Blog - Page 149 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Adoration: A Film That Contextualizes Modern Life

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:37-05:00July 6th, 2010|Categories: Film, Postmodernity, The Future|

Atom Egoyan’s movie “Adoration” is a non-linear, fascinating and deeply suspenseful film noir that gives one of the best of post-9/11, postmodern and Internet-based cultural films I’ve seen. Included in this story are an assortment of pressing and provocative questions—the ethics of terrorism, the deceptiveness of what appears to be outwardly obvious and the numerous ways modern technology adds to dialogue. Perhaps the most interesting question the film poses is the one about dialogue and the Internet.

The story is of a high school boy whose parents were killed in a car accident when he was a pre-teen. He is being raised by his uncle, a not too pleasant character who slowly wins you over. Clearly there has been a breakdown in this family before and after his sister’s tragic death. (The uncle was only 22 when he began to raise his orphaned nephew.) You soon discover through Egoyan’s more postmodern method of story-telling, a method that cycles back […]

What Does “Small” Mean in Your Church Is Too Small?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:37-05:00July 5th, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Unity of the Church|

Most readers realize that I borrowed the idea for the title of my new book, Your Church Is Too Small, from a book written by the late J. B. Phillips (1953) titled Your God Is Too Small. I read Phillips’ book as a college student in the 1960s and always thought it was one of the best titles of any book of that era.

I recall Stuart Briscoe once saying that the title was actually much better than the book itself. That may be so but it is still a pretty good book and the title became one that I could not pass up on using when it came to my concept of the church and our mission. A friend in New York, Dr. Craig Higgins, actually suggested that I use this title and so I did.

But people are still puzzled at times. […]

Remembering the 4th of July

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:37-05:00July 4th, 2010|Categories: America and Americanism|

Today is the day of celebration for Americans. John Adams urged that we always and forever make a great celebration of this date. His list of things to do included fireworks, parades and community wide remembrances with great joy! Most of us have followed his advice. I confess that I have always enjoyed the Fourth of July (except as I get older the late night fireworks in my neighborhood are a bother). I am reminded each 4th of July of those great and unusual men who founded this nation.

I recently watched the two-part (three-hour) Ken Burns series on the life of Thomas Jefferson. It is truly worth seeing. Jefferson was the primary writer of the American Creed, the Declaration of Independence. He was brilliant beyond words. He was able to encapsulate, in a very few memorable words, the very essence of our national experiment in liberty. We can thank God, even though many false starts and serious mistakes […]

When I Fell in Love with Baseball

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:37-05:00July 3rd, 2010|Categories: Baseball|

I am a baseball fan, as regular readers know. With all the attention given to soccer (football elsewhere) in the FIFA competition in South Africa during June I realized again that baseball is the truly American game that has spread its influence to Latin America and Asia. There are many reasons for loving baseball but most are simply lost on people who do not love the game. And you can only love this game if you understand the game. Otherwise, baseball seems so slow and so boring. But for the true fan this is a special game that has its own pace and its own rhythms. It is also a game that requires thought and strategy in a way that allows the ordinary fan to manage in their mind, to question decisions carefully made and then to openly disagree. There are endless debates about baseball. Three people can see one play and form four opinions and all of them may be […]

A New Angle on the Catholic Church Sex-Abuse Issue

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:38-05:00July 2nd, 2010|Categories: Church Tradition, Current Affairs, Roman Catholicism, Sexuality|

A recent AP report added a new insight into the Roman Catholic clergy abuse scenario that few have been willing to consider. Under John Paul II the church was recovering from a notable loss of priests, many of whom were leaving the priesthood to get married in the 1970s. John Paul made it harder for priests to leave the priesthood as one of several papal responses to the crisis. Since entering the priesthood involves a sacramental oath, and the reception of holy orders, leaving it for laicization requires what is often a lengthy church trial. This trial was often shortened, following Vatican II, making it easier for a priest to leave. But all this changed in the late 1970s when John Paul II changed course. These facts are not really debatable as much as I have been able to perceive from my study of the issue. (I am open to understanding this response better since I have no axe to grind here at […]

