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Reformation Sunday

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 28th, 2007|Categories: Reformed Christianity|

I preached this morning at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Newport Beach, California. Today was Reformation Sunday, since it is the closest Lord’s Day to October 31st. I made my message fit the occasion. My stress was on the uniqueness and sovereignty of Christ as revealed in Colossians 1:15-23.

There are those who think that we should no longer celebrate the Reformation since the doctrinal truths of the 16th century do not matter any longer. Then there are others who suggest that serious ecumenism means we should give up our Protestant confessions and positions so that we can stop the feuding. On the far right there are those who are convinced that nothing has changed in the Catholic Church at all since the 16th century, at least nothing really important. I disagree with all of these responses.

I am of the mind that the Reformation should still be celebrated as a great time of renewal and awakening in the life of the Church. I also believe that important biblical truths were regained and some were discovered from a fresh engagement […]

The Red Sox Were Clearly the Team of 2007

By John Armstrong|2007-10-28T23:20:11-05:00October 28th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

When all was said and done the team that played the best all season long was crowned the World Series champion tonight. Boston started strong, held off the red-hot Yankees down the stretch, came from behind down 3-1 to knock out Cleveland, and swept the hot Colorado Rockies in four. You can’t do more than they did. They dominated the baseball season in impressive fashion. Now maybe my friends who are part of the Red Sox nation will at least cut me some slack. Congratulations. The Sox had the better pitching, the better bullpen and the clutch hitting to win all year long. They deserved to win as much as any champion in recent years.

I failed to mention, and some Sox fans reminded me, that this team does have some big salary free agents but it also should be noted that some of the heart and soul of this championship team came up through the Sox farm system. Hand it to them, the dreaded Yankees spent a lot more money than the Sox and still did not have the patience to […]

Wealth and Inheritance: How Shall the Godly Respond to Passing on Affluence?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 27th, 2007|Categories: Wealth|

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

Proverbs 8:17-21

The biblical wisdom literature makes it abundantly plain, as does the rest of the entire Bible, that it is God alone who grants both wealth and blessing. There are numerous ways to get wealth but the way of godly gain is by seeking God, and the way of his righteousness, alone. And those who are given wealth by God will usually have an inheritance to give at the end of their lives. This is summed up quite well in these words: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

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Bishop N. T. Wright Misses the Mark on Terrorism

By John Armstrong|2007-10-26T18:37:19-05:00October 26th, 2007|Categories: The War on Terrorism|

Readers of this site know that I have huge respect for the biblical theological contributions of Dr. N. T. Wright, the esteemed bishop of Durham (Anglican). Wright is one of the finest biblical scholars in the world. Readers should see his books on the gospels, Jesus and Paul. Though there are areas of biblical interpretation with which you can disagree with Wright, for sure, no current writer is saying more that is so vitally important to biblical theology.

Some years ago we did a two-part interview of Wright in our quaterly journal, which is no longer published. In that interview Wright revealed some of his post-9/11 ideas politically and I chalked them up to his "Britishness" at the time. As I have continued to read him I have grown more and more distressed by his very unbalanced thinking about nations, social theory and public policy. Because a man like Tom Wright is genuinely brilliant in one area does not mean, in any case, that he is universally brilliant. Wright demonstrates this plainly in his most recent comments about the war on terror […]

Wise Thoughts from William Wilberforce on Culture and a Great Evening in Orange County

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 25th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

My friend David Bahnsen, a member of the ACT 3 board, hosted a lovely dinner last evening in Orange County. With all the fires and mayhem here I wondered if those who committed to the dinner would actually come. Every single confirmed person showed. About 20 of us enjoyed a great meal together and then David introduced me to his friends. I spoke for about 45 minutes, telling my story and how I came to where I am today as the president of ACT 3. I told the guests that I hoped to write more in 2008—articles, blogs and books—and that I wanted to promote ACT 3 Forums that would allow genuine Christian ecumenism to take place in public events that would foster our missional emphasis for the whole Church. I have in mind to host dialogs between Muslims and Christians, Christians East and Christians West, Emergent and Non-Emergent Christians, etc. These events would be video taped and made accessible to multitudes of people. I also want to host several smaller meetings where dialog can take place around important biblical subjects, like our upcoming […]

