Blog - Page 173 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Looking for Lincoln

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 14th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

PBS does some of the finest documentary presentations in contemporary television. To celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln PBS did a two-hour special (now available on DVD) titled: Looking for Lincoln. It features Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Gates travels around the country from Gettysburg to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. He stops in Springfield and rural Indiana. He interviews friends and foes of Lincoln, including a group of Southern Civil War supporters who see Lincoln as a terrorist. From Lincoln re-enactors at a unique convention to relic hunters and collectors he shows the impact of our sixteenth president on our national identity, past and present.

Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are featured as well. Both interact with Lincoln's legacy and what it must have been like to live in the White House in those darkest days in our nation's lowest point. Clinton is particularly impressive in his grasp of Lincoln's religious nature and the impact of […]

Holy Ground: A Book I Heartily Commend

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 13th, 2009|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

I first met Rev. Chris Castaldo about eleven years ago, just before he headed off to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He was connected to a church in the area where I had ministered quite often. He instantly endeared himself to me for his warmth and graciousness. For six years Chris has served on the staff of College Church in Wheaton. Over the years since we first met we have become really true friends. I count Chris as one of the finest and brightest young ministers I know. He is an able preacher, teacher and now a first-time author. His first book, which will surely not be his last I pray, is Holy Ground, published last month by Zondervan. Chris is doing a "blog tour" this week. I wanted to participate in the fun. To this end Chris responded to several questions about his book for today's blog.

1. Why did you […]

How Will We Address the Problem of the Church in Decline?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 12th, 2009|Categories: The Church|

Yesterday I wrote about the decline of churches in America. The facts are clear. Most churches are losing members faster than they are gaining. Those church groups that are not losing members are flat-lined, or barely growing at all. The percentage of growth, in the most spiritually virile groups, is in decline.

All of this underscores what many of us have seen coming for the last decade plus. We have entered what many think is the first stage of the long term breakup of Christendom. This appears to have begun in the 1990s. The evidence is now beginning to show us when it began. But the evidence does not clearly tell us why it began thus the conclusion as to what happened is unclear. And what we should do in the face of this tragic loss is not clear at all. Groups of all sorts offer solutions and advance ideas for how we should proceed in a “new world” context.

My conclusion is rather simple, but I think rather profound in its own way. We must make […]

Is Christianity in America in Decline?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 11th, 2009|Categories: The Church|

American church bodies are clearly in a state of decline. Some are declining at an unparalleled rate while others have just begun to decline for the first time in the last year or two. Almost all American churches are in decline so denial of this reality serves no good purpose at all. Understanding it, and responding to it, will not be so easy. Most are likely to deny it for decades and simply do nothing. Those who are will keep asking, “What should we do in the face of Christendom’s rapid decline in the United States?”

When you take a ten year look at American church bodies it reveals that many have declined anywhere from 6.5% to 20% over the decade from 1997–2007. (The data I have is from Stephen Ministries which calls the statistical offices of these various groups to get their data. The most recent calls were made in April of this year. It generally takes about 6 to 9 months […]

Three Elements of Faith and Practice We Must Recover to Have a Robust "Ancient-Future" Faith

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:38-05:00November 10th, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

Yesterday I argued that an inordinate desire for the new, coupled with a growing abandonment of the historically received faith, is now having hugely negative consequences in many Protestant mainline churches. We must again be reminded that, "She who marries the spirit of the age becomes a widow in the next generation." What is called for is a reformation, a return to the faith “once for all delivered to the saints.” This is not a call to modern fundamentalism but a call to a robust, confessional faith that shares in the recovery of three elements of our faith and practice. But how shall we go about this recovery? I answer that in order to reform the church in our time we need to recover at least three core commitments.

