Blog - Page 236 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Ben Stein's New Movie Will Clearly Shake the Academic Tree

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:02-05:00March 25th, 2008|Categories: Science|

This year, author and former speech-writer Ben Stein goes for the jugular vein that supplies all the false ideology fueling today’s rebellion against God and final truth. He does it in a movie, Expelled, that has already stirred controversy and it is not even out yet. (Click the movie title and you will see the trailer that has been pre-released.) Stein is taking on the establishment’s enslavement to Darwinism and exposing not only its improbability, but its dangerous intellectual suicide that refuses to follow the evidence where it leads, and that of course is back to God our Creator. Take a minute and watch the preview of this forthcoming film. It should be interesting whether you completely agree with his conclusions or not.

What (Really) is a Worldview?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:02-05:00March 25th, 2008|Categories: Culture|

Some years ago the concept of a worldview became popular. I am not sure who first coined this term. I get the feeling Francis Schaeffer may have made it popular but I am not really sure. All I know is that the terms has run through a number of expressions and now seems, at least to me, to be spent and less useful.

About twenty years ago a Christian theologian defined a worldview as "A broad conceptual synthesis which forms one’s perspective on the whole of reality." So far so good. The problem is that the "broad conceptual synthesis" has become more and more narrow as various cultural apologists have tried to use this term to define themselves and their ministries.

All Christians should have a Christian worldview, if by this term we mean a broad way by which we understand the created order and sin, fall and redemption and then order our lives by it. But this is not […]

The Cross in Daley Plaza Chicago

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:02-05:00March 24th, 2008|Categories: Separation of Church & State|

In preparation for Easter this past weekend, an an Easter sunrise service in downtown Chicago, a 19-foot cross was erected on Daley Plaza in Chicago.
What struck me about this event was not the ceremony, or even especially the use of a cross. What struck me about this event was that Rob Sherman, a nationally known atheist from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, applauded the way the event was done. I thought: "What gives? Had Rob become a Christian?" The real answer is one many conservative Christians need to think about I believe.

This event was sponsored by The Thomas More Society (Catholic). The More Society obtained a city permit for the cross and their event. Sherman therefore applauded the city of Chicago and The Thomas More Society for properly working together to gain legal approval for "free exercise of private religious speech in the public square." Christians from several different backgrounds worked on this project. Sherman noted that he had no problem with […]

Resurrection Myths and Resurrection Reality

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:02-05:00March 23rd, 2008|Categories: Christ/Christology|

Since the first century people have developed various explanations (myths) to explain away the historical credibility of the empty tomb on that first Easter morning. These theories, or myths, include:

1. The Swoon Theory

Jesus didn’t really die, but only swooned and then recovered in the cool tomb.

2. The No Burial Theory

Jesus wasn’t really buried but placed in a common grave and his body was later recovered.

3. The Hallucination Theory

Scores, if not hundreds, of people thought they saw him in his resurrected state but they all hallucinated.

4. The Telepathy Theory

People had mental images of the Christ but he did not really arise.

5. The Seance Theory

People experienced an incorporeal and ephemeral appearance but not a bodily resurrection.

6. The Mistaken Identity Theory

Someone besides Jesus appeared impersonating him.

But none of these can explain how cowards became heroes, or how the early church […]

Holy Saturday

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:02-05:00March 22nd, 2008|Categories: Church Tradition|

Today, in the liturgical calendar in the West, is Holy Saturday. (The Orthodox Easter does not come this year until the last week of April.) This is, of course, the day that falls between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In the East this day is called, appropriately, "the great Sabbath." It has been esteemed even more highly than Good Friday, which is esteemed much more in the West. In the Catholic Church this day brings about things like the consecration of the new fire, the consecration of the Easter candle, etc.

Luther had such an aversion to all these Catholic celebrations. He virtually ended them in Wittenberg. In 1521 and 1522 he preached special sermons on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. All Catholic "abuses" were removed and traditional evangelical connections to these days were brought back to the center of the liturgy. This meant that preaching became central to the whole week.

