Blog - Page 169 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Have We Missed Jesus in the Church?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:25-05:00December 16th, 2009|Categories: Jesus|

I find it more than odd, but terribly common, that Christians know very little about Jesus. Most Christians know very little about Christian doctrine and practice but they know even less about Jesus. The reason for this is not hard to find in most contexts.

First, ministers did not learn much about Jesus in college and seminary. In the best schools we were taught how to exegete Scripture and how to understand basic doctrine. Catholics are given additional courses in canon law and liturgy that most evangelicals know nothing about. Both evangelicals and Catholics are given a course, or at least a part of a course, on Christology. They know about the two natures (Jesus was God and man) and about how the church developed its understanding of Jesus in the face of heresies. But hardly anyone learns in depth about Jesus himself. How does he think and feel, what are his values, what issues in life truly concern him?

Protestants are generally more […]

Mix-and-Match Religion on the Rise

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:25-05:00December 15th, 2009|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the most reputable and the most often cited source for such research, informed us on Wednesday that Americans are increasingly taking a "build-your-own" approach to religion. I have found anecdotal evidence for this movement for some time so the actual results of real research did not shock me at all.

Large numbers of Americans attend services of traditions other than their own and they are now increasingly blending Christianity with Eastern and New Age beliefs. There has been, the survey reveals, a dramatic increase over the last three decades in the number of people who have had a religious or mystical experience. The U.S. is still considered an overwhelmingly Christian country, in terms of membership and preferences, but there are growing minorities who hold beliefs of the kind found at Buddhist temples or New Age bookstores. 24% of those surveyed believe in reincarnation. 22% of Christians believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation, in case you wondered, is an […]

The Amazing Life of a Big Man: G. K. Chesterton

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:25-05:00December 14th, 2009|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

G.K. Chesterton was an imposing giant of a man, standing 6’4” and weighing almost 300 pounds. He was also a giant of a man intellectually and spiritually. His interests ranged very widely and the output of his mind was beyond incredible. His work includes some 4,000 essays, several hundred poems and around 200 short stories. On top of that he authored more than a hundred books. And for more than four decades he wrote a weekly column in from one to four different journals. These columns appeared along with a constant production of stories, plays, reviews, novels and commentaries. And he was in constant demand as a speaker, drawing large crowds wherever he went.

Chesterton was a prodigious intellectual for sure. But he was not your ordinary intellectual. He wrote and spoke in a way that often appealed to ordinary people and he relished the opportunity to speak to the common man. He claimed that he was nothing more than a simple journalist. […]

Humility Leaves Room for Complexity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:25-05:00December 13th, 2009|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism|

Nancy Gibbs, a long-time editor-at-large for TIME magazine, has written, "The problems we face are too fierce to accommodate arrogance. Humility leaves room for complexity, honors honest dissent, welcomes the outlandish idea . . . that feeds invention."

Nancy has authored over 100 cover stories for TIME, including four "Person of the Year" essays. She wrote TIME's September 11th memorial issue as well as weekly essays on how 9/11 impacted the nation. Her article, from which this comment is taken, "If You Want to Be Humble and Empire . . . ", won the Luce Awards' 2002 Story of the Year.

Nancy Gibbs spoke of American imperial ideals in her quotation. But I apply it to my own life and that of my work. The problems I believe the church faces are too fierce, too complex and too challenging to accommodate the arrogance that so many of our leaders bring to the table. We need the kind of humility that really leaves room for complexity and honors real dissent among fellow Christians.

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Ingram Wins in Closest Vote Ever

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:26-05:00December 12th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

My man Mark Ingram won the big trophy tonight in New York City. With real class, and a lot of tears and some very obvious nervousness, Mark Ingram thanked God, his mother, his grandparents, his father (who is in a New York jail), his aunts and uncles, his coaches, his teammates and even the strength coach (who helped him build his body to become a more talented runner).

