Blog - Page 107 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Singles: Our Fastest Growing Demographic

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:21-05:00August 10th, 2011|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Marriage & Family, Sexuality|

Demographics involve the statistical characteristics of a population. Demographers gather data that is used in sociology, public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment, where people live (rural, suburban, city, etc.). What researchers call demographic trends describe changes in demographics within a population over some period of time. We have often hear lot about this kind of study after the national census of 2010. Taking a census is as old as antiquity and still has immense value to a society. We should pay attention, if we are missional, to what is hapenning to people in the larger culture.

There are a number of evident demographic trends that have a considerable impact on our society at the present moment but none may be more significant, for both culture and the church, than the rapid increase in unmarried adults. There are now 59 million unmarried, never-been-married adults in the United States.

But this is not all. The mortality rate for single men is […]

The President of the RCA Calls for Unity and Trust

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:21-05:00August 9th, 2011|Categories: Missional Church, The Church, Unity of the Church|

In his presidential report to the general synod of the Reformed Church in America, presented in Grand Rapids last June, Rev. Donald Poest emphasized walking in unity as the body of Christ. He called for a renewal of trust that would allow our leaders and churches to respect one another and aim for deep growth and renewal.

Citing 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 Poest said: "So often, we compare the church to a family, but the body is a better choice. Family members can declare themselves in charge of their own destinies, but body parts have to take their orders from the head."

As an example of one healthy way that the RCA has functioned as the body of Christ, Poest shared his experience as a member of the search team for the candidate for general secretary. (This is the person who replaced Wes Granberg-Michaelson who I wrote about yesterday.) He described the whole process as enriching, exhausting, exhilarating, and excruciating. "But we did it as one […]

Wes Granberg-Michaelson’s Faithful Missional-Ecumenism and the Reformed Church in America

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:21-05:00August 8th, 2011|Categories: Leadership, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Pastoral Renewal, Reformed Christianity, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

For seventeen years Wes Granberg-Michaelson has served the Reformed Church of America (RCA) as general secretary. I not only count Wes as my friend but admire his leadership skills and the job he has done to make the RCA one of the few mainline denominations that remains focused on missional-ecumenism in a vital and Christ-centered way. One of the reasons I am a minister of Word and Sacrament in the RCA is because of leaders like Wes. I believe the vision he has pursued is one of the most biblically faithful in North America. It is not perfect. No leader casts a perfect vision for those he or she serves. But Wes has led with incredible faithfulness.

A few weeks ago Wes gave his last report to the General Synod. He stepped down following this annual gathering to pursue a new phase of mission in his life. When I asked Wes what this new phase would be the answer he offered, in short, was missional-ecumenism. I […]

Why Should an Active Person Embrace Solitude, Silence and Contemplation?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:21-05:00August 7th, 2011|Categories: Contemplation, Prayer, Spirituality|

Why would any Christian embrace a life of solitude, silence and contemplation? If you, like me, were trained to be an activist for Christ then this question is one of proportion in the end. The call to mission is a call to faithfulness to the Great Commission and this means to be actively serving the Lord. It just seems much too passive to be of any real good to Christ if you live too much of your life in solitude, silence and contemplation. At least this is how I was taught for decades.

I have shared with several of my closest friends how learning to be less active, contemplative and more intentional about times of silence have all begun to shape my own journey. This contemplative way has been taught over the course of Christian history but it has not been common among evangelicals, at least not during the last hundred years or so. If we have been anything, by training and temperament, we have been activists.

Common to […]

My Visit with Fr. Joseph Girzone on Joshua Mountain

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:21-05:00August 6th, 2011|Categories: Jesus, Mysticism, Personal, Roman Catholicism|

The famous author and well-known spiritual teacher, Fr. Richard Rohr, wrote an endorsement for Barbara Benjamin’s engaging biography of Fr. Joseph F. Girzone, The Joshua Priest: A Biography of Faith. The endorsement noted: “It has been said that ideas do not change people, but people change people. In this book you will have two beautiful ‘people’ encounters – with a great man and with the great woman who writes about him. Be prepared to be changed, enlightened, and readied for an even greater Encounter.”

That sums up well my experience with the life and writing of Joseph Girzone, a man that I now have the joy of calling my dear friend.

