Blog - Page 251 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

By John Armstrong|2007-11-19T21:04:07-06:00November 19th, 2007|Categories: Death|

I will try to write a longer reflection tomorrow when I am back in Chicago but I wanted friends to know that my dear mother passed into the presence of her Lord this day at 12:05 p.m. I was there, saw her take her last breath, and rejoiced in her seeing the King of Glory. She took two deep breaths, moved her eyes slightly, and was gone, in an instant really. It was one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. I had been praying over her the hour before she died and thus was praying prayers of preparation for body and soul as she embarked upon her final journey. I believe she was ready in every possible way to go. I am at peace, rejoice in God’s grace, thank so many of you for praying and look forward to preaching the gospel at her funeral this weekend.

God willing I will preach from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 on Sunday morning in two services at Southwood Presbyterian Church in […]

Who's No. 1?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:36-05:00November 18th, 2007|Categories: College Football|

I had the time to take a peak at the college football scores this morning and once again it has been an utterly amazing week. The year of big upsets continues. Why? One theory is that the NCAA rules regarding the number of scholarships, which changed some years ago, is leveling the playing field more than ever. Another is the simple fact that players mature differently at this level and non-traditional football power schools, without great tradition, can build programs faster and better than ever. Whatever the reason no dominant team will walk off with No. 1 in 2007. This week two top five teams fell: Oregon and Oklahoma. Now we have Missouri playing undefeated Kansas this next week and the winner will play for the Big 12 conference championship and a likely shot at number one. This means Mizzou is really in the hunt and Oregon is now out. Who would have thought that in August? Since I have a lot of Tiger fans who are very good friends, and I have been to Columbia many times and seen several Mizzou games, I […]

Death and Dying

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:36-05:00November 17th, 2007|Categories: Death|

Nothing, and I mean nothing, will focus your mind and heart on the life to come quite like sitting for hours with your loved one as they are slowly departing this life and entering the next. This is where I’ve been the past two days as you know. I have formed several thoughts this evening that might serve as encouragement to readers. These are simple reflections on my last two days.

1. "People are destined to die once and after that to face the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). There are no exceptions, period. Because of sin we all die. We all seem so unwilling to face this one settled reality until we are forced to deal with it. I do not think we should live humorless, morbid lives, but rather lives of joy and appreciation of the creation. But we should always live in the face of death, a truly healthy way to live to the fullest. Indeed it is the only truly honest and human way to live.

2. Losing a loved one who knows Christ is difficult for sure but when […]

Please Pray for My Family

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:36-05:00November 16th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

Today I cancelled my plans to share in the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, an event that I love to attend each year at this time. The decision was not hard to make. My mother, who will be 92 next Wednesday, is very near death. She fell a month ago and has gone downhill since then. Now she does not eat or drink, at least since Monday or Tuesday of this week. We are not forcing her to stay alive by putting her in the hospital for IV fluids to prolong her life for a few more days. A hospice nurse came by today and was of immense help to us as we sorted through the end-of-life issues that many of you have also been through and understand well.

This is a life transforming time when you get to hold your mother in your arms, talk to her, sing to her, read the Scripture to her, and watch life quietly slipping away. My dad died twenty-one years ago in May. Mom is ready to join him in the Church triumphant. I am ready […]

Film and Racism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:36-05:00November 15th, 2007|Categories: Race and Racism|

I am drawn to films about the subject of racism. I grew up in the deep South during the pre-civil rights era and thus still remember the blatant divisions along the lines of color and race. I also went through the first years of integration at the University of Alabama in the 1960s and remember, as if it was still yesterday, how blacks were treated on campus in those days. And, most important, there was one person in my childhood, Hassie Tubbs, who had almost as much influence on my life as my two parents. Hassie was our maid but she was also our care-giver who watched me and loved me like a mother. She was a devoted, selfless person and a faithful Christian. Her family also became a vital personal part of my family. So, I am drawn to seek deeper understanding of that era and film often provides a way for me to enter into that world with my senses and heart.

Last evening I watched the 1999 HBO film (DVD) A Lesson Before Dying, starring Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) and […]

Do Not Stress Community as an End in Itself

By John Armstrong|2007-11-15T08:00:58-06:00November 15th, 2007|Categories: Renewal|

For thirty years or more I have talked about the need for community. I have also stated the obvious, i.e., community cannot happen in large church settings, at least not in most ordinary circumstances where we actually live day-in and day-out. I have, therefore, urged churches to seek community life in smaller settings, to pray for it, to cultivate it, to intentionally pursue it. I am convinced now that my emphasis was wrong. Let me explain.

