Blog - Page 190 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Principles vs. Rules

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:14-05:00June 11th, 2009|Categories: Missional Church|

Structure is necessary for life to survive. The church needs structure to be fruitful. But much of the history of the Christian church reveals that structure has been far more important than life itself.

The gospel is taken by a missionary to a culture different from their own. They plant it like seed in the soil. They pray and teach and water this gospel seed to produce churches. The problems come when the missionaries do not replant the seed properly in the new culture/soil.

A few days ago I quoted D.T. Niles of Sri Lanka. Niles observed this point when he wrote:

The gospel is like seed and you have to sow it. Now, when missionaries came to our lands they brought not only the seed of the gospel, but their own plant of Christianity, flower pot included! So what we have to do is to break the flower pot, take out the seed of the gospel, sow it in our own cultural soil, and let our own version of Christianity […]

Terminator Salvation

By John Armstrong|2009-06-10T05:00:00-05:00June 10th, 2009|Categories: Film|

The Terminator trilogy fulfilled the role of good action flicks wonderfully, at least the first two. Who could ever forget the famous Arnold line: “I’ll be back!” And the first two movies had some pretty compelling human drama woven into intense, fun action. When Arnold gave a scorched thumbs up sign to his friend John Connor as he sacrificed himself for humanity I was moved like many others I know. These films employed science fiction in a way that demonstrated the clear difference between humans and robots: human’s have a heart. As Christianity Today’s reviewer put it: “What makes humans different from terminators? What makes them similar? Are humans' fates as programmed as the actions of their robot enemies? Terminators are trained to kill, but why do humans kill?”

Terminator Salvation does not deliver at all. It will not inspire or move you. That’s too bad because the action and special effects are drop dead great! The robots do rock. They even make a 1991-era […]

Another Update on David Stopke

By John Armstrong|2009-06-09T05:00:00-05:00June 9th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

My friend David Stopke is doing better each day. As I reported several weeks ago he is now in Denver and undergoing therapy and extensive recovery. He continues to not have the use of his arms and legs but is completely off the ventilator and sitting up and eating food. He can also talk, though with some difficulty and only for a short period of time. Last Thursday I phoned Eva, David's wife, and she handed the phone to David in the hospital bed. I finally got to hear David's voice and share my love with him once again.

On Monday I learned that David's feeding tube has also been removed and he is beginning to have movement in his left arm and hand. This is extremely encouraging news.

When I spoke with David he told me that he struggled a great deal and asked me for further prayer for his entire family. I told him that I shared his requests with thousands of readers, many of whom would pray for him because […]

The Big Unit Wins His 300th

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:14-05:00June 8th, 2009|Categories: Baseball|

The player known to fans everywhere as simply "The Big Unit," 6'10" pitcher Randy Johnson, became only the 24th Major League pitcher to win 300 games last Thursday evening in Washington D.C. He is only the sixth left-hander in that select group. He's also the first pitcher to win his 300th game on his first try since Tom Seaver did it in August of 1985. The next six who reached this great milestone needed more than one start. The six were Phil Niekro, Don Sutton, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

And at age 45 Randy Johnson is the second-oldest pitcher to reach the 300 mark—behind only Phil Niekro, who achieved the feat when he was 46 years. Johnson accomplished his milestone win against the Washington Nationals, the same team who launched his professional career by drafting him in the second round in 1985 when they were then known as the Montreal Expos. Baseball is filled […]

C. S. Lewis on How To Begin the Day

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:14-05:00June 7th, 2009|Categories: Spirituality|

C. S. Lewis is always a great source of encouragement when you face the day ahead. This is especially true with regard to the Lord’s Day. In his masterful work, The Weight of Glory, Lewis make a powerful distinction between acquiescence and failure that I have often found helpful. He writes:

I do not think any efforts of my own will end, once and for all, this craving for limited liabilities, [or] fatal reservation. Only God can [end this]. I have good faith and hope He will. Of course I don’t mean I can . . . “sit back.” What God does for us, He does in us. The process of doing it will appear to me (and not falsely) to be the daily or hourly repeated exercises of my own will in renouncing this attitude, especially each morning, for it grows all over me like a new shell each night. Failures will be forgiven; it is acquiescence that is fatal, the […]

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" […]