Blog - Page 287 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Trusting God Enough to Not Be Loved by Everybody?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:07-05:00November 3rd, 2006|Categories: Personal|

Author Dick Wills in his book Waking to God’s Dream (Abingdon, 1999) titles chapter four: “Trusting God Enough Not to Be Loved by Everybody.” I need that particular kind of faith in God’s love more than most people. I am a fairly private person thus even disagreements on my blogs can still give me a bad day. I do need to get over this since I have chosen a public lifestyle, or at least I believe I was called to one. And writing is a deep joy to me that I look forward to every day. But with it comes wide ranging disagreement and dissenting opinions.

I sometime wonder if I write, or even speak, to gain approval and some kind of love. Maybe there is something in me that is so self-centered that I need to hear people say: “I like it (you).” Putting up with the “I don’t like it (you)” response is part of the territory so I try to endure it in order to get the strokes I want. I am sure there is some of this in […]

Recovering the Soul of Conservatism

By John Armstrong|2006-11-02T08:19:00-06:00November 2nd, 2006|Categories: Politics|

I saw the most fascinating and lively exchange between two political conservatives on C-Span Book TV last weekend. It featured Andrew Sullivan, the homosexual activist who is actually a libertarian politically, and David Brooks, the Jewish columnist for the New York Times. Brooks has an unusually keen insight into evangelicalism, as can be seen in his frequently thoughtful references to them. He is also a wonderfully nuanced political conservative of the very best sort. (He has a streak of libertarianism in his political theory thus he also wants to legalize homosexual unions!)

The televised event was sponsored by the famous Cato Institute. Brooks critiqued Andrew Sullivan’s reaction to religious conservatives and especially his new book, The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back (HarperCollins, 2006). The book addresses the recovering of the real heart and soul of conservatism, a misnamed book if there ever was one. Brooks did a masterful job of showing Andrew Sullivan why he failed to understand religious conservatism on the whole. He made several important points, especially regarding John R. Stott representing more of […]

The Missional Journey of Phil Wyman

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:07-05:00November 1st, 2006|Categories: Missional Church|

I’ve never met the Rev. Phil Wyman of Salem, Massachusetts. In fact, until I read about him on the front page of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) yesterday I didn’t know that he even existed. Phil Wyman is the pastor of a small evangelical congregation in a very old city where a considerable amount of tourism revolves around the story of the execution of twenty men and women, who were accused as witches, in 1692.

I’ve been to Salem. I’ve visited the quaint museums and walked the streets of this historic place. I even saw a dramatic production of the witch trials staged by actors from Gordon College. I have also witnessed the presence of real witches and Wiccans in Salem, openly touting their message in public places. Salem is actually a beautiful New England town and clearly in need of the gospel. This is actually why Phil Wyman went there a few years ago as a minister of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a Pentecostal denomination.

Phil’s story is really quite simple. He was drawn, as a young […]

A New Low for Evangelism in America

By John Armstrong|2006-10-31T08:30:32-06:00October 31st, 2006|Categories: Evangelism|

Scaring the hell out of teenagers will cost you $299 this year if you intend to use the Hell House Outreach kit written by the Rev. Kennan Roberts, of New Destiny Christian Center in Denver, Colorado. I’m not making this up! Roberts estimates that 800 churches, in every state in America and 18 countries, now use his product. He has sold over 3,000 of his kits to date.

In one sketch the Roberts Hell House kit tells how you can do a tour in which a “demon” guide marries two men. The skit then fast forwards to a hospital room where one of the partners lies in a bed dying of AIDS. Roberts notes that, “We’re not saying if you have AIDS or an abortion you’re going to hell. There is forgiveness.”

In Burleson, Texas, a church uses the kit and charges $15 admission, Because of the show’s graphic nature children younger than 14 must have a parental release signed at the ticket booth. Teens are herded into pitch-black closets where the floor suddenly shakes and rumbles, creating the sensation […]

Back to the Future: On Ancient-Future Christianity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:07-05:00October 30th, 2006|Categories: American Evangelicalism|

My friend Bob Webber has been a future thinker for a lifetime. When I was a college student he often troubled me while he also deeply challenged me. (With life experience I have learned that this combination is often a great gift to the church.) He has done that for nearly forty years now. Bob may be making his greatest contribution to the church over the past five years or so. Not only are his books on the "Ancient-Future" aspects of Christianity stimulating, and much needed calls for awakening to a sagging and crippled evangelicalism, but his recent work on "An Ancient Evangelical Future" (see www.ancientfutureworship.com) is extremely important, at least to my mind. I resolved not to sign such documents a few years ago but this one was so important that I felt I could not resist.

