Blog - Page 181 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Facebook and Twitter

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:50-05:00September 1st, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

Some of you are already using Facebook and Twitter as social networking sites. I resisted Twitter for a few months but recently have found it useful as a way of linking me to helpful information in a simple way. I do not much care for people telling me their every move, and meal, throughout the day. I do like hearing about what they are writing, reading and thinking about vitally important issues and subjects. It also allows me to pray for friends when they post a simple sentence seeking my support. Facebook is already a huge social networking resource that I came to appreciate about six months ago. All of my blogs and articles are also posted as links on Twitter and Facebook. If you like these technologies, and enjoy using them, be sure to link to me on one or both of them. If you Twitter be sure to link so I can also follow you as well.

Social networking sites allow ACT 3 to inform its friends about publications, content, research and […]

The World Is Changing: What Will the Church Do About It?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:50-05:00September 1st, 2009|Categories: Missional Church|

The world is clearly changing at a dizzying pace. Everything we know about the world of the 20th Century has changed, is changing, or soon will change. If you do not believe this then watch this documentary video presentation, titled "Did You Know?" If you already believe the world is changing rapidly then watch this anyway. It will only convince you all the more that your sense of things is correct. When I watch something like this I have to ask: “How will we (Christians) prepare the church, our mission organizations, seminaries and other ministries for THIS new world?” If we fail to plan we should plan to fail. Only those who think deeply about the context of Christ's mission will do anything bold and filled with faith to respond to this new world.

Transgendered Persons and the Christian Faith

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:50-05:00September 1st, 2009|Categories: Sexuality|

Some years ago, at a conference on the Wheaton College campus on the life of Malcolm Muggeridge, I met Dr. David W. Virtue. David is not only became a friend but he has provided marvelous resources for me on issues within the Episcopal Church (USA). His regular posts are available at www.virtueonline.org. If you are an Episcopalian, or perhaps you are just interested in hearing an orthodox voice from within the present meltdown of this historic church family, David is your man. He collects articles and news reports and writes some truly remarkable stuff.

Though I was a bit surprised by a recent post of David's I found it provocative and insightful. This subject is almost never discussed by Christians. In the midst of the same-sex debate that now rages in the church-at-large David addresses a subject here that is often wrongly linked to the angst many feel about ecclesial approval of homosexual practice. I now reprint (with David's permission) the August […]

Catholic AND Evangelical

By John Armstrong|2009-08-31T05:15:00-05:00August 31st, 2009|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

This Thursday, September 3, a special "Catholic AND Evangelical?" presentation by Dr. Francis Beckwith and Dr. Timothy George will occur in Wheaton (IL) at 7:00 p. m. I plan to be present and invite any of you from the Chicago area to join me.

"Exploring Christian Identity: Can You Be Catholic and Evangelical?" will be hosted by the Center for Applied Christian Ethics and The Penner Foundation. The event begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. It will be at Edman Chapel on the Wheaton College campus.

This event will be moderated by my good friend Rev. Chris Castaldo of College Church in Wheaton. You can see more details at Chris's Facebook account.

I Am Somtimes Surprised That I Am Still Here

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:50-05:00August 31st, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

My friend Steve Brown recently recalled that Malcolm Muggeridge—the British journalist, author, satirist and Christian—once said when he was an old man that he sometimes awoke in the morning with one foot on earth and one in heaven. “Sometimes,” Muggeridge said, “I wake up surprised that I’m here.”

I not quite to this point yet but I can picture it if I live long enough. I do know, along with Steve, that I wake up at the end of August saying, “I’m surprised we are still here and doing this mission of ACT 3.”

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not surprised that I am still able to minister. I will do ministry whether ACT 3 succeeds or not. But God clearly has shown us that he has a continued purpose for this mission that we formed back in 1991 in my family room in Carol Stream. There have been times, however, when I really wondered.

