Blog - Page 20 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Fr. Robert Barron on the Importance of Christian Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:41-05:00February 24th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

Yesterday, I gave you a report on the recent dialogue that I did with my friend Fr. Robert Barron. Last fall Fr. Barron was interviewed by ACT3 on his ideas about Christian unity when we had our Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation at Mundelein. Today I publish a portion of that interview. The timing for this video is perfect since I spoke of Fr. Barron’s work yesterday and our dialogue at St. Procopius Abbey on February 9.

The entire video presentation of the February 9 event will be available here very soon. We will also have a three-minute PBS-type documentary video that captures the highlights and news of that special evening. This too will be published. Please share these interviews as widely as you would like. I believe they are a unique witness to God’s grace and the work of John 17 in our midst.

An Evening for Ecumenical Conversation @ St. Procopius Abbey

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 23rd, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

On Monday, February 9, St. Procopius Abbey (Lisle, IL) hosted a wonderful evening gathering dedicated to Catholic-Evangelical ecumenism. Several hundred guests, representing scores of Catholic and Protestant parishes throughout the Chicago area, gathered to listen to two long-time friends engage in a ninety-minute conversation about Christian unity. Taking their cue from the current actions, and written initiatives, of Pope Francis the two conversation partners addressed the possibilities and problems inherent in this new ecumenism. The Very Rev. Dr. Robert Barron, Rector/President of University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, and the Rev. Dr. John H. Armstrong, a Reformed Church minister and adjunct professor of evangelism at Wheaton College. Dr Armstrong also serves as the founder and president of the ACT3 Network in nearby Carol Stream, Illinois, who sponsored the event. Both Fr. Barron and Rev. Armstrong shared personal stories and answered questions. The dialogue was moderated by Rev. Dr. Chris Castaldo, Lead Pastor of New Covenant Church in Naperville. Dr. Castaldo also moderated the Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue between Dr. Armstrong and Francis Cardinal George, hosted by Wheaton […]

National Workshop on Christian Unity 2015

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 18th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

Last year I mentioned speaking at a plenary session at the National Workshop on Christian Unity in New Mexico. This year the workshop is in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 22-25. I will be helping the leadership team establish a new partnership group within this historic event. This new group is called “Ancient-Future Faith Evangelical Partners.” I hope that some of you will join me/us for this wonderful event. Here is the link to see the program and sign up: http://nwcu.org/2015-nwcu-highlights/

I will be speaking on Tuesday evening at CharlotteONE in the city center and attendees at the NWCU will be invited to attend this millennial gathering.

I believe one-day registration can be done on site. Make your plans now and keep me posted if you are planning to come.

The Roman Catholic and Evangelical Dialogue: Reflections on Ecumenism for the 21st Century (Video)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 17th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

The resource that we provide today is “old” but still quite useful. This dialogue took place some years ago at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. There is much here to glean but this is very long. It runs ten minutes short of two hours so only those who really enjoy this kind of dialogue will watch it in full. This was available in DVD for some years but we stopped selling it and now provide it without charge to be viewed through our ACT3 Network online resources.

The moderator is the ABC television news anchor in Chicago. The four speakers are identified at the beginning of the program.

If I look like a different person to you in this program it is because this event took place before I lost a considerable amount of unnecessary weight. Some who do not see me very often ask me, “Are you sick?” So far as I can tell I feel much better now than I did when this video was made. Enough said.

ACT3 Network Video: An Introduction to Our Mission

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 16th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Education, Evangelism, Love, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Renewal, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Last fall (2014) a friend, who is a professional videographer with solid credentials, partnered with me to make a new video. Another friend gave ACT3 a generous gift to make this new “ACT3 Introduction” video. This has been on our home page for several months but not on the blog site.

Today I am pleased to tell you that I believe this to be the best presentation of our vision and work that we’ve ever made. It gets to the point by telling a narrative that works well in relating the work of our mission. Please pass this along to your friends and please do pray for me and the growing work of ACT3.

Debating Doctrine and Preserving Unity: What Conservative Christians Can Do (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 13th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Orthodoxy, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

In the story that I related yesterday I ended with a friend who was teaching an adult class in his church and a couple that had quit attending because my friend did not embrace a six-day, twenty-four hour, recent creation of the earth. My friend asked me to pray as he responded to this relational breakup.

