Blog - Page 183 of 318 - John H Armstrong

N. T. Wright on Blogging

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:05-05:00August 17th, 2009|Categories: Web/Tech|

Besides being one of the most important New Testament scholars of our generation N.T. Wright is also one of shrewdest observers of modern technology that I know. I agree completely with his comments on blogging. These comments are available on a short video clip from a longer interview that will appear in a few weeks. Check out what he says and leave a comment if you like. I found this immensely helpful. The fact is I spend more time with people than in writing blogs, far more. I find this necessary to keep my feet planted on terra firma and my mind and spirit linked with the lives of real people. I fear that way too many pastors are blogging much too much. This tendency is not healthy for the church. I am not a pastor and one reason I am not is because I do not believe I could really pastor a church and do the writing […]

Why I Write

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:05-05:00August 17th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

Thanks to all of you who wrote in response to my blog (last week) about my writing these blogs. I go through these "seasons" when I wonder if this is truly worth my time and yours. I usually recover to write again. I wish I could just sit down with every person who wants to talk to me and listen and respond. Some of you actually do this with me and I love it. At the least I wish I could answer every respondent personally. I am, unfortunately, a perfectionist. I am also a people person. This combination has landed me in a great deal of personal trouble over the years. I want to listen but I can also take comments too personally when they were not meant in that way at all.

I write a lot about "conservative Reformed" opinions and responses for one primary reason: I have lived in this world most of my adult life and have some understanding of its ministries, leaders, authors, etc. Many of my very best friends teach and minister in this context. Some […]

Reformed Christianity and the Christian Church, Part One

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:05-05:00August 17th, 2009|Categories: Reformed Christianity|

There is a deep ambivalence in Presbyterian and Reformed history with regard to the unity of the church. In the sixteenth century there was a strong desire for unity, one that was stretched by the division with Rome and then impacted by division with other Protestants, especially with Lutherans. (Sadly, all of the magisterial Reform movements rejected the hated Anabaptists, thus joining with the Catholics in their assault on these simple believers.) In the twentieth century Reformed churches and ministers became some of the most prominent leaders in the rise of the modern ecumenical movement. But you would not know this if you listened to many of the popular Reformed teachers of our day.

This fact is indeed clear: many conservative Presbyterian and Reformed Christians are known for some of the fiercest doctrinal debates imaginable. Numerous splits between these churches have been the sad result of several hundred years of theological warfare. In America these fires have been stoked by deep fears within a number of denominations and groups. The […]

Rick Pitino's Personal Failure and the University of Louisville

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:06-05:00August 16th, 2009|Categories: College Football|

A friend of mine who was a major league baseball pitcher said, “The lives of our heroes in sports are no different from the lives by people in all parts of the culture.” Time and again I have found this to be true. In a certain sense the way athletes respond to trials and difficulties parallels the way people in general respond to them. These people just happen to be on a big stage and millions are watching.

This came home to me last week when Rick Pitino, the basketball coach at the University of Louisville, admitted a moral “indiscretion.” Pitino had a one-night stand, in a local restaurant, with a female stranger. This led to a pregnancy and the claim of an abortion. All of this seedy news came out in the middle of last week.

Pitino's admitted "indiscretion" was followed by a response from the president of the University of Louisville, Dr. James Ramsey. Dr. Ramsey praised Rick […]

District 9: The Sci-Fi Blockbuster

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:06-05:00August 15th, 2009|Categories: Film|

Rarely do I try to see a film on the weekend it opens. The reviews of the hugely District 9 prompted me to see it yesterday so I will offer a short review. Blockbusters with big explosions and thrilling scenes are all too rarely include the development of a real story with interesting characters. It seems Hollywood settled for spending its money on thrills and not storyline. But last year Batman: The Dark Knight and Iron Man both proved producers can tell a good story and produce a blockbuster at the same time. So far this year it has not been done but District 9 changes all of that in a pretty significant way.

