Blog - Page 249 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Remember What Christmas Is All About

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:32-05:00December 14th, 2007|Categories: Christ/Christology|

A friend forwarded me one of those kinds of emails that you see now and then, especially at this time of the year, and I thought it would be worth sharing on this blog spot since it has so much correspondence with my earlier blog on Christmas.

My Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many you are upset that folks are taking my name out of the season. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I wasn’t actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate my birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival, although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate my birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let me go on. If it bothers you that the […]

Who is Jesus the Christ?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:32-05:00December 14th, 2007|Categories: Christ/Christology|

You would think that the primary question before people during this season of the year would be: "Who is Jesus of Nazareth?" Not so. For many Christians the battle right now is all about saving the culture from giving up the Christmas greetings once used in all our stores. This business of keeping Jesus linked with commerce is big news the past few Christmas seasons.

I almost never watch Bill O’Reilly but I caught a segment last night on the "Christmas Culture Wars." What a total waste of time this debate is in the end. I was bothering my wife throughout by yelling at the television more than a few times. "What difference does it make if Dick’s Sporting Goods features a Christmas theme on their Web site?" Give me a break. And since Nordstrom’s has given in to the "Christian" pressure to restore "Merry Christmas" to their ads should we now shop there? Come on folks. The culture has moved away from putting Christmas into all their ads and promotions. Get over it. I think we should be glad if truth […]

How the Mitchell Report Failed Baseball

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:33-05:00December 14th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

After reading the morning news I am increasingly impressed that the Mitchell Report struck out! The total number of players listed is 85. Only 29 are active players. In 2003 5-7% of active MLB players tested positive in anonymous drug testing. Several players on the list released yesterday have strongly denied that they took drugs but the conclusion many will draw is that they are guilty. Let me give you one example.

Brian Roberts, a player currently seeking a new team as a free agent, is on this list. Roberts denies the charges. The evidence against him? Larry Bigbie, an admitted steroids user, said that in 2004 Roberts injected himself once or twice during the 2003 season. That’s the proof, period. Should such evidence be used to destroy a man’s career? Then there is Matt Franco. He is on the list because two witnesses who cited him were facing prison time and said they sold him steroids on one occasion in 2000. Franco agree to an interview with Mitchell and denied ever buying or using drugs. He cooperated with Mitchell, only to get […]

The Mitchell Report: A Black Day for Baseball?

By John Armstrong|2007-12-13T20:26:14-06:00December 13th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

Some seem to think that the Mitchell Report, detailing the names of a number of former, and a few current, major league baseball players who used human growth hormone (HGH) steroids is a black eye on the game itself. It is nothing of the kind. This report just made the obvious a little more obvious and empowered Commissioner Bud Selig to really take charge, to push down the player’s union a bit further, and then to give the impression that the game is now clean. I admit that I am not a Bud Selig fan nor do I think anyone who truly loves this great game should be surprised at this report or at most of the names on this list. But the leaders of baseball had to know Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were "on the juice" during their epic home run year. The truth is the money and attention they brought back to the game helped it recover from the 1994 strike season.

If truth be told most of the players cited today no longer play the game and the […]

ACT 3 News: Baptism, the Lord's Supper and Our Forum Events

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:33-05:00December 12th, 2007|Categories: The Church|

Some of you know that I edited two volumes in the Zondervan Counterpoints series this past year: Understanding Four Views on Baptism and Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper. The first book came out in March and the latter one in October. I was informed today, by my editor at Zondervan, that at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in San Diego (November) these two books were number 3 and 4 on the Zondervan table. That was heartening news since this may mean a number of these academic readers will use these two books in classroom settings, one very good audience for both of these books.

An even better use for these books is in adult church classes, home study groups and sundry small groups. These volumes are not so academic that people would not profit from them in such contexts.

