Blog - Page 241 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Rowan Williams Answers His Critics

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:18-05:00February 9th, 2008|Categories: Islam|

Archbishop Rowan Williams has expressed real dismay that his comments made yesterday about Britain legally supporting certain aspects of Sharia Law has already created a considerable storm of protest both in the UK and abroad. While the British Muslim Council
has praised him a number of Christians, as well as UK politicians, have expressed profound concern, even calling for him to step down as head of the Anglican Church. His response, as well as that of various critics, can be read and even seen on video at today’s news on the BBC.

Christians in the West need to engage this conversation very carefully. Williams seems to go further than wisdom dictates, at least to me, but I hope we will not stop this conversation. I have my doubts about Williams, both about his leadership of the worldwide Anglican communion and his […]

What on Earth Does the Archbishop Mean?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:18-05:00February 8th, 2008|Categories: Islam|

In a startling interview yesterday, on BBC Radio 4, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said, "There is a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law as we already do with aspects of other kinds of religious law." Williams went on to state that the adoption of Islamic Sharia Law was inevitable in the United Kingdom and that it would help maintain social cohesion. "It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of Sharia are already recognized in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system."

He compares the practice of Sharia Law with the convictions of those who opposed abortion or homosexual adoption. He also claims that Sharia Law needs to be better understood and that originally it was more enlightened in its attitude toward women than other legal systems.

His remarks were publicly criticized […]

Where's The Sunlight? Some Thoughts on National Signing Day

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:18-05:00February 7th, 2008|Categories: College Football|

Yesterday was National Signing Day for colleges who offer scholarships to talented high school football players. This is the day that schools seek to best one another in landing the talent that they hope will give them the chance to win at the major college level.
The anticipation builds and the rankings are mere projections for the fans and the faithful. Who knows whether or not an eighteen year old kid will turn into a great college player over the next four or five years?

Yesterday was also very cold and dark in Chicago. In fact, we have had eleven minutes of sunlight since the end of last month. On top of that we have had more snow days than we’ve had in twenty-five years. I grow very weary of the winter. I hit the wall this week. My next goal is to survive and then see baseball in the sunshine.

So what has all of this to do with National […]

John McCain's Speech to CPAC

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:18-05:00February 7th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Senator John McCain addressed CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) today, one of the leading annual gatherings of conservatives in America. What follows is his speech with no editorial comments or arguments from me. This is, once again, not an endorsement. I post this speech in the hope that people will read what he says and then think about the vital issues of our time for themselves. I urge the same on the other side as some of you support the Democratic Party and thus you are still thinking about your nominee and your vote in some cases. What I hope for is a wide-ranging discussion of America, its past, present and future. I believe these words are a step toward that goal.

Senator John McCain’s Speech at CPAC in D.C.

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It’s been a little while since I’ve had the honor of addressing you, and I appreciate very much your courtesy to me today. We should do this more often. I hope you will pardon my absence last year, and understand […]

"Eat Mor Chikin"

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:18-05:00February 7th, 2008|Categories: Personal|

Yes, the title you read above is right. This quote, for those of you who do not immediately recognize it, is the popular slogan of the Chick-fil-A restaurants begun over fifty years ago by Christian businessman, S. Truett Cathy of Atlanta. Cathy, born in 1921 in Eatonton, Georgia, received only a high school education. He has been a faithful Baptist layman and Sunday School teacher for many decades.
He has, simply put, made a lifetime of applying basic biblical principles to life and his business success. (He refuses, to this day, to open his stores on Sundays!)

Cathy is the author of several books, including Eat Mor Chikin Inspire More People: Doing Business the Chick-fil-A Way (Looking Glass Books, 2002) and the co-author with Ken Blanchard of The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent and Treasure (Zondervan, 2002). […]

Super Tuesday: Modest Reflections

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:18-05:00February 6th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

We still do not have a nominee from either political party but John McCain will be very hard to stop between now and March or April. He is the front runner by a large margin and more than half-way to the total number of delegates he will need. It is statistically possible that with all three men in this race no one could gain enough support to win before St. Paul in September.
But the pundits, even on the far right, are in almost complete agreement today that he will be the nominee unless something major or drastic happens to change the public perception and mood. Will Romney or Huckabee exist soon? I tend to think not. But this is a guess, which is about as much as anyone can make today.

On the other side the delegate total is very close and though Clinton has some large states ahead, where her campaign is strong, it is still possible she will not […]

Transformissional Church?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:19-05:00February 6th, 2008|Categories: Missional Church|

Over the course of the last few weeks I decided to launch a second blog site. The more I interact with Christian leaders the more I realize everything possible needs to be done to help Christian leaders and thinkers understand and put into practice the mandate of Jesus to make disciples of all nations.

This current site, found under my name (www.johnharmstrong.com) on the Web, allows me to range widely over a number of interesting topics that are personal, theological, economic, cultural, political, athletic and artistic. Because I am committed to a Christian and cultural worldview and try to relate my thoughts to countless friends and readers I see all of this as connected with God’s design for the created order. Plus, to put it very simply, I enjoy writing. Like Eric Liddell spoke of a different subject in the great movie Chariots of Fire, "I feel his presence when I run (write)." Thus, I will continue to write […]

The Eleventh Commandment of Reagan

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:19-05:00February 5th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

The eleventh commandment of President Ronald Reagan was: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." Reagan lost a few elections to Republicans,
including his challenge of a sitting president, Gerald Ford, in 1976. Later he won his party’s nomination in 1980 and then became the oldest president in U. S. history by his second term.
Reagan’s view was that you should never down your own your teammates. Why? Ultimately, you’re on the same side.

I do wish the various conservative media types would heed Reagan’s rule but by now it seems a fond wish at best. The favorite line of these talkers seems to be, "How can we dredge up more on John McCain today?" Meanwhile the Democrats have united, for today, behind the realization that one of their two candidates has a great chance to win in November if they do not destroy one another now. One fact is simple, at least in the past forty years or so: the Democrats […]

Evangelicals and the Orthodox Christian Tradition

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:19-05:00February 4th, 2008|Categories: Unity of the Church|

The evangelical Protestant and Orthodox Church traditions have had very little relationship with one another since the time of the Protestant Reformation. What contact they have had has been primarily negative and unfruitful. This is slowly changing in both Europe and America, especially in America.
It is still rare to find a Greek or Russian Orthodox Christian, or priest, who desires such serious conversation with a Protestant evangelical but there are other forms of Orthodoxy in America than these two ancient expressions. The truth is this—most evangelicals know next to nothing about Orthodoxy either.

In 2001, the Evangelical Alliance in the United Kingdom published a report by its commission on unity and truth among evangelicals (ACUTE). This resulted in a fine book titled Evangelicalism and the Orthodox Church (Paternoster), which I am currently reading. American Orthodox scholar Dr. Bradley Nassif, professor at […]

The Waterboarding Debate

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:19-05:00January 31st, 2008|Categories: Current Affairs|

A controversial interrograiton procedure, known as "waterboarding," is often in the news over the last year or two. Most people have no idea about what this term actually means or what happens when a person is waterboarded. I have several former-military friends who assure me that it is a horrible experience that makes you actually feel like you will die and in some cases it will cause death. Two articles appeared in today’s Wall Street Journal about waterboarding. They are interesting for entirely different reasons.

Three young men decided to try out waterboarding and then write about it. If you want to see how horrific this practice really is then read their account.

Democrats have made a great deal politically out of this practice in their reaction to the confirmation, and now the service, of Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Hcgk680_mukase_20070917194326 […]