Blog - Page 197 of 318 - John H Armstrong

A Prayer-Care-Share Lifestyle

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00April 4th, 2009|Categories: Prayer|

One of the ministries I support, both in my prayer and in my giving to the kingdom of God, is the National Pastors Prayer Network. The National Pastors Prayer Network is led by a very good friend, Phil Miglioratti. Phil has was born and reared in Chicago. He has a background in the church that birthed the Awana Clubs ministry and knows evangelicalism through a lifetime of service inside the church. He now lives in the Chicago suburbs, as I do. He was a pastor in the distant past, has served several churches in both regular staff ministry and interim ministry, and leads churches in prayer for renewal and mission. He is a fine teacher, a clear writer and a self-less man who truly loves Christ and his church. Almost everyone who meets Phil likes him because he has no airs about him and communicates warmth and love very easily. We try to meet […]

Luis Bush: You Need to Know About My Friend

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00April 3rd, 2009|Categories: Missional Church|

I was introduced to Luis Bush several years ago by our mutual friend, Dr. Alan Johnson. Alan is a former teacher of mine at Wheaton College and has become a dear friend over the years. Alan also serves on the advisory board of ACT 3 and is a champion for me and the work that I do. Alan also has the wonderful habit of introducing his friends to other friends that he has made over the years. He is one of the most faithful retired professors I know, continuing to give himself to the kingdom actively each day.

Thus I came to have a memorable lunch at the Wheaton College Commons with Luis Bush about five years ago. Since then I have shared several more private meetings with Alan and Luis. For some reason these two brothers continue to invite me into their conversation and fellowship. a fellowship that engages my mind and soul very profoundly. I want you to know about Luis Bush and […]

An Urgent Appeal: The 4/14 Window

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00April 2nd, 2009|Categories: Missional Church|

Those who follow trends and movements in Christian missions are well aware of what has been called the 10/40 Window. This window can be defined quite simply:

The 10/40 Window is an area of the world that contains the largest
population of non-Christians in the world. The area extends from 10
degrees to 40 degrees North of the equator, and stretches from North
Africa across to China. Here is what the 10/40 window looks like on the map.

This 10/40 focus is upon finishing the call of Scripture to reach every tribe and nation and thus to plant the church of Jesus Christ among all people groups. I cut my teeth, spiritually speaking, on this missional model. I still embrace it.

But a new initiative is gaining interest among missionary leaders, one that I have been privileged to share in personally. This initiative is called the 4/14 Window. My friend Luis Bush, a strategist-activist and international facilitator of Transform World Connections, based in Singapore, […]

How Is the Economy Impacting Religion in America?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00April 1st, 2009|Categories: Current Affairs|

Cathy Lynn Grossman, reporting in the March 30 edition of USA Today, says: "Pleas for help—spiritual and financial—are flooding U.S. churches, from tiny congregations to megachurches, as recession woes seep into the pews."

Pastors report that they are distributing benevolent funds in record numbers and that ministries to the unemployed and the fearful are on the rise. Some are even using their own personal funds to help (27%). Nearly two in three pastors (62%) report that more people from outside their church are asking for help. Nearly a third (31%) see such requests from their own church members. The survey, done by LifeWay Research, dealt with 1,000 Protestant pastors. LifeWay finds that 40% of pastors say they have church members out of work and 37% say their church has increased spending to help the needy.

One church, in Overland Park, Kansas, held a special February service where people who lost their jobs could come to be anointed with oil and […]

The New Calvinism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00March 31st, 2009|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

A recent TIME (March 21, 2009) magazine cover story caught a lot of attention, especially among evangelical Christians. Right alongside of ideas like "Ecological Intelligence," "Africa: Open for Business" and "Reinventing the Highway" was "The New Calvinism." This short article, written by David Van Biema, the senior religion editor for TIME, is both insightful and simplistic. It is insightful because he tracks a movement that is gaining a measure of momentum. It is simplistic because the brevity of the piece doesn't allow for any serious interaction with the "ideas" that are explored. Biema writes:

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are . . . well, hark the David […]

Why Politics Matters Deeply and Why Politics Is Sometimes Dirty Rotten Business

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00March 30th, 2009|Categories: Politics|

Last week I watched two very interesting DVD accounts of political lives. I was struck by how important politics is, on the one hand, and why the whole business stinks on the other.

