Blog - Page 224 of 318 - John H Armstrong

On Living and Dying Well

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:43-05:00July 24th, 2008|Categories: Death|

I have told many friends, over many years, that nothing sobers and strengthens my soul like leading a funeral service. I remember many funny, unusual and delightful moments about scores of weddings I have conducted but I remember almost every funeral in a much more powerful way. I have preached a funeral service for friends of all sorts and for both my parents. I always know, as I stand by a grave, "Someday they will bring your body to such a place. Are you ready?" Nothing moves the mind and heart so powerfully.

I have conducted several funerals this summer. A recent service was for a dear friend whose husband I wrote an entire article about four and a half years ago. This appeared in one of my weekly articles. Her husband’s legacy marked my life profoundly. He was a mentor figure who helped me time and time again. He taught me how to get involved in the lives of men and […]

Bleak House: A Dickens Novel on the Screen

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:43-05:00July 23rd, 2008|Categories: Film|

I discovered Bleak House, as I do so many great film series, browsing in my local library. It seems to be an exceptional adaptation of a Charles Dickens’ novel written between 1851-53. I have seen a number of adaptations of Dickens’ works and I think this has to be the best film series of the bunch, at least of the several that I have seen to this point. This fifteen-part mini-series follows Dickens’ panoramic view of a great story line while it removes the sentimentality of the novel’s period and style. It is filled with eccentric characters and complex turns of plot, though some of them I did figure out quite ahead of the revelation itself. It is a series that is loaded with suspense or momentum and once I got to episode five or six I was hooked and pressed on to the finish line over several days time.

The story begins, in early nineteenth century England, with two innocent young […]

Ecumenism: A Truly Good Word

By John Armstrong|2008-07-22T05:00:00-05:00July 22nd, 2008|Categories: Unity of the Church|

As I work on my book, Your Church is Too Small, I find that I must again and again explain the proper understanding of the word "ecumenism." For so many it has an entirely negative tone about it. I grew up around people who felt the word was akin to a "Communist conspiracy" or something.

The word comes from the early church making reference to councils as "ecumenical councils" because the whole church was represented at the gathering. The idea of ecumenical is "the whole visible church." Clement of Alexandria, in A.D. 195, said, "The pre-eminence of the church is its oneness. It is the basis of union. In this, it surpasses all other things and has nothing like or equal to itself."

The ecumenical movement has been a movement of people and churches in dialog seeking to express their oneness in Christ for the sake of his mission in the world. The fact that this movement has gone wrong at some points does not mean the movement itself is wrong. It means sinful people mess things up. Those who sit-out […]

Should We Drill in ANWR

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:43-05:00July 21st, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Most of us are aware of the great debate over drilling for oil in ANWR, or the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Alaska. President Bush promoted the idea, indeed he campaign on it. The Democrats, and some Republicans including Senator McCain, opposed it. Now that we are in need of increasing oil supply, without depending on the Middle East, should we revisit the ANWR question? I was on the fence, ever so slightly, until I saw these photos. In this case a photo is worth a thousand words and several are worth all the proof I needed to support drilling in ANWR. I wonder if most of the opponents have been to ANWR or seen these photos? I wonder what they would say if they did?

It is worth a comparison to get some perspective on the size and scope of the ANWR region.

[…]

Papal Indulgences and the Treasury of Merit

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 20th, 2008|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

Most students of the 16th century Protestant Reformation know that the practice of indulgences was a major issue that divided Protestant evangelicals and Roman Catholics. In Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses the subject of indulgences was a major topic of concern. In the Counter-Reformation the Catholic Church purged itself of many of the crass excesses that were related to the use of indulgences. But it did not remove the practice altogether.

In the spirit of healthy ecumenical dialog I offer that it would be best if this unscriptural development were purged altogether. I think it lacks biblical basis and solid, unambiguous patristic support. Some may be surprised to know that the Church still issues indulgences, especially papal indulgences, to this day.

