Blog - Page 245 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The PCA Divided Again by the Charges Against Steve Wilkins

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:22-05:00January 12th, 2008|Categories: Reformed Christianity|

Sadly, some leaders in the Presbyterian Church in America refuse to tolerate what they perceive to be "deadly errors." I am not suggesting "deadly errors" should be tolerated, not in the least, but let’s be honest here. This debate is about whether or not the errors themselves, assuming they are errors, are indeed "deadly." Additionally, this is about whether or not the person who holds the supposed errors really denies the Westminster Confession of Faith (WSF) or not. This is an honest debate, in the formal sense, for sure. And Presbyterianism allows elders to have this struggle. (This is a matter for more thought but I seriously doubt that this "type" of presbyterian practice can thrive, and help a groups of churches grow, in the new century. Clearly, the next generation has no tolerance for it at all. Sadly, many in my generation really love it and thrive on it, preferring rational debates about doctrine to actually dealing with real people in pastoral and missional ways.)

The response defenders of "strict confession," if you read the various Web sites that promote their rather […]

Don't Forget the Holocaust

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:22-05:00January 12th, 2008|Categories: Israel|

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. Regardless of the revisionist historians and their utter nonsense about this great war, six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated while many of the German and Russia (and even American) peoples and political leaders, with some courageous exceptions, looked the other way! In an attempt to remember these important and defining moments a friend sent me a poignant cartoon that is worth seeing and reading.

Iran, among others, continues to claim that the Holocaust is "a myth." This makes it imperative that people who love freedom and respect real history make absolutely sure that the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do this again. If you doubt this statement you simply do not understand the modern world and the […]

Did Hillary Clinton Find Herself in New Hampshire?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:22-05:00January 12th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

After winning in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night Senator Clinton said, in her most poignant statement of all, that she had "found herself." Pundits continue to speculate on what this means. Peggy Noonan asks in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, "One must ask of Mrs. Clinton what one would never ask of Mrs. (Eleanor) Roosevelt: Will the new voice have a new accent?"

If the new voice of Hillary Clinton is a softer one then how do you explain Hillaryis44, a Web site that seems to be, as Noonan put it "a back door to her war room?" The site says that federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will soon "destroy" Barack Obama in a "scandal" involving an "indicted slumlord" who is Mr. Obama’s "friend." This story is not new. The Chicago Tribune vetted it extensively months ago and did a complete investigation finding nothing that implicated Obama at all. I followed this with close interest at the time. […]

Ian McEwan and Atonement

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:23-05:00January 11th, 2008|Categories: Film|

The film adaptation of English writer Ian McEwan’s prize-winning novel Atonement
opened last month to widespread critical acclaim on the big screen. Winners of the Golden Globes will soon be announced and many critics think the movie version of Atonement will win best picture for 2007. I saw the film version of Atonement after I read the book. I have to say that I did not view Atonement as one of the great films of this year.
It is not even in my top twenty films. It clearly has the most nominations of any film for awards this year but I confess I do not understand why. And I do not think the book was worthy of its almost universal acclaim either. It is widely praised by many critics but I have missed the reasons why. The New Republic online did a recent interview […]

Populism is Alive and Well in Both Major Political Parties

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:23-05:00January 10th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

The term populism is being thrown around a great deal these days as we hear the back and forth of the present political debate. Populism is generally understood to be the use of discourse, ideas or policies which aim to appeal to "the people" by setting up a strong dichotomy between "the people" and "the elite." This populist appeal to "the people" is usually rooted in a strongly emotional appeal to identities, class, and ethnic/regional categories. Populism, in the American context, has historically involved a political philosophy, often not understood by the people or even by those using the approach, to urge social and political changes through a rhetorical style that goes right to the people with the idea that the outsiders need to replace the insiders because the insiders are the problem.

