Blog - Page 172 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Dr. Joe Schafer: A Friend Who Seeks to Model the Ecumenical-Missional Vision

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:37-05:00November 23rd, 2009|Categories: Unity of the Church|

Long-time readers of my blog know of my deep friendship with leaders and members of University Bible Fellowship. In July of this year I spoke to a regional UBF conference at James Madison University in Virginia. My host, and dear friend, was Dr. Joe Schafer, the leader of the UBF ministry at Penn State University where he is a professor (see photo with me at left). Joe has been reading, and commenting, on my blogs for a long time so regular readers will recognize his name. When Joe invited me to speak on worship at this gathering I jumped at the opportunity because of our friendship (one of my highest values is friendship) and because of the warm reception I have received from UBF folks in Chicago. After this event in July I asked Joe to write to my board and tell them about the time we shared. With his permission I now share some of that letter with you my blog friends. There is so much here […]

What's With the Mini-Dachshunds?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:37-05:00November 22nd, 2009|Categories: Personal|

I am frequently asked, "What's with the miniature dachshunds in your personal photos?" The short answer is that the adorable pooch (on right in photo above) is our eight and half year-old dog Neo. (She was named Neo since she was "new" and we wanted an easy, cute name. I tell friends that she is also named Neo because she reminds me of "neo-ortho-doxy.") She is our fourth mini-dachshund in nearly 39 years of marriage. The doxie on the left is Latte, our daughter's 18 month old mini-dachshund. They have become friends after a period of adjustment for our much older Neo, who now seems to be a bit more lively with "the little pest" around quite often. Latte is a sweet dog too but so different and she sometimes drives Neo to moderate distraction.

Anita was the real dog-lover when we first met. She had German Shepherds as a child. When I married her she had a special pal named Duchess. […]

One Day You'll Understand

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:37-05:00November 21st, 2009|Categories: Film|

The acclaimed Israeli film maker Amos Gitai gives us a truly haunting and sympathetic portrayal of the Holocaust from a perspective that I do not think I have seen presented so well on film. The movie is a moving and powerful meditation on the power of memory, identity and personal reconciliation. How do you live with horrible memories? How do you forgive yourself when you wonder all your life if you did everything that you could to save the lives of others?

The film centers around the historical context of the 1987 trial of Klaus Barbie. Victor (Hippolyte Girardot) is taken with the trial's importance and begins to review old family documents and discovers a distressing "Aryan declaration" written by his late father. This causes Victor to dig deeper and deeper into the past. His mother, Rivka (legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau), tries to keep a deep silence […]

Is It a Real Translation or Just Radical Ideology?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:37-05:00November 20th, 2009|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

Most readers, at least those over thirty, have heard of Phyllis Schlafly. Mrs. Schlafly has been widely known in the culture wars for over fifty years. She is a strident, oft published, conservative activist. She became well known in the 1964 ill-fated Barry Goldwater presidential campaign. She became best known for her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Many believe she was the leading voice in helping to defeat the amendment when 30 of the needed 38 states had already voted to accept it. Personally, I have always found it quite ironic that when the U. S helped Japan write its constitution, following their defeat in World War II, we made sure they adopted an ERA. We wanted the idea of "equal rights" under the law built into their political DNA.

Until recently I did not know much about Mrs. Schlafly’s six children. I certainly knew nothing about her best-known son, Andy Schlafly. Andy is a staunch […]

John R. Mott: Why Christians Must Rise Above Separatism

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

My good friend Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, edited a small book titled: John R. Mott: That the World May Believe. This 95-page gem is worth the time of every Christian I know. It sells for only $3.95 and I urge readers to get a copy from EMIS (Books & Resources Tab) through the Billy Graham Center. Read it several times. It even makes for great devotional, daily reading. If you want to fire your own heart for mission and Christian unity it is a marvelous resource.

Allison introduces Mott’s life and then breaks his main contributions down into four parts: Evangelism, Student Mobilization, Cooperation and Spiritual Formation. He provides a very brief introduction to each of these four parts and then gives the reader a number of quotations from Mott’s various out-of-print books. There are gems and treasures here for those who embrace mission and unity, or what I call missional-ecumenism.