On March 30, 2008, we will have an ACT 3 Forum in the Chicago west suburban area on the subject of the Lord’s Supper. My friend Father Thomas Baima, who writes the chapter on […]

The Tragic Story of the Colorado Killer Matthew Murray

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:33-05:00December 11th, 2007|Categories: Religion|

The young killer, Matthew Murray, was clearly a disturbed individual as we have discovered from today’s reports. His pleas for help were noticed by some. These people sought to counsel him. He also posted serious threats on the Internet between his two killing sprees this past Sunday. His warnings were anguished, despair-filled cries from a man who used the screen name: “nghtmrchld26.” Murray was a home-schooled youth who had once applied to work with Youth With a Mission, an organization known for strong training techniques and very Pentecostal theology. (I am not saying this in a pejorative way, it is a simple fact.)

On Sunday Murray posted this comment: "God, I can’t wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don’t care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you . . . as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."

The Associated Press reported this evening that at least eleven posts, between […]

The Greatest Danger for Reformed Christianity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:33-05:00December 10th, 2007|Categories: Reformed Christianity|

I am a Reformed Christian. I love the "Three Forms of Unity" of the Dutch Church, especially the Heidelberg Catechism. I think it is the most evangelical and ecumenical of all the great Reformation catechisms. I grew up in a Baptist Church and was a Baptist minister for many years, having first been ordained in 1970. I still love Baptists, in fact more now than ever since they have taught me so much that I still value; e.g.,the soul liberty of the human conscience, the best understanding of the separation of church and state I know, the priesthood of all believers, the real importance of missions and evangelism, etc. But some years ago I began to realize that I really did believe in the covenantal way of thinking about the Bible and the Church. I understood the Church as a community gathered in and by the covenant. For this reason I was examined and accepted as a minister in the Reformed Church in America earlier this year. I will not promote this new identity over my catholicity or over my fellowship with all of […]

The Jesus Story: Myth or History?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:34-05:00December 9th, 2007|Categories: Apologetics|

Ever since the first century non-Christians have insisted that the Jesus story was myth. The fact that they have a huge platform upon which to say the same thing in our day is the only real difference, at least from where I sit. And since I teach apologetics I think a great deal about this subject.

Authors Greg Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy wrote an impressive and large book several years ago titled: The Jesus Legend. They laid out the case for the historical reliability of the New Testament and subjected it to what they believe are the "industry standards" criteria for serious historians. They concluded that the Jesus Story is not legend. They have now released a condensed, or popularized, version of the same book: Lord or Legend? (Baker, 169 pages, $14.99). Boyd and Eddy do a very good job of using recent scholarly studies to show how traditions and stories are transmitted in oral cultures and then show why this is a good reason the New Testament can be trusted. I agree with their conclusions completely.

The question […]

This is Not Your Father's Christmas Pageant

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:34-05:00December 8th, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

Evangelicals disdain the church calendar and continue to develop liturgies and practices on the run. Since bigger is deemed better there is seemingly no end to the development of larger events costing more and more money.

A case in point is the old-fashioned Christmas pageant. There was a time, not too long ago, when these were small in-house things that most churches did with and for their children. Everyone loved them and the kids got to become really involved in the Advent worship. Now they have become major extravaganzas in a growing number of mega-churches. The First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale has $1.3 million in their budget for their Christmas pageant. The program includes exploding fireworks, women dressed as angels flying about to herald the birth of Jesus, and real camels making their way to the nativity scene along with three kings. As one writer put it "Broadway meets Christmas" at First Baptist. Hundreds of men, women and children dress up as ancient residents of Jerusalem and dance, skip and sing their way down the aisles. There is even simulated snow, a […]

Spiritual Warfare is Real

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:34-05:00December 7th, 2007|Categories: Spiritual Warfare|

I have had a number of first-hand experiences with spiritual warfare and the demonic. Many of you do not like to talk about these things while others can talk about little else at times. C. S. Lewis was right when he said that the enemy was delighted when we went to either extreme. I thought about this as I read a prayer letter from a former student of mine who took three different courses with me at the Wheaton Graduate School over the past few years. She got her M. A. degree in May and then moved back to Nassau where she now serves in full-time evangelism. She is a woman full of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ and is a fervent intercessor for me personally. She has given "the widow’s mite" (as it were) by investing in ACT 3 on several occasions, which truly humbles me when you know the poverty of her own culture and people. This student used to remind us, in class and out, that our heavenly Papa would always provide if we trusted him because he […]