Blog - Page 100 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Battle of Franklin

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 16th, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, History, Personal, Race and Racism|

I recently spent some time in the Nashville (TN) area. I was about 15 minutes from Franklin, Tennessee. I had an appointment with a good friend in Franklin so I did some reading about the Civil War significance of this town. I was astounded by what I learned. I decided, after my brief research, to spend several hours visiting the Civil War sites. (I have visited more than a few Civil War battlefields and sites since I was trained in American history and retain a great interest in the subject.)

On November 30, 1864, the bloodiest and fiercest five-hour battle in the Civil War was fought in this town, which had only 750 residents at the time. In terms of the number engaged it was clearly the most destructive in the entire war. And of the five hours of combat more than four hours was fought in the dark of night, something that almost never happened. General Isaac R. Sherwood (111th Ohio Infantry) later wrote, “At midnight on […]

The Debate in the SBC About a Name Change

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 15th, 2011|Categories: Southern Baptists|

The Southern Baptist Convention is once again discussing a name change. I hope they do it this time.

The president of the SBC, Bryant Wright, recently told the SBC executive committee in a Nashville meeting that he had appointed a task force to look at a possible name change. Giving up a 166-year old name for this denomination will not be easy to do. But make no mistake about it—this should be done for the sake of the gospel and the witness of the SBC to Americans.

Wright said the SBC name represented a region of the country when the denomination is now scattered to every part of America. What this means, quite simply, is that the name SBC is simply not accurate. It wasn’t accurate forty-one years ago when I pastored a little SBC congregation in suburban Chicago but it is really not accurate in the 21st century. SBC churches are now in all 50 states and thousands of missionaries have taken the gospel all over the planet. […]

9/11: Did America Overreact?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 14th, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, The War on Terrorism|

The Wall Street Journal offered an op-ed response to this question in their Friday, 9/9, issue. The responses were extremely varied. Some suggested that invading Iraq was a huge mistake. Some disagree. All thought a response to Afghanistan was called for militarily. You could predict the responses in advance if you knew their personal stance on international engagement and the use of military force. Paul Wolfowitz and Joe Lieberman were OK with the wide-scale use of force while Zbigniew Brzezinski and Robert McFarlane were not. One commentator, the author Mark Helprin, argued that we should have invaded the countries that held terrorists in them, brought down the dictators, and then left! He argues that “reforming” the Arab world will never work so why should we have begun a course that has led to failure. Hmmmm.

What is the right answer? I have no idea. And if you do then I think you will believe in your own view of the world regardless of the complications involved in holding […]

Major Demographic Shifts Will Require a New Christianity in the Coming Decades

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 13th, 2011|Categories: Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, The Future|

Serious scholars now claim that the biggest change in the history of Christianity is underway as the center of the Christian faith decidedly shifts to Africa, Latin America and Asia.

"The story of Christianity as a worldwide faith is being written before our eyes," said Dr. Dana Robert, of Boston University School of Theology, to the Global Christian Forum (GCF) in Manado, Indonesia, October 4-7. The gathering, which I was invited to attend at the eleventh hour but sadly could not do, brought together leaders from major church traditions, theological perspectives, and world communions. These included the Anglican Communion, the World Council of Churches, the World Evangelical Alliance, the Pentecostal World Fellowship, and the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Peter Crossing, of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, noted in Manado that in 1910 about 66 percent of the world's Christians lived in Europe; a century later it was only 26 percent. Crossing, a researcher for the […]

Protesting Wall Street

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 12th, 2011|Categories: Current Affairs, Economy/Economics|

Today’s post is a guest blog by my friend, Dr. Monte Wilson. Monte might express some of the points that he makes here with more of a sharp polemical edge than I am comfortable with in my own posts but I deeply agree with his central arguments. His humor will not attract you if you believe the answers to our present economic problems lie in taxing business more heavily.

