Blog - Page 233 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The New "Post-Partisan" Campaign?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:57-05:00April 26th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Senator Barack Obama has referred to the presidential campaign this year as being "post-partisan."
I do not doubt that he wants it to be that way but the statement reveals a naive side that is striking.

A partisan is someone who "takes one side, or strongly supports someone who takes one side." A secondary definition adds the idea of emotional commitment to the word and then concludes that a partisan is "blindly or unreasonably devoted." The word, thus, has various shades of meaning for sure. In the first sense Obama’s comment is ludicrous. In the second it is near ludicrous since his followers are the most partisan of all in the present campaign, or so it seems to me.
Obama’s strongest and most devoted followers know very little about him and what he would do as a national leader since none of […]

Preaching True Revival in North Carolina

By John Armstrong|2008-04-22T22:11:22-05:00April 22nd, 2008|Categories: Renewal|

For the past three days I have been preaching on true revival in a multi-church conference sponsored and hosted by four churches in eastern North Carolina, just a few miles from the Atlantic coast. The churches included Faith Evangelical Bible Church (non-affiliated), Father’s House (charismatic), Newport Baptist (SBC) and All Saints Anglican Church (AMiA). These churches are in all in the Newport area. The pastors worked together and tomorrow evening they will conduct a concert of prayer after I have returned to Chicago. I also spoke to a Christian high school on Monday and to ministers this morning. I encouraged the four pastors to continue having a regular community Concert of Prayer in the future and to keep building their relationships with one another and to even broaden the scope of their fellowship. Tonight I met evangelical Christians from almost every possible background, including Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. (I am still amazed when people insist that Catholics are not Christians and that there are not real evangelical Catholic Christians. I meet them all the time but then maybe I just have the […]

Paradise 08 and True Revival: The Supremacy of Christ as Lord

By John Armstrong|2008-04-22T16:43:24-05:00April 22nd, 2008|Categories: Renewal|

For some months now a major gathering of young adults has been developing. This event, called Paradise ’08, is nuique in a number of ways. I am not sure of everything about this event but I do believe young people should consider going and all of us should pray that God comes in power to refresh and bless these multitudes of young people who are coming from across America to worship. If you watch several of the videos you will be impressed I think. I watched several on You Tube this afternoon.

Visit the Web site at www.paradise08.com and you will find out much more. The site will open the whole day up clearly and give you a very good sense of what is going on. I encourage all of us to pray for Paradise ’08. "Who knows, the Lord might relent and send mercy."

I have believed in true revival since 1970. I have seen it and been in it before. Often such a movement begins among college students. Could this be the next thing God is […]

The Pope and America

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:57-05:00April 22nd, 2008|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

Pope Benedict XVI has returned to the Vatican after a successful journey to America last week.
Reading the mainstream media’s reports on his visit reminds me of just how clueless so many in the media are about religion in general, and Christianity in particular. Some of the offense came from the New York Times and the Washington Post. No surprises there.
But some also came from more conservatives voices.

First, on the liberal side. William McGurn noted in today’s Wall Street Journal op-ed page that the pope rightly lauded George Washington, upon arriving in America last week, by praising our first president and the founders for the "timeless truths that are embodied in America’s founding." President Bush responded by praising the "common law" tradition of Catholicism and by saying that he was thankful that we share a belief in a divine "law" written on the human heart.
From the look of it few religion reporters picked up on how important these two observations […]

John Smoltz on the Verge of History

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:57-05:00April 22nd, 2008|Categories: Baseball|

John Smoltz, who I have followed for his entire major league career with great fan interest, pitches tonight against the Washington Nationals in Atlanta. If he strikes out four batters he will have struck out 3,000 batters in his career. By this feat he will become the 16th pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to accomplish this illustrious mark of excellence. Smoltz already holds a record no one else is close to: 200 plus wins and 150 plus saves. He has done all of this with arm problems and undergone major surgery once and minor procedures several more times, missing several years of time in his career. At one time he even had a baseball psychologist help him try to control his mental state on game day when he was young and often lacked control.

