Blog - Page 116 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Does God Have a Name?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 9th, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Creeds, Jesus|

Yesterday I wrote about God being ONE, not two or three.

How then do we think of this one God? Or, asked in a different and very engaging way, “Does God have a name?” If so what should we call him?

The most important name by which God reveals himself in the Old Testament is YHWH, or with the vowels added, Yahweh. This is the name given by God to Moses in Exodus 3:14. It is translated, “I am who I am.” That is an odd way of naming: “I am who I am.” But this is crucial to understand. The words reveal that God is self-existent, the creator and God of the whole world, not just of a tribe or group of devotees. He is the creator, preserver, covenant partner, liberator, judge and savior. What’s in a name? All of this and much more really.

Quite clearly God does not wish to remain incognito. And he does not want to be revered simply as a “higher being” that is sensed or surmised through some equation of human process. He is personal and wishes to be known, loved and worshiped […]

Celebrating Mother’s Day

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 8th, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, Church Tradition|

I have always honored Mother’s Day in my family traditions. I thanked my mother for her life and love regularly and now I remember her with warm appreciation for her deep faith and abiding love. But I do not need a special day to do this if the truth is known. A good son should honor his mother at all times.

When I was still the pastor of a local congregation, between 1972-92, I gave special attention to mothers on this day. Since then I have found that some evangelical churches do not want a guest to preach on anything but motherhood on this day if I was a guest in their pulpit. I have always found this request more than curious. (These same churches oppose any doctrine about Mary’s importance in salvation history, especially the core orthodox affirmation that she was theotokos, the “mother of God.”) Now, given the history and development of this special day someone ought to at least think about this a little more. […]

Why Believe in Only One God?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 7th, 2011|Categories: Biblical Theology, Creeds|

Christianity is a monotheistic faith, as is Judaism and Islam. Jesus taught us, in Mark 12:29-30, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

But what makes this affirmation so important? Why should we believe in only ONE God? I answer very simply: According to Holy Scripture and Jesus himself there is only ONE God. And according to all logic if there were two gods, then one god would be a limit on the other. Neither could be infinite and neither would be the true God. The experience of Israel is clear on this point: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

I recently read through the entire Old Testament in the course of two months. I was struck by many common themes but none is more obvious than this one – the law and the prophets continually exhort Israel that God (Yahweh) is the true and only God. “For I am God, and there is […]

How Missional-Ecumenism Became Praxis at Cape Town

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 6th, 2011|Categories: Evangelism, Love, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

More than a few Christians leaders will admit that missional-ecumenism lines up with the teaching of John 13:34-35, John 17:20-23 and John 20:31. But the problem often arises when it comes to praxis, or implementation. The question is rather obvious: “How do we actually put this vision into practice?” The Cape Town Commitment answers this as beautifully and succinctly as anything I’ve ever seen or read.

As I noted yesterday the Cape Town Congress wanted to reaffirm core doctrinal convictions while at the same time it sought to address the oft-neglected practices that should flow from good theology. This is why Part 2 of The Cape Town Commitment is so important for missional-ecumenism.

Part 2 is titled: “For the World We Serve.” It begins: “Our covenant with God binds love and obedience together. God rejoices to see our ‘work produced by faith’ and our ‘labor prompted by love,” for we are God’s workmanship . . .” And then it adds, “As members of the worldwide Church of […]

The Cape Town Commitment and Missional-Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 5th, 2011|Categories: Evangelism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

The last few days I’ve written about the Lausanne Movement and the recent Mission America Coalition meeting in Orlando, April 4-6. The Lausanne Movement held its third Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, October 16-25, 2010. This historic gathering included 4,200 evangelical leaders from 198 countries and was extended to hundreds of thousands more who participated through online meetings around the globe. Perhaps the only noticeable absence at this gathering occurred because the Chinese government refused to allow delegates from China to attend. This third Lausanne Congress included far more non-North Americans, thus far more people from countries where the church is rapidly growing; e.g. the so-called two-thirds world. The Congress also included a significant number of women and younger delegates. These goals were set intentionally and this has moved Lausanne from being a Western, white, male movement to a genuinely global, church-wide movement.

The purpose of the Cape Town meeting was to bring a fresh challenge to the global church to bear witness to Jesus Christ […]

Mission America, Orlando 2011

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 4th, 2011|Categories: Evangelism, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

I mentioned yesterday that I was invited to participate in Mission America Coalition’s annual conference April 4-6 in Orlando. This was my first experience at a MAC event of this type.