Abortion and Shades of Gray

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 25th, 2007|Categories: Abortion|

Michael Medved is an intelligent, engaging Jewish conservative. He began as a movie critic but is now a popular author, Right Turns, and talk-show host. His classic tag line line, on his the radio show, is that America is still: “The greatest nation on God’s green earth.” Some of my younger friends would find this signature statement corny, or even offensive. Like any simplistic slogan it can be faulted but in the end I like it because I agree with it. Tell me a place that is better, as a nation of laws and true opportunity, on God’s green earth than the United States of America? Tell me where freedom has brought so much blessing and so much prosperity? Michael Medved also regularly expresses a very high regard for Christians and for our Judeo-Christian culture. On top of that he also believes that a Christian revival is the long term hope for America. I’ve heard him say this more than once!

In the Wednesday (October 24, 2007) issue of USA Today Medved contributed The Forum, an […]

Watching Southern California Burn

By John Armstrong|2007-10-24T16:41:21-05:00October 24th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

I flew into the Orange County Airport yesterday. The wild fires could be seen from 60 or 70 miles away. As we got closer and closer the hot glow and the huge clouds were very apparent. The Santa Ana winds were blowing most of the smoke out to the ocean. Thankfully I am in a safe place but then the Santa Ana winds can shift and ocean winds could, and tomorrow likely will, move the smoke anytime. I read the Orange County Register this morning and the whole cost and consequence of this is staggering. The largest evacuation in state history is underway as I write.

One man, who had to flee his home, summed up the feeling of some here. He said, "This is a small price to pay to live in God’s country." I will admit that the hills and ocean views are majestic and the weather is often very nice but there are many nice places to live that are much safer. Why do people like a place, and live there? The real answers are a much underrated social […]

The Truth War and the Emergent Church

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 24th, 2007|Categories: Emergent Church|

A young friend, who reads my material regularly and has established a personal relationship with me via the Internet, informed me yesterday of an emergent site where there is an interesting discussion going on re: John MacArthur’s book, The Truth War. Since I am the subject of a great deal of John’s criticism in chapter one of this book my friend thought I would enjoy reading this online debate. I did find it helpful, even though I agree with neither John nor everything that I read on this emergent site.

This site is a blog called Vanguard Church. When I visited the site I found the dialog interesting and useful. If this debate interests you too check it out yourself. Listening to the dialog in this manner can contribute to removing erroneous understanding.

It is imperative that anyone who seeks to enter this whole "emergent church" conversation realizes that there is a very wide gulf between various types of emergent writers and leaders. One emergent leader put it this way, in a private conversation. There are […]

A World Series of Major Contrasts

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 24th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

The baseball Fall Classic begins this evening with the Boston Red Sox, a team with a $143 million, payroll facing the upstart Colorado Rockies, a team with a $54 million payroll. When teams like the Rockies make the World Series fans of most other teams will root for the Rockies, especially given the hope they represent for the smaller market teams who spend less to win. The argument goes like this: “The Red Sox are rich. They win the way the Yankees win, by spending a ton of money.” (The Yanks spent $207 million this year to go out in the first round, which led to their letting go of manager Joe Torre, a class guy.) The Rockies have won 21 of their last 22 games. This is the hottest a team has ever been going into the World Series. But they’ve had a nine day layoff now. This is a team that had to go to the 13th inning of the last regular season game just to get here. And except for Todd Helton who knows any of these players? It is, like […]

Jimmy Carter, Palestine and Peace

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:22:39-05:00October 23rd, 2007|Categories: Israel|

Since the year of my birth coincides with the birth of of the modern state of Israel I have had more than a passing interest in matters related to the Middle East for my entire lifetime. As a young boy I was taught that Israel came into being by an act of God, not an act of the United Nations. (I believe in providence but that is not my point here at all.) I also heard that the whole land belongs to the Jews and thus to no one else. (Only later did I discover that both of these premises were extremely debatable conclusions and that the border issue was beyond any reasonable conclusion that could be drawn from the pages of the Bible.) Once I gave up Christian Zionist interpretations of the Old Testament, in the 1960s, I began to study the question of Israel with renewed interest. I read histories, polemical volumes for and against Israel, and watched as each decade passed with no leader able to solve the tensions and crisis that rages over the existence and safety of Israel. I […]