Blog - Page 61 of 318 - John H Armstrong

St. Cyril of Alexandria – Our True Unity Flows from Divine Diversity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:40-05:00May 8th, 2013|Categories: God's Character, Incarnation, Missional-Ecumenism, Patristics, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not pray only for his twelve apostles, who became the solid foundation of the Christian church. He also prayed, as we read in John 17:20-24, for all who would believe in him in every age since the apostles. He prayed for all of those who would yield to him and obey the words that call them to be holy by believing on him as the Christ, the son of the living God. We see his will in this matter revealed most plainly in these astounding words:

20 “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,[a] so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world […]

Radical Love and Kingdom Generosity (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:40-05:00May 7th, 2013|Categories: Discipleship, Ethics, Faith, Kingdom of God, Money & Stewardship, Poverty|

Yesterday, I suggested that Luke 6 provides a pattern for how we can live extravagant, generous lives rooted in the love and mercy of God himself. This sixth chapter of Luke has often pushed me to deeper resolve to follow Jesus in his radical love. Let me illustrate this by commenting on a few particular words of our Lord in Luke 6:37-38. I have often prayed over these words and felt it was a great text to teach the liberal giving of our financial support for Christ’s church. I believe it does encourage this practice but I believe it encourages so much more than this when it is deeply considered in meditative prayer. Here are the words of our Lord that I refer to:

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will […]

Radical Love and Kingdom Generosity (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:40-05:00May 6th, 2013|Categories: Discipleship, Ethics, Faith, Kingdom of God, Money & Stewardship|

At the very heart of the kingdom message of Jesus is a call to radical love that will not easily go away under convenient readings of the text, readings that fit comfortably with our way of treating people in a modern “Christendom” culture.

We encounter this radical teaching in many parts of the Gospels but no text has redefined my life and actions, time and time again, quite like what I have read in Luke 6. Here is the portion of the sixth chapter that I wish to draw your attention to today:

27 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what […]

Same-Sex Marriage Redux (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:40-05:00May 3rd, 2013|Categories: Uncategorized|

The question I asked yesterday, put plainly and simply, is this: How shall we proceed in a time when the Christian church is divided over same-sex marriage? We are quite clearly at the place in church history, at least in the West, where Christians clearly do not agree on the issue of homosexual marriage. How shall we then proceed?

The Christian Century, a magazine from the progressive side of Christianity, recently did an editorial in their March 20 issue titled “Blessing Gay Marriage.” They stated:

Inside and outside the church, marriage has long been defined as the lifelong commitment of two people to sharing in all things in life–children, property, money, joys, sorrows, poverty, prosperity. What Christians have added to this general understanding is not an insistence on procreation but rather an insistence that marriage mirrors in some way God’s fidelity to creation and to God’s people.

Am I missing something here? The historical facts, and most Christian advocates of gay marriage agree about this point, are that “the general understanding” among Christians has indisputably been that marriage […]

Same-Sex Marriage Redux (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:40-05:00May 2nd, 2013|Categories: Homosexuality, Love, Marriage & Family, Personal, Separation of Church & State, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church|

Gay marriage is clearly “the great debate” of the hour. People on both sides, and all sides in between, debate the meaning of Scripture’s witness to the covenant of marriage and the role of the state in making civil law. On one side, Christians argue that “gay marriage” is not clearly envisioned in Scripture but the idea itself is acceptable because of how obscure the “proof texts” are regarding same-sex relationships. They argue the idea itself is grace-filled because accepting the sexual practice of a whole group of people who are differently oriented from the majority of us is what grace always does. (Honesty requires that we admit that the Bible does not say a lot about this issue, as advocates of same-sex practice often argue. Yet it seems that what it does say seems fairly clear to most Christians.) So proponents of gay marriage appeal to (virtual) textual silence and to grace. They then argue that marriage is a bond of love between two adults who commit themselves to one another. It is increasingly hard to […]

Learning the Mystery of Contemplation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:40-05:00May 1st, 2013|Categories: Contemplation, Mysticism, Prayer, Spirituality|

St. John Vianney (1786-1859), a French priest who is widely respected for his pastoral work and parish ministry, once noticed an elderly man visiting his church every morning before work and every evening after work. One day, out of profound curiosity, he asked, “What do you say to the Lord during your twice-daily visits?” The old man responded, “I say nothing to him, Father. I look at him and he looks at me.”