[…]

The Grace of Foot Washing

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:03-05:00March 21st, 2008|Categories: Personal|

Last night, as mentioned previously, I preached a Maundy Thursday sermon and led worship at Lutheran Church of the Master in Carol Stream. I preached, for the first time in my life, in my bare feet. Why? Because the two of us who officiated the service were barefoot so we could join in the act of foot washing that preceded coming to the table.
The table was also set for twelve places and when each spot was filled we then took as I led the people at the table. The evening ended with the stripping of the table and the altar and all from the front of the sanctuary except for the lone candle which represents Christ’s light in the dark world. It was a moving and powerful evening.

Where I grew up the only foot-washers I knew were some odd, not like us, Baptists. We even called them "foot-washin’ Baptists" as a derogatory term. Well, last night I was a "foot-washin’ […]

Secularism Needs Christianity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:03-05:00March 21st, 2008|Categories: Culture|

Can secularism survive without Christianity? I think not. The positive values of the secular agenda, rooted in the Enlightenment, must have a moral truth basis to survive. But most public intellectuals do not understand this connection, especially since the 1960s, and thus refuse to embrace it.

In February of 2006 the secretary of the dicastery of the Vatican, Bishop Crespaldi, noted in a lecture that "[when] reason does not open itself to faith, it
[will] absolutize itself." That makes my point very well. The bishop noted in this same lecture that secularism eventually engendered the thought that politics and the state
should have nothing to do with ultimate truth, only with rational argumentation that follows correct procedure.

Ironically, by rejecting Christianity the Western state eventually rejected the kind of reason which
Christianity brought to the secular context. And by rejecting God secularism gave itself to the gods. When […]

A Great Opportunity to Understand the Missional Church Concept

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:03-05:00March 20th, 2008|Categories: Missional Church|

The Synod of Mid-America of the Reformed Church in America is hosting a great missional church seminar on April 4 and 5 in South Holland, Illinois. The president of the synod just informed me that there is room for people who are not in RCA congregations to sign up if they would like. I will attend and would love for some of you join me there. Here is the basic information:

M3: Moving from Maintenance to Mission

Key congregation leaders of the churches within the Synod of Mid-America, and others who would like to join them, are invited to attend M3: Moving from Maintenance to Mission. This event, co-sponsored by the Regional Synod and the Classis of Illiana, will be held:

Friday-Saturday, April 4-5, 2008

Calvary Community Church

16341 South Park Ave.

South Holland, IL 60473

Schedule:

Friday, April 4, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (CST)

Fellowship evening dinner for all at 6:00 PM followed by worship, evening presentation, […]

Our Joy in Serving Christ in a Lutheran Church in Our Community

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:03-05:00March 20th, 2008|Categories: The Church|

For over eighteen months Anita and I have been associate members of Lutheran Church of the Master in Carol Stream, Illinois.
The church is an ELCA congregation. Our full-membership is in the Reformed Church but our “home” church is First Reformed Church in South Holland, which is located 54 miles from our home. Because of this unique arrangement we are attending a church two blocks from home and it has been a new experience. We have even met some of our own neighbors in the church, also a rare experience in these days of “church commuting.”

We picked this church based upon reading the pastor’s blog spot and then worshiping there during the summer of 2006. Since then our pastor has left but he remains a dear friend to me personally. We have simply worshiped at LCM
and asked God to use us […]

Matthew Armstrong and New Hope Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:03-05:00March 19th, 2008|Categories: Missional Church|

I mention, now and then, my family. This is a dad’s joy I guess. I spent a week in Orlando recently and shared the time with my daughter Stacy and her husband Jason. They light up my life. Jason is a master in the martial arts and one of the best teachers I have ever met. Stacy works with me and pushes me to "get it together." (Good luck girl!)
She is the person who also urged me to run/walk the 5K at Disney ten days ago. She is my PT! Below you can see us after the big race at the finish line outside of Epcot Center.

I have also written several things about my son’s new congregation in Streamwood, Illinois, on the new ACT 3 blog site at Transformissional Church. I hope you will keep going to this site and that you will also view the amazing video that I have put up […]