Blog - Page 70 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Babylonian Captivity of the American Church (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:57-05:00January 7th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Politics, Postmodernity, Religion, Renewal, The Church, The Future|

If the Bugle Gives an Indistinct Sound, How Will We Be Awakened?

Over the last month or so I have done a series of twelve blogs on the “The Spiritual State of the Nation.” I wrote these after reading the results of several exit polls following the November election. I sought not so much to explain the political landscape as to ask what was happening to the spiritual life of Christians in 2012? My desire, in these articles, was to reflect on our present spiritual state and what we can and should do about it. Now I would like to propose an adequate theological and social model for how we should live in these very different times.

Lessons from the Protestant Reformation

Scholars and students of the Protestant Reformation know that Martin Luther wrote three important polemical books in the second half of 1520. These books, all quickly printed and distributed quite widely, helped to fuel the growing Protestant movement. They were equal parts prophetic, provocative and bombastic. Whatever he wanted to accomplish in writing these books, the result was that the church could no longer retain its cozy […]

The World Is Flat – What It Means for Mission

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:57-05:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Emergent Church, Evangelism, Leadership, Missional Church, Social Networking, Web/Tech, Weblogs|

Thomas Friedman, in his best-selling book The World is Flat, provides an incredibly compelling overview of how advances in modern technology, communication and marketing have flattened our world. He explains that the world is rapidly shrinking and shows how geographical, language and cultural barriers have become increasingly blurred by the day. Never before have we had the resources, technology and accessibility that is now available to us to effectively and instantaneously communicate and connect with people all over the world.

Just yesterday I had lunch with a friend who related a story to me that is now quite common. He was at a Christmas gathering with his “god-daughter” and asked her if she could function in the world without her “smart phone” in her hands? She looked at him incredulously and said, “No, I do not know how I would function without my cell phone/device!” I asked my friend, a few years older than me, if he could imagine functioning in his world without his automobile? He immediately saw my point. Of course you can live […]

ACT 3 – Our Vision for 2013 and Beyond

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:57-05:00January 3rd, 2013|Categories: ACT 3, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

In the final month of 2012 the mission of ACT3 made some significant shifts in strategy and vision that I hope readers of my blog will note in the coming weeks.

First, we added the word “network” to our public name, thus becoming ACT3 Network. The name “network” has become popular in the age of the computer because it describes what happens when you connect two or more computers together so that they can share resources, thus creating what we call a computer network. But the word network has been around much, much longer. Traditionally, social networks were made up of people who might gather face-to-face, forming social units and human groups or communities. Today’s social networks are increasingly online but I am convinced these networks will never replace the traditional forms of people making networks that are non-virtual. I see this as a both/and, not an either/or. ACT3 intends to be a social, spiritual and viral network, both online and in person. We believe the two will grow more accustomed to one another over time […]

Payback: How We Understand Debt and Revenge

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00January 2nd, 2013|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Environmentalism, Ethics, Film, Politics, Wealth|

The famous Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood defines the subject of her book “Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth” — which originated as the 2008 Massey Lectures in Toronto — as “one of the most worrisome and puzzling things I know: that peculiar nexus where money, narrative or story, and religious belief intersect, often with explosive force.” In a wide-ranging history of debt Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood investigates the many meanings of debt through the ages, from ancient times to the current global financial meltdown. With all that has transpired in the United States in the past few decades many of us wonder: how could we have let such a collapse happen? How old or inevitable is this human pattern of debt? Payback is an imaginative, topical and insightful reconsideration of our ideas of ownership and debt.

Ms. Atwood is a brilliant writer and this particular work is filled with insights that I found most unsettling when I saw Jennifer Baichwal’s documentary version of the story, also titled Payback, which was inspired by Ms. Atwood’s book. (The film and book title should not […]

The Spiritual State of the Nation (12)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00January 1st, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Politics, Renewal, The Church, The Future|

Our Image Is Bad

The recent election underscores a huge image problem that the church has in this culture. In this case image is like a huge picture and it is more powerful than a thousand words of explanation.

Christianity, especially Protestant evangelical Christianity, is associated (wrongly it should be noted) with white, middle-class, right-wing beliefs and politics. I say this image is false because there are large numbers of Hispanic, Black and Asian evangelicals in the United States and the majority of them do not see the recent election the way most white Christians do.

While large number of white evangelicals have been fighting “culture wars” for several decades other Christians are not remotely interested. These wars have sapped our missional energy, taken millions of our dollars and have very often led us to follow a “road to nowhere.” If anything was made profoundly clear in November of 2012 I think this had to be it. The “culture way” is over!

