Blog - Page 190 of 318 - John H Armstrong

In God's Name

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:18-05:00June 6th, 2009|Categories: Religion|

In God's Name: Wisdom from the World's Great Spirit Leaders is one of the best religious documentaries I have seen in some time. Produced in association with the acclaimed French filmmakers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, the film explores the most complex religious questions of our day. Twelve of the world's most influential religious leaders are interviewed and share their intimate thoughts about faith, life, terrorism and death. The way their story is put together flows wonderfully and is most satisfying. The voices here include all the major world religions; e.g. Buddhism, Islam (Sunni and Shi'ite), Shinto, Orthodox Jew, Hindu, Sikh and Christian (Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Southern Baptist and Lutheran). Behind the production of the film is a book and even a training seminar called "A Course in Miracles." A number of related resources can be found by searching the Web under the title: "In God's Name."

In the introduction the Moslem Sunni leader, Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, expresses something that tends to run like […]

The Theology of John M. Frame

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:18-05:00June 5th, 2009|Categories: Biblical Theology|

At least thirty or more years ago I began to read Professor John M. Frame. At the time I did not know him personally, or that much about him. I knew he taught at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, and then at Westminster Seminary in California. I did not devour his work because I was too "denominationally chauvinistic" (a term John employs in his thinking about the downside of denominations) to get into a writer who was not in my own tribe. Over time I realized there were some great writers and teachers beyond my small circle of Christians and I began to read much more widely. (Two things will change your life for sure: (1) The people you meet; (2) The authors you read. Frame appealed to me because he was thoughtful and original, in a remarkably fresh way. He thought for himself and dared to raise great questions, albeit from within very conservative Reformed quarters.

Then I […]

Baseball Heats Up

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:18-05:00June 4th, 2009|Categories: Baseball|

By this point in the summer the baseball season is far enough along that serious fans begin to take the measure of their team and its chances to win a post-season berth. The really good hitters are generally hitting better by now and the pitchers are beginning to find themselves and their true quality is starting to show. The standings still do not matter that much but they give us some feel for what the future might hold for the fan of a particular team. In the era of the expanded post-season 66% of the teams in first place on June 1 have made the post-season. That is a pretty impressive statistic, at least as a general measure of this point in the season and its importance. But baseball is all about the "long haul."

In the American League the three leaders are the Yankees, Tigers and Rangers. The first is no surprise at all but the second two are a […]

The Joy and Grace of True Christian Friendship

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:18-05:00June 3rd, 2009|Categories: Personal|

The old saying is surely right: “We are known by our friends.” True friends feel each others joys and sorrows as their very own. I cherish my friends and seek to know my enemies so I might be careful about what they may do to me. The worst sort of friendship is the one that ends up making people into enemies. I've had a few of these too, just like most of you who have lived long enough.

I am amazed by how often the world’s wisdom tells us that we can only enjoy real friendship with a person if we totally agree with them. I have found my friends are often people who do not agree with me completely at all but deeply love me just the same. I have one friend who says this well: “My friends are never my projects.” If you keep that in mind you will avoid many personal difficulties.

Several years ago I had a student at Wheaton College who was the daughter of […]

The God Who Wasn't There: No Serious Threat to the Faith of Christians

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:18-05:00June 2nd, 2009|Categories: Apologetics|

The God Who Wasn't There is a 2005 documentary film on the "Jesus myth." It is the work of ex-fundamentalist Brian Flemming. I missed all the excitement about the film, if there was much. I recently discovered it on Netflix and since apologetics is a keen interest of mine ( I teach it academically) I thought it looked like a pretty interesting attack upon the “myth of Jesus.”

The film producers believe this documentary will do to religion what Bowling for Columbine did to the gun culture and Super Size Me did to the fast food industry. Of the three films Bowling for Columbine was the most interesting but none of these films did a great deal to change minds or actions regardless of your view of their importance or their impact on the larger culture. Hype does not mean that minds are being changed regardless of what side you are on in a debate. Most "pop" […]

The Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:18-05:00June 1st, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

President Abraham Lincoln came to understand the unusual nexus that exists between faith and civil society during his time as our 16th president. During his presidency, with the nation at war, Lincoln heard arguments from both sides that God was in support of the North or the South. He struck an entirely different note when he wrote a private document titled: “Meditation on the Divine Will." This amazing statement is well worth quoting in its entirety.

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party—and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say […]

The Day of Pentecost

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:19-05:00May 31st, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

Today is Pentecost Sunday in churches all across the globe. Much as Easter is celebrated on one day, though each Sunday is truly Easter Sunday, so it is with Pentecost. Every Sunday we remember that the Holy Spirit is with us, and in us, and that we have the Comforter, the "spirit of Jesus" living in our soul, personally and collectively as believers.

The term Pentecost comes from the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks at the close of the grain harvest fifty days after Passover and Unleavened Bread. In the early church Pentecost at first designated the whole period of fifty days from Easter; only later did it refer particularly to the fiftieth day, which became a feast in its own right.

The fifty days that celebrated the resurrection in the ancient church were "the first fruits of the end, one great Sunday" (Athanasius) and "the most joyful season" (Tertullian). Augustine said the "Alleluia" was […]

A Prayer for the Illinois House of Representatives

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:19-05:00May 30th, 2009|Categories: Prayer|

Most of you know that my son is a pastor and serves a church plant in nearby Streamwood, Illinois. (I preached there on May 10 and 17. The photo above is of Matt introducing me to his flock to preach.) Matt, his wife Adriana, and their two beautiful girls, Gracie and Abbie, drove to Springfield on Thursday afternoon in order to be in the Illinois House of Representatives for Friday's morning session. Gracie and Abbie served as "pages" for the day while Matthew gave the invocation to the House. Little did any of us know when Matt accepted this invitation that the government of this state would be in such a mess over ethics, budgets and power and that the end of their present session loomed with ominous overtones as they try to settle a number of perils the state now faces. In my forty years in this state I have never seen the legislature in such a conflicted state. Much like […]

The Best Athletes in Professional Sports?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:19-05:00May 29th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

Among fans of professional sports there is a debate now and then about which sport requires the most athleticism. I have no doubt that the answer is "hockey." Friends know that I love baseball and college football best. (I have written about them both on this blog over the years.) But I have always enjoyed hockey. I do not get to see NHL games very often because of the cost of a ticket. This season was no exception since the Chicago played really well for the first time in years and cheap tickets were not easily available. In fact, the Hawks made it to the Campbell Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings and lost a second overtime game Wednesday night to end that series. They won only one game against the far superior Detroit team. My prediction is simple—Detroit will win the Stanley Cup! Sorry Pittsburgh Penguins fans but Detroit is still too good to beat in my book. They will […]

"We All Live By Luck!"

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:19-05:00May 28th, 2009|Categories: Biblical Theology|

The sovereign activity of God can be seen in many instances in Scripture. In fact, the truth is found throughout the entire biblical record. This is part of what led to my own embrace of this powerful truth almost forty years ago. Christians disagree about the particulars, at least in terms of how they define man's will and God's sovereignty, but they should not disagree about the basic fact of divine providence.

Providence is the doctrine of God's care for the creation, involving his preservation of it and his guiding it to his intended ends. The famous Heidelberg Catechism, personally my favorite catechism, says that providence is: "The almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven, earth, and all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things, comes not by chance but […]