Blog - Page 44 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Let Us Stop Judging

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:51-05:00January 23rd, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Current Affairs, Evangelism, Gospel/Good News, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

One of the most amazing autobiographical texts in all the letters of Paul occurs in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Philippians.

Here we read a powerful and moving account of Paul’s personal circumstances. (The italics used in the text below are of course mine. I use them to draw attention to certain parts in this whole account.)

I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. What does it […]

The Great Apologetic – Love

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 22nd, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Evangelism, Love, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

As readers of my book, Your Church Is Too Small, know my life was radically transformed by a deeply spiritual encounter with God in the prayer of Jesus found in John 17:20-24:

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the […]

Those Who Are Not Against Jesus Are For Him

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 21st, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Evangelism, Gospel/Good News, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

In my book, Your Church Is Too Small, I urge what I call “missional ecumenism.” This is a textured theological way of saying that we need to show the world our unity by what we do together, especially in talking and doing the mission of Christ in the world.

I mentioned several American evangelists in my previous blog but I could include many others, including men like George Whitefield and John Wesley. Both Whitefield, the Calvinist, and Wesley the Arminian, never excluded Catholics, liberals, or any others from their efforts to preach the gospel to as many people as possible. These men, along with Billy Graham and countless others, brought churches together that had been separated over many lesser matters in order to share in a deep, common passion for prayer and preaching. It is a scandal that their heirs have done so much worse, turning their debates into doctrines that divide us into camps and parties.

The instruction of Jesus in Luke 9 is worth careful reading:

Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them […]

On Not Being a Christian Separatist

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 20th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Church History, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

As early as 1953, in the segregated South of my childhood, Billy Graham personally took down the ropes which separated the black and white seating areas at one of his crusades. This step took incredible courage and went against the advice of some of his best friends. I’m grateful he was bold and faithful.

The oft-maligned 19th century revivalist Charles Finney once said, “My duty is to belong to the church, even if the devil should belong to it.” I didn’t know that until a friend, Bob Thompson, pointed it out to me some months ago. Finney was wrong, or so I believe, about more than a few doctrines but he was right about the church and belonging to it regardless of what people thought of it. I’m grateful for his courage and faithfulness on this matter.

But did you also know that the famous evangelist Billy Sunday even went so far as to cooperate with liberal Christians who espoused “higher criticism.” As a result of this belief Sunday accepted an invitation to speak to an assembly of Unitarian […]

A Little Humor From Chicago in Wintertime

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 19th, 2014|Categories: Humor|

“Windy City Temperature Conversion Chart”

60 F: Arizonians shiver uncontrollably, people in Chicago are still sunbathing.

50 F: Californians try turn on the heat; people in Chicago plant gardens.

40 F: Italian sports cars won’t start; people in Chicago drive with the windows down.

32 F: Distilled water freezes’ Lake Michigan water gets thicker.

20 F: Floridians don coats, thermal underware, gloves and wool hats; people in Chicago throw on a light jacket.

15 F: People in Chicago have the last cookout before it gets cold.

0 F: All the people in Phoenix die; Chicagoans close the windows.

10 below: Californians fly away to Mexico; the girl scouts in Chicago are selling cookies door to door.

25 below: Hollywood disintegrates; people in Chicago get out their winter coats.

40 below: Washington D.C. runs out of hot air; people in Chicago let the dogs sleep indoors.

100 below: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Chicagoans get frustrated because they can’t start “da car.”

450 below: All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on Kelvin scale); people in Chicago start saying, “cold nuff for […]

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (2014) in Chicago

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 18th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Unity of the Church|

The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 18-25 January. Those dates were proposed in 1908 by Paul Wattson to cover the original days of the feasts of the Chair of St. Peter (January 18) and the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25) , and therefore have a symbolic significance. In Chicago a special event is to be held on January 25 in Hyde Park. I encourage all friends of Christian unity to join me this year, on Saturday, January 25, at 7:00 p.m.

True Friendships (4)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 17th, 2014|Categories: Death, Friendship, Love, Personal, Uncategorized|

In my Tuesday blog (1/14) I gave a quotation from the monastic writer John Cassian that is taken from his book titled The Conferences. In this extremely practical and moving treatment of deep spirituality Cassian wrote the following about “true friendships” which I share again today:

True friendships . . . have as their foundation [five principles] . . . The last is something not to be doubted with regard to vice in general–namely, a person must believe each day that he is going to depart from this world.

There is not much to add to this last principle of true friendship. If you truly believe that you are mortal then tell yourself every day (even many times during the day) that soon you will be done with this world as you now know it. If you live this way each moment then you will live a life that is genuinely prepared to meet the true judge and savior of all mankind. You will also count your reputation as of little importance and value what truly matters […]

True Friendships (3)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:54-05:00January 16th, 2014|Categories: Forgiveness, Liturgy, Patristics, Sports|

The goal of life for every Christian should be the kingdom of God. The gospel is the good news of the kingdom of God. Tragically, we have settled for what Dallas Willard calls “the gospel of sin management,” a gospel which is something far less than the gospel of the kingdom.

Very early in the church’s history a group of men and women, fearing the devastation to the soul brought about by the breakdown of spiritual culture inside the church, went to live in the desert in order to learn how to practice the Christian life with greater clarity. Robert Wilken (photo), the famous church historian and patristic scholar, has written, “In their writings the phrase used most often to depict what one strives for in life’s daily struggles was ‘purity of heart.’ Without purity of heart, all yearning for holiness and all desire for God come to naught, for hour by hour, even minute by minute, we are bent and shaped by distractions and wayward thoughts, many good and legitimate, that drive our minds and take our […]

True Friendship (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:57-05:00January 15th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Friendship, Love, Personal|

Yesterday I shared a lengthy quotation from The Conferences of John Cassian (d. 435). This quotation had to do with Christian friendship. (As I wrote on Monday, the subject of friendship means a great deal to me.) In his second of five points about the foundation of friendship John Cassian writes:

The second foundation is each person’s curtailment of his own inclinations, so as not to consider himself wise and skilled. Neither one insists on having his own way but both prefer to do what his neighbor wishes.

If you are to grow into a deep and lasting friendship, the kind of relationship that mutually encourages you and your friend, then you must learn to curtail your own sense of importance and your personal expectations and agenda for the other person.

Negatively this means that you must allow your friend to disagree with you, even rather profoundly at times, and still remain committed to keeping and nurturing the friendship. In fact, in such a time of disagreement the friendship might become more important to you. You will have to […]

True Friendship (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:57-05:00January 14th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Friendship, Money & Stewardship, Personal|

John Cassian (d. 435), a monk and influential spiritual writer, devoted a great deal of his writing to the meaning and importance of friendship. Cassian wisely wrote:

True friendships . . . have as their first foundation contempt for worldly wealth and a disdain for all the material goods that we possess . . . . The second foundation is each person’s curtailment of his own inclinations, so as not to consider himself wise and skilled. Neither one insists on having his own way but both prefer to do what his neighbor wishes. The third is that each person knows that all things–even those he values as useful and necessary–are to be treated as secondary to the value of love and peace. The fourth is that each person believes from the bottom of his heart that he must never become angry for any cause, whether just or unjust. The fifth is that each one desires to assuage the anger that the other may have toward him–even if for no reason–in the same way as he would his own […]