The way to change our bad image is to learn from the millennials. They are deeply interested in compassion for the poor, for widows, orphans and the most […]

The Spiritual State of the Nation (11)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00December 31st, 2012|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Politics, Renewal, The Church, The Future|

Over the course of several weeks I have sought to give an overview of the spiritual state of America, particularly the state of the church in America following our November general election. The November 6 national election prompted me to reconsider these deeper concerns and the Spirit has prompted me to write about issues that I believe are central to the future of the church in our ever-changing nation.

Good News, Bad News

By analyzing cultural trends and religious demographics I have shared a bit of bad news. I would like to stress, at least briefly, that there is a lot of good news as well. In fact, this good news gets me up each day to lead a mission that is laser-focused on missional-ecumenism, or relational partnerships committed to the mission of Jesus to make disciples.

Here is some good news:

1. American Christians have pioneered and genuinely supported missions for centuries. Though the number of missionaries might be in decline the presence of schools that teach mission, and qualified seasoned missiologists who mentor many students, is still strong.

2. Every nation on the earth has […]

My Theology is Getting More Complex – My Faith Is Growing More Simple

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00December 29th, 2012|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Church Tradition, Creeds, Emergent Church, Postmodernity, Religion, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church, Theology|

On Thursday evening I engaged with a long thread of discussion on my Facebook page about a post made by a popular author by the name of Jim Palmer. Jim lives in Nashville and is a former evangelical pastor who left the pastoral ministry several years ago. He writes some helpful and genuinely provocative stuff. I have not read his three primary books, two published by Nelson and one by a private publisher, but I have read a number of reviews of them. Most comments on Amazon are glowing and demonstrate his popularity. A few come from the far right and talk about “new age” tendencies and other such nonsense. I have honestly sought to get a handle on what he, and his particular writing, is about. I’m still not quite sure what Jim is doing but I am getting a clearer sense over the last 48 hours or so. From what I’ve read, at least up to this point, Palmer mixes his painful experience of the religion of “ought and should” (my words) with his very bad experience of church. In the process […]

Les Misérables: A Film That Reveals What True Faith Looks Like

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00December 27th, 2012|Categories: Faith, Film, Forgiveness, Gospel/Good News, Love|

Victor Hugo’s epic story, “Les Misérables,” is set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, times of revolution and upheaval aimed at a culture dominated by the Catholic Church for many centuries. As most readers already know “Les Misérables” tells a moving story of broken dreams and unrequited love, of passion, sacrifice and redemption. It is a classic novel for a very good reason.

In the film version, released widely on Christmas Day, Hugh Jackman (photo) plays the central figure of the story, ex-prisoner Jean Valjean. Valjean was hunted for decades by a ruthless, but morally scrupulous policeman, by the name of Javert. Javert is played by the brilliant and much praised actor Russell Crowe. When Valjean breaks parole, after serving nineteen years in slavery for stealing bread for his starving family, Javert makes it his mission to find him and bring him to justice. In Hugo’s account Javert encounters Valjean on several occasions over a period of several decades, each time failing to secure his man. For those who have never read the book, or seen […]

The Global Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00December 27th, 2012|Categories: ACT 3, Personal, Prayer, Unity of the Church|

The Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is held in January. Until a few years ago I knew nothing about this amazing global prayer movement. I first heard about it by visiting the Center for Unity in Rome in March, 2011. I then learned even more by a visit to the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute in Garrison, New York in June of 2011. Through Graymoor I learned of a publication that I read with great joy called, Ecumenical Trends. You can find the magazine and the work of Graymoor at www.GEII.org.

For those who live in Chicago I would like to personally invite you to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with me on Saturday, January 19, at the K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Hall, which is adjacent to the Focolare Center, 5001 S. Greenwood, Chicago. The program begins at 7:00 pm at K.A.M., which is located in Hyde Park in Chicago. (This is near the residence of President Obama if you are not aware of the location.)

The theme the international commission chose for this year is: “What does God require of us?” (cf. Micah […]

The Spiritual State of the Nation (10)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:58-05:00December 25th, 2012|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Leadership, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Renewal, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church, The Future|

Church Leadership

For my entire lifetime we have stressed the role of a few well-educated leaders, or more recently of a few talented speakers, who give life and vision to the church. As megachurches developed more and more these leaders were not even deeply trained in the Bible, worship and theology. They could have been successful in almost any marketing-related endeavor. This does not disqualify these leaders but it should give us some pause.

A revolutionary shift is now needed. What we need is more organic expressions of spiritual life and practice. We need leaders (pastors and non-pastors) who function not so much as CEOs but as real shepherds who know and love real (known) sheep. We need to move away from the “important person” who preaches as the singularly important leader to a shared pastoral process of care and share. I believe that a shift toward the importance of friendships, and away from organizational expressions of glitzy marketed spirituality, is called for in almost every evangelical church I have known. Much of what passes for worship in the largest Protestant churches is really performance, not congregational worship […]