Blog - Page 180 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Eight Years Ago

By John Armstrong|2009-09-11T05:00:00-05:00September 11th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

Who among us can forget this day eight years ago? It was a lovely late summer/early fall day across much of the nation. We were going about our daily routines and then we began to get bits and pieces of news. Many of us went from our computer to the television and sat almost transfixed for the rest of the day. It seemed like everything came to a halt. The only comparable day in my lifetime was the November day in 1963 when I heard that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas. The days which followed were sobering. We reflected on life and freedom and asked, "Who would want to kill innocent Americans by flying passenger planes into buildings?"

We were deeply moved by the suffering and the loss. We were also deeply moved by the acts of courage that led many to die in the process of trying to rescue others. We were even deeply moved by the actions of the president, […]

The Myth That Most Americans Ought to Go to College

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 10th, 2009|Categories: Education|

President Obama is not alone in promoting it but he is massively committed to one of the greatest myths in modern American culture. This myth says that millions more young Americans ought to go to college. Who says so? A recent Harvard University study found that two-thirds of American high school graduates are unprepared to enter a four-year liberal arts program of education. In fact, the study concluded that “more than forty percent of students who enter college drop out before graduation.”

Why do so many go to college who are not prepared? The study says their parents pushed them too much, seeing it almost entirely as a means to a higher salary. But the majority of high school graduates are not only not ready for college they are much more suited to other types of work. There are great jobs in management and trades that will make a person as much or more money as most college graduates will earn. In […]

President Obama's Speech in the Classroom: Where's the Poison?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 9th, 2009|Categories: Politics|

Well, the president that some conservatives call the personal representative of fascism and evil gave his "infamous" education speech yesterday to mark the beginning of a new school year. If this is the first wave in the president's effort to build support for an American version of the Hitler Youth movement then I guess I missed the point. President Obama said and did nothing offensive in these words. Clearly, this was an inspirational lesson from America's highest elected leader. Read the words for yourself. Forget what the right wing talk show hosts told you about this controversy and read the words. Ask yourself one simple question: "What was the great harm in this speech?" And if you took your children out of school because of this speech I have only one question: "Why?" If you are a Christian does your fear increase the likelihood that your children will grow up to be responsible and mature people?

I think the best response to this […]

ACT 3 Luncheon Forums Begin This Month

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 8th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

ACT 3 begins its second season of Luncheon Forums on September 16. If you live in the Chicago area we invite you to attend this event at the Holiday Inn in Carol Stream at 11;45 a.m. The ACT 3 Luncheon Forums are designed to provide a place for equipping the thought life of serious Christian leaders. They also provide an opportunity for encouragement and fellowship.

Our first luncheon for this season features Dr. Joel Scandrett speaking on “Catholic Evangelicalism: A Witness to the Ancient Way.” Joel is an adjunct professor at Wheaton, a former editor at Inter Varsity Press and an Anglican priest.

These luncheons are open to anyone who wants to come but registration is strongly recommended. You can sign up at the ACT 3 Website events registration tab. The event costs $20, which includes the meal. You can also call (630) 221-1817 for information or to register. Space is limited so sign up soon […]

The Storm Over President Obama's Address to School Children

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 7th, 2009|Categories: Culture|

President Obama will deliver a "back to school" message to children across America tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. CDT. What was intended to be a "feel good" motivational talk about how students can set goals and be better students has become a controversial move. I say, to the general plan: "What a great idea." The first African-American president speaks live to a high school in Arlington, Virginia, and the kids around the nation get to see it live on C-Span. But the bitter opposition to President Obama is now so strong that this has turned into a major political controversy.

Arizona state schools superintendent Tom Horne, a Republican, says plans for teachers made by Obama's Education Department "call for a worshipful rather than critical approach." That is not all. State Senator Steve Russell of Oklahoma says this speech gives the appearance of a "cult of personality." Districts in Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech, proving […]

The Battle of the Church Signs

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 6th, 2009|Categories: Humor|

A friend sent me some photos of a local "church battle" that developed in a Missouri town this summer. The local Catholic Church began the battle of the church signs with the first sign. What followed is downright humorous, though the Presbyterians revealed their usual lack of humor as the battle developed.

A Father, His Son and the Love of Two Great Sports

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 5th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

Regular readers know that I love two sports: baseball and college football. I enjoy others sports now and then but I am passionate about these two. In a unique way these two loves define my childhood and thus they have remained with me for sixty years. Both interests began by learning and sharing these loves with my dad. From my earliest remembrance dad took me to see the Nashville Vols play minor league baseball. From this experience, and from playing pitch and catch with dad in the backyard, I learned to love baseball. In 1957, as a boy of eight, I adopted the World Series champion Milwaukee Braves as "my" team and the rest is history. All these years later I still love the Braves. Through thick, like in the great run in the 1990s, and through thin (there were several lean decades in Atlanta), I rooted for the Braves. Perhaps my greatest Braves baseball moment was doing chapel for the team at Wrigley Field back in the […]

Living Through the Twentieth Century

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 4th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

A Century of Living (HBO Films, 2002) is an absolutely amazing documentary. My television provider gave me free HBO for one year so I came across a replay of this sixty minute feature a few weeks ago and recorded it. If you ever get the opportunity watch it. (You can rent if from Netfilx or even find it in some free loan libraries.)

Seventeen men and women, all born in 1900 or before, share their poignant and life-affirming thoughts about the 20th century. Mixing indelible black-and-white film and photographic images with the words of a cross-section of men and women, the film spans key epochs and trends of the last 100 years, underscoring the fact that while the quality of our lives has changed so much over the past 100 years, the essence of our spirit has remained, essentially, the same.

This documentary allowed me to “meet” people who actually lived through the Great Depression and who celebrated […]

The Message of the Prophets

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:49-05:00September 3rd, 2009|Categories: Biblical Theology|

The Old Testament prophets were raised up by God to warn Israel of the promises of God regarding his judgment, when they turned away from him, and his forgiveness, when they returned to him. There message was continually fresh thus always contemporary. The prophets were placed at crisis points in Israel's history so they could address religious and social problems that plagued the people of the covenant. The theme(s) of the prophets seems to have included the following:

1. God rules in history.
2. God calls men and women to repentance.
3. All of society must be rooted in God's commandments.
4. Both judgment and hope are always the order of the day because God saves his people and judges his enemies.
5. The messianic kingdom describes a bright future state for all of those who trust God. It will come in God's time and way.
[…]

Switching the Whole Human Race

By John Armstrong|2009-09-02T05:00:00-05:00September 2nd, 2009|Categories: Christ/Christology|

One of the most staggering, and infrequently understood, texts in all the Bible is found in Colossians 1:19-20. Paul says:

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

I ponder this text a lot. What does it mean to "reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven" through the cross?

The word "all" has led to many interpretations of Christ's work and the way in which he has specifically reconciled all things on the earth. Because of the way Jesus spoke specifically about judgment, and because of the way Bible generally treats the subject, most exegetes agree that this text is not saying that all will be saved. But what is the text saying? Some say that everything will finally be brought under his power and will but this seems to me to only beg more questions. […]