Blog - Page 6 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Deacons & Service (A Guest Article)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00February 20th, 2018|Categories: Church History, Civil Rights, Culture, Current Affairs, Discipleship, Love, Spirituality, The Church|

Deacons & Service

Roy Hill II

As a deacon, my desire with this writing is to objectively address the spiritual and biblical reality that being a deacon, a servant, is a priceless service-opportunity available to people in different walks of life. I acknowledge challenges to engaging this opportunity. And I encourage knowing that we can overcome the challenges which may be either myopic, self-imposed, or simply Satanic (John 10:10).

The Free Dictionary and Merriam-Webster respectively define Deacon as: “a lay assistant to a Protestant minister” and a person who is “elected by a church with congregational polity to serve in worship, in pastoral care, and on administrative committees.”

Christian author and speaker Jerry Bridges … in addressing service and love … says a scripturally transparent expression of “love” is “fellowship” or “sharing with others.” He says we can share ourselves – our gifts, time, and talents as in “doing helpful deeds for another” (1 Corinthians 12).

Bridges says: Servanthood “requires no special talent or special gifts …. And if God has given us certain natural abilities, we also want to […]

How Do I Take Up My Cross Daily?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00February 15th, 2018|Categories: Discipleship, Gospel/Good News, Jesus, Love, Personal, Spirituality|

One of the most astounding and deeply troubling commands of Jesus in the accounts of the four Gospels occurs in Luke 9.

²²“The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. ²⁵What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

Why did Jesus ask his disciple these questions, and make these commands, in Luke 9?

It seems apparent that the time had come for Jesus to announce his passion much more openly. Jesus had not only come to open the door to the resurrection for those who followed […]

The Edmundite Show – John H. Armstrong

By John Armstrong|2018-02-15T09:45:27-06:00January 25th, 2018|Categories: Media|

https://youtu.be/cbjjsG2GI5A

Dr. Armstrong came to Vermont as a guest of the Vermont Ecumenical Council. During his visit, he addressed clergy and laity of several Christian denominations on the topic of Christian Unity.

Chalking Our Home at Epiphany?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00January 7th, 2018|Categories: Advent, Biblical Theology, Church History, Church Tradition, Current Affairs, Immigration, Love, Personal, The Church, The Persecuted Church|

I confess that until recently I had never heard of the ancient Christian custom of chalking the door. (Some say it began in Bavaria.) This custom is an Epiphanytide tradition that is either celebrated on the eve of Epiphany, or on the Sunday of Epiphany (today). The purpose is to bless one’s home. The tradition is still practiced by many Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Catholics, as well as other similar traditions. The practice is to chalk one’s door with a pattern such as 20 τ C τ M τ B τ 18, where the numbers refer to the year 2018 in this instance. The four crosses (I have used a Greek letter τ (tau) since my keyboard did not offer me the “cross” style as a choice) are combined with the letters C, M and B. These Latin letters C, M and B refer to the three magi: traditionally known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. But these three letters are also the Latin abbreviation for the words: Lord bless this house!

In some contexts the minister will pray over chalk in the liturgy and then the people take the chalk home to mark […]

Lord, Orchestrate My Desires (Revised)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00January 6th, 2018|Categories: ACT 3, Contemplation, Discipleship, Faith, Love, Mercy, Mysticism, Personal, Renewal, The Church|

You received a blog from me just a few minutes ago. As soon as I posted it I saw so many errors in the text that I was mortified. (I wrote this after prayer this morning and did not do a serious edit after I finished it.) So, please read this same post with my numerous corrections.

While I am at it, I intend to write more blogs in 2018. TO do this I will write less posts taken from other sources and posted on my Facebook wall, a wall that is privately read by some friends. So watch for more blogs and please forgive me for being in such a hurry to share my newest blog early this morning. I hope this edition is a better, more readable, version of what I tried to write before.

