Blog - Page 252 of 318 - John H Armstrong

No. 1 Loses Again

By John Armstrong|2007-11-10T19:02:21-06:00November 10th, 2007|Categories: College Football|

Well, it doesn’t pay to be ranked No. 1 this year in college football. No. 1 lost again today. This time it was the Buckeyes of Ohio State losing to the up-and-coming Fighting Illini of Illinois in a classic football game. Juice Williams is as exciting a young multi-talented QB as there is in the game and he’s only a sophomore. And who says Ron Zook is not a good coach? Florida didn’t think so but this guy can recruit and he can build a program out of nothing. A few years ago this was one of the worst programs in all of college football.

One of the worst now is, and I do not want to beat a proverbial dead horse, clearly Notre Dame. This is the first ND team to ever lose nine games and they still have two more to play. And it is the first time since 1944 that they have lost to two service academy teams in the same year. Things are pretty dreary in South Bend and I am not talking about the weather. (I promise […]

The Problem of a Perpetual Youth Culture

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 10th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

The transition that is surely coming to America (and the Church as well), as the baby boom generation reaches retirement age, is hard to predict. The impact will be great, if for no other reason than this—this generation is so large in number and influence.

One of the major problems, as I see it, is that people grow up very slowly in our culture. I know this is true for most of us in the baby boom generation and some of those who are so slow to grow up are the leaders of this generation. People are perpetually working out their identity problems on television, on the Internet, in various groups, etc. And the Church becomes a place where a lot of this is being done, or at least we are attempting to do it. This is one reason why we promoted "small groups" for the past twenty years or so. Robert Wuthnow has some important social research on small groups but I am pretty convinced that the way they are conceived and directed within most local churches is a failure. (The […]

Joseph Leiberman is an American Patriot and Hero

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 10th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

I admire Senator Joseph Lieberman. I admit it without the slightest bit of hesitation. I can’t think of anyone in public life, or at least in public political life, who is as far to the left on some social issues as Lieberman is, and yet at the same time inspires me personally to hope and believe that non-partisanship and true courage is not dead in America. The way he responded to his defeat in the primary election in 2006, the way he responded to the radical fringe of his own party during that time, and the way he has practiced his faith in public and in private have all inspired me. This man is a real American hero, period!

Yesterday, Senator Lieberman lashed out at what he called the politically paranoid, hyper-partisan role the Democratic Party has developed in opposing Republicans concerning a strong foreign policy. Lieberman suggested that the guiding conviction in foreign policy is not pacifism or isolationism. (When I first read this I thought to myself, "Joe, this time you must be wrong.") No, Lieberman believes that the guiding policy […]

Idealism Will Burn You Out

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 9th, 2007|Categories: Spirituality|

I grew up in the 1960s generation. That tells you a lot really. We were disillusioned, on a very profound level, yet very idealistic on another. I adopted elements of both of these as my own intellectual and spiritual life developed over the decades that followed. In my first two decades of adult life and ministry, serving as a pastor in the local church, I was mostly an idealist. I dreamed about making a huge difference by pastoring a faithful and biblical flock. Over the last fifteen years, or so, I have had to resist the opposite extreme, disillusionment. This period of time corresponds to my present ministry with ACT 3. I have seen so much that breaks my heart, in me and in others, that I wonder about the whole business.

I am actually never far from falling off the wagon on either side. I am too often driven by my vision of what things could be, or ought to be, but my age now (58) tends to take that away after years of real experience. The danger now is to become […]

Bella: A Beautiful Film You Must See

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 9th, 2007|Categories: Film|

It all happens in the course of one day, or almost all of it. I’m speaking of the storyline and action of the new movie Bella. Through the use of flashbacks, some quite effective and some rather confusing to me, the accidental death of a young girl and a pregnant woman’s completely unrelated decision to have an abortion are closely linked in Mexican-born filmmaker Alejandro Gomez Monteverde’s magnificent new movie, Bella.

Bella is portrayed as a love story without the romance. It is this but in so many ways this is a misnomer. It is a love story that shows, in wonderfully human ways, what the Apostle Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. The characters in Bella are very real. Their sorrow and joys are palpable. I am under the strong impression that the story is rooted in true events, at least to some extent.

