Blog - Page 275 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Lenten Prayers and a Litany of Penitence

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:44-05:00March 5th, 2007|Categories: Spirituality|

In both ancient and modern times Lent was designed to be a time for the instruction of catechumenates for their baptism at the Easter Vigil. During this same time the whole church anticipates Easter through acts of repentance and spiritual renewal. This is often done by giving something up (fasting) in order to practice, more faithfully, self-control and the giving of alms. Prayer is also a major part of this season as well.

As regular readers of this blog know I use The Divine Hours, Phyllis Tickle (Doubleday, 2001). In this daily guide The Night Office, to be observed before retiring in the evening, is often the portion of the day that moves me the most profoundly. I have sometimes wondered why this is so but I think the reason is quite apparent—you are preparing yourself for both physical rest and eternal rest (death) each and every night. Someday, you will lay down to rest for the last time and then enter the eternal rest of God if you love the Savior.

During Lent there has been a prayer that has […]

Whatever Happened to Discipleship?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:44-05:00March 4th, 2007|Categories: Missional Church|

The debates regarding the ministry of University Bible Fellowship (UBF) that have arisen through this blog spot since I first wrote about this ministry last year, and then when I wrote about it again over the past few weeks, have led me to do a great deal of thinking about the missional context in which we presently live. In particular, how is the church going to disciple the next generation? What models will God use to reach un-reached millions in previously un-churched cultures, as well as university students and 20-somethings, in the West who know nothing of the church or the gospel at all?

We must face the honest fact that there is a growing body of research which demonstrates that there is a significant disconnect between professing faith in Jesus Christ and actually following Jesus. A recent study by the National Study of Youth & Religion entitled, "Portraits of Protestant Teens" reveals a great deal about our current approach to youth ministry and its shortcomings.

The study revealed that 59 percent of Protestant teens (13-17) report regular church attendance, meaning […]

A Rare Opportunity to Visit with a Great Baseball Manager

By John Armstrong|2007-03-03T19:35:48-06:00March 3rd, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

Many years ago a minister in Houston, Texas, Rev. Drew Garner, picked up the phone and called me in Illinois to encourage me in my spiritual journey. Drew is still a unique guy and a man who has always loved younger ministers and reached out to them as a true friend. He visited in our home, preached in my former church, and to this day calls me to see how I am doing now and then. He especially likes to call when it is sub-zero in Chicago. (I return the favor when it is really hot in Houston in July!)

Through my friendship with Drew I was introduced to his son, Phil, who was at that time a star for the World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. (Yes, the Pirates once had great baseball teams!) Today Phil is the manager of the Houston Astros, who won the National League pennant in 2005 and came within one game of making the post-season again last season. Next month Phil turns 58 so we are the same age and we both grew up in Tennessee. (Phil previously managed […]

Following Up on the UBF Conversation, Part 3

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:44-05:00March 3rd, 2007|Categories: Missional Church|

I will continue some thoughts I began several days ago on this blog. For those who have not read this train of thought it would be best to go back to January 27 and then read the February 28 and March 1 comments first.

What I believe all of us should remember, UBF members, ex-UBF members, and every other Christian from any church or mission group, is what Jesus plainly taught us—if you are on your way to the altar and remember that someone has something against you, go and deal with this person and that issue first. That is an incredibly strong statement about the importance of reconciliation. My friend, who I noted previously wrote to me about this conversation, also wrote: “To me it’s as if God is saying ‘take care of your relationships with other people before you take care of your relationship with me’–wow.” Yes, I would agree: “Wow!”

I believe that those of you who have chosen to leave UBF are best served to forgive those who you believe wronged you, to let the past go as […]

The Problem with Modern Debates About "Hot Button" Issues

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:44-05:00March 2nd, 2007|Categories: Current Affairs|

The more I listen to modern debates about “hot-button” issues the more perplexed I become about the way we use certain words and draw conclusions. We have become rigidly illogical in both the way we think and speak. We use words that carry popular (assumed) meanings that have little or nothing to do with substantive argumentation. Let me elaborate.

Two items came to mind today as I was driving to a baseball game in Florida. First, the way we debate the issue of stem cell research. It must be said over and over again that no serious Christian is opposed to stem cell research. To suggest that Christians oppose this valuable research is not only a lie, it is a damned lie that comes from the prince of lies who wants to make anything Christian look profoundly stupid. Like most Christians I know I am in favor of serious research using stem cells. I see this research as promising, important and quite humane. What I question is the type of embryonic stem cell research that will result in destroying human embryos. First, I […]

What a Way to Celebrate My 58th Birthday

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:44-05:00March 1st, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

Readers of this blog know I am a huge baseball fan. They also know that prayer and baseball help me keep my sanity and general well-being, in that order mind you. Today I turned 58. I also celebrate my 50th year of being a Braves baseball fan. I adopted the Braves as my team in 1957 when the Milwaukee Braves won the NL pennant and then beat the New York Yankees in the World Series, 4 games to 3. I had four heroes on that team—Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn and Lou Burdette. Only Aaron is still alive, making me aware of my own age and mortality as I grow older.