Richard Rohr, the Catholic Franciscan spiritual writer, often provokes me. I disagree with him about a great deal, especially politically. But I read him precisely because he has a lot to say to me that I need to think about and then put into my life in appropriate ways. I am reading his book, Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go (Crossroad, revised edition 2003) this week in my morning devotional reading. Understand that Rohr has spent his life building community among lay people, first in Ohio and now in New Mexico. Writing about his own lay movement Rohr says: "We place no special emphasis on community in […]

Milton Friedman: A Sane Voice for Our Times

By John Armstrong|2007-11-14T11:54:26-06:00November 14th, 2007|Categories: Economy/Economics|

The late Milton Friedman (1912-2006), winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, was one of the best and the brightest of the twentieth century. He not only impacted scholars and academics but he also impacted the lives of ordinary people the world over, but not in ordinary ways. You would be hard pressed, if the truth is known, to name one economist in our lifetime who impacted so many lives for so much good as Milton Friedman. I am utterly serious in saying this. I am thus appalled at how few Christians know or care about the thought of this man and how much it contributed to the good of so many in this world.

You may say, at first glance, how can you write this when Milton Friedman was an agnostic who disavowed the role of religion in economics so consistently. I answer, "The man’s ideas were right and his religious views have nothing to do with the rightness of what he taught about economics." He did recognize that values were necessary to sustain a solid economy but he saw no […]

The Leadership Crisis and the Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:36-05:00November 13th, 2007|Categories: Renewal|

Is there really a crisis of confidence in leadership throughout America? Polls say there is and anecdotal evidence is abundant. The Center for Public Leadership/U.S. News survey says the rise in lack of confidence in America’s leadership is up 7% from last year. Nearly 80% of us believe the country will decline unless we get better leaders soon. The president’s numbers are very bad, but those for congress are much worse. And most people think that we are moving, as a nation, in a negative direction. When asked to compare things to twenty years ago most Americans believe that we are in far worse shape today.

When the type of leaders are separated by various categories it becomes even more interesting. The highest level of confidence is in military leaders, followed by medical leaders and then the Supreme Court. Religious leaders rank fourth and at the bottom of the fourteen categories listed are the media and entertainers. Both liberals and conservatives responded similarly to many of the same questions when it came to the question of confidence in leadership.

First […]

Lars and the Real Girl: A Surprisingly Good Film

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 12th, 2007|Categories: Film|

Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) is a quiet and super introverted single man with a dull office job in a small Midwestern town. He refuses to engage in good natured social jousting with his co-workers and shrinks from the flirtatious attention of a co-office worker, Margo (Kelli Garner). Margo shines as a caring, thoughtful but a bit ditzy, sweetheart. Lars attends the local Lutheran Church regularly and lives in the garage apartment behind the childhood home occupied by his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider), and pregnant wife, Karin (Emily Mortimer). Karin is continually worried that Lars is friendless and needs companionship and human interaction, which is clearly the case.

Six weeks into the story Lars makes an announcement that he has been joined by a companion, the lovely Bianca, a half-Brazilian, half-Danish missionary, wheelchair bound, young woman raised by nuns, whom he met on the Web. Gus and Karin are thrilled Lars had found companionship until they find out that Bianca is a custom-ordered, anatomically correct, silicone doll. Gus does some online research and then becomes totally appalled at his younger brother’s delusional behavior. […]

Will Israel Strike Iran?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 11th, 2007|Categories: Current Affairs|

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejab’s boast that his nation now has 3,000 operating centrifuges is seen by some U. S. military sources as the "tipping point" that might lead Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities very soon. If Israel launches such a preemptive strike it will not be the first time. The London Times, in a weekend edition, said the U.S. is reluctant to launch an attack but Israel is a "different matter." Even Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak said a military strike was an option for dealing with this Iranian threat to Israel’s security, noting: "We cannot take any option off the table."

Centrifuges are used in enriching uranium, a process that can be used to produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead. Experts says 3,000 centrifuges are sufficient to produce a nuclear warhead within a year or less. Time is running out and I expect Israel will not sit back and allow this to happen without response. Given the threat that Iran poses to them you can’t blame Israel one iota. After all it is Ahmadinejab who […]