First, we need a return to the Holy Scriptures as authoritative in all matters of faith and practice. Many people and churches must be re-introduced to the Jesus of the New Testament as well as the high doctrine of the Council of Chalcedon. We must go back, back to a more robust, confessional […]

The Divisions That Now Threaten Churches in the West

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:41-05:00November 9th, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

The division that has risen within Christianity in modern times, at least in certain ways, now overshadows the older divisions of the Great Schism (1054) and the Protestant Reformation. The most obvious debate that threatens to divide the church in the West, and one that will likely continue for generations to follow, is the approval of same-sex marriage and the ordination of practicing homosexuals to the ministry. Related issues of gender, morality and doctrine have troubled the church for at least three decades but recent decisions in some churches seem to have finally created the perfect storm. Underlying this issue is the deeper and broader conflict over the nature of the Christian revelation and how to read the Scriptures faithfully.

Has God fully and finally revealed himself to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ and is this revelation timeless, unchanging and binding upon all people at all times? Traditional, confessional Christianity is convinced that these moral issues are not unclear in Scripture or in […]

A Prayer for My Witness for Christ

By John Armstrong|2009-11-08T05:00:00-06:00November 8th, 2009|Categories: Evangelism|

A Prayer for Christian Witness

Dear Lord, I have friends and neighbors who do not seem to know you. It troubles me that they do not know you the living and true God. They struggle, just like I do, but they only have their own strength to get through each day. I know you love them and that you could help them beyond all they can hope or imagine at this moment.

I don’t want my friends and neighbors to miss out on the resurrection of life and the glorious new heavens and new earth. They need to know you the Triune God. They need to know Jesus Christ as their Lord. They need to follow the one who gives eternal life to all those who come to him.

I ask you to strengthen me to be a faithful witness so that I can help them come to know you as their Savior. Open for me an opportunity to love them and to […]

Both Political Parties to Blame for Our Deficits

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:41-05:00November 7th, 2009|Categories: Politics|

Republicans blame Democrats and Democrats blame the Republicans but the truth is that both parties are responsible for our rising deficits. The numbers for the deficit that ended with the year on September 30 show that we had a deficit budget of $1.4 trillion over the last twelve months. This is the largest deficit in dollars ever and it is the largest deficit relative to the economy since the U. S. emerged from World War II in 1945. Put in simple English the government borrowed 40 cents on every dollar it spent this last year. Could your family sustain such spending? Well, the leaders in Washington will hardly tell you the real truth here but neither can the U. S. government.

Advocates will say that all this spending was needed to avoid a depression. I largely agree but the problem is still so immense that this is not a solution, only an explanation of some sort. With tax revenue in sharp decline this deficit […]

What Happens When an Abortion Provider Has a Change of Heart?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:41-05:00November 6th, 2009|Categories: Abortion|

The story of Abby Johnson (photo at left) moves me very profoundly. Abby, the director of Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas, for the last two years, resigned on October 6. Abby realized that she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. She said: "I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it.”

Abby Johnson reveals that under difficult economic pressures, brought on by the recent recession, the business model of Planned Parenthood has changed from promoting prevention to encouraging abortion. Johnson says she was being encouraged to bring in more women for abortions because that is where the money is.

Does anyone really want to argue that money doesn't drives the abortion industry as much as any single issue? Sure there are people who really believe in abortion as “choice” but the […]

Back It Up, Back It Up, Back It Up

By John Armstrong|2009-11-05T16:15:17-06:00November 5th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

I have been told since I first began to use computer programs: "Back everything up often." For years I did it. I even have an external drive to use for this purpose. The last year I got lazy and felt safe and did not back up. The last major back-up I did was in January. Today it caught up with me. Somehow I overwrote my Outlook program and lost my entire calendar and contact file since last year. Then when I synced my iPhone I wrote the old files onto the one calendar that I had which was correct, namely the one on my iPhone. O Man! The first response was chaos. The second was, did I mention, chaos? Then I began to settle down and decided to call a friend who has been after me to simplify my life and cut things out of my calendar for a long time. He said, like one of Job's buddies, "I told you. God shut down your calendar for you!" That helped. I actually laughed and got a little more peaceful. You have to […]