Today, as I noted, I celebrated my 58th birthday. I celebrated at The Ballpark at Disney World with my daughter and her husband. We watched the Braves beat the LA Dodgers, 7-2. We enjoyed the sunshine, the crack of the bat, and the wonderful green grass of the field. I even called one of my best friends, David Moorhead, about six times on my cell phone so I could update […]

Following Up on the UBF Conversation, Part 2

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:44-05:00March 1st, 2007|Categories: Missional Church|

My goal in writing about these various reactions to my initial post on UBF has primarily been one—reconciliation between brothers and sisters in Christ. My motives and my insights have been attacked fiercely by some former UBF members. Meanwhile, UBF members have expressed appreciation, generally speaking. I also continue to pursue my real concerns with leaders within UBF and conduct a civil and respectful conversation. For this I am seen as foolish, unwise, self-promoting myself and unstable.

A friend wrote to me in private, after this discussion began on my original January post, saying: “It is very easy to take sides if you become friends with one party and feel their pain. However, if you appear to be taking sides—by, say, defending one group and at the same time criticizing the other—then you will not help them move closer to each other. I don’t think anything can be more important to God than reconciliation. Paul described the Christian mission as ‘the ministry of reconciliation’ and Jesus said ‘blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.’” I so […]

Boredom: The Cause of a New Form of Teen Crime

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:45-05:00March 1st, 2007|Categories: Current Affairs|

I have discovered this week that Florida has a major problem with teenage violence against the homeless. In a new twist on violent crime incidents the homeless are being attacked across this state regularly. In St. Petersburg two homeless men, ages 43 and 53, were shot to death in January in separate incidents. The two men indicted for these two crimes are 18 and 20. There were 41 incidents of violence against the homeless in 2006, more than in any other state. Eight of these led to deaths. A man was beaten to death in August by two teens, ages 13 and 16. Last April a homeless man in DeLand claimed ten teens attacked him with metal pipes and set his tent on fire.

The staggering thing about this new wave of crime is the most common reason being cited for the attacks. An online survey conducted by the National Coalition for the Homeless says 55% of the teens involved report “boredom” is the most common reason. 47% of people surveyed say such teens should face adult penalties for these crimes. I […]

Following Up on the UBF Conversation, Part I

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:45-05:00February 28th, 2007|Categories: Missional Church|

On January 27, I wrote a blog titled: “The Korean Revival and the Ministry of UBF.” UBF is the University Bible Fellowship, an indigenous and international tent-making mission that was birthed through the impact of the Korean Revival some 75 years ago. UBF is a mission that has produced a dynamic movement of evangelism that follows the principles developed by people like John Nevius and other influential Asian missional thinkers who encouraged every-member ministry and tent-maker leadership. This approach is so different from North American forms of local church development that is has both incredible strengths and potential weaknesses, both of which I briefly cited before.

I knew when I posted this particular blog that I would engender the kind of response that appeared on my site over the next several weeks that followed. I have read the numerous responses, and kept an open mind through it all. I will continue to observe UBF, learn from them, and speak the truth in love to them as best I know how. And I assure all of the critics of UBF that I am […]

Breach: The Shocking Story of a Double-Agent

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:45-05:00February 27th, 2007|Categories: Film|

The wonderfully crafted docudrama Breach is both an entertaining and disturbing movie. It is the story of America’s most prominent double-agent spy, Robert Hanssen, who sold more priceless American secrets to the Soviets than any other agent ever convicted in U. S. history. Chris Cooper’s portrayal of Agent Hanssen is anything but humdrum. He chillingly takes the viewer into a deeply complex world of spying and national security. In the process he powerfully exposes how vulnerable our best intelligence really is when an agent is willing to sell his soul.

What is so disturbing about this movie is not just the depth to which Hanssen’s deception went but how deeply this deception was entertwined with his commitments to Christian faith, Hanssen was a deeply devoted member of Opus Dei, a renewal movement in the Roman Catholic Church. As everyone knows the Catholic Church has come under culture-wide suspicion, for well over a decade now, for sexual scandals related to some of its priests. This movie exposes a whole different kettle of fish—the nature to which a person can use religious faith to […]