Blog - Page 274 of 318 - John H Armstrong

24

By John Armstrong|2007-03-17T11:21:53-05:00March 17th, 2007|Categories: Film|

OK, I broke down an decided to watch the popular television series 24. (I watch very little television, though I love movies of various sorts.) I have so many good friends who are avid viewers of 24, and when I call them they tell me to call back later when the show is over, that I became intrigued by the rage. I decided to do the rational thing, I think, and rent the videos of the first season. I saw the entire season one the last ten days. (I think the program is in its sixth, or maybe seventh, season now but avid fans can inform me.) I watched the final episodes of season one last evening. The suspenseful ending just blew me away. This is not your father’s happy ending stuff. These writers want you to believe that almost anything can happen and it quite often does on 24. I can almost see office pools forming to wager on who the next "mole" is in CTU or what odd turn will impact the nation next?

The series is built around the work […]

Fabricating Jesus

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 16th, 2007|Categories: Apologetics|

Craig A. Evans, a Canadian New Testament scholar, understands the nature and shape of the modern attacks upon the historical Jesus. Evans is a first-rate scholar and a fine teacher. I had the opportunity to hear him do a seminar today titled: "Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels." (This is also the title of his IVP book that came out in late 2006.)

Dr. Evans showed us that the more scholars, and they quite often are not real biblical scholars, depart from the traditional view of Jesus the more the popular media jumps on their bandwagon. This sometimes shakes the faith of young Christians or provides seemingly intellectual cover for those who do not want to consider the biblical claims of Jesus. But why do some scholars fabricate new Jesus stories with the slimmest of serious scholarly reasons? What causes them to pre-suppose that the biblical story cannot be the correct one?

These fabrications range from the more serious work of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus to James Tabor’s book, The Jesus Dynasty. Popular treatments include Michael Baigent’s The […]

Just Tell the Truth the First Time

By John Armstrong|2007-03-15T19:28:20-05:00March 15th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

My mother and father always taught me: "Just tell the truth the first time and you will never have anything to worry about." And, if you lie just once, do not lie again to cover up the first one. Admit it and things will improve much more quickly. Apparently baseball’s former superstar Pete Rose was never taught such an ethic in childhood. He surely hasn’t learned it by the age of 65.

Since 1989 Rose has been banned from baseball for life. The reason? He bet on baseball games as a manager. He originally denied this accusation, and in fact vehemently denied it for well over a decade. Then a few years ago he openly admitted it. He even wrote a book and made a pile of money off his new version of the story. He told a little more of the truth at that time. Now, in 2007, he admits that he actually bet on every single game the Cincinnati Reds played when eh managed them but he says he always bet on his own team. (I feel quite sure he didn’t […]

Faith and Pessimism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 14th, 2007|Categories: Culture|

Religious faith and personal optimism go together concluded an Angus Reid World Poll based on a survey of 20 nations in late 2006. "Despite variations across the globe, spirituality clearly does seem to have an influence on the way people actually feel about life day-in and day-out. 60 per cent of global respondents who expressed optimism about the future say religion is very important to their daily lives. Conversely, 63 per cent of respondents who felt pessimistic about their outlook think religion is simply not that significant."

The Angus Reid Poll found that religion was on the decline in both Europe and Canada, which is no surprise to those who pay attention to these things. Indians, South Africans, Mexicans and residents of three Middle East countries still consider religion an important part of their lives. France was at the bottom of the list, with only 17 per cent of respondents expressing an interest in religion, with Britain at 23 per cent, Germany at 24 per cent and Spain at 31 per cent. Italy is the lone exception among continental European nations with […]

What Makes the Economy Soar in Russia?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:31-05:00March 13th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

Walls Street Journal writer Guy Chazan reports in today’s edition of the Journal that segments of the Russian economy are soaring right now, thus providing Vladimir Putin with an approval rating of nearly 70%, an unheard of number since the fall of the Soviet Union. The reason is quite simple—segments of the Russian economy are finally growing, and growing at a rapid pace, producing new and better paying jobs and directly raising an ever increasing number of people out of poverty.

Quite simply an investment boom is transforming Russia’s industrial landscape. Recently Belgian investors put $100 million into Bor’s growing car industry which is producing Western automobiles, including the Ford Focus. (The city of Bor was once the center for military hardware production and an awful and dreary place!) Since Putin’s election in 2000 the per-capita gross domestic product of Russian has quadrupled and it is now estimated that 20 million people have been directly lifted out of poverty. Not only is the Ford Motor Company expanding production in Russia so is Intel. Opinion polls show Soviets are optimitic about their future […]

Can the Mainline Be Saved?

