You

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:45-05:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Economy/Economics, Money & Stewardship, Personal|

One of the most misquoted verses in all the Bible must be 1 Timothy 6:10, which says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (NRSV).

The text says “the love of money” is the root of “all kinds of evil.” It does not say money is evil in itself.

People say money cannot buy happiness. This is true, at least on one level, but it is a truism and thus it only truly works up to a point. Let me explain.

People’s emotional well-being–what we call happiness–increases along with their income up to about $75,000 (U.S.) according to research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (September 2010). For those making less than $75,000 Angus Deaton, an economist at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University, said “Stuff is so in your face it’s hard to be happy. It interferes with your enjoyment” (quoted by AP, September 2010).

Deaton and Daniel Kahneman […]

God Has Loved Me to the End of My Sinfulness, Pride and Self-Interest

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:45-05:00February 28th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Renewal, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Friends who read my posts and emails (you can subscribe to the emails at www.act3network.com to the ACT3 Weekly and receive a free pdf copy of my small book The Unity Factor ) know that I wrote a major book titled Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church (Zondervan, 2010). This book reveals a story, really a personal narrative, of my coming to a crisis point in my life when John 17:21 gripped me at the center of my being. Over a few years, this experience of God’s love for the whole church profoundly changed me. I have been living out this change for 22 years now. It did not come as one single thunderbolt but as a crisis point that led to a long, God-drenched process. That process continues in the mission of ACT3.

Now I am writing my first major book since 2010: Our Love is Too Small. I am about halfway through the draft stage. This book is in two parts: (1) God’s love (John […]

Leadership and the Proverbs

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 27th, 2014|Categories: Books, Leadership|

As a result of my wide opportunities for travel, and through partnering with many different ministries, I am afforded the unique opportunity of meeting and making many new friends in a variety of contexts. On such friend is Dr. Robert Yost, author of the extremely useful book, Leadership Secrets from the Proverbs: An Examination of Leadership Principles from the Book of Proverbs (Wipf & Stock, 2013).

Bob Yost gives the reader a scholarly study of the book of Proverbs that gives proper attention to the important questions about the text and the canonical nature of the literature. At the same time he keeps the reader carefully attuned to the essential leadership principles of the book and puts it clearest principles into the hands of practitioners who are in need of this kind of biblical material. Look, there are a lot of great books on leadership and there are a ton of popular books that are not so great but sell a lot of copies and get a lot of attention. But very few of these popular books looks […]

Sex Trafficking in the United States: Do You Know The Problem?

By John Armstrong|2014-02-21T09:11:14-06:00February 26th, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, Culture, Current Affairs, Sexuality|

I confess that I knew something about global sex-trafficking. I did not realize that this problem was an issue within the United States. This video stunned me and makes me want to see the whole movie when it is released. It challenges us to pray, get involved, get more information and do something to save lives wherever possible. I will not be the same after watching this trailer/presentation. I hope the same will be true for you as well.

“This Blows Me Away”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 25th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

There are times in our lives when something happens that, as we like to say, “Blows us away.” This American slang expression is a popular way of saying, “I am speechless. I am deeply moved. I cannot explain how I feel or even why.”

For a Christian I believe what “blows us away” is ultimately the deep discovery of God’s eternal love in the most ultimate and life-transforming sense. Anything other than Jesus, and his incarnate and holy love, should never be more important (or truly surprising) to us. Discovering his love again and again, over the course of nearly sixty-five years, has altered my life day-by-day. He has provided, and is now providing, everything for me in Jesus Christ. He continues to amaze me with his love every single day. (In this case this revelation, and the experience that has gone with it, were given to me by the Holy Spirit so all boasting, which Paul exhorts us to do, is in Christ!)

In 1992 when God first spoke to me deeply from John 17:21 he began to show me how he would use the remainder of […]

In Search of Deep Faith

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 24th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Books, Church History, Church Tradition, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Education, Emergent Church, Faith, Missional Church, Personal, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church|

I had the joy of meeting Dr. Jim Belcher some years ago when he pastored Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. I cultivated a growing relationship with Jim, and his family, and spoke several times to his congregation. I was loved and honored and thus retain great memories of those days where Jim and I shared ministry together. Jim eventually wrote a great book that many of you have read – Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional (InterVarsity, 2009). If you have not read this book it is a must for a balanced and deeply thoughtful treatment about our present moment and how to think and live missionally and intentionally. I was able to contribute a very small part of my life to serving Jim in the making of this fine book, a book which received two awards in 2010: The Christianity Today Book Award winner and the Golden Canon Leadership Book Award. Again, if you haven’t read it then I profoundly commend Deep Church to you.

Now Jim has written a second […]

A Solo Pianist with a Great Gift and Deep Christian Faith

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:48-05:00February 21st, 2014|Categories: Friendship, Music, Personal|

I discovered concert pianist Stanton Lanier through my friend Chris Fabry on his afternoon broadcast on the Moody Broadcast Network during the Advent season. I wrote to Stanton Lanier shortly after I began to listen to his music regularly. Recently we met by telephone and spoke about our faith, personal journey and ministries. I hope and pray that our paths will become even more connected in 2014. This man’s albums are all downloaded on my personal iTunes list. I listen almost every day, especially at quiet moments and during some of my reading and writing on the Internet. His rare gift of instrumental music and deep, abiding faith is like none that I have discovered. The fact that Windham Hill Records has embraced published his solo work says a great deal too. More importantly the man behind this music is a faithful, Christ-centerred artist. I believe in helping such faithful artists do their work. Buy some of Stanton Lanier’s albums if you like what you hear. I think you […]