Blog - Page 267 of 318 - John H Armstrong

The Religion Test

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:18-05:00May 19th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

Commentators call it “The Religion Test.” What does it mean when the Constitution says there should be no religious test for holding office in the United States? Historically it has plainly meant that no candidate, be they a Quaker, a Baptist, a Pentecostal or a Mormon can be barred from office because of their religion. The question is once again on the table with the serious candidacy of Mitt Romney for the presidency. And many who are concerned about Romney’s faith are evangelicals. There is a strange joining of prejudice here as the secular left seems to agree, to some extent at least, with some in the religious right.

It is fair to ask a candidate where they stand on school vouchers and abortion questions but what about their interpretations of the Bible? Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate, recently challenged some of Joseph Smith’s more outrageous doctrinal beliefs by suggesting that he was obviously a “con man.” Since Mitt Romney is a Mormon Weisberg wants to know if he really believes what Smith taught since if he does then Weisberg does not […]

The First Wave of Ministry System Failure

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:18-05:00May 18th, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

For about thirty years large and influential megachurch ministries have grown up all over America. Often these have been built around the strong personality of a radio or television minister. As these men age, retire and die some ministries are in for serious changes. The sad fact is that a large scale "systems failure" is likely to follow as these boomer leaders begin to fade away.

A friend recently informed me of one such ministry, with some rather valuable work going in the nation’s capitol. A group of full-time evangelists are now being laid-off because one such minister can no longer function in the way he once did. This means he cannot bring in the financial support needed to sustain this Washington work. Donations to ministries like these begin to decline when such a leader is laid aside or dies. Rarely does such a person-based ministry succeed when the leader is gone. Donors will not give to a legacy, only to a ministry being done by living people. The only exception I personally know to this is the radio ministry of the […]

Some Thoughts at Quarter Point in the Baseball Season

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:18-05:00May 17th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

I have the distinct privilege of going to see the White Sox play the New York Yankees this afternoon, better known as "the evil empire." It is always fun to see a Yankees game. The crowd will be big and loud both. There were be lots of Yankee fans present and they will not be a bit bashful. The setting will be electric and fun. I need a day at "the old ball park" after a busy few weeks. This morning I reflected on the great game at the first quarter mark of this season.

First, I am delighted that my Atlanta Braves are at or near first place in the NL East since Day One. They look pretty good, though pitching will carry them as far as they go. Their lineup is adequate but not a killer offense in any sense. Their defense is also adequate, though not the very best. Pitching, pitching and still more pitching will make their season. The Mets will be terribly hard to dethrone in the East, having more talent for sure, at least on paper. But, […]

An Answer to Prayer

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:18-05:00May 16th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

I asked readers to pray on Monday for our annual ACT 3 board meeting. The three-day meeting ended at noon today as members returned to their homes in Illinois, Texas and California. A number of important things were accomplished in this meeting.

1. ACT 3 has a clearer vision for what God has called us to do than ever before. We are a bridge building missional ministry that wants to leverage my gifts, and those of others who share our vision, to expand the mission of Christ’s kingdom through publishing, teaching, preaching and the Internet. All of this is to be done in ways that stress the human elements of ministry relationally, not simply the academic side of teaching and content-driven ministry.

2. We will do this in creative ways. This includes major new Internet work and a growing commitment to expanding our work via this medium. This likely means new staff help to accomplish this goal.

3. I will attempt to write even more for print publication than previously, which means a bit less travel and speaking […]

The White Countess

By John Armstrong|2007-05-15T08:01:49-05:00May 15th, 2007|Categories: Film|

The White Countess is the final collaborative film project of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, two of the most remarkable visual story tellers of our era. This brilliantly told story is situated in Shanghai just prior to the Japanese invasion of World War II. Shanghai was a glamorous, corrupt boomtown filled with émigrés from many parts of the world. The countess is a Russian aristocratic émigré who had fled Russia following the Revolution. She meets an American who was formerly a diplomat. The American lost his wife and child in an explosion and also lost his own sight. The American diplomat is played by the superb actor Ralph Fiennes, two-time Oscar nominee, who I still think played a great Martin Luther in the most recent movie version of his life. The countess is Natasha Richardson who starred in the movie version of Patty Hearst: Maid in Manhattan.

