Blog - Page 136 of 318 - John H Armstrong

How Does Ideology Lead to Sectarianism?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:14-05:00November 8th, 2010|Categories: Ideology, Unity of the Church|

I rarely mention my ACT 3 Weekly articles on these blogs but I am currently completing a series of articles on the dangers of ideology as a substitute for Christ and the good news of the kingdom. You can find back issues and also subscribe to this weekly mailing on the site.

In my first article in this series on the danger of ideology to the modern church I wrote the following:

What do I mean when I speak of ideology? The English word refers to visionary theorizing, or to a systematic body of concepts, especially regarding human culture or life. I have in mind not only a body of systematic concepts but particularly the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program of some type. It is this idea of a sociopolitical program that I believe so profoundly threatens the church in her calling to remain laser-focused on the mission of Christ. The late evangelical theologian Donald G. Bloesch rightly calls the relationship between ideology and faith “enigmatic.” The very mystery of this relationship calls Christian leaders to think about this problem very seriously. […]

A Prayer for Unity

By John Armstrong|2010-11-07T04:00:00-06:00November 7th, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Unity of the Church|

Here's a portion of a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr that I pray today with great joy and purpose:

We pray, O Lord, for your church, that it may be healed of its divisions by your grace; that it may teach your word with courage to a sinful world, and may mediate with true charity your love and mercy to all men. Strengthen every ministry of reconciliation therein with your spirit. Grant that it may be a true community of grace in which the pride of race or nation is humbled, where the strong and mighty are brought to judgment, and the meek and lowly are lifted up. Make it more faithful to its Lord, and more instant to meet the needs of men. Amen.

No prayer more faithfully summarizes what ACT 3 is about in “equipping leaders for unity in Christ’s mission.” We love the church, all of it, and we long to see it healed of divisions so that it can teach God’s word with courage to a sinful world. We want to see the church become missional, which is expressed here in Niebuhr’s request that the […]

The Passing of Sparky Anderson: A True Icon in Baseball

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:14-05:00November 6th, 2010|Categories: Baseball|

Sparky Anderson, the famous Hall of Fame baseball manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers, passed away on Thursday at the age of 76. Sparky Anderson’s death moves me as a fan of this great game because I grew up in the age of his great success managing great players and teams. Sparky was, to put it simply, an iconic figure in the world of baseball.

Sparky Anderson won three World Series Championships, two with the Cincinnati Reds during the 1970s and another with the Detroit Tigers in 1984. Sparky Anderson had a 27 year managerial career in baseball with a record of 2194-1834 making him one of the all time great managers. But Sparky Anderson was about a lot more than winning. He had a love for the game, for his players and for playing the sport the right way. This made him a beloved public figure.

Sparky Anderson moved people profoundly. His players loved him and always played hard for him. He knew how to console and […]

Ecumenical Babel: How Ideology Destroys Biblical Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:14-05:00November 5th, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Economy/Economics, Unity of the Church|

I did a review of a fine book, Ecumenical Babel, on August 14. The author, Jordan Ballor, will be speaking on his book this coming Monday-Tuesday here in the Chicago area. The first meeting is Monday, November 8, at 7 p.m. at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. We will meet in the Wilson Suite on the Fourth Floor. Our host is the Wheaton College Student Ecumenical Society. One of the leaders of this group is David Strickler, my ACT 3 intern this year. David and I will partner the leadership of this event and though we expect many Wheaton College students to attend the evening is open to everyone. Join us if you can. No need to register for this event.

On Tuesday, November 9, Jordan speaks again at an ACT 3 Luncheon in Bloomingdale. We are hosted for this event by St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, pastored by an ACT 3 board member, Brandon Woosley. This event begins at 11:45 a.m. and ends at […]

How a Little Can Do a Lot

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:14-05:00November 4th, 2010|Categories: Personal, Poverty, The Church, Wealth|

It goes without saying that I take great joy in my son and his heart for mission. He is a rather amazing young man. He has begun a flourishing ministry to middle school kids in public schools that is now in its eleventh year. He planted a church because of the disciples he had made though his wider ministry and the need he saw to connect them to a living community of faith. He is deeply involved in social issues relating to immigration and has helped me to see this issue far more clearly than anyone else I know.

