Blog - Page 304 of 318 - John H Armstrong

A Very Bad Idea in Illinois

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:37-05:00January 15th, 2006|Categories: Separation of Church & State|

A few days ago a devastating fire destoyed a historic Chicago landmark, the southside meeting place of the Pilgrim Baptist Church. It is still being determined if the walls of the old church are structurally sound enough to allow them to remain when the church is rebuilt. This historic church has been the religious home of a number of famous people. Before the building became a church, about seventy-five years ago, it was a historic Chicago synagogue. This particular tragedy has struck many Chicagoans deeply and the outpouring of public response has been nothing short of amazing as financiers and friends have pledged large sums of money toward the rebuilding project.

Following the devastating fire Governor Rod Blagojevich promised one million dollars of state funds to the rebuilding of the church. (He also promised a personal gift of $1,000.) Not only is the governor’s pledge of Illinois funds surprising, since he is a Democrat, but it appears to me to plainly be unconstitutional. The Illinois Constitution (Article 10, Section 3) states: "Neither the General Assembly nor any county, city, town, township, school […]

When the SBC Mission Board Stayed at a Holiday Inn Express

By John Armstrong|2006-01-13T17:30:55-06:00January 13th, 2006|Categories: Southern Baptists|

You’ve seen the television commercials. A man falls from his bike. A man stops to help and begins to examine the guy’s injured leg as if he were a physician. In another commerical a man is in a science lab working on a major experiment and is asked by the attendants, "Where did you go to school doctor?" He answers, in both cases, "I am not a doctor but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night." The idea is simple. Those who stay at a Holiday Inn Express will have judgment that allows them to go well beyond their normal abilities and expertise.

I thought about this when I noted last week the decision of the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention, by a vote of 50-15, to no longer appoint candidates for overseas missions who speak in tongues in their private prayer life. Several years ago the IMB voted to not appoint a missionary who practiced tongues, or encouraged this practice, in public. Now they have decided to go even further and stop any new […]

Munich

By John Armstrong|2006-01-10T21:48:08-06:00January 10th, 2006|Categories: Film|

The Steven Spielberg film "Munich" is, in my judgment, as good as any film Spielberg has ever produced. I went to see it with very mixed emotions, thinking it might unfairly represent Israel’s position regarding swift response to terrorism. I am quite sure that I am not able to appreciate every political nuance, or the intricate issues of intelligence as carried out by the Mossad, Israel’s equivalent of our CIA. Several related issues raised by the film struck me as well done. In the end I saw Munich as a brilliant film which powerfully posed the very hard questions raised by modern terrorism.

For those who do not know, or were not alive in 1972, the film Munich is about the story of the suicidal assault undertaken by eight Palestinian terrorists who captured and killed eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team who were living in the Olympic village in Germany in September of 1972 during the summer games. The killings, and the way the Germans handled this assault in particular, all led Israel to a harsh and determined policy of retaliation. […]

Why I Am Not Celebrating the New Constitution in Iraq

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:38-05:00January 9th, 2006|Categories: Politics|

As almost everyone in the United States, and the rest of the West, knows Iraq recently held a historic election to approve a new democratic constitution. Personally, I celebrated this event. I also celebrated the removal of Saddam Hussein and the success of the previous election to set up a freely chosen parliament. Who can see those pictures of people holding up their purple finger (as a sign that they voted) and not be thrilled?

So why do I have reservations about this new constitution? I am nervous about this new democracy in Iraq for an entirely different reason. Under Saddam’s brutal rule the church in Iraq was given relative freedom. Saddam didn’t care how many Christians there were in his country so long as they did not become part of any violent movement to challenge his rule. This Christian population consisted of several different expressions of the church, including Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. There was, under Saddam, a fairly healthy minority of Christians in Iraq. Estimates range from as many as 900,000 to one million Christians. And new converts could join the […]

Follow Me

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:38-05:00January 6th, 2006|Categories: Lordship of Christ|

The most consistent invitation the Gospel writers attribute to Jesus is found in the plain words: "Follow me." This command is often found in conjunction with references to "taking up the cross" and to "dying" to one’s self. The implications are pretty plain if you know the place of the cross in the ancient world.

It never ceases to amaze me, over the course of decades of ministry in America, that so many preachers and everyday Christians miss this simple, frequently given, exhortation when it comes to inviting people to come to Christ. We have all kinds of formulas for telling people how to come to Christ but almost never do we actually tell people what Jesus plainly says about this matter.