By John Armstrong|2007-03-12T20:15:03-05:00March 12th, 2007|Categories: Renewal|

One of the enjoyable aspects of my life and public ministry is coming to Washington, D.C., twice each year to share in a two-day meeting of the Association for Church Renewal (ACR), a group of individuals who working informally as a network to speak truth to the mainline Protestant churches in North America. Included among this group of people are representatives of the Methodist Church, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ and various Canadian groups as well. I am always inspired by the stories of such people who are courageous and faithful, especially in places where it is very hard to be faithful to the gospel.

The question we always ask seems to be this: "Can the mainline denominations be saved?" I do not mean saved soteriologically but rather saved as apostolic Christian communities (denominations) for the "faith once for all delivered to the saints." The answer in some cases appears now to be "No." In others the answer is "Maybe." In some it seems to be "Yes." New forms of the church are shaping and forming even […]

Political God Talk

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:32-05:00March 11th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

It has become common for politicians to cite God in promoting their programs and views. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has recently joined this growing list by invoking God’s name in promoting a new Illinois health care program. This proposal is a tax-increase-for-health-insurance plan that the governor promoted last week as something "God intended" for the people of this great state since God does not want people without health insurance. He even says his new tax increase is a "moral imperative." That sounds pretty important to me.

Al Gore, in accepting his Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony two weeks ago, said that his "inconvenient truth" about global warming was the great moral issue of our time. Now the governor of Illinois says that universal health coverage and a significant tax-hike for Illinois’s citizens is a "moral" issue.

Blagojevich, who is an Eastern Orthodox Christian, is not known for expressions of personal faith and has generally not injected God-talk into his political agenda. A spokeswoman for the governor, however, said this reference was not accidental because he does have a "deeply […]

The Mixed Legacy of Jimmy Carter

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:32-05:00March 10th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

Former President Jimmy Carter has been in the news a lot lately. His most controversial book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, has brought him a great deal of air-time and some rather angry criticism. I have watched this conflict with a measure of sadness. I liked Carter, at least for a time. I even voted for him in 1976, but not in 1980. (Some still remind me of my "wasted vote" in 1976.) Back then I bought into the argument, such as it was, that we needed change, especially after the dark Nixon era. Jimmy Carter was a fresh face, a real outsider, a successful businessman, an Annapolis grad with military experience, and a forthright Christian. I respected Gerald Ford but thought Jimmy Carter would be a fresh alternative, a way to help us put the Watergate mess behind us as a nation.

I am now of the mind that the Carter administration was not a total disaster, but it came pretty close. The highpoint was the Sadat-Begin Middle East peace accord. From there his leadership was a virtual disaster. The tone of […]

Secret Sins & Strange Evils

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:32-05:00March 9th, 2007|Categories: Spirituality|

The Divine Hours is one of my guides during Lent. The Midday Office (between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.) provides what is called a "small verse" for this time of prayer. Today’s small verse reads: "From my secret sins cleanse me. Lord. And from all strange evils deliver me." I have been pondering this verse for several hours, one of the real advantages of such a pre-planned guide.

"Secret sins" is a reference found in the Psalter quite often. Psalm 19:12 comes to mind. The TNIV refers to these sins as "hidden faults," which are distinct from "willful sins" in verse 13. The acknowledgement of my secret sins reminds me that I am profoundly flawed, even in my moral consciousness. This means that even though I am aware of many sins in my life there are sins that still remain "secret" or "hidden," even to me. I am asking God to reveal these sins to me so that I may "discern my errors" and be forgiven. Many times we are content to confess all that we know and leave it at that, […]

Becoming Christian Pluralists

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:32-05:00March 9th, 2007|Categories: Missional Church|

I’ve been thinking for some time that the term "pluralism" has suffered grave misunderstanding among the very people who should be more friendly toward the idea. Let me explain.

Many conservative Christians hear the word "pluralism" these days and the first thought that enters their mind is of something terrible, something sinister, even destructive of true faith in Christ as Lord. I do not hear the word that way at all, at least not in most cases.

Generally the notion of pluralism, at least as I am using the word and believe it is commonly used in our day, refers to a condition, particularly in a wider society, in which there are different groups of people that are distinctive in ethnic origin, cultural patterns, religious beliefs, or the like. Such pluralism is the very reality of the American ideal. We are land of immigrants, a land without a common ethnic glue. Our language unites us, to some extent, thus the debates about "official" English. But we are different in so many ways. This is the very idea of e pluribus unum, a […]