Blog - Page 264 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Abject Failure of the United Nations

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:02-05:00June 23rd, 2007|Categories: Politics|

The idealism and the goals of the United Nations are laudable. The results, at least in recent years, have often been nothing short of a disaster. One example will suffice—the recently created U.N.’s Human Rights Council, begun a year ago this past week. This council is sadly typical of the modern collapse of the U.N. The Human Rights Council consists of 47 members, almost half of which are "unfree" or "partly free" nations, at least as ranked by Freedom House. Trying to get China, Russia, Cuba and Saudi Arabia to reach an agreement on violations of freedom in various countries is like trying to get the mafia to give up crime.

Presently there are only nine countries on the human rights "watch list." These are Burundi, North Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Cambodia, Burma, Somalia and Sudan. But if Cuba is watching "the watched" then that is somewhat like the the fox watching the hen house. And at China’s request the council now insists on the "broadest possible support" of at least fifteen nations on the council to act. This […]

Miss Potter: The Life of Beatrix Potter and the Tale of Peter Rabbit

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:02-05:00June 22nd, 2007|Categories: Film|

The newly released DVD, Miss Potter, is a superb period-piece with a sterling lead performance by Renee Zellweger as the famous Beatrix Potter, the best-selling children’s author of all-time. I confess I actually like most period-piece movies, especially nineteenth century Victorian ones, and many younger people do not. Maybe it really is a generational thing, I’m not sure. It could also be my love of English culture, custom and literature. But this movie, regardless of your perspective, reveals Beatrix Potter as a sheltered but courageous woman who authored dozens of children’s books, including the children’s classic, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit."

I do confess that I feel pity for every person who did not grow up hearing the story of Flopsie, Mopsie, Cottontail and Peter Rabbit. And Mr. MacGregor’s garden was quite a place for a misbehaving rabbit. Beatrix Potter’s imaginative abilities were astounding and the real story of this marvelous film is how this imagination was rooted in her real life story. Potter was born into English affluence in a time when women had few rights. She did not go to […]

Whither Methodism?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:02-05:00June 21st, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

I am sometimes asked, "Which of the large mainline denominations is the least likely to follow the liberal agenda to its own complete demise?" My answer has consistently been, "The United Methodist Church (UMC)." A movement of evangelical and traditionalist leadership in the UMC has made the greatest gains over the last twenty years. Those who are more liberal and non-traditional, especially on moral and doctrinal issues, are clearly a minority within the Methodist Church. This means that they are nervous about this conservative response. They use powerful structures to oppose it on many, many fronts. The battles are tough and they are real.

Some estimate that 70% of Methodist people are not liberal theologically or morally. Yet on the whole the official leadership of UMC is quite liberal, with a few wonderful exceptions. But the grassroots membership of the UMC is not liberal. Further, renewal ministries in the UMC have been much more successful in organizing grassroots efforts within the denomination. My good friend James V. Heidinger II, president of Good News, says that "more clergy and laity representing that constituency […]

How Canines Look Like True Christians

By John Armstrong|2007-06-20T09:55:07-05:00June 20th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

It is absurd to some, and slightly funny to others, but it is quite evident to all who know me that I love my little doxie, Neo. (See the photo of my pooch on this site.) She rules my house as the "best canine on the earth." I know, you think I am crazy. I am a 58 year-old minister-theologian-author and I put my dog and wife both in the picture I include here. So be it, what can I say? Those who know me are greeted by my little ten-pound canine when they arrive at our front door. She barks so loud that they wonder if she’s friendly, but her tail gives her away. She really likes everyone and has never snapped at a soul. She is truly filled with simple goodness, something I can’t say about many people I’ve known.

F. R. Maltby once said that "Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble." That sums it up pretty well don’t you think? I reflected on these attributes today and thought […]

Reflections on the Life of Ruth Bell Graham (1920-2007): R.I.P.

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:03-05:00June 19th, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

Ruth Bell Graham (1920–2007) passed away last week after lapsing into a coma. She was a remarkable woman for a number of reasons, most notably because she lived honestly from the heart. Newsweek writer Lisa Miller called her, in a moving tribute, “The Heart of the Family.” And it was not an easy family to guide since her famous husband was away from home while she reared their four children alone at times.

