Blog - Page 201 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Season of Epiphany

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:50-05:00February 22nd, 2009|Categories: Church Tradition|

We come today to the last Sunday in Epiphany. Next week begins Lent and the church's preparation for Easter. Most Christians, at least those who are Protestants, know very little about this celebration. This is actually a sad loss since whole segments of the church do not not use the church calendar. January 6 is the actual day of "The Epiphany of our Lord." Then the Sundays that follow are called: "The First Sunday after Epiphany," and "The Second Sunday after Epiphany," etc.

Two major themes dominate this season. The first is the coming of light into the world and the power of that light to draw us to God. That light is Jesus. The second major theme is revelation. The texts associated with Epiphany are chosen to reveal to us who Jesus is. There is an emphasis in these chosen texts on calling individuals and congregations to teaching and healing ministry.

Epiphany is one of the oldest […]

Michael Beschloss on Presidential Courage

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:50-05:00February 21st, 2009|Categories: America and Americanism|

One of the privileges I am afford, living in a city like Chicago, is the opportunity to hear various noteworthy scholars, teachers and journalists speak publicly. Elmhurst College, where both my wife and daughter received a B. A. degree, is only about twenty minutes from my home. It is a first-rate liberal arts college that is affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC). It is also the host of an endowed annual lecture devoted to history and social science. Past speakers have included names such as Robert Dallek, David Gergen, David Halberstam, Taylor Branch, Richard Norton Smith, David Tracy and Martin Marty. This year's lecture was held last Sunday evening, February 15. The speaker was Michael Beschloss, esteemed historian of American presidents, and a frequent guest on NBC and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Beschloss has authored several best-sellers and is a good writer. He is also an excellent speaker, or at least a very good story-teller. He did not provide us with […]

The Academy Award Goes To . . .

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:50-05:00February 20th, 2009|Categories: Film|

The five nominees for Best Picture are Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, and The Reader. Slumdog Millionaire received ten Academy nominations and thus will, most likely, win the most awards this year. There is some suggestion that Academy voters will create a last-minute backlash against the film since it became popular so long ago and because so many think it will obviously win. Michael Phillips, film critic of The Chicago Tribune, believes it remains the best bet to take home the best picture Academy Award this Sunday evening. I happen to agree with Philiips, though I see two other movies that have a decent chance at winning the award: Frost/Nixon, a truly first-rate film, and The Reader, a film with very provocative adult themes set in a Nazi context, a context that is popular again this year. Why do we remain so fascinated with the Nazi's? Perhaps we need these cultural reminders of the potential for human […]

24: The Seventh Season

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:50-05:00February 19th, 2009|Categories: Television|

Yes, I really do enjoy 24. I actually think this is a much better season than the last several years in the 24 series. The shift to Washington, D.C., is genuinely great and the recovery of the heart and soul of the old CTU team is unexpected and great fun. The new "Madam President" is both tough and likeable but will her husband survive? Maybe find out next week. I'm not sure what to make of the "first husband." (He is not Bill Clinton, which is a blessing of sorts I guess.) And Jack Bauer is truly back, back saving the nation and hunting down the bad guys by living on the edge. Will he end up in with a significant other with the FBI agent he is now working with? The chemistry is growing. Jack is, well, Jack! I remain a big 24 fan and thus I am also thankful for my DVR, which allows me to cut the commercials and save time by seeing it on Monday night in only […]

Sudan Will Not Go Away

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:51-05:00February 18th, 2009|Categories: Current Affairs|

Michael Gerson noted this last week "That while a new administration is just getting started, history doesn't stop." He expressed deep concerns about the problems in Sudan and Darfur. There is a very good reason for this concern. President Obama's Africa policy team is already working on these issues and what they will find should open everyone's eyes if the truth on the ground is brought into the light. Everyone familiar with this part of Africa knows that it is a terrible situation that needs a careful and involved contribution from the United States.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), of the United Nations, issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of the Sudan last week. He is charged with war crimes. Thus the new administration faces a very tough question: "Can a hunted war criminal also be a partner in the Sudan peace process?"

