Blog - Page 155 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Judge Who Ruled Against the National Day of Prayer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:00-05:00May 7th, 2010|Categories: America and Americanism, Politics, Prayer, Religion, Renewal, Separation of Church & State|

Thursday, May 6, was the National Day of Prayer, an event that has been celebrated in America since 1988. Earlier versions of the same idea of national prayer go back to the early history of the nation and eventually gained momentum during the Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln signed a Congressional resolution on March 3, 1863, which called for a day of fasting and prayer during the Civil War.

On April 17, 1952, a bill proclaiming an annual National Day of Prayer (NDP) was unanimously passed by both houses of congress. President Truman signed this bill into law. It required the President to select a day for national prayer each year. In 1972 The National Prayer Committee was created, an evangelical Christian organization. The National Day of Prayer Task Force, which now has a major role in the NDP, has become a major project of that committee. In 1988 a bill was introduced in Congress which […]

The Great Theologians

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:00-05:00May 6th, 2010|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, The Church|

One of the finest and most accessible books for the study of theology and great theologians that I have read has just been released by InterVarsity Press. The Great Theologians, authored by professor of religion and philosophy Gerald R. McDermott of Roanoke College (VA), is superb in every way. I gladly endorsed this book by writing: “First-rate scholar Gerald McDermott employs effective prose without becoming prosaic and so provides us a wonderfully catholic and evangelical book that gives Christian theology its proper place in renewal for the health of the church.”

I am asked to endorse a lot of books, which I generally do quite gladly if I have both the time an the interest. In this case I gladly agreed to read this book when InterVarsity wrote to me because I know the author well and count him a personal friend. But I do not now promote this book simply because […]

The Civility Covenant

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:00-05:00May 5th, 2010|Categories: Current Affairs, Personal, Politics|

I do not always agree with the editorial stance of Sojourners, a magazine dedicated to faith, politics and culture. In fact I have subscribed to Sojourners on again and off again for some years. Right now I am not a subscriber. During the last national election cycle I felt like Sojourners became the evangelical voice of the left as much as some other publications were, and still are, the voice of the right. I do not begrudge this reality but I choose to limit my political reading more and more as I get older.

I have a read a good bit of the published work of Sojourners founder Jim Wallis. I have often found his economic and social stance too closely aligned with governmental solutions and social policies that I simple find objectionable. Having said this I respect Wallis as a voice that needs to be heard and one that often says something we all need to hear. This is why I gladly signed a recent appeal, sent to me by Sojourners, called a covenant […]

Another Reason Why I Think the Attempt to Control Health Care Services Will Fail

By John Armstrong|2010-05-04T04:00:00-05:00May 4th, 2010|Categories: Current Affairs, Economy/Economics, Personal, Politics|

I am of the persuasion that government does have a responsibility to help our communities care for the neediest among us. I do not argue that this is an entirely private matter in a society that has the means to really help those in real need. I am grateful for public health programs, human services and the ways we can service those with disabilities better than most societies. At the same time I believe that the transition to a more deliberate top-down system of health care is not good for the very people that it is meant to help. Let me explain by means of a letter I recently received from a friend. This brother lives in Michigan, a state with more than a few economic problems. This man is not looking for special favors, just the services that have been promised and delivered to him for some time. We have been led to believe that changes in our health care system will make life easier for so many needy people but this is simply not the case. Here is my friend’s recent […]

My Experience with Divisions in the Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:00-05:00May 3rd, 2010|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

I have had more than a few personal experiences with division in the church over the course of my six decades of life. I am regularly reminded of the apostle’s appeal that “all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10, NRSV). I have heard a myriad of reasons over the course of my life for why we cannot pursue unity. At its lowest common denominator all Christians must admit that their own church ought to experience unity but few really do and most make this goal relatively unimportant to their mission as a congregation. My own life experience revealed to me how tragic this failure really was and still is today. I talk about this in another of the video interviews I did for my book Your Church Is Too Small .