Lord, Orchestrate My Desires

Much of our life is about understanding and responding to our passions and desires. The dictionary says a desire is “a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.”

Each of us are afflicted by certain passions and desires that occur because of the fall […]

Live the Life You Imagined

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00January 5th, 2018|Categories: Friendship, Personal|

The famous Henry David Thoreau wrote:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Live the life you have imagined.

That’s not a biblical way of putting it but it is a good way to lay hold of God’s love and purpose for your life.

I will soon by sixty-nine years old. I can now confidently say that I have not lived every part of my life in the way I wish I had. Who can? But I say I have confidently moved in the direction of my dreams. I have lived a life than very close to what I imagined as a young man in college and my twenties. I am satisfied, deeply so. I have made mistakes but I have learned from them, or so I hope.

In the end I am at peace with God, my wife, my children, grandchildren and my friends. Those who are not at peace with me, so far is it is within me, I have tried to be at peace with them. I have enemies but I love them. I have friends […]

The Document of the Origins of Jesus of Nazareth

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00December 20th, 2017|Categories: Advent, Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Kingdom of God|

Matthew’s Gospel has always caused modern readers some consternation when they read the first chapter. Why is this long “genealogy” put here at the beginning of the first Gospel?

I prefer to first think of this list of names here in terms of what is clearly said in the first verse, Jesus is “the son of David, son of Abraham.” But genealogy might sound confusing. One version says, “This is the document of the origins of Jesus Christ.” I like that. It is clear and connects with me in a different way. Why?

The Bible is careful to connect events and persons from the history of God’s redemption. The entire Bible draws strength from a continuity of history and thus from the fidelity of God to his own promises. This is the key to this list, or document, of the origins of Jesus.

There are 42 names in this list. They are arranged into three series of 14 names each. It is quite obvious this list is not complete nor does Matthew mean it to be so. Why Abraham? He is the father of the faithful, of true believers. […]

Theologians Unite for Reformation Panel (Audio Recording)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00December 20th, 2017|Categories: Media|

The Historical Committee of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina sponsored a Reformation Symposium panel discussion during this year’s Annual Meeting. An audio file of the discussion is available below.

Joseph’s Utterly Unique Vocation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00December 19th, 2017|Categories: Advent, Discipleship, Jesus|

The late philosopher and atheist Jean Paul Sartre one wrote a Christmas play called Bariona. In this play he tries to imagine Joseph in Bethlehem, and writes: “He [Joseph] feels himself slightly out of it. He suffers because he sees how much this woman whom he loves resembles God; how she is already at the side of God. For God has burst like a bomb into the intimacy of this family. Joseph and Mary are separated forever by this explosion of light. And I imagine that all through his life Joseph will be learning to accept this.”

Think of this and ponder it anew. Joseph’s vocation is utterly unique. He is the foster-father of the Son of God. I see in this man a model for making good decisions and for dealing with profound doubts. But the text of Matthew 1:24-25 says: “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,but had no marital relations with her […]

Living My Way Into the Life of the Trinity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00December 8th, 2017|Categories: Christ/Christology, Contemplation, Discipleship, Forgiveness, God's Character, Jesus, Love, Personal, Prayer, Scripture, The Trinity|

No truth is (perhaps) more complex than that of the Trinity, one God in three persons. But I am persuaded that no truth is more central to living well as a follower of Christ. The Trinity is not a debate, at least for me. It is revealed yet it is a stunning mystery. A professor, playing on an earlier line, once said, “If you deny the Trinity you may loose your soul but if you accept the Trinity (and truly embrace it) you will likely find life and freedom.” So true.

My journey into God has been deeply Trinitarian for decades but much more so in the last twenty-plus years. My first memories of God, as a young child, were a mixture of terror with that of a friendly person who loved me. So far as I remember I always believed in God. But I also believed in hell and believed I might go there. (Massive confusion helps create this fear yet Scripture does, quite plainly, warn us of judgment.) I also believed in Holy God, […]