The story here is interesting. The Chicago Tribune calls this "the world's first autobiographical alien apartheid film." That is a pretty good description. District 9 begins much like a modern documentary. A refugee aid camp built for aliens, who appear to have been stranded over Johannesburg nearly thirty year before, […]

Why I Keep Blogging

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 14th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

I ask myself, now and then, “Why do you still blog?” The work behind this writing is time consuming and sometimes I would just as soon quit. I can tell that after some years of doing this"the dew is off the rose." The real answer lies in my experience of this growing medium of communication. Let me explain.

I am positively not a controversialist. I much prefer to study and teach people who want to learn and grow, not engage in debates with fellow Christians. I listen to others teach and seek to better grasp the truth as it is found in Jesus Christ through what I hear and learn. Since truth is not an abstract system to be discovered but a person to be known and loved I learn freely and simply. The person who is the truth is Jesus, the eternal Word. Because his truth is discovered in Christians, and through deep Christian teaching and reflection upon the Holy Scripture, I listen attentively to the whole catholic church. By this approach I learn […]

I Stand Corrected About the Southern Baptist Convention

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 13th, 2009|Categories: Southern Baptists|

My post yesterday, about Mark Driscoll and the Southern Baptist convention, had several inaccurate statements in it. I acknowledged one of these by saying that I incorrectly stated that Mark Driscoll preached at the SBC. (See the comments following the blog of yesterday.) This statement came about because I did not read the story in Christianity Today carefully enough. It was not intentional I can assure you. I simply messed up.

The second point, made by two gracious men who commented from their own personal experience, gives them far more credibility than me. It was noted that the SBC did not pass the five resolutions presented on the floor regarding Driscoll. I actually should have known better since such resolutions are made by various messengers in almost every such convention. This is a unique part of Southern Baptist polity, one that I do not like. But it must be understood for what it is and I failed to do that. For this mistake I humbly apologize to those who were misled […]

How Mark Driscoll Became Controversial in the Southern Baptist Convention

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 12th, 2009|Categories: Southern Baptists|

Christianity Today reported in their August issue that Mark Driscoll, well-known pastor of a mega-church in Seattle, created quite a stir at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) this year. The flash point was the “Great Commission Resurgence” (GCN), a group of Baptists who believe the convention needs to change if it is reach real non-Christians in the coming generation.

Most outsiders know that the SBC began a battle about the Bible some thirty years ago. That battle energized Baptists in a unique way. I am not impressed that it did them a lot of real good in the end. Conservative commentators say that this first battle was about the Bible. Some now believe that a new battle is growing in the SBC and this one is about the church. GCR says that by 2050 the SBC will lose half its members unless changes are made in the coming years. Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, says “Southern Baptist decline isn’t a matter of […]

What Is the Aim of the Christian Life?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 11th, 2009|Categories: Spirituality|

I have frequently mentioned that one of the great benefits of reading both Western and Eastern Christian theology is that the body breathes best when it uses both lungs. Pope John Paul II used this expression when he referred to the Christian East and suggested by it that we truly needed one another. I have made this a part of my own journey for about five years now. Let me illustrate one profound way the East has helped me think more deeply about my life in Christ.

If you ask a Western Christian what is the aim of the Christian life I think most would say something about the glory of God. "The chief end of man is to love him and glorify him forever." I like that and believe there is much in this emphasis to commend itself. I also find it lacking something that is more specific and concrete. When I came across the writings of St. Seraphim of Sarov discussing the purpose of the Christian life I was stunned and then profoundly helped. He says, following […]

The Teaching of Jesus

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 10th, 2009|Categories: Christ/Christology|

John 1:35-37 tells us that one of the first two followers of Jesus was Andrew. The other is not named though we tend to believe it was the writer himself, John. Andrew then recruited his brother, Simon Peter, saying, "We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ" (John 1:41). This was the straightforward way Jesus gathered his first disciples. Luke gives more background before the calling telling us that Jesus had already begun preaching and becoming widely known in the region, first around Nazareth, and then in the north near the coast of the Sea of Galilee: "And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was power" (Luke 4:31-32).

Note Luke's historical reference: "they were astonished at his doctrine." The word "doctrine" means, very simply, teaching. Jesus' teaching always astonished people. The fact that it does not astonish us tells us […]