Blog - Page 184 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Mary's Virginity and Jesus' Siblings

By John Armstrong|2009-08-09T05:27:00-05:00August 9th, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

The church claims that it was there from the beginning and that it was not forgetful about many important matters. I agree with this premise.The problem comes when modern churches and Christians claim more than what was there in the beginning. Because certain ideas were present does not mean they were universally embraced by all ancient Christians and teachers. Such is the case regarding Mary and the holy family.

Earliest tradition suggests that Mary remained a virgin because of the prophecy of Ezekiel 44:2. The prophet said, "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered in by it. Therefore, it shall be shut." Some evangelicals will balk at this reading of the Old Testament but again the early Protestant Reformers read the text in this way.

Joseph has generally been considered as older than Mary. This is suggested by the […]

The Church and Mary the Mother of God

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 8th, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

The Scripture tells us that the shepherds came to adore the infant Jesus in the stable. Luke further tells us that Mary "kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" This description has formed the church's thought down through the centuries. Mary is loved but in no church is she co-equal with Jesus. Some evangelicals insist Roman Catholicism teaches Mary is a co-redeemer but this is not the case, not if the dogma of the church is read carefully.

Roman Catholic teaching about Mary includes four dogmas, several of which became dogmas of the church in the last few hundred years. These dogmas are: Mary's Immaculate Conception, which kept her from original sin; Mary's sinlessness; Mary's perpetual virginity; and the Assumption (her body went directly to heaven after her death). Only the dogma of perpetual virginity is taught by the Orthodox. Many Orthodox theologians and Christians also believe in the Assumption but they do not consider it necessary to make this a dogma of the church. And the Orthodox have a different understanding of Mary and […]

The Ancestors of God

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 7th, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

The genealogy of Jesus has always fascinated biblical scholars. It has also influenced the church very deeply since the time of the apostles. We have two genealogies in Scripture. Matthew stresses the royal lineage of Jesus whereas Luke stresses his blood relationship with the whole human race.

The divine liturgy of the fourth century (John Chrysostom) refers to the parents of Mary as Joachim and Anna. They are actually called "the ancestors of God." This language creates some deep anxiety for many evangelicals. It should not. Let me explain.

The eternal God has no human forebears. No orthodox church ever taught otherwise. What the church has actually taught is that in the incarnation the human Jesus also has a divine nature. He is "very God of very God." The third ecumenical council (431 A.D.) affirmed this doctrine of the two natures in one person, Jesus of Nazareth. The conclusion of this council was that Mary should be called Theotokos, or "mother of God" (the God-bearer). To describe Mary in this way meant that Christians wanted […]

The Dog Days of Baseball Are Here

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 6th, 2009|Categories: Baseball|

For the die hard baseball fan the month of August is the "dog days." I am not sure where this term comes from but it suggests the idea of hot, sticky, hard and challenging. These are the days that set baseball apart from all other sports because it comes down to perseverance and a strong mental attitude that can endure great odds. These guys have been playing and traveling and grinding it out since late February. But on August 1st there are still sixty-plus games to be played. That is almost as many games as an NBA team, or an NHL team, will play in a whole season.

Real fans get into the game during the dog days. Their team will either die this month or stay in the chase and make the final days really fun. Some teams will fade away and some will rise, as the Rockies did a few years ago. This is what makes the dog days of August so much fun for the fan. If your team is fading you have only one […]

The Hurt Locker

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:07-05:00August 5th, 2009|Categories: Film|

The Hurt Locker is as full of passionate suspense as any movie I have seen in years. It is an edge-of-your seat portrait of real military courage under fire. No horror film, or apocalyptic thriller, will grip you the way The Hurt Locker does. The heroes in this extraordinary film are the technicians of an Army bomb squad. These men volunteer to challenge the odds, which are clearly life and death, in order to save lives. They just happened to do this in Iraq in 2004, which at the time was one of the world’s most dangerous places.