It is sound for us to think of prayer in a number of ways but this way, called contemplation, is one that I did not learn until later in my life. If I am asked what happens when I pray I answer, “I pour my heart out in words of gratitude and intercession. I express words of confusion and perplexing doubt deeply joined with resurrection hope.” God responds by his word and his Spirit and gives consolation and a fresh reminder of his love in the very silence of such an intimate context.

But St. John Vianney is right. Prayer includes just being in God’s presence […]

What Does God Require of Us?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:41-05:00April 30th, 2013|Categories: Discipleship, Faith, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Spirituality|

What does God ask of us? God asks that Christians be true disciples. If you are a disciple you will follow Jesus with your heart, mind, soul and strength. And you will not “just do it” as Nike famously says. This cannot be done all alone by your hard work. You were not redeemed to pursue God’s kingdom alone. You were made for God and God is a community of persons in eternal oneness. You were redeemed to grow and develop within a community of faith set apart by this relational God. This, it seems to me, includes both formal and informal expression. Baptism and the eucharist are more formal times and places for discipleship. Corporate liturgy is the same. Scripture reading, a wonderful private exercise, should also be a part of your public life with others. (Sadly, this has been all but lost in some of the most conservative evangelical Protestant churches where very little of the Bible is public read.)

When we became disciples we were invited to walk on a journey. We entered a road, a pathway, that leads us somewhere if we will […]

On Losing Weight: What Truly Profits the Mind, Body and Soul?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:41-05:00April 29th, 2013|Categories: Discipleship, Personal, Spirituality|

I’ve recently given special attention to my physical well-being. I did this, so far as I know, not because I face a major health crisis and a doctor ordered me to do it. I just felt very strongly that I was long overdue to lose some unnecessary weight and, in the process, get my body into better condition. I adopted a plan (Weight Watchers), thanks to the inspiration of my wife. I stuck to this plan (especially because of a very good app on my iPhone) since the middle of last September. Many plans work, I’m quite sure, but too many of them are faddish and nutritionally unbalanced. They also fail to build in accountability along with the science of the program. I chose one that took me a lot more time to reach my goal (seven months) but it taught me how to eat healthy food and how to make wise choices when I am away from home. (As some of you know I travel a good deal and eat a lot of meals with friends in various social contexts.) When forced to make choices about […]

Final Reflections on Our Lausanne Conversation – Is It "Springtime" for Ecumenism?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:41-05:00April 26th, 2013|Categories: Uncategorized|

In this final blog on the Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation in Mundelein last week I want to draw attention to what I have called (in my blogs last week) “the springtime of ecumenism.” There is, as I’ve written, a variety of opinions about this interpretation so I would like to explain why I adopt this response. My reasons are not rooted in pessimism or optimism. They are grounded in what I’ve seen, read and heard. They are also rooted in Christian hope, a gospel reality that has little or nothing to do with optimism or pessimism.

Let me give you several reasons why some believe that we are in the “wintertime” of ecumenism. First, groups like the National Council of Churches (NCC) are failing and faltering. Related structured movements are aging and financially declining. The energy of younger Christians is almost entirely absent from these movements and institutions. The World Council of Churches is doing slightly better, mostly due to the vision it draws from the global south and east, but it also faces major challenges in the next […]

The Lausanne Catholic–Evangelical Conversation: Does Talking & Praying Make a Difference?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:41-05:00April 25th, 2013|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Evangelism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Prayer, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Southern Baptists, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

From the beginning of the ecumenical movement in the 19th century each of the churches involved in this growing quest for local and global unity brought their respective gifts and backgrounds to an ongoing search for common mission. This quest has clearly been fueled by the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-24 more than by any other biblical text. Our Lord prayed, the night before he went to the cross, that we would all be one so that the world might know that the Father had sent the Son. All efforts to understand these modern historical developments must be understood in the light of how churches and leaders have worked out the implications of this amazing prayer.

When Vatican II changed how the Catholic Church related to the world, as well as to the proclamation of the gospel, things really began to move in a new direction. The now popular Catholic commitment to the “New Evangelization” entered the Catholic missiological vocabulary in the 1980s but found its first prominent expression in 1992 at the Council of Latin American Bishops (CELAM) […]