One of the major ministries of the Mission America Coalition (U.S. Lausanne Committee) is to convene groups of Christian leaders to focus upon how we can be more effective in ministering together so that believers can faithfully invite as many people as possible to become disciples of Jesus Christ. (This is, at its core, missional-eacumenism, at least as I define it!) The Mission America Coalition is an unprecedented coalition of Christian leaders committed to one another in order to mobilize the church for praying, caring and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in deed and word.

MAC has been used in many ways including the following:

MAC/USLC serves by convening leaders of leaders, people who have high impact and strategic influence potential. This is my own passion thus ACT 3’s mission: “To equip leaders for unity in […]

Celebrating Osama bin Laden’s Death

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:37-05:00May 3rd, 2011|Categories: Current Affairs|

I found myself tragically struck by both the tone and the manner of popular response to the death of Osama bin Laden. I felt like I was watching some of the Arab world after 9/11. People celebrating in the streets and making noise and triumphantly proclaiming “God bless America.” I was particularly mortified by the response of so many Christians I’ve listened to in public and private conversations. I fear their response reveals, rather tragically, just how far we have actually fallen from comprehending the gospel itself. I have resisted writing on this topic since it seems everyone has something to say right now. Better to say very little than too much. I need time to think and pray. I do not think that I can add much to this discussion but I urge you to carefully read the reflections of a first-rate Christian theologian, Miroslav Volf.

Michael Horton also had a thoughtful opinion piece in Christianity Today. I commend it to you as well.

Cape Town, Orlando and the Kingdom of God

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:38-05:00May 3rd, 2011|Categories: Business, Leadership, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

Question: What has Cape Town to do with Orlando?

Last October a historic global gathering of 4,200 evangelical Christian leaders took place in Cape Town, South Africa. Many of you followed that event via the Internet and some of you may have even listened to keynote addresses and know people who were present at this meeting. I posted one Lausanne address, by Christopher J. Wright, on this blog site. Since the first Lausanne Congress (1974) this initiative for worldwide evangelism has grown into a much more mature movement of Christian leaders working for unity and mission. The story is one every Christian who loves mission and unity should know.

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) is itself an evangelical movement that grew out of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization (ICOWE) and promotes active worldwide evangelism LCWE is simply known, among those who follow it, as The Lausanne Movement. The Lausanne Covenant, which was a theological and missiological document that grew out of the first meeting […]

Coming Out, Coming Home

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:38-05:00May 2nd, 2011|Categories: Abortion, Evangelism, Homosexuality, Marriage & Family|

I wrote a blog on January 16 titled: “A Conference on Faith and Sexuality.” It was about a local Saturday seminar on same-sex relationships and the church. The host church, Gary Memorial Methodist Church in Wheaton, invited four speakers to give biblical and theological presentations. The speakers clearly held different perspectives. The last of the four speakers was Christopher Yuan. I was moved to my depths by the story Chris told of a life of homosexual practice and drug dealing. After three years in prison, an HIV-positive blood test result, and an obvious conversion to Christ, Chris entered into a new Christian lifestyle.

Now you can read Chris’ moving account of this conversion in his new book, Out of a Far Country (Waterbrook Press, 2011), which comes out May 3. The story is told by both Chris and his mother Angela. The foreword to their new book is written by Kay Warren.

Chris is one of two sons of Chinese immigrants. His father, as my father was in his professional career, is […]

The Sad Actions of a Great Coach

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:38-05:00May 1st, 2011|Categories: College Football|

Friends know that I am a huge college football fan. I am especially loyal to my own school, the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide has had its own trials in the recent past with probation because of serious violations with boosters paying for players, etc. This sad legacy came on the heels of the head coaches moral failure (Mike DuBose). The coach’s lack of attention to his own program landed them in deep weeds. No excuses. Alabama got hammered and deserved it.

Nothing strikes a college fan with more dread than an NCAA investigation. It likely means penalties that will set back the football program for years. The ramifications for the school, the team and the fans are immense. But the NCAA shows no mercy in these instances. (Perhaps on another day I will share my view of the NCAA, which is not all that favorable either. )

Now the school under the investigative microscope is Ohio State University. I am not a Buckeye fan, nor am I […]