Blog - Page 215 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Miracle at St. Anna

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:26-05:00October 7th, 2008|Categories: Film|

Spike Lee's new film, Miracle at St. Anna, involves four African-American soldiers behind enemy lines in Italy in World War II. It is a story that needed to be told given the way war stories have been written and filmed since the 1940s. Finally someone has paid tribute to the sacrifice of black Americans for their part in this great war.

The two hour and forty minute film opens with an old black man watching a John Wayne movie about the war and muttering to himself, "We fought that war too." The next day he goes to work at the post office and does something that startles you instantly. This opening scene adds time to the story but does not actually help the story that much. From this scene the movie then goes back to the 1940s and the war. The movie ends with another scene that does not play that well but includes a feeling of deep emotion. The closing music […]

One Long Epiclesis

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 6th, 2008|Categories: The Church|

The late Roman Catholic theologian Yves Congar was one of the most important theological writers on the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the 20th century. I was introduced to Congar's work about twenty years ago. I prize his three volumes as some of my finest material on the Spirit. Father Richard McBrien says Congar's theology has six principal elements in it. I would like to underscore only one of them: epiclesis.

Epiclesis refers to a special section in the offering of the prayer at the Mass. Since the Reformers rejected the idea of sacrifice in the Eucharist they also rejected this term.
The idea behind epiclesis is to offer thanksgiving to God for his past mercies and to offer petition for his continued benevolence in the present. In ancient liturgy it was rooted in the Didache which said, "Remember, […]

Planned Parenthood and Politics

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 5th, 2008|Categories: Abortion|

President John Adams once wrote: "Facts can be stubborn things and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." Never was a statement more true than with regard to the present issue of abortion and politics.

Planned Parenthood is a huge organization. A 2007 Wall Street Journal report said their budget now exceeds $1 billion. Read that again and let it soak in for a moment. Of this budget $336 million comes from the government, thus from our taxpayer monies. Planned Parenthood is responsible for helping one in four mothers have an abortion in the United States. Planned Parenthood also remains deeply involved in the politics of abortion. (If you think this issue is not political then you are fast asleep.)

Planned Parenthood has what they call […]

My Day at a Crimson Tide Game

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 4th, 2008|Categories: College Football|

Some months ago my brother phoned me and said, "Would you like to see Alabama play Kentucky on Saturday, October 4?" I didn't have to think about it at all. And I didn't know then that I would see two undefeated teams play in a nationally televised game (2:30 p.m. CDT, CBS) if I said "Yes." Sure glad I could say yes and I am even more glad now that I am going to see a great college game in a great place, Bryant-Denny Stadium. (I lived across from the press box in 1968 and still recall where I was standing, looking at the stadium, when my roommate said, "Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis!")

At the time my brother called a few months ago I wasn't convinced that Alabama would be this good this season, but I knew they had recruited well and had some juniors and seniors who were now ready to really play for Coach Saban. […]

Can Blogging Be a "Mean-Free" Zone?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 3rd, 2008|Categories: Personal|

I have touched upon this question on several previous occasions. Can blogging be done without the meanness that often attends writers and responders? I think so and remain committed to this as my goal. I weigh my words and ideas carefully and thus always ask: "Is this honest, fair and helpful to someone?" Most of my blogs are about ideas and responses that I have to politics, culture, movies, life and Christian faith. A few of them are about my private personal interests; e.g., baseball and college football. Once in awhile I throw in personal thoughts and travels because so many of my friends desire me to do this because they have a relationship with me. For some reason they care about me as a person. My blogs are thus both columns/articles and personal reflections/narratives.

A local columnist, whose politics are much more liberal than my own, recently asked if his own newspaper column was a "hate-free" zone? This question led me to ask the question above about being "mean-free" in blogging. By mean I refer to "being bad-tempered, disagreeable or malicious." […]

A Lesson from Samuel M. Zwemer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 2nd, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

The apostle Paul had some amazing encounters with the Lord, encounters that are beyond our imagination. He met Jesus directly on the road to Damascus and heard his voice. He also says that he was "caught up to the third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2). I can't even imagine the glories this man knew this side of his departure from life on this side of eternity. This is why Paul writes of his having learned to live with weakness (2 Corinthians) after he pled with God three times to remove his (physical) trial.

But Paul also knew what it was to suffer and to be opposed by others, especially through the attacks of Christians. I reflected on this with a long-time friend over lunch last week as we shared about Brother Yun's time with me and my blogs about him.

My friend shared a story with me that I did not previously know. It was about the great missionary to the Middle East, Samuel M. […]

Cubs and Sox in the Same Year: What's Going On?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:27-05:00October 1st, 2008|Categories: Baseball|

This has been a magical year in baseball but no magic is greater than the
Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox
both being in the post-season in the same year. The last time this happened was 1906 when they met in the World Series. And this is the first time the modern Cubs have made the post-season two years in a row. It is a season of many firsts in Chicago. If the two teams met in the World Series I am not sure how the city would deal with it. A crosstown series would be the epitome of Chicago sports.

The White Sox dramatic collapse, and then their even more dramatic recovery, was pretty exciting. They had to win three games in a row against three different teams just to get in. Winning 1-0 last night against Minnesota, in a game where […]

Is the Pendulum Swinging Away from the Markets?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:28-05:00October 1st, 2008|Categories: Economy/Economics|

One of our most respected American political writers, at least in my opinion, is U. S. News & World Report's columnist Michael Barone. He is a keen observer of the both history and political developments of our nation. Last week Barone asked if there was a pendulum swing going on in America? He put it his way: "You can sum up much of the 20th century by saying that in the 1930s Americans decided that markets didn't work and government did, and that in the 1970s Americans decided that government didn't work and markets did." I think that is a tad simplistic but sometimes a simple picture is worth a thousand words. And the picture gets it about right in my estimation.

Both the decades of the 1930s and the 1970s produced protracted changes in public attitudes. The bread lines of the 1930s produced a public that was willing to give government huge powers to intervene in the economy to fix problems while […]

Brother Yun: A Final Word

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:28-05:00September 30th, 2008|Categories: ACT 3|

It should be evident by now that I was profoundly moved by the visit of Brother Yun to Chicago. I was even more profoundly moved by his ministry to me and by the friendship that we established by spending time together. When he assured me on September 21st that he was praying for me, and would pray for me, I believe him.

I have addressed the various attacks upon Brother Yun's ministry and character. I have also provided a link to Paul Hattaway's excellent article. There is one last attack on him that I want to address, since I personally observed this for myself.

It has been rumored widely that Brother Yun is a millionaire and lives an opulent lifestyle in the West. Along with this it is rumored that he raises large sums of money and uses it for himself. What do I make of this charge?

Absolutely nothing. While it is true that I have not been […]

More Reflections On Brother Yun: Checking Out the Facts on the Personal Attacks

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:28-05:00September 29th, 2008|Categories: ACT 3|

I am grateful for all of the comments posted regarding my recent posts about Brother Yun. I hope that these posts have encouraged you to be more like Christ, not simply to support Brother Yun. His expressed intention is not that you support him but the underground church in China and the "Back to Jerusalem" movement.

Not only have Americans attacked Brother Yun, but attacks have come from other lands and church leaders as well. A number of Korean leaders have denounced him as a heretic and a con man. And this sort of attack comes without Brother Yun having ever visited Korea. Paul Hattaway writes that this kind of response comes, as always, from people who have never met Brother Yun or spoken to him. The good news is that many other churches and leaders from various nations outside the West have also invited Brother Yun to speak. For every closed door he meets, God is opening a new one and his ministry keeps growing. To God be the glory!

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