I have met John Smoltz, when I did chapel for the Atlanta Braves. He is a wonderful man and an outstanding Christian in his clubhouse and […]

Those Bothersome Simpsons

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:58-05:00April 19th, 2008|Categories: Television|

I have not been a long-time fan of The Simpsons TV series but sometimes I catch an episode now and then. These writers are very good and often times provocative in insightful and interesting ways. A good bit of serious theological reflection has actually gone into several full-length books and articles on The Simpsons television series.

I was thus fascinated to learn that The Simpsons is actually a cultural phenomenon in many other parts of the world, especially in South America. But Monte Reel notes in this weekend’s Washington Post that Homer Simpson has succeeded in offending many people in Argentina. The reason is Homer Simpson’s complaining at Moe’s Pub, with his crumbling buddies, about the presidential candidates in America. Homer’s buddy Carl says, "I’d really go for some kind of military dictator like Juan Peron." To many this cut too deeply since they do not think Peron was a dictator at all. And Carl’s friend Lenny referred to Peron’s famous, and […]

No Laughter in Hell?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:58-05:00April 19th, 2008|Categories: Humor|

I believe that laughter is unique to humans in all of God’s good creation. I also think that laughter is a great antidote to pride and self-importance. People who do not laugh will miss out on the goodness of God’s creation and thus
miss a perfectly delightful and normal expression of God-given joy.

In Dante’s "Inferno" and "Paradisio" it is only in the inferno of hell that no one laughs. I do not think Dante got the biblical teaching about heaven and hell right in several ways but in this case I think he was right on. Laughter is absent in hell but it will be a major feature of heaven.

Laughter and personal depth also go hand-in-hand. I once thought real seriousness required Christians to be careful to not overdo laughter, especially in public worship settings. I even said, […]

My Reading

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:58-05:00April 17th, 2008|Categories: Books|

I read a lot. I read widely. I read theology and biography. I read fiction and poetry. I read the Bible and I read the newspaper (several). I read politics and cultural analysis. I have no set pattern other than that when I am doing research for a book I spend more time on that area for a season, thus right now I am reading more on the church than any single subject since I am writing a book on unity and catholicity: Your Church is Too Small.

Presently I am reading the following books:

1. The Household of God, Lesslie Newbigin

This book is an out-of-print classic, an early work (1953) of the famous missional theologian. It has real bearing on my present research. No one has more influenced my thinking about mission and church, and how they relate to one another so directly, than the late Bishop Lesslie Newbigin.

[…]

Thinking More About Race

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:58-05:00April 16th, 2008|Categories: Race and Racism|

Because of the Jeremiah Wright controversy I have been forced to think a lot more about race in America in recent weeks. I have been reading, watching and processing a great deal of information and serious dialog. Over the past month I think I have had more conversations and done more work on this subject than anything I have looked at for a long, long time. I am far from where I want to be but now is a good time to put out a few observations I have made along the way.

First, I am quite convinced that the category of race is variously defined and used and this is still a major problem for good communication. Many good-hearted white people, especially intelligent and thoughtful white Christian people, think of race only in terms of color of skin or some similar physical trait or combination of traits. They want a "just and color-blind society" (a noble and correct goal) and believe that […]

The Pope and the President on Iraq

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:58-05:00April 15th, 2008|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Washington today he will be met personally at Andrews Air Force base by President and Mrs. Bush.
This is the first time in seven-plus years that this has ever happened. No king or potentate has received a personal welcome at Andrews by this president. This underscores the importance of this visit.
Millions will be watching and talking about this visit and many of them will be Protestants, like me and many of you, who will watch and listen with profound interest.

The importance of all of this cannot be overstated. President Bush, who has occasionally been opposed by the Vatican, such as in his decision to enter Iraq in 2003, is a great admirer of Benedict XVI. In this he represents so many of us. The president has a way of speaking about how he looks into a person’s eyes and see their character. He made a huge mistake when he accepted Putin’s credibility on face value […]