Blog - Page 171 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Community Is In, Part Two

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:34-05:00December 2nd, 2009|Categories: Uncategorized|

I am a deeply relational person. I love to study, teach and write. But I would much rather spend time with a friend, or several friends, than do any of these other activities. For as long as I can remember I have sought solace to think, read, write and pray. I am comfortable alone. But I cannot stand being alone for too long. I have to be with people. I like people, or at least most people. I thrive in relationships. I suppose this is one of the reasons why I feel deep pain when people attack me or make statements about me that are unfair or untrue. Counselors tell me that I should never let these things bother me so deeply. I try to listen but it is hard. You would think at this age I would not give a rip but I do. Some of this problem is plainly rooted in my sinful perfectionism but some of it is simply due to the fact that I […]

Community Is In, Part One

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:34-05:00December 1st, 2009|Categories: The Future|

The idea of community is cool these days. Everywhere you turn Christians, especially twenty-something Christians, are talking about Christian community. Most of this should be welcomed by us all. Some of it, for sure, is ill-informed. But all of it is a major correction to the loss of community that we experienced over the past thirty-plus years. As the children of the younger baby-boomers reached their twenties they came of age in a context where they had known dysfunctional family and broken homes. They had also known church as a business more than a caring family, if they knew the church at all. It is thus to be expected that community would be a deep hunger for these younger adults. But this explanation is still far too simple to my mind.

It would be helpful to define the word community before we go much further. It comes from the Latin communitas and means fellowship/community. The Latin communis means common. A community, as most of us […]

Building Bridges With Our Muslim Neighbors

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:34-05:00November 30th, 2009|Categories: Islam|

In a world where the fear of Muslims is very high most of us are not sure how to respond to the Muslims we meet from day-to-day. Increasingly Muslims live in our neighborhoods. You almost have to live in a small rural area or a remote place to not see Muslims on a daily bases. They live in many of our neighborhoods and I deal with them on a regular basis. What are we to do?

I suggest the first and most important thing we are to do is not be suspicious of our neighbors unless there is clear and obvious reason to become so. Most have the same hopes, dreams and fears that we do. And most will be good neighbors just like non-Muslims. Our job, as Christians, is to build bridges to our neighbors, not react with fear and enmity. Such bridges can foster harmonious community relationships based on mutual respect, which is always the starting point for our witness as believers. We […]

Christ Alone Is Without Sin

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:36-05:00November 29th, 2009|Categories: Christ/Christology|

Article 15 of the 39 Articles of the Church of England says: "Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his spirit. He came to be the Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world, and sin, as Saint John saith, was not in him. But all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ,yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."A modernized version says, "Christ, who truly took our human nature, was made like us in every respect except that of sin." I do not think most Christians I know actually believe this point. Or at least most do not act like they believe it. It seems that what they believe is that Christ, being divine in nature, was not really "like us in every respect."

I hear it often […]

Keep the BCS Out of Congress

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:36-05:00November 28th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

There are many far more important issues for Congress to take up these days than the selection process by which college football decides who the number one football team is in America this season. With the release of the first BCS poll a few weeks ago Congress again talked about getting involved. We have two wars going on overseas, a nation still in financial crisis and a host of important things to discuss and some congressional leaders want to consider the college football bowl season. College football doesn't need any help from Congress believe me. In fact Congress would likely kill the golden goose if it got its way in this matter.

Did you know that there is a college football playoff PAC in Washington? I didn't until very recently. Now that I do I am truly amazed. Bryson Morgan, a member of the board of directors of the Playoff PAC, recently said, "All of us recognize that our nation has weightier issues to tackle. However, […]

How Sweet It Is: Alabama Beats Auburn in a Classic Iron Bowl

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:36-05:00November 27th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

Alabama vs. Auburn is very often a classic college football game. Today was no exception. Alabama was a heavy favorite, had a perfect season and had to play Auburn on the road. Auburn had two weeks to prepare and prepare they did. They came out firing and running fast, surprising and gutsy plays. Every Auburn fan should be proud of the effort the Tigers put out this afternoon. They out played Alabama until the final 8:30 of the fourth quarter, when the Tide showed the character and determination that has made them a contender for the second year in a row to win 26-21. What can I say about two straight 12-0 regular seasons? It has never been done in Alabama's storied history. I am proud of this team. They could have lost at least three games this year but refused to lose. And to think that many people thought Nick Saban would not do this well until year four and year three is not over yet. The guy is a winner.

The Crimson Tide […]

The Greatest Rivalries in College Football

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:36-05:00November 27th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

Readers of my blog know I am a huge Alabama football fan. By now you can guess what I will be doing this afternoon since Alabama plays its biggest rival, Auburn, on national television. Whether you are a football fan or not the Southeastern Conference (SEC) rivalries are notorious for their show and passion. And good jokes are abundant in the SEC.

Earlier this year a special edition of Sports Illustrated featured several SEC football teams on its cover and then marketed these special editions to the fans of a particular school and region. I made sure that my brother got me the special Alabama issue and I have enjoyed it immensely.

In a feature on SEC rivalries the writer says: “SEC rivalries divide families, strain marriages, test lifelong friendships and inspire bloodless insults—many of which involve illumination.” He goes on to provide a series of light-bulb jokes about SEC schools. Here they are:

How many […]

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:36-05:00November 26th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

Thanksgiving Day clearly has its roots in the idea of a fall harvest festival. It was traditionally, and still is, a time to give thanks for both the harvest and for life in general. In the United States it still remains the most unencumbered of all our special holidays. Little commercialization has tainted it and most of us look forward to it, unless we have painful memories of family or loss that we associate with the day. The day had religious association in American history but much of this has now been lost to secular forces of change. Still in all it retains a charm and a simplicity that most Christians can and do appreciate.

Most of us associate this day with the fall celebration of thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621. The connection of this event with our modern celebration is as much myth as fact but the link remains in most of our minds.

Alexander Hamilton proclaimed […]

Praying for the Acts of God to Continue in Our Time

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:37-05:00November 25th, 2009|Categories: Evangelism|

The Book of Acts is very often misunderstood, like so much of the Bible. It is a unique book. It is actually a sequel to the Gospel of Luke and continues the narrative of the early church, from the ascension of Jesus to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the early accounts of the spread of the gospel "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It ends with Paul's imprisonment in Rome. There is a marked parallelism between Luke's Gospel and Acts.

Christians sometimes debate how to title the book. It is rightly called "The Acts of the Apostles" though it is clearly a record of how the Holy Spirit worked through these first followers of Jesus who were the foundation of the Christian Church. The Holy Spirit is poured out in the second chapter, reversing the movement of the ascension. He becomes the major player in the drama called the church providing energy, courage and power for the mission of Jesus.

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Further Ecumenical-Missional Insight from My Friend Dr. Joe Schafer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:37-05:00November 24th, 2009|Categories: Unity of the Church|

Yesterday, I told you about my very good friend Dr. Joe Schafer, a frequent commenter on this blog spot. I also told you a bit about his ministry with University Bible Fellowship (UBF) at Penn State University. Joe continues to encourage me as he responds to me as a friend, and to the kingdom vision of ACT 3. He is working hard to create a missional-ecumenical kingdom focused context for mission and unity in State College. I hope to somehow help in this process at the right time. For now I pray for Joe specifically, and in general for the body of Christ in this great university town.

One of Joe’s recent efforts has been to create a Web presence to foster this missional-ecumenism. I will tell you more about this in a moment but here is the remainder of Joe’s reflections upon our time this summer in a UBF conference at James Madison University:

As you have pointed […]