Matt is my firstborn (1973). He is also my friend and peer. I will always be his dad, and he will always be a son, but our relationship has matured into one of deep friendship and trust. I need him speaking into my life in order to hear what the Spirit is saying to me. We meet often to talk, listen and pray for one another over a meal.

Recently […]

Hereafter

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:14-05:00November 3rd, 2010|Categories: Culture, Death, Film|

Clint Eastwood’s new film, Hereafter, tackles a subject that seems to have been emerging in Eastwood’s body of work for some years. When you listen to Eastwood talk about Hereafter, you can readily see this film is a significant departure from his earlier films, though Gran Torino, one of his best and most iconic films, seems to lead you right to the door of Hereafter in its famous closing scene. Josh Hurst, writing for Christianity Today, says: “Eastwood called this his ‘French’ film, which is only partly true on a literal level—about a third of the movie is set in France, and in the French language—but is a reasonable enough way to summarize its comparatively artsy feel, as well as its structure of three initially unrelated but eventually intersecting stories. He's also called this his ‘chick flick,’ which is, again, an exaggeration, but only a slight one; by Eastwood standards, there's very little violence here, and a larger-than-usual role for romance.” Having seen the movie on opening […]

A Prayer for Election Day

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:15-05:00November 2nd, 2010|Categories: Uncategorized|

I confess I have very little to say about the general elections across the country today. I am dispirited by the whole process. I expect the end result to be the same regardless of who has power at the end of this process. This election will not turn the country around as promised by almost every one running for office.

I recently watched a documentary about President Gerald R. Ford, Time and Chance: Gerald R. Ford’s Appointment with History, that underscored my deep dismay. The story of Ford underscored what disturbs my spirit the most deeply. We have no truly great leaders, at least leaders of the kind that care about the nation before the advance of their own careers and personal futures.

As I vote today, and I considered not voting at all for the first time in my life, I will seek to express something of my concern in the way I vote. I will split my ballot in ways that I have not done in […]

Elections and Democracy: WWJD?

By John Armstrong|2010-11-01T13:00:00-05:00November 1st, 2010|Categories: Politics|

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.

Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can […]

Is There Only One Church?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:15-05:00November 1st, 2010|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, The Church|

This question has troubled Christians, East and West, for a thousand years or more. In fact, if history is read without undue bias it has quite frankly troubled the church since the first century and beyond. There are several ways to come at it.

First, you can argue that there can only be one “visible” communion (with its beliefs, practices, leadership, sacraments, etc.) that is the true church. Both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church arrive at something like this position through a series of well-argued points and conclude that they are in the one “true” church. The Orthodox actually do not speak about “true” as opposed to false so much as they say they know where the “church is but not necessarily where it is not.” Either way, both these great church bodies believe they are the continuous, one, catholic and true Christian church. If I personally believed this then I would begin the conversion process today. Obviously, to the disappointment of some good friends on both sides, I am not in the process of converting. I have been asked, “Have you ever considered converting?” The […]

A Catholic Insight Into the Reformation’s Central Truth

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:15-05:00October 31st, 2010|Categories: Books, Church History, Theology, Unity of the Church|

Today, as some of you know, is not only Halloween, and All-Saints Eve, but it is Reformation Day. There was a time when this event was celebrated in many Protestant churches. I miss those celebrations. I do not miss the triumphal attitudes or the pride that often went with the celebration but I miss the powerful reminders that something very important did happen in the 16th century and it really does still matter.

Some argue that nothing that ever comes from Rome, or from a Roman Catholic writer, can ever understand the central point of the Reformation. (It intrigues me that such people are “sure” they do understand the central point but then their lives often deny it!) I strongly differ with this polemical perspective. In fact, I believe the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification has gone a long way to show us all how close the respective communions of Lutheranism and Catholicism have actually come in nearly 500 years. A myriad of conservative naysayers, found on both sides, are skeptical about all this talk about justification, believing we cannot agree no matter what […]