Try Laughing at the Devil and Some of Those Preachers Who Think They Understand the Mystery of Divine Providence

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:38-05:00July 1st, 2010|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Divine Providence, Humor|

When the earthquake destroyed much of Haiti earlier this year Pat Robertson made another of his characteristic public statements about good and evil. Martin Luther and C. S. Lewis, to name only a few thoughtful Christians of their ilk, noted that one of the best methods for dealing with the devil was to taunt him. They urged us to literally laugh at him. Well, I think there is an appropriate time to laugh at the silliness of some public pronouncements made by well-intentioned but unwise Christians like Pat Robertson. Honestly, if I didn’t laugh at such nonsense I would cry or get very angry. So try this “Letters to the Editor” response for a laugh.

Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune Letters to the Editor January 14, 2010:

Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make […]

The ACT 3 Weekly: A Resource for Leaders Who Think

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:38-05:00June 30th, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism|

Many of you who regularly visit this blog are not readers of the much more important Internet writing that I do for ACT 3. Each Monday we publish a weekly article that runs from 1,200 to 1,800 words. This feature is also available as a podcast via iTunes. Many love to listen to me give this thought-provoking piece on their iPod and prefer this to reading it. Some like both methods. Either way the article and podcast are free to subscribers.

The simple way to subscribe is to go to the ACT 3 website and sign up for the ACT 3 Weekly there. Recent articles have addressed the issue of Christian worldview. What is a worldview? Where did this terminology come from? How is the concept being misused by many in our own day? How can we regain a proper use of the concept and use it more carefully?

The ACT 3 Weekly articles are sometimes part of a series and sometimes they are single, stand-alone, […]

Sharing a Vision, Building a Movement of God’s Spirit

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:38-05:00June 29th, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Renewal, Unity of the Church|

From the inception of ACT 3 as a mission, back in 1991, I have believed in the church. I have three great loves: (1) Jesus Christ; (2) The Holy Scriptures; and (3) The Church. The church encompasses the whole body of Christ (catholic/universal). It also encompasses the congregation where you gather in worship and fellowship with others. But, as I show in Your Church Is Too Small, the church also includes the whole collection of Christians in a geographical area, thus the church in Rome or the church in Carol Stream, which is the town where I live and worship. All three of these uses are important if we are to have a robust biblical doctrine and practice of the Christian life.

But two words have come to dominate the purpose of ACT 3 from its inception in 1991. We are not the church. We are not even a para-church as some use the term. We are a missional order, […]

What Makes the Present Moment So Unique in History?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:38-05:00June 28th, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Current Affairs, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism|

What makes this period in human history so unique? Is even the idea that we are living in unique and unusual times really all that important? Wouldn’t people living in any previous era have said the same thing and been right, at least to some significant point? Well, of course the answer is yes but there really is something about the 21st century that has changed the world in a remarkable way. Christians are all too often unaware of this change and fail to have clear vision about the future. My book, Your Church Is Too Small, seeks to provide a way forward in the new century that might impact the mission of Christ in a wholly and completely new way.

One More Word on Love from Mount Athos

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:38-05:00June 27th, 2010|Categories: Love|

Over the past few Lord’s Days, during the month of June, I have posted some reflections on love from the writings of Staretz Silouan (1866-1938), a monk who lived on the most famous site in Orthodox Christendom, Mount Athos in Greece. Silouan’s writings have been published in several small volumes, one of which is simply titled: Wisdom From Mount Athos. It is from this particular volume that I have quoted and reflected on the truth of divine love.

Silouan rightly says the Lord loves all men but: “His love is greatest for the man who seeks him.”

The Lord clearly told us to “love your enemies.” But how can we love a person who hates us, who seeks our harm and even opposes our presence? Silouan answers:

When the Lord was on His way to Jerusalem and the Samaritans did not receive Him, His disciples John and James were ready to call down fire from heaven to consume them; but the […]