N.T. Wright, in one of his frequent moments of insight into the text of the Gospels, suggests that Jesus’ invitation to faith and discipleship could best be summarized, at least in our culture, in these simple words: "Give up your own agenda and follow me!" I agree. If you would follow Christ now, and in this New Year, […]

Christ and Culture

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:38-05:00December 14th, 2005|Categories: Culture|

There is a great upheaval in the evangelical church regarding how Christians should engage culture. The most common form of understanding, at least among American evangelicals, is the "Christ and Culture" model set forward by H. Richard Niebuhr. In this model the theory of "two kingdoms," namely the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world, is central. This emphasis resulted in the strong secular and sacred distinctions that we find in fundamentalism, as well as in much evangelicalism.

This view is correct in so far as it reminds us of the very real enmity that exists between these two kingdoms until Christ comes again. While we live in both kingdoms now, and have responsibilities to both (cf. Romans 13) kingdoms, we are to give absolute homage to Christ alone. We will not bring in his kingdom by our efforts to transform the kingdom of the world. He stands over the world and thus must always remain our higher authority. Niebuhr referred to this thinking as "Christ-and-culture-in-paradox." The paradox explains the dominant way that most evangelicals, until the last twenty years […]

Is it a Christmas Tree or a Holiday Tree?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:38-05:00December 12th, 2005|Categories: Culture|

I’ve said it before, but given the level of heat created during the past two weeks by well-meaning conservative Christians, I want to say it again. What people within the culture call the large green tree prominently placed in front of the nation’s capitol, or on the front lawn of your state capitol, is irrelevant. This is another culture wars "smoke screen" that will raise lots of talk and money. In the end it is really a lot of noise about nothing.

A major part of the truly Christian agenda in the culture should to protect freedom, both freedom of speech, properly understood, and freedom of expression. There are some serious cases where this has been undermined but the "tree" issue is not one of them.

I am not making this stuff up. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Counsel is running a "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign" and James Dobson’s Alliance Defense Fund is running a "Christmas Project." Countless hours and thousands of dollars are being poured into these efforts. Fox News’ commentator John Gibson even has a bestselling book with the title: […]

Getting Regeneration and Conversion Right

By John Armstrong|2005-12-11T20:16:44-06:00December 11th, 2005|Categories: Biblical Theology|

A common evangelical mistake is to make regeneration synonmous with initial spiritual birth and thereby to deny that it has anything at all to do with the process by which the Holy Spirit works to consummate what he begins through initial salvation.

The same mistake is made with regard to misunderstanding conversion. Conversion is often seen as synonmous with the first movement toward Christ but it should also be understood as a process. Donald Bloesch rightly concludes: "We err both by viewing the initiatory stage of regeneration as the climax of the Spirit’s work and by treating regeneration as a general life process that entails no decisive break with the past."

Regeneration clearly has a broader sense in Scripture and thus should have such a broader sense in our theology. It involves the whole work of cleansing and renovation. In the narrow sense it refers to the "act or acts" by which we come into communion with Christ but even in this limited, or narrow, sense it includes several stages; e.g., seeking for Christ by the Spirit’s prompting and commitment to […]

Year End Giving and Donor Issues

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:38-05:00December 9th, 2005|Categories: Donors and Funding|

Almost every North American mission I know plans for December to be their major month for donations in the entire year. In fact, the last ten days of December typically supply as much as 40% of our needed giving for the year. For this reason I annually write a December letter asking old friends and new friends to help us finish the year strong. My current letter will be mailed early next week to those in our database but that letter is also currently available on our Web site home page at www.reformationrevival.com. Even if you are not a donor, or do not intend to be a donor to our ministry anytime soon, you will enjoy reading the letter since some very important news about our future is provided this year. I hope you will take time to read it.

I also thought about this matter of year-end giving for another reason. Many have told me that their work has faced what has been termed "Katrina fatigue" since September. So much has been designated to relief efforts […]

The Cell Phone

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:24:39-05:00December 7th, 2005|Categories: Current Affairs|

It seems more and more of us use, and abuse, the cell phone these days. I bought my first one, about four years ago, to provide my wife and daughter some protection when they were away from home. Once I began to use one myself I found it "saved time," or so I thought. Like almost every modern technological device it did "save time" on the one hand, but it also "took time" in an entirely different way.

I am not a Luddite. I plan to go on using my cell phone. I do not think technology, per se, is inherently evil. But I do believe we can very easily become absorbed in new lifestyles that depend upon every new technological advance that comes along. This also creates an unhealthy "must have" lifestyle. And it can produce harmful effects. If you do not see these at all then you are not spiritually alert in some crucial areas.

A recent Chicago Sun-Times (December 6, 2005) piece by Andrew Herrmann suggested that staying in constant contact these days is quite "annoying." He […]