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The Dark World of Michael Savage

By John Armstrong|2009-08-30T05:00:00-05:00August 30th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

Of all the conservative talk show hosts on radio the most bizarre of them all has to be Michael Savage. I admit I have listened to him just enough to realize how disturbed and nutty he actually is. What is even more amazing is how well his books have sold. There clearly is a deep angst in many conservatives who feed on the anger and dark world of this man.

Kelefa Sanneh, writing a recent piece on Savage in the New Yorker magazine, says he lives in a "dark, apocalyptic world." The talk show host, who has an audience of 8 million listeners, says, "Twenty-one hours a day I live in misery. Three hours a day I'm happy." Having listened to a little of this man while in my car I found this to be exactly what I would have expected. Callers who try to converse with Savage have little chance to say anything of substance. He attacks people, interrupts them and bullies them, and […]

Mascot Madness in Chicago

By John Armstrong|2009-08-29T10:09:39-05:00August 29th, 2009|Categories: Humor|

Readers know that I love baseball. I decided this summer, due to the recession and the difficulty of getting to games in Chicago, to limit my baseball experience to a nearby minor league team, the Kane County Cougars. I get two inexpensive tickets for about 13 games a year and take friends with me to see a game and spend a relaxing evening together. This week the Cougars season (sadly) winds to a close. I will miss these boys of summer and the pure delight of hearing the crack of the bat and consuming baseball park delights with good friends.

Last week Anita and I took our dachshund Neo in the “Bark in the Park” parade at the Kane County stadium. Stacy also brought along her dog, Latte. It was a real delight for all of five of us. (We think the dogs enjoyed it!) The fans pointed at the doxies and laughed with us, or was it at us?

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Is Extremism on the Rise in America?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:19:51-05:00August 29th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

Politics in America has tended to move toward a deeper expression of extremism over the last few decades. Opinions differ about what started this negative trend. Some think it began with the Watergate mess. Others think it became even worse during the Clinton era, especially when conservative ministers tried to discredit Clinton with a number of lies. This culminated in the impeachment trial. Still others think this only got worse in the wake of 9/11 and the bitter opposition that grew in response to George W. Bush. Now it seems to have reached an even higher level of intensity with the bitter reaction of many conservatives to President Obama.

The presidency of Ronald Reagan may have been the only time, and perhaps the four years of the President George H. W. Bush right after him, when we have not had fierce extremism in the popular culture since the 1960s. Could Reagan's humor, and his upbeat spirit, have helped him overcome some of this? But even then extreme liberals despised Ronald Reagan and tried to find various ways to discredit him […]

Rev. Ike & the Posperity Gospel

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:02-05:00August 28th, 2009|Categories: Wealth|

I sometimes say that the most original gospel message America ever gave to the world was the "health and wealth gospel" of the media evangelists. No one was more flamboyant in preaching such a message than the late Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, or "The Rev. Ike." For Rev. Ike the love of money was not the root of all evil. Salvation, for him, was found in personal success and material prosperity. He used to say, "Don't wait for your pie in the sky, by and by. Say I want my pie right now—and I want it with ice cream on top!" Money, he often said was, "God in action." The man sure knew how to turn a phrase.

I suppose most readers under 40 would have little or no recognition of the name of Rev. Ike. For my generation he was just odd enough to capture our interest in the 1970s. Born June 1, 1935 in Ridgeland, South Carolina, Frederick Eikerenkoetter was […]

The Promise of America's Cities

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:02-05:00August 27th, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a significant leader of great interest to many Americans. It was rumored, in the last election cycle, that he might run as an independent candidate for president. I still think he may run such a campaign in the future. I listen to Michael Bloomberg whenever he talks about our cities and their future. He plainly understands the infrastructure of big cities and how they can thrive in a modern context. Bloomberg recently shared some great insights, in Business Week (August 24), into what makes a recessionary economy a time of real opportunity for true growth.

The mayor started a new technology company in an earlier recession and then ended up incredibly wealthy in the process. People told him that he was crazy to invest big money in a start-up during a bad economy. He proved them wrong. Later he was told that he was crazy to run for the mayoral office. He says, "Human achievement is built on the […]