The Grahams relationship began, as most everyone knows, while they were students at Wheaton College. After her first date she got down on her knees and prayed, “If you let me serve you with that man, I’d consider it the greatest privilege of my life.” From her journals you wonder if she had many, many second thoughts about the second part of that prayer as the years went by. By all accounts Billy and Ruth Graham had more than their share of disagreements and struggles. What matters is that she supported her husband’s vocation while she challenged many of his decisions. His ambition and charisma desperately needed her graceful […]

The Call of the Entrepreneur

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:03-05:00June 18th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

I referred, in a blog from the Acton University last week, to a new movie produced by Acton Institute that I saw in Grand Rapids. This film is titled "The Call of the Entrepreneur" and is 58 minutes long. It features the story of three people: a merchant banker, a failing dairy farmer in West Michigan, and a refugee from Communist China who built a successful and lucrative business in Hong Kong. The banker risked his savings, the farmer risked his entire dairy farm and the man from China risked his very life. Each had a goal of using their money and time to serve God as entrepreneurs. Each sacrificed and dreamed. Each succeeded and thus provides for us a moving story of what the spirit of the entrepreneur really is all about.

But why do these types of stories really matter? For the simple reason that the way we view such entrepreneurs, as greedy capitalists or as altruistic servants, will determine how we view the destiny of both people and nations. Are such actions virtuous or vicious? I was so moved […]

Economic Myths and Emergent Christian Thought

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:03-05:00June 16th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

Popular, but widely believed, economic myths abound in every age. Some are harmless while others are actually dangerous, harming whole societies through the loss of personal freedom and the genuine opportunity to express human creativity. (Consider the human devastation of communism, primarily a failed economic theory.) Christians are not immune to these bad theories. This is often true because Christians sincerely want to address the issue of poverty in light of the major biblical witness about loving justice and pursuing the well-being of the poor.

I have seen the really truly poor, up close and in very graphic ways. My two long trips which took me to a number of places in India in the 1980s have allowed me to see what the poor of the world really face every day. What is needed among the really poor is water, food, clothing and shelter, the basic necessities of life. In India the issue is not better schools and better classrooms, the issue in India is education in any form at all. But since I was in India in the 1980s the situation […]

Protestantism and Natural Law Theory

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:03-05:00June 15th, 2007|Categories: Church History|

Protestantism has an odd history, at least over the last two hundred or so years, with regard to the doctrine of natural law. Catholics, on the other hand, have a rich intellectual history with regard to this subject. One of the excellent seminars that I attended at Acton University yesterday was taught by Dr. Stephen J. Grabill, a staff member of Acton who is also a research scholar in theology with the Institute and the editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. His most recent book, Rediscovering the Natural Law in Reformed Theological Ethics, was recently published by Eerdmans and is an important contribution on the natural law debate.

What then is natural law? Dr. Grabill defined it as “the foundational principles of morality that are not only right for all, but at some level known to all.” It equates, in some sense, with the biblical reference to “a law written on the heart.” It is an appeal to all mankind that establishes foundational principles of morality known to reason and conscience. Christians do not believe that men know God savingly […]

More Sights and Sounds at Acton University

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:03-05:00June 15th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

The diversity of the Acton University gathering in Grand Rapids is nothing less than amazing. I have met entrepreneurs from all over the planet, as well as ministers, lawyers, educators and retired businessmen. I shared a meal with a young Hungarian woman Wednesday evening who is a news editor related to the Vatican. Her personal story, and that of her Hungarian friend who grew up a Communist, moved me deeply. I have met PCUSA and UCC ministers who clearly stand outside the mainstream thought forms of their respective denominations. At lunch yesterday I met a young Asian graduate student at the University of California in Berkeley who got her last degree at Westminster Seminary in California before moving to Berkeley. Her journey in doctoral work will be an important one I am sure. She understood my own sectarian roots, having lived in that same world as a student, and she relished the opportunity to ask new questions and grow in the world she has now entered. (I want to introduce her to friends in the Berkeley community who will be a great blessing to […]

Integrity, Virtue and Vision in the World of Business

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:15-05:00June 14th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

The relationship between integrity, virtue and vision is not often developed in the business world. Yesterday the Acton University experience afforded me a unique opportunity to understand better why such a relationship fosters both free markets and free people. The moral dimension is critical to both sound economics and entrepreneurial leadership. This is one of several ways that Acton brings together the worlds of faith and freedom.

Last evening Mr. Jeff Sandefer, a Texas businessman who twice made a fortune and then sold his hugely profitable companies, shared his own story: “A Journey from Pride to Gratitude.” It felt a little like being back in the world I experienced growing up in Tennessee or the world I saw when I visited my businessman-farmer uncle in northeast Texas. Jeff is a down-to-earth humble guy who has made enough mistakes to fill a book. Divorced, filled with himself and his accomplishments, and determined to follow a course of running from God at several junctures in his life, he again and again met the God of all grace who called him to radical faithfulness and gratitude. […]