Barbara Benjamin shows how faith, for Joseph Girzone, is not an intellectual state but a deep conviction, or what the writer of Hebrews calls the evidence of “things not seen.” Faith is, to use another expression, an attitude of being convinced by the person one trusts and loves. My friend Joe Girzone is convinced of Jesus and by Jesus. Guided through a life of pursuing God from childhood Joe eventually came to realize that his fear of […]

Why I Love Fr. Joe Girzone and Support Joshua Mountain Ministries

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:22-05:00August 5th, 2011|Categories: Friendship, Jesus, Personal, Roman Catholicism|

Each month Father Joe Girzone writes a news and prayer letter for friends and people who support his mission on Joshua Mountain. During my three days with Joe I saw him take phone calls from people as far away as Japan and as close as near-by Albany. He referred to his large “parish” several times. I soon became aware that he was not exaggerating at all. I was amazed at how he listened and interacted with everyone, many of them people he had not met in the flesh at all. At times he was extremely funny and at others most serious and helpful. He was always joyful and always quick with his wit. Joe just lights up around people and brings joy to them with great blessing. The presence of Jesus is quite real in his simple, unpretentious, very human presence.

I can tell you that Fr. Joe’s parish is genuinely represented by people from all over the world. He responded to emails late into the evening […]

Getting to Know the Joshua Priest, Fr. Joe Girzone

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:22-05:00August 4th, 2011|Categories: Books, Jesus, Personal|

Since the publication of Joshua: A Parable for Today (1983) countless millions of readers have been transformed by the way Fr. Joseph F. Girzone presents the good news of Jesus in a simple and compelling manner. The Jesus of this best-seller is a good person, kind beyond all measure and full of true love for everyone he meets. His unconditional compassion is almost too much for some people to handle. (A search of comments about the book on the Web will reveal deep appreciation mixed with some incredible, and generally unfair, criticism of Fr. Girzone and this book.)

But who is Fr. Joseph Francis Girzone?

Until two years ago I knew nothing about the author, except that his books had sold like very few religious books in the last thirty years. One reason, I soon discovered, for the popularity and sale of Girzone’s books is that they are not religious in the normal sense of that word. They are deeply spiritual, but I assure you they […]

The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:22-05:00August 3rd, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Politics, Prayer, Renewal|

I recently became aware of a major gathering that is taking place this Saturday in Houston, Texas. It is called The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis. My initial thought was quite simple: “What could possibly be wrong with anything that calls the nation to prayer?” My second thought led me to visit the site online and ask some questions. My third thought came when I was invited to join a group of national leaders who listened to Gov. Rick Perry on a phone call set up to inform us about the event. But before I get to this conference call I must tell you that I personally called some trusted friends in Texas, friends who are not political partisans. These are wise Christian leaders with insights into the ways in which conservative political leaders have consistently linked partisan politics and candidates with calls for national prayer and renewal. The way this generally works is through large-scaled grass roots movements that get Christian […]

The Supreme Authority of Scripture and Interpretation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:22-05:00August 2nd, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Church Tradition, Hermeneutics, Patristics, Personal, Reformed Christianity, Roman Catholicism|

Yesterday, I wrote about the authority of Scripture. I am often asked what has kept me from embracing the Catholic Church in its present state? I have many friends who’ve converted to Roman Catholicism. I have many supporters of this mission who are Catholic. This happens because these friends and donors know I am serving the whole church in a unique and ecumenical context. The fact is that I have great love for the Catholic Church. And I am clearly not an anti-Catholic. Further, I have no desire to become a polemicist who engages in anti-Catholic evangelicalism. I am a serious ecumenist and as such I love all Christians – Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. I long to see full communion between the great ancient churches of the Christian faith. Because of this love and longing I will continue to engage with these kinds of issues for the rest of my life. It is because I love Christ and all his people that I do so.

But I am […]

The Supreme Authority of Scripture

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:22-05:00August 1st, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Church Tradition, Patristics, Reformed Christianity, Roman Catholicism|

A major tenet of Protestant theology is the authority and finality of the biblical revelation. This principle is often poorly stated but the essential point is that Scripture serves as the supreme court in all matters of faith and practice.

For some all one needs to do is quote a verse and the issue is settled. For others they are aware of the difficulty of some questions and realize Scripture does not directly address some doctrinal and ethical issues with complete clarity. The Westminster Confession of Faith puts this principle rather clearly:

All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

Here, and elsewhere, the Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura reflects a nuanced […]