There will be an Ancient Future Evangelical Conference (December 7-9, 2006) at Northern Semninary in Lombard, Illinois. I plan to be present. I hope some of you who read this blog will plan to join me. Information is available […]

Mission Is The Mother of All Theology

By John Armstrong|2006-10-29T19:15:13-06:00October 29th, 2006|Categories: Missional Church|

Martin Kahler appears to have been the first theologian to say it: "Mission is the mother of all theology." I concur completely. One of the major problems of Protestant orthodoxy, especially when it becomes scholastic and academic in form, is that it is divorced from a truly missional context. Good theology grows best in the soil of good questions faced by the church in a true missionary encounter.

Several years ago Terry C. Muck asked, "Is there any other way to do theology?" He added, "A cogent argument can be made that to do theology is to do mission. An even more cogent argument can be made for the reverse: That to do mission is to do theology." Muck suggests that at every point in church history where significant debates about important theological matters occured, these debates were actually preceeded by a cultural clash that challenged some church teaching and this clash forced a more definitive theological formuation in the process. This seems self-evident to me.

I preached today on "The Conversion of the Church" from John 20:21, at Church of […]

A Visit to GTU

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:08-05:00October 28th, 2006|Categories: Religion|

GTU is the Graduate Theological Union, a fully accredited association of theological schools situated in the San Francisco Bay area. I visited GTU yesterday with my friend Andrew Sandlin. We went to look for that special book that we have not yet found! We enjoyed a gorgeous day, with a sunny blue sky and temps in the low 80s. We also enjoyed an incredible lunch with Andrew’s son Richard, a wonderful, thoughtful and tender-hearted young man who recently completed his B.A. in philosophy at Cal. Richard is now beginning preparation to pursue his doctorate in philosophy. I have no doubt that he will make a first-rate teacher someday.

GTU is an intriguing place. You can study subjects like art and religion, biblical languages, biblical studies, Buddhist studies, Christian spirituality, ethics and social theory, Jewish studies, Near Eastern studies and systematic and philosophical theology. They have just about every thing you could want in the field of religion. And you are across the street from Cal Berkeley, a world class university, where you can also take classes. GTU draws from traditional Christian roots […]

The Growing Stature of Barrack Obama

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:08-05:00October 26th, 2006|Categories: Politics|

Barrack Obama, the junior senator from my state of Illinois, is presently the most talked about politician in America. I am not sympathetic with some of the political philosophy of Barrack Obama. If he is nominated for the presidency in 2008 he will most assuredly need to present a thoughtful expression of his views on many issues, something he has yet to do. Having said this I must confess that I actually like Obama a great deal and I find his credibility as a person quite compelling.

I expect many conservatives will quickly say to me "No way I can listen to Obama, he is a liberal Democrat." I would say, "Before you assume the worst about him, and there is much to disagree with that can be seen in his senate votes to this point, read the man’s story. Listen to what he says and how he says it." Obama’s expression of how he came to Christian faith (in this week’s TIME magazine excerpt from his new book, The Audacity of Hope) is quite moving to me. Frankly, Obama is someone […]

The Politics of Jesus?

By John Armstrong|2006-10-25T08:23:34-05:00October 25th, 2006|Categories: Politics|

We have had a book called God’s Politics, by Jim Wallis. Now we have one called The Politics of Jesus, by Obery M. Henricks, Jr. Does anyone on the Left, who so freely decries the Right for their excessive claims to truth, ever stop to think that they have no more claim on God’s truth than the Right does? While the Left assaults the Right for partisanship they continue to produce books that tell us "How to rediscover the true revoltuionary nature of Jesus’ teachings." The hubris in such a claim is quite staggering. Hendricks spends most of this book arguing that the two primary culprits in our lifetime, men who both attacked the true revolutionary teaching of Jesus, were Ronald W. Reagan and now George W. Bush. Surprise, surprise!!!

Former moderate Republican senator John Danforth (MO), an Episcopal priest, gets a lot closer to the truth in his new book, Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together. Danforth suggets that it is simply wrong to equate "faith with political agenda." The Right has […]

An Interview I Enjoyed

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:08-05:00October 21st, 2006|Categories: Personal|

I am in Newark, Delaware, this weekend in order to speak at the 20th anniversary celebration of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church. This afternoon the pastor, Dr. Charles Betters, arranged for an interview session with Bryan Chapell and myself. I hope to put this interview on our Web site soon. Bryan is president of Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and one of the finest preachers, and teachers of preaching, in America. I am always encouraged by being with Bryan. He is a solid conservative thinker and a genuinely kind and Christlike man.

A good bit of our interview focused upon the emerging generation and the opportunities and potential problems that we see in these younger Christians. Bryan noted that he has rarely met a group of Christians more committed to evangelism. He also observed that this generation will need to pursue personal holiness more intentionally if it is to make a real difference in the future. They are a generation completely comfortable with relational commitments. They also embrace real conversation while they are totally suspicious of cant and technique. We both welcome a […]