Blog - Page 225 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Living Faithfully in a Pluralistic World

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 14th, 2008|Categories: Biblical Theology|

One of the more vexing questions faithful Christians face more and more is the one raised by the claims of Jesus that he is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Is salvation found in no other way than through conscious faith in Christ alone? It has become customary to agree that there are three alternative answers to this question.

1. Exclusivism

This is the traditional answer and the one held by almost all Christians who are conservative. There is "no other name" and thus no other way to the Father but through Jesus Christ alone. This requires the Church to say, "All other religions and views are false and that is that." We have the truth and you do not. We serve the true God while you grope in darkness. If you come to trust in Jesus Christ personally then you will know the real truth about God and yourself and find true salvation as we have.

2. […]

What is a Christian?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:44-05:00July 13th, 2008|Categories: Biblical Theology|

One of my favorite gospel preachers, from my earliest recollection, was the itinerant revivalist Vance Havner. I read a great deal of his material in my early years and heard him speak in person on a number of occasions. One day I even had lunch with him in Chicago. He was, to say the least, quite a unique character. He always had a humorous turn of phrase to put a point on something very serious and his quips thus became memorable.

You can discover a wealth of Havner’s written work, and an entire audio library of sermons, by a simple Google search under his name.

One quip I will never forget was this one. "Some Christians are like porcupines. They have so many fine points you can’t get near them." So true. And if you don’t laugh at that line you are very likely the kind of person Havner had in mind by saying it.

I posses […]

Wise Counsel from the Epistle of First Clement

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 12th, 2008|Categories: Unity of the Church|

One of the earliest (non-canonical) letters that we have from the early Church is that of First Clement. This letter was written in A.D. 96 to deal with the strife that existed between the church in Rome and the church in Corinth. Clement was the leader of the church in Rome, and some Roman Catholic polemics suggest he was the fourth pope. (He could well have been Peter’s successor as the leader of this flock, which of course does not, in and of itself, prove the doctrine of the papacy. He appears to have been ordained by Peter as best we can tell.) Certain presbyters (ministers/elders) had been deposed in Corinth and Clement urges that they be restored. (It is interesting to note that Paul’s appeals to the Corinthian church had not brought about the peace and unity he so desired for that people.)

Clement’s letter is an appeal to restore due order in all things and to reinstate and obey […]

Learn to Highly Regard the Silence of the Holy Spirit

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 11th, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

I am presently writing a book on the unity of the Church. I am impressed, again and again, at how often we turn on other Christians about issues that are not a part of "core orthodoxy." In reading John Calvin
I came across this quote recently:

And in fact, while the Spirit ever teaches us to our profit, he either remains absolutely silent upon those things of little value for our edification, or only lightly and curiously touches upon them. It is also our duty willingly to renounce those things which are unprofitable (The Institutes: I, XIV, 3).

If the Spirit is "silent" it would be a wise course for us to not pursue these things, especially in ways that rend the body of Christ further. Or, as Calvin adds, "[if the Holy Spirit] only lightly or curiously touches upon them." There are some things we read in Scripture that we think are very clear but many others, as godly as […]

Economic Myths and Other Untruths: Why Does the Press Not Tell Us the Truth?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 10th, 2008|Categories: Current Affairs|

The press (especially television news) informs our collective response and thought about our world, and the day-to-day events in our world, far more than most of us realize. Martin Bashir, on the ABC program Nightline, recently said, “It’s been described as the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. And it brings with it grave dangers for all American families.” And almost daily we hear the television media, and sometimes the print press, remind us that we are on one of the worst recessions in decades. And just a few days ago (June 20), David Faber, on the NBC’s Today show, referenced “the recession . . . [and] these tough economic times.”

The same day Faber spoke on NBC, and millions watched and listened to his dark report, the first-quarter Gross Domestic Product was revised upward once again to 1 % growth. Let me put this very simply—there is no hard evidence that we are in a recession. None. I am […]

A Letter from our ACT 3 Chairman

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 9th, 2008|Categories: ACT 3|

Dear Friend of ACT 3,

I am writing to you as the chairman of the board for ACT3, the teaching ministry of our mutual friend, John H. Armstrong.

I suspect that your interest in John’s ministry is similar to my own. You are concerned about the state of the church in our generation and in our nation. You too recognize that the American church has become spiritually apathetic, theologically ignorant, and culturally indifferent to the mission of God. You further recognize that the current state of the church is nothing short of a crisis thus you believe, as I do, that God still uses men to challenge and confront His church in such a time as this. I believe that John is just such a man who has been called for our time. It is for that reason that I have pledged my support to this man and his ministry.

As you may know, summer is the slowest season for […]

My Summer Writing Work

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 9th, 2008|Categories: Personal|

Many of you know that I am presently writing a major book with the working title: Your Church is Too Small. The book seeks to address what I will call missional-ecumenism. It will tell the story of my own journey to this perspective as well as show why I think God is working around the world to bring Christians back to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-24. The book will be theological, but hopefully written in a simple form. (This does not mean it will be simplistic at all.)

I also wrote a series of articles on the Trinity that are coming out as ACT 3 Weekly articles this summer. I encourage you to sign up on the ACT 3 Web site.
These articles could become a primer on the Trinity in due time. Your feedback would be helpful as well.

I hope to complete this work on missional-ecumenism by September. I am writing on it almost every day. […]

Can the Abortion Struggle Be Presented Fairly?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 8th, 2008|Categories: Abortion|

I was energized about the abortion issue in the year that I received my master’s degree, 1973. Students of the issue will recall that it was in January of that year that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legal abortion in the infamous Roe v. Wade case. The speaker at my commencement was Dr. C. Everett Koop. He told us that we were becoming the first generation to live in the "brave new world" which would likely bring about major ethical and moral challenges that were unknown to our parents. How right he was. And he got my attention and it has remained ever since.

This is why I picked up the film documentary, Unborn in the USA: Inside the War on Abortion (2007), at my library and watched it last week. It was touted as objective and "eye-opening." Salon.com said, "The abortion movie everyone should see. Fascinating!" I have never seen an objective film documentary on this subject. I now […]

Does Political Partisanship Help or Hurt the Mission of the Church, Part 2?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:45-05:00July 7th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

I began, last week, an article on the meaning of political partisanship and asked how this has impacted the church in America and its mission to make disciples and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to the nations. I continue with further thoughts in this second part of that blog.

Partisanship is necessary to party politics, especially two-party politics as we know it. Each party plays an adversarial role so that no single group can control our government without being challenged.
This is intended to make government more accountable. Partisanship, by nature, favors one way of thinking over another. If you are deeply partisan then you work to see your party succeed, certainly at the expense of the success of the other party and sometimes at the expense of the nation’s good.

William Safire has shown that partisan political activity plainly has […]

Polling: What Next?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:46-05:00July 6th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

I was enjoying my breakfast and then came across this story. "Public cool to Michelle, doesn’t know Cindy." What next? A poll on their children?

While 30% have a favorable view of Michelle Obama only 27% have a favorable view of Cindy McCain. But Obama gets a 35% unfavorable response and McCain only a 17% unfavorable rating. Those are very high numbers for Michelle Obama. I have to believe her comments about being "proud of her country" for the first time did not help her at all. The poll also indicates, sadly to me at least, that race clearly plays some part in this perception. After all, she is a highly education, very successful, black woman! Sadly, many will despise her for this if for no other reason.

But I have to ask, "So what?" This is what disgusts me about our present political polling and our intense fascination with personalities and images. Is this the "Oprahfication" of politics or what? What happens when this kind of data seems to really matter? I am more nervous about this type of interest […]