[…]

Why John R. Mott is My Role Model for Missional-Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 18th, 2009|Categories: Unity of the Church|

Yesterday I referred to the life and witness of John R. Mott (1865–1955). Mott personifies the vision and passion of my life. He is, as I indicated, my most important role model for what I call missional-ecumenism in my forthcoming book, Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church (Zondervan, April).

Oliver Tomkins says a plausible legend exists that Mott laid out a railway line as a boy that formed a vast continental railway system. This was, of course, long before such existed. I can identify. I recall sneaking into the attic of my boyhood home and playing with maps and globes and photos of the world and reaming about how to reach the multitudes. (I still regret that I could not have been a foreign missionary!)

While a student at Cornell University John R. Mott moved from agnosticism to vibrant living faith in Christ. Shortly after his conversion he signed the Student Volunteer Declaration, a commitment to world missions. I too made a commitment at age […]

Synergy Network Conference in Chicago

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 17th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

I have appreciated the teaching and mentoring ministry of Carolyn Custis James for some time. I came to know about Carolyn because of my friendship with her husband Frank, who is now the dean at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Carolyn is a prolific author and a first-rate thinker. She is also a warm communicator whose ministry to men and women is deeply Christ-centered. She is the author of several very popular books. There are many great women teachers who are well worth knowing today but very few quite like Carolyn. This is why I happily asked her to speak in Chicago in 2010, which led to a co-sponsored event to be held at Christ Church in Oak Brook (IL) on January 23. I hope all who are within driving distance of Chicago will plan to attend this great Saturday event. It might appear that this day is only for women but this is not the case. Wives, bring your men. Come and meet me at Christ Church […]

What John R. Mott Taught Me About Unity in Christ's Mission

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 17th, 2009|Categories: Unity of the Church|

I was surprised, when the recent announcement of President Obama's winning the Nobel Peace Prize, prompted the famous atheist Christopher Hitchens to attack the selection of two previous Nobel Peace Prize winners that he particularly disdains: Mother Theresa and John R. Mott. I doubt that few who actually read Hitchens' article, where a photo of Mott appeared in a popular news magazine, had any idea who Mott was.

John R. Mott (1865–1955) lived an extraordinary life. What amazes me is not that so few people know anything about him but that so few serious Christians even know his name. much less anything about his life as a Christian leader. If any one individual could be said to personify the modern ecumenical movement, with a proper emphasis upon Christ and mission, it would be John R. Mott. Oliver Tomkins says, “In him converge uniquely the varied strands of which the ecumenical movement is woven” (Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement, page 703).

[…]

The Central Core of True Faith is Jesus Christ

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 16th, 2009|Categories: Christ/Christology|

John Stott has clearly given the church a treasure of biblical teaching that will feed minds and hearts for decades to come. One of Stott’s most useful books is Basic Christianity, a book that I have often used to train/mentor others. First published in 1958 this is vintage John R. W. Stott. He sets forth a compelling course of simple, yet very rich, study that defends the fundamental truth claims of Christianity. What are the basic beliefs of all Christians and why do they really matter? How do we live out the faith that we confess? Stott’s friend, J. I. Packer, calls this little gem of a book a “disarming introduction to personal faith [a] modern classic.” I agree.

Stott begins this incredibly useful book by saying: “We must commit ourselves, heart and mind, soul and will, home and life, personally and unreservedly, to Jesus Christ. We must humble ourselves before him. We must trust him as our Savior and submit to him […]

An Update on My Friend David Stopke

By John Armstrong|2009-11-15T05:00:00-06:00November 15th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

Some five months ago I wrote about my friend David Stopke. David was accidentally shot by his own son while his son was cleaning a firearm. They were cleaning the gun following an attempted break-in the day before. David, who was shot through the neck in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was immediately flown to Las Vegas to a trauma hospital where he spent several months near death. It was there that I went to visit him a few days after the tragic accident. After a long stint in Las Vegas, with his life in the balance for several months, David recovered and was taken to Denver for further medical procedures. He was then taken back to Nevada for therapy and recovery. Before this year is over he hopes to go home. The fact that he is alive is truly amazing.

Over the course of these months I have had a number of conversations with David's family. They have expressed their profound concern for the prayers of all who know about their ordeal. I have also had two or three very short conversations with […]