Your Family and the Greatest Commandment

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:00-05:00May 2nd, 2010|Categories: Marriage & Family, The Church|

I recently read a book sent to me by a pastor who serves on the staff of Wheaton Bible Church, which is very near my home. The book, written by Dr. Rob Rienow, is titled Visionary Parenting: Capture a God-sized Vision for Your Family (Nashville: Randall House, 2009). It is a sober and extremely helpful call to parents to make their priorities line up with God’s Word. One of the simplest and most revealing discoveries I made in reading the early pages of Reinow’s fine book is in the words God gave to his covenant people regarding his desire for their allegiance and love.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep the words I am commanding you today in your heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). […]

The Ghost Writer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:00-05:00May 1st, 2010|Categories: Film|

Roman Polanski has been a fugitive from justice for years. It has been thirty-plus years since he was arrested, tried and convicted of rape. He then fled to Europe. His Hollywood friends, most of whom prove their utter contempt for decency and the law, still offer their support for the convicted felon.

But Polanski can make films. During his brief time in Hollywood Polanski made Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown, which all but assured his stature in the history of cinema. His best-known film made during his decades in exile was The Pianist, a highly regarded and, I believe, much over-rated movie.

Ross Douthat, writing in the National Review, says of Polanski: “At the very least, the shadow of jail time seems to have concentrated his mind, and spurred his creativity. His latest film, The Ghost Writer, which slunk into American theaters this month (how would you like to be the publicist promoting […]

Be Very Afraid

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:01-05:00April 30th, 2010|Categories: America and Americanism, Books|

Robert Wuthnow is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and the author of numerous articles and books about American culture. His particular expertise has been in showing how America’s religious faith intersects with life in our culture. His writing is sometimes dense but always useful. One of his more recent titles summarizes a great deal of Wuthnow’s insight: American Mythos: Why Our Best Efforts to Be a Better Nation Fall Short (Princeton University Press, 2008). The guy is prolific if he is nothing else. I cannot keep up with him but I try to “breeze” by his new material now and then to glean what I can from this highly respected social thinker.

Wuthnow’s newest book is Be Very Afraid: The Cultural Response to Terror, Pandemics, Environmental Devastation, Nuclear Annihilation, and Other Threats (Oxford University Press, 2010). This book is not rooted in religion, as such, but it touches on […]

The Value of Travel

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:01-05:00April 29th, 2010|Categories: Personal, Travel|

A few months ago (February 9, 2010) an interview in the Christian Century was made with a travel agent/writer who reflected upon the blessings of travel. I found a lot in his thoughtful piece that lined up with my own travel experience.

First, I love travel but I do hate airports. Go figure. I have just grown weary of these places and the hustle and bustle of the busy, security tightened, way of modern flying. Getting miles is OK but in the end I would rather go some other way. But if I am driving more than four or five hours I still prefer to fly.

Second, in the Century interview author Rick Steves said, “The less you travel, the more likely that media with a particular agenda can shape your viewpoint. Those of us who travel are a little more resilient when it comes to weathering the propaganda storms that […]

N. T. Wright: Is He Really the Most Dangerous Theologian of Our Time?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:01-05:00April 28th, 2010|Categories: Biblical Theology, Hermeneutics, Justification and the New Perspective, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

From the first moment I heard the name of N. T. Wright, about twenty years ago I think, I was told to avoid him like the plague. Why? He was a dangerous man with a theology that would undermine the entire Protestant Reformation. Dutifully I avoided him because those I respected told me to do so. I limited my reading of Tom Wright to a few articles and to only one book about him (not by him). I was told that he embraced a position called “The New Perspective on Paul” (NPP). This position was a damaging (some say, quite literally, a damning) stance on Paul’s corpus of New Testament material because it directly attacked the most important truths of the Reformation. Thankfully a very good friend, who had taken the time to begin to read Tom Wright for himself, challenged me bluntly and forcefully to my face. In effect he told me to keep my mouth shut about Tom Wright until I had really bothered to read him for myself. In the mid-1990s I began to read Tom Wright and have appreciated […]