The film ends with a spectacular mass exodus from Shanghai with the countess, Sophie, being abandoned by her self-righteous in-laws, played by the famous Redgrave sisters, Lynn and Vanessa. The in-laws try to secretly escape […]

Our ACT 3 Board Meeting

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:18-05:00May 14th, 2007|Categories: Missional Church|

This evening we begin our annual three-day board meeting for the trustees of ACT 3. We will convene in our home with nine of us present beside me. The agenda will include the usual reports about the past year as well as updates on our financial situation and stewardship of our budget and resources. There is much to rejoice about in this business.

What excites me about this particular meeting, and thus what I ask you to pray about if you read this blog regularly, is the time we will spend tomorrow and Wednesday discussing our ten-year vision for impacting churches and leaders to become missional in their orientation and self-awareness. This is what drives me at the end of the day. I believe in reformation, revival, commitment to orthodoxy, sound preaching, prayer and healthy pastoral ministry. But the driving purpose of this ministry is to help the church, through its leaders and people, to become missional.

I am convinced that at the beginning of the twenty-first century we have witnessed tectonic shifts in Western culture. The marginalization of Christianity […]

What is Important to Me?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:19-05:00May 14th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

Some years ago I met a minister from Atlanta, Dr. Monte Wilson, who has proven to be a true friend for nearly thirteen years. Monte has been investing his life in a James 1:26-27 ministry for over a decade now. His primary work is related to caring for orphans and widows in Africa and doing the kind of work that political liberals talk a great deal about but compassionate Christians like Monte risk their lives to carry out in places like Darfur.

Monte is an astute conservative politically. He is also has a first-rate theological mind. He is a Reformed Episcopalian minister ecclesiastically, though he retains a good dose of his charismatic and Baptist roots. He understands that the gospel of the kingdom is meant to impact people and cultures both. More than labels he is a refreshingly honest and courageous man who doesn’t really care much about many of the issues that once amped up his emotions and fired him for battle. For this, and many other reasons, he has had a wonderful and salutary influence upon me.

If I […]

Walking in the Race to Empower

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:19-05:00May 13th, 2007|Categories: The Church|

The Race to Empower is a Chicago Mother’s Day race/walk to
raise money and awareness to fight against the dreaded disease of breast
cancer. This year marked the sixteenth annual event. It was my first experience of
being at this massive gathering in Grant Park, located in downtown Chicago.

My son-in-law Jason has been a part of this event for many
years, especially since his late mother died from a long struggle with breast cancer the
year before he married my daughter Stacy. Linda Kifer was deeply committed to living
her life with courage and dignity during seven hard years with cancer and gave a great deal to help this cause in the years prior to her passing away. I
wanted to share this experience with Jason as a “dad” and a friend.

Jason and Stacy own a martial arts academy called Superstar Karate. All of us, which included about
thirty students from the academy who came along, walked and ran (I walked). We all wore
black shirts that said: “Real Martial Artists Wear Pink.” This slogan was then
connected to the theme of the day and […]

The Transfiguration Syndrome

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:19-05:00May 12th, 2007|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

A friend informs me that there exists in American evangelicalism a phenomenon that he calls “The Transfiguration Syndrome.” Peter’s desire to build three tents/shrines/retreat centers dedicated to each of the three figures that he encountered on the mountain of transfiguration is the background for this expression. My friend wonders if Peter was a modern evangelical if he might have stayed there on the mountain and build and direct the shrines, with new things to sell at the CBA Convention and a whole line of products for every seeker who came to visit. Makes you wonder doesn’t it?

If you look at two mountains side-by-side the smallest possible area is on the top of each mountain. 99.9% of the movement going on is all about going down and then climbing up to the other mountain top. But people are always trying to find shortcuts to jump from one mountain to another. This is especially true with younger ministers who find the "success syndrome" appealing. They want to skip the going up and the going down process altogether. They do this buy into building shrines, […]

Why Comparison Never Helps

By John Armstrong|2007-05-10T21:59:43-05:00May 10th, 2007|Categories: Divine Providence|

Recently a friend referred to his own developed theory of dealing with pain and suffering by saying to me, “Comparison never helps!” I wrote that statement down and then thought about it for a good while. I have to agree with it at a very deep level.

Here is how this theory works. I break my arm but you loose your arm completely. You feel that compared to me you have it much worse than I do. The problem is my arm still hurts and I am experiencing real pain. For the two of us to compare ourselves, and our respective levels of pain, will serve no good purpose. Your pain is not my pain, end of discussion.

But Christians, like all people, tend to do this comparison shopping of providence all the time. It’s just that Christians can do it with a greater sense of warrant and piety since they believe in God’s active involvement in their lives. But you are you and I am me. We know that no temptation has taken either of us that is not […]