After two weeks this friend reached out to the husband in this story. he writes that this man has been his friend for decades. They met for breakfast together. My friend writes, and I know this to be true from first-hand knowledge, “John, this is a subject that I have studied deeply for several decades.” After the breakfast meeting he wrote to me saying, “Ironically I found that the relational side of things was, to some degree, restored through our time together. However, the cognitive side seemed blocked. This brother was not open to ideas that contradicted his view. His presumption seems to be that his view is Scriptural (hence others could not measure up). I chose to only share enough to help him see that there are […]

Debating Doctrine and Preserving Unity: What Conservative Christians Can Do (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 12th, 2015|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

A very good friend, who is mature and wise from solid life experience, recently taught what he describes to me as “a somewhat ecumenical message in my adult Sunday School class (while unpacking the Greatest Commandment).” He told his class that when true believers disagree on peripheral matters we are to remember that we are in the family of God and that our Lord prescribes a loving way to humbly engage with one another. If we engage with each other in the way our Lord taught us then we are able to both teach and learn.

One of the examples my friend used in his adult class was the subject of differing views of creation that are held by Christians. (The discussion was much wider but this issue was the one that troubled a few.) At the end of this class someone with whom my friend has ministered in their local church context for well over thirty years (he adds he felt this relationship had been at a fairly deep level) came forward to ask a question. He wanted […]

The Way of Jesus (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 11th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, Biblical Theology, Church History, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

We welcome once again Rev. Dr. George Byron Koch as our guest blogger.

As the Church moved out from Israel into the surrounding cultures, and the leadership of the Church became more and more Gentile, this understanding of following the Way, which was very Jewish and rabbinic, changed into a process of analysis and proposition construction—the development of theology, doctrine and Christian tradition. That is, the focus moved from how one behaved to what one believed—from following the way of a person and His teachings, to believing in a set of logical propositions: From acting to asserting.

This began innocently enough: Paul in his speech on Mars Hill (Acts 17) to contextualize the Gospel for Gentile listeners (who were, incidentally, Greek philosophers). Or when Origen wrote Contra Celsum (“Against Celsus,” ) a defense of the Way put into philosophical categories and syllogisms, because the Way had been ridiculed by the Greek philosopher Celsus as silly and lacking the philosophical foundations and rigor of the Greek schools.

The creeds are key examples of this focus on propositions. Whether the […]

The Way of Jesus (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:42-05:00February 10th, 2015|Categories: Biblical Theology, Church Tradition, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

We welcome Rev. Dr. George Byron Koch as our guest blogger for today and tomorrow.

I remember the first time I learned that the early believers, long before they were called “Christians,” referred to themselves as followers of “the Way” of Jesus. I heard it as an apt and beautiful poetic metaphor—which I assumed they had invented for themselves.

I have since learned that the expression actually has deep Jewish and rabbinic roots, and this has opened my eyes to something truly fundamental in following Him—something we have often forgotten, or didn’t fully realize we knew. It is a rich treasure. Let me open it up.

First, the great rabbis over the centuries, as well as at the time of Jesus, had passionate and dedicated disciples. When disciples agree to abide by the teachings of a rabbi, they are said to “put his yoke” upon them. When Jesus says, “Put my yoke upon you,” He is literally offering to become your rabbi, your teacher and model. That was and is the expression used by the rabbis to define […]

Chris Castaldo on Christian Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:43-05:00February 9th, 2015|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, My Christian Unity Story, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Today I post a great video clip on unity by my friend, Dr. Chris Castaldo. Chris formerly served at the Billy Graham Center and recently became the lead pastor of New Covenant Church in Naperville, Illinois. Chris shares my vision very deeply yet he comes at the particular issues from a very different background and context. What makes our partnership work is a deep relationship between us that is rooted in love. This love goes all the way back to Chris’s seminary days at Gordon-Conwell in Massachusetts. Chris lives just two blocks from my house in Carol Stream. Our friendship is the kind where we can “drop by” and chat any time. Pray for Chris, Angela and their children as they adjust to a new pastorate.

I also post this video today because tonight Dr. Castaldo will moderate our ACT3 Dialogue on Christian Unity tonight with Fr. Robert Barron. This event will be in Lisle (IL) at St. Procopius Abbey. You are welcome to attend at 7:00 p.m. There is no registration required and no charge to attend. A video of the entire evening is being made. We […]