One excellent Catholic source defines indulgences in this way:

The remittance of temporal punishment due to sin which sorrow has already been expressed and forgiveness received. This canceling of punishment comes from the treasury of Christ’s infinite merits and […]

Does Yellowcake Uranium Mean Anything?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 19th, 2008|Categories: The War on Terrorism|

It’s a little known fact that, after invading Iraq in 2003, the U.S. found massive amounts of uranium yellowcake, the stuff that can be refined into nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel, at a facility in Tuwaitha outside of Baghdad. It does seem to me that this fact is little known because the mainstream media simply doesn’t tell us information like this when it goes against the storyline they have created for five plus years. All we have heard is: "There were no WMDs thus the war was begun on false pretense."

Now I am not a big defender of the initial arguments for going into Iraq and I will always remain a tad skeptical until history allows more and more to come out in a dispassionate context. Time will tell, as they say. But in recent weeks, the U.S. secretly has helped the Iraqi government ship this yellowcake uranium to Canada, where it was bought by a Canadian company for further processing […]

How John Stott Begins Each Day

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 18th, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

A few weeks ago I wrote about beginning each new day in prayer to each person in the Holy Trinity. A member of our ACT 3 board, Marc Payne, was once a member of John Stott’s congregation at All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London. After he read that blog he sent to me the prayer that his pastor prayed each morning. I found so very helpful and thus I thought you would as well.

Good morning heavenly Father. Good morning Lord Jesus. Good morning Holy Spirit. Father I pray that I may live this day in Your presence and please You more and more. Lord Jesus I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow You. Holy Spirit I pray that this day You will fill me with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen in my life, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three Persons in one God, […]

More on the Pluralism Debate

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 17th, 2008|Categories: Uncategorized|

A few days ago I raised the question of how to respond to modern pluralism. I was sure that some would not read my words carefully but I also felt raising this issue was worth whatever risk might be involved. This discussion is so important because it seems that so many of us are locked into one of the three views I stated that we cannot see any other way to think about this question of Jesus being "the way, the truth and the life." As a result of this great harm is being done in the name of the Christian religion in the modern and post-modern world. Let me enumerate some of the mistakes made by people who tenaciously insist on the old paradigm, language and answer.

1. They sound like they know exactly what God is going to do with a person who is not presently a Christian. This sense of personal insight into the divine purpose drives people away from […]

Grandpa's Day at the Pool

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 16th, 2008|Categories: Personal|

One of the great joys of being a grandfather is to have the opportunity to enjoy your young children all over again, but without the problems of having to be a parent. Believe me grand-parenting is serious but it is a load of fun too. I sometimes think about my two granddaughters and wonder, "What will they think about me when I am gone?" Will I make enough good memories for them to think well of me. I hope they will recall that I was godly but I also hope they remember lots of fun times as well. Such was an experience last week when the girls and I went swimming. They dared me to take the "fast" water slide down to the pool. Never dare grandpa, he loves a dare.

It was a blast. The last time I did this my […]

California Same-Sex Law and the Methodists

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 15th, 2008|Categories: Homosexuality|

In
the wake of the California Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex
marriage, more than 80 retired Southern California clergy from the
United Methodist Church are offering to perform same-sex marriages, the
Sacramento Bee reports. The ministers made their
agreement during the annual meeting last weekend for
the California-Nevada Conference of United Methodist Church. Meanwhile, a small United Methodist congregation in Santa Monica,
called the Church at Ocean Park, is hosting a “love celebration” this
Sunday, July 6, for couples of any sexual preference who want to marry.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline—i.e., official church
law—forbids churches and clergy, both active and retired, from
performing same-sex unions. If disciplined, the clergy could be
defrocked. However, retired clergy are much less likely to face church
discipline.

The California-Pacific Conference of United
Methodism is one of the denomination’s most liberal. It is no surprise, at least to this writer, that it is also one of the fastest
declining regions, having lost about half its members over the last 40
years, while California’s population has boomed. Less than 3 percent
of […]