A friend twittered that Tim Tebow prayed with Mark just before the award to calm his spirit. Classy stuff from a fellow competitor, which is one reason I love the college game so much. Ingram thus becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner in Alabama's storied football history. If you had asked a student of this great game in September if this day would come no one, and I mean no one, would have predicted that unheralded Mark Ingram would win the Heisman Trophy in the closest vote in the seventy-five year history […]

The Heisman Trophy Comes Down to the Wire

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:26-05:00December 12th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

If you had asked me in August if Alabama's running back Mark Ingram was a serious candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 2009 I would have smiled and said, "No way." After watching him play 13 games I now believe he deserves the most talked about personal award in college football, awarded tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Let me explain my reasons since football fans might say I am just slightly biased since I love the Crimson Tide.

Ndomukong Suh, the big defensive lineman from Nebraska might be the best player in college football this year. The guy is amazing. I have never seen an interior lineman dominate a game like he did last Saturday against Texas. This guy is amazing and will surely be a top three or four pick in the NFL draft. He could win the trophy and I would be happy for him and the fans of Nebraska. But defensive linemen do not usually win this award.

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Dr. Hudson Taylor Armerding: RIP

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:26-05:00December 11th, 2009|Categories: Uncategorized|

Dr. Hudson Taylor Armerding (1918–2009), the former president/provost of Wheaton College (1961–1982), passed into the presence of Jesus on December 1. His funeral service will be tomorrow, December 12, at 11:00 a.m. at College Church in Wheaton. Dr. Armerding was one of the most visible and respected evangelical leaders of his era, the era led by the pre-World War II generation. He served, with distinction, in the Navy during the Second World War and was decorated for service to his nation.

To me Hudson Armerding was my friend. That seems odd to say since he was more than thirty years my senior. When I arrived at Wheaton in 1969 he was fifty years of age and I was not quite twenty. But it is true. We were good friends. Dr. Armerding and I met in his office in the fall of 1969. I was a junior transfer student from the University of Alabama. My reason for an appointment with the rather quiet and somewhat […]

Do Celebrities Have a Vital Role in Treating Health Issues?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:26-05:00December 10th, 2009|Categories: Science|

To ask my question is virtually to answer it at the same time. But ask it I must. Do public celebrities, popular for whatever reason, have a role to play in treating disease and illness? Some clearly think so or books and various programs would not have such a huge audience.

Take Suzanne Somers as a case in point. Her new book, Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who are Curing Cancer and How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place has created rousing interest among many. I have no doubt that it will become a bestseller. Somers is known for her crusade for non-traditional treatments. She is a cancer survivor herself, having undergone a lumpectomy and radiation for breast cancer a decade ago. She declined chemotherapy and believes it is not effective for the most common forms of cancer: lung and breast.

Somers got her largest response when she appeared on Oprah. Oprah denies that she promotes such "cures" but she said Somers […]

Are You in the Redemption Business?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:26-05:00December 9th, 2009|Categories: Lordship of Christ|

I recently read a quote on a Web site recently that struck me as provocative, if not altogether theologically accurate. The owners of a particular agribusiness described their purpose with these words: "We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture. Writing, speaking and farm tours offer various message venues."

Now I've seen a lot of mission statements, both for congregations and organization, but I've never read one quite like this. This one is unique for several reasons. But is it right?

Redemption is the central category of Christian theology. It explains the Christian proclamation of Jesus as the Christ, as our redeemer and savior. The English word "redemption" literally means a buying back. The term is closely associated, but distinct from, other terms like atonement, and reconciliation. Salvation might be the broadest term to describe all three: redemption, atonement and reconciliation. All of these terms refer to a gracious transition from […]

At the Death House Door: A Film That Pushed Me Over the Edge

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:27-05:00December 8th, 2009|Categories: Ethics|

I have had very serious doubts about the practice of capital punishment in America for decades. I know the arguments for it quite well. I fell back on those arguments, and the Old Testament texts that can be used to support them, until I felt the whole issue crumbling under my feet about 15 years ago. Like so many similar changes in my thinking I processed my thoughts, read more widely, studied the Scripture much more carefully and just listened a great deal. I read the classical texts on the issue from church history and the modern arguments by supporters and opponents. Like so many of these kinds of issues there is a great deal of emotion involved in coming to any conclusion. Most of the time your mind will go to the worst case scenario and leave it there. But the worst case scenario argument was finally resolved for me by watching a new film, At the Death House Door. Let […]