Blog - Page 110 of 318 - John H Armstrong

An Ecumenical Document of Historic Consequence: Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:24-05:00July 11th, 2011|Categories: Ethics, Evangelism, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) recently released (June 28) an historic document on the ethics of Christian mission – Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct. This document is in part a response to criticisms leveled at Christians by some religious communities. These leaders perceive that Christians sometimes use unethical methods in their attempts to do evangelism. In some case these objections have led to anti-conversion laws and violence, especially in Muslim areas. The three main world Christian bodies have responded to this problem with a thoughtful document that not only identifies the biblical call to continue to do evangelism but outlines specific ethical mandates related to the Gospel and how we proclaim it.

This document was launched in late June by statements of endorsement made by Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe (photo), Secretary General of the WEA, Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the WCC, and Cardinal Tauran of the PCID, […]

Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin: A Bad Thinker Produces a Bad Man

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:24-05:00July 10th, 2011|Categories: Economy/Economics, Ideology|

Actions are generally the result of thoughts, both good and bad. As we think so we act. Carlyle once said, “God help the world when he lets loose a bad thinker.” In the case of Vladimir Lenin we have a man of many noble and positive qualities who learned how to channel his good qualities into a revolution that he followed in Russia because of a very bad thinker, Karl Marx (photo left).

It is generally believed, in modern liberal society, that ideas do not have serious consequences. What matters is how we act not what we think. But just a little knowledge of history will dispossess you of this idea rather quickly. Ideas often have immense consequences. The idea is first; the deed follows. The famous American Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote (1957): “Ideas do not long remain within the two covers of a textbook, nor within the four walls of a classroom; they are planted as seeds and later on grow as either cockle or […]

“This is what God says!”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:25-05:00July 9th, 2011|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Politics|

When it comes to any debate about any issue that is controversial in the church today the strongly positioned conservative response is to say, “This is what God says!” When the Southern Baptist Convention put a new section into its faith statement against women as pastors/ministers this was the way the president of the SBC put it when asked about why they had chosen this path and changed a statement of faith that had never included these kinds of statements in the past.

At the opposite end of the spectrum the more liberal response to questions about the reality and historicity of Jesus is to debunk the witness of the four Gospels as the naive beliefs of first century writers who knew nothing about a credible scientific world view. The Jesus Seminar, an extreme representative of this kind of liberalism, ends up telling us that very little of the […]

The Problem with Labels

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:25-05:00July 8th, 2011|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Love|

Christians are divided by many labels. None, at least so far as I can tell, divide us more than conservative and liberal. People on both sides recognize the other as being extreme and want little to do with each other. And once you have a label for a viewpoint, a perspective, then you can be done with having to deal with the messy business of dealing with the person who is “liberal” or “conservative.”

As these two labels are broadly used I accept them, at least to a certain extent. But I have found them increasingly useless in terms of loving and serving others. This does not mean I stopped thinking. Quite the opposite actually. It means I think a great deal about Christian beliefs and practices but I refuse to draw back from a brother or sister I disagree with based on this label. Almost every week I meet someone who so shatters the way I once used these labels that I am required to let my […]

A Personal Book Sale

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:25-05:00July 7th, 2011|Categories: Personal|

I have recently cut down the number of books in my personal library dramatically. Since used books are bought at such a low price, due to the Internet and the drop in the market, I am offering books for sale at a price that you could not find anywhere else. If you would like to “shop” among the stacks and pick some books from among the 2,000 plus titles I am selling you can contact me directly to set up a time to buy. Contact me by composing a response to this blog (which will not be posted) and I will email you in return with times to visit. If you do not live near Chicago I am sorry. I cannot sell by mail or ship books. This is a walk-in sale. These books will be available after July 14.

Anita Ruth Armstrong: The Happiest Person I Know

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:25-05:00July 7th, 2011|Categories: Marriage & Family, Personal|

My wife of 40-plus years celebrates her birthday today. (I doubt if she would care if I told you her age but I will not take the chance that I am wrong!) If you actually knew Anita you would agree with me that she has to be the happiest person you know. She has a spirit of optimism and a sense of fun that is second to none. She loves life, loves me and loves her children and grandchildren. And she loves our little dachshund like her third child, or pretty close to it. She finds joy in dark clouds and sees hope when I see failure.