Gerson wrote last week that when […]

Baseball's Drug Culture

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:51-05:00February 17th, 2009|Categories: Baseball|

Readers know that I love baseball. They also know that the drug scandals pain me deeply because my love for this game extends to real people both in and out of this truly American sport. I am reminded of a quote that I have made before, given to me by a former major league pitcher who is an earnest Christian: "The culture of major league baseball is no different than that in the wider culture. It is simply a culture that is under a much larger microscope." I still agree with this comment. There are many players who have never used drugs and there are some who have. There are Christians, and non-Christians, in baseball. And there are great guys and bad guys, scattered throughout this entire sport.

Was I shocked by the revelation that Alex Rodriguez used steroids in 2003? No, not really. Little of this kind of information shocks me. If it was John Smoltz or Matt Diaz, two of my […]

Will the Stimulus Bill Save Real Jobs?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:51-05:00February 16th, 2009|Categories: Economy/Economics|

As President Obama touts his financial stimulus plan, and lawmakers almost completely follow party lines on approval, what are we, ordinary economically challenged Americans, to make of all this? One thing is for sure, we have our own views, and some of them are very passionately held from what I read and hear. But most of us are not qualified economists. We instinctively realize that something could be worse than nothing, though the mood seems to clearly be that the government must do something. The polls are all over the place, suggesting deep suspicion about this plan. I would remind you that something like this was promised by candidate Obama and the country then elected him based as much on these plans to save the economy as for any other reason. Now that a majority seem to question his plan this underscores again how fast one's political popularity can shift even if the president is wildly popular on inauguration day. Time will tell, like it does in every political decision that a president makes, […]

Michael Moore Hates America

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:51-05:00February 15th, 2009|Categories: Culture|

Michael Wilson is a not-so-famous filmmaker who decided to produce a documentary on the very famous filmmaker Michael Moore. He followed the approach that Moore himself took in Roger & Me, a film in which Moore tried in vain to get an interview with multimillionaire General Motors CEO Roger Smith. Moore made this pursuit in order to demonize both the man and his money. By this method he turned his strange critique into a new, and highly-praised, art form. From there Michael Moore went on to win an Oscar for another documentary, wrote several best-selling books and in general made millions while appearing to be the friend of the downtrodden. What I seriously question, and this film made very clear to me, is whether or not you can honestly call Moore's films documentaries.

My view is rather simple—a really good documentary tries to provide ways to see the complexity of an issue by telling the viewer […]

A Truly Great Bookstore

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:52-05:00February 14th, 2009|Categories: Books|

There are a lot of Christian bookstores that do wonderful service. Many are going out of business because of the success of Barnes & Nobles and Borders. And online amazon.com and similar sites make it hard for a book business to make ends meet these days. Most retail stores only stay open because of the sale of products other than books. In fact, even the big book stores make more profit on items other than books. On top of this major publishing companies struggle as well. Both the economy and the availability of digital books, Kindle books and audio books have all changed the market dramatically. It is a challenging time to publish and to sell books, especially solid, orthodox Christian books.

Knowing several local publishers has always given me a clear view of the business side of this but being an author makes it even more personal to me. I have worked with five publishers over the last fifteen years. Each has […]

The Vatican and the Anniversary of Charles Darwin

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:20:52-05:00February 13th, 2009|Categories: Science|

For well over a hundred-and-fifty years faith and science have been locked in a struggle that has often been seen as battle to the death by both sides. Those who believe Darwin's theory of evolution proves that Christian faith is dead, thus naturalism reigns supreme in place of faith in the modern world, have miscalculated both the nature and power of Christian faith. And earnest Christians who think that no Darwinist can truly be a faithful Christian are either willfully misled or simply out of touch with the incredible faith contributions of men like Francis Collins, the head of the human genome project. Collins, for those who do not know, is both an ardent Christian and an Darwinian evolutionist.

On both sides of this heated debate are advocates who refuse simply to see the merits and insights of their opponents. The evolutionists often see faith as naive and mindless.
They see the […]