There are several candidates who are employing populist rhetoric and philosophy rather strongly in the present political context.
Hillary Clinton has a very hard time playing this approach since […]

Why Did Clinton Win in New Hampshire?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:23-05:00January 10th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

The pundits got it all wrong on Tuesday. Most thought that Barack Obama would beat Clinton in New Hampshire. But they were clearly wrong, proving again that voting is still very important. If anything the last eight years have proven this point time-and-time again yet the majority of us still do not take the franchise very seriously. There are many reasons offered for our voting passivity, some valid I am sure, but much of this is just disinterest.

I have listened to ministers, both liberal and conservative, urge their flock to vote on the basis of some kind of biblical appeal. I see no clear and obvious argument for such in Scripture. I have never missed a major election and make almost all the minor local ones as well. But I do this not out of guilt that I might break God’s law if I do not vote but out of a sense of freedom to express my views and to help elect leaders who I think can best govern our nation, state and community. This is not my Christian duty but […]

Does Real Pietism Conflict with Wealth?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:23-05:00January 10th, 2008|Categories: Wealth|

I write a great deal about wealth and why wealth is not, in and of itself, an evil thing. In fact, I think just the opposite. Wealth is a blessing. But blessings bring with them great responsibilities. We can embrace affluence, and use it as a blessing to be used for our enjoyment, without succumbing to the dangers inherent in having material gain and misusing it.
And wealth is not given to us so that we can give every penny away so that we will remain in a relatively poor (deeply spiritual) state; i.e., dying with wealth is not evil.

The Christian must understand that this world, and all that it offers, cannot satisfy him in body or soul. The older one gets the more this becomes apparent. There is much greater good prepared for us, whether we are wealthy or not, than eating, drinking and dressing. We came into the world with nothing and we will most surely leave it with […]

Please Discuss the Real Issues and Stop Believing the Lies

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:26-05:00January 9th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Four times today I was asked, by Christians who were very earnest and quite confused by an email that has been widely circulated: "Is Barack Obama a radical Muslim who intends to take over the country and destroy the US?"
Apparently one of these Internet "myths" has gained so much steam today, oddly after the primary last evening in New Hampshire, that it is now being passed around to hundreds of thousands via the Web. I read the letter this evening. What grieves me profoundly is that Christians read and forward this stuff to their friends as if they are warning people of impending disaster. Frankly, this is akin to slander and commits the person who forwards it to carelessly sinning against both this man and the truth.

I do wonder who creates these kinds of letters and why they are sent in the first place? Did someone from a campaign do it? Did someone who has an agenda to destroy Obama create […]

A Great Teaching Tool on Contemplative Prayer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:27-05:00January 9th, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

I recently ordered a DVD from Netflix titled: "Be Still." I was not sure, in advance, if this video would be worth my time but it seemed promising enough to try it. I was more than satisfied.

Indeed, I was delighted with this DVD. It includes several great teaching segments, broken up nicely by beautiful graphics and music and runs about 90 minutes total. Featured teachers include Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Max Lucado, Beth Moore and my fellow faculty members at the Graham Center at Wheaton: Jerry Root and Lon Allison. The presentations include clear descriptions of contemplative prayer, how to understand such prayer and practice itself and the history and tradition of this form of silent prayer in the Church. Busy Christians know so little about this ancient practice and this video would therefore be very helpful to any Christian who wants to learn from the whole catholic Church, especially from the Great Tradition.

John McCain is Not Dead Politically

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:28-05:00January 8th, 2008|Categories: Politics|

Watching the election results from New Hampshire tonight now makes it clear that Senator John McCain, given up for dead politically in August-September of 2007, is alive and well.
Senator McCain has created quite a stir over the course of his public career in the U. S. Senate. He is a self-described "maverick" and never seems to fit into the comfortable categories of any single interest group. He is clearly a social conservative, if you check his record, and at the same time he can appeal to both Republicans and Independents. He even appeals to some Democrats, like Joe Lieberman sorts, who believe the president needs to be a strong commander-in-chief.

McCain won tonight among those who were looking for a person who was most qualified to be commander-in-chief. Personal qualities were more important than leadership qualities, at least to voters for John McCain. His fiesty and no-nonsense style is popular once again. And 74% of NH voters today said John McCain is […]