Anita’s sense of humor knows only some bounds. She has learned to restrain her humor over the years. (Spurgeon once told a lady who rebuked him for being so fun-loving and full of jokes that if she knew just how much he restrained himself she would be impressed with his piety.) When Anita […]

Lectio Divina: An Ancient Way of Reading Scripture

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:26-05:00July 6th, 2011|Categories: Spirituality|

The contemplative tradition of Christian faith and practice was birthed in the monastery but quickly moved into the wider practice of the church. One of the most important practices that grew out of the ancient monastic tradition is called Lectio Divina (pronounced "Lect-see-oh Div-ee-na).

Lectio Divina (which literally means divine or holy reading) has long been a principal practice of the Benedictine tradition of spirituality. The monastic life seeks to directly cultivate a holy listening to God's Word — for God's self-communication — which is made manifest in Christ, in the scriptures, in the human heart and in the heart of the cosmos.

Lectio Divina is actually a method of approaching scripture. It approaches the Word with a deep desire to listen to the depths, seeking to encounter Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, as he is hidden in the words of the biblical text. The goal of Lectio is to move beyond a strict analysis of words and thoughts to a disciplined developing of […]

Engaging the Culture, Changing the World

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:27-05:00July 5th, 2011|Categories: Culture, Education|

The late Jewish novelist Chaim Potok, whose work I have read and treasured, said several years ago that “we live in a world of colliding maps.” Dr. Philip W. Eaton, the president of Seattle Pacific University, understands this “world of colliding maps.” In his new book, Engaging the Culture, Changing the World (InterVarsity Press, 2011) Eaton suggests that “each of us has constructed our own little, individual story, our map, out of the bits and scraps of information we have been given.” Eaton believes that the philosophical, cultural and educational orthodoxy of our time says that there really is no big map, no overarching story, no drama into which we are all moved. In this context everything is personal. Everything depends on us. Eaton says that we've, “deconstructed any meta-map we have been given and then [we try to] construct our own map.” Is human flourishing really possible on this planet where so much is colliding around the world?

One contributor to this chaos has been the […]

An Update on the Mission of Crossroads Kids Club

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:27-05:00July 4th, 2011|Categories: Evangelism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Unity of the Church|

I have written previously about the vision and mission of my son, Matthew John Armstrong. On this Independence Day (2011) I think it is worthwhile to share a little more about Matt's vision since he is working tirelessly to bring spiritual, eternal freedom to multitudes of young people across America. Matt served his nation in the Army in the 1990s and now serves the church through a mission that I hope multitudes will someday discover and use in their local church.

Matt helped to launch a strategic ministry to kids in the public schools over a decade ago. He has been an elementary public school teacher and is bi-lingual. He has a tremendous heart for kids and the poor. Toward the end of 2010 Matt began to sense that Crossroads needed to develop its unique blend of mission in schools with the whole Christian Church across the nation. He began in March to develop clubs in the tri-states: Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. (One club will likely begin […]

The NIV Bible Translation Debate 2011

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:27-05:00July 3rd, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|

What is a person who is not a translator, who does not understand Greek and Hebrew, and who does not grasp the ways in which a text can (should) be translated, do when Bible translation debates begin?

One response, which is all to common, is to ask your pastor. Honestly, this is not a very good response in most cases. Most pastors, if they are honest, have opinions about translation but they are not competent to translate. And most of the pastors who hold passionate views about this process are biased in one form or another. Someone has shaped their view just like your own and they depend on what they know and don’t know just like you and I do. When sheep think their human shepherd has all ability in all such matters it is not a sign of health in the church. Pastors who act like they can settle these issues should, in most cases, be more honest. And people who look to them to solve their problems (here and in many other areas) should stop. It strikes me as odd how evangelicals do this […]