The first DVD I watched was a 90-minute History Channel documentary titled: "The True Story of Charlie Wilson." Charlie Wilson was the Texas Republican Congressman whose story was made into the popular Hollywood movie, Charlie Wilson's War, in 2008. The documentary was obviously not as fast moving and dramatic as the movie but it had a lot more interesting information than the movie. (I saw the movie last year and enjoyed it.)

Charlie Wilson was a hard drinking, hard living playboy who was drawn to partner with Gus Avrakotos, a CIA agent nicknamed "Dr. Dirty." The two of them would mastermind, over the course of ten years, to arm the Afghan Mujahideen in their war with the Soviet Union. Together […]

Your Church Is Too Small

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:35-05:00March 29th, 2009|Categories: ACT 3|

Many of you have prayed for me as I wrote a book telling my own story and explaining what I mean by missional-ecumenism. That book was completed last November, at least the draft was finished. I then gave it to Zondervan, my publisher. After several delays the book was put into the production schedule and will be released in February of 2010 if all stays on track.

When a book is accepted by most publishing companies a process begins that includes choosing a title and subtitle, creating art work for front and back of the book, and doing macro-edits and then micro-edits. The process takes several months. Then the marketing and sales people also get involved. I will personally be very proactive in the work on this book, even meeting with the staff at Zondervan on Monday, April 6, for a private time of dialogue and planning.

Last week the final title for the book was chosen after a process of discussion between me and several editors at Zondervan. The final title is: Your […]

A Lunch With Visionary Pastors

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:36-05:00March 28th, 2009|Categories: Personal|

One part of my ministry is the privilege of meeting with pastors, both one-on-one, and in small groups. On Thursday, March 19, I had a lovely luncheon with six pastors in Rockford, Illinois. Rockford is a city of 150,000 people located about 75 miles northwest of my home. I was the invited guest of co-pastors Bill Ward (photo at left) and David Smazik (photo at right) at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rockford. David and Bill have been friends for several years and Westminster is a congregation that supports ACT 3 in its budget. Over the past few years David, Bill and I have talked about gathering a small group of mainline Protestant ministers who share the same kingdom values, doctrinal orthodoxy and vision for the church. Finally, last week, the meeting happened.

The pastors who joined us included another pastor from Westminster, Brad Rogers, plus three […]

The Emerging Church: Can We Talk?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:36-05:00March 27th, 2009|Categories: Emergent Church|

Since the late 1990s a conversation has been going on about the emergent church. Opinions and reactions range from one end of a broad spectrum to another. Personally, I have longed to see someone deal with these issues fairly from the perspective of a deep commitment to the ancient Christian faith. Now this has been done. A good friend, Dr. Jim Belcher, has written the book I will recommend to many: Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional (IVP). This fine book will be out later this year.

The late Robert Webber spent considerable time among the leaders of the emergent discussion. Many found him to be a friend to those who were seeking for new ways to relate the gospel to our time. Yet these leaders never really heard the true passion of Bob, who once said to me, "John, I fear this is a huge reaction against traditional conservative evangelicalism without a serious foundation consciously rooted in the ancient Christian faith." […]

Mere Christianity and the Reality of Hell

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:36-05:00March 26th, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

Not long after his rather dramatic conversion to Christ, in 1929, the late C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend: “When all is said (and truly said) about the divisions of Christendom, there remains, by God’s mercy, an enormous common ground.” My bedrock conviction, and that of ACT 3, is that Lewis was right, profoundly right. This enormous common ground should be discussed, reconsidered and taught. Christians need to know that "core orthodoxy" is a reality and that holding to it really matters a great deal. It is here, as Lewis argued so often, that we find the central truth of Christianity, the truth that unites all who know Christ as Lord.

Walter Hooper notes, in his preface to Christian Reflections (Eerdmans, 1967): “From that time (i.e. 1929) on Lewis thought that the best service he could do for his unbelieving neighbors was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to […]