Personally, I do not have the time to compose a response to the marches and public events that are currently unfolding day-to-day in these ill-defined protests against Wall Street so I turn to a good friend and asked him to add his thoughts on my site. Monte is not a heartless capitalist or a hater. He is a man deeply committed to directly attacking poverty and caring for the weakest and most needy people on the planet. He is a man who is tolerant of diversity and counts as friends people across the whole spectrum, just as […]

Practicing Mental Prayer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 11th, 2011|Categories: Contemplation, Mysticism, Prayer, Spirituality|

Once we realize that prayer is “friendly intercourse” with God, rooted in his deep love for us, we can begin to talk about the method for how we do this. I offer, based upon my own reading of various spiritual directors and great theologians, some observations on how to pray in this way.

First, we cannot speak to God “intimately” unless we are in contact with him personally. This doesn’t just happen in conversion but daily as we approach him directly. Because we are in personal contact with God we make preparation. This is not a matter of human works offered up to save us in any sense of the word. It is our placing ourselves in the presence of God, turning ourselves to him by means of true godly thoughts. I begin to relate to God more intimately when I place myself in his presence, turning aside to him by means of good thoughts. This includes both biblical words and insights from other Christian teachers who […]

Learning the Practice of Mental Prayer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 10th, 2011|Categories: Mysticism, Prayer, Spirituality|

The great saints and writers of the Christian church all have much to teach us. I embarked upon reading some of the classic writings of the historic church some years ago and my only regret is that it took me this long. One such writer is St. Teresa.

Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515 – 1582) was a prominent Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun. She was a theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She is considered to be, along with John of the Cross, a founder of the Discalced Carmelites.

One of St. Teresa’s most important contributions to the spiritual life of the church came though her teaching on mental prayer. This is how I discovered her writings to be so truly helpful in my journey.

But what is mental prayer?

Mental prayer is a form of prayer in which one loves God through dialog and by meditating on God's words. It is a time of silence focused on God. It is distinguished from vocal prayers which use set prayers, although […]

Outsider Interviews with Jim Henderson

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:10-05:00October 9th, 2011|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Evangelism|

My good friend Jim Henderson is one of the best interviewers I know. He has the ability to allow non-Christians to talk and tell us what they think about our views and practices. Check out Jim's work on this video attached to a recent blog he did after he was in nearby St. Charles, IL. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and discussed several of Jim's projects. He has a new book, The Resignation of Eve, which will be out in early 2012. I happily endorsed it. It allows women to openly express how they feel about the church from a number of different perspectives.

Check out his blog and the brief YouTube clip on how people think about Christians and Christianity @ Outsider Interviews – St. Charles – Sept. 29.

Mercy Imitates God

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:11-05:00October 9th, 2011|Categories: God's Character, Love|

St. John Chrysostom (347-407 AD) says, “Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan.” That got me to pondering lately how much I really comprehend and believe in the mercy of God.

Mercy is defined as compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subjected to the power of another. Webster adds a second definition by saying mercy is “a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion.” It is clearly this latter idea Chrysostom had in mind.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-7:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

God is rich in mercy! […]

Whatever You Think, Someone Thinks Differently

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:11-05:00October 8th, 2011|Categories: Ideology, The Church, Unity of the Church|

The famous 20th century scholar T. R. Glover once said, “Whatever you think, someone thinks differently.” This is true in all kinds of ways but especially in the church. The late William Barclay applied this Glover quote to the church in three ways.

1. It is true of worship, prayers and all kinds of expressions of love for God and faith in Christ.

If you have been around for long you are well aware that there is a wide diversity within the church over worship practice. Liturgy or free form? Spontaneity or planned expressions? In this there is no absolute right or absolute wrong. There is a great need for continued discussion and for the type of wisdom that learns and thinks.

The liturgists must not despise simple people and their plain expressions of devotion while the simple people must not say that anyone who loves liturgy is removed from true love for Jesus. Let us worship the true and living God in Jesus Christ and not despise those who […]