The story revolves around James, a new sergeant, and two guys named Sanborn and Eldridge, his subordinates. These three men are members of the Army’s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad. They have been trained to fight insurgents while they seek out and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad. Their mission is clear—protect civilians and […]

Is Obama's Popularity About to Unravel?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:08-05:00August 4th, 2009|Categories: Politics|

President Obama has been riding a wave of immense good will and popularity. His poll numbers have been very high, though they have declined in recent weeks. Some of this is fairly typical for a new president. Some of it is unique to the incredible popularity that this new president has enjoyed. He is a remarkable campaigner and a unique communicator. It is hard not to like him unless you are disposed that way in the first place. His relaxed, good-natured way of engaging with people combined with his obvious brilliance make him a most appealing leader on the national and world stage. Unless you are deeply partisan you give him every benefit of the doubt because he is our president. I often disagree with him but then I disagree with most presidents. There was a lot to disagree with during the last eight years so I wanted to give Obama a chance to become a new leader with new […]

Checking My Dashboard for the Spirit of the Pharisees

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:08-05:00August 3rd, 2009|Categories: Spirituality|

We all know the Pharisees were the religious conservatives of Jesus’ day. We also know that the word Pharisee is today a virtual synonym for hypocrite. The Pharisee is synonymous with the critical spirit, the person who has answers and feels compelled to always remind people that they know more, and do more, than anyone else in the church.

The problem is that most of us never stop to find out where we might have become too much like the Pharisees. A few weeks ago I heard an excellent sermon in Plano, Texas, from my friend Rev. John McCracken (Trinity Presbyterian Church). John’s text was Luke 18:9-14 and his title was: “The Prayer God Won’t Answer.” John is an engaging, warm and solidly biblical preacher. He is very effective.

In the last part of John’s sermon he used an analogy of a car dashboard. He said we should pay attention when a warning light comes on and correct the […]

Is It Time to Do Church Differently?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:08-05:00August 2nd, 2009|Categories: Missional Church|

I have written in numerous contexts that the church needs to rethink its mission as soon as possible. Sadly, most churches are not doing this.

We must grasp anew the way to do church in the twenty-first century. The message of the gospel does not change but the way we make disciples is changing and must change even more than most people are ready to acknowledge. The complexities of the modern cultural context are unique. The way we gain real access to people's minds and hearts is being altered so quickly that only those who are doing evangelism in the trenches seem to recognize the real significance and power of this hyper-change.

The recently retired U. S. President of the Navigators, Alan Andrews, succinctly sums up what I see when he says:

In my opinion the time has come to do church differently. I am convinced that we must shift our focus from highly programmed ministry to developing Missional/Transformational Communities that are formed as a seamless organic whole. These types of communities are […]

Do We Have a "Theological Deficit?"

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:08-05:00August 1st, 2009|Categories: Biblical Theology|

In the early 1980s the president of the United Church of Christ (UCC), clearly one of the most liberal of all Protestant denominations in America, suggested candidly that the real problem in their ranks was their "theological deficit." In 1980 Time magazine did a study on what congregations wanted in their pastor. The article concluded that people wanted "a pallid but personable faith." The word pallid is a synonym for the word pale. To be pale or pallid is to be dim, faithless or colorless. It also means to lack in texture because one is exhausted. I cannot think of a better way to describe the current state of things in the church.

This statement sums up things today much as it did in 1980. Can anyone honestly believe that things have dramatically improved in the mainline since 1980? What about the evangelicals? I am convinced that on the whole there is an obvious "theological deficit" in almost every corner […]

Judge Sotomayor: A Look Beyond the Partisan Questions

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:08-05:00July 31st, 2009|Categories: Current Affairs|

By now we know that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has faced a Senate committee's inquiry and passed the process without any serious hitch. Isn't the goal that she escape a slip and get confirmed? Since the term "borking" came into our legal experience it seems this is almost always the case in these high profile nominations. Sotomayor will be confirmed by the U. S. Senate and soon will serve on the Supreme Court, replacing Justice David Souter. For most people the issue of her confirmation was primarily about partisanship. Where does she stand on certain issues that routinely come before the Supreme Court? What is her judicial approach to interpreting law? Can we get her approved and make sure the court reflects our partisan views? Is she pro-life or pro-choice? Where does she stand on guns?

The wild card in all these proceedings is that once a judge is appointed we never know how they will really vote or respond once […]