The internationally famous, Jose (Eduardo Verastegui), who is on his way to becoming a superstar soccer player in New York city, tragically hits a little girl while driving the streets of Queens the day before he […]

The Pleasures of Moral Purity: Kicking Over Some Furniture in the Church

By John Armstrong|2007-11-08T13:22:47-06:00November 8th, 2007|Categories: Renewal|

Columnist George Will, who espouses libertarian principles fairly consistently, wrote a recent piece on the funding of wars. His argument is that we should pay as we go by letting the people fund such conflicts more directly through special taxes. I have my doubts about his argument but in this same article he also referred to some very conservative Republicans not supporting their party’s nominee in 2008 if it is Mayor Rudy Guiliani. The threat of third party candidacies abound on both sides of the present political divide, with mention of New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg also entering the race as an independent. Even Lou Dobbs has been rumored as a candidate running on his protection of the border theme. But this is not my reason for citing George Will’s thoughts here.

Will adds that we should not "underestimate the the temptation to kick over their party’s furniture for the fun of it." This got me to thinking about many people in churches that I have known. They are very conservative (often) and thus want to bring about purity in doctrine and […]

The Grace and Witness of Billy Graham

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:37-05:00November 8th, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

The life of Billy Graham has impacted an entire era. No public figure has more often touched my own life. From my earliest remembrance my mom and dad listened to "The Hour of Decision" and watched Billy Graham TV specials in our home in the 1950s. When he stood against racism in Tennessee, where I lived, I admired him and loved him even more deeply. (I never dreamed I would someday have the joy of teaching evangelism and apologetics at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College in the Wheaton College Graduate School.)

It is widely known that Dr. Graham is not well now. He makes no public appearances and has several terminal illnesses. From what we know he is dying just as well as he lived, with both dignity and hope. Much like John Paul II, this man has taught us how to live faithfully and how to die. I believe no two Christians left a greater impact on the last fifty years on the planet than Billy Graham and John Paul II. Others will be remembered for different contributions but […]

Health and Wealth Ministers to Be Examined More Closely

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:38-05:00November 7th, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

Senator Charles Grassley (R.-Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has begun a public campaign to look into the financial amenities and expenses of several big name television preachers. These ministers include Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer, among others. Grassley sent letters to six ministries this week requesting answers by December 6 about their expenses, executive compensations and amenities, including their use of cars and private jets. Grassley says he is acting on complaints from news coverage of these various ministers.

There are several problems with Grassley’s approach. First, the IRS requires pretty stringent reporting of the salaries and benefits of these organizations already. You can go online and easily find our what a ministry like ACT 3 earns, what my total salary package is, and related valuable financial information. (I hope you will do this since you will find that we operate in solid and responsible ways in these areas.) Most people are simply not aware of this information and of how important it is to ministry credibility. Donors who have reasons to question a group they […]

Russell Crowe's Baptism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:38-05:00November 7th, 2007|Categories: Film|

Actor Russell Crowe, 43, says that he will be baptized soon. Telling Men’s Journal that his parents did not baptize him, or lead him toward any faith in particular, he now says that baptizing his own children, ages 1 and 3, has forced him to think that the sacrament is important and he should also be baptized. He will be baptized in a Byzantine chapel that he built on his country ranch in Australia for his wedding in 2003. I am interested to know much more than these bare facts but it is not an every day event for a Hollywood star of this magnitude to profess his need of baptism and then to openly announce that he was doing it.

One could take two approaches to this announcement I suppose. The skeptical one is to say, "So what? This is just an act of outward religiosity and it means nothing if he doesn’t have faith." A second response, the one I hold, says: "Praise God for this very public man’s desire to confess Christian faith in this God-ordained manner." I have […]

Gone Baby Gone

By John Armstrong|2007-11-05T21:20:56-06:00November 5th, 2007|Categories: Film|

Some movies are thrillers. Some are violent and tough on the system. Some have plots with twists and turns that keep you guessing for almost the entire movie. Many have interesting characters and subplots. But few have all of these and then include some of the most perplexing ethical dilemmas imaginable. Gone Baby Gone is all of the above. Starring Ben Affleck this movie should win some awards if critics pay attention. It kept me riveted for two plus hours without missing a beat. It was a morality play, based on a popular novel, with a heart-tugging twist.

The film should not be seen by young people. It will shock you with the ugly portrayal of sin and the underworld of crime and drugs it provides, but this is all too real. But it will also force the viewer to take stock of "easy answers" Christians often give to tough issues. Few films pack the punch of Gone Baby Gone, at least few that I have seen this year. See it if this is the kind of movie you can handle. Caveat […]